Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270

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Journal of South American Earth Sciences

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Structural control of the emplacement of the Portrerillos porphyry copper,

central Andes of Chile
Hans Niemeyer *, Rodrigo Munizaga
Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Casilla 1280, Antofagasta, Chile

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: The Potrerillos porphyry is located in the Late Eocene–Oligocene metallogenic belt of porphyry copper
Porphyry deposits of Chile, Cordillera de Domeyko, central Andes. It is formed of a porphyritic biotite–hornblende
Reverse fault monzonite that was emplaced at less than 1000 m depth. The intrusion has a cylindrical vertical form at
Anticline depth, whereas its uppermost section resembles a mushroom whose stem is inclined 20–25° to the north-
Cleavage
west. The location of the Potrerillos porphyry coincides with a major facies and east–west thickness change
Transpression
in Jurassic to Late Cretaceous marine sedimentary and Tertiary volcanic host rocks. Structurally, the por-
phyry was emplaced at the intersection between the northeast-oriented Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt,
and a system of northwest-trending strike-slip faults of the Ciénaga fault system. Both structural elements
are related to a sinistral regional transpression that was active during the Middle to Late Eocene. The north–
northeast trending Sierra Castillo-Agua Amarga fault system was trench-linked with an oblique subduction
along the Peru–Chile trench in the southwestern part of South America at this time. One of the main struc-
tural elements of the Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt is the eastward verging Potrerillos Mine reverse fault.
We demonstrate a syntectonic relationship between the Potrerillos porphyry emplacement and the onset of
the Potrerillos Mine fault. The control at the shallowest levels of the Potrerillos porphyry emplacement was
studied by means of a structural analysis of folds, cleavage and deformed oolites in the country rock. This
analysis suggests that the porphyry occupied the core of an anticline. The form of this anticline was modeled
as a fault-propagation-fold taking into account a 200 m displacement along the basal fault and a local short-
ening of 45.5% occurred. This model is compatible with a limited displacement along the Potrerillos Mine
fault under hot, ductile conditions. The remaining displacement of 1600 m would have taken place after-
wards under cold, brittle conditions. The Potrerillos porphyry was emplaced during a transpressional
regime within the Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt. The fact that the cleavage does not show a concentric dis-
tribution around the Potrerillos porphyry, discounts the possibility of a forced emplacement of the por-
phyry, pushing aside its wall rocks. This is reinforced by the deformed oolites which do not show a strain
gradient from outside towards the edge of the body. The clockwise transection of the fold axes by the cleav-
age and the southeast direction of displacement along the Potrerillos Mine fault are interpreted as related to
the regional sinistral transpression related to the Sierra Castillo Fault movement.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a r t i c l e i n f o r e s u m e n

Palabras clave: El Pórfido Potrerillos se ubica en la Franja metalogénica de pórfidos cupríferos, de edad eoceno-oligocena,
Pórfido en la Cordillera de Domeyko, Andes centrales de Chile. Se trata de una monzonita porfírica de biotita y
Falla inversa hornblenda que se emplazó a unos 1.000 m bajo la paleosuperficie del Eoceno–Oligoceno. El intrusivo
Anticlinal tiene forma de un cilindro vertical en profundidad, en tanto que en su parte superior presenta el aspecto
Clivaje
de un hongo con su tallo inclinado 20–25° hacia el noroeste. Desde el punto de vista estratigráfico, el
Compresión
lugar de emplazamiento del Pórfido Potrerillos coincide con un cambio de facies y de espesor mayor,
en sentido este-oeste, dentro de secuencias sedimentarias marinas del Jurásico-Cretácico y también de
rocas volcánicas del Terciario inferior. Desde el punto de vista estructural, el Pórfido se emplazó en un
lugar de intersección entre la Faja plegada y corrida de Potrerillos, con orientación noreste, y el Sistema
de fallas Ciénaga, formado por fallas transcurrentes de rumbo noroeste. Ambos elementos estructurales
se relacionan, a escala regional, con una transpresión siniestral cuya actividad se remonta al Eoceno

* Corresponding author. Fax: +56 55 355977.

E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Niemeyer).

0895-9811/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2008.08.006
262 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270

medio a superior. La falla maestra en torno a la cual ocurrió dicha transpresión es la Falla Sierra Castillo-
Agua Amarga, de rumbo norte-noreste. Se trata de una falla relacionada con la subducción oblicua a lo
largo de la fosa chileno-peruana. Uno de los rasgos más prominentes de la Faja plegada y corrida de Potr-
erillos es la Falla inversa de la Mina Potrerillos que, con vergencia al este, desplaza al Pórfido Potrerillos. A
nivel local, se ha demostrado una relación de sintectonismo entre la Falla inversa de la Mina Potrerillos y
el emplazamiento del Pórfido. Se estudió el control estructural superior de éste mediante el análisis
estructural de pliegues, clivaje y oolitas deformadas. Este análisis sugiere que el Pórfido Potrerillos se
emplazó en el núcleo de un anticlinal. La forma de dicho anticlinal se modeló como un pliegue por prop-
agación de falla, tomando en cuenta un desplazamiento de sólo 200 m a lo largo de la falla basal y un
acortamiento local de 45.5%. El control estructural local del emplazamiento del Pórfido se debe al efecto
de transpresión que afectó a toda la región de Potrerillos. El hecho de que la disposición del clivaje no sea
concéntrica al pórfido excluye la posibilidad de que dicho cuerpo haya forzado la roca de caja hacia fuera.
Esto se comprueba al constatar que las oolitas deformadas no muestran una variación sistemática su elip-
ticidad desde afuera hacia adentro, en el entorno inmediato del pórfido. El clivaje transecto en sentido
horario respecto de los ejes de los pliegues, a la vez que el desplazamiento al sureste de la Falla de la Mina
Potrerillos indican la fuerte compresión relacionada con transpresión siniestral, a nivel regional, relacio-
nada con el movimiento de la Falla Sierra Castillo.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction zone (Reutter et al., 1991) and having activity contemporaneous

with emplacement of numerous Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene
The Potrerillos porphyry is located in the Late Eocene–Oligo- porphyry copper deposits in the Andean Cordillera of northern
cene metallogenic belt of porphyry copper deposits of Chile, in Chile (Maksaev and Zentilli, 1988; Sillitoe, 1988; Lindsay et al.,
the Domeyko fault system, Central Andes (Fig. 1), a trench-linked 1995; Reutter et al., 1996). One of those porphyry copper deposits
strike-slip fault system associated with the Peru–Chile subduction is the El Salvador copper deposit (Cornejo et al., 1997), located
32 km to the northwest of the Potrerillos porphyry along the Sierra
Castillo Fault which is part of the Domeyko fault system.
In the present contribution the main characteristics of the
Potrerillos porphyry and its structural setting are described and
the emplacement mechanism discussed, providing new insights
about its structural control. Indeed, the main contribution of this
paper is a systematic study of the folds, cleavage and deformation
of oolites around the Potrerillos porphyry. The study of those
structural features is important because they have formed during
the emplacement of the intrusion and were controlled by an epi-
sode of compression and thrust faulting that affected the Potrer-
illos district. This compression is related with a regional
transpression that occurred in the region of Potrerillos and El
Salvador.

2. Regional structural control

The main structure in the region of the Potrerillos district is the

Sierra Castillo-Agua Amarga regional fault system that crosses the
region in a north–northeastern direction in the Domeyko Cordillera
(Fig. 2). The Sierra Castillo fault is subvertical, with considerable
sinistral strike-slip throw (no more than several tens of km;
Cornejo et al., 1997), juxtaposing Paleozoic basement rocks on
the east over Jurassic and Cretaceous volcanic sequences on the
west. The Agua Amarga fault is steeply dipping to the west with
considerable eastward reverse throw, placing the Jurassic and
Cretaceous volcanic formations of the west hanging-wall over
Paleocene–Early Eocene volcanic units of the footwall (Tomlinson
et al., 1993, 1994). Despite their contrasting throw, the Sierra
Castillo and Agua Amarga faults are considered different segments
of the same fault system. Intrusive rocks dated as Eocene are cut by
related faults of this system which is proof of post-Eocene activity
of the system (Tomlinson et al., 1993).
The Potrerillos district occurs at the structural intersection be-
tween the Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt (PFTB, Fig. 2) and a
northwest strike-slip fault system, namely the Ciénaga fault sys-
tem (CFS, Fig. 2). The Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt is a southeast
Fig. 1. Location of the Potrerillos porphyry in the upper Eocene–Oligocene
vergent belt exhibiting two different styles of deformation in its
metallogenic belt of northern Chile, central Andes. The Domeyko fault system is
shown schematically. SCF: Sierra Castillo fault. WF: West fissure. Location of northwestern and southeastern parts (Olson, 1984; Tomlinson
porphyries are drawn by squares. Modified from Camus (2003). et al., 1994). The northwestern part shows thick-skinned folding
 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270 263

Fig. 3. General scheme of the Potrerillos mining district, indicating the different
porphyries. The age of porphyries is indicated in Ma according to 40Ar/39Ar
determinations from Marsh et al. (1997). 1: porphyries, 2: strike-slip faults, 3: high-
angle reverse faults, 4: low-angle reverse faults, 5: mines, Cu: copper, Au: gold. Map
after Olson (1984) and Cornejo et al. (1993).

Ciénaga fault is a regional fault, 20 km long, with a sinistral dis-

placement of about 2 km. The age of the activity of this system is
well documented by a group of Eocene rhyolitic domes that in-
truded through the faults, southeast of the district (Cornejo et al.,
1993).
All the above mentioned structural elements have been inter-
preted to be the result of a sinistral regional transpression that
took place during the Middle to Late Eocene related to the Sierra
Castillo fault, which acted as a master fault (Tomlinson et al.,
1994). A sinistral displacement of the Sierra Castillo fault was
Fig. 2. Regional structural setting of the Potrerillos mining district (PMD). PB:
determined on a regional scale by Cornejo et al. (1993) and also
Paleozoic basement. PFTB: Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt. CFS: Ciénaga Fault
system. BWF: Bailey Willis Fault. PMF: Potrerillos Mine Fault. In white: Jurassic– was locally studied by Niemeyer (1999) in its northern part. It is
Early Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and early tertiary volcanic rocks. 1: strike-slip related to the oblique southeastward-directed subduction of the
faults, 2: high-angle reverse faults, 3: low-angle reverse faults. Thick black arrows oceanic Nazca plate under the continental South American plate
show the regional sense of transpression. Map simplified after Tomlinson et al. that occurred at this time (Pilger, 1984; Pardo-Casas and Molnar,
(1994).
1987).
From a stratigraphic point of view, the location of the Potrerillos
and thrusting, involving deformation of the Paleozoic basement district coincides with a major facies and thickness change in mar-
(PB, Fig. 2). The high-angle north–south trending Bailey Willis re- ine sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
verse fault (BWF, Fig. 2) that crosses the western part of the district age. Thick (1500–2000 m) sequences of andesitic lava flows inter-
belongs to this part of the belt (Fig. 3). bedded with sandstone and minor limestone crop out on the west
The southeastern part of the Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt is side of the district, whereas much thinner sequences (1000 m) of
characterized by thin-skin, ramp-and-flat style folding and thrust- limestone, sandstone, gypsum and marl crop out on the east side
ing, which affects a sequence of Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous sed- of the district (Olson, 1984). The abrupt facies and thickness
imentary marine rocks and the Paleocene–Eocene volcanic cover changes, and their persistence along strike (Tobar, 1978; Müller
rocks. A number of northeast trending low-angle thrust faults form and Perelló, 1982) suggest that this zone was occupied by down-
part of this belt (Tobar, 1978; Müller and Perelló, 1982) including to-the-west normal/growth faults active during sedimentation
the Potrerillos Mine fault (PMF, Fig. 2). It is the most important and volcanism (Olson, 1989). According to Olson (1989), this is
structural element of the Potrerillos district and upthrusts Juras- the primary condition that favored the emplacement of the Potrer-
sic–Cretaceous sedimentary rocks over Paleocene–Eocene volcan- illos porphyry.
ics (Olson, 1984). It has no continuity towards the northeast,
abutting itself 2 km to the northeast of the Potrerillos porphyry 3. Local structural control
(Tomlinson et al., 1999).
The Ciénaga fault system (CFS, Fig. 2) is represented in the Potr- The Potrerillos porphyry is one of several porphyry stocks
erillos district by the Ciénaga and San Antonio faults (Fig. 3). The grouped in an area of 60 km2 in the Potrerillos mining district
264 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270

(Fig. 3). These stocks have been dated as Late Eocene–Early Oligo- 4. The Potrerillos porphyry stock
cene age (Olson, 1984; Marsh et al., 1997), and were emplaced in
Mesozoic sedimentary marine country rocks (Marticorena and Ta- 4.1. Shape
pia, 1981). Copper and gold mineralization is hosted by some of
these porphyries and has been exploited in the Potrerillos, El Hueso The shape of the Potrerillos porphyry stock can be observed at
and Agua de la Falda mines (Fig. 3). The porphyries, sedimentary present in the collapse crater caused by the sublevel-stoping under-
host rocks, and Paleocene–Eocene volcanic cover rocks were de- ground mine operation, in mine galleries and in the natural relief in
formed by southeast compressive directed tectonics during the its southeastern edge. The body has a cylindrical vertical form at
Late Eocene–Early Oligocene. Consequently, a syntectonic relation- depth but at shallower levels resembles a mushroom whose stem
ship between the Potrerillos porphyry emplacement and the onset is inclined 20–25° to the northwest (Hevia, 1997). Such form is re-
of the Potrerillos Mine reverse fault movement has been proposed flected in its dimensions, with a superficial length of 2000 m in a
(Olson, 1984; Tomlinson, 1994). north–south direction by 600 m wide in an east–west direction

Fig. 4. Geologic-structural map of the Potrerillos porphyry and its country rocks. Faults are after Olson (1984) except the San Antonio Fault trace and sense of shear that is
after Cornejo et al. (1993). The map shape of the Potrerillos porphyry is after old mine plans of Anaconda Co. Folds, foliation, dip measurements and extend of the
metamorphic aureole are part of this study. a, b, c, d, e and f are structural locations mentioned in the text.
 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270 265

(Fig. 4). In contrast at depth, 150 m below the surface, it only reaches 5. The deep structural control
900 m by 300 m. In its southern end, the porphyry displays three
dikes striking northeast. The northern one, 200 m wide, is connected The Potrerillos porphyry is exposed across a vertical section of
at depth with the main body of the porphyry. The two more southern 1200 m, taking into account the mine workings and drill holes of
dikes are separated from the main body, allowing the observation of the Potrerillos Mine. This allows study of the deep structural levels
the country rock in between. In addition, it displays in its eastern of this body.
flank many small apophysies (Fig. 4). The westernmost drill holes, drilled nearly 800 m deep from the
Las Vegas Tunnel, suggest a displacement of the Paleozoic base-
4.2. Petrography ment–Mesozoic cover contact at the location of the Potrerillos por-
phyry root (Tomlinson, 1994). This displacement was interpreted
The Potrerillos porphyry consists of a porphyritic biotite–horn- by Olson (1989) as one of several local normal faults, down-throw
blende monzonite with a microgranular groundmass. The pheno- to the west, that was generated during the Jurassic–Paleocene
crysts consist of tabular subhedral plagioclase (variable in size interval. According to Olson (1989), this system of normal faults
from 0.6 to 5.8 mm; 30–33%), quartz (1–1.2 mm; 4–5%) with would have formed the fundamental structural control of the loca-
rounded edges and embayments, and subhedral biotite and horn- tion of the Potrerillos porphyry.
blende of variable sizes from 0.8 to 2 mm (2–3%). The groundmass A very different interpretation was suggested by Cornejo et al.
is formed of a microgranular intergrowth of quartz and K-feldspar (1993). According to these authors, the mentioned displacement
of 0.04–0.05 mm in diameter. would be associated with a north–west trending strike-slip fault
This porphyry was affected by successive stages of hydrother- which would be a branch of the Ciénaga fault. The location of the
mal alteration, with K-silicate overprinted by sericitic alteration. Potrerillos porphyry would have been favored by the great depth
A dense stockwork of quartz veinlets with development of central reached by this type of fault within the continental crust
sulfide seams is associated with the hydrothermal alteration (Woodcock and Schubert, 1994). On the other hand, it is observed
(Hevia, 1997). that the San Antonio fault, having similar strike-slip character and
sense of movement, cuts the Potrerillos porphyry (Fig. 4). This indi-
4.3. Country rocks cates that the activity of the Ciénaga fault system persisted until a
time younger than 35 Ma.
The oldest rocks which form the basement of the sedimentary The easternmost deep drill holes from the Las Vegas Tunnel show
Jurassic–Cretaceous cover consist of the Montandón Permian gran- that the Potrerillos porphyry is lacking in the footwall of the Potrer-
itoid (intersected by deep drilling from the Las Vegas Tunnel of the illos Mine fault, which truncates the upper part of this body. Based on
Potrerillos Mine; Tomlinson et al., 1999). This west–northwest this fact and other structural arguments, Tomlinson (1994) and Ol-
trending tunnel is the main access to the Potrerillos underground son (1984) estimated for the Potrerillos Mine fault a displacement
mine. The Montandón granitoid is overlain by black marls and car- of 1800 m between the root of the porphyry and its upper part.
bonaceous limestones of the Early Jurassic Montandón Formation, The observations made by Tomlinson (1994) along the Potreril-
which is unconformably covered by oolitic sparitic and micritic los Mine fault indicate that the porphyry was affected by an early
limestones, with gypsum intercalations, and andesitic lava flows episode of ductile deformation. During this episode mylonitic
of the Callovian Asientos Formation (Tobar, 1978; Pérez, 1982; schists with kinematic indicators of reverse displacement were
Müller and Perelló, 1982). This sequence is followed upwards by formed. Furthermore, these schists were mineralized during a
the Pedernales Formation (Tithonian–Neocomian), formed by hydrothermal alteration event. Following the ductile deformation
marls and porphyritic andesites, which are overlain by fossiliferous a huge brittle displacement occurred, which produced a number
sandy limestones (Olson, 1989). Red sandstones of the Early Creta- of tectonic lenses along the fault zone. Based on the above observa-
ceous Agua Helada Formation (García, 1967) cap the Mesozoic tions, we infer that the Potrerillos Mine fault was active when the
marine sequence. The Mesozoic sequence is unconformably over- porphyry was still hot and ductile. A limited extent of the meta-
lain by Paleocene volcanic breccias that alternate with trachyande- morphic aureole in the hanging-wall block suggest a displacement
sitic lavas (Olson, 1984). If the porphyry intruded the basal layers of only 200 m along the fault (Cornejo et al., 1993). After the
of the Asientos Formation, then a depth of emplacement no greater emplacement of the porphyry, the Potrerillos Mine fault would
than 1000 m can be inferred. have continued its displacement in brittle form, completing there-
The country rocks of the Potrerillos porphyry show a 150 m by the 1800 m offset. This agrees with Olson observations (2005,
wide contact metamorphic aureole characterized by hornfels personal communication) in the sense that the majority of the
development within rocks of the Montandón and Asientos Forma- movement took place after emplacement of the porphyry and asso-
tions. The hornfels is characterized by an assemblage of garnet, ciated mineralizing events, as evidenced by: (a) mineralized por-
wollastonite, enstatite, diopside, epidote, zoisite, clinozoisite and phyry juxtaposes against fresh limestone by the Potrerillos Mine
tremolite (March, 1935). Fault in several drill holes and (b) one drill hole passing from fresh
limestone, through a fault zone, into mineralized porphyry, and out
4.4. Ages into mineralized wall rock.
The age of the compressive deformation that produced the dis-
The Potrerillos porphyry has a hornblende cooling 40Ar/39Ar age placement along the Potrerillos fault is bracketed between 35 Ma
of 35.87 ± 0.21 Ma (Marsh et al., 1997). Based on 40Ar/39Ar ages of (the 40Ar/39Ar age of the Potrerillos porphyry), and 33 Ma (the
hydrothermal minerals such as biotite and sericite, Marsh et al. radiometric age of the El Hueso porphyry; Marsh et al., 1997),
(1997) inferred that the duration of the hydrothermal system gen- which is cut and displaced by faults associated with the compres-
erated by the porphyry would have lasted about 230,000 ± sional deformation (Fig. 2).
210,000 yr at a ±1r confidence level.
On the other hand, the data collected by Marsh et al. (1997)
indicate that the different porphyries in the district correspond 6. Uppermost structural control
to discrete pulses in time. For example, the Norte porphyry, that
immediately preceded the Potrerillos porphyry, has a hornblende The uppermost structural control on the emplacement of the
40
Ar/39Ar age of 36.76 ± 0.20 Ma (Fig. 1). Potrerillos porphyry is a factor that has previously not been taken
266 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270

Fig. 5. Northwest–southeast structural section across the Potrerillos porphyry and its country rocks. The line of this structural section is shown in Fig. 4 as AA0 . The trace of
the cleavage Cl is shown in dashed lines. Also the strain ellipses are projected on the section. These correspond from left to right to the following samples reported in Table 1:
SP507, MV12, MV1, MV2, QH1A, MV15A and MV15B. The shaded area corresponds to the metamorphic aureole around the porphyry.

into account. The present contribution depicts this deformation The cleavage has an anastomosed aspect at outcrop scale far
that accompanied and made possible the emplacement of the por- from the porphyry (Fig. 7). Its intensity increases when approach-
phyry. These structures go from the scale of the geologic map ing the porphyry. In fact, within the metamorphic aureole of this
through the scale of the outcrop, to the microscopic scale, and cor- body the limestones of the Asientos Formation show complete
respond to folds, cleavage and deformed oolites. They are strong recrystallization to a carbonate schist, in which the cleavage ap-
additional evidence of compression during the emplacement of pears defined by a strong foliation. This variation in the cleavage
the Potrerillos porphyry.

6.1. Folds

A group of hectometer-scale folds in anticline–syncline–anti-

cline succession with north–northwest and north–northeast
trending axes occur in the southern and eastern sides of the Potr-
erillos porphyry (Fig. 4). The best-developed fold is the Potrerillos
porphyry anticline, having an axis plunging 10° to the north–
northwest (structural location ‘‘a”, Fig. 4). Its hinge is exposed
for 1500 m along its axis across the country rock between the
three southern dikes of the porphyry. At the northern end of
the porphyry, this fold has continuity but it has a much more
open character. The smooth inclination of the porphyry to the
northwest (20–25°), suggests that this body moved towards the
southeast and intruded into the core of the anticline. Structural
section A–A0 of Fig. 5 shows the position of the Potrerillos por-
phyry in the core of the anticline. The intrusion of the porphyry
Fig. 6. Fold of the class 1B–C in competent sparitic limestone layers (s), in contrast
in the core of the fold could have been influenced by brittle to fold of classes 2 and 3 in incompetent micritic limestone layers (m). In the
behaviour of its eastern flank in the style of a fault-propaga- sparitic layers the cleavage is disjunctive, in comparison with the micritic layers,
tion-fold modeled by Mugnier and Rossetti (1990). The strongly where the cleavage is continuous. The black arrow indicates the inferred direction
fractured nature of the forelimb of such a model would explain of tectonic shortening. S0 is bedding, Cls is cleavage in sparitic layers, Clm is cleavage
in micritic layers. (1) The elongation of the deformation ellipsoid is parallel to L = S0
the numerous small apophysies of the porphyry observed in its \ Cl. (2) The elongation of the strain ellipsoid is perpendicular to L = S0 \ Cl.
eastern edge.
Another area where an intense hectometer-scale to meter-scale
folding with north–northeast striking axes is observed, is the sec-
tor that extends to the east of the Potrerillos porphyry (structural
location b, Fig. 4). There the folding affected sparitic limestones
(more competent) and produced folds of classes 1B and C, which
conserved the thickness of the layers during the deformation. On
the other hand, folds produced in micritic limestones (more incom-
petent) are of classes 2 and 3 of Ramsay and Huber (1987), which
are characterized by thickening of their hinges in contrast with
thinning of their flanks (Fig. 6).

6.2. Cleavage

Around the Potrerillos porphyry an intense cleavage can be ob-

served (Marticorena and Tapia, 1981; Olson, 1984) and this is
strong evidence of the compression that occurred during the
emplacement of the porphyry. The origin of the cleavage is inferred
to be related to the softening of the rocks due to circulation of fluid
(Etheridge and Wall, 1983) that in this case was transferred from Fig. 7. Anastomosed disjunctive cleavage in sparitic limestones of the Asientos
the porphyry to its wall rock. Formation, southern end of the Potrerillos porphyry. S0 is bedding, Cl is cleavage.
 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270 267

characteristics across the metamorphic aureole of the Potrerillos

porphyry, led Cornejo et al. (1993) to consider it as synchronous
with the intrusion.
The fact that the cleavage does not show a concentric distribu-
tion around the Potrerillos porphyry (Fig. 4), discounts the possibil-
ity of a forced emplacement of the porphyry, pushing aside its wall
rock. This is an additional piece of evidence to support that the por-
phyry was passively emplaced in the core of the Potrerillos por-
phyry anticline. In fact, the cleavage pattern reflects the
compressive character of the tectonic environment in which
the stock was emplaced. Cornejo et al. (1993) has shown that the
cleavage was generated simultaneously with the reverse displace-
ment of the Potrerillos Mine fault.
According to Borradaile et al.’s (1982) classification the cleavage
is disjunctive in sparitic limestones where it has a spacing of the
order of 1–2 cm, whereas in micritic limestones it has a continuous
macroscopic aspect. This lithologic control is also reflected in a dif-
ferent attitude of the cleavage with respect to the bedding plane, a
phenomenon known as refraction of the cleavage (Ramsay, 1982).
The mapping around the Potrerillos porphyry shows the general
attitude of the cleavage and its relationship with the bedding and
folding in the neighborhood of the stock (Fig. 4). The attitude of the Fig. 9. Determination of the slip vector for the Potrerillos Mine fault from the
cleavage was measured in some specific structural locations (c, d, e orientation of cleavage with respect to the thrust. Projection in Schmidt stereonet,
and f in Fig. 4). The location ‘‘c” gave a mean cleavage of N29°E/ lower hemisphere. F correspond to the mean trend of folds around the Potrerillos
66°NW; location ‘‘d” provided a mean cleavage orientation of porphyry. Thick black arrows show the regional sense of transpression. Modified
from Cornejo et al. (1993).
N42°E/73°NW; for location ‘‘e” it is N22°E/70°NW; and location
‘‘f” the orientation is N43°E/59°NW (Fig. 8). The cleavage transects
clockwise the axes of the folds (Fig. 4). This clockwise transection is
interpreted as the effect of the left lateral transpression that af-
fected the rocks in the entire region (Fig. 2). This agrees with the
inferred southeastward direction of thrust along the Potrerillos
Mine fault by Cornejo et al. (1993), (Fig. 9).

6.3. Deformed oolites

Deformed oolites, as well as the cleavage, are excellent strain

indicators associated with the emplacement of the Potrerillos por-
phyry (Fig. 10). The deformation of oolites in the Asientos Forma-
tion is restricted only to the environs of the Potrerillos porphyry,
and this feature does not have a regional distribution within the
Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt. In fact, oolites lacking deformation
have been illustrated for the Asientos Formation far from the Potr-
erillos porphyry by Pérez (1982).
In order to study the strain field around the Potrerillos por-
phyry, oolitic limestone samples of the Asientos Formation with
Fig. 10. Photomicrograph of deformed oolites in a sparitic limestone of Asientos
Formation.

well-developed cleavage and strained oolites were collected. The

deformed character of the oolites can easily be observed in the field
with the help of a magnifying lens. We have verified that the direc-
tion of maximum shortening is perpendicular to the cleavage
plane. Each sample was cut in two directions. One section was
made parallel to the intersection between the bedding and the
cleavage (section // to S0 \ Cl). The other section was made perpen-
dicular to this intersection (section \ to S0 \ Cl).
Microscopic photographs of deformed oolites were analyzed by
the method of Fry (1979) using the GeoFry-Plot program
(Holcombe, 1999), in order to determine the strain ellipses. The
values of ellipticity, or ratio of the largest axis to the smaller axis,
in the sections are indicated in Table 1.
The plotting of the ratios Rxy (ratio of largest to intermediate
Fig. 8. Attitude of the cleavage in different stations around the Potrerillos porphyry.
Structural locations c, d, e and f are shown in Fig. 4. See text for the mean
axis of the strain ellipse) and Ryz (ratio of intermediate to smaller
orientation of the cleavage in each location. Projection in a Schmidt stereonet, lower axis of the strain ellipse) in the Flinn diagram indicates that the
hemisphere. ellipsoid of deformation falls in the constrictional field which is
268 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270

Table 1
Ellipticity values according to lithology in the Asientos Formation around the
Potrerillos porphyry

N° Type of lithology Section // S0 \ Cl Section \ S0 \ Cl

MV 5 s 2.0 1.2
MV 15a s 4.8 2.4
MV 15B s 3.5 2.6
MV 17 s 1.9 1.6
M 4C m 1.6 2.1
MV 1 m 1.7 2.5
MV 2 m 2.1 4.6
MV 12 m 2.5 3.5
MV 16 m 1.2 2.7
SP 507 m 2.0 2.7
QH 1A m 2.6 3.0

s = sparitic, m = micritic.

Fig. 12. Modeling of the Potrerillos porphyry anticline as a fault-propagation-fold

with the Trishear program. (a) After a 200 m displacement along the basal fault
which led to a 40% shortening. (b) After an additional of shortening 5.5% with a
dextral simple shear of c = 0.2 .

Nevertheless, to arrive at the strain field outlined by the de-

formed oolites (Fig. 5), additional shortening is required. Thus, a
lateral shortening of 5.5% was added, without supplementary dis-
placement on the basal fault. A simple shear of c = 0.2 towards
the east was added (Fig. 12b). This was done to fit the modeled el-
lipse inclinations to the inclinations of strain ellipses obtained
from the measurement of the oolites.
The final result of the modeling of the fold was obtained, then,
with a local shortening of 45.5%, related to the Potrerillos porphyry
anticline. For comparison, Tomlinson et al. (1994) and Olson
(1989) calculated a shortening of 45% for the whole Potrerillos
fold-and-thrust belt, on the basis of a balanced cross section.
Fig. 11. Flinn diagram showing the strain ellipsoid according to oolites measured in
the environs of the Potrerillos porphyry falls in the field of apparent constriction,
k = 2 is the line of correlation for the measured oolites. 7. Discussion

During the last two decades it has been considered that the por-
characterized by values of k > 1 (k = Rxy  1/Ryz  1 = 2, Fig. 11). phyry copper deposits located along the Domeyko Cordillera in
The analysis of Table 1 indicates that the Rxy values in the case northern Chile are mainly controlled by the Domeyko Fault system,
of sparitic limestones are parallel to the lineation L = S0 \ Cl. How- considered a trench-linked fault system parallel to the Peru–Chile
ever, in the micritic layers the Rxy value is perpendicular to the lin- trench (Boric et al., 1990; Maksaev and Zentilli, 1988; Reutter et al.,
eation L = S0 \ Cl. This situation is diagrammed in Fig. 6. We 1996), (Fig. 1). This system strikes roughly in a north–south direc-
attribute the difference in orientation of the strain ellipsoid to tion and is controlled by a master strike-slip fault along which
the contrast in competence between sparitic and micritic layers transpressional movement occurred during the Early Tertiary
(Munizaga, 2002). (Maksaev, 1990). Representative of such a master fault is the so-
In the structural section A–A0 of Fig. 5, the standardized strain called West Fissure, which extends between the Quebrada Blanca
ellipses around the Potrerillos porphyry have been drawn. They and Chuquicamata porphyries and the Sierra Castillo Fault in the
do not show a gradient of strain from outside towards the edge El Salvador and Potrerillos porphyries region (Fig. 1).
of the body. This indicates that the shortening associated with In contrast, it has recently been suggested by Amilibia and
the porphyry emplacement must be related to a generalized com- Skarmeta (2003) that the Domeyko Cordillera of northern Chile
pression that occurred during its emplacement and not to a defor- would basically be dominated by ancient extensional and low-an-
mation induced by this body on its wall rock. gle, normal faults, reactivated in reverse mode. According to this
model the porphyry copper deposits would be emplaced in struc-
6.4. Modeling of the Potrerillos porphyry anticline tural traps generated during an east–west directed contractional
regime during the Early Tertiary. This model does not imply signif-
The magnitude and direction of the strain ellipses around the icant displacement along strike parallel to the Peru–Chile trench.
Potrerillos porphyry provide the basis to model the formation of Nevertheless, many authors have demonstrated that signficant
the Potrerillos porphyry anticline. The formation of a fault-propa- strike-slip displacements occurred along the Domeyko Fault sys-
gation-fold in rocks of the Asientos Formation over a basal fault tem (e.g. Reutter et al., 1991; Tomlinson et al., 1994; Niemeyer
of 20° in dip was assumed to represent the Potrerillos porphyry and Urrutia, in press) and thus both strike-slip and reverse move-
anticline. The fold was modeled with the aid of the program ments took place simultaneously during the Late Eocene-Oligocene
Trishear by Allmendinger (1998). A first approach to its form with along the Domeyko Cordillera.
a local shortening of 40% was obtained. This was accomplished From a regional point of view, the state of stress during the
with a displacement along the fault over a distance of 200 m emplacement of the Potrerillos porphyry was a transpression that
(Fig. 12a). This displacement agrees with that obtained by Cornejo occurred across the Potrerillos fold-and-thrust belt which is the
et al. (1993) on the basis of other line of evidences. consequence of the sinistral displacement along the Sierra Castillo
 H. Niemeyer, R. Munizaga / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 26 (2008) 261–270 269

the publication of this paper. Leonel Jofré of the Universidad Cató-

lica del Norte (Chile) made the drawings for this publication.

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