Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex

The Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex is a geologic complex composed chiefly of metamorphic rocks located in southern Tierra del Fuego. It has been suggested that the Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex is analogous to the Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex.^[1][2] The Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex is the only metamorphic complex in the southern Andes known to have amphibolite facies rocks containing kyanite and sillimanite which evidences high-grade metamorphism. High-grade metamorphism took place during the Cretaceous purportedly in association with the closure of the Rocas Verdes Basin.^[2]

Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex
Stratigraphic range: Cretaceous
Type	Complex
Underlies	Tobífera Formation
Lithology
Primary	Metasediments, metavolcanics, orthogneiss
Location
Coordinates	54.75°S 69.5°W / -54.75; -69.5
Region	Magallanes Region, Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)
Country	Chile  Argentina
Type section
Named for	Cordillera Darwin
Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex (Chile)

The protoliths of Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex are unrelated to Tierra del Fuego Igneous and Metamorphic Complex despite present-day proximity.^[2]

References

1. Hervé, F.; Faundez, V.; Calderón, M.; Massonne, H.-J.; Willner, A.P. (2007). "Metamorphic and plutonic basement complexes". In Moreno, Teresa; Gibbons, Wes (eds.). The Geology of Chile. Geological Society of London. pp. 7–20.
2. Hervé, F.; Fanning, C.M.; Pankhurst, R.J.; Mpodozis, C.; Klepeis, K.; Calderón, M.; Thomson, S.N. (2010). "Detrital zircon SHRIMP U–Pb age study of the Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex of Tierra del Fuego: sedimentary sources and implications for the evolution of the Pacific margin of Gondwana" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society, London. 167 (3): 555–568. doi:10.1144/0016-76492009-124. S2CID 129413187.