As the archetype of mountain building in subduction zones, the Central Andes has constituted an excellent example for investigating mountain-building processes for decades, but the mechanism by which orogenic growth occurs remains debated. In this study we investigate the Southern Central Andes, between 22° and 35°S, by examining the along-strike variations in Cenozoic uplift history (<45 Ma) and the amount of tectonic shortening-thickening, allowing us to construct seven continental-scale cross-sections that are constrained by a new thermomechanical model. Our goal is to reconcile the kinematic model explaining crustal shortening-thickening and deformation with the geological constraints of this subduction-related orogen. To achieve this goal a representation of the thermomechanical structure of the orogen is constructed, and the results are applied to constrain the main decollement active for the last 15 Myr. Afterwards, the structural evolution of each transect is kinematically reconstructed through forward modeling, and the proposed deformation evolution is analyzed from a geodynamic perspective through the development of a numerical 2D geodynamic model of upper-plate lithospheric shortening.

In this model, low-strength zones at upper-mid crustal levels are proposed to act both as large decollements that are sequentially activated toward the foreland and as regions that concentrate most of the orogenic deformation. As the orogen evolves, crustal thickening and heating lead to the vanishing of the sharp contrast between low- and high-strength layers. Therefore, a new decollement develops towards the foreland, concentrating crustal shortening, uplift and exhumation and, in most cases, focusing shallow crustal seismicity. The north-south decrease in shortening, from 325 km at 22°S to 46 km at 35°S, and the cumulated orogenic crustal thicknesses and width are both explained by transitional stages of crustal thickening: from pre-wedge, to wedge, to paired-wedge and, finally, to plateau stages.

作为俯冲带造山的原型几十年来，安第斯山脉中部一直是研究造山过程的一个很好的例子，但造山生长发生的机制仍然存在争议。在这项研究中，我们通过检查新生代隆升历史（<45 Ma）的沿走向变化和构造缩短-加厚量来调查 22° 和 35°S 之间的中南部安第斯山脉，使我们能够构建 7 个大陆-缩放受新热机械模型约束的横截面。我们的目标是将解释地壳缩短-增厚和变形的运动学模型与俯冲相关造山带的地质约束相协调。为实现这一目标，构建了造山带热机械结构的表示，并将结果应用于约束主滑坡在过去的 15 Myr 中处于活动状态。然后，通过正演模拟重建每个样带的构造演化，并通过开发上板岩石圈缩短的数值二维地球动力学模型，从地球动力学角度分析所提出的变形演化。

在这个模型中，中上地壳水平的低强度带被提议作为向前陆顺序激活的大型滑坡和集中大部分造山变形的区域。随着造山带的演化，地壳增厚和加热导致低强度和高强度地层之间的强烈对比消失。因此，新的滑坡向前陆发展，集中地壳缩短、抬升和折返，在大多数情况下，集中于浅层地壳地震活动。缩短由南北纬 22°S 时的 325 km 减少到 35°S 时的 46 km地壳厚度和宽度都可以通过地壳增厚的过渡阶段来解释：从前楔形到楔形，再到成对楔形，最后到高原阶段。