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org/ at Instituto Geologico Minero y Metalurgico on June 1, 2017

J . geol. Soc. London, Vol. 141, 1984, pp. 893-900, 5 figs. Printed in Northern Ireland.

The Andean orogenic period and its major structuresincentraland

northernPeru

F. Megard
SUMMARY: The Andean orogenicperiodbeganin the Albian and consistedof at least 6
discrete compressional phases which are Albian to late Miocene in age. Deformation migrated
progressivelytoward the Amazonian foredeep. The major Andean structures in central and
northern Peru are related to the Eocene (Incaic), early Miocene (Quechua 1) and late Miocene
(Quechua 3) phases. The Maraiionthrust and foldbelt(MTFB)whichbounds the western
Cordillera to the NE rose in the Eocene. It was reactivated partly by the Quechua 1 phase,
whichalsofolded the Altipiano farther E and possibly part of the eastern Cordillera. The
sub-Andean thrust and fold belt (STFB) is related to the Quechua 3 phase. In both MTFB and
STFB the imbricate thrusts merge at depth in large dCcollement faults. Gravity slidingdoes not
play a dominant role, for these faults have to be rooted westward in the pre-Andean basement.
The corresponding crustal shortening-played
_ - a significant part in the creation of the sialic root
of the Andes. -

The present contribution is concerned mainly with the factledMegard(1973;1978),Myers (197%) and
orogenic period of the Andean evolution-that is, the Cobbing (1976) to consider that these changes were
period since the Albian-but also considers previous related to growth faults that were partly reactivated
sedimentation in order to define the palaeogeographic
pattern
into
which, and
under which
influence,
mountain building took place.
TheAndeanevolutionbegan in thelateTriassic,
and active subduction was most likely initiated along
at least part of this margin in the Liassic (see James et
al. 1975). In the late Jurassic in central and northern
Peru, a palaeogeographic pattern was established that
then lasted till the late Cretaceous. From the SW to
the NE, it consisted of (i) the Paracas geanticline, (ii)
themarineWPeruvianbasin,(iii)theMararion
geanticline,and(iv)the E Peruvianbasin, filled
largely by continental sediments and located upon the
westernmargin of the Brazilianshield(Benavides
1956;Wilson1963;Megard1973;Myers1974;Cob-
bing1978).BoththeParacasandMarafiongeanti-
clines were made up of Precambrian andior lower and
middlePalaeozoicseries,unconformablyoverlain by
generallyincompletesequences of latePalaeozoic,
Triassic
andJurassicrocks of extremelyvariable
thicknessandcomposition,frequentlypreservedas
faulted outliers. Crustal extension allowed a high rate
of subsidenceinthewesterneugeosynclinalpart of
W-Peruvian basin, into which as much as 10,000 m of
pillow lavas and associated sediments piled up locally
duringmid-Albiantimes(Bussell1975;Child1976).
According to
recent
geochemical andgeophysical
data,thewesternpart of the basinwasagenuine
marginal basin (Atherton et al. 1983). In the eastern FIG. 1 . Structuralsketch
map of central
and
northern Peru showing the location and extent of
miogeosynclinal part of this samebasin,
thinner theMaradon(MTFB) and Sub-Andean(STFB)
contemporaneousterrigenousandcarbonatestrata thrust and fold belts. Folds have been represented
constructed an eastward tapering wedge in which the only in the Cajamarca deflection. Letters A and B,
Marrion thrust and fold belt (MTFB) later developed number 4 and associatedheavylinesindicatethe
(Fig. 1). The main facies and thickness changes occur location of sections A and B in Fig. 4 and of the
abruptly across the major thrusts of the MTFB; this section of Fig. 5.
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894 F. Mkgard
laterwhenthrustingtookplace.The E Peruvianor few hundredthousandyearstoa fewmillionyears,
sub-Andean basin was also extremely asymmetric; its and by longer intervals of relative tectonic quiescence
western boundaryis presently overriddenby the eastern (Fig. 2 ) . Calc-alkalinevolcanismandsedimentation
Cordillerathat
corresponds
grossly to
the
later occurredmainlyduringthelatter,butsyntectonic
Mesozoic Maraiion geanticline. Its axis lies near to this volcanismandcoarseclasticsedimentationarealso
cordilleraandalong it weredepositedasmuchas known (McKee & Noble 1983).
10,000 m of early Palaeozoic to early Pliocene com- The tectonic period began in the late Albian with a
formable and disconformable terrigenous and carbon- phase of compressionthatfoldedtheeugeosynclinal
ate
strata,whichtaper
markedlyeastward. The part of the W Peruvian basin (Myers 197%; Cobbing
sub-Andean thrust and fold belt (SFTB) developed in et al. 1981). Syntectonicgabbroswereemplaced
this wedge (Fig. 1). duringthis
phase
(P.Regan
pers.
comm.). It is
ActivesubductionduringthelateJurrasictolate suggested that this phase be called the Mochica phase,
Cretaceouscanbeinferredfromthemainlycalc- in order to be consistent with the nomenclature used
alkalinelinearmagmaticarcparalleltothepresent in Peru since Steinmann's work (1929).
PerutrenchwhichincludestheCoastalbatholith ThePeruvianphase of Santonianage is the first
(Pitcher 1978; Cobbing et al. 1981). From the Triassic widespreadepisode of deformation in theAndes of
to the early Cretaceous, the strain regime along the Peru. N of 13"slatitude itcausedtheemergence of
westernmargin of SouthAmericaappearstohave boththeWand E Peruvianbasinsinwhichmarine
beendominantlyextensional,but,assuggested by sedimentationwasreplaced by continentalred bed
Dalmayrac et al. (1980)andMartinez(1980),the sedimentation (Fig. 2 ) .
possibility of strike-slip motion along
faults
sub- CoarseconglomeratesintheAltiplanoredbeds
parallel to the trench cannot be ruled out. contain cobblzs of Neocomian orthoquartzites derived
from the W, suggestingthatupliftandpossiblyalso
Chronology of the tectonic compression occurred in the western Cordillera. In the
northeastern part of the Altiplano and in the eastern
events Cordillera, the Peruvian folding affected an elongated,
TheAndeantectogenicperiod is characterized by isolatedareawitha NW-SE trend(Megard1978),
relatively short tectonic phases that may have lasted a where the aggregate thickness of late Palaeozoic and

-
Ages In Ma
Quoiernory or

Ouechua 1 . . . . . . . . . .
Oligocene

"1
_ _ p

Eocene -/W-
lncalc . . . . . . . . . . . .

-___ I . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lower
Cretoceous

-
300
SUBANDEANZONE

VOLCANIC
ASSEMBLAGES
ROCKSCONTINENTAL
SEDIMENTS MARINE WRENCH-FAULTS
A A
> r
m m >
I

77'
rubmarone lefreltrlal sandstoner
I~merloner shales red beds mermontane aIIuw right I a l e r a l left lateral
basins s e d t r n m l s

FIG.2. Composite diagram showing deformation episodes in relation to sedimentation and magmatism in central
Peru (lo"30'S to 13% lat.), from MCgard (1984). Ages of batholithic intrusions and part of the data concerning the
volcanic units of the coast and the western Cordillera are from Cobbing et al. (1981). Age scale for period 0-10 Ma
is x2. The solid rectangles denote both the location and the time of emplacement of the batholithic intrusions.
Arrows indicate the source areas of the clastics; they are directed toward the sedimentary basins.
 Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ at Instituto Geologico Minero y Metalurgico on June 1, 2017

Major
Andean
structures
orogenesis
and in Peru 895
Mesozoicstratamayreach locally
9000 m.It is common. These are mainly related to the Incaic phase
suggested that this area was underlainby thinned crust butalsopossibly to the Peruvian, with superimposed
priorto
folding.
In
southern Peru,
the
Peruvian wide open co-axial Quechua 1 folds. Further E , along
compression is restrictedtothewesternCordillera, the crest of the western Cordillera, in central Peru and
where it gave rise to folds and to at least one large as far E as the Maraiion valley in northern Peru, the
overthrust (Vicente et al. 1979). Marafion thrust
and
fold
belt
developed in
the
TheIncaicphase of mid-tolateEoceneage is eastward tapering carbonate and terrigenous wedge of
commonlyconsideredasthemainAndeanphase of the
W Peruvian miogeosyncline. TheMTFB was
shorteninginthePeruvianandBolivianAndes.It originated by the lncaic phase, but a strong overprint-
developed the intensely deformed northeastern belt of ing of the Quechua phases is commonly observed. In
thewesternCordilleraincentralandnorthernPeru northern Peru, the MTFB isdirectlyincontactwith
which includestheMTFB(Fig.1).Thesestructures theeasternCordillera,but S of 10"30'S latitude,a
wereerodedandunconformablyoverlain by coarse 70 km-wide Altiplano extends between the MTFB and
clastic strata and volcanic rocks dated at about 40Ma theeasternCordillera(Fig. 1). Inthesouthwestern
(Noble et al. 1974; 1979). Altiplano, Mesozoic shelf-series and their conformable
According to Steinmann's phase chronology (lY29), to
disconformable cover of redbeds, of latest
the Pliocene Quechua phase was the last compressive CretaceoustoearlyMioceneage,werethrowninto
event in the Andes. Actually, it has to be divided into openparallel NW-SE trending
folds
during the
three discrete Quechua 1, 2 and 3 phases (McKee & Quecha 1 phase (Noble et al. 1979; McKee & Noble
Noble 1983; Megard et al. 1984). Theage of the 1983). In the northeastern part of the Altiplano, the
Quechua 1 phase is notpreciselyknown,but it is folds aretighterandcommonly coaxially refolded,
bracketted between about 20 and 12.5 Ma. This phase because of superimposition of Quechua 1 folding over
affected the western Cordillera, where it reactivated Peruvian folding. A t most places in theeastern
the Incaic structures, the Altiplano and probably the Cordillera, deformation is mostly brittle along NE-SW
easternCordillera.
As with theearlier
Mochica, trending faults and is related to the Miocene Quechua
Peruvian and Incaic phases, the Quechua 1 shortening 1, 2 and 3 pulses, but an earlier strong imprint of the
direction wasalsoNE-SW.Widespread upliftfol- Peruvianfolding is recognizablebetween 10"30' and
lowedthisphaseandsubsequenterosioncarvedthe 13"s(Megard1978).Inthesub-Andeanfoothills,a
mainPunaerosionsurface.TheQuechua 2 pulse thrustandfoldbeltrecentlyhasbeendiscovered
caused mainly dextral slip along the many longitudinal (Pardo 1982). This STFB formed in the latest Miocene
NW-SEtrendingfaults (J.P. Soulas & F.Megard, or the early Pliocene during the Quechua 3 phase and
unpubl.data);analysis of brittletectonicsindicates may still be active.
that
this
motion was relatedto
a N-S trending In summary, most of the shortening in the Andes of
sub-horizontalshortening(Soulas1977).Theage of northern and central Peru appears to be concentrated
thispulse is brackettedpreciselybetween9.5and in the Maraiion and sub-Andean thrust and fold belts.
8.5 Ma in the Ayacucho basin of central Peru (Megard One
would have expected
large
a amount of
et al. 1984). Shortening in anearly E-W direction shorteningtooccur in thewesternmarginalbasin,
characterizes the Quechua 3 phase (Soulas 1977). It is underlain byless-resistantthinnedcontinentalcrust,
dated at about 6 Ma in Ayacucho but is considered to or even by some type of oceanic crust, but this is not
be Pliocene in age in the sub-Andean zone where it the case.Nevertheless,therelationbetweentheeu-
gave rise to the STFB (Fig. 1). andmiogeosynclinalassemblages of the W Peruvian
basinisstill poorlyunderstoodandtheircommon
boundary might actually be a flat thrust.
The Andean deformation in
northern and central Peru
TheMaranonthrustand
The Andean deformation in the Andes of central and fold belt
northernPeru is veryunevenlydistributed(Fig.1).
Along the coast and in the lower part of the Pacific
slope-that is,
in
the
volcanic,volcaniclastic
and The MTFB extends from about 7" to 12"30'S, trends
terrigenous assemblage of themarginal basin of NlWW to N40"W (Fig. 1) and typically comprises an
Atherton et al. (1983)-most of the folds
trend imbricatefaninto which gentlySW-dippingthrust-
NW-SE. They are open, upright and parallel, and a shcetshavebeenstackedupontheautochthonous
steepaxial-planecleavage is common.Thesestruc- pre-Andeanbasement.Itdiffersmarkedlyfromthe
tures are related to the Mochica phase and possibly province lying immediately to the W where thrusts are
also to the Peruvian phase. Further NE, in the upper scarceandsteeper,andthevergence of folds is
Pacific slope, NW-SE trending tight upright chevron- variable.This general pattern was defined between 7"
folds with well-developedaxial-planecleavageare and 9"30'S latitude in northern Peru byWilson and
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896 F. M6gard
Reyes (1964), Wilson et al. (1967) and Reyes (1980). way to the 100 to 300 m thick terrestrial Goyllarisquiz-
IncentralPeru itisalso present(Coney1971),but ga Formation(Benavides1956;Wilson1963).The
here the evidence is commonly more confused because autochthonous basement of the MTFB includes var-
it was strongly overprinted by later structures of the iousrockunits of PrecambriantoLiassicage, all of
Quechua phases. which haveunconformableordisconformablerela-
TheMTFBhasdevelopedinthenortheastward tions.TheGoyllarisquizgaFormationoverlaps all of
taperingwedgethatcomprisesthemiogeosynclinal theseunits,whichthereforedonotbelongtothe
and platformal assemblagesof the northeastern part of tapering wedge.
the W Peruvian basin (see Cobbing et al. 1981). The lack of anytype of subsurfaceinformation
The miogeosynclinalassemblage is exposedinthe prevents the construction of precise balanced sections
southwestern province and is about 4000 m thick (Fig. across the MTFB. Luckily the topographical relief is
3).TheoldestexposedrockunitsaretheChicama 2000m, so thatthegeometry of theMTFBcanbe
Formation in N. Peru and the Oyon Formation S of definedtoacertainextent.Thenortheastern-most
lO"3O'S. BotharelateJurassicinageandinclude thrust-sheets are strictly parallel to the 20"SW dipping
shalesand/orcoallayers,whichbehaveinaductile autochthonousCretaceousunits. A few rampsand
way so thatthemaindCcollementzone is probably associatedanticlines of thefault-bendtype(Suppe
locatedwithinthem.TheNeocomianandAptian 1983)havebeenobserved(Fig.4).Mostthrustsare
Goyllarisquizga Group ismarineandbrackishand locatedintheAlbianmarkbutthethickGoyllaris-
consists of asmuchas 200m of mostlyterrigenous quizgaplatformalsandstonescanalsobedecoupled
rocks. The upper part of the Cretaceous sequence is from
the
underlyingunits.
In
the
southwestern
made up of marine carbonates that include mark, at thrust-sheets, the main dCcollement may be located at
thebottomandthetop,thatalsoprovidegliding the base of the thick Goyllarisquizga basinal assemb-
surfaces. lage,butcommonlythegeometricalconstraintsat
The
contemporaneous platformal
assemblage is depth demand that the Chicama and/or Oyon Forma-
exposed in the MTFB and is only about 1500 m thick tions, or a lateral equivalent, be present at the base of
(Fig.3).Themainchanges of faciesandthickness the thrust-sheets. This is the case at Masin (Figs 3 and
occurin the Chicama or Oyon Formations that thin 4A),where limestoneandgypsum, which are a
out, and the thickGoyllarisquizga Group that gives probable equivalent of the western Chicama Forma-

Chawn Masln r1o Mararion

metre:
l 1 LOWER

UPPER
CRETACEOUS

1000

2000
NEOCOMIAN

3000 UPPER
JURASSIC

B& s h a l e s
sandstones 100 km

m gypsum

FIG.3. Diagram showing the Mesozoic and upper Permian facies and stratigraphic relations at 9 3 , modified from
Cobbing er al. (1981).
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Major
Andean structures
orogenesis
and in Peru 897

FIG. 4. Structural sections through the Maradon thrust and fold belt in central and northern Peru. The locations of
sections are given in Fig. 1. Section A is based on the map byWilson e6 al. (1967) and on observations by J. P.
Soulas and the author. Section B is based on the map by Cobbing & Garayar (Cobbing 1973), on maps and sections
by Romani (1982) and on personal observations. Most of the symbols are given in Fig. 3. Other symbols: Js 0,
Upper JurassicOyonFormation:
Kv,
Cretaceous
eugeosynclinal
volcanic and sedimentary series; TV,
unconformable Tertiary volcanic cover; and Ti, Tertiary intrusive. S, is the Andean schistosity and/or slate cleavage,
both in the basement and in the Mesozoic cover. In section B, the Churin area W of line X has been 'uplifted' by
about 1500 m in order to compensate for the throw related to post-Incaic faulting.

tion,
crop
outbelow the
Goyllarisquizga Group. reactivated old normal fault. Ancilliary effects of the
Along the Rio Huaura section (Fig. 4B), the dCcolle- sole
thrust steepening
at
depth
include, in
this
ment takes place in the Oyon Formation that underlies interpretation, strong
a flattening of thepre-late
thesouthwesternpart of theimbricatefan.Folds Jurassic basement W of the thrust along nearly vertical
nearly parallel to the thrusts are common, but most NW-SE-trending planes. This seems possible since the
anticlines areshearedneartheirhingesorintheir PrecambrianandiorHercynianbasement,knownto
northeastern limbs. In the present interpretation (e.g. theE, comprisesductilerocks of thegreenschist
Fig.4A),part of thesefoldsareassociated with facies. This geometry is very similar to that proposed
subsurface ramps. The MTFB is bounded to the SW on othergroundsfortheSTFB(seebelow).N of
by amajorthrustthatdipssteeplyatthesurface. 7"30'S, thisbasementupthrustappearstokeepits
Vertical slip on this structure amounts to 3000 m in N mean N30" W trend (Janjou et al. 1981) and to induce
Peru, so that the
Chicama Formation crops
out the divergence between the N30" W-striking imbricate
extensively W of thethrust. In cross-section,the fan
andthe
almost E-W-trending folds of the
southwestern province appears as a large mushroom- Cajamarca deflection (Fig. 1).
shapedanticlinoriumwithinwhichthethrustsplay Inthisinterpretation,thebasementhastobe
only
minor
a part. At
mostplaces,
penetrative shortened by an amount equal to that of the Andean
cleavage developed in the Chicama or Oyon Forma- cover.Thegravityglidinghypothesis is eliminated
tionandalsointheshaleyandsiltyunits of the mainly on the grounds that no correlative tectonically
Goyllarisquizga Group (Fig. 4). The interpretation at extended or denudated area has ever been observed to
depth is that the MTFB sole thrust is rooted at a short the W. This is well shown by thefactthatseries of
distancetotheWinanupthrustlocatedunderthe mid-Albian age extend continuously from the Pacific
mushroomanticlinorium;thisupthrust is probablya Ocean to the Brazilian shield. Moreover, there is no
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898 F. Migard

W I E
T F E
Eastern Cordlllera
!I S

FIG.5 . Structural section through the sub-Andean thrust and fold belt, adapted from Pardo (1982). The location of
the section is given in Fig. 1. The solid black layer denotes the Palaeozoic strata, the white overlying layers denote
the Mesozoic-Cenozoic strata.

evidenceforabuoyanthotcorethatwouldcause upthrusts flatten at a depth of about 9000 m (Fig. 4).

lateral gravity spreading. This flat dkcollement appears to be located at the top
Most of the structures of the MTFB developed fully of the Palaeozoic along the major sole-thrust. To the
duringthe
Incaic
phase,
but
some thrusts
were E, W-vergent backthrusts are common in the Meso-
reactivated by theQuechua 1 phase, which
also zoic
series. A study of natural seismicity inthe
refolded some thrust-sheets. The aggregate shortening sub-AndeanzoneandtheeasternCordillerashows
of both phases in the MTFB amounts to about 30 km thatthepresentseismicactivity is concentratedon
onsectionA(Fig. S). The Quechua 2phase, which upthrusts, most of which dip 45" to the W or SW at
had a nearly N-S shortening direction, caused right- depths between 8 and 38 km(Suarez et al. 1983).It
handstrike-slipalongthethrusts(Soulas & MCgard, seems logical to root the sole thrust of the STFB into
unpubl. data). Most of the large steeply plunging drag thesedeeper 45" W-dippingupthrusts.Accordingto
folds observed along the main thrusts developed then. Pardo(1982),seismicdatafromtheHuallagaarea,
MinorQuechua3left-handmovementswerealso between 6" and 8"s latitude, also provide evidence for
imprinted along these thrusts. low-angledCcollement atdepth.In this area,the
decollement level is most likely located in saline layers
at the base of the Mesozoic series or at the top of the
The sub-Andean thrustand Pennsylvaniansequence(Benavides 1968; Rodriguez
fold belt & Chalco1975).Thesaltfrequentlycropsoutas
diapirsalongthethrustsorinthecores of some
When seismic profiling was first performed in northern anticlines.Further S in thesub-Andean hills, the
Peru (Pardo 1982), the STFB was identified as a thrust stratigraphiccolumnandthesurfacestructuresare
and fold belt. Between 3" and 8"s latitude its width is similar; hence it is proposed that the structure at depth
100 km to 150 km, but it decreases southward and is is also similar (MCgard 1984).
only about SO kmat 11"s. Further S, theSTFB of E of the SFTB, steep upthrusts projecting into the
central Peru is incorporated into the eastern Cordillera rigid Precambrainbasementandalong which this
anddiesout,whereas adistinct N80" W-trending basementcropsoutarealsoknown;forexample,
southern Peru
sub-Andean thrust
zone
develops along the eastern flank of the Shira uplift (Fig. 1). The
farther E (Fig. 1). In turn this latter zone is connected amount of shortening related to the STFB cannot be
southward to the Neogene to Quaternary thin-skinned calculated precisely. Along Pardo's cross section (Fig.
sub-Andean thrust
belt of Bolivia and
northern S), it is between 10 and 20 km.
Argentina (Jordan et al. 1983).
IntheSTFB of centralandnorthernPeru,the
sedimentaryprismconsists of 8000 m of Mesozoic- Crustalshorteninginthe
Cenozoic strata that overlie Palaeozoic strata at least Andes of northernand
1000m thick.Atthesurface, it is characterized by centralPeru
parallel
open
folds
that
are
upright or slightly
E-vergent. and by steep upthrusts. The anticlines are Inthepresentstate of knowledge,theMTFBand
relativelynarrowwhencomparedtothewide flat STFB appear to be the major structures of the central
intervening synclines; they have flat axes and some are and N Peruvian Andes, into which twodistinct
more than 100 km long. The upthrusts are commonly tapering wedges have been thrust and folded during
located in theireasternflankandwerethoughtto twosubsequentanddiscretephases of compression,
project to depth with thesamehighdipsand to andhencehavebeenincorporatedintotheAndean
displace the basement (Koch 1962; Megard 1978). In orogen.Thisprocessillustratesthemigration of the
the sub-Andean zone between 3" and S'S the seismic deformation towards the foreland,which is also shown
data of Pardo (1982) show that all the steeply dipping by Fig. 2.
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Major
Andean structures and orogenesis
The shortenings of about 30 km and 15 km, respec-
tively,fortheMTFBandSTFBaresmallwhen
compared with the 160 km to 240 km computed across
theCanadianRockies(seePrice1981;Bally1981).
Neverthelesstheirgeometriesaresimilarinmany
respects.Takingintoaccountthe newlydiscovered
STFB, the 100 km estimate of MCgard (1973, 1978) for
the shortening across the Andes N of Lima should be
raised to about 115 km.Usingtheverysimplistic
hypothesisthatthecrust was 30 kmthickatthe
beginning of theorogenicperiod,andadoptingthe
crustal section proposed by Atherton et al. (1983) at
YS, a 115-km shortening means that more than 50%
of thepresentthickAndeancrust is relatedtothe
Andean compression. The remainder of the sialic root
of theorogenmusthavebeencreated by other
processes, which would include accessions of material
fromthemantleand/orunderplating of materials
drawnalongthesubductionzone.Asregardsthe
latter, it must be emphasized that when dealing with
the tectonic shortening only the area located between
in Peru 899
theParacasgeanticlineandtheBrazilianshieldhas
been considered here. The voluminous prism that may
have accreted during continuous subduction since the
late Jurassic (and possibly the Liassic) along a margin
presentlydevoid of anylargeaccretionaryprism
(Hussong & Wipperman1981)hasnotbeenconsi-
dered in this model. As already suggested by various
authors(Rutland1971; MCgard 1973; Isaacson1975;
Hussong & Wipperman1981;James198l),tectonic
erosion is presently taking place and has occurred in
thepastalongthePeru-Chiletrench,causingthe
accretionaryprismandpossiblyslices of thesialic
basement to be dragged down the subduction zone and
finally to be added to the root by underplating.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I am grateful to the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique and the Institut FranGais d'Etudes
Andinesforproviding both grants and transport in Peru.
Thanks are due to J. P. Soulas and M.Romanifortheir
participation in field work.

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-1968.Salinedeposits of South America. In: MATTOX, the
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Received 29 November 1983; revised typescript accepted 16 February 1984

F. MEGARD,Centre Gkologique et Gtophysique, Universite des Sciences et
TechniquesduLanguedoc,Place E. Batailion, 34060MontpellierCedex,
France.