Gabriel Chávez-Cabello | Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (original) (raw)

Papers by Gabriel Chávez-Cabello

Research paper thumbnail of The Sierra Madre Oriental Orocline. Paleomagnetism of the Nazas System in North-Central México

Curved mountain belts are spectacular natural features, which contain crucial 3D information abou... more Curved mountain belts are spectacular natural features, which contain crucial 3D information about the tectonic evolution of orogenic systems. The Mesozoic units exposed at the Cordilleran Mexican Fold and Thrust belt in NE Mexico show a striking curvature that has not been explained nor included in the existent tectonic models of the region. We have investigated with paleomagnetism and rock magnetism the kinematic history of that curvature, which is observed in the rocks of the Jurassic Nazas igneous province and its overlying red beds. Our results show a complex history of remagnetizations that occurred during the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous, as well as clockwise and counterclockwise vertical axis rotations of up to 50˚ respectively in each limb of the curvature. Although our data cannot provide precise timing for such rotations yet, our results confirm that the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt underwent post-Late Jurassic orocline bending or bucking in NE Mexico.

Research paper thumbnail of Active sinking at the bottom of the Rincón de Parangueo Maar (Guanajuato, México) and its probable relation with subsidence faults at Salamanca and Celaya

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

Rincon de Parangueo is a Quaternary maar that had a perennial lake until the 1980s. The lake was ... more Rincon de Parangueo is a Quaternary maar that had a perennial lake until the 1980s. The lake was gradually desiccated as a consequence of drawdown in the Salamanca-Valle de Santiago regional aquifer and now functions as a playa-lake. In contrast with the features observed in other crater-lakes in the region (La Alberca, Cíntora, and San Nicolás), which also dried up at the same time, the bottom of the Rincón crater displays clear evidence of active deformation associated with mass movement of lake sediments towards the depocenter inside the crater. The most conspicuous topographic feature is a 10-12 m high scarp parallel to the former lake coast. The scarp is produced by an annular shaped normal fault system, down towards the depocenter. Evidence of active mass movement is observed along the topographic scarp. Rotational slides associated with rollover anticlines and local grabens produced by antithetic faults are common on the eastern and northern parts of the scarp. Planar slides with open folds at their base occur at western part of the lake basin. Evaporites (trona, thermonatrite, eitelite, halite, and silvite) are abundant in the playa-lake sediments. Their presence makes us believe that a mass removal process is acting as a consequence of salt dissolution and infiltration of the brine towards the aquifer. This process, probably in conjunction with lake sediment compaction and/or diatreme subsidence, may explain the significantly higher fault displacement rate observed inside the crater (≈ 50 cm/year) in comparison with active faults elsewhere in the Salamanca-Valle de Santiago aquifer (≈ 6 cm/year).

Research paper thumbnail of Uplift and syn-orogenic magmatism in the Concepción del Oro Block: A thick-skinned (Laramide style?) contractional structure in the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt

Journal of South American Earth Sciences

In this paper we report UePb zircon ages from a syn-tectonic magmatism related to a contractional... more In this paper we report UePb zircon ages from a syn-tectonic magmatism related to a contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse in the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt. The study area corresponds to the Concepción del Oro Block (COB), which is located in northern Zacatecas, Mexico. The COB is a NW-SE trending elongated tectonic structure located south of the Parras Transversal Sector in the Mexican Fold Thrust Belt (MFTB) in north-central Mexico. In this area, regional thin-skinned folds were formed between the late Turonian and Campanian and they define the core of a major northeastward-convex orocline around Concepción del Oro mining district, Zacatecas, Mexico. The regional folds were cut by four Eocene-early Oligocene plutons (43-32 Ma; UePb zircon), which in places modified the older thin-skinned structures. Magma was emplaced along thrust faults and modified the attitude of inverted limbs of overturned folds, and the orientation or position of the fold axis at the core of anticlines, causing the formation of complex emplacement-related deformation. Two NW-SE trending lineaments bound the COB, and both cut the periclinal ends of the thin-skinned older folds, at different time. The eastern lineament is here interpreted as a high angle reverse fault, which tilted polymictic conglomeratic continental succession that includes cobbles derived from one of the intrusive bodies and an andesitic syn-tectonic lava flow (40.7 ± 0.6 Ma; UePb zircon). The western lineament is a normal fault generated by later regional tectonic extension related to the Basin and Range province. Altogether suggests that a late Eocene-early Oligocene contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse affected the COB. This pulse was contemporaneous with the Eocene-Oligocene magmatism in the Concepción del Oro, Zacatecas region, and is similar in style and age to some of the structures produced by the Laramide orogeny in the southern Rocky Mountains and in some isolated areas in northern Mexico.

Research paper thumbnail of Influence of pre-tectonic carbonate facies architecture on deformation patterns of syntectonic turbidites, an example from the central Mexican fold-thrust belt

Journal of Structural Geology

Research paper thumbnail of Gneises bandeados paleoproterozoicos (~1.76−1.73 Ga) de la Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco: Una nueva ocurrencia de rocas de basamento tipo Yavapai en el NW de Sonora, México

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

The Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area, previously known as Seven Hills, is located ~20 km ENE of ... more The Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area, previously known as Seven Hills, is located ~20 km ENE of the town of Puerto Peñasco in NW Sonora, Mexico. Crystalline basement in this area is key to defining Proterozoic provinces of SW Laurentia and has important implications for Phanerozoic tectonics and formation of the active continental margin of North America. New U-Pb zircon ages (LA-MC-ICPMS) of two banded gneisses in this area yield 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages at 1764 ± 3 Ma and 1725 ± 3 Ma. Zircons from both samples are well-behaved in the U-Pb systematics and present age and compositional homogeneity, suggesting that these rocks are Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses. These crystallization ages combined with whole rock major-and trace-element geochemistry and Sm-Nd in whole rock and Lu-Hf isotopic determinations on zircons by laser ablation suggest that the banded gneisses have affinities with rocks of the Yavapai province as defined in the Quitovac area ~45 km to the east and in the region of Gunnison-Salida, Colorado, USA. Both samples plot in the volcanic arc environment of granite formation (Y vs Nb discrimination diagram) and have epsilon Hf (initial) values between +1.85 and +5.05 with corresponding single-stage Hf model ages (T DM) at 1.98-2.07 Ga and two-stage Hf model ages (T DM C) at 2.07-2.50 Ga. Sm-Nd whole rock isotopic analyses from three Paleoproterozoic gneisses have epsilon Nd (initial) values between +1.86 and-0.57 with corresponding Nd model ages (T DM) at 1.91-2.02 Ga. The magmatic protoliths of these gneisses could have been formed mostly from mantle sources with some degree of crustal contribution, which is similar to rocks from the Yavapai province in SW North America. This petrogenesis contrasts with typical Mojave-province rocks that are characterized by significantly greater crustal contamination (as much as 30-40% in Death Valley). If these Mojave province rocks exist in NW Sonora they must be located to the west of the Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area.

Research paper thumbnail of El volcanismo tipo intraplaca del Cenozoico tardío en el centro y norte de México: una revisión

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

Research paper thumbnail of A Paleogene ichnological record from the Wilcox Formation: Ophiomorpha and Venericardia (Venicor) zapatai in the Burgos Basin, northern Mexico

Journal of South American Earth Sciences

Research paper thumbnail of Age and evolution of thin-skinned deformation in Zacatecas, Mexico: Sevier orogeny evidence in the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt

Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 2017

Integrating U-Pb ages from zircons of syn-and postectonic intrusives emplaced in folded pre-and s... more Integrating U-Pb ages from zircons of syn-and postectonic intrusives emplaced in folded pre-and synorogenic marine sedimentary rocks, it is proposed that thinskinned deformation in the Concepci on del Oro salient of the Mexican Fold Thrust Belt in northern Zacatecas, Mexico, was active between 92 and 71.6 Ma. The intrusives Pico de Teyra and El Peñuelo (U-Pb zircon ages: 76.9 and 72.5 Ma) show internal tectonic foliations and horizontal shear zones that cut off aplitic veins, which apparently developed syntectonically to thinskinned deformation. Other intrusives like Saltillito (71.6 Ma) and Concepci on del Oro are clearly postectonic because they are undeformed internally, cut regional structures and are younger than syntectonic plutons. Biostratigraphic ages reported for synorogenic sediments (Concepci on del Oro and Parras formations) indicate that regional thinskinned deformation was active between Early Turonian and Late Campanian, which is in agreement with syn and post-ectonic intrusive emplacement ages in the area. Nevertheless, the thinskinned structures are disrupted by a younger NNW-SSE high angle reverse and normal faults that uplifts the San Juli an Block in the west and truncate the Concepci on del Oro salient, suggesting a post-Paleocene thickskinned stage of deformation. In this work, we propose that style and age of thinskinned deformation is similar to the Sevier orogeny in the Rocky Mountains.

Research paper thumbnail of The Cretaceous-Paleogene Mexican orogen: Structure, basin development, magmatism and tectonics

Earth-Science Reviews, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Structural evolution of the tectonic from of the Sierra Madre Oriental at the Santa Rosa canyon, Linares, N.L

Boletin De La Sociedad Geologica Mexicana, Aug 1, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Post-laramide folds in early- to mid-Tertiary volcanic and/or gravel sequences in eastern Chihuahua, México

Laramide age deformation in Northern Mexico ended prior to the accumulation of thick sequences of... more Laramide age deformation in Northern Mexico ended prior to the accumulation of thick sequences of volcanic rocks, which in most places are flat-lying or gently tilted by normal faults related to Basin and Range extension. W of the Plomosas uplift, at Sierra Cuesta del Infierno, volcanic rocks interlayered with thin gravel deposits were locally folded in the period between 45.3 ± 0.1 Ma (Ar/Ar, san) and 33.95 ± 0.4 (U-Pb, zircon), producing a NNW-trending, plunging syncline associated with a monocline and two sets of domino-style normal faults. This group of structures roughly mimics the tectonic western front of the Chihuahua Thrust and Fold Belt at nearby Sierra El Morrión. There are thick sequences of continental gravel deposits in the southeastern portion of Chihuahua. Some sequences are mostly composed by clasts derived from Mesozoic marine sediments, with minor amounts of plutonic and volcanic rock fragments; they were deposited prior to the accumulation of a thick sequence of ...

Research paper thumbnail of Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volcanism in central and northern México: A review

Special Paper 422: Geology of México: Celebrating the Centenary of the Geological Society of México, 2007

Page 103. Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volc... more Page 103. Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volcanism in central and northern México: A review José Jorge Aranda-Gómez* Departamento de Geología Económica, Instituto ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reactivation of the San Marcos fault during mid-to-late Tertiary extension, Chihuahua, Mexico

Special Paper 393: The Mojave-Sonora Megashear Hypothesis: Development, Assessment, and Alternatives, 2005

... Geological Society of America Special Papers Gabriel Chávez-Cabello José Jorge Aranda-Gómez, ... more ... Geological Society of America Special Papers Gabriel Chávez-Cabello José Jorge Aranda-Gómez, Todd B. Housh, James F. Luhr, Christopher D. Henry, Tim Becker and Chihuahua, Mexico Reactivation of the San Marcos fault during mid-to-late Tertiary extension, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Change of the maximum principal stress during the Laramide Orogeny in the Monterrey salient, northeast México

Special Paper 383: Orogenic curvature: Integrating paleomagnetic and structural analyses, 2004

... Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, AP 104, Kilómetro 8, Carretera Linares-Cerro Prieto, Lina... more ... Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, AP 104, Kilómetro 8, Carretera Linares-Cerro Prieto, Linares, NL 67700, México Rolando Heberto Peterson ... Colletta, B., Letouzey, J., Pinedo, R., Ballard, JF, and Balé, P., 1991, Com-puterized X-ray tomography analysis of sandbox ...

Research paper thumbnail of The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireactivated basement structure in northeastern México

Special Paper 422: Geology of México: Celebrating the Centenary of the Geological Society of México, 2007

Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireacti... more Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireactivated basement structure in northeastern México Gabriel Chávez-Cabello* Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Tectónica de la sierra Cuesta El Infierno y su posible relación con fallas reactivadas cerca del levantamiento de Plomosas, Chihuahua, México

Revista mexicana de …, 2010

Cartografía geológica-estructural en la sierra Cuesta El Infierno (SCI), ubicada en el borde occi... more Cartografía geológica-estructural en la sierra Cuesta El Infierno (SCI), ubicada en el borde occidental del levantamiento de Plomosas, permitió identificar dos sucesiones volcánicas del Paleógeno que descansan discordantemente sobre rocas sedimentarias del cinturón plegado de Chihuahua. Las sucesiones volcánicas, a las que llamamos informalmente sucesión inferior (flujos piroclásticos félsicos y depósitos clásticos continentales) y sucesión superior (derrames de lava andesítica y una ignimbrita riolítica) están separadas por una discordancia angular y afloran en dos dominios estructurales diferentes. Estos dominios estructurales están separados por una falla de basamento inferida (N70ºW) con una historia compleja y que desde el Paleógeno medio-tardío actuó como una zona de transferencia, que acomodó la deformación con fallas con diferentes orientaciones en las áreas situadas al norte y al sur de su traza. Esta falla de basamento controló localmente el emplazamiento de algunos flujos piroclásticos y derrames de lava y la distribución de esfuerzos durante la actividad extensional del Cenozoico asociada a la provincia de Cuencas y Sierras ("Basin and Range province"). En el dominio estructural septentrional de la SCI se distingue un sinclinal con rumbo N20°W que buza hacia el SSE asociado con un sistema de fallas lístricas, paralelas al eje del sinclinal que fue desarrollado en rocas de la sucesión inferior y con un anticlinal "roll-over" pequeño. El sinclinal es interpretado como un pliegue por doblez de falla ("fault bend fold"); por otra parte, en la parte meridional del área estudiada hay una zona de acomodo entre dos fallas lístricas antitéticas entre sí que dieron origen, por rotación de los bloques de techo, a una antiforma con una orientación N45°W.

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetoestratigrafía de la Formación San Marcos del Cretácico Inferior, Coahuila, México: Implicaciones tectónicas y paleogeográficas

BOLETÍN DE LA …, 2011

En estas localidades aflora una secuencia de conglomerados, areniscas inmaduras y lodolitas rojas... more En estas localidades aflora una secuencia de conglomerados, areniscas inmaduras y lodolitas rojas, cementadas por hematita; esta secuencia de ambiente continental está asignada al Cretácico Temprano. Todos los especímenes, de un total de 35 sitios, fueron sujetos a procesos de desmagnetización por campos alternos y térmico, siendo este último el más efectivo para aislar la magnetización característica (alta temperatura). La componente característica fue aislada entre 625 º y 660 ºC, se identificaron magnetizaciones de polaridades normal e inversa con una dirección media general de Dec = 352.7 º, Inc = 55.5 º, N = 3 localidades (18 sitios), k = 27.07, α 95 = 6.8 º. Este resultado sugiere una pequeña rotación horaria con respecto la dirección promedio del Cretácico esperada, calculada de la curva de vagabundeo polar aparente para Norteamérica. Sin embargo, los datos sugieren que existieron rotaciones relativas entre las localidades muestreadas y que las rotaciones son respecto a ejes verticales locales. La zonación de polaridad magnética identificada sugiere que la edad aproximada de la Formación San Marcos comprende desde el Barremiano Temprano al Aptiano Temprano. La correlación con la escala magnética de polaridad global sugiere que esta unidad se relaciona con la Formación

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

Tectonophysics, 2006

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

Tectonophysics, 2006

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.

Research paper thumbnail of The Sierra Madre Oriental Orocline. Paleomagnetism of the Nazas System in North-Central México

Curved mountain belts are spectacular natural features, which contain crucial 3D information abou... more Curved mountain belts are spectacular natural features, which contain crucial 3D information about the tectonic evolution of orogenic systems. The Mesozoic units exposed at the Cordilleran Mexican Fold and Thrust belt in NE Mexico show a striking curvature that has not been explained nor included in the existent tectonic models of the region. We have investigated with paleomagnetism and rock magnetism the kinematic history of that curvature, which is observed in the rocks of the Jurassic Nazas igneous province and its overlying red beds. Our results show a complex history of remagnetizations that occurred during the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous, as well as clockwise and counterclockwise vertical axis rotations of up to 50˚ respectively in each limb of the curvature. Although our data cannot provide precise timing for such rotations yet, our results confirm that the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt underwent post-Late Jurassic orocline bending or bucking in NE Mexico.

Research paper thumbnail of Active sinking at the bottom of the Rincón de Parangueo Maar (Guanajuato, México) and its probable relation with subsidence faults at Salamanca and Celaya

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

Rincon de Parangueo is a Quaternary maar that had a perennial lake until the 1980s. The lake was ... more Rincon de Parangueo is a Quaternary maar that had a perennial lake until the 1980s. The lake was gradually desiccated as a consequence of drawdown in the Salamanca-Valle de Santiago regional aquifer and now functions as a playa-lake. In contrast with the features observed in other crater-lakes in the region (La Alberca, Cíntora, and San Nicolás), which also dried up at the same time, the bottom of the Rincón crater displays clear evidence of active deformation associated with mass movement of lake sediments towards the depocenter inside the crater. The most conspicuous topographic feature is a 10-12 m high scarp parallel to the former lake coast. The scarp is produced by an annular shaped normal fault system, down towards the depocenter. Evidence of active mass movement is observed along the topographic scarp. Rotational slides associated with rollover anticlines and local grabens produced by antithetic faults are common on the eastern and northern parts of the scarp. Planar slides with open folds at their base occur at western part of the lake basin. Evaporites (trona, thermonatrite, eitelite, halite, and silvite) are abundant in the playa-lake sediments. Their presence makes us believe that a mass removal process is acting as a consequence of salt dissolution and infiltration of the brine towards the aquifer. This process, probably in conjunction with lake sediment compaction and/or diatreme subsidence, may explain the significantly higher fault displacement rate observed inside the crater (≈ 50 cm/year) in comparison with active faults elsewhere in the Salamanca-Valle de Santiago aquifer (≈ 6 cm/year).

Research paper thumbnail of Uplift and syn-orogenic magmatism in the Concepción del Oro Block: A thick-skinned (Laramide style?) contractional structure in the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt

Journal of South American Earth Sciences

In this paper we report UePb zircon ages from a syn-tectonic magmatism related to a contractional... more In this paper we report UePb zircon ages from a syn-tectonic magmatism related to a contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse in the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt. The study area corresponds to the Concepción del Oro Block (COB), which is located in northern Zacatecas, Mexico. The COB is a NW-SE trending elongated tectonic structure located south of the Parras Transversal Sector in the Mexican Fold Thrust Belt (MFTB) in north-central Mexico. In this area, regional thin-skinned folds were formed between the late Turonian and Campanian and they define the core of a major northeastward-convex orocline around Concepción del Oro mining district, Zacatecas, Mexico. The regional folds were cut by four Eocene-early Oligocene plutons (43-32 Ma; UePb zircon), which in places modified the older thin-skinned structures. Magma was emplaced along thrust faults and modified the attitude of inverted limbs of overturned folds, and the orientation or position of the fold axis at the core of anticlines, causing the formation of complex emplacement-related deformation. Two NW-SE trending lineaments bound the COB, and both cut the periclinal ends of the thin-skinned older folds, at different time. The eastern lineament is here interpreted as a high angle reverse fault, which tilted polymictic conglomeratic continental succession that includes cobbles derived from one of the intrusive bodies and an andesitic syn-tectonic lava flow (40.7 ± 0.6 Ma; UePb zircon). The western lineament is a normal fault generated by later regional tectonic extension related to the Basin and Range province. Altogether suggests that a late Eocene-early Oligocene contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse affected the COB. This pulse was contemporaneous with the Eocene-Oligocene magmatism in the Concepción del Oro, Zacatecas region, and is similar in style and age to some of the structures produced by the Laramide orogeny in the southern Rocky Mountains and in some isolated areas in northern Mexico.

Research paper thumbnail of Influence of pre-tectonic carbonate facies architecture on deformation patterns of syntectonic turbidites, an example from the central Mexican fold-thrust belt

Journal of Structural Geology

Research paper thumbnail of Gneises bandeados paleoproterozoicos (~1.76−1.73 Ga) de la Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco: Una nueva ocurrencia de rocas de basamento tipo Yavapai en el NW de Sonora, México

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

The Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area, previously known as Seven Hills, is located ~20 km ENE of ... more The Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area, previously known as Seven Hills, is located ~20 km ENE of the town of Puerto Peñasco in NW Sonora, Mexico. Crystalline basement in this area is key to defining Proterozoic provinces of SW Laurentia and has important implications for Phanerozoic tectonics and formation of the active continental margin of North America. New U-Pb zircon ages (LA-MC-ICPMS) of two banded gneisses in this area yield 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ages at 1764 ± 3 Ma and 1725 ± 3 Ma. Zircons from both samples are well-behaved in the U-Pb systematics and present age and compositional homogeneity, suggesting that these rocks are Paleoproterozoic orthogneisses. These crystallization ages combined with whole rock major-and trace-element geochemistry and Sm-Nd in whole rock and Lu-Hf isotopic determinations on zircons by laser ablation suggest that the banded gneisses have affinities with rocks of the Yavapai province as defined in the Quitovac area ~45 km to the east and in the region of Gunnison-Salida, Colorado, USA. Both samples plot in the volcanic arc environment of granite formation (Y vs Nb discrimination diagram) and have epsilon Hf (initial) values between +1.85 and +5.05 with corresponding single-stage Hf model ages (T DM) at 1.98-2.07 Ga and two-stage Hf model ages (T DM C) at 2.07-2.50 Ga. Sm-Nd whole rock isotopic analyses from three Paleoproterozoic gneisses have epsilon Nd (initial) values between +1.86 and-0.57 with corresponding Nd model ages (T DM) at 1.91-2.02 Ga. The magmatic protoliths of these gneisses could have been formed mostly from mantle sources with some degree of crustal contribution, which is similar to rocks from the Yavapai province in SW North America. This petrogenesis contrasts with typical Mojave-province rocks that are characterized by significantly greater crustal contamination (as much as 30-40% in Death Valley). If these Mojave province rocks exist in NW Sonora they must be located to the west of the Zona Canteras-Puerto Peñasco area.

Research paper thumbnail of El volcanismo tipo intraplaca del Cenozoico tardío en el centro y norte de México: una revisión

Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana

Research paper thumbnail of A Paleogene ichnological record from the Wilcox Formation: Ophiomorpha and Venericardia (Venicor) zapatai in the Burgos Basin, northern Mexico

Journal of South American Earth Sciences

Research paper thumbnail of Age and evolution of thin-skinned deformation in Zacatecas, Mexico: Sevier orogeny evidence in the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt

Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 2017

Integrating U-Pb ages from zircons of syn-and postectonic intrusives emplaced in folded pre-and s... more Integrating U-Pb ages from zircons of syn-and postectonic intrusives emplaced in folded pre-and synorogenic marine sedimentary rocks, it is proposed that thinskinned deformation in the Concepci on del Oro salient of the Mexican Fold Thrust Belt in northern Zacatecas, Mexico, was active between 92 and 71.6 Ma. The intrusives Pico de Teyra and El Peñuelo (U-Pb zircon ages: 76.9 and 72.5 Ma) show internal tectonic foliations and horizontal shear zones that cut off aplitic veins, which apparently developed syntectonically to thinskinned deformation. Other intrusives like Saltillito (71.6 Ma) and Concepci on del Oro are clearly postectonic because they are undeformed internally, cut regional structures and are younger than syntectonic plutons. Biostratigraphic ages reported for synorogenic sediments (Concepci on del Oro and Parras formations) indicate that regional thinskinned deformation was active between Early Turonian and Late Campanian, which is in agreement with syn and post-ectonic intrusive emplacement ages in the area. Nevertheless, the thinskinned structures are disrupted by a younger NNW-SSE high angle reverse and normal faults that uplifts the San Juli an Block in the west and truncate the Concepci on del Oro salient, suggesting a post-Paleocene thickskinned stage of deformation. In this work, we propose that style and age of thinskinned deformation is similar to the Sevier orogeny in the Rocky Mountains.

Research paper thumbnail of The Cretaceous-Paleogene Mexican orogen: Structure, basin development, magmatism and tectonics

Earth-Science Reviews, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Structural evolution of the tectonic from of the Sierra Madre Oriental at the Santa Rosa canyon, Linares, N.L

Boletin De La Sociedad Geologica Mexicana, Aug 1, 2011

Research paper thumbnail of Post-laramide folds in early- to mid-Tertiary volcanic and/or gravel sequences in eastern Chihuahua, México

Laramide age deformation in Northern Mexico ended prior to the accumulation of thick sequences of... more Laramide age deformation in Northern Mexico ended prior to the accumulation of thick sequences of volcanic rocks, which in most places are flat-lying or gently tilted by normal faults related to Basin and Range extension. W of the Plomosas uplift, at Sierra Cuesta del Infierno, volcanic rocks interlayered with thin gravel deposits were locally folded in the period between 45.3 ± 0.1 Ma (Ar/Ar, san) and 33.95 ± 0.4 (U-Pb, zircon), producing a NNW-trending, plunging syncline associated with a monocline and two sets of domino-style normal faults. This group of structures roughly mimics the tectonic western front of the Chihuahua Thrust and Fold Belt at nearby Sierra El Morrión. There are thick sequences of continental gravel deposits in the southeastern portion of Chihuahua. Some sequences are mostly composed by clasts derived from Mesozoic marine sediments, with minor amounts of plutonic and volcanic rock fragments; they were deposited prior to the accumulation of a thick sequence of ...

Research paper thumbnail of Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volcanism in central and northern México: A review

Special Paper 422: Geology of México: Celebrating the Centenary of the Geological Society of México, 2007

Page 103. Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volc... more Page 103. Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 Late Cenozoic intraplate-type volcanism in central and northern México: A review José Jorge Aranda-Gómez* Departamento de Geología Económica, Instituto ...

Research paper thumbnail of Reactivation of the San Marcos fault during mid-to-late Tertiary extension, Chihuahua, Mexico

Special Paper 393: The Mojave-Sonora Megashear Hypothesis: Development, Assessment, and Alternatives, 2005

... Geological Society of America Special Papers Gabriel Chávez-Cabello José Jorge Aranda-Gómez, ... more ... Geological Society of America Special Papers Gabriel Chávez-Cabello José Jorge Aranda-Gómez, Todd B. Housh, James F. Luhr, Christopher D. Henry, Tim Becker and Chihuahua, Mexico Reactivation of the San Marcos fault during mid-to-late Tertiary extension, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Change of the maximum principal stress during the Laramide Orogeny in the Monterrey salient, northeast México

Special Paper 383: Orogenic curvature: Integrating paleomagnetic and structural analyses, 2004

... Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, AP 104, Kilómetro 8, Carretera Linares-Cerro Prieto, Lina... more ... Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, AP 104, Kilómetro 8, Carretera Linares-Cerro Prieto, Linares, NL 67700, México Rolando Heberto Peterson ... Colletta, B., Letouzey, J., Pinedo, R., Ballard, JF, and Balé, P., 1991, Com-puterized X-ray tomography analysis of sandbox ...

Research paper thumbnail of The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireactivated basement structure in northeastern México

Special Paper 422: Geology of México: Celebrating the Centenary of the Geological Society of México, 2007

Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireacti... more Geological Society of America Special Paper 422 2007 The San Marcos fault: A Jurassic multireactivated basement structure in northeastern México Gabriel Chávez-Cabello* Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Tectónica de la sierra Cuesta El Infierno y su posible relación con fallas reactivadas cerca del levantamiento de Plomosas, Chihuahua, México

Revista mexicana de …, 2010

Cartografía geológica-estructural en la sierra Cuesta El Infierno (SCI), ubicada en el borde occi... more Cartografía geológica-estructural en la sierra Cuesta El Infierno (SCI), ubicada en el borde occidental del levantamiento de Plomosas, permitió identificar dos sucesiones volcánicas del Paleógeno que descansan discordantemente sobre rocas sedimentarias del cinturón plegado de Chihuahua. Las sucesiones volcánicas, a las que llamamos informalmente sucesión inferior (flujos piroclásticos félsicos y depósitos clásticos continentales) y sucesión superior (derrames de lava andesítica y una ignimbrita riolítica) están separadas por una discordancia angular y afloran en dos dominios estructurales diferentes. Estos dominios estructurales están separados por una falla de basamento inferida (N70ºW) con una historia compleja y que desde el Paleógeno medio-tardío actuó como una zona de transferencia, que acomodó la deformación con fallas con diferentes orientaciones en las áreas situadas al norte y al sur de su traza. Esta falla de basamento controló localmente el emplazamiento de algunos flujos piroclásticos y derrames de lava y la distribución de esfuerzos durante la actividad extensional del Cenozoico asociada a la provincia de Cuencas y Sierras ("Basin and Range province"). En el dominio estructural septentrional de la SCI se distingue un sinclinal con rumbo N20°W que buza hacia el SSE asociado con un sistema de fallas lístricas, paralelas al eje del sinclinal que fue desarrollado en rocas de la sucesión inferior y con un anticlinal "roll-over" pequeño. El sinclinal es interpretado como un pliegue por doblez de falla ("fault bend fold"); por otra parte, en la parte meridional del área estudiada hay una zona de acomodo entre dos fallas lístricas antitéticas entre sí que dieron origen, por rotación de los bloques de techo, a una antiforma con una orientación N45°W.

Research paper thumbnail of Magnetoestratigrafía de la Formación San Marcos del Cretácico Inferior, Coahuila, México: Implicaciones tectónicas y paleogeográficas

BOLETÍN DE LA …, 2011

En estas localidades aflora una secuencia de conglomerados, areniscas inmaduras y lodolitas rojas... more En estas localidades aflora una secuencia de conglomerados, areniscas inmaduras y lodolitas rojas, cementadas por hematita; esta secuencia de ambiente continental está asignada al Cretácico Temprano. Todos los especímenes, de un total de 35 sitios, fueron sujetos a procesos de desmagnetización por campos alternos y térmico, siendo este último el más efectivo para aislar la magnetización característica (alta temperatura). La componente característica fue aislada entre 625 º y 660 ºC, se identificaron magnetizaciones de polaridades normal e inversa con una dirección media general de Dec = 352.7 º, Inc = 55.5 º, N = 3 localidades (18 sitios), k = 27.07, α 95 = 6.8 º. Este resultado sugiere una pequeña rotación horaria con respecto la dirección promedio del Cretácico esperada, calculada de la curva de vagabundeo polar aparente para Norteamérica. Sin embargo, los datos sugieren que existieron rotaciones relativas entre las localidades muestreadas y que las rotaciones son respecto a ejes verticales locales. La zonación de polaridad magnética identificada sugiere que la edad aproximada de la Formación San Marcos comprende desde el Barremiano Temprano al Aptiano Temprano. La correlación con la escala magnética de polaridad global sugiere que esta unidad se relaciona con la Formación

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

Tectonophysics, 2006

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.

Research paper thumbnail of Geology and paleomagnetism of El Potrero pluton, Baja California: Understanding criteria for timing of deformation and evidence of pluton tilt during batholith growth

Tectonophysics, 2006

The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-centr... more The 102 Ma El Potrero pluton, in the western foothills of Sierra San Pedro Mártir, in north-central Baja California, was emplaced during a long period of contractional deformation bracketed between 132 and 85 Ma that affected this segment of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith. The pluton records regional and emplacement related deformation manifested by: (1) a solid-state fabric developed on its eastern contact, which is produced by eastward lateral pluton expansion; (2) cleavage triple point zones in the host-rock NW and SE of the pluton; (3) subhorizontal ductile shear zones indicative of top-to-the-east transport; (4) magmatic and tectonic foliations parallel to regional structural trends and regional shear zones; (5) variable axial ratios of microgranitoid enclaves close to pluton-wall rock contacts; (6) evidence of brittle-emplacement mechanisms in the western border of the pluton, which contrast with features indicating mainly ductile mechanisms toward the east; and, (7) markedly discordant paleomagnetic directions that suggest emplacement in an active tectonic setting. The overall mean for 9 accepted paleomagnetic sites is Dec = 34.6°, I = 25.7°(k = 88.3, α 95 = 5.5°), and is deviated ∼35°with respect to the reference cratonic direction. This magnetization is interpreted to indicate a combination of tilt due to initial drag during vertical diapiric ascent (or westward lateral-oblique expansion) of the adjacent San Pedro Mártir pluton and later rotation (∼ 15°) by Rosarito Fault activity in the southwest; this rotation may have occurred as eastward contraction acted to fill the space emptied by the ascending San Pedro Mártir pluton. The Rosarito fault may have tilted several plutons in the area (Sierra San Pedro Mártir, El Potrero, San José, and Encinosa). Magnetic susceptibility fabrics for 13 sites reflect mostly emplacement-related stress and regional stress. Paleomagnetic data and structural observations lead us to interpret the El Potrero pluton as a syntectonic pluton, emplaced within a regional shear zone delimited by the Main Mártir Thrust and the younger Rosarito Fault.