Jose Piquer - Fundamental basement faults, magmas and hydrothermal fluids

José Piquer is the Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences at Universidad Austral de Chile and he'll be coming by tomorrow to chat about fundamental basement faults, magmas and hydrothermal fluids with recent advances from the Andes.

Several authors have recognized the relevant role played by fundamental basement faults in controlling the distribution and geometry of magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The talk begins with a discussion about the concept of fundamental basement fault, its relevance for mineral exploration and the difficulties involved in properly recognizing them, particularly in active orogenic systems.

This is followed by a presentation of recent advances in the study of fundamental basement faults in the Andes of Chile and Argentina, with an emphasis on studies based on structural mapping, which illustrate the expressions of this type of long-lived fault systems in the field.