Maricunga Metallogenic Belt, Chilei
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Maricunga Metallogenic Belt | Mineral Belt |
| Chile | Country |
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Type:
Mindat Locality ID:
426038
Long-form identifier:
1:2:426038:0
GUID (UUID V4):
6e1644c7-4b2f-41f1-ac38-7df86939c236
It is located east of Copiapó, with a length of 200 km oriented in the NNE-SSW direction. This belt hosts important gold deposits classified as epithermal gold (-silver), gold of high sulphidation type, and transitional and porphyry gold (-copper) in some districts.
The Maricunga Belt corresponds to a transitional zone bounded on the north by a zone with normal subduction and the related Central Volcanic Zone, and on the south by a zone with flat slab subduction. The transition of the subduction from the flat slab to a normal zone towards the north is relatively smooth while, towards the south, it is abrupt, according to the depths of the Wadati–Benioff zone.
The MB hosts mainly two mineralization types: epithermal gold (-silver) of high sulphidation type and porphyry-type gold (-copper), and their main characteristics are summarized below:
1) High-sulphidation epithermal deposits are located in the margins of volcanic complex Cerros Bravos, exhibiting a dacitic to andesitic rock composition, and geochronological data indicate a mineralization age of about 23–18 Ma. The mineralization is mainly structurally controlled by NE-SW oriented strike-slip faults.
2) Gold porphyry deposits are located in the hillsides of the volcanic complexes Copiapó and Jotabeche, having andesitic to dacitic rock composition, and their occurrences are characterized by two hydrothermal events. They are assigned to the late Oligocene–early Miocene (24–22 Ma) period, when La Pepa, Refugio, Santa Cecilia, and Pantanillo deposits were emplaced, and to the middle Miocene (14–12 Ma) period, when Cerro Casale, Lobo, and Marte deposits occurred.
List of minerals for each chemical element
Fossils
There are 33 fossil localities from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.BETA TEST - These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.
| Occurrences | 472 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngest Fossil Listed | 101 Ma (Late/Upper Cretaceous) | ||||||
| Oldest Fossil Listed | 201 Ma (Early Jurassic) | ||||||
| Stratigraphic Units |
| ||||||
| Fossils from Region | Click here to show the list. | ||||||
| Fossil Localities | Click to show 33 fossil localities |
- Atacama
- Chañaral Province
- Diego de Almagro
- Jurassic🐚 Cerros Bravos
- Jurassic🐚 north of Portezuelo de Pedernales
- Early Jurassic🐚 Portezuelo de Pedernales
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada Asientos
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Asiento
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Asiento
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada San Juan
- Mesozoic🐚 Quebrada Tamberia Los Pantanos
- Jurassic🐚 Salar de Pedernales
- Early Jurassic🐚 Salar de Pedernales
- Early Jurassic🐚 W Peñon de Pedernales
- Early Jurassic🐚 West of Portezuelo Pedernales
- Diego de Almagro
- Copiapó Province
- Chañaral Province
- Atacama
- Copiapó Province
- Copiapó
- Middle Jurassic🐚 Quebrada Chinches
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada Codocedo
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Bolito
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Bolito 670222/11
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Patón
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Peñon
- Early Jurassic🐚 Quebrada El Peñon
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada La Chaucha
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada La Chaucha 661129/4
- Jurassic🐚 Quebrada San Pedrito
- Early Jurassic🐚 Vega Redonda
- Tierra Amarilla
- Copiapó
- Copiapó Province
References
Sort by
Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A) In-text Citation No.Bugueño, Felipe, Daniela Calle-Gardella, Diana Comte, Valentina Reyes-Wagner, Marcia Ojeda, Andreas Rietbrock, and Steven Roecker. (2022) "Subsurface Insights of the Maricunga Gold Belt through Local Earthquake Tomography" Minerals 12, no. 11: 1437. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12111437
Other Regions, Features and Areas that Intersect
Chile
- Atacama
- Copiapó Province
- Maricunga beltBelt
- Copiapó Province
- Atacama DesertDesert
South America
- AndesMountain Range
South America PlateTectonic Plate
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