Altos estructurales costa afuera en la región de Valparaíso, Chile central Offshore structural highs at Valparaíso region, central Chile

By means of satellite 3-D altimetry, a 40 km submarine alignment sited at 32º-33º south latitude on the shelf break in slope, 27 km offshore Valparaíso region, was detected and described. The alignment consists of three peaks at 200, 733 and 880 m below sea level bearing N10ºW and showing 1230, 1350 and 1545 m relief relative to the surface of the upper slope. According to the international standards for undersea features, the names of Los Molles, Horcón and Zapallar are proposed for them in a northward trend. The whole morphological pattern suggests a non confined block displacement of the outer shelf relative to the surface of the upper slope border implying a Holocene subsidence displacement possibly related to the stresses and seismicity generated by the subduction of the Papudo asperity below the middle slope.