Tectonic significance and hydrothermal fluid migration within a strike-slip duplex fault-vein network: an example from the Atacama Fault System. The Caleta Coloso Duplex is a brittle strike-slip structure developed along the Atacama Fault System during the Early Cretaceous. A hydrothermal vein system existing within the duplex documents the nature of the link between fluid transport and progressive structural development. The dominantly NW-striking vein system occurs near or at the damage zone of the duplex fault zones. Veins can be classified according to their composition and crosscutting relationships into early chlorite veins, intermediate epidote-quartz veins and late calcite-limonite veins. Some of them exhibit minerals with their long axes oriented orthogonally or obliquely with respect to the vein walls (extension veins and oblique-extension veins), whereas others show mineral fibers that are parallel to striae of the hosting faults (fault-veins). The latter show kinematic indicators that are compatible with those of the faults, suggesting they were synkinematic with strike-slip duplex development. The vein microstructure suggests that they form from fluid-filled open fractures under subhydrosthatic pressures suggesting that mineral precipitation was triggered by pressure drops at shallow crustal levels (<4 km) consistent with the suction pump mechanism. Ar-40/Ar-39 and K-Ar ages between 119 and 141 Ma are interpreted as the approximate time window within which the duplex and veins were developed.

El Dúplex Caleta Coloso es una estructura de rumbo desarrollada durante la deformación frágil del Sistema de Falla de Atacama (SFA) en el Cretácico Temprano. En su interior hay un sistema de vetas hidrotermales que documentan la naturaleza de la relación entre el transporte de fluidos y el desarrollo del dúplex. El sistema de vetas de orientación dominante NW se localiza en la roca de caja, adyacentes a las zonas de falla. Según su mineralogía dominante hay vetas de clorita, epidota-cuarzo y calcita-limonita, y según las relaciones de corte o su estructura interna, se definieron vetas tempranas (clorita), intermedias (epidota-cuarzo) y tardías (calcita-limonitas). Algunas vetas muestran cristales perpendiculares u oblicuos a sus paredes (vetas de extensión y de extensión oblicua) o fibras minerales orientadas paralelas a las estrías de las fallas (vetas-fallas). Estas últimas tienen indicadores cinemáticos compatibles con las fallas, evidenciando que fueron sincinemáticas con el desarrollo del dúplex. Según su microestructura, ellas se habrían formado en fracturas abiertas llenas de fluidos, bajo condiciones de presión inferior a la hidrostática, lo cual indicaría que la precipitación mineral ocurrió por caídas abruptas de la presión en una corteza somera (<4 km), probablemente asistidas por el mecanismo de bomba de succión. Se entregan cinco edades 40Ar/39Ar y K-Ar, entre 119 y 141 Ma. Considerando el contexto geológico y el error analítico asociado a la naturaleza de los minerales datados, estos valores son interpretados como edades aproximadas del desarrollo de las vetas, que son concordantes con los antecedentes geocronológicos existentes.The Caleta Coloso Duplex is a brittle strike-slip structure developed along the Atacama Fault System during the Early Cretaceous. A hydrothermal vein system existing within the duplex documents the nature of the link between fluid transport and progressive structural development. The dominantly NW-striking vein system occurs near or at the damage zone of the duplex fault zones. Veins can be classified according to their composition and crosscutting relationships into early chlorite veins, intermediate epidotic-quartz veins and late calcite-limonite veins. Some of them exhibit minerals with their long axes oriented orthogonally or obliquely with respect to the vein walls (extension veins and oblique-extension veins), whereas others show mineral fibers that are parallel to striae of the hosting faults (fault-veins). The latter show kinematic indicators that are compatible with those of the faults, suggesting they were synkinematic with strike-slip duplex development. The vein microstructure suggests that they form from fluid-filled open fractures under subhydrosthatic pressures suggesting that mineral precipitation was triggered by pressure drops at shallow crustal levels (<4 km) consistent with the suction pump mechanism. 40Ar/39Ar and K-Ar ages between 119 and 141 Ma are interpreted as the approximate time window within which the duplex and veins were developed.

El Dúplex Caleta Coloso es una estructura de rumbo desarrollada durante la deformación frágil del Sistema de Falla de Atacama (SFA) en el Cretácico Temprano. En su interior hay un sistema de vetas hidrotermales que documentan la naturaleza de la relación entre el transporte de fluidos y el desarrollo del dúplex. El sistema de vetas de orientación dominante NW se localiza en la roca de caja, adyacentes a las zonas de falla. Según su mineralogía dominante hay vetas de clorita, epidota-cuarzo y calcita-limonita, y según las relaciones de corte o su estructura interna, se definieron vetas tempranas (clorita), intermedias (epi dota-cuarzo) y tardías ( calcita-limonitas). Algunas vetas muestran cristales perpendiculares u oblicuos a sus paredes (vetas de extensión y de extensión oblicua) o fibras minerales orientadas paralelas a las estrías de las fallas (vetas-fallas). Estas últimas tienen indicadores cinemáticos compatibles con las fallas, evidenciando que fueron sincinemáticas con el desarrollo del dúplex. Según su microestructura, ellas se habrían formado en fracturas abiertas llenas de fluidos, bajo condiciones de presión inferior a la hidrostática, lo cual indicaría que la precipitación mineral ocurrió por caídas abruptas de la presión en una corteza somera (<4 km), probablemente asistidas por el mecanismo de bomba de succión. Se entregan cinco edades 40Arf39 Ar y K-Ar, entre 119 y 141 Ma. Considerando el contexto geológico y el error analítico asociado a la naturaleza de los minerales datados, estos valores son interpretados como edades aproximadas del desarrollo de las vetas, que son concordantes con los antecedentes geocronológicos existentes.

Upper crustal strike-slip duplexes provide an excellent opportunity to address the fundamental question of fault zone development and strain partitioning in an evolving system. Detailed field mapping of the Mesozoic Atacama fault system in the Coastal Cordillera of Northern Chile documents the progressive development of second- and third-order faults forming a duplex at a dilational jog between two overstepping master faults: the sinistral strike-slip, NNW-striking, Jorgillo and Bolfin faults. These are constituted by a meter-wide core of foliated S-C ultracataclasite and cataclasite, flanked by a damage zone of protocataclasite, splay faults and veins. Lateral separation of markers along master faults is on the order of a few kilometers. Second-order, NW-striking, oblique-slip subsidiary fault zones do not show foliated ultracataclasite; lateral sinistral separations are in the range of ∼10 to 200 m with a relatively minor normal dip-slip component. In turn, third-order, east–west striking normal faults exhibit centimetric displacement. Oblique-slip (sinistral–normal) fault zones located at the southern termination of the Bolfin fault form a well-developed imbricate fan structure. They exhibit a relatively simple architecture of extensional and extensional-shear fractures bound by low displacement shear fractures. Kinematic analysis of fault slip data from mesoscopic faults within the duplex area, document that the NW-striking and the EW-striking faults accommodate transtension and extension, respectively. Examination of master and subsidiary faults of the duplex indicates a strong correlation between total displacement and internal fault structure. Faults started from arrays of en echelon extensional/extensional-shear fractures that then coalesced into throughgoing strike-slip faults. Further displacement leads to the formation of discrete bands of cataclasite and ultracataclasite that take up a significant part of the total displacement. We interpret that the duplex formed by progressive linkage of horsetail-like structures at the southern tip of the Bolfin fault that joined splay faults coming from the Jorgillo and Coloso faults. The geometry and kinematics of faults is compared with that observed in analog models to gain an insight into the kinematic processes leading to complex strike-slip fault zones in the upper crust.

The interplay between fluid transport and crustal deformation is fairly well known in theory; however, it has seldom been described in actual field examples. The structural, microstructural and microthermometric analysis of fault-vein networks spatially associated with the Caleta Coloso extensional strike-slip duplex (125-118 Ma) in the Atacama Fault System, in the north of Chile, provides key information regarding the thermodynamics (pressure, temperature and composition) of the fluids responsible for mineral precipitation, giving insights into the triggering mechanisms. Microstructural analysis suggests that quartz, epidote and calcite crystals grew under subhydrostatic pressures in fluid-filled, open spaces. Primary fluid inclusions in quartz and calcite yield homogenization temperatures between 102 and 253 degrees C, with a wide salinity range (3.5%-23.7% of NaCl equivalent weight). Calculated pressures range between 0.4 and 7.4 MPa, which are extremely low values considering the geologic setting of the veins suggesting depths of at least 3 km. These pressure values document a significant, local fluid pressure drop that may have triggered boiling and mineral precipitation in upper crustal dilational sites of the Caleta Coloso Duplex.

La interaccion entre transporte de fluidos y deformacion cortical es relativamente bien conocida teoricamente, sin embargo, escasamente documentada en ejemplos reales. El examen estructural, microestructural y microtermometrico de redes de fracturas-vetas asociadas, en tiempo y espacio, al duplex de rumbo extensional Caleta Coloso (125-118 Ma) en el Sistema de Falla Atacama,en el norte de Chile, entrega informacion clave sobre las condiciones termodinamicas (presion, temperatura y composicion) de los fluidos responsables de la precipitacion mineral, senalando evidencias de los mecanismos que la gatillaron. El analisis microestructural indica que los cristales de cuarzo, calcita y epidota crecieron en espacios abiertos, llenos de fluido y a presion subhidrostatica. Las inclusiones fluidas primarias en cuarzo y calcita arrojaron temperaturas de homogenizacion entre 102 y 253°C, con un amplio rango de salinidades (3,5-23,7 % en peso de NaCl equivalente). Las presiones obtenidas varian entre 0,4 y 7,4 MPa, valores muy bajos para el contexto geologico de las vetas, el cual indica una profundidad de generacion de al menos 3 km. Estos valores de presion documentan una drastica caida local de la presion de fluido que pudo haber generado ebullicion y precipitacion mineral en la corteza superior en sitios dilatacionales del Duplex Caleta Coloso.

1 Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias, Mencion Geologia, Departamento Ciencias Geotôgicas, Universidad Catélica del Norte-MECE Educacion Superior, Casilla 1280, Antofagasta, Chile; vtapia@ucn.cl 2 Departamento Ciencias Geolôgicas, Universidad Catôlica del Norte, Casilla 1280, Antofagasta, Chile 3 Laboratorio Geolôgico, Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria, Avda. Til-Til 1993, NulÏoa, Santiago, Chile 4 Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, U.K.