The Magallanes–Fagnano Fault () is a continental

transform fault A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduct ...

. The fault marks a

transform boundary A transform fault or transform boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly where it connects to another plate boundary, either another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subductio ...

between the

Scotia Plate The Scotia Plate () is a Plate tectonics, tectonic plate on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Southern Ocean, Southern oceans. Thought to have formed during the early Eocene with the opening of the Drake Passage that separates ...

and the South American Plate, cutting across

continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called '' sial'' be ...

. It runs under the Strait of Magellan's western arm,

Almirantazgo Sound Almirantazgo Fjord ( es, Fiordo Almirantazgo), also known as Almirantazgo Sound ( es, Seno Almirantazgo) or Admiralty Sound, is a Chilean fjord located in the far south of the country at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage: . The fjor ...

and

Fagnano Lake Fagnano Lake ( es, Lago Fagnano), also called ''Lake Cami'' (), is a lake located on the main island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, and shared by Argentina and Chile. The 645 km2 lake runs east–west for about 98 kilometres, of which ...

. It has been suggested that the Magallanes-Fagnano Fault is a reactivated suture of pre-

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

age separating the basement of two

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust (geology), crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and Accretion (geology), accreted or "Suture (geology), sutured" to crust lying on another pla ...

References

Seismic faults of Argentina Seismic faults of Chile Geology of Magallanes Region Strike-slip faults Suture zones Geology of Tierra del Fuego {{MagellanAntarctic-geo-stub