Madre de Dios Terrane is a distinct fragment of Earth's crust in southwestern Patagonia.

Subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

made the Madre de Dios Terrane collide and accrete to Patagonia (then part of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

) in the Mesozoic. This accretion is thought to have happened at a different location than today and the current location of the terrane is would be the result of displacement along

dextral Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality ("handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use different ...

faults. The terrane is made up of three distinct units: *Denaro Complex *Torlton Limestone *Duque de York Complex is made up of pelites, greywackes and

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

s. All these sediments are thought to be derived from a continent or microcontinent. Duque de York Complex was metamorphosed before the Cretaceous intrusions of the

South Patagonian Batholith The South Patagonian Batholith ( es, Batolito Sur-Patagónico) is group of plutons in southwestern Patagonia. The rocks of batholith include granite, leucogranite, tonalite, granodiorite, diorite, gabbro and mafic dykes. The earliest plutons of the ...

, as is also likely the case of the two other units.

References

Geology of Magallanes Region category:terranes Última Esperanza Province Geology of the Andes {{Geology of Chile