View source for Cuyania

{{short description|Ancient microcontinent now part of Argentina}}
{{Geology of the Andes}}
The '''Precordillera Terrane''' or '''Cuyania''' was an ancient [[microcontinent]] or [[terrane]] whose history affected many of the older rocks of [[Cuyo (Argentina)|Cuyo]] in [[Argentina]]. It was separated by [[oceanic crust]] from the [[Chilenia]] terrane which accreted into it at ~420-390 Ma when Cuyania was already amalgamated with [[Gondwana]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Rapalini|2005}}</ref> The hypothesized Mejillonia Terrane in the coast of [[Norte Grande, Chile|northern Chile]] is considered by some [[geologist]]s to be a single block with Cuyania. 

The [[San Rafael Block]] crops out 200 km to the south of the other exposures of Cuyania and is the southern extension of the terrane.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cingolani|Heredia|2010}}</ref>

The Precordillera has been hypothesised to have been derived from [[Laurentia]], the core of North America, which was attached to the western margin of South America during the Precambrian when virtually all continents formed a "proto-[[Gondwana]]" supercontinent known as [[Pannotia]].  The Precordillera was then part of a proposed "Texas Plateau", a promontory attached to Laurentia similar to the way the [[Falkland Plateau]] is attached to South America today.  The Texas Plateau was detached from the Gondwana in a rift around 455&nbsp;Ma after which it collided with the proto-Andean margin of South America, an event known as the [[Taconic orogeny|Taconic]]-[[Famatinian orogeny|Famatinian]] orogeny, and the Precordillera got left behind at its present location within South America.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dalziel|1997|loc=Abstract}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Geological history of the Precordillera terrane]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite web
 | last1 = Cingolani | first1 = C.
 | last2 = Heredia | first2 = S.
 | title = Field guide on the Ordovician of the Sierra Pintada, San Rafael Block, Mendoza
 | year = 2010 | publisher = Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica | location = San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
 | url = http://www.insugeo.org.ar/libros/misc_7/01_field_guide.htm | access-date = 10 January 2016
 }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Cingolani|Heredia|2010}} -->
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Dalziel | first = I. W.
 | title = Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic geography and tectonics: Review, hypothesis, environmental speculation
 | year = 1997 | journal = Geological Society of America Bulletin | volume = 109 | issue = 1 | pages = 16–42
 | doi = 10.1130/0016-7606(1997)109<0016:ONPGAT>2.3.CO;2 | bibcode = 1997GSAB..109...16D}}<!-- {{Harvnb|Dalziel|1997}} -->
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Rapalini | first = A. E.
 | title = The accretionary history of southern South America from the latest Proterozoic to the Late Palaeozoic: some palaeomagnetic constraints
 | year = 2005 | journal = Geological Society, London, Special Publications | volume = 246 | issue = 1 | pages = 305–328
 | url = http://sp.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/246/1/305 | access-date = 10 January 2016
 | bibcode = 2005GSLSP.246..305R | doi = 10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.246.01.12 | s2cid = 129963126
 | url-access = subscription }}<!-- {{Harvnb|Rapalini|2005}} -->
* {{Cite web
 |title       = The Andes — Tectonic Evolution
 |publisher   = Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
 |url         = http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geo527/Andes/tectonicandes.html
 |access-date = 10 January 2016
 |date        = August 2002
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20151109062356/http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geo527/Andes/tectonicandes.html
 |archive-date = 9 November 2015
}}
{{Refend}}

{{coord missing|Chile}}

[[Category:Geology of Chile]]
[[Category:Geology of Argentina]]
[[Category:Historical continents]]
[[Category:Terranes]]
[[Category:Geology of the Andes]]


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