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Geological Society of America

Special Paper 393
2005

The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico—

Tectonic implications

Thomas H. Anderson
Department of Geology and Planetary Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA

Norris W. Jones
James W. McKee
Department of Geology, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901, USA

ABSTRACT

The Taray Formation is a mudstone-rich body of rock characterized by dismembered

beds of sandstone and shale and fragments of a great range of sizes in a finer matrix. The
formation is known only from exposures in northern Zacatecas, in the southern part of
the San Julian uplift. Structurally, it underlies a thick Jurassic sequence that includes
the volcanogenic Caopas, Rodeo, and Nazas formations and younger rocks of La Joya
(volcaniclastic) and Zuloaga (limestone) formations. The base of the Taray is unknown.
The texture and structures of Taray and its tectonostratigraphic association with Juras-
sic volcanic rocks suggest that it is formed of mélange of probable Jurassic age.
Sections of interbedded sandstone and mudstone commonly show progressive
dismemberment. Initial subtabular beds commonly pinch and swell. Further exten-
sion was accommodated by boudinage or by faults, which cut gently across bedding
and dissect sandy layers into lenses and slivers. Progressive stratal disruption formed
isolated, deformed inclusions of sandstone, commonly mixed with volcanic and cherty
debris, encased in dark-gray, fine-grained, foliated, crenulated matrix. Some large
boulders of quartzose sand that slid downslope, crumpling sediments at their bows,
were subsequently encased by matrix and both were distinctly extended so that the
boulders were fractured, whereas the weaker, pliant matrix responded ductilely.
Taray also contains blocks (as much as hundreds of meters in maximum dimen-
sion) of diverse composition including: laminated and massively bedded, light-colored
chert; fragmented volcanic flow rock; fine, quartzose sandstone; and carbonate beds,
some of which contain fusulinids and crinoid debris. Some of these rocks show tight
folds that formed, in some cases, while they were semiconsolidated; later they were
incorporated in muddy matrix as lithified fragments.
The unexposed contact between mudstone-rich Taray Formation and the volca-
nic and volcaniclastic beds of the Nazas Formation also marks changes in the attitude
of planar structures. We interpret Taray as part of a Jurassic(?) accretionary prism.
The tectonostratigraphic sequence at this latitude (west to east) of accretionary prism
(Taray), arc (Nazas, Rodeo, Caopas Formations), and overlying clastic cover (La Joya
Formation), which developed against and upon a margin of Paleozoic and Precam-

Anderson, T.H., Jones, N.W., and McKee, J.W., 2005, The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico—Tectonic implications, in Anderson, T.H.,
Nourse, J.A., McKee, J.W., and Steiner, M.B., eds., The Mojave-Sonora megashear hypothesis: Development, assessment, and alternatives: Geological Society of America
Special Paper 393, p. 427–455. doi: 10.1130/2005.2393(16). For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org. ©2005 Geological Society of America.

427
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428 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
brian crust, cannot be extended northward and must either turn abruptly westward
along the southern edge of the Mesozoic Coahuila Island or be truncated and offset,
probably along the Mojave-Sonora megashear.
Keywords: Taray Formation, mélange, accretionary prism, Jurassic, volcanic arc.
INTRODUCTION AND REGIONAL SETTING
The Mojave-Sonora megashear is postulated to curve from
Sonora east-southeastward across northern Mexico (Anderson and
Schmidt, 1983). The inferred trace is constrained by the distribu-
tion of pre–Late Jurassic rocks, especially those in the vicinity of
the great Monterrey salient of the Sierra Madre Oriental, which is
defined principally by resistant ridges of Oxfordian and younger
carbonates. The stratigraphic discontinuity cited as an indication
of displacement along the fault occurs between Paleozoic rocks
(King, 1934, 1944) that underlie the southern part of the Coahuila
block (also described as a peninsula or island) and pre-Cretaceous
Mesozoic rocks exposed southward in the San Julian uplift (Cór-
doba-M., 1964), across the inferred megashear (Fig. 1).
During the late 1970s Anderson learned of regional map-
ping of the relevant pre-Cretaceous rocks being conducted by
McKee and Jones in northeastern Mexico. An outcome of their
work in the state of Coahuila is the recognition that initial activity
along the regional San Marcos fault, a west-northwest–striking
structure bounding the northern margin of the Mesozoic Coa-
huila Island, is contemporaneous with the age proposed for the
megashear (McKee and Jones, 1979; 1990). Soon thereafter we
joined to conduct regional studies with the objective of assessing
the postulated stratigraphic discontinuity between the Coahuila
block and the San Julian uplift to the south (Fig. 1).
The initial cooperative study focused upon late Paleozoic,
arc-proximal marine strata and related intrusive rocks, named the
Las Delicias Formation, that underlie at least 6000 km2 of the
Coahuila block (McKee et al., 1988, 1999). The folded strati-
fied section consists mainly of thousands of meters of sand- to
megaboulder-size volcaniclastic debris (mostly andesitic and
dacitic) with conspicuous, although volumetrically minor, thick
beds composed of allochthonous basin-margin limestone that is
intercalated with fine-grained marine pelagic sediment. Coherent
or semicoherent allochthonous bodies of carbonate and volcanic
rocks that moved down the flanks of the sedimentary basin under
the influence of gravity may include blocks with dimensions of
hundreds or thousands of meters. One slab may encompass a few
hundred square kilometers. Neither the bottom nor the top of the
section is exposed. The unit includes strata with ages that fall
within the interval from late Mississippian(?) through most of the
Permian (McKee et al., 1999).
South of the Delicias terrane across the inferred megashear,
which is covered by Cretaceous strata preserved in the Parras
basin, major exposures of pre-Cretaceous rocks crop out within
the San Julian uplift. Among the hills of the uplift, thousands
of meters of flows, breccia, laharic conglomerate, air-fall tuff,
ash-flow tuff and tuffaceous siltstone, which are locally strongly
deformed, are included within Caopas, Nazas, and Rodeo Forma-
tions (Jones et al., 1995). Outcrops of these pre-Oxfordian, Meso-
zoic, commonly subaerial rocks occur within a discrete region
south of the inferred trace of the megashear (McKee et al., 1989).
In the southern part of the San Julian uplift a mudstone-rich
body of rock (Taray Formation), which is characterized by dis-
membered beds of sandstone and shale and by fragments of a great
range of sizes in a finer matrix, underlies the volcanogenic rocks
of the Nazas Formation (Fig. 2). The unexposed contact between
these two units is interrupted by low-dipping faults. Southwest-
ward-directed tectonic transport of the subaerial rocks of the mag-
matic arc onto fine-grained marine rocks is compatible with the
asymmetry of folds recorded by units high in the volcanic section
and overlying Oxfordian(?) strata (Anderson et al., 1991).
Our purpose is to: (1) describe the lithologic, compositional,
and structural features of Taray that led us to conclude it is part
of an accretionary prism (López-Infanzón, 1986), and (2) relate
Taray rocks within the San Julian uplift to older and younger
units, as well as to the Mojave-Sonora megashear along which
the formation has been displaced (Jones et al., 1995).
TARAY FORMATION
We interpret the dismembered muddy rocks composing
Taray Formation as mélange. They were first mapped as a forma-
tion by Córdoba-M. (1964) during his geologic investigations of
the San Julian uplift in northern Zacatecas, Mexico (Figs. 1 and
2). He proposed the name “Taray Formation” for gray and brown
phyllite, graywacke, and conglomerate with scattered, bedded
masses of dolomite and chert exposed along Arroyo El Taray
north of the prominent Pico de Teyra.
The principal exposure of the Taray Formation occupies
~60 km2, west of Sierra El Solitario de Teyra and around Pico
de Teyra (Figs. 2 and 3). Access to the area is by very poor roads
and arroyos and most of our field work was done on foot. Taray-
like rocks also are exposed in an area of a few hundred square
meters in extent along the road just east of Caopas (Fig. 2); these
outcrops, which are 15 km north of the main exposure, are sur-
rounded by volcanic rocks of the Jurassic Caopas-Rodeo-Nazas
Formations (Jones et al., 1995). López-Infanzón (1986) reported
Taray Formation to the east of Cerro Europa, a hill ~4 km north
of Caopas and halfway between Caopas and Rodeo, but we were
unable to verify this occurrence.
The Taray Formation is a mudstone-rich body of rock char-
acterized by: (1) dismembered beds of sandstone and shale, and
(2) fragments or blocks up to hundreds of meters long, in a fine-
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico

Figure 1. Map of Mexico showing postulated Jurassic tectonic discontinuities and locations of: (1) towns, (2) exposures of Jurassic, Triassic, and late Paleozoic rocks, (3) terranes, and
429

(4) tectonostratigraphic domains mentioned in text.

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430 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

Figure 2. Geologic map of the San Julian Uplift. The Upper Zuloaga Formation was not mapped in the Sierra Solitario de Las Teyra and is in-
cluded there under the symbol for post-Zuloaga formations, undifferentiated.
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico 431

grained matrix. Many exposures of matrix composed of dark-
gray, fine-grained platy rocks are characterized by closely spaced
cleavage that may be planar (poorly to well developed) or phacoi-
dal. Locally the foliated rocks record crenulations. In places we
were tempted to label the curved anastomosing cleavage planes
in matrix as scaly cleavage (e.g., Lundberg and Moore, 1986;
Pini, 1999, fig. 12A therein) equivalent to that which character-
izes the tectonosomes of the argille scagliose of the Bologna
Apennines of Italy (Pini, 1999). However, we are not confident
that the cleavage in the Taray is restricted to bodies comparable to
tectonosomes nor does it exhibit typical splintery character.
Parts of the Taray contain tuffaceous horizons. Although
these bodies of rock may be compared to progressively extended
sequences of mudstone, tuff, chert and sandstone of Cowan’s
(1985) type II mélange, their stratigraphic position, close to the
base of the Nazas, led us to the conclusion that these parts of the
Taray had been within reach of a volcanic source other than that
related to oceanic volcanism.
We discuss the enigmatic Taray-Nazas contact in a separate
section of this report that is devoted to the structural and strati-
graphic relationship between those units. The base of the Taray
is not exposed.
The age of the principal components of the Taray Forma-
tion, such as the common gray, fine-grained foliated rocks,
is unknown because (1) the stratigraphic position is not well
constrained, (2) the only fossils are in clasts, and (3) no isotopic
dates are available. Córdoba-M. (1964) tentatively suggested an
Early Devonian to Early Pennsylvanian age based on its per-
ceived lithologic similarity to rocks of that age in the Marathon
region of West Texas. Rare clasts (up to boulder size) of crinoidal

km

Figure 3. Geologic map of the principal area of exposure of the Taray Formation.
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432 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

A B

Figure 4. Conglomerate in Taray Formation. (A) Clasts in near-vertical beds are mainly quartz-rich sandstone and chert; note the gentle dip of
cleavage. Hammer length = 36 cm. (B) Rare conglomerate with rounded cobble of muscovite granite. Scale in cm.

limestone are assumed to be Paleozoic. Some limestone cobbles
contain fusulinids that were identified as Pennsylvanian by Mer-
lynd Nestell (1983, personal commun.). Detrital zircons from
sandstone in Taray yield ages as young as 270 Ma, suggesting
that the sandstone formed between Late Permian and Nazas time
(Middle Jurassic) (Diaz-Salgado et al., 2003). López-Infanzón
(1986) and Barboza-Gudino et al. (1999) assigned a Late Triassic
age on the basis of their correlation of Taray with the fossiliferous
Zacatecas Formation (Burckhardt and Scalia, 1906).
The Zacatecas Formation (Carrillo-Bravo, 1968), exposed
in the vicinity of the city of Zacatecas, links Taray Formation
to other lithologically similar bodies of fine-grained clastic
rocks (e.g., Varales lithofacies of the Arteaga Complex; Cen-
teno-García et al., 2003) and locally mafic marine rocks to the
southwest. Together the widespread exposures of comparable
strata at Taray (Zacatecas), Charcas (San Luis Potosí), Peñon
Blanco (San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas), Zacatecas (Zacatecas)
and Arteaga (Michoacan) distinguish a domain of marine
clastic rocks, commonly strongly disrupted by layer-parallel
extension. These strata occur beneath Jurassic volcanic units
(Nazas Formation and others; Blickwede, 1981) of the Sierra
Madre terrane, as well as Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks of
the Guerrero terrane (Centeno-García and Silva-Romo, 1997).
We propose that the mélange-like structures of Taray formed
during east-northeast–directed, Middle Jurassic convergence
and that the uppermost units of the Taray may be transitional
into the Nazas Formation.
LITHOLOGIC COMPONENTS OF THE TARAY
FORMATION
Overview

Much of the matrix of Taray Formation is gray to dark-

Figure 5. Quartzite boulder in Taray Formation with person for scale.
Note crumpled sediments to right of boulder.
gray, light-gray-weathering argillite, slate, or phyllite that
shows scant evidence of bedding. However, in most outcrops
some sandstone or metasandstone is present, either in lenses
or in rare continuous beds. Distinctly bedded sections of sand-
stone, mudstone, conglomerate, and pebbly mudstone that
occur within the Taray are generally within blocks.
Conglomerate, though a relatively minor component, is
widespread both as beds and within blocks. Some conglomer-
ate consists of lenses of granules or pebbles of sandstone or
slate that were probably derived internally. Other conglomerate
bodies contain subrounded to rounded clasts that suggest a his-
tory of subaerial transport. Among these latter conglomerates,
components include: (1) subangular to rounded granules of
metaquartzite or vein quartz, (2) rounded pebbles or cobbles of
chert, (3) subrounded cobbles to boulders of sandstone (Fig. 4A),
(4) pebbles and cobbles of carbonate, and (5) rounded cobbles
of granitoids (one exposure only) (Fig. 4B). A conglomerate
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
Figure 6. Thin-bedded chert in block in Taray Formation. Note isocli-
nal fold near centimeter scale.
exposed near the western side of the Taray exposures contains
cobbles of crinoid- and fusulinid-bearing limestone.
Blocks up to several hundred meters long, characterized
by coherent bedded strata, and other large clasts are distinctive
components of the Taray. Clasts, commonly lensoid, of quartz-
ose sandstone that range from pebble to house-size boulders are
most common (Fig. 5). The blocks or inclusions up to 300 m
long consist of thin- to medium-bedded, light-gray to black
chert, some of which was isoclinally folded before incorpora-
tion in the Taray (Fig. 6). A complex block, or blocks, contain-
ing chert, diabase, scoriaceous material, and turbiditic wacke
forms Cerro El Pedernal (Fig. 3; Klein et al., 1990). Inclusions
Figure 7. Photomicrograph (plane light) of matrix and a few clasts of a
conglomeratic phyllite. Matrix and siltstone and sandstone clasts are lens-
oid as a result of the development of slip surfaces, commonly parallel to
compositional layers, and small normal faults that transect the layers and
intersect the slip surfaces at acute angles; opaques accentuate foliation.
Minerals present include quartz, albite, muscovite, and clinochlore.
433
of carbonate are of several types: some are crinoid-bearing
limestone; some contain dolomite intimately mixed with vol-
canic material (near La Cejita mine, Fig. 3); and, on Cerro El
Pedernal, ankerite occurs interbedded with magnetite in a lami-
nated to thin-bedded metasediment. Some masses of intermedi-
ate to mafic volcanic rock occur near the southeastern edge of
the Taray exposure, but they may be fault-bounded slivers of the
overlying Nazas Formation.
Matrix
Exposures of massive, fine-grained matrix of the Taray
consist of black, greenish-black, gray or silvery gray phyllitic
metashale or metasiltstone that is commonly foliated, locally
crenulated, and metamorphosed to low greenschist facies. Bed-
ding is difficult to discern in many outcrops.
Thin sections show that grain size is typically coarse silt to
clay, but scattered sand-size grains or lensoid granule-size intra-
clasts are common (Fig. 7). Optical microscopy and X-ray dif-
fraction (XRD) show that subangular quartz is invariably present,
2MIIb clinochlore occurs in nearly all samples, and fine-grained,
2M1 white mica (illite, sericite, or muscovite) is a common, but
not invariable, component. Albite is less common, and biotite is
generally absent or a minor component. Rounded zircon was
identified in some.
Foliation, generally evident in thin section, is shown (Fig. 8)
by: (1) common extinction of sheet silicates, (2) the presence of
wisps of white mica and chlorite, (3) the presence of aligned iron
oxide, or (4) the orientation of lensoid intraclasts. Thin seams
of opaque minerals (Fig. 7) that separate lensoid domains are
interpreted as the residuum of dissolution and define foliation.
Figure 8. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of metasiltstone composed
of quartz, muscovite, albite, and clinochlore. Extension resulting in the
formation of slip surfaces parallel to compositional layers and small
normal faults that transect layers has juxtaposed slightly different
lithologies and produced lenses. Lenses, common orientation of sheet
silicates, and iron oxides on cleavage surfaces define the foliation.
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434 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
Layers, or zones that resemble beds, are evident in some samples.
Dark beds contain more iron oxide and/or chlorite with a strong
preferred orientation. Lens-shaped fragments also define crude
bedding. Siliceous lenses that resemble chert in hand specimen
contain very fine grains of quartz. Some grains may be derived
from metamorphosed rock as suggested by irregular domains
with sutured boundaries and elongate crystal aggregates. In some
samples, fractures filled with iron oxide cut the foliation and bed-
ding. Quartz veins both cut and parallel foliation. Quartz veins
in some samples have very irregular shapes and appear to have
been deformed.
Locally in the topographically higher parts of the Taray,
light-colored clasts and matrix appear to be tuffaceous. We tried
to separate these rocks from the rest of the Taray, but the transi-
tions are so subtle that they are not mappable. A thin section
of what we interpreted to be light-gray, very fine-grained tuff
(Fig. 9) reveals aligned folia of sericite (composing ~50% of
the rock), quartz and plagioclase crystals, less than ~0.03 mm
in diameter, and chert-like material. Some quartz has shard-like
shapes; fragments tend to be elongate, curved and angular. The
chert-like material does not clearly occur as grains, but seems to
be matrix; it could be devitrified glass.
Sandstone
The most prominent masses of sandstone occur as lensoid
masses with visible dimensions up to 5 m thick and 10 m long.
The sandstone beds vary in composition, but most are quartz-
rich. Color varies from dark gray to buff to nearly white, but
most are gray. Grain size varies from fine- to coarse-sand and
angularity from angular to rounded. Slightly flattened grains and
wisps of dark material, probably iron oxides, define weak folia-
tion in some sandstone beds (Fig. 10). Sorting ranges from poor
to moderately well, and sandstones are both grain and matrix
supported.
Distinct beds (versus lenses) of sandstone are rare. Where
present, they show some graded bedding and channeling and may
be part of an exotic block. Beds are mostly thin, 2–5 cm, but there
are rare beds of sandstone up to 1 m thick.
Some sandstone bodies contain inclusions. In one exposure,
massive sandstone contains clasts of quartz sandstone ~0.6 m
long, a bed or elongate fragment of chert, and small, 1–10 cm,
variously colored wisps of fine sandstone that probably were
formed before lithification.
In the topographically upper part of the Taray Formation,
some of the sandstone becomes feldspathic. These beds are
dark-gray to moderate brown, rusty weathering, fine- to coarse-
grained quartz wackes. Some possess a slight foliation and may
even be somewhat schistose. Muscovite occurs in some as both
detrital and metamorphic grains; biotite is rare. Some have scat-
tered clasts of shale fragments, milky quartz, feldspars, and even
carbonate, both as grains and as matrix. In thin section the princi-
pal difference from the other sandstones is that lithic fragments,
especially volcanic rock fragments, are somewhat more abundant
Figure 9. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of fine-grained meta-ash-
tuff, which consists of quartz, sericite, plagioclase, and particles of
probable devitrified volcanic glass. Some quartz fragments are elon-
gate, curved, and angular.
(Fig. 11). Unfortunately, we were unable to map these sandstones
as a distinct unit.
Texturally, all of the sandstones are wackes, but the grain
mineralogy is variable (Table 1, Figs. 11, 12, 13, 14). The princi-
pal grains are quartz (composing from ~18–70% of the sample),
plagioclase (trace to 18%), and lithic fragments (0–25%); matrix
ranges from 18% to 65%. Sedimentary chert, volcanic chert, and
fine-grained polycrystalline quartz are difficult to subdivide.
Differences among individual quartz grains suggest the
existence of multiple provenances. Many grains show undula-
tory extinction or polygonization, and some show deformation
lamellae typical of highly sheared rocks suggestive of deriva-
tion from metamorphic rocks (Fig. 12). Some grains show
very straight extinction, are slightly embayed (Fig. 11), or
have inclusions indicating a volcanic source. In one wacke,
quartz is angular and has pressure fringes of sericite and chlo-
rite that parallel the plane of foliation. Plagioclase varies from
fresh grains with good sharp twins to grains that are slightly to
strongly altered (Fig. 13). In a few samples, twin lamellae are
bent, but most are undistorted. Much feldspar is untwinned, but
staining for K indicated there is very little K-feldspar. Other
minerals include clinochlore (which may have formed from
detrital Fe-Mg minerals), muscovite, and iron oxides. Zircon
and rare hornblende are accessory minerals. Rock fragments
include volcanic rocks (ranging from very fine-grained frag-
ments that are unidentifiable to chert-like siliceous rocks to pla-
gioclase-phyric andesite), shale (some with fine quartz grains),
chert, chlorite (probably derived from clasts), sandstone, and
quartzite (or recrystallized portions of vein quartz).
The matrix of the sandstones is generally composed of very
fine-grained quartz and a fine-grained white mica and clino-
chlore. In some rocks it is difficult to distinguish matrix from
distorted rock fragments.
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico 435

0.5mm
1mm

Figure 10. Photomicrograph (plane light) of fine-grained sandstone from
lensoid body in Taray Formation. Angular to subangular quartz, plagio-
clase, and detrital muscovite (lower left) are contained in a matrix of very
small crystals of silicates, including quartz and clinochlore, that may be
the remains of highly altered volcanic rock fragments. Note the foliation.
Figure 11. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of medium-grained,
grain-supported wacke with grains of quartz, plagioclase, and volca-
nic rock fragments. Note embayed volcanic quartz in rock fragment.
Sample from lensoid body in Taray.

range from tabular blocks, up to 2 m by 30 cm, to 1 cm lenticular

Broken Formation and Pebbly Mudstone
Discontinuous layers of sandstone, recording layer-parallel
extension, that occur in a matrix of metashale/siltstone are compa-
rable to broken formation (Hsü, 1974; Kusky and Bradley, 1999)
(Fig. 15). Sand horizons in less-disrupted zones are segmented
and the broken aspect is clear. Sand bodies in some of these zones
clasts. In some outcrops, beds pinch and swell in a manner sug-
gesting soft-sediment deformation. In thin section, most clasts are
lensoid (Fig. 16); in some, fine-grained phyllitic material interfin-
gers with sandstone so that the term clast is inappropriate. Entirely
disrupted sand bodies that are mixed in an irregular fashion within
argillaceous matrix are similar to pebbly mudstone as proposed
by Hsü (1974) and discussed by Kusky and Bradley (1999). Most
common are pebble- to cobble-size, rounded or elongate lenses of

TABLE 1. POINTS COUNTED ON TARAY SANDS

A. No associated volcanic rocks*

Sample: 3 4 5 6 7A 7B 10A 10B 11A 11B 19B 29 30B 38 40B 40C
Qm 19.7 22.7 26.7 46.7 42.0 39.7 53.7 59.7 18.3 26.0 33.3 50.7 19.7 34.0 45.3 33.3
Qp – 0.7 24.7 6.0 23.0 27.3 4.7 10.3 1.0 2.3 1.3 5.7 2.0 3.7 5.0 25.7
P 18.3 18.0 13.3 12.7 0.3 9.0 4.3 1.7 13.7 10.3 17.3 15.0 7.3 18.0 16.7 8.3
K 4.7 2.3 1.7 – – – – – 1.7 – –
Lv 7.3 8.7 – 3.3 1.0 1.7 – – 4.3 5.3 12.3 5.3 2.7 18.3 1.3 3.3
Ls 1.3 – – 0.7 – 0.7 – – – – 6.3 0.3 3.3 7.7 0.3 10.7
M 48.7 47.7 33.7 30.7 33.7 21.7 37.3 28.3 61.0 56.0 29.3 22.3 65.0 18.3 31.3 18.7
B. Volcanic rocks associated*
Sample: 3 8A 8B 8C 8D 9C 9D 9E 10A 10B 10C 11A 11C 14B
Qm 40.3 28.0 25.3 24.0 32.3 44.3 27.0 18.3 23.0 24.0 20.3 17.3 16.7 28.0
Qp 13.7 2.0 1.3 3.3 8.7 13.0 4.3 5.7 2.3 3.7 1.0 42.0 18.0
P 7.3 7.7 13.7 13.0 9.0 2.0 4.3 10.7 11.0 18.7 10.3 18.3 10.7 7.0
K 0.3
Lv 4.0 9.7 6.3 4.7 8.3 3.7 2.3 5.7 7.0 11.0 22.3 3.0 11.7 1.7
Ls 4.0 8.3 6.3 0.3 0.7 2.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 7.7 2.0 2.7
M 30.3 44.3 47.3 58.0 46.3 39.3 53.3 53.3 50.3 37.7 35.7 58.3
16.3 45.3
Note: 300 points counted, values in percent. Explanation of symbols: Qm—monocrystalline quartz grains; Qp—polycrystalline quartz grains;
P—plagioclase grains; K—K–feldspar grains; Lv—volcanic lithic fragments; Ls—sedimentary lithic fragments; M—matrix and other grains.
*No rocks associated with the sandstones in Table 1A are thought to have a volcanic component vs. those in Table 1B. Comparison of Tables 1A
and 1B shows that the sands themselves do not reflect this difference. Rocks associated with the sandstones in Table 1B are thought to have a
volcanic component vs. those in Table 1A.
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436 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

1mm

Figure 12. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of a coarser-grained Figure 15. Example of “broken formation” in which what probably were
sandstone lense. Quartz in this sample is variable; extinction varies once-continuous layers of fine-grained sandstone in a shale matrix have
from undulatory to straight, and some lithic grains are polygonized. been dismembered and pinched out. Note overturned slump(?) fold in
Plagioclase, sandstone, and volcanic fragments also are present. detached sandstone layer, upper left corner. Field of view ~3.5 m.

Figure 13. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of wacke with grains of Figure 16. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of “broken formation”
plagioclase (note albite twinning), quartz, both volcanic and sedimen- with grains and lenses of siltstone and sandstone contained within a
tary lithic fragments, and a few grains of K-feldspar. foliated, fine-grained matrix.

Figure 14. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of wacke with abundant Figure 17. Photomicrograph (plane light) of black chert cut by quartz
sedimentary and volcanic(?) lithic fragments. veins, some of which display ptygmatic folds. Chert contains small
amount of clinochlore.
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
sandstone that occur as inclusions within finer-grained matrix. The
clasts of sandstone typically are composed of quartz with some
trace amounts of clinochlore and white mica between grains. Gen-
erally the fragments are grain supported although some are matrix
supported. Grain shapes range from angular (most common) to
subrounded. Almost all quartz grains show undulatory extinction.
Also present are irregular-shaped, angular grains of plagioclase
commonly with bent twin lamellae. One clast has layers of fine-
and very fine-grained sand. Many sandstone fragments have a
slight foliation indicated by common extinction of sheet silicates
and by thin seams of iron oxide (Fig. 10).
Sandstone and shale clasts clearly were derived from the
rock that contains them, but other rare clasts of quartzite, granite,
and chert are exotic. Exotic clasts include quartzite with coarse
quartz grains showing undulatory extinction and sutured bound-
aries and a clast consisting of quartz and perthitic feldspar (gran-
ite). There are a few fragments of very irregularly shaped chert
that are difficult to distinguish from the matrix.
Separating discontinuous layers of sandstone and other
disrupted sand bodies is matrix of metashale/siltstone. Typically
the foliated fine-grained matrix contains a very fine-grained mix-
ture of aligned, finely crystalline flakes of white mica and very
fine grains of quartz. Individual grains are very poorly defined
with indistinct borders. Aligned iron oxides or concentrations of
organic material also help to define the foliation or cleavage. As
in some of the other rock types, there are microcrenulations that
provide evidence for a second deformation.
Shale clasts also occur within sand, sometimes as pebble-
like fragments, sometimes as irregular sheets. Some shale con-
tains irregular fragments and stringers of sandstone, as though
they had been mixed and smeared, probably during soft-sediment
deformation of sand beds.
Blocks (Or Inclusions)
Chert
Blocks of well-bedded chert may be more than 100 m in
maximum exposed dimension. Such masses of chert may form
isolated hills; chert is the most prominent and resistant element
of Cerro El Pedernal (Fig. 3). Isoclinal and chevron folds (Fig. 6)
are conspicuous in these exotic cherts. These folds were formed
prior to deposition in the Taray, as shown by the strong discor-
dance among bedding attitudes. Bedded chert is white to light gray
to black and weathers brownish-gray to pale buff. Beds typically
are 1–5 cm thick but may be up to 1 m. Black chert occurs as thin
beds in folded metashale at a few locations. At one, chert occurs
as discontinuous, 10–200-cm-long, 1–3-cm-thick bed-like clasts
that pinch out or end abruptly. Some of these clasts are isoclinally
folded. In thin section, chert shows typical texture with zones or
veins of quartz (some of which are ptygmatically folded and/or off-
set on small faults; Fig. 17). Thin beds of slaty shale that may occur
between chert beds range from ~0.5–5 cm thick. The contacts
between the shale and chert range from very sharp to gradational.
Sharp contacts have iron oxide concentrated along them, whereas
437
iron oxides, though concentrated relative to the rest of the rock, are
more disseminated near gradational contacts.
Clinochlore and muscovite are detectable with XRD in all
chert samples, and finely disseminated iron oxide is common in
some chert samples. Small, somewhat rounded particles of iron
oxides are less common, and fractures may contain iron oxide.
Some chert has a volcanic affinity as indicated by possible
relic shards and rare angular fragments of volcanic rock. Textural
properties suggestive of clastic origin in some cherts are consis-
tent with the volcanic affinity. For example, lamination in at least
one sample is due to variation in grain size. Some laminae show
fine cross-bed–like texture as though some laminae were eroded
before the next was deposited. This is especially noticeable where
there are small concentrations of slightly coarser chert contained
within a finer-grained matrix. In some cases, these coarse ovoids
are truncated by the next bed. In some layers, shreds of white
mica are abundant and define a bedding-parallel foliation. We
found probable radiolaria in only one thin section, but did not
search exhaustively.
Composite Blocks
Some large, matrix-poor blocks are lithologically and struc-
turally heterogeneous, containing volcanic, carbonate, chert, or
siliciclastic sedimentary rocks that bear no structural relation
to one another. The most conspicuous of these forms Cerro El
Pedernal (Fig. 3; Klein et al., 1990), which is capped by a block
of chert several hundred meters long. On the north side of that
hill, there are a few poor outcrops of highly altered volcanic and
volcaniclastic rocks including a black, laminated, water-laid (?)
tuff, a coarse clastic rock that we interpret to be a submarine flow
of debris, and an enigmatic laminated ankerite-magnetite rock.
Layering in the tuff is due to differences in grain size and
relative amounts of sheet silicates and quartz. The sheet silicates
are clinochlore and a yellowish biotite; they occur as masses of
very small, diversely oriented, indistinct crystals (Fig. 9).
The debris-rich unit is a dark-gray to black rock consisting
of a variety of dark fragments. The mass is so altered that it is
difficult to identify rock types, even in thin section. Zones or
domains with different textures are evident; we infer the presence
of sedimentary rocks, including chert and mafic slate, based upon
grain size and the abundance of mafic material. Chlorite is locally
abundant. Some clasts are replaced by very small, poorly defined,
yellowish-green grains of a sheet silicate. In these same zones,
there are curved, angular pieces of quartz that are reminiscent of
volcanic shards.
Another rock in the Pedernal assemblage is a black, thin-
bedded magnetite-ankerite rock. Beds are 0.5–2 cm thick and are
graded in terms of mineral percentage. In thin section, the contact
between nearly pure ankerite and nearly pure magnetite is sharp.
The magnetite near the contact consists of poorly defined grains
that are ~0.02 mm in diameter (the same size as the ankerite in
this iron-rich part of the sample). In reflected light the iron oxide
is milky, suggesting the presence of titanium; XRD indicates it
is magnetite. Upward(?) there is a gradational change with a
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438 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

decrease in magnetite and an increase in amount and grain size

of carbonate. Near the presumed top of a bed, ankerite comprises
~95% of the rock and consists of crystals or zones of relatively
homogenous carbonate in which the individual grains or particles
are ~0.2–0.3 mm across, and in which there are some magnetite
grains between the carbonates. In some parts of the sample there
are also small, poorly defined grains of quartz.
On the south side of Cerro El Pedernal, there are a few small
outcrops of diabase, which we interpret as another block in the
mélange. The diabase is highly altered, but the original diabasic
texture is easily recognizable. Plagioclase is altered to sericite
and some calcite and Fe-Mg silicate minerals have been com-
pletely replaced by chlorite and calcite. On the southeast corner
of the hill, there is an outcrop of proximal turbidite wacke with
15–30-cm-thick beds of sand interbedded with 2-cm-thick beds Figure 18. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of dolomite-magnesite-
of shale. The beds are overturned, as evidenced by burrows and talc rock from the La Cejita talc mine. Photo shows subhedral crystals
sole markings. Because it is unlike other parts of the Taray, we of dolomite in matrix of finely crystalline magnesite and talc. Also
consider it to be part of an exotic block. present are quartz and clinochlore.
Another large composite block contains La Cejita talc mine
(Fig. 3). The mine consists of a number of small pits dug into
light greenish-yellow to dark greenish-gray zones. Optical and
XRD analysis of five samples from these pits indicate that clino-
chlore is abundant and talc is not; presumably the talc has been
mined out. Also in the mine areas are scattered, rusty, siliceous
(veined) dolomite blocks up to 10 m or so in exposed diameter.
In thin section, abundant dolomite occurs as closely packed
crystals or as crystals that are completely surrounded by mag-
nesite (Fig. 18). Dolomite crystals are randomly distributed or
concentrated along certain zones. The magnesite is finely crystal-
line and massive and was identified by XRD methods. Scattered
throughout are grains of quartz that appears to be detrital. Talc
and clinochlore are minor constituents.
Northeast of the mine and exposed along a ridge, dolomitic
rocks have a variety of textures, some of which, mesoscopically,
appear as though the dolomite contains volcanic clasts. In these Figure 19. Photomicrograph (crossed polars) of mixed volcanic and
rocks, dolomite and magnesite (not distinguishable in thin sec- carbonate rock from ~150 m east of the La Cejita talc mine. Dark areas
tion) occur as very irregular-shaped patches and aggregates of are mainly clinochlore, light areas are dolomite-magnesite; scattered
anhedral grains, intimately mixed with small amounts of chert- quartz grains are also present.
like material of variable grain size (Fig. 19). There are also less
common patches of clinochlore and fractured, equant grains up
to 0.5 mm across of an opaque mineral. The texture and mineral-
ogy of this rock are consistent with our field interpretation of a association of chert with volcanic rocks and a laminated ankerite-
mixture of volcanic material and carbonate, and it is possible that magnetite rock suggests a submarine environment that may have
metasomatism of a volcanogenic parent produced this rock. included active hydrothermal vents. The turbidite near Cerro El
Blueschist and other rocks containing other high-pressure Pedernal likely accumulated offshore, below wave base, perhaps
minerals, and peridotite and related ultramafic rocks, are not in deep water. The mixed volcanic-carbonate rock near La Cejita
known from Taray Formation. Despite the absence of these mine may have been deposited in shallow water with an active
lithologies common in occurrences of mélange, some blocks volcano nearby.
in the Taray are exotic and indicate contributions from mul-
tiple sources. One source contains fossiliferous limestone of METAMORPHISM
late Paleozoic age; another provided chert that probably was
deformed as soft sediment prior to inclusion in the Taray. The Several small plutons of Tertiary(?) granite intrude the
few blocks containing volcanic rocks among siliceous strata are Taray and nearby Nazas Formations near the southwest limit of
consistent with submarine volcanism. At Cerro El Pedernal, the the San Julian uplift, including the one that forms Pico de Teyra
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on June 27, 2015
The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
(Fig. 3). Contact metamorphism in the vicinity of Pico de Teyra
has formed fine-grained spotted schist; the contact metamorphic
aureole is tens to hundreds of meters wide. The schist has a lepi-
doblastic texture due to white mica and porphyroblastic texture
due to small (0.03 mm) porphyroblasts of andalusite and biotitic
mica. In places, as the contact is approached, quartz veins and
dikes are present and the Taray appears to be somewhat silicified
and hydrothermally altered. Elsewhere, the degree of metamor-
phism is less and does not seem to be related to known plutons.
Regionally, the shale-siltstone protolith is of low green-
schist facies. Away from intrusive rocks, the only metamorphic
minerals noted in thin section are chlorite and white mica. Most
chlorite is clinochlore IIb, as indicated by brown anomalous
interference colors, length fast character, and XRD, but in a few
thin sections, two chlorites were noted, one with brown and the
other with blue anomalous colors. The fine-grained white mica is
muscovite, based on XRD. Some larger grains of muscovite and
biotite probably are detrital.
Metamorphic grade near the La Cejita mine is somewhat
higher than in surrounding rocks, and it is assumed that the min-
eral assemblages are products of contact metamorphism (there
are small intrusions in the area, although no plutonic rocks are
exposed at the mine). Microscopic and X-ray studies reveal the
following mineral assemblages: clinochlore-Fe-oxide, quartz-
clinochlore, quartz-clinochlore-albite, dolomite-talc-Fe-oxide-
clinochlore, and dolomite-magnesite-quartz-talc-(clinochlore).
The talc-bearing rocks are interpreted as siliceous magnesite-
dolomite rocks that are partially replaced by talc.
STRUCTURE
Overview
Planar structures are the principal structural elements
recorded in outcrops of Taray Formation (Fig. 20). Planar
features include the following: (1) S0 surfaces of sandy layers
(Fig. 21A). (The term “surfaces” is used rather than bedding to
indicate our uncertainty about them as primary depositional fea-
tures; many parallel planes [see C foliation below and Fig. 21C]
record movement.) (2) S1 and C, principal foliations in argilla-
ceous matrix (Fig. 21B–C). (Indications of slippage distinguish
C planes that may be parallel to fragment surfaces or that steepen
and ramp gently across layers, which commonly show offset.)
(3) Axial surfaces of folds (AP1 and AP2). (4) Locally developed
cleavage (S2) that is axial planar to folds defined by S1 (Fig. 21D).
(5) Faults along which gouge and/or breccia occur. (These faults
record brittle deformation after lithification and are separated
from structures that may have formed when the rocks were duc-
tile, perhaps not fully lithified.) (Fig. 21E). (6) Steeply dipping
fractures within sandy rocks, commonly filled with quartz. Most
planar features strike easterly to northeasterly and dip south.
Filled fractures (tension gashes) strike northwesterly.
Linear structures include fold hinges (F1, F2), slickenlines (Lf),
and intersection lineations (L1x0) (Fig. 21F).
439
Fabric elements measured in blocks of cherty rock that are
encased in matrix are generally distinguished on the data plots,
because we were unable to determine unambiguously how they
related to deformation common to matrix and aligned fragments.
Structures, such as isoclinal folds, within blocks of cherty strata
are generally discordant with foliation and folds in matrix, how-
ever, exceptions exist.
Planar Structures
Bedding
In general, the measurements of bedding are orientations of
the bounding surfaces of tabular fragments of sandy beds against
matrix (Fig. 21A). Some beds clearly occur within blocks sur-
rounded by matrix; other beds form seemingly coherent sections
but are very likely part of a large block, the boundaries of which
are not exposed or recognized. Most sections of interbedded
sandstone and mudstone record progressive dismemberment and
are probably not part of a block (Fig. 15). Initial attenuation is
suggested by subtabular beds that pinch and swell or by those
that show boudinage. Numerous small faults that generally show
normal separation further dissect the beds into lenses and slivers
(Fig. 22). Stratal disruption yields an end product of isolated,
aligned inclusions of sandstone, commonly mixed with volcanic
and other clasts that are encased in a matrix of somewhat scaly,
cleaved, crenulated mudstone (Fig. 23). The oriented slabs of
bedding define a “fragment foliation” (Cowan, 1985) consisting
of subparallel surfaces, although they are not as well oriented as
foliation in matrix. In the northernmost part of the principal Taray
exposure, where foliation is not pronounced, well-developed
fragment foliation strikes northeast (Fig. 21A).
Some features of deformed beds suggest penecontempo-
raneous deformation. This type of deformation is recorded by
rare, isolated, large boulders of well-cemented sandstone that
slid downslope, crumpling sediments at their bows (Fig. 4). An
exposure of one of these large blocks, ~20 m long, clearly shows
a convex upward, striated base distinguished by sheared and
broken shale with thin interbeds of sandstone. Above the striated
surface, the base of the coherent block is underplated by pieces
broken and corraded from the block. Beneath the underplate, a
mixture of pebbles and cobbles of sandstone and black shale with
lenticular inclusions of thin-bedded gray shale were overridden.
Some of the thin beds are crumpled, and crenulations with hinges
parallel to striations at the base of the slide block are observable.
Irregular fractures in this horizon are filled with fine-grained
sediment. At the southwest bow of the boulder, a sandstone bed
is imbricated and folded. A set of quartz-filled fractures in the
sandstone boulder is more-or-less orthogonal to slickenlines on
the slide surfaces and to the direction of transport (Fig. 21F).
The fractures indicate that the boulders were sufficiently coher-
ent during or after sliding for brittle deformation in response to
extension or stretching to occur .
Penecontemporaneous intraformational deformation is also
inferred by the small, strongly overturned folded layer detached
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440 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

Figure 20. Map of Taray Formation showing bedding and foliation.

 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on June 27, 2015

The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico 441

A N B N C N

So – Surfaces of beds S1 – Foliation C – Planes

Tabular layers - N = 54
Semi-lithified (?) - N = 16
Chert layers – N = 15
Foliation – N = 93 Planes that cut layers and
Foliation; evidence for show normal offset – N = 40
penecontemporaneous Planes parallel to fragments
deformation preserved – N = 25 and layers that show evidence
of slip – N = 33

D N E N F N

Axial surfaces and foliation (S2) Brittle Fractures Linear elements

parallel to axial surface Brittle faults F1 - Hinge
AP1 - N = 24 Tension Gashes F1 - Hinge recorded in
AP1 evidence for soft sediment
penecontemporaneous F1 - Chert
deformation preserved - N = 3 F2 - Hinge
AP1 in chert - N = 11 Lf - Slickenline
AP2 - N = 6 L1Xo
S2 - N = 27 L1Xo - Recorded in
soft sediment
L1Xo - Chert
Figure 21. Stereoplots for planar and linear structural elements recorded by Taray Formation. These and all subsequent stereoplots are equal-area,
lower-hemisphere projection plots.
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on June 27, 2015
442 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
Figure 22. Low angle fault cutting layers below at a high angle and
nearly parallel to bedding above. Rock appears to be altered ash-tuff
and chert. Hammer length = 36 cm.
from unfolded lower beds (Fig. 15). The thinner, underlying
beds are segmented at ramps where faults parallel to layering cut
across them. The exposures suggest unconstrained downslope
movement followed by similarly directed segmentation during
subsequent stretching.
Foliation and Other Spaced Planar Features
Foliation is most conspicuous in the fine-grained matrix but is
also evident in some coarser sandy layers that may record spaced
cleavage with dips steeper than typical S1 (Fig. 21B). Strike is
parallel to that of bedding. The general dip is gentler than that of
bedding; however the dip may vary from nearly vertical to 15°SE
(Fig. 21B). Within the matrix, S1 fabric is accentuated by strong
alignment of tabular, lenticular and oblate fragments (Fig. 15).
Although prominent, S1 foliation is not strongly planar and may
exhibit common deflections around clasts and inclusions (Fig. 4).
S1 is also commonly tangential or subparallel to gently dipping
surfaces that accommodate slip (C planes) as shown by slicken-
lines or offsets, principally of bed surfaces. Together the foliations
resemble phacoidal foliation (Figs. 15, 23; Kusky and Bradley,
1999) composed of cleavage (S1) and slip surfaces (C planes)
(Fig. 21C). Where beds are preserved, C planes commonly accom-
modate normal displacements of individual layers that indicate
extension in the matrix. In places, gash fractures filled with quartz
cut the foliated matrix. Distinguishing among anastomosing planar
elements with respect to their origins is difficult.
The planarity of foliation may be further modified and
obscured by folds (F2) (Fig. 23) and/or crenulations defined by
S1 foliation. An axial planar S2 cleavage is developed in the hinge
regions of some F2 folds.
Brittle Faults and Fractures
Brittle faults, marked by breccia and/or gouge, are less
well oriented than striated surfaces grouped with the C surfaces
Figure 23. Dismembered, attenuated sandstone in dark, muddy matrix
exposed in the crest of a small antiform. Scale length = 10 cm.
(Fig. 21E). In general they strike somewhat more easterly and are
slightly steeper. However, some faults fall within the loose cluster
of foliation planes and shear surfaces. Where faults cut sandy lay-
ers, normal displacements are recorded.
Fractures, commonly lenticular and filled with quartz,
are best developed in resistant sandstone blocks and boulders,
although they may occur in fine-grained matrix. They are orthog-
onal to the trend of striations, slickenlines, and hinges of crenula-
tions, and to the dip of bedding and S1 and C foliations.
Linear Features
Linear features include fold hinges recorded by beds (F1),
hinges of crenulations (F2), intersection lineation (Ls1xso), stria-
tions and slickenlines (Lf) (Fig. 21F). Most lineations and fold
hinges are co-linear with gentle plunge.
Mesoscopic and Macroscopic Folds
Folds are evident in matrix (Figs. 23 and 24) and large
blocks; folds in the latter are commonly isoclinal (Fig. 6). Rare
exposures show folds in detached layers (Fig. 15). The distinc-
tion between structures formed before sediment was lithified
and those formed later is commonly not clear. Confusion arises
because many planar structures, i.e., bedding and foliations, are
subparallel, and large blocks of fractured (lithified?) material are
entrained in foliated shale that we interpret to have been rela-
tively soft, pliable and wet (?) during some part of deformation.
We conclude that some folds formed in unlithified sediment.
Environment of Deformation as Suggested by Structural Style
Rocks of Taray Formation that are: (1) disrupted, frag-
mented bodies of interbedded sandstone and shale that lack
coherent stratigraphy, and (2) argillaceous masses containing
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
Figure 24. Chevron folds with gently dipping axial planes. Plier length
= 20 cm.
exotic blocks are comparable to types I and III mélange (Cowan,
1985). Type I mélange is distinguished by sequences of sand-
stone and mudstone that show variable disruption and fragmenta-
tion, principally in response to layer-parallel extension. Although
interbedded mudstone and sandstone are the dominant lithologies
of Taray Formation, continuous layers of sandstone are restricted
to outcrop-scale occurrences and are not preserved as mappable
units. Sandstone beds show progressive dismemberment, rang-
ing from tabular layers preserved on the scale of an outcrop, to
beds that pinch and swell, to beds dismembered by boudinage
or low-angle faults. Some isolated lenses of sand 10 m or more
long are interpreted to record boudinage during gravity-driven,
downslope sliding of partially lithified sediment followed by fur-
ther stretching during tectonic extension. These rock masses con-
tain mesoscopic features comparable to those of tectonosomes as
recently described by Pini (1999). Similarities include boudinage
and disruption of competent beds of sandstone, siltstone, and cal-
careous layers by fragmentation into blocks with sharp outlines.
The fragments show a common trend and strong preferred orien-
tation parallel to the plane of major extension, which coincides
with the surfaces of beds.
According to Cowan (1985), masses of rock that contain
inclusions: (1) the origins of which are obscure, (2) the structures
of which are discordant and the lithologies of which are exotic
to the basin, and (3) that are entrained in foliated matrix, are
interpreted to belong to Cowan’s (1985) type III mélange. The
formation of this type requires a multistage process involving:
(1) acquisition of rock fragments from diverse, possibly widely
separated sources, (2) dispersion of the inclusions during mixing
with matrix, and (3) common bulk deformation involving flat-
tening and development of scaly foliation. The common charac-
teristics of type III mélange suggest emplacement as mud-rich,
submarine debris flows or olistostromes coupled with migration
and intrusion of these materials during upwelling or diapirism
443
within a shallow, nonmetamorphic part of an accretionary prism;
we have no evidence of the latter.
Taray contains blocks of many sizes in fine-grained matrix.
The most conspicuous are exotic blocks of chert, several hundred
meters long that form isolated hills. One of these hills, Cerro El
Pedernal, is shown in Figure 3. Other exotic blocks are composed
of carbonate, some of which is fossiliferous, quartzose sandstone,
and volcanogenic rocks. Sandstone, siltstone, and calcareous lay-
ers interbedded with shale also form blocks, as do meter- to centi-
meter-sized fragments of the layers, which float in matrix. These
bodies of disordered rock composed of diverse blocks with definite
shapes and sharp outlines randomly distributed in shaly matrix also
fit well with Pini’s (1999) description of olistostromes.
We interpret the mesoscopic fabric and lithologic composi-
tion of Taray Formation as recording progressive layer-parallel
extension of interbedded shale and sandstone leading to disrup-
tion and fragmentation compatible with sliding and fragmenta-
tion during gravity-driven, downslope movement that culminated
in mixing of muddy debris. The processes responsible for the
formation of the rocks probably occurred within the high part
of an accretionary wedge at a convergent margin (Fig. 25, after
Cowan, 1985), or near the thrust front (e.g., Pini, 1999, their fig.
48), although deeper settings are not precluded. We were unable
to test for the record of coaxial strain, however, some sliding
clearly occurred at depths sufficiently shallow so that strongly
noncoaxial shear was unlikely.
The processes that we infer to be recorded by structures
contained within Taray are comparable to those occurring within
actively developing accretionary prisms such as the Nankai
(Chamot-Rooke et al., 1992). Near the toe of the eastern part
of the Nankai wedge, layers above gentle thrusts bend down-
ward conformably across topographic slopes as steep as 20° to
30°. Locally, bed dips are steeper than the slope and may reach
50–60°. In the same area, a slump scar, the face of which extends
for more than 1.5 km, cuts steeply (in places 45°) across almost
1000 m of section composed of subhorizontal mudstone, inter-
preted as silty turbidite with interbeds of conglomerate contained
within stacked thrusts (Lallemand et al., 1992). Fluid is expelled
along shallow detachments that are commonly parallel to bed-
ding, and possibly along steep joints. We believe that these condi-
tions must be conducive to the formation of slides, slumps, and
debris-rich matrix characteristic of Taray.
STRUCTURAL AND STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN TARAY AND JURASSIC VOLCANIC
FORMATIONS
The principal planar structures (beds and foliation) in the
Taray Formation strike northeast. Beds and foliation in the over-
lying Jurassic volcanic section, including Nazas, Rodeo, and
Caopas Formations, and higher Zuloaga carbonate strike north-
west, placing the strikes of the Taray and overlying Jurassic units
at right angles to one another. Foliation and bedding in the Juras-
sic rocks generally conform to the northwest trend of the Late
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444 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
Jurassic fold that forms the principal structure within the San
Julian uplift (Anderson et al., 1991). Well-developed multiple
foliations in the Taray indicate a more complex structural history
than that recorded by the overlying volcanic rocks.
Despite wide and diligent search, we never found an
observable contact between Taray Formation and overlying
volcanogenic rock, only covered zones. Córdoba-M. (1964)
and López-Infanzón (1986) described the contact as an angular
unconformity and our regional structural data (Fig. 21) appear to
agree with that interpretation. But other observations indicate to
us that the relationship cannot be so succinctly characterized.
The San Julian uplift contains both an early to middle
Mesozoic mélange and the rocks of a Jurassic arc. This tempo-
ral compatibility of arc and mélange and their geographical and
stratigraphic proximity suggest that the two were contemporary
members of the same stratigraphic regime. The composition of
the mélange adds support to the idea that arc and mélange are
related; in the various arroyos that cross the Taray-Nazas contact
we saw repeatedly that the parts of the Taray closest to the contact
showed an increase in tuffaceous volcanic component, thereby
predicting a gradational contact. Because of these relationships
(compositional facies, temporal compatibility, and both geo-
graphical and stratigraphical proximity), we hesitate to consider
the contact to be an unconformity that represents a significant
temporal hiatus. We hypothesize: (1) that the zone of contact
between forearc and accretionary prism rocks was complex and
may have involved accumulation of forearc strata on deformed
rock of the prism as portrayed by Cowan (1985) (Fig. 25),
(2) that shortening during formation of a Jurassic fold (Anderson
et al., 1991) accommodated by low-angle faults resulted in trans-
port of the arc rocks across the forearc and onto the accretionary
prism (Figs. 2 and 3), and (3) that the mélange in the footwall of
the thrust(s) was largely unaffected by the Jurassic deformation.
Figure 25. Generalized cross section of
an accretionary prism showing possible
locations and geologic settings com-
patible with the interpreted origins of
rocks mapped as Taray Formation (after
Cowan, 1985).
Metamorphism is higher grade in the Taray, but the differ-
ence may be more apparent than real, because Taray offered a
more reactive protolith and it underwent local Tertiary contact
metamorphism. Further, the Taray metamorphism is no higher
than chlorite-grade (except in the vicinity of Pico de Teyra plu-
ton) and Nazas rocks contain chlorite and white mica in their
matrix, suggesting that Nazas also is low greenschist facies.
RESTORATION OF SOME EFFECTS OF SUPERPOSED
DEFORMATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROPOSED
TECTONIC SETTING OF TARAY FORMATION
Deformations that occurred after the formation of Taray
syndepositional structures include: (1) Late Jurassic folding
about northwest-trending hinges during southwest-directed
contraction, and accompanying detachment, recorded by beds
of the Oxfordian(?) lower Zuloaga limestone and facilitated by
interbeds of gypsum (Anderson et al., 1991); (2) north-directed,
Late Cretaceous folding above a second detachment also within
evaporite-rich strata of the Zuloaga (Tardy, 1980); and (3) Ter-
tiary normal faulting and associated tilting related to northeast-
southwest extension (Anonymous, 1981) (Figs. 1 and 2). The
faults and detachments and the directions of tectonic transport
that we infer from the mapped geological relationships described
above are shown on schematic structure sections (Fig. 26). Ter-
tiary tilting is recorded by the 20° eastward plunge of fold hinges
in Cretaceous strata along the northeast flank of the San Julian
uplift (Fig. 2). The relationships are shown by Tardy (1980,
Fig. I3–9), who notes, as have others, the pronounced detachment
of Late Jurassic and Cretaceous strata above Oxfordian gypsum.
Regionally, east-trending Cretaceous folds with subhorizontal
hinges that formed above the detachment are conspicuous topo-
graphic and structural features along the great westward bend of
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
the Sierra Madre Oriental. Tardy attributes the eastward plunge
of the folds exposed along the northeast flank of the San Julian
uplift to tilting during northeast-directed Miocene contraction.
Tilting also produced the large northwest-trending anticlinorium
manifest as the core of the uplift.
We have argued that deformation of the northwest-trending
core of the San Julian uplift is pre-Cretaceous, as indicated by
the pronounced deformation of Late Jurassic strata that is not
recorded in Cretaceous rocks (Anderson et al., 1991). We agree
that the eastward tilt likely occurred during the Tertiary but attri-
bute it to rotation in the hanging wall above a major northwest-
striking listric normal fault that occurs in the valley northeast of
the uplift (Tardy, 1980; Anonymous, 1981; Fig. 27). The fault
disrupts the continuity of the Cretaceous and younger folds as
shown on the regional geologic map.
So that we may further assess the relationship between
rocks of the Nazas-Rodeo-Caopas volcanic suite (Jones et al.,
445
Figure 26. Schematic structure sections
(along lines shown in Fig. 2) that illus-
trate the faults and detachments and the
directions of tectonic transport that we
infer from the mapped geological rela-
tionships. Tertiary tilting is recorded by
the 20° dip of postulated planar surfaces
toward the inferred Cedros fault. Three
deformational events post-formation of
the Taray mélange are emphasized in
the sections: (1) Late Jurassic folding
about northwest-trending hinges dur-
ing southwest-directed contraction, and
accompanying detachment, recorded by
beds of the Oxfordian(?) Lower Zuloaga
limestone and facilitated by interbeds
of gypsum (Anderson et al., 1991);
(2) north-directed, Late Cretaceous
folding above a second detachment
also within evaporite-rich strata of the
Zuloaga (Tardy, 1980); and (3) Tertiary
normal faulting and associated tilting
related to northeast-southwest extension
accommodated by the inferred Cedros
fault (Anonymous, 1981) (Fig. 2).
1995) and the underlying Taray Formation, and to better interpret
the kinematic significance of the structures recorded by Taray
Formation, we restore the rotation of the hanging wall above the
inferred southwest-dipping Tertiary normal fault (Fig. 27). We
assume that the plunge shown by Cretaceous folds is the result
of Tertiary tilting, and measure the plunge angle of 20° as shown
by Tardy (1980). The plunge is restored to horizontal by counter-
clockwise rotation of 22° about an axis plunging 0°, 330°, paral-
lel to the inferred fault trace. The sense and magnitude of rotation
are based upon: (1) down-to-the-southwest normal offset along
the fault northeast of the San Julian uplift and (2) sufficient rota-
tion (22°) about the axis trending 330°, which is not orthogonal
to the easterly trending Cretaceous fold hinges, to restore the 20°
plunge to horizontal.
The effect of the rotation upon the structural elements of the
Taray Formation is marked (Fig. 28). Bedding, S0, and foliations,
S1 and C, are parallel and strike northeast. Each group of planes
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446 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

Figure 27. Regional map showing the relationship of San Julian Uplift to Cedros normal fault.
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico 447

(A) N (B) N (C) N

So – Surfaces of beds S1 – Foliation C – Planes

Tabular layers - N = 54 Foliation – n = 93 Planes that cut layers and
Semi-lithified (?) - N = 16 Foliation; evidence for show normal offset – N = 40
Chert layers – N = 15 penecontemporaneous Planes parallel to fragments
deformation preserved – N = 25 and layers that show evidence
of slip – N = 33
(D) N (E) N (F) N

Axial surfaces and foliation (S2) Brittle Fractures Linear elements

parallel to axial surface
Brittle faults F1 - Hinge
AP1 - N = 24 Tension Gashes F1 - Hinge recorded in
AP1 evidence for soft sediment
penecontemporaneous F1 - Chert
deformation preserved - N = 3 F2 - Hinge
AP1 in chert - N = 11 Lf - Slickenline
AP2 - N = 6 L1Xo
S2 - N = 27 L1Xo - Recorded in
soft sediment
L1Xo - Chert
Figure 28. Stereo plots of restored planar and linear structural elements recorded by Taray Formation. All structures have been rotated 22° coun-
terclockwise, as viewed northwest, about an axis plunging 0°, 330°.
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on June 27, 2015
448 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
dips southeast: S0, 58°; S1, 44°; and C, 37°. Many axial planes lie
among these planes and they dip the same direction although only
26°. Most linear elements, including fold hinges, intersection linea-
tions, and fault-related striations plunge shallowly southwestward
downdip, orthogonal to the strike of planar elements. Extensional
fractures (tension gashes) filled with quartz are almost vertical and
are mutually perpendicular to the strike of bedding and foliations
and the subhorizontal linear structures. The orientations of planar
and linear structural elements, restored to positions that we specu-
late may be close to initial strikes and dips, could accommodate
downslope movement of semilithified sediment.
We also corrected northwest-trending folds recorded by
overlying Nazas and lower Zuloaga Formation for the effects of
Tertiary tilting (Fig. 29). The modest effect shows that the Late
Jurassic folds, beneath the detached, east-trending Cretaceous,
were asymmetric and verged southwest. We did not restore the
effects of Late Jurassic folding upon Taray Formation. We suspect
that low-angle faults at the contact between Taray and overlying
volcanic rocks accommodated Late Jurassic detachment, related
telescoping, and emplacement of the volcanic section across an
assumed forearc basin and onto the accretionary prism. Our inter-
pretation also assumes that: (1) the texture and structure of Taray
developed as part of a mélange within an accretionary prism, and
(2) the mélange most likely formed during Middle Jurassic time
(Anderson et al., 1990). Unfortunately the age of Taray may be
bracketed only between the late Paleozoic, based upon the age
of the youngest detrital zircons reported from sandstone in the
Foliation (S surface)
Foliation (C surface)
Bedding surface
Brittle fault
Tension gash
Mineral smear
Nazas Lower Zuloaga Formation
formation (Diaz-Salgado et al., 2003), and the age of the Nazas,
which is probably no younger than 158 ± 4 Ma (Oxfordian),
the age of the Caopas Formation (Jones et al., 1995). This idea
remains as a hypothesis in need of further testing.
CORRELATION
Taray Formation shares similarities of composition, lithol-
ogy, and structure with other northern Mexico, early Mesozoic,
marine clastic units: (1) the La Ballena Formation, exposed at
Peñon Blanco, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas (Fig. 1; Labarthe-
Hernández et al., 1982), and at Charcas, San Luis Potosí (Fig. 1;
Tristán-González and Torres-Hernández, 1994); and (2) the
Zacatecas Formation, which is exposed at Zacatecas, Zacatecas
(Fig. 1; Centeno-García and Silva-Romo, 1997, and references
therein). The La Ballena consists of quartzose sandstone, black
shale and conglomerate interpreted as parts of deep marine fans
formed from deposits carried by turbidity currents (Silva-Romo,
1993). At Charcas, La Ballena beds record slump-folds and brec-
ciation suggestive of downslope gravity-driven movement. Folia-
tion is commonly parallel to bedding. Late Carnian ammonites
in the La Ballena (Cantú-Chapa, 1969; Silva-Romo, 1993) are
correlative with those of the Zacatecas Formation at Zacatecas
(Burckhardt and Scalia, 1906) that occur within a section of
black shale interbedded with quartzose sandstone as well as less
common pillow lava and limestone (Ranson et al., 1982; Cuevas-
Pérez, 1983; Monod and Calvet, 1991).
Figure 29. Stereo plots for planar and
linear structural elements recorded by
Nazas (left) and Zuloaga (right) Forma-
tions. All structures have been rotated
22° counterclockwise, as viewed north-
west, about an axis plunging 0°, 330°.
Foliation
Bedding surface
Slickenline
Brittle fault
Fold hinge
Axial surface
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
Most of the sand in Taray beds is recycled from an orogen,
although some sand beds record input from cratonic or dis-
sected arc sources (Table 1; Fig. 30). In the field, we thought we
could see an increase in volcanic aspect of the Taray as a whole
in some of the topographically higher exposures. However,
increased volcanic input is not reflected in the compositions
of the sandstones. They indicate a mixed source without a sig-
nificant component reflecting an active, undissected arc, though
we did not sample systematically. Similar to Taray (Fig. 30),
La Ballena and Zacatecas Formations (Centeno-García and
Silva-Romo, 1997, their fig. 4) plot within the recycled orogen
provenance of Dickinson (1985).
These three units (Taray, La Ballena, and Zacatecas) all bear
resemblance to certain facies of the Arteaga Complex, which
comprises a thick (>1 km) sequence of Triassic-Jurassic rocks
exposed near Arteaga, Michoacan (Fig. 1; Centeno-García et
al., 2003). In particular, the Varales lithofacies includes silici-
clastic units composed of black shale, quartzose sandstone and
less common black chert and rare conglomerate, interpreted as
channel fill. Predominantly black, dark-gray or dark bluish-gray,
2-cm- to 2-m-thick beds of shale and fine- to medium-grained
(rarely coarse-grained) sandstone may be interbedded with
thin-bedded black chert or thicker sections of green chert. The
sandstone and shale beds are commonly broken and disrupted by
the effects of boudinage and may be imbricated with lens-shaped
masses, tens to hundreds of meters long in dimension, of pillow
lava, green chert, limestone blocks and volcaniclastic rocks. The
Figure 30. QFL (Quartz-Feldspar-Lithic fragments) diagram after
Dickinson (1985) showing provenance categories for sandstones. See
Table 1 for meanings of Qm, Qp, P, K, Lv, Ls, and M. Open triangles
are samples from Table 1A, those that are not associated with rocks
with a volcanic component; solid triangles are samples from Table 1B,
those that are associated with rocks with a volcanic component.
449
dark beds of the Varales lithofacies may be interbedded with
fine-grained, light-green sandstone and shale of the Jaltomate
lithofacies and light-green chert of the Bocana lithofacies. Within
the Arteaga Complex, isolated bodies of mafic volcanic rocks
with geochemical signatures similar to mid-ocean-ridge basalt
(Charapo lithofacies), foliated diorite, gabbro and plagiogran-
ite (Las Juntas lithofacies), and limestone containing chert and
crinoid fragments, form blocks and lenses incorporated within
the complex during thrusting and shearing. The deformation
suggested to Centeno-García et al. (2003) that Arteaga complex
may be characterized by broken formation and block-in-matrix
texture—deformation styles associated with mélange.
In addition to lithological similarity, age constraints at
Arteaga, based upon the presence of Late Triassic radiolaria
(Campa et al., 1982) and detrital zircons (G. Gehrels, personal
commun. to E. Centeno-García, as cited in Centeno-García et al.,
2003), are also comparable to Taray. Stratigraphic and structural
characteristics of the Arteaga Complex are sufficiently similar to
those of Taray that it may be interpreted as part of a correlative
accretionary prism, although somewhat more oceanward.
Centeno-García and Silva-Romo (1997) recognized the
similarities among the mélange-like units but chose to place
them in separate terranes: Taray is included with La Ballena
Formation as part of Sierra Madre terrane of northern Mexico,
distinguished in part by the postulated presence of sialic base-
ment; Zacatecas Formation and rocks of the Arteaga Complex
are grouped together as part of the extensive Guerrero compos-
ite terrane, distinguished by oceanic lithosphere, that underlies
much of western Mexico.
Recently reported studies are the basis for a less straightfor-
ward interpretation by Elias-Herrera et al. (2003). They consider
Arteaga to have formed as fill in a basin behind an east-facing
offshore arc with sialic roots that was intruded by plutons during
the late Early Jurassic ~187 m.y. ago. The arc collided against
southern Mexico during the Middle Jurassic.
PLATE TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS
The widely separated exposures of Late Triassic(?) marine
strata composed of dark shale, quartzose sandstone, chert and
matrix-rich debris enclosing blocks of fossiliferous Paleozoic
carbonate and mafic, oceanic igneous rocks, suggest that parts of
a Jurassic(?) accretionary wedge underlie more than one region
of Mexico.
Jones et al. (1995) proposed that Jurassic volcanic rocks,
and accompanying Taray mélange, in northeastern Mexico are
displaced from correlative units in northwestern Mexico (Fig. 1).
We assess the effect of this proposed displacement upon Taray
Formation and its probable equivalents, La Ballena, Zacatecas,
and Varales, by means of restoration of displacement along the
hypothetical Mojave-Sonora megashear, as well as other parallel
faults to the south as shown by Anderson and Schmidt (1983).
The maps (Figs. 31 and 32) employ oblique Mercator projec-
tions derived from the pole of rotation of the Mojave-Sonora
 450
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T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee

Figure 31. Oblique Mercator projection of map of Mexico showing postulated Jurassic tectonic discontinuities and location of exposures of Jurassic, Triassic, and late Paleozoic rocks.
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico

Figure 32. Oblique Mercator projection of Mexico for Middle Jurassic time showing exposures of Jurassic, Triassic, and late Paleozoic rocks restored along principal, inferred Jurassic
tectonic discontinuities. See text for discussion.
451
 Downloaded from specialpapers.gsapubs.org on June 27, 2015
452 T.H. Anderson, N.W. Jones, and J.W. McKee
megashear. As pointed out by Silver (Silver and Anderson, 1974),
restoration removes late Paleozoic overlap of South America
across much of Mesoamerica.
Restoration of Jurassic igneous rocks of northeastern Mex-
ico (Grajales-Nishimura et al., 1992) to their pre-fault position
opposite correlative units in Sonora maintains the oceanward
position of the Late Triassic marine rocks relative to the subduc-
tion-related, Andean-style, Jurassic igneous province. The Juras-
sic igneous belt may extend eastward from the San Julian Uplift
to Aramberi, Nuevo Leon (Fig. 1), where Middle Jurassic(?)
volcanic rocks pinch out against underlying paragneiss. From
this point the belt of “arc” rocks must either bend southward or
step to the south along a trench-trench transform, perhaps related
to the Oaxaca fault (Alaniz-Alvarez et al., 1996) (Figs. 1, 31, and
32). In either case the eastern limit of the Middle Jurassic “arc”
likely coincides with exposures of Paleozoic strata above older
crystalline rocks exposed in the uplifted core of the Sierra Madre
Oriental (e.g., Sedlock et al., 1993).
Exposures of Jurassic igneous rocks that may mark the
inboard edge of the accretionary wedge (opposite the Middle
Jurassic “arc”) are sparse in central Mexico. Chert, rhyolitic and
rhyodacitic tuff, conglomerate, breccia, sandstone, and siltstone
crop out in the core of El Chilar anticline, east of Guanajuato
(Carrillo-Martinez, 1997). Interbeds of siliceous shale contain
radiolarians of Middle(?) to Late Jurassic age (Martinez-Hernán-
dez, 1979; Chauve et al., 1985). Near Guanajuato (Fig. 1), some
samples from mafic and ultramafic rocks (Quintero-Legorreta,
1992) of the basal sequence comprising the Guanajuato arc
(Ortiz-Hernández and Martinez-Reyes, 1993) yield Late Jurassic
K-Ar dates interpreted as cooling ages of early Mesozoic oce-
anic lithosphere. However, these results are considered spurious,
because excess argon masks the true Early Cretaceous age of this
crust (Lapierre et al., 1992).
Farther south is the trans-Mexico volcanic belt, a linear
array of active volcanoes that may reflect the presence of a major
fault, as suggested by Gastil and Jensky (1973). The volcanic
belt and fault (Mexican volcanic belt megashear, Figs. 1, 31,
and 32; Anderson and Schmidt, 1983) mark a fundamental ter-
rane boundary. Anderson and Schmidt (1983) treated the rocks
south of the Mexican volcanic belt as a single block (Maya West)
that they restored northwestward based solely upon geometric
constraints stemming from the Bullard reconstruction. Since
1983 few additional correlations have been identified that better
constrain the position of the Maya West block. Detrital zircons
from Cambrian quartzose sandstone north of the Mojave-Sonora
megashear in Sonora show a strong peak (14 of 22 grains) at
1.1 Ga (Stewart et al., 2001). The suggested proximity to Late
Proterozoic rocks, such as those that probably form the basement
of the Maya West block, may imply further northwestward resto-
ration than inferred by Anderson and Schmidt (1983).
Additional work since 1983 has resulted in recognition
of multiple terranes within the Maya West block (Fig. 1; e.g.,
Campa and Coney, 1983; Sedlock et al., 1993; Centeno-García
et al., 2003). On Figure 1, we employ the broader classification
scheme of Sedlock et al. (1993), who recognized five terranes
in southwestern Mexico. The terranes roughly correspond to
principal exposures of the Arteaga Complex (Nahuatl terrane),
metamorphosed Paleozoic rocks, e.g., Acatlan Complex (Mix-
teco terrane), Precambrian Oaxaca Complex (Zapoteco terrane),
Jurassic arc (Xolapa Complex within Chatino terrane), and
mainly unmetamorphosed, fossiliferous, Upper Paleozoic strata
(Maya terrane). The Nahuatl terrane is the southeastern part of
the composite Guerrero terrane of Campa and Coney (1983).
The previously discussed Arteaga Complex (Fig. 1; Cen-
teno-García and Silva-Romo, 1997; Campa and Ramirez, 1979;
Campa et al., 1982; Campa and Coney, 1983; Centeno-García
and Silva-Romo, 1997) is cut by granite plutons, the ages of
which fall between ca. 163 Ma (Bathonian) and ca. 158 Ma
(Callovian) (Centeno-García et al., 2003, and references therein).
Other exposures of Triassic-Jurassic rocks have been discovered
northwest of Arteaga, where aluminous schist and chlorite schist,
which are probably metamorphosed Late Triassic rocks, comprise
the basement at the Cuale mining district (Schaff et al., 2003).
There, north-striking faults bound a graben containing rhyolite
flows, pyroclastic units, breccia, and conglomerate. Higher in the
section, the volcanic units are interbedded with and ultimately
buried by black shale, fine sandstone, granule conglomerate, and
coarser conglomerate. Dikes and sills that intrude the basin fill
are the youngest units. U-Pb interpreted ages from rhyolite low in
the section and the intrusive bodies indicate that the basin prob-
ably formed shortly before ca. 162 Ma and received sediments
and volcanogenic products until at least ca. 156 Ma (Mortensen
et al., 2003). Bissig et al. (2003) interpreted the results of trace
element geochemistry to indicate that the rhyolites have an “oce-
anic arc” origin. We offer an alternative interpretation to the idea
that the rhyolitic rocks are arc related. The ages and tectonic set-
ting of the Jurassic igneous rocks within the Arteaga Complex
and equivalent units are the same as those for pull-apart basins
along the Mojave-Sonora megashear (Anderson and Nourse, this
volume). Anderson speculates that some of the Jurassic magma-
tism may not be arc related but records igneous activity through
Arteaga crust thinned and broken during transtension related to
displacement along the nearby Acapulco-Guatemala megashear
(Figs. 1, 31, and 32; Anderson and Schmidt, 1983).
Samples of granitic orthogneiss from the Xolapa Complex
within the Chatino terrane yield U-Pb ages between ca. 170 and
158 Ma (Guerrero-García et al., 1978; Ducea et al., 2004). The
granitic plutons were emplaced into “basement” composed of
Permian and Grenvillian crystalline rocks (Ducea et al., 2003,
2004) and possibly Middle Jurassic sedimentary rocks (Ortega-
Gutiérrez and Elias-Herrera, 2003).
A strong tectono-thermal event, recorded in some deep
parts of the Acatlan and Oaxacan Complexes at ca. 175 Ma may
reflect the effects of an underlying hot spot (Keppie et al., 2003)
or be related to arc-related volcanic units that crop out northwest
of Oaxaca (Ortega-Gutiérrez et al., 1997). Unmetamorphosed
arc-related Jurassic rocks resting on continental crust occur
northwest of Oaxaca, where mafic and intermediate tuff and lava
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The Taray Formation: Jurassic(?) mélange in northern Mexico
interbedded with limestone, conglomeratic sandstone, and lime-
stone conglomerate comprise a section designated as the Ixcatlán
arc, which is interpreted as near-shore (Ortega-Gutiérrez et al.,
1997). A probable Middle Jurassic age is assigned based upon
plant fossils.
In summary, no simple relationship between oceanic rocks,
such as Taray, and a Middle Jurassic arc formed in response to
subduction of the oceanic rocks is recognized south of the Mexi-
can volcanic belt. Furthermore the Maya East block, composed
of Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala, is awkwardly positioned
with respect to Coahuila Island even after restoration of displace-
ments along the inferred Late Jurassic sinistral faults. A determi-
nation of a position for this block away from the late Paleozoic
collision zone between North and South America awaits further
study (cf. Steiner et al., this volume).
CONCLUSIONS
The Taray Formation consists principally of marine sand-
stone and mudstone or shale that record progressive disruption by
layer-parallel extension. Locally, disruption is pervasive. Abun-
dant, large, exotic, predeformed inclusions of diverse shapes,
sizes, and compositions contained in argillaceous matrix are
an additional characteristic feature. Multiple sources must exist
for the blocks, many of which are up to several hundred meters
long and are apparently of different ages. The commonly folded
inclusions, enclosed in slightly to complexly foliated matrix,
cannot have been derived by layer-parallel disruption of bedded
sandstone that forms lens-shaped inclusions generally parallel
to foliation. Taray lacks inclusions of blueschist facies rocks or
ophiolitic rocks.
The lithology, texture, and deformation of these rocks are
similar to Cowan’s (1985) type I and III mélanges. The principal
(penetrative) deformation of the Taray is of the kind most likely
to have been imposed on sediment of this kind at a convergent
plate boundary along the line of subduction. We interpret the
Taray as a mélange and part of an accretionary prism.
The maximum age of the Taray, based on fossils in clasts and
on detrital zircons in sandstone, is late Paleozoic. It is either older
than the volcanogenic suite (Nazas, Rodeo, and Caopas Forma-
tions) that lies above it, or a contemporary of that suite. Thus the
Taray may be as young as 158 Ma (latest Middle Jurassic), which
is an interpreted U-Pb date obtained on zircons from the Caopas
(Jones et al., 1995).
The present contact of Taray mélange with the volcanic
rocks of the Nazas Formation marks the discordance of structures
within the adjacent units. Nevertheless, the juxtaposition of Taray
beneath the volcanic pile permits the hypothesis that this mélange
and arc are contemporary facies within the same convergent plate
boundary system. The age of the Taray allows that hypothesis.
The relatively scarce evidence of volcanism found in the Taray
does not support the hypothesis, but does not disallow it. We
postulate that the absence of an intervening arc-trench gap, or
arc-proximal facies, richer in volcanic rocks and volcaniclastics,
453
is the result of shortening, accommodated by low-angle faults
concentrated along the enigmatic contact zone, which brought
the volcanic section onto the mélange.
The Taray is lithostratigraphically correlative with the
Zacatecas and La Ballena Formations, and with the Varales litho-
facies of the Arteaga Complex. These Late Triassic deep-marine
units, which may be contemporary with the Taray, are composed
of dark shale, chert, and quartzose wacke that may enclose blocks
of Paleozoic carbonate and mafic igneous rocks. Each contains
some structures commonly associated with rocks formed within
accretionary prisms.
Restoration of the mélange-arc suite along the Mojave-
Sonora megashear sufficient to remove ~1000 km of left-lateral
displacement places it in northwestern Mexico against correla-
tive igneous rocks (Jones et al., 1995). Restoration of ~300 km
of left-lateral displacement along a fault coincident with the
trans-Mexico volcanic belt (Anderson and Schmidt, 1983) places
the Arteaga Complex and associated Precambrian and Paleozoic
sialic basement rocks west of postulated Grenvillian rocks of
Oaxaquia (Ortega-Gutiérrez et al., 1995).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by National Science Foundation
grant EAR-8705717 (JWM, NWJ, THA) and by the Faculty
Development Fund of the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh
(JWM). R.T. Klein and S.R. Hannula assisted during study
of Cerro El Pedernal. Discussions with Jon Blickwede, Fer-
nando Ortega-Gutiérrez, and Elena Centeno-García provided
a regional perspective. Scott Davidson carefully drafted the
figures and Paul Coyle collated and presented the data shown
on the stereo plots. The paper benefited greatly from reviews by
Darrel Cowan and Mariano Elias-Herrera.
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Geological Society of America Special Papers

The Taray Formation: Jurassic (?) mélange in northern Mexico−−Tectonic
implications
Thomas H. Anderson, Norris W. Jones and James W. McKee

Geological Society of America Special Papers 2005;393; 427-455

doi:10.1130/0-8137-2393-0.427

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