Mesozoic paleomagnetism and northward translation of the Baja California Peninsula

Abstract

Research Article| August 01, 1985 Mesozoic paleomagnetism and northward translation of the Baja California Peninsula JONATHAN T. HAGSTRUM; JONATHAN T. HAGSTRUM 1U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar MICHAEL McWILLIAMS; MICHAEL McWILLIAMS 2Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar DAVID G. HOWELL; DAVID G. HOWELL 3U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar SHERMAN GROMMÉ SHERMAN GROMMÉ 3U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information JONATHAN T. HAGSTRUM 1U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 MICHAEL McWILLIAMS 2Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 DAVID G. HOWELL 3U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 SHERMAN GROMMÉ 3U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1985) 96 (8): 1077–1090. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<1077:MPANTO>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation JONATHAN T. HAGSTRUM, MICHAEL McWILLIAMS, DAVID G. HOWELL, SHERMAN GROMMÉ; Mesozoic paleomagnetism and northward translation of the Baja California Peninsula. GSA Bulletin 1985;; 96 (8): 1077–1090. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<1077:MPANTO>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Paleomagnetic data from Cretaceous igneous and sedimentary rocks of the Peninsular Ranges and Continental Borderland of the Baja California Peninsula yield an average pole position of 83°N, 344°E (A95 = 3.4°), suggesting that the peninsula as a whole has moved northward ∼11° and rotated 32° clockwise, with respect to the North American craton, since Cretaceous time. Only a small portion of this movement is due to the Neogene opening of the Gulf of California. Results from stratified rocks giving both positive and negative fold tests are included in the average Cretaceous pole. The rocks that fail fold tests have been deformed and remagnetized by nearby intrusives that are only slightly younger; unconnected directions from these sites closely match corrected directions from sites where the fold tests are positive. Oceanic rocks were also sampled in the Continental Borderland from Upper Triassic and Upper Jurassic tectonostratigraphic terranes which are apparently allochthonous with respect to the western Baja Peninsula and each other. These oceanic rocks show magnetizations indicating low paleolatitudes, although the hemisphere of origin is presently unknown. The Cretaceous rocks of the Baja California Peninsula may have originally formed adjacent to the now-truncated continental margin along the northern Middle America Trench. Northward transport of the peninsula probably occurred by transcurrent faulting associated with oblique subduction of the Farallon plate beneath western North America between Late Cretaceous and late Miocene time. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.