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    geologia mcdowell

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    geologia mcdowell

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    McDowell

    Uploaded by

    Roger
    geologia mcdowell

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    ‘a Me Aa, Mis, Int. Gg 195 THE IGNEOUS HISTORY OF THE SIERRA MADRE OCCIDEN- TAL AND ITS RELATION TO THE TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF WESTERN MEXICO Fred W. MeDowell* and Stephen E. Clabaugh* ABSTRACT epeous rocks of the Stra Madve Occidental have been mapped and dete log lattade 4° N between ‘Mazatlan and Durango Git and aa latte 28° Nin Chitahue, In both of thee regions and probably throught the ler Made Octentl ae found to vat ad larly coetesve igneous menor, both ella and oth Incloing gpm, but oterwise dstndar. Te alder oquence, cengagin age rm 4 my tat ast 100m. cota andar batholthle aswel as voloni rocks dominant of termediate compaston. The Younger sen ‘rit damit by Pyole ips erpted fm tumeros lrg elder com plas, Smal outpourings of ba ‘ss ev sccompenid the th How, but terme rock are rare, Mot ofthe valcanism was confined to «re Interval 34 to 27 my. ago ‘Some ofthe cdr volcanic rock ar inteingred with marine Cretaceous sediments. Provossend wit and ‘ld formation ooured by easly Tectary ne, and eron provided vluinows debris to ass at ofthe Sera Madre Ocldonl. Magmation deciond about 45 m.y. ago and reumed Viorusly about Mm. ago, proding ‘tiepread iguimbrte sheets with enna lava Bows, TABhowgh mest ofthe major gold and ver vel are clot associated with the older vlan rocks, they se commonly lated to younger caldera srctrer and afew ooo witha hemi Tertary rocks. Many smal ‘epontsand fe large won Seon ae guntcly related to he id Tertiary rock, “The alder veleanle and ptoic rocks were emplaced along the continental marin during convergens in ‘Crtaceou and early Terry te. The Batol of hat sqotnce somprise much ofthe ton beneath Ue western ‘art th ltr Madre Onldental. The diminution of meget betwen 45 and my ago and he mbmequnt ‘hropt onset of dsm valaneetvy donot corespoed well with Known Pc Soo pending events, Vol ‘ena delined about 27 my. ago when mbction Inge fo trot. “The asoctation of yl ignimbrite wth sbordnae baat and minimal anda maybe dato remelting co wndeyingbatbolithle rocks by expldly ring baat during mis-Terary mdcton [RESUMEN Les ras gps dea Stara Madre Osea anon catalina y fechas large del td 24° ‘Nentrela cidade de Maztny Durango, as camo en lta de Cinna, een de lata 28° N, En andes regione yprobblements en to asec, ve ret a extacia de de rave socuncas e ocas fens, cs ‘cettenat Ambar ocna on clean ysotenen Igvimbras, pro son frente on te spect. 1 ‘secuencia inferior, cayas ede aren ded 45 ma, hat al eos 100m, contanewbundants aces bata 1 ooledncaspelaipalmente de compsitn intermedia, La seuenia superior ot formadapredominantoment Pot ‘gpimbritas tts orga «part caldera umerorsy grande, Estas eruone near tion sc ‘Pads por pequetaremnaclons de lava baie reramente por oat nerds, La mayor pate ete vlee ‘um eto confinada vun orto ltervale entre 34 27m ‘Algunas roca valde de a mcoecl nett 5 nterdigtaron con alimests marina el Crete, y cruseon fuerte lvantamentastectnies eeompafds por gers deformaciones ents del Terri terPra0, ‘on in eel subsecuente que sumint grandes voles declan lar concn stad al rene dea Sera Madre Occidental ste eptodjo magico valetlc cs meting hace sporimadamente 45m. para vet ‘reaavanevigoroamente hace sproximadaments 34 proend as gms dbus uplamente on menor catider de derases de av. ‘Aun la mayora dens vets de oo y plate et ntnarenteaaiad con roca amen inferior, ‘lls edn comdnienterlacocadas on lr octurs gules prodeclas poe formalin de lt clderas mks + irene Asimism,algena de tar ease prsntan dentro de lr roca de associa sper. Ensen muchos cps pets deta, gndicamentflelnader cn as rca venus nos pos, pero andes, dept eer, “La roa pltno—volonias més angus se emplasaran lage de una margen cotinestal que taro ‘ujta a convergence durante ol Cretsln y Terre tmpran. Los batalites de es canals componen gan pate ‘al crtin queer bj de apart ote dee Sere Madre Onldental, La dmimustn 84 Teaortirno tel Interval etre 5 4. cea obimcente apr abrupt de a stvdad veletic ferent, no co- ‘responds « events conoid de tetnicn oblate voleaniamo dere ce preimadamet 27 i.e, jst ‘tando al prooeo de subdvocn omens « demi. La socal de ignimbetar lta nics subordnadus de bso y miimas de andes, pd de ere a a refin de ls reas atlas abyacents, produc poral wcenan ride de magia baltico Guante in rubuelén del Terao medio. * Depertment of Celoteal Sines, The Untoonty of Tesa at Aun, Aur tin, Tex T3718, USA. 196 MeDOWELL Y CLABAUGH INTRODUCTION During the past 100 million years the Sierra Madre Oc- cidental and surrounding regions of mainland Merico have been the scene of two major episodes of igneous activity (McDowell and Clabaugh, 1979). Field studies by ourselves, ‘our colleagues and students, and by other workers during the past 10 years in the states of Sinaloa, Durange, Chihuahua sand Sonora (Figure 1) have increased our understanding of these major events and their significance in relation to regio- nal tectonics and ore deposits. Geochronology; isotopic stu- dies, and major-element chemical analyses allow a compari- son of the magmatic history of the Sierra Madre Occidental to that of other circum-Pacific regions. Figure L.- Detriboton of intr andvoleae ecksof Late Crete ay “Tertiary (ling slopes down tight) and elder Meat (Sow to let) ages in western Mexico sod ajacent United State The Pratonof the Paras and La Popa bss, which received bis {rom eroding highland ofthe ower vole complex during he Late Creseourealy Tet, te shown, Leal metined In the teat ae shown, ‘The earlier of the two major igneous episodes is repre- sented by ignimbrites, lavas, and composite batholiths. The batholiths are best exposed on the coastal plain of mainland Mexico adjacent to the Sea of Cortés and in the deep canyons that reach eastward into the Sierra Madre Occidental. Ages determined by Henry (1975) for batholithie rocks in Sinaloa range from Late Cretaceous through carly Tertiary (102 to 45 my. ago). The intrusive rocks are at least partly coeval with thick accumulations of voleanie rocks, generally similar in com- position but commonly so altered that meaningful chemical analyses and potassin-argon dates are difficult to obtain. The- se batholithic and associated extrusive rocks have beea called the lower volcanic complex (MeDowell and Keizer, 1977) ‘They are the probable continuation of younger parts of the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges batholiths. ‘An extensive sequence of ignimbrites with interlaye- red lava flows and tuffaceous sediments overlies the lower vol- ‘canie complex and forms the crestal plateau of the Sierra Ma- ddre Occidental (Figure 2). This great accumulation of mid- ‘Tertiary voleanio rocks has been infusmlly designated the up- per voleanic supergroup (McDowell and Keizer, 1977). Its comparable to ash-flow tuffs and associated rocks of similar age that blanket wide areas of the western United States. Figure 2.- Generalised dtbtion of voloni rocks of mide Terry agin Western Mexico and adjacent United Ste. Zone Tis the upper ‘oleae ipergroup province the Steres Madre Ocienta, Zo- ‘ell the eaera Chihuabun end westernmost Teas provinces, ‘4 Zoe I the lal provine of Trane aco! Tes Ga et). Mapping poet and localities meatooed in thet ar shown, LPSE = La Perl Siera Encinlag,ESSG = Fl SocoSiera Gallego SPB ~ Sera Pea Bunce; M= Maja; C~ Cana timo, T = Torchic. In western Mexico these two igneous suites occupy si- milar areas; they are nearly superimposed throughout most of the Sierra Madre Occidental (Figures 1 and 2). Both are approximately parallel tothe western continental margin. To the north in the western United States, the distribution of Me- sozoic and Tertiary igneous rocks clearly does not follow this simple pattern, and attempts to relate them toa simple tecto- rio model of the continental margin have met with diffieul- ties. Although the geometry in western Mexico is more regu- lar, the data base for interpreting genesis and chemical evo- lution of the igneous rocks is much smaller. Equally as significant as the igneous rocks themselves {s the striking evidence for a major unconformity between the two igneous sequences. Recent assertions (Clark et al., 1978) (of a continuity of magmatism in western Mexico from about 130 m.y. ago to the present are in clear disagreement with field evidence ofa period of restricted magmatism, Chronologic ev

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