Others suggested an intra-cratonic rift or aulacogen basin between Río de la Plata-Pampia Craton and Arequipa Massif.

Yet other hypotheses revolve around the idea that the Puncoviscana Formation is related to a terrane called Pampia that accreted to Gondwana causing the closure of a sea in the way.

Stratigraphically, the upper boundary of the Puncoviscana Formation is the Tilcarian unconformity, which is overlain by Cambrian and Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Mesón Group that extend across the Argentine Northwest and Bolivia.

There have been differing views among geologists on the tectonic and paleogeographic position of the Puncoviscana Basin in relation to the events of the Pampean orogeny.

The Pampean orogeny is believed by some geologists to be associated with the accretion of a Pampia Terrane to the Río de la Plata Craton, causing in the way the closure of a sea that existed in-between.