Provenance of Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene sandstones in the foreland basin system of the Sierra Madre Oriental, northeastern Mexico, and its bearing on fluvial dispersal systems of the Mexican Laramide Province

Abstract

Research Article| May 01, 2009 Provenance of Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene sandstones in the foreland basin system of the Sierra Madre Oriental, northeastern Mexico, and its bearing on fluvial dispersal systems of the Mexican Laramide Province Timothy F. Lawton; Timothy F. Lawton † 1Institute of Tectonic Studies, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA †E-mail: [e-mail] Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Ira A. Bradford; Ira A. Bradford 2Core Lab, 6316 Windfern Road, Houston, Texas 77040, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Francisco J. Vega; Francisco J. Vega 3Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, DF 04510, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar George E. Gehrels; George E. Gehrels 4Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jeffrey M. Amato Jeffrey M. Amato 5Department of Geological Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Timothy F. Lawton † 1Institute of Tectonic Studies, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA Ira A. Bradford 2Core Lab, 6316 Windfern Road, Houston, Texas 77040, USA Francisco J. Vega 3Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, DF 04510, Mexico George E. Gehrels 4Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Jeffrey M. Amato 5Department of Geological Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA †E-mail: [e-mail] Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 09 Apr 2008 Revision Received: 24 Aug 2008 Accepted: 25 Aug 2008 First Online: 03 Oct 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 © 2009 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2009) 121 (5-6): 820–836. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26450.1 Article history Received: 09 Apr 2008 Revision Received: 24 Aug 2008 Accepted: 25 Aug 2008 First Online: 03 Oct 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Timothy F. Lawton, Ira A. Bradford, Francisco J. Vega, George E. Gehrels, Jeffrey M. Amato; Provenance of Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene sandstones in the foreland basin system of the Sierra Madre Oriental, northeastern Mexico, and its bearing on fluvial dispersal systems of the Mexican Laramide Province. GSA Bulletin 2009;; 121 (5-6): 820–836. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26450.1 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 Sandstone petrography and detrital zircon U-Pb analysis of Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene sandstones in the foreland basin of the Sierra Madre Oriental in northeastern Mexico indicate long-distance sediment transport from arc, basement, and thrust-belt sources lying to the west, northwest, and south. The basin fill, termed the Difunta Group, consists of sublitharenites, litharenites, feldspathic litharenites, and lithic arkoses derived from mixed sources that included sedimentary rocks, magmatic arc rocks, and subordinate basement rocks. Six age populations comprise the detrital zircon content of the sandstones: Proterozoic (1900–900 Ma), early Paleozoic (500–400 Ma), late Paleozoic–Early Triassic (288–235 Ma), Jurassic (180–151 Ma), Early Cretaceous (150–111 Ma), and Late Cretaceous–Paleogene (110–54 Ma). These grains were derived from several arc terranes, ranging in age from Permian to Paleogene, in western Mexico and the southwestern United States, from sedimentary rocks and possibly interbedded tuffs of the Sierra Madre Oriental orogen and from basement sources or their derivative sandstones of the southwestern United States. The petrographic and geochronologic provenance data corroborate existing models for derivation of much foreland detritus from arc sources to the west, identify the Sierra Madre orogen itself as an important source for sediment, and these data modify the Late Cretaceous–Paleogene paleogeography of Mexico to include a long, orogen-parallel fluvial system with headwaters in the southwestern United States. The difference in average ages of the youngest grains in the sandstones and their inferred depositional ages is 10.5 m.y., indicating that the initial coarse fill of the foreland basin was derived from early Laramide uplift and eastward arc migration in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.