A walk through the Torres del Paine intrusive complex and its contact aureole

The Torres del Paine National park is home to spectacular geology. Huge granite cliffs offer a unique view of a shallow magma chamber. It is completely surrounded by Cretaceous black turbidite sequences offering a unique chance to study the temporal and thermal aspects of rapid growth of a magma chamber. In my presentation I will use field observations, geochemistry, high precision zircon dating, phase petrology, and thermal modeling to paint a detailed picture of the evolution of this shallow magma chamber. The knowledge of the igneous history allows to constrain metamorphic kinetics. The exhumation of the area can then be traced with metamorphic petrology and (U-Th)/He thermochronology.