North Patagonian Batholith

The Patagonian batholith is a series of igneous plutons in the Patagonian Andes. The batholith extendes from Navarino Island at 55 °S to the Lonquimay area at 39 °S. It is made of granite, granodiorite and tonalite. The Patagonian Batholith is not uniform and is considered to be composed of two large batholiths:

• The Northern Patagonian Batholith (Spanish: Batolito Nor-Patagónico) are a series of plutons of granodioritic, tonalitic and dioritic composition located in the southern Andes. The plutons of the North Patagonian Batholith are of Cretaceous to Miocene age (135 Ma to 25-15 Ma). Late Miocene to early Pliocene (10 t0 5 Ma) leucogranites were also intruded. The Tertiary intrusions are centered on the strike-slip Liquine-Ofqui fault zone and include some gabbro bodies. The region was deeply eroded during the Quaternary glaciation.
• The Southern Patagonian Batholith and the Fuegian batholith extend from 47 to 55 °S and include mafic (gabbro) to felsic (granite) bodies. Age of intrusion ranges from 151 to 16 Ma.