Subduction consequences along the Andean margin: thermal and topographic signature of an ancient ridge subduction in the Marañón Basin of Perú

Abstract

All along the eastern border of the Andes lie foreland basins that are among the most prolific hydrocarbon provinces of the world. Their Cenozoic evolution was controlled by the Andean uplift and its consequences on deformation and sedimentation. In turn, the Andean uplift results from the interplay between the subducting Nazca oceanic plate and the South American continental plate. Although the process exists all along the margin, the subducting plate is not regular including bathymetric anomalies and segments that result in different response in the deformation and active volcanism of the overriding plate. In the Marañón Basin of Peru, evidences allow documenting the consequences of a topographic anomaly subduction on the thermal regime and deformation of the Andean foreland during the Neogene. In this basin, a maturity anomaly is difficult to explain by considering only the present day thermal regime. However, it spatially coincides with the trace of a lost subducting ridge, the Inca Plateau. Other features like differential uplift and erosion can be related to the same event in the area. We review the consequences of oceanic ridge subduction along the Andean margin. Their effects on the deformation and volcanism of the forearc and arc regions have been extensively described. Their influence on the present day foreland topography is testified by the existence of giant alluvial fans and displaced terraces. Their effect on magmatism and ore deposits formation has also been demonstrated. The example illustrated here shows that their influence on thermal regime, deformation, erosion and ultimately on petroleum systems must also be taken into account in the search for hydrocarbons in subduction related basins.

All along the eastern border of the Andes lie foreland basins that are among the most prolific hydrocarbon provinces of the world. Their Cenozoic evolution was controlled by the Andean uplift and its consequences on deformation and sedimentation. In turn, the Andean uplift results from the interplay between the subducting Nazca oceanic plate and the South American continental plate. Although the process exists all along the margin, the subducting plate is not regular including bathymetric anomalies and segments that result in different response in the deformation and active volcanism of the overriding plate.

In the Marañon Basin of Peru, evidences allow documenting the consequences of a topographic anomaly subduction on the thermal regime and deformation of the Andean foreland during the Neogene. In this basin, a maturity anomaly is difficult to explain by considering only the present day thermal regime. However, it spatially coincides with the trace of a lost subducting ridge, the Inca Plateau. Other features like differential uplift and erosion can be related to the same event in the area.

We review the consequences of oceanic ridge subduction along the Andean margin. Their effects on the deformation and volcanism of the forearc and arc regions have been extensively described. Their influence on the present day foreland topography is testified by the existence of giant alluvial fans and displaced terraces. Their effect on magmatism and ore deposits formation has also been demonstrated.

This example illustrated here shows that their influence on thermal regime, deformation, erosion and ultimately on petroleum systems, must also be taken into account in the search for hydrocarbons in subduction related basins.