First low-temperature thermochronology data across the central Patagonia and thermal modeling provide information on the thermal history of the intraplate San Bernardo fold and thrust belt (44–46 °S). Apatite (U–Th-Sm)/He (AHe), fission tracks (AFT) ages and inverse thermal modeling indicate that the sedimentary rocks presently at the surface of the southwestern San Bernardo FTB have experienced a broadly similar thermal history: i) cooling at the deposition time during the Cretaceous, ii) a significant Eocene – early Miocene thermal event which totally reset the AHe data and partially the AFT data, and iii) a cooling since the early Miocene. Although former thermochronology studies in surrounding areas do not evidence any Neogene thermal event, our regionally consistent ages and thermal modeling most likely indicate a large-scale thermal event through the Eocene to the early Miocene. As sedimentary burial was not significant in this area through the Cenozoic, we propose that this heating episode might have been caused by coeval widespread and long-term intraplate volcanic processes associated with a modest burial and the increase of the geothermal gradient in the entire area, which has been strong enough to significantly affect the low-temperature thermochronometers regionally. A subsequent slow cooling phase starting from early Miocene may have been related with the termination of this intraplate volcanic phase and subsequent decrease of the thermal gradient to average values, and with a modest exhumation of ~1 km at most related to a mild deformation episode of the broken foreland and dynamic topography processes during the middle-late Miocene, as well as the weathering of the Oligo-Miocene basalts.

整个巴塔哥尼亚中部的第一个低温热年代学数据和热模型提供了板内圣贝纳多褶皱和逆冲带（44-46°S）的热历史信息。磷灰石（U–Th-Sm）/ He（AHe），裂变径迹（AFT）年龄和逆热模型表明，目前西南圣伯纳多FTB表面的沉积岩经历了大致相似的热历史：i）冷却在白垩纪的沉积时间，ii）重大的始新世-中新世早期热事件完全重置了AHe数据和部分AFT数据，并且iii）中新世以来的冷却。尽管以前在周围地区进行的热年代学研究并未发现任何新近纪的热事件，我们区域一致的年龄和热模型最有可能表明了从始新世到中新世的大规模热事件。由于通过新生代该地区的沉积埋藏并不重要，因此我们认为，这种加热事件可能是由于同时期广泛的和长期的板内火山作用与适度的埋藏以及整个地区地热梯度的增加而引起的，足够强大，足以显着影响局部低温测温仪。从中新世早期开始的随后的缓慢冷却阶段可能与该板内火山相的终止以及随后将热梯度降低至平均值有关，