Geophysical and geological character of the northern sector of Río Negro province

Abstract

In the north sector of Río Negro and southern La Pampa provinces, gravimetric and magnetometer surveys distinguish seven different geological areas. The Neuquén Basin extends as far as Chelforó and its gravimetric signature disappears progressively eastward and north-eastward toward the Chimpay-Governor Duval High, as well as south-eastward to the high-gradient Bajo de Trapalcó-Chimpay area. Several depocenters expressed as gravimetric minima, associated with the Huincul Fault are located between Chimpay and Chichinales. The Estancia El Caldén Basin, formed of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks and located east of Choele Choel, could be related to the Huincul Fault. Basement highs of Pampean and Neoproterozoic age (Río Colorado High and Chimpay-Governor Duval High) extend south, and are truncated by the Huincul Fault. A similar configuration occurs in the Carapacha Basin, and the acidic rocks of the Choique Mahuida Formation and equivalents, which also extend as far as the Huincul Fault. The Huincul Fault crosses the entire Río Negro Province to the longitude of Río Colorado, maintaining a dextral type behaviour along strike. South of the Río Negro, the Choele Choel High, formed by Pampean- and Gondwana age rocks, has been displaced sporadically in easterly and northwesterly directions between late Palaeozoic and mid-late Cretaceous times.