The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

Onset of the Laramide orogeny and associated magmatism in

southern New Mexico based on U-Pb geochronology

Jeffrey M. Amato1,†, Greg H. Mack1, Tara N. Jonell1,§, William R. Seager1, and Garland R. Upchurch2
1
Department of Geological Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA
2
Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA

ABSTRACT
The Laramide orogeny is a classic yet con-
troversial mountain-building event that re-
sulted, in the southwest United States, in up-
lifts, sedimentation, and magmatism that can
be used to constrain the onset of this event
in the region and expand our knowledge of
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene tectonism. The
McRae Formation marks the onset of depo-
sition in the Laramide Love Ranch Basin,
which was located to the northeast of the
west-northwest–trending coeval Rio Grande
uplift in south-central New Mexico, but its
age is not well constrained. A previously pub-
lished late Maastrichtian age for the McRae
Formation was based on the presence of di-
nosaur bones in the upper of two members of
the formation. We obtained new U-Pb dates
from one dacite clast and three ash-fall tuffs
from the lower Jose Creek Member and from
one ash-fall tuff from the lower part of the
overlying Hall Lake Member of the McRae
Formation. The clast yielded a date of 75.0 ±
1.1 Ma, whereas the ages of the tuffs, in as-
cending stratigraphic order, are 74.9 ± 0.7 Ma,
74.7 ± 0.6 Ma, 75.2 ± 1.3 Ma, and 73.2 ±
0.7 Ma. These dates indicate that the onset
of Laramide deposition in the Love Ranch
Basin must have occurred earlier, in late
Campanian time, similar to deposition in the
Laramide Ringbone Basin in southwestern
New Mexico. In addition, U-Pb zircon dates
of 75.7 ± 1.3 Ma and 75.0 ± 2.8 Ma were ob-
tained on the Twin Peaks stock and on a da-
cite sill, respectively, in the Burro Mountains
of southwestern New Mexico. These dates
amato@nmsu.edu
†
Present address: Department of Geology and
§
Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
are similar to those of other Laramide arc relevant to understanding the timing, and poten-
magmatic centers in southern New Mexico, tial causes, of tectonism (e.g., Jones et al., 2011).
which have a limited range of ages from 75 Laramide tectonism in southern New Mexico
to 70 Ma, including the Hidalgo Formation resulted in northeast shortening, but the sparse
in the Little Hatchet Mountains, the Silver outcrops in the region have been interpreted in
City–Pinos Altos region, and the Copper Flat a wide variety of tectonic models (see review in
porphyry system. These new and previously Seager, 2004). Seager (1983, 2004) and Seager
published dates indicate that during the on- and Mack (1986) provided evidence against thin-
set of Laramide deformation in southwestern skinned tectonic models (e.g., Drewes, 1978,
and south-central New Mexico, the angle of 1982; Woodward and Duchene, 1981) and in
subduction of the Farallon plate may have favor of basement-cored block uplifts and inter-
been steep enough to allow partial melting vening basins created during shortening (Seager,
of an asthenospheric wedge, resulting in arc 1983; Seager and Mack, 1986). In southwestern
magmatism far inboard of the trench. New Mexico, these structures were likely con-
trolled by reactivation of normal faults formed
INTRODUCTION during a previous episode of rifting in the Late
Jurassic–Early Cretaceous that created the Bis-
The Laramide orogeny resulted from low-­ bee Basin and correlative rifts of the Chihuahua
angle subduction of the Farallon plate beneath the trough (e.g., Lawton, 2000). However, in other
western margin of North America from ca. 80 to areas, such as the study area, there is no evidence
40 Ma (Snyder et al., 1976; Dickinson and Sny- of extensional structures associated with the Bis-
der, 1978; Jones et al., 2011) and therefore cov- bee rift (Mack, 1987; Lawton, 2004).
ers the Campanian Stage of the Late Cretaceous Igneous rocks associated with the early phase
through the mid-Eocene (Walker et al., 2013). A of Laramide arc magmatism in New Mexico
series of discontinuous, basement-cored uplifts include intermediate volcanic rocks, mainly
and complementary terrestrial basins developed andesites, shallow intrusive rocks such as
within a previously subsiding, retroarc foreland quartz latite porphyry dikes, and intermediate
basin. The central part of the orogenic terrane intrusions such as quartz monzonite and grano-
was largely amagmatic (e.g., Coney and Reyn- diorite (e.g., McDowell, 1971; Lawton et al.,
olds, 1977; Dickinson and Snyder, 1978), but 1993; McLemore et al., 2000). Several of these
arc magmatism occurred sporadically in south- are associated with ore mineralization (e.g.,
western Montana (Schmidt and O’Neill, 1982; McLemore et al., 1999; Mizer et al., 2015) in a
Schmidt and Garihan, 1983), as well as in south- porphyry copper belt that includes parts of Ari-
eastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, west zona, New Mexico, and Sonora, Mexico (e.g., Ti-
Texas, and northern Mexico (e.g., Lipman and tley, 1982; Lipman and Sawyer, 1985). The ages
Sawyer, 1985; Marvin et al., 1978; Keith, 1986; of the New Mexican rocks in this belt of early
Gilmer et al., 2003; McMillan, 2004; Seager, Laramide magmatism range from 75 to 70 Ma,
2004; González-León et al., 2011). These igne- in the Campanian–Maastrichtian Stages of the
ous rocks provide important information con- Late Cretaceous (Table DR11). However, all of
cerning the timing of the magmatism during the
Laramide orogeny (e.g., McMillan, 2004), and 1
GSA Data Repository item 2017146, a table of ages
they constrain the age of interbedded sedimen- used to create Figure 7 and X-ray fluorescence data, is
tary rocks deposited within the Laramide basins available at http://www.geosociety.org/­ datarepository/
(e.g., Clinkscales and Lawton, 2015), which are 2017 or by request to editing@geosociety.org.

GSA Bulletin; Month/Month 2017; v. 129; no. X/X; p. 000–000; doi: 10.1130/B31629.1; 7 figures; 3 tables; Data Repository item 2017146.

For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 1
© 2017 Geological Society of America
 Amato et al.

the previously published dates from volcanic
and plutonic rocks are either K/Ar or 40Ar/39Ar
dates that may be inaccurate because of slow
cooling, in the case of plutonic rocks, or unde-
tectable Ar loss or excess argon, in the case of
K/Ar dates. An example of the inaccuracy of the
early 1970s K/Ar dates comes from the Hanover-
Fierro stock, where previous K/Ar dates on
hornblende of 72–69 Ma (McDowell, 1971)
have been superseded by several U-Pb zircon
dates that are all 61–58 Ma (Mizer et al., 2015).
Late Cretaceous sedimentary rocks in the
southwest United States are not typically rich
in age-diagnostic fossils (e.g., Dickinson et al.,
1989), but volcanic rocks within the section
can be used to date and help correlate strata.
The Upper Cretaceous McRae Formation in
south-central New Mexico marks the onset of
Laramide (latest Cretaceous–Eocene) deforma-
tion in south-central New Mexico (Seager et al.,
1997). It consists of the Jose Creek Member and
Hall Lake Member (Figs. 1 and 2). The Jose
Creek Member constitutes the oldest basin fill
in the Laramide Love Ranch Basin, and it has
an excellent record of fossil leaves and petrified
wood (Upchurch and Mack, 1998; Bogner et al.,
2007; Estrada-Ruiz et al., 2012a, 2012b). Prior
to this study, the age of the McRae Formation
was only loosely constrained as Maastrichtian
by the presence of two dinosaur fossils in the
upper part of the formation (Gillette et al., 1986;
Lucas et al., 1998) and by conifer macrofossils
from the lower part of the formation that are
similar to those in the Maastrichtian Vermejo
Formation of northern New Mexico (Upchurch
and Mack, 1998).
In this study, we present U-Pb zircon dates
from four previously undated ash-fall tuffs
and one dacite clast from the McRae Forma-
tion. The new dates more closely constrain
the age of onset of Laramide deformation
in the region than the existing fossil record.
In addition, U-Pb zircon ages were obtained
from two other Laramide-age igneous rocks:
a dacite sill and an intermediate stock from
the Burro Mountains of southwestern New
Mexico (Fig. 1). Our dates are placed in the
context of previously published K/Ar and
40
Ar/39Ar dates from Laramide plutonic and
volcanic rocks in southwestern New Mexico
and southeastern Arizona, with the goal of
better defining the timing of Laramide mag-
matic events and sedimentation in the Amer-
ican Southwest.

Fra Cristobal
Mts New N
Cuchil

Mexico
lo Mts

Mogollon
Mts Copperas sample site
Cutter
Black

Peak Sag

San A
Si pre-Miocene
Ra lver TorC bedrock
Range

ng Cit
e y ndres 33° N
Cabal

Pinos Altos Salado Mts

Range Miocene to
Mts
Copper
lo Mts

Silver Flat Recent

City basin fill
Co Animas Hills
br
eU
pl San Diego Mt Pliocene-
ift
Bu

Twin Quaternary
rr

Sierra de Doña basalt

o

Peaks
M

las Uvas Ana

ts

Cookes Mts
Range
20 miles
Lordsburg
32 km
Las Organ
Deming Robledo Mts
Victorio Mts Cruces
Pyramid Mts Mts

Florida
Mts
Ce West 32° N
Little da
Hatchet rM Potrillo
ts Tres Mts 106° W
Mts Hermanas East Potrillo
Sierra Rica
Mts

Mts Mts
lo
Peloncil

108° W 107° W
Big
Hatchet
Mts
Animas
Mts

109° W

Figure 1. Index map of the major mountain ranges in the southern Rio Grande rift and Basin and Range Province of southwestern New
Mexico, showing the location of the sample sites in this study. Also shown is the location of the Copper Flat porphyry system. TorC—
Truth or Consequences (town).

2 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX

 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

Cuchil
New
Fra Cristobal
Mexico

lo Mts
Mts

Tv
TKm
Pu Lov
e R Ku
CS
an LEGEND
Tv ch outline of Rio
Pu Ba Grande rift fault

San A
Tv A blocks
TorC
Black

si
PC

ndres
subcrop; basin fill above,

n
Tlr 33° N
rocks below unconformity
CF Pu
R ange

Cabal
oil well; thickness of basin

Mts
900 900 fill (Tlr?/TKm?) above;
lo Ku Ku rocks on basin floor below
stru Laramide paleocanyon and
ctur Tlr
Mts
Rio al b Exxon-Prisor #1 paleoflow arrow
Gr enc Pu
an
de
h Laramide upright fold
Tv
Pl U
pl Laramide overturned fold
if
SD
t

Tlr Laramide normal fault

TKm
PC Ku Laramide thrust or
SdlU Tlr Tlr reverse fault
Cookes Pl Pu
Range DA
D
Tlr Organ
r
M
Mts
Pu
R Las Tlr ?
Cruces Pu
2100 ?
K
Florida Po
tri “Grimm
Mts llo et al.”
Ba 20 km
si 32° N
Tres n 106° W
Hermanas East Potrillo
Mts Mts
B
107° W

B
Potrillo Basin
Rio Grande Uplift Love Ranch Basin
South Tlr structural bench
North
B Laramide basin fill, undifferentiated
..
Tlr A
Pz PC
TKm
PC
K PC Pz K
PC

Figure 2. (A) Map and (B) cross section of the Laramide Rio Grande uplift and complementary Love Ranch and
Potrillo Basins, south-central New Mexico. The Rio Grande uplift is superimposed on the modern uplifts of the
southern Rio Grande rift, in order to show the location of the primary structural, stratigraphic, and sedimentologic
data used in the reconstruction. Figure is adapted from Seager et al. (1986, 1997) and Seager and Mack (2003).
Geographic abbreviations: CS—Cutter Sag; TorC—Truth or Consequences; CF—Copper Flat; SD—San Diego
Mountain; DA—Doña Ana Mountains; SdlU—Sierra de las Uvas. Map unit abbreviations: Tv—Tertiary volcanic
rocks; TKm—Tertiary–Cretaceous McRae Formation; Tlr—Tertiary Love Ranch Formation; Ku—Upper Creta-
ceous strata; K—Cretaceous strata; Pu—Upper Paleozoic strata; Pl—Lower Paleozoic strata; PC—Precambrian
basement; Pz—Paleozoic; R—Robledo Mountains.

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 3


LARAMIDE RIO GRANDE UPLIFT AND
ASSOCIATED BASINS
The Laramide Rio Grande uplift and com-
plementary Love Ranch and Potrillo Basins
in south-central New Mexico were primarily
reconstructed from outcrops in late Paleogene
and Neogene normal-fault–bounded uplifts of
the southern Rio Grande rift (Fig. 2; Seager,
1983, Seager, 2004; Seager and Mayer, 1988;
Seager et al., 1986, 1997). Outcrop data include
thrust and reverse faults, open and overturned
folds, and subcrop relationships, thickness and
grain size distributions, paleocurrents, and prov-
enance of Laramide basin-fill strata. The recon-
struction was aided by a seismic reflection pro-
file (Keller et al., 1986) and two oil exploration
wells (Fig. 2).
Structure of the Rio Grande Uplift
The Rio Grande uplift was a west-northwest–
trending, Precambrian basement–cored moun-
tain range that developed within the previously
subsiding Western Interior Basin. Details of
the structures in the uplift and their kinematic
history have been given in Seager et al. (1997)
and Seager and Mack (2003) and are summa-
rized here.
The structurally highest part of the Rio
Grande uplift trended west-northwest and was
bounded on the north by southwest-dipping
thrust faults exposed in the southern San An-
dres Mountains and at San Diego Mountain
and imaged in the Exxon seismic profile (Fig.
2; Seager et al., 1971; Seager, 1981; Keller et
al., 1986). At San Diego Mountain and in the
southern San Andres Mountains, Proterozoic
crystalline basement was thrust over Paleozoic
sedimentary rocks (Seager et al., 1971; Seager,
1981), whereas the southern San Andres Moun-
tains also record a north-vergent, overturned
footwall syncline that produced a progressive
unconformity in Laramide conglomerates (Sea-
ger, 1981). Approximately 2.5 km of Paleozoic
and Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and an
unknown thickness of Proterozoic metamorphic
and granitic rocks were eroded off of the crest
of the Rio Grande uplift before it was ultimately
onlapped by a thin veneer of Laramide basin-fill
strata or by late Laramide andesitic volcanic and
volcaniclastic rocks.
Projecting northward from the central part
of the uplift, there was a structurally lower
bench, which, in the Caballo Mountains, is
characterized by broad folds and a thrust fault
in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (Fig. 2). The
eastern margin of the structural bench displays
a ­northwest-trending, northeast-vergent, over-
turned anticline that may constitute a fault-­
4 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX
Amato et al.
propagation fold above a thrust fault (Seager et
al., 1997). Evidence that the Rio Grande uplift
existed west of the modern Caballo Mountains
includes a west-trending thrust fault in the
Salado Mountains and deep level of erosion be-
neath late-Laramide volcanic rocks in the Sal-
ado Mountains and Black Range (Fig. 2; Seager
and Mayer, 1988).
The southern part of the Rio Grande uplift was
underlain by Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that
were gently tilted to the south-southwest. This
interpretation is based on subcrop relationships
in the modern Robledo Mountains, Doña Ana
Mountains, and Organ Mountains (Fig. 2), in
which Laramide basin-fill strata or late-Laramide
volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks unconformably
overlie progressively younger Paleozoic sedi-
mentary rocks to the southwest (Seager et al.,
1997). In the Robledo Mountains, at least three
paleocanyons infilled with Laramide conglom-
erates have been mapped (Seager et al., 2008).
The Doña Ana Mountains also have a broad
anticline and a northeast-­vergent thrust fault de-
veloped in Permian rocks that are interpreted to
be Laramide in age (Seager et al., 2008). Farther
south, the Potrillo Basin is constrained only by
the presence of thick (2100 m) basin-fill strata in
the “Grimm et al.” well described by Thompson
(1982), who thought these rocks were Laramide
in age. The southern boundary of the Potrillo Ba-
sin is placed in the vicinity of the modern East
Potrillo Mountains, where a thrust fault inter-
preted to be Laramide in age is exposed (Seager
and Mack, 1994).
The overwhelming abundance of andesitic
and dacitic clasts in older Laramide conglom-
erates led Seager et al. (1997) to infer that a
Late Cretaceous volcanic field covered much
of the future area of the Rio Grande uplift and
constituted the primary source of sediment dur-
ing the early history of the Love Ranch Basin.
The largest remnant of this volcanic field is the
Copper Flat porphyry system in the modern
Animas Hills (Figs. 1 and 2; Seager et al., 1982;
McLemore et al., 1999). The Cretaceous geo-
graphic extent of the andesitic volcanic field is
unknown, although it did not extend as far east
as the modern southern San Andres Mountains,
where Laramide conglomerates lack volcanic
clasts (Seager, 1981).
Laramide Stratigraphy
McRae Formation
The McRae Formation is divided into the
lower Jose Creek and upper Hall Lake mem-
bers (Fig. 3; Kelley and Silver, 1952; Bushnell,
1955). The Jose Creek Member unconformably
overlies fluvial strata of the Crevasse Canyon
Formation, which in the study area ranges from
Turonian to Lower Campanian, although the
age of the uppermost part is unconstrained (Sea-
ger and Mack, 2003; Hook et al., 2012). In the
northeastern Caballo Mountains, the Jose Creek
Member locally overlies gently folded Crevasse
Canyon Formation, with an angular uncon-
formity between the two units (Seager, 1995).
These constraints indicate that this deformation
occurred during a post–early Campanian and
pre–late Campanian Laramide deformational
event (Seager et al., 1997).
In its southernmost exposures in the northern
Caballo Mountains, the Jose Creek Member
consists of cobble and boulder conglomerate
and granular, pebbly sandstone deposited on
alluvial fans, although structural complications
preclude determination of the total thickness
of these strata. To the north, in the Cutter Sag,
the Jose Creek Member consists of fluvial strata
that increase in thickness northward from 90 m
to 170 m over a distance of ~10 km (Fig. 2).
The gravel-sized fraction within the Jose Creek
Member is composed entirely of andesitic and
dacitic rocks. Cross-bed paleocurrent data sug-
gest predominantly north-northeastward paleo-
flow, as well as periodic flow to the southeast
(Seager et al., 1997). Fluvial strata of the Jose
Creek Member have a diverse leaf flora (Up-
church and Mack, 1998) and an abundance of
petrified wood, including at least 50 petrified
stumps in growth position (Estrada-Ruiz et al.,
2012a, 2012b).
At least 11 ash-fall tuffs are interbedded with
fluvial strata in the middle and upper parts of the
Jose Creek Member (Fig. 4; Seager and Mack,
2003). Ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 m thick, the fine-
grained tuffs generally are tan to yellow on the
weathered surface and display closely spaced
vertical joints. Most of the tuffs are either inter-
nally structureless or have horizontal laminae
and centimeter-scale graded bedding, both of
which are consistent with deposition from sus-
pension. Some tuffs were locally reworked by
running water, as indicated by the presence of
ripple cross-laminae. Petrographically, the tuffs
consist of clay with scattered silt- and sand-
sized grains of quartz, biotite, and feldspar. A
few beds have relict cuspate and platy glass
shards recrystallized to chert, as well as bipy-
ramidal and embayed quartz grains. The strati-
graphically lowest tuff (Knob tuff), the highest
tuff (upper JC tuff), and the tuff with the most
abundant leaf fossils (Dori’s tuff) were dated in
this study (Fig. 4).
The Hall Lake Member of the McRae Forma-
tion is distinguished from the underlying Jose
Creek Member by the purple color of its fluvial
conglomerates, sandstones, and shales, although
a few red and green shales also are present. Like
the Jose Creek Member, the Hall Lake Member
 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

is most widely exposed in the Cutter Sag, but granite clasts are present in pebble lags of flu-
a few outcrops are present in the northeastern vial channels stratigraphically higher in the Hall
Caballo Mountains. With few exceptions, the Lake Member.
gravel-sized clasts in the Hall Lake Member are Ten to fifteen meters above the base of the
exclusively andesitic and dacitic in composi- Hall Lake Member in the Cutter Sag, there is
tion. The most notable exception is a 5-m-thick, an ash-fall tuff referred to as the “pink tuff.”
cobble conglomerate at or a few meters above From 1 to 2 m thick, the pink tuff is internally
the base of the Hall Lake Member that consists structureless, but it locally displays burrows and
primarily of Proterozoic metaquartzite and red root traces in the upper part. Petrographic analy-
granite clasts, but also contains andesitic and sis shows relict cuspate and platy glass shards
dacitic clasts (Fig. 4). Rarely, metaquartzite and and rare biotite, quartz, and feldspar crystals in
bimodal rhyolite and
a fine matrix of chert and clay. The pink tuff is
the only tuff that has been identified in the Hall
Lake Member and is the stratigraphically high-
est tuff dated in this study (Fig. 4). The maxi-
mum thickness of the Hall Lake Member is
unknown because it is cut by numerous normal
faults, and there are no marker beds above the
pink tuff that would allow correlation between
individual fault-bounded outcrops. However,
Seager and Mack (2003) estimated that the Hall
Lake is at least 235 m thick between two widely
spaced faults.
Prior to this study, the most age-diagnostic
fossils from the McRae Formation were a jaw

ignimbrite
Oligocene fragment of Tyrannosaurus rex and horn and

flareup
basalt/basaltic andesite
33.7 frill fragments of Torosaurus from separate sites
volcanism 36.5-26 Ma
in the Hall Lake Member (Lozinsky et al., 1984;
Wolberg et al., 1986; Gillette et al., 1986; Lu-
Paleogene

Eocene Palm Park, Orejon, cas et al., 1998). Although both fossils indicate
Rubio Peak a late Maastrichtian age, the stratigraphic posi-
andesitic rocks 46-40 Ma tions of the fossils within the Hall Lake Mem-
ber are uncertain, because of faulting in the case

Laramide Orogeny
of the T. rex fossil and isolation by Quaternary
56.0 sediment for the Torosaurus fossils (Lozinsky,
Love Ranch 1986; Mack and Seager, 1993). For the under-
lying Jose Creek Member, conifer macrofossils
Paleocene pollen have been used to suggest a late Maastrichtian
age, although early Maastrichtian or late Cam-
66.0 ? ? ? panian ages could not be ruled out (Upchurch
T-rex, Torosaurus
Hall and Mack, 1998). Whether or not the Hall Lake
Maastrichtian
McRae

Lake Member crosses the Cretaceous-Paleogene

boundary is not known.
72.1 ash-fall tuff dated in this study

Jose 3 ash-fall tuffs and one

dacite clast dated in
Love Ranch Formation
Creek this study
The younger Laramide basin fill in the Love
Campanian Ranch and Potrillo Basins constitutes the Love
Upper Cretaceous

Ranch Formation. In the northeastern Caballo

Mountains and in the Exxon-Prisor #1 well,
83.6 pollen the Love Ranch Formation is ~900 m thick
Western Interior foreland basin

and overlies the Hall Lake Member of the

Santonian Crevasse McRae Formation (Seager et al., 1986). In this
Canyon region, the basal bed of the Love Ranch For-
86.3
mation is a 35-m-thick, volcaniclastic cobble
Coniacian and boulder conglomerate that extends ~20 km
89.8 northward into the Love Ranch Basin. Above
Gallup the basal conglomerate, the Love Ranch For-
mation consists of red beds of conglomerate,
D-Cross Tongue, sandstone, and shale deposited on alluvial fans
Turonian and by northeast-flowing streams (Seager et
Mancos al., 1997). Conglomerates in the middle and
Tres Hermanos upper Love Ranch Formation primarily con-
93.9 sist of Paleozoic sedimentary and Precambrian
Tokay Tongue, Mancos basement clasts, as well as a few andesitic and
Cenomanian Dakota
dacitic clasts. In the Love Ranch Basin, the
overall grain size and the relative abundance of
100.5 red, gypsiferous shale within the Love Ranch
Formation increase northeastward (Seager et
Figure 3. Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene stratigraphy of south-central al., 1997).
New Mexico and its relationship to tectono-volcanic events, adapted Thinner intervals of the Love Ranch Forma-
from Seager and Mack (2003) and Hook et al. (2012). tion were deposited on the structural bench of

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 5

 Amato et al.

the Rio Grande uplift. In the central Caballo

north Mountains, ~200 m of red conglomerates
and sandstones of the Love Ranch Forma-

km
Section 2 tion unconformably overlie Paleozoic rocks

10
and consist of clasts similar in composition
g
Sa
110 to those in the middle and upper parts of the
r
pink tuff
tte

formation in the Love Ranch Basin. In addi-

Cu

73.2 ± 0.7
tion, in the west-central Caballo Mountains, a
south paleovalley floored by Precambrian basement
Section 1 100 Hall
contains ~500 m of Love Ranch strata (Seager
et al., 1986). At San Diego Mountain, within
Lake the structurally highest part of the uplift, a thin
Mbr (~5 m) veneer of Love Ranch conglomerate
90 unconformably overlies Proterozoic basement,
upper JC tuff
65 whereas along the southwestern dip slope of
75.2 ± 1.3 66.0 the Rio Grande uplift, in the Robledo Moun-
tains, Doña Ana Mountains, and Organ Moun-
80 Maastrichtian tains, conglomerates of Love Ranch up to 60 m
thick are exclusively composed of Paleozoic
72.1 72.5 range sedimentary clasts, and they unconformably
of overlie Paleozoic rocks (Seager et al., 1986).
70 75 McRae In the Robledo Mountains, at least three paleo-
76.1 ages
Campanian canyons cut in Permian rocks were infilled by
Love Ranch conglomerates, for which imbrica-
tion paleocurrent data indicate southward pa-
60 leoflow toward the Potrillo Basin (Seager et al.,
Jose Creek Mbr
83.6 1986). In outcrop, the age of the Love Ranch
85 Formation is constrained by its unconformable
Dori’s tuff 74.6 ± 0.6 (?) lower contact with the Hall Lake Member
50 of the McRae Formation and by its conform-
able upper contact with volcanic and volca-
SYMBOLS
andesite and niclastic rocks of the Palm Park Formation,
dacite-clast Orejon Andesite, and Rubio Peak Formation.
40 cobble-boulder In the “Grimm et al.” well, Upper Paleocene to
conglomerate
Lower Eocene palynomorphs were recovered
metaquartzite-
granite-clast from the lower 250 m of reddish strata, which
knob tuff 74.9 ± 0.7 conglomerate were correlated by Thompson (1982) to the
30 pebbly Love Ranch Formation.
sandstone
sandstone
Palm Park Formation, Orejon Andesite, and
mudstone Rubio Peak Formation
20 ash-fall tuff Throughout the study area, the Love Ranch
in situ petrified stump Formation is conformably overlain by and
locally interfingers with intermediate vol-
10 canic and volcaniclastic rocks up to 600 m
thick called the Orejon Andesite in the Organ
northern Caballo Mountains Mountains, the Rubio Peak Formation in the
dacite clast Black Range and areas to the west, and the
75.0 ± 1.1 Palm Park Formation elsewhere in the study
0
Crevasse Canyon Fm area (Fig. 3). These Laramide-age rocks are
considered to be arc-related based on their
Figure 4. Measured sections of the Jose Creek Member and lower Hall occurrence and chemistry (McMillan et al.,
Lake Member of the McRae Formation in the northern Caballo Moun- 2000; McMillan, 2004), and they postdate
tains and Cutter Sag, south-central New Mexico. U-Pb dates (ages in Ma) Laramide deformation, although they do on-
are shown for three ash-fall tuffs (Knob tuff, Dori’s tuff, upper JC tuff) lap relict topography of the Rio Grande uplift
and one dacite clast from the Jose Creek Member (Mbr) and for one ash- (Seager et al., 1997). The 40Ar/39Ar dates for
fall tuff (pink tuff) from the Hall Lake Member. The range of ages deter- these units range from 46.3 to 40.2 Ma (Mc-
mined in this study from the McRae Formation fall entirely within the Millan, 2004; Rioux et al., 2016), whereas
late Campanian, using the 2013 International Chronostratigraphic Chart K/Ar dates from biotite are as young as 38 Ma
(Cohen et al., 2013). (Clemons, 1979).

6 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX


EARLY LARAMIDE MAGMATISM
The low-angle subducting Farallon slab re-
sulted in limited magmatism throughout the
Cordillera during the Laramide orogeny, but
in the southern Cordillera, relatively abundant
magmatism occurred. McMillan (2004) com-
piled geochronologic data from igneous rocks in
southern New Mexico and suggested that there
were three periods of Laramide magmatism in
New Mexico. The first was from 80 to 64 Ma,
the second period was lower volume and oc-
curred from 64 to 48 Ma, after which the young-
est phase of late Laramide magmatism lasted
from 48 to 37 Ma and resulted in widespread
intermediate volcanism across a vast area of
southern New Mexico (McMillan, 2004). Our
assessment of these phases suggests that there
are actually gaps between them, rather than con-
tinuous magmatism over the 80–37 Ma period.
This study focuses on the earliest Laramide
magmatic episode in the Late Cretaceous and its
associated sedimentary rocks.
There are several exposures of known early
Laramide igneous rocks in southern New
Mexico that could have been source regions
for the tuffs described in this paper. The major-
ity of the previously published dates are either
K/Ar or 40Ar/39Ar dates (those analyses pub-
lished before 1977 have been recalculated with
the modern decay constant of Steiger and Jäger,
1977). These have been divided into four main
localities (Fig. 1; details and references in Table
DR1 [see footnote 1]), which, described from
southwest to northeast, include: (1) the Little
Hatchet Mountains region, where basalt and
andesite of the Hidalgo Formation yield dates
from 71.4 Ma to 70.5 Ma, and the underlying
Skunk Ranch and Ringbone Formations have
ash-fall tuffs and tuffaceous sandstones with
U-Pb zircon dates from 73.4 Ma to 70.4 Ma;
(2) the Lordsburg–Burro Mountains region,
where monzonite has a K/Ar hornblende age
of 72.5 Ma, and two disturbed 40Ar/39Ar dates
on groundmass and plagioclase from andesite
yielded minimum ages of 66.3 Ma and 67.9 Ma;
(3) the Silver City–Pinos Altos region, consist-
ing of monzonite, quartz monzonite, and grano-
diorite with ages from 75.9 Ma to 68.9 Ma;
and (4) the Copper Flat region, where andesite,
latite, monzonite, and quartz monzonite have
40
Ar/39Ar dates ranging from 75.4 Ma to 70.2 Ma.
The Copper Flat porphyry system (Figs. 1 and
2) is a circular exposure of andesite and andesite
laharic breccia (Jochems et al., 2014) intruded
by quartz monzonite (Dunn, 1982), and it is as-
sociated with significant copper porphyry de-
posits (Dunn, 1982; McLemore et al., 1999).
It has been interpreted as a small caldera (Lip-
man and Sawyer, 1985), and Lipman and Saw-
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 7
The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico
yer (1985) noted that no ash-flow tuff outflow Accuracy on major-element concentrations was
sheets related to this eruptive center have been within 1.1% of established values.
described. It is the easternmost magmatic cen-
ter known during the early part of the Laramide GEOCHRONOLOGY RESULTS
orogeny in the southwest United States, and it
is coeval with some of the rocks dated as part Volcanic Rocks from McRae Formation
of this study.
We dated four ash-fall tuffs and one volcanic
METHODS clast from the McRae Formation (Fig. 4). The
clast was from a cobble and boulder conglom-
U-Pb zircon geochronology was carried erate at the base of Jose Creek Member in the
out using three methods: laser ablation–­ northern Caballo Mountains. Three of the tuff
inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrom- samples were from the middle and upper parts
etry (LA-ICP-MS) at the Arizona LaserChron of the Jose Creek Member, whereas the other
Laboratory at the University of Arizona; sen- tuff was from the lower part of the Hall Lake
sitive high-resolution ion microprobe–reverse Member (Fig. 4). All were dated with LA-ICP-
geometry (SHRIMP-RG) at the Stanford–U.S. MS, and the data are given in Table 1.
Geological Survey facility; and laser-ablation The volcanic clast (sample 15Kmj-C1) is an
split-stream (LASS) dual ICP-MS at the Uni- equant rounded clast, ~25 cm in diameter. It is
versity of Santa Barbara using the techniques purple-gray and is inferred to have been derived
described by Kylander-Clark et al. (2013). from a dacite lava flow, based on its texture
Cathodoluminescence (CL) images of zircons and composition (SiO2 = 65.3 wt%; Table DR2
were obtained using a scanning electron micro- [see footnote 1]). It is a crystal-rich porphyry
scope, and these were used to choose analytical consisting of a groundmass of plagioclase mi-
spots. For all data sets, we filtered out analy- crolites and phenocrysts of plagioclase, altered
ses that had a greater than 5% uncertainty. hornblende, and altered pyroxene. Twenty of the
For SHRIMP-RG dating of igneous rocks, we 34 zircons from this sample yielded a weighted
used a primary beam that excavated an area of mean 206Pb/238U age of 75.0 ± 1.1 Ma (mean
~25–30 µm across to a depth of ~1 µm. The square of weighted deviates [MSWD] = 0.3;
analytical routine followed Williams (1998) Fig. 5A; Table 1). The other 14 were inherited
and Wang et al. (2014). Isoplot (Ludwig, 2008) grains that ranged in age from 1662 to 1435 Ma.
and SQUID 2 (Ludwig, 2005) programs were The lowest tuff (14Kmj-L, knob tuff) is a re-
used for reduction and plotting of U-Pb data. worked ash-fall tuff that is pale-orange/tan in
Isotopic compositions were calibrated by rep- color (Fig. 4). It is very fine grained and likely a
licate analyses of zircon standard R33, which mix of volcanic and sedimentary material. Zir-
has an age of 419 Ma (Black et al., 2004). The cons have aspect ratios from 2 to 4, and most
206
Pb/238U ages were corrected for common Pb have concentric, oscillatory zonation. A few of
using the excess 207Pb method (Ireland and Wil- the 50 mounted grains have cores that are dis-
liams, 2003). Common Pb compositions were tinct in shape or zonation from the rims. We
estimated from Stacey and Kramers (1975). dated 17 zircons (Fig. 5B; Table 1): Two were
We used the SHRIMP-RG to date one sample ca. 1460 Ma, one was 164 Ma, and the remain-
from the Burro Mountains. For LA-ICP-MS, ing 15 grains yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U
the beam diameter was either 20 µm or 35 µm. age of 74.9 ± 0.7 Ma (MSWD = 0.77).
Errors on spot ages of individual zircons grains The next highest sample in the stratigraphy,
are reported in the text and tables at 1σ, and 12HL-3 (Dori’s tuff), is a grayish-tan, ash-fall
we report weighted mean ages in the text and tuff with a clay-rich and locally recrystallized
figures at the 2σ level. We do not report the cherty groundmass. It has crystals of quartz and
207
Pb/206Pb ages unless the 206Pb/238U age was plagioclase up to 1 mm in diameter, as well as
older than 500 Ma. minor lithic fragments. Flattened, weathered
Geochemical analyses were performed us- clasts that are black in thin section may represent
ing a Rigaku ZSX Primus II X-ray fluorescence altered pumice. The whole-rock composition is
(XRF) spectrometer (major and trace elements) 73% SiO2 (Table DR2 [see footnote 1]). Zircons
at New Mexico State University. Samples were were not imaged. Of the 11 grains analyzed
crushed with a tungsten carbide shatterbox. We (Fig. 5C; Table 1), all but one were Campan-
used a combined Li metaborate and Li petrabo- ian in age, yielding a weighted mean 206Pb/238U
rate flux mixed with rock powder to create glass age of 74.7 ± 0.6 Ma (MSWD = 1.3). The other
beads for major-element analysis, and pressed grain was Mesoproterozoic at 1448 ± 21 Ma.
pellets from powder for trace elements. Refer- The next higher dated tuff in the stratigra-
ence materials (BHVO and AGV) were mea- phy is sample14Kmj-U (upper JC tuff), which
sured before and after all unknown analyses. is a beige, very fine-grained rock with a likely
 Amato et al.

TABLE 1. U-Pb ZIRCON DATA COLLECTED BY LA-ICP-MS

Isotope ratios Apparent ages (Ma)
Analysis no. U 206
Pb U/Th 206
Pb* ± 207
Pb* ± 206
Pb* ± Error Pb*
206
± Pb*
207
± 206
Pb* ± Best age ±
(ppm) 204
Pb 207
Pb* (%) 235
U (%) 238
U (%) corr. U (Ma)
238
U
235
(Ma) 207Pb (Ma) (Ma) (Ma)
15Kmj-C1 Andesite clast: Analyzed at University of Arizona LaserChron Lab on 23 October 2015
49 235 25,615 2.8 21.0775 4.0 0.0749 4.8 0.0115 2.6 0.55 73.4 1.9 73.3 3.4 73.4 1.9
63 114 5296 1.3 23.1243 4.6 0.0683 5.2 0.0115 2.4 0.47 73.5 1.8 67.1 3.4 73.5 1.8
52 52 2971 2.8 22.9759 5.7 0.0690 6.6 0.0115 3.3 0.50 73.7 2.4 67.8 4.3 73.7 2.4
46 59 3203 2.7 22.9376 5.9 0.0692 6.3 0.0115 2.1 0.33 73.8 1.5 67.9 4.1 73.8 1.5
44 99 7154 1.4 22.1443 5.3 0.0720 5.9 0.0116 2.5 0.42 74.1 1.8 70.6 4.0 74.1 1.8
41 215 20,101 1.6 21.1282 3.4 0.0758 4.0 0.0116 2.0 0.49 74.4 1.4 74.2 2.8 74.4 1.4
62 129 25,581 2.1 21.0134 3.7 0.0764 4.7 0.0116 2.9 0.62 74.7 2.2 74.8 3.4 74.7 2.2
64 57 9190 2.0 18.6480 5.2 0.0864 6.0 0.0117 3.0 0.50 74.9 2.2 84.1 4.9 74.9 2.2
51 82 5358 1.7 21.5335 4.5 0.0749 5.1 0.0117 2.4 0.46 75.0 1.8 73.3 3.6 75.0 1.8
66 63 3250 1.7 21.8362 5.5 0.0739 5.8 0.0117 1.8 0.31 75.0 1.4 72.4 4.1 75.0 1.4
68 159 42,563 2.1 20.9732 4.6 0.0770 5.3 0.0117 2.7 0.51 75.1 2.0 75.3 3.9 75.1 2.0
37 63 4787 1.7 22.1612 6.3 0.0730 6.8 0.0117 2.6 0.38 75.2 1.9 71.5 4.7 75.2 1.9
55 77 6220 1.3 21.0990 4.7 0.0768 5.4 0.0118 2.6 0.48 75.3 1.9 75.2 3.9 75.3 1.9
40 66 6434 1.8 21.5405 5.8 0.0754 6.3 0.0118 2.5 0.39 75.4 1.8 73.8 4.5 75.4 1.8
58 63 3154 1.5 25.5988 5.7 0.0635 6.5 0.0118 3.1 0.48 75.6 2.3 62.5 3.9 75.6 2.3
56 57 5353 2.1 20.0438 5.3 0.0811 6.2 0.0118 3.2 0.51 75.6 2.4 79.2 4.7 75.6 2.4
54 63 3061 2.6 22.6935 5.1 0.0720 6.0 0.0118 3.1 0.52 75.9 2.3 70.6 4.1 75.9 2.3
48 49 2730 1.9 22.9503 6.2 0.0712 6.9 0.0118 2.9 0.42 75.9 2.2 69.8 4.7 75.9 2.2
65 345 28,863 1.1 22.5575 2.9 0.0726 3.5 0.0119 1.9 0.54 76.1 1.4 71.2 2.4 76.1 1.4
47 139 21,817 3.3 21.1901 4.3 0.0781 4.9 0.0120 2.2 0.45 76.9 1.7 76.4 3.6 76.9 1.7
39 335 174,508 7.5 11.0562 1.4 3.0547 2.3 0.2449 1.8 0.78 1412 23 1421 18 1435 28 1435 28
60 364 862,458 5.4 11.0483 1.6 3.0591 3.2 0.2451 2.8 0.86 1413 35 1423 25 1436 31 1436 31
67 484 86,310 3.4 10.9821 1.1 3.2195 2.4 0.2564 2.1 0.90 1472 28 1462 19 1448 20 1448 20
50 147 62,971 2.2 10.9433 1.3 3.2860 2.5 0.2608 2.2 0.87 1494 30 1478 20 1455 24 1455 24
45 376 534,106 23.2 10.9288 1.4 3.1494 2.7 0.2496 2.3 0.85 1437 30 1445 21 1457 27 1457 27
59 344 176,471 2.5 10.8414 1.4 3.2241 2.3 0.2535 1.8 0.79 1457 24 1463 18 1472 27 1472 27
53 394 1,343,251 11.2 10.8226 1.2 3.1284 2.4 0.2456 2.1 0.86 1416 26 1440 18 1476 23 1476 23
70 953 258,946 24.9 10.6228 1.2 3.0298 2.5 0.2334 2.2 0.89 1352 27 1415 19 1511 22 1511 22
69 161 187,510 2.9 10.4816 1.5 3.6626 2.6 0.2784 2.2 0.82 1583 30 1563 21 1536 28 1536 28
38 207 74,081 3.5 10.1083 1.2 3.8515 2.6 0.2824 2.3 0.88 1603 33 1604 21 1604 23 1604 23
57 452 80,895 2.5 10.0469 1.3 3.9018 2.2 0.2843 1.9 0.83 1613 26 1614 18 1615 23 1615 23
36 276 135,881 3.3 9.9179 1.6 3.8730 2.9 0.2786 2.4 0.84 1584 34 1608 23 1639 29 1639 29
61 248 234,208 2.4 9.7991 1.0 4.0454 2.5 0.2875 2.3 0.91 1629 33 1643 21 1662 19 1662 19

12HLPT-1 “Pink Tuff”: Analyzed at University of Arizona LaserChron Lab on 24 October 2012
4 597 93,082 1.8 21.3304 4.6 0.0725 4.7 0.0112 0.8 0.18 71.9 0.6 71.1 3.2 71.9 1.1
10 574 4937 1.4 20.5653 6.7 0.0752 6.7 0.0112 0.6 0.09 71.9 0.5 73.6 4.8 71.9 1.1
6 726 1,3841 1.4 21.2753 7.2 0.0737 7.8 0.0114 3.2 0.40 72.9 2.3 72.2 5.5 72.9 2.3
2 261 10,480 1.4 22.1985 12.0 0.0708 12.6 0.0114 3.8 0.31 73.1 2.8 69.5 8.4 73.1 2.8
20 445 32,418 2.4 20.1418 8.0 0.0782 8.3 0.0114 2.4 0.28 73.3 1.7 76.5 6.1 73.3 1.7
7 296 12,833 2.0 20.0599 11.1 0.0788 11.3 0.0115 2.0 0.17 73.5 1.4 77.0 8.4 73.5 1.1
17 323 16,440 2.5 22.6040 11.2 0.0701 11.7 0.0115 3.3 0.28 73.6 2.4 68.7 7.8 73.6 2.4
16 347 18,494 1.4 19.8199 9.7 0.0800 10.4 0.0115 3.9 0.37 73.7 2.8 78.1 7.8 73.7 2.8
23 321 13,310 1.4 21.2070 7.8 0.0749 8.2 0.0115 2.3 0.28 73.8 1.7 73.3 5.8 73.8 1.7
9 169 12,295 1.8 24.6151 23.2 0.0646 23.5 0.0115 3.6 0.15 73.9 2.6 63.6 14.5 73.9 2.6
5 963 39,779 1.5 21.0654 3.5 0.0755 4.2 0.0115 2.3 0.55 74.0 1.7 73.9 3.0 74.0 1.7
24 902 13,239 1.9 18.0930 16.1 0.0881 16.1 0.0116 1.3 0.08 74.1 0.9 85.7 13.3 74.1 0.9
13 529 41,583 2.4 20.8766 4.8 0.0765 5.2 0.0116 1.9 0.37 74.2 1.4 74.8 3.7 74.2 1.1
18 313 18,622 1.6 22.6296 12.2 0.0706 12.3 0.0116 1.5 0.12 74.2 1.1 69.2 8.2 74.2 1.1
15 107 4960 1.4 23.3265 28.6 0.0686 29.0 0.0116 4.6 0.16 74.4 3.4 67.4 18.9 74.4 3.4
2 1040 48,179 2.9 20.8176 2.9 0.0774 3.1 0.0117 1.2 0.38 74.9 0.9 75.7 2.3 74.9 1.1
21 460 5382 1.5 21.1091 8.7 0.0765 8.8 0.0117 1.5 0.17 75.1 1.1 74.8 6.4 75.1 1.1
26 444 15,972 2.3 22.0928 5.1 0.0740 5.6 0.0119 2.4 0.43 76.0 1.8 72.5 3.9 76.0 1.8
14 116 5186 1.7 21.1454 36.1 0.0773 36.5 0.0119 4.9 0.14 76.0 3.7 75.6 26.6 76.0 3.7
19 250 13,366 1.4 21.8647 11.0 0.0749 11.9 0.0119 4.5 0.38 76.1 3.4 73.3 8.4 76.1 3.4
8 939 51,638 1.5 20.6796 3.8 0.0811 4.4 0.0122 2.2 0.49 77.9 1.7 79.2 3.4 77.9 1.7
1 250 18,267 1.1 19.5583 8.6 0.1860 9.1 0.0264 2.9 0.32 167.8 4.9 173.2 14.4 167.8 4.9
25 491 735,287 7.9 9.6808 0.1 4.2716 1.4 0.2999 1.4 1.00 1691 21 1688 12 1684 2 1684 2
(Continued)

8 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX

 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

TABLE 1. U-Pb ZIRCON DATA COLLECTED BY LA-ICP-MS (Continued)

Isotope ratios Apparent ages (Ma)
Analysis no. U 206
Pb U/Th 206
Pb* ± 207
Pb* ± 206
Pb* ± Error 206
Pb* ± 207
Pb* ± 206
Pb* ± Best age ±
(ppm) 204
Pb 207
Pb* (%) 235
U (%) 238
U (%) corr. 238
U (Ma) 235
U (Ma) 207Pb (Ma) (Ma) (Ma)
12HL-3 “Dori’s Tuff”: Analyzed at University of California Santa Barbara LASS lab on 24 February 2013
11 115 n/a 2.3 19.9601 3.6 0.0791 2.8 0.0114 1.1 0.23 73.0 0.7 77.3 1.0 73.0 0.7
10 385 n/a 4.6 20.6271 2.6 0.0769 2.1 0.0115 1.0 0.48 73.8 0.7 75.4 0.8 73.8 0.7
1 569 n/a 6.3 20.9776 2.3 0.0764 1.4 0.0116 0.8 0.50 74.1 0.7 74.7 0.6 74.1 0.7
2 444 n/a 2.0 20.9249 2.6 0.0765 1.8 0.0116 0.9 0.41 74.5 0.7 74.8 0.7 74.5 0.7
7 214 n/a 2.7 20.1207 3.1 0.0801 2.6 0.0117 1.0 0.36 74.8 0.7 78.2 1.0 74.8 0.7
8 608 n/a 5.0 21.0615 2.3 0.0757 1.5 0.0117 0.9 0.56 74.9 0.7 74.0 0.5 74.9 0.7
9 507 n/a 3.9 20.6654 2.4 0.0781 1.7 0.0117 0.9 0.59 75.2 0.8 76.3 0.6 75.2 0.8
4 122 n/a 2.6 20.4499 3.8 0.0789 3.5 0.0118 1.3 0.34 75.4 0.8 77.4 1.4 75.4 0.8
5 101 n/a 2.7 20.7039 3.5 0.0772 3.4 0.0118 1.3 0.35 75.5 0.8 75.4 1.3 75.5 0.8
3 137 n/a 2.4 20.7469 3.9 0.0777 3.5 0.0118 1.1 0.27 75.5 0.8 76.0 1.3 75.5 0.8
14 57 1269 1.4 10.8483 2.1 3.2490 1.3 0.2562 1.0 0.84 1470 15 1469 5 1448 21 1448 21

14KMJ-U: Analyzed at University of California Santa Barbara LASS lab on 22 September 2014
13 115 5569 1.2 20.6452 10.3 0.0743 11.2 0.0111 4.4 0.40 71.4 3.1 72.8 7.8 71.4 3.1
8 92 3400 1.5 24.6672 23.2 0.0651 23.4 0.0117 3.6 0.15 74.7 2.7 64.1 14.6 74.7 2.7
21 59 4296 1.4 27.8119 60.8 0.0579 61.6 0.0117 10.0 0.16 74.8 7.4 57.1 34.2 74.8 7.4
5 1279 37,997 2.5 20.6785 1.4 0.0782 2.0 0.0117 1.5 0.71 75.1 1.1 76.4 1.5 75.1 1.1
1 68 9036 1.2 23.0515 31.1 0.0701 31.6 0.0117 5.5 0.17 75.2 4.1 68.8 21.1 75.2 4.1
6 345 30,407 0.7 20.6603 6.2 0.0785 6.4 0.0118 1.7 0.26 75.4 1.3 76.7 4.8 75.4 1.3
2 62 2693 1.2 33.8024 48.8 0.0480 49.1 0.0118 5.3 0.11 75.4 4.0 47.6 22.8 75.4 4.0
12 426 14,977 4.0 21.2209 6.1 0.0765 6.7 0.0118 2.8 0.42 75.5 2.1 74.9 4.9 75.5 2.1
7 85 5574 0.9 26.3371 19.5 0.0625 20.5 0.0119 6.5 0.32 76.5 4.9 61.5 12.3 76.5 4.9
20 77 2270 1.4 25.0319 37.8 0.0659 38.4 0.0120 7.1 0.18 76.6 5.4 64.8 24.1 76.6 5.4
11 77 5397 1.3 20.6964 48.5 0.0798 49.1 0.0120 7.6 0.16 76.8 5.8 78.0 36.9 76.8 5.8
9 70 4417 1.6 21.1976 35.0 0.0782 36.1 0.0120 8.8 0.24 77.1 6.7 76.5 26.6 77.1 6.7
17 56 3661 1.3 22.7200 38.0 0.0731 38.9 0.0120 8.4 0.22 77.2 6.4 71.6 26.9 77.2 6.4
19 103 301 1.4 17.4356 29.9 0.0997 30.6 0.0126 6.7 0.22 80.8 5.4 96.5 28.2 80.8 5.4
4 701 601,244 9.6 10.9529 0.1 3.1017 1.3 0.2464 1.3 1.00 1420 17 1433 10 1453 2 1453 2
18 294 310,770 1.7 10.8464 0.2 3.2461 1.6 0.2554 1.6 0.99 1466 21 1468 12 1471 4 1471 4
16 279 430,990 14.1 10.5311 0.3 3.4085 2.1 0.2603 2.1 0.99 1492 28 1506 17 1527 6 1527 6
23 408 421,132 2.5 10.0687 0.4 3.8504 2.3 0.2812 2.2 0.99 1597 32 1603 18 1611 7 1611 7
14 140 215,032 2.0 9.9514 0.4 4.1366 2.6 0.2986 2.5 0.99 1684 38 1662 21 1633 8 1633 8
22 112 58,909 1.4 9.8339 0.4 4.0644 2.7 0.2899 2.6 0.99 1641 38 1647 22 1655 8 1655 8
15 165 37,358 1.4 9.8281 0.5 4.0478 1.5 0.2885 1.4 0.94 1634 20 1644 12 1656 9 1656 9

14KMJ-L: Analyzed at University of California Santa Barbara LASS lab on 22 September 2014
6 136 2928 5.3 18.7372 31.5 0.0828 32.1 0.0113 5.8 0.18 72.1 4.1 80.8 24.9 72.1 4.1
13 132 10,285 2.9 21.0833 16.5 0.0744 17.0 0.0114 4.2 0.25 72.9 3.0 72.9 11.9 72.9 3.0
3 110 12,118 1.8 21.5470 16.9 0.0737 17.3 0.0115 3.8 0.22 73.8 2.8 72.2 12.1 73.8 2.8
4 335 25,979 4.1 21.2218 9.4 0.0751 9.5 0.0116 1.2 0.13 74.1 0.9 73.5 6.7 74.1 0.9
14 966 86,607 1.8 20.6189 2.6 0.0777 2.8 0.0116 1.0 0.35 74.5 0.7 76.0 2.0 74.5 0.7
9 358 10,851 1.2 21.2357 6.6 0.0756 6.8 0.0116 1.4 0.21 74.6 1.1 74.0 4.8 74.6 1.1
8 125 5376 0.9 22.1540 17.5 0.0725 18.0 0.0116 4.3 0.24 74.6 3.2 71.0 12.3 74.6 3.2
12 444 13,763 1.1 20.5868 2.7 0.0781 3.0 0.0117 1.3 0.43 74.7 0.9 76.4 2.2 74.7 0.9
19 372 10,910 1.2 21.3230 4.5 0.0755 4.9 0.0117 1.9 0.38 74.8 1.4 73.9 3.5 74.8 1.4
1 1170 58,342 1.9 20.9329 2.3 0.0777 2.5 0.0118 1.1 0.43 75.6 0.8 76.0 1.8 75.6 0.8
2 126 3811 1.3 26.2576 24.4 0.0622 25.0 0.0118 5.4 0.22 75.9 4.1 61.3 14.8 75.9 4.1
16 207 8318 1.3 21.1662 9.4 0.0773 9.7 0.0119 2.5 0.26 76.0 1.9 75.6 7.1 76.0 1.9
20 417 60,236 1.3 20.8046 10.0 0.0786 10.3 0.0119 2.2 0.22 76.0 1.7 76.8 7.6 76.0 1.7
17 146 11,573 1.5 21.2057 16.2 0.0776 16.6 0.0119 3.6 0.22 76.5 2.7 75.9 12.1 76.5 2.7
15 295 16,187 4.0 20.9713 9.4 0.0828 9.8 0.0126 2.8 0.29 80.7 2.2 80.8 7.6 80.7 2.2
7 451 66,040 0.7 20.5074 3.3 0.1731 3.4 0.0257 0.9 0.25 164 1 162 5 163.9 1.4
5 1133 649,839 3.9 10.9222 0.1 3.0468 1.0 0.2414 1.0 0.99 1394 12 1419 8 1458 2 1458 2
11 326 438,594 2.2 10.8873 0.3 3.0886 1.1 0.2439 1.1 0.96 1407 13 1430 8 1464 6 1464 6
(Continued)

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 9

 Amato et al.

TABLE 1. U-Pb ZIRCON DATA COLLECTED BY LA-ICP-MS (Continued)

Isotope ratios Apparent ages (Ma)
Analysis no. U 206
Pb U/Th 206
Pb* ± 207
Pb* ± 206
Pb* ± Error 206
Pb* ± 207
Pb* ± 206
Pb* ± Best age ±
(ppm) 204
Pb 207
Pb* (%) 235
U (%) 238
U (%) corr. 238
U (Ma) 235
U (Ma) 207Pb (Ma) (Ma) (Ma)
11BV-35: Analyzed at University of Arizona LaserChron Lab on 21 November 2011
14 63 2784 1.7 24.1831 88.1 0.0640 90.0 0.0112 18.4 0.20 72 13 63 55 72.0 13.2
1 65 2431 1.8 8.5088 109.6 0.1830 110.2 0.0113 11.8 0.11 72 9 171 175 72.4 8.5
9 106 4748 1.6 25.1679 28.8 0.0625 29.3 0.0114 4.9 0.17 73 4 62 17 73.2 3.6
8 59 2006 1.6 18.3319 90.4 0.0865 92.0 0.0115 17.4 0.19 74 13 84 75 73.7 12.7
4 78 3608 1.8 14.6644 103.3 0.1086 103.6 0.0115 7.5 0.07 74 6 105 103 74.0 5.5
11 63 2222 2.0 n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.0116 9.5 0.00 74 7 n/a n/a 74.2 7.0
6 80 1883 1.8 25.1165 56.9 0.0636 57.5 0.0116 8.8 0.15 74 6 63 35 74.3 6.5
2 87 2896 1.8 21.3195 45.3 0.0750 45.8 0.0116 6.6 0.14 74 5 73 32 74.4 4.8
16 100 2837 1.8 19.8391 38.5 0.0812 38.8 0.0117 4.8 0.12 75 4 79 30 74.9 3.6
12 97 2829 1.6 24.4506 26.5 0.0661 27.1 0.0117 5.7 0.21 75 4 65 17 75.1 4.3
20 59 2013 1.4 16.2895 42.6 0.0996 43.6 0.0118 9.2 0.21 75 7 96 40 75.4 6.9
5 85 7329 1.6 n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.0118 6.6 0.00 75 5 n/a n/a 75.5 5.0
19 89 3325 1.3 20.4154 44.9 0.0799 45.6 0.0118 8.2 0.18 76 6 78 34 75.9 6.2
3 104 3400 1.4 22.5481 33.0 0.0734 33.5 0.0120 5.7 0.17 77 4 72 23 76.9 4.4
7 79 2257 1.8 14.4195 109.3 0.1159 109.7 0.0121 9.5 0.09 78 7 111 116 77.7 7.4
18 75 2447 1.8 16.3318 92.9 0.1034 93.2 0.0122 7.6 0.08 78 6 100 89 78.5 6.0
13 559 325,203 7.7 11.0083 0.3 2.7294 2.3 0.2179 2.3 0.99 1271 26 1337 17 1443 5 1443 5
10 188 126,458 2.7 10.9279 0.8 2.4802 1.5 0.1966 1.2 0.82 1157 13 1266 11 1457 16 1457 16
15 360 438,392 2.1 10.9050 0.3 3.2324 0.7 0.2557 0.6 0.86 1468 8 1465 5 1461 7 1461 7
Note: Data were acquired using laser ablation–multicollector–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS). Uncertainties in the table are listed at 1σ;
n/a indicates 206Pb/204Pb was not measured accurately for these younger zircons. Locations are given in Table 3. LASS— laser-ablation split-stream.

mixture of ash and sedimentary detritus, includ-
ing abundant quartz. It has small leaf fragments
along bedding planes. Zircons have aspect ratios
from 2 to 3 and have concentric oscillatory zo-
nation with a small number of grains having dis-
tinct cores. Of the 21 zircons analyzed (Fig. 5D;
Table 1), seven were Proterozoic and ranged
from 1453 to 1656 Ma. One of these ages was
from an inherited core. The other 14 grains
yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age of 75.2 ±
1.3 Ma (MSWD = 0.23).
The final sample (12HLPT-1, pink tuff) is
from the overlying Hall Lake Member. The
groundmass consists of abundant orange devitri-
fied glass shards with curved walls. Phenocrysts
are <0.5 mm in diameter and consist of domi-
nantly angular quartz grains with minor plagio-
clase. Minor pumice is present. The whole-rock
composition is 77% SiO2 (Table DR2 [see foot-
note 1]). Zircons have aspect ratios that range
from 2 to 5. Most have concentric oscillatory
zonation, and some have inherited cores. We
dated 23 zircons with LA-ICP-MS (Fig. 5E;
Table 1): One yielded a Proterozoic age of 1684
Ma; another was 168 Ma; and the other 22 were
Campanian with a weighted mean 206Pb/238U age
of 73.2 ± 0.7 Ma (MSWD = 1.7).
Burro Mountains Igneous Rocks
We dated two samples from the Burro Moun-
tains (Fig. 1), an area that consists of several
fault-block uplifts of Proterozoic igneous and
metamorphic rocks, Cretaceous sedimentary
and igneous rocks, and a Paleogene caldera
complex (e.g., Hedlund, 1980; Amato et al.,
2008, 2011; Jonell, 2012; Machin et al., 2012).
Sample 11BV-24 is from the northwestern
Redrock NE (Bullard Peak) quadrangle (Hed-
lund, 1980) along Blackhawk Canyon. It was
sampled from unit “Kmp,” which is the Twin
Peaks monzonite porphyry named by Hewitt
(1959). It is 3 km by 2 km and intrudes grano-
diorite with ages of ca. 1460 Ma (Amato et
al., 2011). A hornblende K/Ar date of 72.5 ±
4.7 Ma from Kmp was reported by Hedlund
(1980). The extremely fine-grained matrix indi-
cates that the rock is hypabyssal, and it has a
dacite composition with 65% SiO2 (Table DR2
[see footnote 1]). The sample is light gray, with
abundant phenocrysts that include mostly pla-
gioclase and acicular hornblende. The dated
sample was collected from near the eastern mar-
gin of the stock. Five zircon crystals were ana-
lyzed by SHRIMP (all other samples from this
study were analyzed using LA-ICP-MS), and
a 206Pb/238U age of 75.5 ± 1.3 Ma was obtained
(Fig. 5F; Table 2). One zircon, likely xenocrys-
tic, yielded an age of 1462 ± 6 Ma. Numerous
inherited cores were identified in CL images of
zircons from this sample.
Sample 11BV-35 was collected from a pre-
viously mapped dacite sill of presumed Paleo-
gene age in the southwestern Cliff quadrangle
(Finnell, 1987), located ~4 km north of the Twin
Peaks stock. The rock is a light-gray dacite with
65% SiO2 and is compositionally similar to
sample 11BV-24 but with less Na2O (Table DR2
[see footnote 1]). It has phenocrysts of horn-
blende, plagioclase, and minor biotite, all of
which are highly altered. Of the 19 crystals ana-
lyzed, three were Proterozoic xenocrysts. Six-
teen crystals yielded a weighted mean 206Pb/238U
age of 75.0 ± 2.8 Ma (MSWD = 0.08; Fig. 5G;
Table 1). The xenocrysts have 207Pb/206Pb ages
ranging from 1461 to 1443 Ma. Inherited cores
were identified in the CL images of several zir-
cons from this sample. A summary of all of the
U-Pb geochronology, along with sample locali-
ties, is given in Table 3.
DISCUSSION
Comparison of the Age of Onset of
Deposition in the Love Ranch Basin with
Other Laramide Basins in New Mexico
The onset of deformation in the Laramide
Province of the Western Interior of the United
States generally is constrained by the age of
the oldest syntectonic basin-fill sediment, as
determined by guide fossils, dated volcanic
rocks interbedded with the basin-fill strata,
and reversal magnetostratigraphy. Eleven
Laramide basins have been identified in New
Mexico, including the Love Ranch Basin (Fig.
6; Lucas and Ingersoll, 1981; Seager, 1983,
2004; Smith et al., 1985; Cather, 2004). The
geochronologic data presented in this study
allow a more precise comparison of the onset
of Laramide sedimentation in the Love Ranch
Basin with the other basins in New Mexico,
and they can be used to test a previous model
regarding the temporal and spatial variations
in the onset of Laramide deformation in the

10 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX

 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

0.11
0.064 15Kmj-C1 Clast 75.0 ± 1.1 Ma 14Kmj-l “Knob Tuff” 74.9 ± 0.7 Ma

207Pb /206Pb
0.060

207Pb /206Pb
0.09

0.056

0.052 0.07

0.048
82 78 74 70 0.05
0.044 88 84 80 76 72 68 64

0.040
A B
0.03
76 80 84 88 92 96 70 80 90 100
238U/206Pb 238U/206Pb

12HL-3 “Dori’s Tuff” 74.6 ± 0.6 Ma 14Kmj-u “Upper JC tuff” 75.2 ± 1.3 Ma
0.054 0.11

207Pb /206Pb
0.052
207Pb /206Pb

0.09
0.050

0.048 0.07
78 76 74 72 70
0.046
0.05
0.044 100 90 80 70 60

0.042
C 0.03
D
81 83 85 87 89 91 60 70 80 90 100 110

238U/206Pb 238U/206Pb

0.10 12HLPT-1 “Pink Tuff” 73.2 ± 0.7 Ma 11BV-24 Burro Dacite 75.5 ± 1.3 Ma
0.056
0.09
207Pb /206Pb

207Pb /206Pb

0.08 0.052

0.07
82

0.048
0.06
78

74

70
0.05 88 84 80 76 70 66
0.044
0.04

0.03
E F
0.040
72 76 80 84 88 92 96 100 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92
238U/206Pb 238U/206Pb
0.5
11BV-35 Burro Dacite 75.0 ± 2.8 Ma

0.4
207Pb /206Pb

0.3
Figure 5. U-Pb Tera-Wasserburg concordia dia-
0.2 grams for all dated samples. Age ellipses are 1σ,
and reported mean weighted ages are 2σ.
0.1

G
120

80

0.0
40 60 80 100 120 140
238U/206Pb

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 11

 Amato et al.

TABLE 2. U/Pb ZIRCON DATA COLLECTED BY SHRIMP

Sample Spot* Comm. U Th Th/U 207Pb/235U§ Err 206Pb/238U§ Err Err 207Pb/206Pb§ Err 206
Pb/238U ±1σ Pb/206Pb
207
±1σ
206
Pb† (ppm) (ppm) (%) (%) corr.# (%) age (Ma) age (Ma)
(%) (Ma) (Ma)**
Dacite, Burro Mountains, New Mexico
11BV-24 5 bd 629 34 0.05 0.07 3.2 0.0115 1.8 0.57 0.0456 2.7 74.0 1.4
11BV-24 1 bd 693 50 0.07 0.08 4.9 0.0117 2.1 0.44 0.0472 4.4 75.0 1.6
11BV-24 2 0.11 170 28 0.17 0.07 10.9 0.0117 1.5 0.14 0.0427 10.8 75.6 1.1
11BV-24 4 0.06 388 112 0.29 0.08 3.9 0.0120 1.6 0.41 0.0492 3.5 76.8 1.2
11BV-24 6 bd 699 40 0.06 3.24 1.7 0.2563 1.7 0.98 0.0918 0.3 1472 24 1462 6
Note: Sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) standard age: R33 = 420 Ma. bd—below detection.
*Analyses are listed in increasing age. All localities are given in Table 3.
†
Common Pb component (%) of total 206Pb, determined using measured 204Pb.
§
Ratio was corrected for common Pb using measured 204Pb; ratios not given for samples with ages <100 Ma because of low precision.
#
Error correlation coefficient.
**207Pb/206Pb ages are not included for samples younger than 100 Ma because of low precision.

southwestern United States (Clinkscales and
Lawton, 2015).
Prior to this study, it was assumed that sedi-
mentation in the Love Ranch Basin began in
Maastrichtian time, based on the presence of
Upper Maastrichtian (ca. 68–66 Ma) dinosaur
fossils in the upper member (Hall Lake) of the
McRae Formation. As stated earlier, however,
the stratigraphic positions of the dinosaur fossils
within the Hall Lake Member are uncertain, and
no guide fossils have been found in the underly-
ing Jose Creek Member. The four ash-fall tuffs
dated in this study indicate that the middle and
upper parts of the Jose Creek Member and at
least the lower 15 m of the overlying Hall Lake
Member are 75–73 Ma in age (late Campanian;
Fig. 4). Although there are no tuffs in the lower
30 m of the Jose Creek Member, its base may be
the same age but not older than the clast dated in
this study at 75.0 ± 1.1 Ma. When the 2σ error is
included, a maximum possible age for the base
of the Jose Creek Member is 76.1 Ma.
The most accurately dated basin-fill strata
south of the Love Ranch Basin were depos-
ited in the Ringbone Basin, which was located
to the northeast of the Hidalgo uplift (Fig. 6;
Seager, 2004). Exposed in the Little Hatchet
Mountains, the Laramide basin fill of the Ring-
bone Basin is ~2050 m thick and is divided into
the older Ringbone and younger Skunk Ranch
Formations (Clinkscales and Lawton, 2015).
Several dinosaur fossils from the middle of the
Ringbone Formation suggest a late Campan-
ian to early Maastrichtian age (Lucas,1990).
More recently, U-Pb-zircon dates have been
obtained from ash-fall tuffs in the Ringbone
and Skunk Ranch Formations. The older tuff,
located ~540 m above the base of the basin-fill
section, yielded an age of 73.0 ± 1.0 Ma (late
Campanian), whereas the younger tuff, located
~1870 m above the base of the section, is 70.0 ±
1.0 Ma (early Maastrichtian; Jennings et al.,
2013; Clinkscales and Lawton, 2015). Because
the older dated tuff is located ~540 m above the
base of the Ringbone Formation, the age of the
base of the formation is older. An estimate for
the age of the base of the Ringbone Formation
can be estimated by calculating the uncom-
pacted sediment accumulation rate between
the dated tuffs in the Ringbone and Skunk
Ranch Formations and applying that value to
the amount of time it took to deposit the lower
540 m of the Ringbone Formation. When the
2σ error is included, this calculation results in
an estimated range of the age of the base of the
Ringbone Formation from 76.0 Ma to 72.4 Ma.
The higher value is similar to the age of the base
of the McRae Formation in the Love Ranch
Basin, raising the possibility that the onset of
Laramide deposition in the Ringbone and Love
Ranch Basins was contemporaneous.
The basin-fill section of the Little Hat Top Ba-
sin, located southwest of the Hidalgo uplift, has
not been dated. However, the lower part of the
basin fill, the Cowboy Springs Formation, has
ash-fall tuffs similar in thickness and composi-
tion to those in the Ringbone Formation (Zeller
and Alper, 1965). This led Seager (2004) to sug-
gest that the onset of deposition in the Little Hat
Top Basin was contemporaneous with that in the
Ringbone Basin.
The existence of the Laramide Klondike Ba-
sin in southwestern New Mexico is based on
cuttings from three wells, as well as exposures
of the Lobo Formation in the Victorio Moun-
tains (Lawton and Clemons, 1992). Although
no fossils or dates are available, the cuttings
contain andesitic clasts similar to the andesitic
volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Hidalgo
Formation in the northern Little Hatchet Moun-
tains. Prior to the study of Lawton and Clemons
(1992), a single zircon fission-track date of 55 Ma
was available from the Hidalgo Formation
(Marvin et al., 1978). More recently, hornblende
40
Ar/39Ar analyses from the Hidalgo Formation
yielded ages of 70.69 ± 0.44 Ma, 70.53 ± 0.48 Ma,
and 71.44 ± 0.38 Ma (Lawton et al., 1993;
Young et al., 2000). Because of its low closure
temperature and susceptibility to resetting, the
fission-track age likely does not date the age of
deposition. Therefore, the oldest basin fill in the
Klondike Basin need only be younger than the
youngest 40Ar/39Ar dates for the Hidalgo Forma-
tion (ca. 70 Ma) and could be late Maastrichtian
in age. The Lobo Formation had two detrital
zircons with U-Pb zircon dates of 66 Ma, and

TABLE 3. SUMMARY OF U-Pb ZIRCON DATES

Sample name Location Rock type Age Error MSWD n Technique Lab Location
(Ma) (2σ) (UTM)
15Kmj-C1 Cutter Sag McRae Fm. clast (andesite) 75.0 ± 1.1 0.3 20 LA-ICP-MS AZ 13S 295977 3669540
12HLPT-1 Cutter Sag McRae Fm. tuff (“Pink tuff”) 73.2 ± 0.7 0.9 21 LA-ICP-MS AZ 13S 301490 3677917
14Kmj-upper Cutter Sag McRae Fm. tuff (“Upper JC tuff”) 75.2 ± 1.3 0.2 14 LA-ICP-MS AZ 13S 302935 3672643
12HL-3 Cutter Sag McRae Fm. tuff (“Dori’s tuff”) 74.6 ± 0.6 1.2 10 LA-ICP-MS UCSB 13S 302916 3672657
14Kmj-lower Cutter Sag McRae Fm. tuff (“Knob tuff”) 74.9 ± 0.7 0.8 15 LA-ICP-MS AZ 13S 302907 3672663
11BV-24 Burro Mtns. Twin Peaks stock 75.5 ± 1.3 0.8 4 SHRIMP Stanford 12S 733844 3623880
11BV-35 Burro Mtns. Rhyolite sill 75.0 ± 2.8 0.1 16 LA-ICP-MS AZ 12S 733563 3626714
Note: See Tables 1 and 2 for complete data. MSWD—mean square of weighted deviates; n—number of zircons analyzed in sample. Techniques: LA-ICP-MS—
laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry; SHRIMP—sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe. Lab: AZ—University of Arizona LaserChron
Laboratory; UCSB—University of California Santa Barbara laser-ablation split-stream (LASS) lab. Datum—WGS 84.

12 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX

 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

thus some of the units in this basin are likely Pa-

A San
J uan leocene or younger (De los Santos et al., 2016).
The Laramide Potrillo Basin of Seager (2004)
37° N
was bounded to the southwest by the Potrillo

e Cristo
San Juan Basin Raton uplift and to the northeast by the Rio Grande
early Paleocene

San Luis
(<66 Ma) Basin uplift (Fig. 6). The basin fill of the Potrillo Ba-
or sin includes outcrops of the Lobo Formation in

Rito Basin

Sangre d
early to late Campanian

Nacimiento
(~80-75 Ma) the northern Florida Mountains and southern
late Maastrichtian
(~68-66 Ma) Cookes Range (Mack and Clemons, 1988), as
SF
well as the previously described outcrops of the

Galisteo-El
or
Zun early to late Campanian
i (~80-75 Ma)
Love Ranch Formation along the southwestern
dip slope of the Rio Grande uplift and Laramide
strata in the “Grimm et al.” exploration well

a
tos
on located ~23 km southwest of Las Cruces (Fig.
N
M

Carthage- 2). The only dates for the Laramide strata in

Baca Basin
Sierra

La Joya Basin the Potrillo Basin are the previously described

SC
late Paleocene and early Eocene palynomorphs
i
Morenc Sierra 50 km from the “Grimm et al.” well (Thompson,
Blanca
Silver City/ 1982). Because the eastern part of the Potrillo
Pinos Altos Arme Basin
ndar
~75-70 Ma iz Basin is adjacent to the Rio Grande uplift, its
Twin Peaks Copper Flat Lo McRae Formation ashes and clast oldest sediment, like that in the Love Ranch
~75 Ma
ve ~75-73 Ma (this study)
~75 Ma
Bu

Gr Rio Ra Basin, is inferred to be late Campanian (ca. 75–

rr

and nch
o

Ringbone/ 73 Ma) in age (Fig. 6).

Skunk Ranch/ Pot e
rill
Hidalgo: 75-70 Ma oB
a LC Laramide basins in New Mexico north
Po
tril sin of the Love Ranch Basin fall into two age
Rin lo
32° N gb Lun
Hid one a groups. The younger basins include the Baca,
Little Hat
alg
o ? Time of onset of Laramide basin Carthage–La Joya, Sierra Blanca, and Gali-
Top Basin Klondike Basin subsidence and sedimentation:
late Maastrichtian early-middle age inferred steo–El Rito, whereas the two older basins are
109° W
or Paleocene (<66 Ma) Eocene the San Juan and Raton (Fig. 6). The age of
early Laramide
late Campanian magmatic onset of Laramide sedimentation and subsid-
centers
ence in the San Juan and Raton Basins, how-
age in dispute Sierra = uplift ever, remains controversial.
B SW NE
In one model, Laramide sedimentation in the
San Juan Basin began with deposition of con-
Little Rio Love glomerates and sandstones of the Ojo Alamo
Age
Stage

Top Hat Hidalgo Ringbone Klondike Burro Silver Potrillo Grande Ranch
(Ma) Basin Uplift Basin Basin Uplift City Basin Uplift Basin Sandstone (Lucas and Ingersoll, 1981; Smith et
al., 1985). The Ojo Alamo Sandstone is Maas-
66 trichtian–Paleocene as indicated by palynology,
Maastrichtian

reversal magnetostratigraphy, and vertebrate

68
fossils including dinosaurs (Fassett and Steiner,
70 ? ? 1997; Lucas and Sullivan, 2000). If this model
is correct, the onset of Laramide sedimentation
72 ? in the San Juan Basin is ~9 m.y. younger than
in the Laramide Love Ranch Basin. In contrast,
74 Cather (2004) suggested that initial differential
Campanian

? subsidence in the Laramide San Juan Basin be-

?
76 gan between ca. 80 and 75 Ma with deposition
of the marine Lewis Shale, a formation that is
78 traditionally considered to have been deposited
in the pre-Laramide Western Interior foreland
Sedimentation Magmatism basin (Molenaar, 1983; Nummedal, 2004). The
model of Cather (2004) is based on a greater
Figure 6. (A) The distribution of Laramide uplifts and basins in New Mexico, and the than twofold increase in sediment accumula-
age of onset of Laramide subsidence and sedimentation, adapted from Seager (2004), tion rate of the Lewis Shale, compared to older
Cather (2004), Clinkscales and Lawton (2015), and De los Santos et al. (2016). (B) Chart ­foreland-basin deposits, and the fact that the
of the timing of magmatism and deposition projected along a SW–NE line through the maximum thickness of the Lewis Shale is lo-
basins and uplifts in southwestern New Mexico shown on Figure 6A. Magmatism data cated above the axis of the Laramide San Juan
are from Table DR1 (see text footnote 1). The onset of deposition in the Luna and Potrillo Basin. Although the age of the base of the Lewis
uplifts and the Klondike Basin remains uncertain. SF—Santa Fe; SC—Socorro; LC— Shale can only be estimated to be ca. 80 Ma,
Las Cruces. Cather (2004) noted that differential subsidence

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 13


had begun in the Lewis Shale before deposi-
tion of the Huerfanito bentonite bed, which is
388 m above the base of the Lewis Shale and
has an 40Ar/39Ar age of 75.76 ± 0.34 Ma (Fas-
sett and Steiner, 1997). If the model of Cather
(2004) is correct, onset of Laramide subsidence
in the San Juan Basin may have coincided with
or was as much as ~5 m.y. earlier than that in the
Laramide Love Ranch Basin.
Two contrasting models also exist for the
onset of Laramide deposition in the Raton Ba-
sin. Baltz (1965), Lucas and Ingersoll (1981),
Smith et al. (1985), and Flores (1987) corre-
lated the onset of Laramide sedimentation in
the Raton Basin with deposition of the Raton
Formation. Up to 640 m thick, the Raton For-
mation consists of a basal bed of quartz-pebble
conglomerate and granular sandstone that is
overlain by beds of fluvial sandstone, shale,
and coal (Flores and Pillmore, 1987; Flores,
1987). The age of the base of the Raton Forma-
tion is not well constrained, but it is probably
late Maastrichtian, because the Cretaceous-­
Paleogene boundary claystone has been identi-
fied ~81 m above the base of the Raton For-
mation (Pillmore et al., 1984; Shoemaker et al.,
1987; Orth et al., 1987), whereas the Campa-
nian-Maastrichtian boundary is in the upper
part of the marine Pierre Shale, ~200 m below
the base of the Raton Formation (Flores et al.,
1985; Flores, 1987). In addition, Upper Maas-
trichtian palynomorphs are known from below
the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary claystone
(Nichols and Sweet, 1993). This model sug-
gests that the onset of deposition in the Love
Ranch Basin occurred several million years be-
fore that in the Raton Basin, although the exact
time difference cannot be determined.
An alternative model for the onset of
Laramide subsidence and sedimentation in the
Raton Basin was offered by Cather (2004),
based on a threefold increase in sediment accu-
mulation rate for the marine Pierre Shale above
the Apache Creek Sandstone Member, com-
pared to sedimentation rates in the underlying
foreland-basin section. Cather (2004) further
suggested that arcuate isopach trends in marine
sandstones of the Lower Maastrichtian Trini-
dad Sandstone, which overlies the upper Pierre
Shale, may reflect a point source of sediment
to the west in the Laramide San Luis uplift.
Although the biostratigraphic age of the Pierre
Shale is poorly constrained, Cather (2004) sug-
gested that differential subsidence in the Raton
Basin began in the middle part of the Campan-
ian, between ca. 80 and 75 Ma. If so, onset of
Laramide subsidence and sedimentation in the
Raton Basin was contemporaneous with or up to
~5 m.y. older than onset of Laramide sedimenta-
tion in the Love Ranch Basin.
14 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX
Amato et al.
The remaining four Laramide basins located
north of the Love Ranch Basin are Eocene in
age, based exclusively on terrestrial vertebrate
fossils. The oldest of the late Laramide basins is
the Galisteo–El Rito Basin. In the Galisteo part
of the basin, the lower of two formations that
comprise the Laramide basin fill (Diamond Trail
Formation) contains a single fossil fragment of
an early Eocene horse, Hyracotherium sp. (Lu-
cas et al., 1997). Because the Hyracotherium
fossil is in the upper part of the Diamond Trail
Formation, the base of the formation may be
Paleocene in age (Lucas et al., 1997). Features
consistent with an early Eocene or older age for
the base of the Laramide basin fill are middle
and late Eocene vertebrate fossils from the
overlying Galisteo Formation (Lucas, 1980; Lu-
cas and Williamson, 1993). No age-­diagnostic
fossils have been discovered in the El Rito
Formation in the northern part of the Galisteo–
El Rito Basin.
Separated by the Laramide Sierra uplift, the
basin fill in both the Baca and Carthage–La
Joya Basins is assigned to the Baca Formation
(Cather, 2004). Middle Eocene vertebrate fossils
are present near the base of the Baca Formation
in both the Baca and Carthage–La Joya Basins
(Lucas, 1990; Lucas and Williamson, 1993).
Similarly, vertebrate fossils from the lower part
of the Cub Mountain Formation in the Sierra
Blanca Basin suggest an age near the early-
middle Eocene boundary (Lucas et al., 1989).
Although Koning and Roberts (2014) proposed
raising the base of the Cub Mountain Formation
by 30–60 m, this would not affect the biostrati-
graphic age of the Cub Mountain Formation.
It remains unclear whether the Sierra Blanca
Basin was yoked to an adjacent uplift or rep-
resents downstream accumulation of sediment
from one of the other Laramide basins (Cather,
2004; Koning and Roberts, 2014). The onset of
Laramide sedimentation in the late-Laramide
Galisteo–El Rito, Baca, Carthage–La Joya, and
Sierra Blanca Basins postdates initial deposition
in the Love Ranch Basin by ~20–28 m.y.
Regional Trends in the Onset of
Laramide Sedimentation
The new U-Pb zircon dates from the McRae
Formation allow the onset of Laramide deposi-
tion in the Love Ranch Basin to be more accu-
rately placed within a regional spatial and tem-
poral context (Fig. 6). Clinkscales and Lawton
(2015) argued that the onset of Laramide tecto-
nism and sedimentation progressively migrated
northeastward from southeastern Arizona and
northeastern Sonora in the early Campanian to
southwestern New Mexico (Ringbone Basin) in
the late Campanian, and to south-central New
Mexico (Love Ranch Basin) in the Maastrich-
tian. This idea must now be amended based on
the new dates presented in this study, which
show that sedimentation in both the Ringbone
and Love Ranch Basins began in the late Cam-
panian. This widens the area of late Campanian
onset of Laramide sedimentation of Clinkscales
and Lawton (2015).
Extension of the geographic and temporal
trend farther northward in New Mexico is com-
plicated because of conflicting interpretations
for the time of onset of Laramide subsidence in
the San Juan and Raton Basins. In the model of
Cather (2004), Laramide subsidence in both the
San Juan and Raton Basins may have been con-
temporaneous with or as much as ~5 m.y. older
than in the Ringbone and Love Ranch Basins.
This would either broaden the region of late
Campanian deformation or reverse the trend to
early Campanian deformation in northern New
Mexico. In contrast, the more traditional view
(Lucas and Ingersoll, 1981; Smith et al., 1985)
suggests that the onset of Laramide sedimenta-
tion in northern New Mexico postdated that in
southern New Mexico (late Maastrichtian in the
Raton Basin and early Paleocene in the San Juan
Basin), supporting the idea of northeastward
progression in the onset of Laramide tectonism
and sedimentation across northern Mexico,
southeastern Arizona, and New Mexico.
Laramide sedimentation continued into early
or middle Eocene time in the Love Ranch, San
Juan, and Raton Basins, during the final stage
of thrust displacement and deep erosion of their
complementary source terrains (Seager et al.,
1997; Cather, 2004). Early Cenozoic basin-fill
sediment is not present in the Ringbone Basin,
although the possibility exists that it was re-
moved by erosion prior to eruption of early Oli-
gocene volcanic rocks (Clinkscales and Lawton,
2015). The early and middle Eocene was also a
time of creation of new Laramide uplifts and ba-
sins in central and northern New Mexico (Baca,
Carthage–La Joya, Galisteo–El Rito, Sierra
Blanca basins) and, perhaps, in southwestern
New Mexico (Klondike Basin). The newly cre-
ated Eocene basins show that the strain became
more closely distributed in Eocene time com-
pared to earlier in the history of the Laramide
orogeny in New Mexico.
Regional Patterns of Late Cretaceous
Magmatism in New Mexico
A previous compilation of the ages of
Laramide igneous rocks in New Mexico (Mc-
Millan, 2004) used all of the published data
(and some unpublished data) to suggest that
there were three episodes of Laramide mag-
matism: 80–64 Ma, 64–48 Ma, and 48–37 Ma.
 The Laramide orogeny in southern New Mexico

The published dates from the oldest proposed based on (1) the difficulty of determining the partial resetting of the 75 Ma igneous rocks by
episode (80–64 Ma) included many K-Ar dates accuracy of K-Ar dates; (2) the likelihood younger thermal events. Thus, the most reliable
from material that is susceptible to argon loss of argon loss resulting from younger heating previously published data, along with our new
and partial resetting, which are harder to detect events; and (3) the nature of the dated material, dates, suggest that there was a relatively short-
than with the 40Ar/39Ar method (Fig. 7). We sug- with less-retentive material (e.g., plagioclase, lived episode of early Laramide-age magmatism
gest that the scattered K-Ar dates in the oldest groundmass, mica) being more likely to have in New Mexico beginning at 75 Ma and end-
group that are younger than ca. 70 Ma likely experienced thermal resetting. ing by 70 Ma (Fig. 7). Maastrichtian–Paleocene
represent reset ages, and that the oldest cluster The younger cluster around 72.5–70 Ma might Laramide magmatism does exist in the south-
around 76–74 Ma is the most reliable. This is be a younger event, or it could also represent western United Sates, particularly in the Arizona
porphyry copper belt (e.g., Titley, 1993; Vikre et
al., 2014), but rocks of this age in southwest-
80 ern New Mexico do not appear to be common,

Copper Flat
Little

McRae Fm.
Hatchet Mtns. given that argon dates in this range have likely

Pinos Altos
Twin Peaks
been affected by younger thermal events.
Peloncillo Mtns. pegmatite

78 Thus, rather than a continuum of Laramide

Ringbone Fm.

magmatism, there were instead three discrete

episodes with significant gaps between them.
76 The early episode, which we focus on here
(Fig. 7), was brief and lasted from 76 to 70 Ma
(e.g., Young et al., 2000; Clinkscales and Law-
Hidalgo Fm.

ton, 2015; this study). The middle episode re-

74 sulted in mineralized stocks and lasted from
Age (Ma)

ca. 61 to 57 Ma (e.g., Mizer et al., 2015), and

the final episode of voluminous intermediate
72
Sanitorium Pluton
volcanism occurred from 46 to 40 Ma (Mc-
(THIS STUDY)
(THIS STUDY)

Round Mtn. Pluton

Millan, 2004; Rioux et al., 2016). Thus, an ap-

proximate 10 m.y. gap or lull may exist after
70 the early Laramide magmatism episode ended.
Late Laramide magmatism was followed by
Skunk Ranch Fm.

abundant silicic caldera volcanism starting at

68 ca. 36 Ma in southern New Mexico during the
Paleogene that was related to the roll-back and/
or detachment of the Farallon slab and initiation
66 of extensional magmatism in the region (e.g.,
Elston, 1984; Cather, 1990; McIntosh et al.,
A 1992; Mack et al., 1994; McMillan et al., 2000;
64 Chapin et al., 2004).
This new evaluation of the age of magmatism
Volcanic-U/Pb zircon Plutonic-U/Pb zircon in southern New Mexico suggests that when
Volcanic-Ar/Ar High-T (hb) Plutonic-Argon High-T (hb) Laramide deformation began in southern New
Mexico in late Campanian time, the subduction
Plutonic-Argon Low-T (bi, mu, kfs)
angle of the Farallon slab to the southwest may
have been steep enough to allow partial melt-
10
Relative Probability

Palm Park/ Paleocene Period of ing of an asthenospheric wedge and resultant arc
Rubio Peak Magmatism interest
8 Intermediate for this study magmatism. Although Laramide deformation
Volcanic Rocks
continued through the remainder of the Creta-
Number

6 ceous and into the Paleogene in New Mexico,

arc magmatism in New Mexico largely ceased
4
by ca. 70 Ma, suggesting a flattening of the sub-
2 duction angle and consequent loss of the asthe-
0
B nospheric wedge, or depletion of that portion of
35 45 55 65 75 the asthenospheric wedge that underwent par-
Age (Ma) tial melting. Another model for early Laramide
magmatism has invoked an influence of Jurassic
Figure 7. (A) Summary of published and new ages for early Laramide magmatism rifting accompanied by asthenospheric upwell-
in southwest New Mexico (see Table DR1 for data and references [text footnote 1]). ing, subsequently impacted by the subducted
The majority of ages are in the range 75–70 Ma. (B) Relative probability distribution Farallon plate, which could have generated arc-
diagram showing the most precise ages for Laramide magmatism in New Mexico. T— like magmas (McMillan, 2004).
temperature. Mineral abbreviations: hb—hornblende; bi—biotite; mu—muscovite; The Campanian magmatism reported here
kfs—K-feldspar. was coeval with the peak of volcanism at 73

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX 15


Ma reported from the Tarahumara Formation in
Mexico >200 km to the southwest (González-
León et al., 2011) and even farther inboard
of the trench. A second episode of Laramide
magmatism associated with copper porphyry
deposits in Arizona lasted until 58 Ma. By the
time arc magmatism in New Mexico resumed
between 46 and 40 Ma, Laramide deformation
had ceased in southern New Mexico, and much
of the previous topographic relief was reduced
by erosion.
The U-Pb zircon ages from ash-fall tuffs in
the McRae Formation indicate volcanism in the
region from 74.9 to 73.2 Ma. These dates over-
lap with our U-Pb zircon ages of ca. 75 Ma from
two intrusive rocks dated from the Burro Moun-
tains, both in the vicinity of the Twin Peaks
stock, and a monzonite porphyry in the western
Bullard Peak quadrangle (Hewitt, 1959; Sharp,
1991). This unit was noted by Hewitt (1959) to
be similar to rocks in the Black Hawk mining
district (Gillerman and Whitebread, 1956). In
addition, a quartz diorite in the Bullard Peak
quadrangle dated at ca. 71 Ma (Amato and
Boullion, 2008) may be a dike from the same in-
trusive event that formed the larger Twin Peaks
pluton. However, correlating the McRae ash-fall
tuffs to a specific eruptive center will require de-
tailed trace-element and isotopic comparisons.
CONCLUSIONS
U-Pb zircon dates of a dacite clast (75.0 ±
1.1 Ma) and four ash-fall tuffs (ranging from
74.9 ± 1.1 Ma to 73.2 ± 0.7 Ma) in the lower
part of the McRae Formation indicate a late
Campanian age for onset of Laramide sedimen-
tation in the Love Ranch Basin of south-central
New Mexico. This age is similar to the onset of
sedimentation in the Laramide Ringbone Basin
of southwestern New Mexico, but it is younger
than early Campanian onset of Laramide sedi-
mentation in Sonora and southeastern Arizona
(Clinkscales and Lawton, 2015). Extension of
the temporal comparison to northern New Mex-
ico is hampered by competing models for the
onset of Laramide subsidence and sedimenta-
tion in the San Juan Basin (ca. 80–75 Ma vs. ca.
66 Ma) and in the Raton Basin (ca. 80–75 Ma
vs. late Maastrichtian, ca. 70 Ma; Cather, 2004).
Laramide deformation became less widely
spaced in New Mexico in the Eocene with the
creation of as many as six new basins and com-
plementary uplifts (Seager, 2004; Cather, 2004).
U-Pb zircon dates also were obtained from
the Twins Peaks stock (75.7 ± 1.3 Ma) and a da-
cite sill (75.0 ± 2.8 Ma) in the Burro Mountains
of southwestern New Mexico. These dates are
from rocks that formed during a brief episode
of magmatism in southern New Mexico from
16 Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 1XX, no. XX/XX
Amato et al.
ca. 75 to 70 Ma, which includes previously
dated igneous rocks from the Hidalgo Forma-
tion in the Little Hatchet Mountains, from the
Silver City–Pinos Altos region, and from the
Copper Flat porphyry system (Fig. 7). This pe-
riod of magmatism coincided with the onset of
Laramide deformation in southern New Mex-
ico, and it indicates that the angle of subduction
of the Farallon plate was steep enough to allow
the existence and partial melting of an astheno-
spheric wedge beneath southern New Mexico.
Laramide deformation in southern New Mexico
continued into the early Paleogene, but it had
ceased prior to the final episode of Laramide
magmatism in the region from ca. 46 to 40 Ma.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to owner Ted Turner for giving us
permission to access the Armendaris Ranch for sam-
pling of the McRae Formation. Maureen Wilks shared
the geochronology database of the New Mexico Bu-
reau of Geology and Mineral Resources. George Geh-
rels and the staff at the Arizona LaserChron Center
helped acquire zircon data, and the laboratory was
supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-
1338583. Brad Hacker and Andrew Kylander-Clark at
the University of California–Santa Barbara graciously
provided one of the zircon U-Pb ages. Matt Coble and
Eric Gottlieb both facilitated sensitive high-resolution
ion microprobe data collection at the Stanford–U.S.
Geological Survey facility and provided useful in-
sights into the data interpretation. Sam Bothern at
New Mexico State University helped acquire X-ray
fluorescence data. Discussions with Tim Lawton, Em-
ily Johnson, and Nancy McMillan are appreciated. We
appreciate the constructive reviews of Nancy Riggs,
Carlos Gonzáles-León, and Mark Barton.
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Science Editor: Aaron J. Cavosie
Associate Editor: Nancy Riggs
Manuscript Received 2 August 2016
Revised Manuscript Received 3 January 2017
Manuscript Accepted 25 March 2017
Printed in the USA