Damara orogeny created the Naukluft Mountains in central Namibia between 550 Ma and 495 Ma. Damara orogeny The Damara orogeny was part of the Pan-African orogeny. The Damara orogeny occurred late in the creation of Gondwana, at the intersection of the Congo and the Kalahari cratons. The Damara orogeny involved the suturing of the Congo–São Francisco and Río de la Plata cratons at 580–550 Ma (together with India forming northern Gondwana) before the amalgamation of the Kalahari and Mawson cratons in the Kuunga–Damara orogeny at 530 Ma (southern Gondwana). The Adamastor Ocean closed southwards from the Araçuaı́ Belt (São Francisco Craton, now
Andean orogeny and then to the opening of the Drake Passage 45 million years ago. The separation from Antarctica changed the tectonics of the Fuegian Andes into a transpressive regime with transform faults. About 15 million years ago in the Miocene the Chile Ridge begun to subduct beneath the southern tip of Patagonia (55° S). The point of subduction, the triple junction has gradually moved to the north and lies at present at 47° S. The subduction of the ridge has created a northward moving "window" or gap in the asthenosphere beneath South America. Andean orogeny The Andean orogeny () is an