BOLETÍN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLÓGICA MEXICANA,

Vol. 54, n.. 1, 2001, p. 28-66

http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2001v54n1a4
 
Tectonic history of the Chihuahua trough, Mexico and adjacent USA, Part I: the pre-Mesozoic setting

Walter T. Haenggi

2007 Tradewinds Drive, Missouri City, TX 77459-2331

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Abstract

Elements of a broad zone of northwesterly-trending lineaments, along the southwest margin of the North American craton, have been recurrently active since Middle Proterozoic time. Stratigraphic and structural data indicate the influence of this zone on Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Tertiary and Recent geology of northeastern Chihuahua.

The Carrizo Mountain Group (estimated age 1,400-1,300 Ma) must have been deposited in a basin (northwesttrending graben?). Sparse examples of “older” granitic rocks (ca. 1,350-1,270 Ma) suggest widespread magmatism over a large area of Chihuahua, that is in part coeval with emplacement of granitic rocks to the north. The Carrizo Mountain Group depositional basin (graben?) may be the earliest manifestation of the dominant northwesterly-trending structural grain of the region; timing is consistent with oldest known strike-slip movement along the Texas Lineament zone (Stockton Pass, Arizona ca. 1,370±70 Ma).

Following deposition of the Carrizo Mountain Group, inferred 1,260-1,160 Ma De Baca rifting affected areas to the north and northwest of the present Carrizo Mountain Group outcrop and subcrop. The rift probably extended into northern Chihuahua and metasedimentary rocks record a marine incursion; presumably from an ocean to the south. It is postulated that the De Baca/Swisher metasedimentary and basaltic rocks represent an intracontinental rift and that there is a genetic relationship between them and the Midcontinent rift. At about the same time as rifting, rocks of the Carrizo Mountain Group underwent their first metamorphism. At around 1,100 Ma, the region was subjected to “Grenville” diastrophism that includes extensive batholith emplacement, thrust faulting, retrograde metamorphism and synorogenic deposition of the Hazel Formation.

Pre-Mississippian Paleozoic rocks of the region are the consequence of widespread cratonic shelf deposition along a relatively passive margin of the North American craton. Cambrian and Ordovician rocks include basal transgressive sandstones that reflect a general northeastern advance of seas onto North America. The major event during the early Paleozoic was a change in the boundary of the North American craton during Ordovician time. At about 450 Ma, the Cuyania terrane was separated from the craton and eventually was attached to South America. Local Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian faulting in Texas and New Mexico and disconformities on the Diablo Platform and in central New Mexico indicate periods of shelf exposure. These features may reflect tectonism over large areas, including northern Chihuahua, but their origin and significance is not clear.

Four late Paleozoic tectonic pulses, affecting the Ouachita-Marathon system, are recognized in northeastern Chihuahua and adjacent parts of the United States: 1) Mississippian-Pennsylvanian deformation in Ouachita hinterland; 2) Pennsylvanian orogeny; 3) Pennsylvanian-Permian folding and thrusting; 4) Permian erosion/truncation and subsequent tilting

Keywords: Chihuahua trough, stratigraphy, tectonics, Precambrian, Paleozoic