North Patagonian Batholith 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 (10 to 5 Ma) leucogranites were also intruded. The Tertiary intrusions are
Patagonian toothfish sea bass" before settling on "Chilean sea bass". In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted "Chilean Seabass" as an "alternative market name" for Patagonian toothfish, and in 2013 for Antarctic toothfish. In the UK, the approved commercial designations for "D. eleginoides" and "D. mawsoni" are "icefish" and "toothfish". This has created some confusion as there is a genuine "icefish" ("Champsocephalus gunnari") caught in subantarctic waters, which does not resemble toothfish in any way. Patagonian toothfish spawn in deep water (around 1,000m) during the austral winter, producing pelagic eggs and larvae. Larvae switch to a demersal habitat at