High-relief glacial valleys shape the modern topography of the Southern Patagonian Andes, but their formation remains poorly understood. Two Miocene plutonic complexes in the Andean retroarc, the Fitz Roy (49°S) and Torres del Paine (51°S) massifs, were emplaced between 16.9–16.4 Ma and 12.6–12.4 Ma, respectively. Subduction of oceanic ridge segments initiated ca. 16 Ma at 54°S, leading to northward opening of a slab window with associated mantle upwelling. The onset of major glaciations caused drastic topographic changes since ca. 7 Ma. To constrain the respective contributions of tectonic-mantle dynamics and fluvio-glacial erosion to rock exhumation and landscape evolution, we perform inverse thermal modeling of a new dataset of zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He from the two massifs, complemented by apatite 4He/3He data for Torres del Paine. Our results show rapid rock exhumation recorded only in the Fitz Roy massif between 10 and 8 Ma, which we ascribe to local mantle upwelling forcing surface uplift and intensified erosion around 49°S. Both massifs record a pulse of rock exhumation between 7 and 4 Ma, which we interpret as enhanced erosion during the beginning of Patagonian glaciations. After a period of erosional and tectonic quiescence in the Pliocene, increased rock exhumation since 3-2 Ma is interpreted as the result of alpine glacial valley carving promoted by reinforced glacial-interglacial cycles. This study highlights that glacial erosion was the main driver to rock exhumation in the Patagonian retroarc since 7 Ma, but that mantle upwelling might be a driving force to rock exhumation as well.

Paul A. Jarvis

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The mixing and mingling of magmas of different compositions are important geological processes. They produce various distinctive textures and geochemical signals in both plutonic and volcanic rocks and have implications for eruption triggering. Both processes are widely studied, with prior work focusing on field and textural observations, geochemical analysis of samples, theoretical and numerical modelling, and experiments. However, despite the vast amount of existing literature, there remain numerous unresolved questions. In particular, how does the presence of crystals and exsolved volatiles control the dynamics of mixing and mingling? Furthermore, to what extent can this dependence be parameterised through the effect of crystallinity and vesicularity on bulk magma properties such as viscosity and density? In this contribution, we review the state of the art for models of mixing and mingling processes and how they have been informed by field, analytical, experimental and numerical investigations. We then show how analytical observations of mixed and mingled lavas from four volcanoes (Chaos Crags, Lassen Peak, Mt. Unzen and Soufrière Hills) have been used to infer a conceptual model for mixing and mingling dynamics in magma storage regions. Finally, we review recent advances in incorporating multi-phase effects in numerical modelling of mixing and mingling, and highlight the challenges associated with bringing together empirical conceptual models and theoretically-based numerical simulations.