Early cenozoic uplift of the Puna plateau, central andes, based on stable isotope paleoaltimetry of hydrated volcanic glass

Uplift of the Central Andes is largely thought to have occurred during the past 10 m.y. based on paleoaltimetry studies from the Altiplano of Bolivia. However, the spatio-temporal uplift history may not be uniform across the Central Andes. We present new stable isotopic results from the Salar de Antofalla, Salina del Fraile, and Arizaro Basin on the Puna Plateau (24°-26°S) of northwestern Argentina. Samples of volcanic glass give δD_paleowater values and modeled paleoelevations that indicate an elevated (~4 km) Puna Plateau since ca. 36 Ma with limited (<1 km) changes in elevation since then and, unlike the Altiplano, no evidence of largemagnitude uplift during the Miocene.