Published 1995 as part of Memoir 62
Copyright © 1995 The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.   All Rights Reserved.

The tectonic evolution of the Neuquén basin spans about 220 m.y. of Mesozoic-Cenozoic subsidence. Initial rifting in the Triassic was driven by extensional collapse of the Permian-Triassic orogen. This period of extension was accommodated by inherited structural inhomogeneities and a southwest-oriented extensional stress field. From the Aalenian onward, fault-controlled subsidence was replaced by regional subsidence. Several episodes of structural inversion modified the shape of the depocenter and rejuvenated fringing sedimentary source areas. The most significant inversion occurred in the late Oxfordian-earliest Kimmeridgian when the Dorsal de Huincul was formed. This Late Jurassic diastrophism marks a fundamental reorganization of extensional stress fields related to fragmentation of southwestern Gondwana and the Atlantic opening. Late Jurassic-Cretaceous extension was northwest directed. This history of tectonic evolution is reflected in a complex structural framework, at least two major hydrocarbon source rock intervals, and numerous reservoir zones.