Provenance of eastern Magallanes foreland basin sediments: Heavy mineral analysis reveals Paleogene tectonic unroofing of the Fuegian Andes hinterland

Documenting variations in the composition of foreland basin detrital sediments is a useful tool for reconstructing the kinematic history of associated orogenic systems. Herein we report the results of our SEM-EDS heavy mineral analysis of the Late Cretaceous to early Miocene eastern Magallanes basin of southernmost Argentina. Our data indicate that Campanian to middle Eocene sediments had a mafic/ophiolitic provenance, which we interpret as being derived from the Patagonian–Fuegian magmatic arc and the mafic floor of the preceding Rocas Verdes marginal basin. Upper middle Eocene to lower Miocene heavy minerals, on the other hand, indicate a metamorphic/metasedimentary provenance, which we interpret as being derived from the Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex. Together, these data indicate an abrupt shift in sediment provenance in middle to late Eocene time, thereby corroborating recent interpretations of the basin's detrital–zircon geochrononology, and providing further support for temporal and possibly genetic relationships between development of the Patagonian orocline, the opening of Drake Passage and the Oi-1 glaciation of Antarctica.