Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen conmemorativo del centenario Revisión de algunas tipologías de depósitos Minerales de México Vol. 58, núm. 1, 2006, p. 161-181 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2006v58n1a6

Revisión de Algunas Tipologías de Depósitos Minerales en México Características geológicas y potencial metalogenético de los principales complejos ultramáficos-máficos de México

Luis Enrique Ortiz-Hernández^1,*, José Cruz Escamilla-Casas¹, Kinardo Flores-Castro¹, Marius Ramírez-Cardona¹, Otilio Acevedo-Sandoval²

¹ Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km 4.5, 42184, Pachuca, Hidalgo, México.
² Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, ESIA-Unidad Ticomán. Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Avenida Ticomán núm. 600, Col. San José Ticomán. Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07340, México, D.F.

* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

The consensus of the major mafic-ultramafic complexes (UM-M) in ten states of the Mexican Republic (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Estado de Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Chiapas) indicates that their age ranges from Paleozoic to Paleocene and that are associated with diverse tectonic settings: e.g. root volcanic arc, ophiolite, oceanic basin, subduction complex, and continental fragment. The majority of the complexes occur in the following tectonostratigraphic terranes: Tahué and Náhuatl; and in less proportion in Cochimi, Yuma, Guachichil, Tepehuano, Mixteco, Cuicateco and Maya.

The older UM-M complexes are: in Tamaulipas, Cañon del Novillo (that probably constitutes a subduction complex); El Fuerte, Agua Caliente, and Mazatlan, in Sinaloa, which are associated with oceanic basins (?); and Tehuitzingo- Tecomatlan, in Puebla, associated with a supra-subduction zone ophiolite. The Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic UM-M complexes (Isla de Cedros, Vizcaino Peninsula, and Isla Margarita and Magdalena in Baja California Sur) have ophiolitic affinity in a subduction complex. Early Cretaceous complexes (Alisitos and Culiacan, in Sinaloa; San Juan de Otates, in Guanajuato; and Palmar Chico-San Pedro Limon, in Estado de Mexico) are the most characteristic and are associated with a dismembered ophiolite developed in an oceanic basin. Among the remainder of the complexes are: Bacubirito, in Sinaloa, associated with a dismembered ophiolite developed in an oceanic basin; Cuicatlan-Concepcion Papalo, in Oaxaca, possibly represents a short living, intracontinental, magmatic arc. The more recent complexes are: Ojos Negros, in Baja California (Late Cretaceous-Paleocene) and corresponds to the plutonic root of the Californian Batholith; and the micaceous peridotites with kimberlitic affinity of San Javier, in Sinaloa (Upper Mesozoic-Early Tertiary) that are associated with a continental fragment underlying a magmatic arc. The UM-M complexes in Guerrero (Las Ollas, Camalotito, Loma Baya y El Tamarindo) are associated with intraoceanic arc roots in a subduction complex. Finally, the small UM-M bodies of Motozintla, in Chiapas, constitute fragments of the root of a magmatic arc allocated in a shear zone. These UM-M complexes host both, non-metallic mineralization developed during alteration and/or metamorphism (asbestos, talc, magnesite) and metallic mineralization produced after magmatic processes (lenticular and elongated bodies, ferrichromite pods, disseminations of copper, nickel, and cobalt) and can also contain traces of platinum group minerals.

Keywords: Ultramafic-mafic rocks, Geologic characteristics, Metallogenetic potential, Mexico.