Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area

Autores
Gómez Dacal, María Laura; Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena; Aragón, Eugenio; Bott, Judith; Cacace, Mauro; Tocho, Claudia Noemí
Año de publicación
2021
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The North Patagonian Massif (NPM) area in Argentina includes a plateau of 1200 m a.s.l. (meters above sea level) average height, which is 500–700 m higher than its surrounding areas. The plateau shows no evidence of internal deformation, while the surrounding basins have been deformed during Cenozoic orogenic events. Previous works suggested that the plateau formation was caused by a lithospheric uplift event during the Paleogene. However, the causative processes responsible for the plateau origin and its current state remain speculative. To address some of these questions, we carried out 3D lithospheric-scale steady-state and transient thermal simulations of the NPM and its surroundings, as based on an existing 3D geological model of the area. Our results are indicative of a thicker and warmer lithosphere below the NPM plateau compared with its surroundings, suggesting that the plateau is still isostatically buoyant and thus explaining its present-day elevation. The transient thermal simulations agree with a heating event in the mantle during the Paleogene as the causative process leading to lithospheric uplift in the region and indicate that the thermo-mechanical effects of such an event would still be influencing the plateau evolution today. Although the elevation related to the heating would not be enough to reach the present plateau topography, we discuss other mechanisms, also connected with the mantle heating, that may have caused the observed relief. Lithosphere cooling in the plateau is ongoing, being delayed by the presence of a thick crust enriched in radiogenic minerals as compared to its sides, resulting in a thermal configuration that has yet to reach thermodynamic equilibrium.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas
Materia
Geofísica
Thermal modelling
North Patagonian Massif plateau
Topography
Isostasy
Geodynamics
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Repositorio
SEDICI (UNLP)
Institución
Universidad Nacional de La Plata
OAI Identificador
oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/143626

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spelling Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the areaGómez Dacal, María LauraScheck-Wenderoth, MagdalenaAragón, EugenioBott, JudithCacace, MauroTocho, Claudia NoemíGeofísicaThermal modellingNorth Patagonian Massif plateauTopographyIsostasyGeodynamicsThe North Patagonian Massif (NPM) area in Argentina includes a plateau of 1200 m a.s.l. (meters above sea level) average height, which is 500–700 m higher than its surrounding areas. The plateau shows no evidence of internal deformation, while the surrounding basins have been deformed during Cenozoic orogenic events. Previous works suggested that the plateau formation was caused by a lithospheric uplift event during the Paleogene. However, the causative processes responsible for the plateau origin and its current state remain speculative. To address some of these questions, we carried out 3D lithospheric-scale steady-state and transient thermal simulations of the NPM and its surroundings, as based on an existing 3D geological model of the area. Our results are indicative of a thicker and warmer lithosphere below the NPM plateau compared with its surroundings, suggesting that the plateau is still isostatically buoyant and thus explaining its present-day elevation. The transient thermal simulations agree with a heating event in the mantle during the Paleogene as the causative process leading to lithospheric uplift in the region and indicate that the thermo-mechanical effects of such an event would still be influencing the plateau evolution today. Although the elevation related to the heating would not be enough to reach the present plateau topography, we discuss other mechanisms, also connected with the mantle heating, that may have caused the observed relief. Lithosphere cooling in the plateau is ongoing, being delayed by the presence of a thick crust enriched in radiogenic minerals as compared to its sides, resulting in a thermal configuration that has yet to reach thermodynamic equilibrium.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas2021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionArticulohttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdf2315-2331http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/143626enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1437-3254info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1437-3262info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s00531-020-01953-2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)reponame:SEDICI (UNLP)instname:Universidad Nacional de La Platainstacron:UNLP2025-09-29T11:32:12Zoai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/143626Institucionalhttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/oai/snrdalira@sedici.unlp.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:13292025-09-29 11:32:13.25SEDICI (UNLP) - Universidad Nacional de La Platafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
title Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
spellingShingle Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
Gómez Dacal, María Laura
Geofísica
Thermal modelling
North Patagonian Massif plateau
Topography
Isostasy
Geodynamics
title_short Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
title_full Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
title_fullStr Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
title_full_unstemmed Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
title_sort Unravelling the lithospheric-scale thermal field of the North Patagonian Massif plateau (Argentina) and its relations to the topographic evolution of the area
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gómez Dacal, María Laura
Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena
Aragón, Eugenio
Bott, Judith
Cacace, Mauro
Tocho, Claudia Noemí
author Gómez Dacal, María Laura
author_facet Gómez Dacal, María Laura
Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena
Aragón, Eugenio
Bott, Judith
Cacace, Mauro
Tocho, Claudia Noemí
author_role author
author2 Scheck-Wenderoth, Magdalena
Aragón, Eugenio
Bott, Judith
Cacace, Mauro
Tocho, Claudia Noemí
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Geofísica
Thermal modelling
North Patagonian Massif plateau
Topography
Isostasy
Geodynamics
topic Geofísica
Thermal modelling
North Patagonian Massif plateau
Topography
Isostasy
Geodynamics
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The North Patagonian Massif (NPM) area in Argentina includes a plateau of 1200 m a.s.l. (meters above sea level) average height, which is 500–700 m higher than its surrounding areas. The plateau shows no evidence of internal deformation, while the surrounding basins have been deformed during Cenozoic orogenic events. Previous works suggested that the plateau formation was caused by a lithospheric uplift event during the Paleogene. However, the causative processes responsible for the plateau origin and its current state remain speculative. To address some of these questions, we carried out 3D lithospheric-scale steady-state and transient thermal simulations of the NPM and its surroundings, as based on an existing 3D geological model of the area. Our results are indicative of a thicker and warmer lithosphere below the NPM plateau compared with its surroundings, suggesting that the plateau is still isostatically buoyant and thus explaining its present-day elevation. The transient thermal simulations agree with a heating event in the mantle during the Paleogene as the causative process leading to lithospheric uplift in the region and indicate that the thermo-mechanical effects of such an event would still be influencing the plateau evolution today. Although the elevation related to the heating would not be enough to reach the present plateau topography, we discuss other mechanisms, also connected with the mantle heating, that may have caused the observed relief. Lithosphere cooling in the plateau is ongoing, being delayed by the presence of a thick crust enriched in radiogenic minerals as compared to its sides, resulting in a thermal configuration that has yet to reach thermodynamic equilibrium.
Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas
description The North Patagonian Massif (NPM) area in Argentina includes a plateau of 1200 m a.s.l. (meters above sea level) average height, which is 500–700 m higher than its surrounding areas. The plateau shows no evidence of internal deformation, while the surrounding basins have been deformed during Cenozoic orogenic events. Previous works suggested that the plateau formation was caused by a lithospheric uplift event during the Paleogene. However, the causative processes responsible for the plateau origin and its current state remain speculative. To address some of these questions, we carried out 3D lithospheric-scale steady-state and transient thermal simulations of the NPM and its surroundings, as based on an existing 3D geological model of the area. Our results are indicative of a thicker and warmer lithosphere below the NPM plateau compared with its surroundings, suggesting that the plateau is still isostatically buoyant and thus explaining its present-day elevation. The transient thermal simulations agree with a heating event in the mantle during the Paleogene as the causative process leading to lithospheric uplift in the region and indicate that the thermo-mechanical effects of such an event would still be influencing the plateau evolution today. Although the elevation related to the heating would not be enough to reach the present plateau topography, we discuss other mechanisms, also connected with the mantle heating, that may have caused the observed relief. Lithosphere cooling in the plateau is ongoing, being delayed by the presence of a thick crust enriched in radiogenic minerals as compared to its sides, resulting in a thermal configuration that has yet to reach thermodynamic equilibrium.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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status_str publishedVersion
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url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/143626
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1437-3262
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s00531-020-01953-2
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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