The North Patagonian Massif or Somún Cura Massif (
Spanish: ''Macizo Norpatagónico'', ''Macizo Nordpatagónico'' or ''Macizo de Somún Cura'') is a
massif in northern
Patagonia located in the Argentine provinces of
RÃo Negro and
Chubut Chubut may refer to:
* Chubut Province, Argentina
* Chubut River in the Chubut Province
* Chubut steamer duck
The Chubut steamer duck or white-headed flightless steamer duck (''Tachyeres leucocephalus'') is a flightless duck endemic to Argenti ...
. The massif is a
plateau surrounded by
sedimentary basins. The North Patagonian Massif covers an area of approximately . The massif rises above the surrounding topography reaching a maximum of above sea level. Compared to neighboring areas, the North Patagonian Massif has thicker
continental crust.
Stratigraphy
The massif consists of a
basement
A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
formed by
Cambro-
Ordovician rocks, overlain by the
Middle Silurian Sierra Grande Formation. The early
Paleozoic section is covered by metamorphic and igneous complexes; the
Permian Pailemán and
Navarrete Plutonic Complexes,
[González et al., 2014, p.175] and the unconformably overlying
Early
Early may refer to:
History
* The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.:
** Early Christianity
** Early modern Europe
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa
* Early, Texas
* Early ...
to
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...
Marifil Volcanic Complex. The Marifil Complex is separated from the Paleozoic sequence by the
Enjambre Dikes, dated to the
Late Triassic with ages varying between 221 ± 12 and 207 ± 11 Ma.
[González et al., 2014, p.176]
The Cenozoic cover of the western belt of the massif comprises the
Eocene to
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
Ventana and
Ñirihuau Formation
Ñirihuau is a village and municipality in RÃo Negro Province in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an are ...
s in the north and the
Middle to Late Miocene Ñorquincó Formation
Ñorquincó is a city in Ñorquincó Department, in southwest RÃo Negro Province, Argentina.
With a population of 444, it had a decline of 12.7% after the 509 in the previous census.
The name comes from the Mapudungun language, meaning ''Water P ...
in the south. The eastern belt of the North Patagonian Massif contains the Miocene (
Colloncuran
The Colloncuran ( es, Colloncurense) age is a period of geologic time (15.5–13.8 Ma) within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Friasian and precedes ...
)
Collón Cura Formation, the Miocene
La Pava Formation
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
,
[Dalla Salda & Franzese, 1987, p.7] and the Miocene
ChimehuÃn Formation in the northern part of the eastern belt.
[Dalla Salda & Franzese, 1987, p.8]
See also
*
Golfo San Jorge Basin
*
Neuquén Basin
Neuquén Basin ( es, Cuenca Neuquina) is a sedimentary basin covering most of Neuquén Province in Argentina. The basin originated in the Jurassic and developed through alternating continental and marine conditions well into the Tertiary. The bas ...
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Landforms of Chubut Province
Landforms of RÃo Negro Province
Geology of Chubut Province
Geology of RÃo Negro Province
Plateaus of Argentina