The southern Mexico block: main boundaries and new estimation for its Quaternary motion

2008 ◽  
Vol 179 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Andreani ◽  
Xavier Le Pichon ◽  
Claude Rangin ◽  
Juventino Martínez-Reyes
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Active Deformation ◽  
Lateral Strike Slip ◽  
Counterclockwise Rotation ◽  
The North ◽  
Slip Partitioning

Abstract Numerous studies, mainly based on structural and paleomagnetic data, consider southern Mexico as a crustal block (southern Mexico block, SMB) uncoupled from the North American plate with a southeast motion with respect to North America, accommodated by extension through the central Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (TMVB). On the other hand, the accommodation of this motion on the southeastward boundary, especially at the Cocos–Caribbean–North American triple junction, is still debated. The boundary between the SMB and the North American plate is constituted by three connected zones of deformation: (1) left-lateral transtension across the central TMVB, (2) left-lateral strike-slip faulting along the eastern TMVB and Veracruz area and (3) reverse and left-lateral strike-slip faulting in the Chiapas area. We show that these three active deformation zones accommodate a counterclockwise rotation of the SMB with respect to the North American plate. We specially discuss the Quaternary motion of the SMB with respect to the surrounding plates near the Cocos–Caribbean–North American triple junction. The model we propose predicts a Quaternary counterclockwise rotation of 0.45°/Ma with a pole located at 24.2°N and 91.8°W. Finally we discuss the geodynamic implications of this counterclockwise rotation. The southern Mexico block motion is generally assumed to be the result of slip partitioning at the trench. However the obliquity of the subduction is too small to explain slip partitioning. The motion could be facilitated by the high thermal gradient and gravitational collapse that affects central Mexico and/or by partial coupling with the eastward motion of the Caribbean plate.

New fission-track results from the northern Chiapas Massif area, SE Mexico: trying to reconstruct its complex thermo-tectonic history

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanis Abdullin ◽  
Luigi Solari ◽  
Carlos Ortega-Obregón ◽  
Jesús Solé
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Source Area ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Tectonic Event ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History

The Chiapas Massif Complex, which represents the crystalline basement of the southern Maya block within the North American plate, records numerous thermo-tectonic and magmatic events that occurred in southern Mexico at least since the late Mesoproterozoic. The present study was performed across the northern Chiapas Massif region to reconstruct its complex thermo-tectonic history from Mesozoic to present times. Basement samples and sandstones of the San Ricardo Formation derived from the Chiapas Massif Complex source area were analyzed by in situ apatite fission-track dating. The new fission-track results obtained in this study, together with previously published data, indicate that the Chiapas Massif Complex, or rather the whole Maya terrane, have experienced a complex long-term geodynamic evolution with at least five post-Permian tectonic and magmatic events: (1) a Late Triassic cooling event, likely related to the initial breakup of Pangea; (2) Early Jurassic volcanism that can be linked to the Nazas volcanic arc; (3) a Middle Jurassic tectonic event that was triggered by continental rifting at the beginning of the opening of the Gulf of Mexico; (4) a Late Cretaceous to Paleocene orogeny that may actually represent the southernmost continuation of the Laramide sensu lato which affected central and northern Mexico; and (5) the middle–late Miocene Chiapanecan event that is tectonically controlled by the interaction of the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos plates. This interpretation could be useful towards a better understanding of the geological history of southern North America. Some recommendations on sampling and analytical strategies are also given for consideration in further thermochronological studies in Chiapas.

scholarly journals Geomorphic analysis of transient landscapes in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains (northern Central America): implications for the North American–Caribbean–Cocos plate boundary

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Andreani ◽  
R. Gloaguen
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
North American ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Tectonic Geomorphology ◽  
The North ◽  
Sierra Madre ◽  
Maya Mountains ◽  
Forearc Sliver

Abstract. We use a geomorphic approach in order to unravel the recent evolution of the diffuse triple junction between the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos plates in northern Central America. We intend to characterize and understand the complex tectonic setting that produced an intricate pattern of landscapes using tectonic geomorphology, as well as available geological and geophysical data. We classify regions with specific relief characteristics and highlight uplifted relict landscapes in northern Central America. We also analyze the drainage network from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains in order to extract information about potential vertical displacements. Our results suggest that most of the landscapes of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains are in a transient stage. Topographic profiles and morphometric maps highlight elevated relict surfaces that are characterized by a low-amplitude relief. The river longitudinal profiles display upper reaches witnessing these relict landscapes. Lower reaches adjust to new base-level conditions and are characterized by multiple knickpoints. These results backed by published GPS and seismotectonic data allow us to refine and extend existing geodynamic models of the triple junction. Relict landscapes are delimited by faults and thus result from a tectonic control. The topography of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas evolved as the result of (1) the inland migration of deformation related to the coupling between the Chiapas Massif and the Cocos forearc sliver and (2) the compression along the northern tip of the Central American volcanic arc. Although most of the shortening between the Cocos forearc sliver and the North American Plate is accommodated within the Sierra de Chiapas and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, a small part may be still transmitted to the Maya Mountains and the Belize margin through a "rigid" Petén Basin.

scholarly journals Geomorphic analysis of transient landscapes from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains (northern Central America): implications for the North American–Caribbean–Cocos plate boundary

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 941-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Andreani ◽  
R. Gloaguen
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
North American ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Tectonic Geomorphology ◽  
The North ◽  
Sierra Madre ◽  
Maya Mountains

Abstract. We use a geomorphic approach in order to unravel the recent evolution of the diffuse triple junction between the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos plates in northern Central America. The complex tectonic setting produced an intricate pattern of landscapes that we try to systemize using remote sensing tectonic geomorphology and available geological and geophysical data. We classify regions with specific relief characteristics and highlight uplifted relict landscapes in northern Central America. We also analyze the drainage network from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains in order to extract information about potential vertical displacements. Our results suggest that most of the landscapes of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains are in transient stage. Topographic profiles and morphometric maps highlight elevated relict surfaces that are characterized by a low amplitude relief. The river longitudinal profiles display upper reaches witnessing these relict landscapes while lower segments characterized by multiple knickpoints, that adjust to new base-level conditions. These results backed by published GPS and seismotectonic data allow us to refine and extend existing geodynamic models of the triple junction. Relict landscapes are delimited by faults and thus result from a tectonic control. The topography of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas evolved as the result of (1) the inland migration of deformation related to the coupling between the Chiapas Massif and the Cocos fore-arc sliver, and (2) the compression along the northern tip of the Central America Volcanic Arc. Although most of the shortening between the Cocos fore-arc sliver and the North American plate is accommodated within the Sierra de Chiapas and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, a small part may be still transmitted to the Maya Mountains and the Belize margin through a "rigid" Petén basin.

The Neogene Veracruz fault: evidences for left-lateral slip along the southern Mexico block

2008 ◽  
Vol 179 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Andreani ◽  
Claude Rangin ◽  
Juventino Martínez-Reyes ◽  
Charlotte Le Roy ◽  
Mario Aranda-García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Lateral Strike Slip ◽  
Middle America Trench ◽  
The North ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt

Abstract Structural data combined with analysis of satellite images and seismic profiles show that a major left-lateral strike-slip fault affects the Veracruz basin and post-5 Ma volcanic rocks of the Los Tuxtlas volcanic field (LTVF). The main volcanic alignment of the LTVF is located along this fault. Additional structural data collected in the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt (areas of Xalapa, Teziutlán and Huauchinango) show that the shear zone affects Pliocene Trans-Mexican volcanic rocks. Low seismicity associated to faulted Quaternary markers such as alluvial fans, alluvial terraces and volcanoes argue for active faulting in this area. Plio-Quaternary strike-slip faulting in the Veracruz basin and in the eastern Trans-Mexican volcanic belt is important because it connects two important structural provinces: the left-lateral strike-slip faults province to the south and the left-lateral transtensive faulting that affects the central part of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. These three active deformation zones constitute the boundary between the southern Mexico block and the North American plate. It is generally assumed that strike-slip faulting along the Trans-Mexican and Central America volcanic arcs is the result of oblique subduction of the Cocos plate under the North American and Caribbean plates. However slip vectors along the Middle America trench are almost perpendicular to the trench. This Neogene sinistral strike-slip motion could be partially driven by the eastward motion of the Caribbean plate rather than by strain partitioning along the oblique Middle America trench subduction zone.

scholarly journals Global Eocene tectonic unrest: Possible causes and effects around the North American plate

2019 ◽  
Vol 760 ◽  
pp. 136-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Gaina ◽  
Johannes Jakob
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
The North

Overview of Naturally Occurring Asbestos in California and Southwestern Nevada

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
R. Mark Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
North American ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Island Arc ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The North ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Naturally Occurring Asbestos

ABSTRACT Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) is being discovered in a widening array of geologic environments. The complex geology of the state of California is an excellent example of the variety of geologic environments and rock types that contain NOA. Notably, the majority of California rocks were emplaced during a continental collision of eastward-subducting oceanic and island arc terranes (Pacific and Farallon plates) with the westward continental margin of the North American plate between 65 and 150 MY BP. This collision and accompanying accretion of oceanic and island arc material from the Pacific plate onto the North American plate, as well as the thermal events caused by emplacement of the large volcanic belt that became today's Sierra Nevada mountain range, are the principal processes that produced the rocks where the majority of NOA-bearing units have been identified.

scholarly journals A Robust Estimation of the 3‐D Intraplate Deformation of the North American Plate From GPS

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 4388-4412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corné Kreemer ◽  
William C. Hammond ◽  
Geoffrey Blewitt
Keyword(s):  
Robust Estimation ◽  
North American ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Intraplate Deformation ◽  
The North

Bryozoa of the Mission Argillite (Permian), northeastern Washington

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest H. Gilmour ◽  
Edward M. Snyder
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North American ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Western Pacific ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Western Pacific Ocean ◽  
Late Permian ◽  
The North

Fifteen species of Late Permian bryozoans occur in a biohermal bank in the Mission Argillite of northeastern Washington. These include two species conspecific with species described from Japan and 13 new species, one of which is the type species of a new genus. The presence of two species, Dyscritella iwaizakiensis Sakagami, 1961, and Hayasakapora cf. erectoradiata Sakagami, 1960, previously reported from Japan, and the similarity of new species with those previously described from Japan, China and Russia supports the idea that these rocks were originally deposited in the southeastern or central western Pacific Ocean and subsequently accreted to the North American Plate.Bryozoans and previously reported fusulinids indicate that the biohermal bank is latest Wordian (Kazanian).Newly described bryozoans include the new genus and type species Sakagamiina easternensis belonging to the Timanodictyidae. Other new species are Fistuliramus pacificus, Meekoporella inflecta, Neoeridotrypella missionensis, Coeloclemis urhausenii, Tabulipora colvillensis, Rhombotrypella kettlensis, Pamirella oculus, Pinegopora petita, Wjatkella nanea, Alternifenestella vagrantia, Polypora arbusca, and Mackinneyella stylettia.

Micropaleontological Dating of the Collision between the North American Plate and the Greater Antilles Arc in Western Cuba

Palaios ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Bralower ◽  
Manuel A. Iturralde-Vinent
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Greater Antilles ◽  
The North
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