The ophiolite crops out about 10 km w to the east of the Peru-Chile Trench and 50 km to the south of Chile Triple Junction —two features to which it is related.
[4][5] The ophiolite formed in connection to the subduction of the Chile Rise, a mid-ocean ridge, beneath South America.
[4] More specifically it has been proposed that the ophiolite formed in a rift of the forearc region of the South American plate.
[6] The Taitao ophiolite presents a pseudostratigraphy with the following lithologies; peridotite, pyroxenite, gabbro, sheeted dykes of diabase, pillow lava and sedimentary rock.
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