Geology of Chile

The geology of Chile is a characterized by processes linked to subduction, such as volcanism, earthquakes, and orogeny. The building blocks of Chile's geology were assembled during the Paleozoic Era when Chile was the southwestern margin of the supercontinent Gondwana. In the Jurassic, Gondwana began to split, and the ongoing period of crustal deformation and mountain building known as the Andean orogeny began. In the Late Cenozoic, Chile definitely separated from Antarctica, and the Andes experienced a significant rise accompanied by a cooling climate and the onset of glaciations.

The subduction interactions shaped four main morphostructures of Chile: the Andes, the Intermediate Depression, the Coast Range, and the Peru–Chile Trench off the coast. Since Chile is on an active continental margin, it has many volcanoes. Almost the entire country is subject to earthquakes arising from strains in the Nazca and Antarctic Plates or shallow strike-slip faults. Northern Chilean mineral resources are a major economic resource, and the country is the leading producer of copper, lithium and molybdenum. Most of these mineral deposits were created from magmatic hydrothermal activity, and the water required to form those deposits derived from the subducted slab of the oceanic crust beneath the Andes.

The Chilean Easter Island and Juan Fernández Archipelago are volcanic hotspot islands in the eastward-moving Nazca plate. The geology of the Chilean Antarctic Territory has various commonalities with that of mainland Chile.