North Patagonian Batholith centered on the strike-slip Liquine-Ofqui fault zone and include some gabbro bodies. North Patagonian Batholith The North Patagonian Batholith () is a series of igneous plutons in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina and Chile. The Northern Patagonian Batholith was formed in the Mesozoic Era and Cenozoic Era. It is made up of a collection of individual plutons made up of granodiorite, tonalite and diorite among other rocks. Most plutons of the North Patagonian Batholith are of Cretaceous Period to the Miocene age of the Neogene Period (135 Ma to 25-15 Ma), during the Mesozoic Era. Late Miocene to early Pliocene
Patagonian Desert Desert is the largest of the 40° parallel and is a large cold winter desert, where the temperature rarely exceeds 12 °C and averages just 3 °C. The region experiences about seven months of winter and five months of summer. Frost is not uncommon in the desert but, due to the very dry condition year round, snow is rare. The Andes, to the desert's west, are the primary reason for the Patagonian desert status as they inhibit the westerly flow of moisture from the southern Pacific from reaching inland. This creates a rain shadow that accounts for the formation of