Tectonic significance of Cretaceous-Tertiary magmatic and structural evolution of the northern margin of the Xolapa Complex, Tierra Colorada area, southern Mexico

Abstract

Research Article| September 01, 2007 Tectonic significance of Cretaceous–Tertiary magmatic and structural evolution of the northern margin of the Xolapa Complex, Tierra Colorada area, southern Mexico L.A. Solari; L.A. Solari 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar R. Torres de León; R. Torres de León 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar G. Hernández Pineda; G. Hernández Pineda 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar J. Solé; J. Solé 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar G. Solís-Pichardo; G. Solís-Pichardo 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar T. Hernández-Treviño T. Hernández-Treviño 2Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information L.A. Solari 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico R. Torres de León 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico G. Hernández Pineda 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico J. Solé 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico G. Solís-Pichardo 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico T. Hernández-Treviño 2Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 20 Apr 2006 Revision Received: 26 Feb 2007 Accepted: 05 May 2007 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2007) 119 (9-10): 1265–1279. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26023.1 Article history Received: 20 Apr 2006 Revision Received: 26 Feb 2007 Accepted: 05 May 2007 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation L.A. Solari, R. Torres de León, G. Hernández Pineda, J. Solé, G. Solís-Pichardo, T. Hernández-Treviño; Tectonic significance of Cretaceous–Tertiary magmatic and structural evolution of the northern margin of the Xolapa Complex, Tierra Colorada area, southern Mexico. GSA Bulletin 2007;; 119 (9-10): 1265–1279. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26023.1 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 The Tierra Colorada area sits along the northern limit of the Xolapa Complex, where it is juxtaposed against the Mixteco (Paleozoic) and Guerrero (Mesozoic) terranes of southern Mexico, just north of Acapulco. This paper presents combined structural and geochronological data from Tierra Colorada area that show evidence of four deformational events and several episodes of arc magmatism during Mesozoic and Cenozoic time. The oldest magmatism is represented by ca. 165 Ma granitoids and was followed by intrusion of the foliated El Pozuelo granite (129 ± 0.5 Ma; concordant U-Pb zircon analysis). This intrusion postdates D1 metamorphism and migmatization in the Xolapa Complex. The next magmatic episode is represented by the peraluminous, foliated El Salitre granite (55.3 ± 3.3 Ma; mineral–whole-rock Rb-Sr isochron) and the protomylonitic Las Piñas I-type granite (54.2 ± 5.8 Ma; lower intercept U-Pb zircon). Las Piñas granite is characterized by D2ductile fabric with normal, top-to-the north-northwest sense of shear, deformed at 45–50 Ma (Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages). The ca. 34 Ma undeformed granites correspond to the last intrusive pulse in the area, postdating both D3south-southwest–verging thrust-ing of the Cretaceous Morelos Formation over sheared granites and Lower Cretaceous volcanic rocks, and open folding during D4. These four pulses of subduction-related magmatism in the Tierra Colorada area indicate a regular northeastward subduction at the Mesoamerican trench since Jurassic time, and alternate with contractile and/or extensional tectonic events. The gap in magmatic activity ca. 90–100 Ma roughly coincides with deposition of platformal limestones of the Morelos Formation during the middle Cretaceous. The stable conditions during deposition of the Morelos Formation may have resulted from a combination of back-arc extension and development of a passive margin during the Early–middle Cretaceous, which postdated the accretion of an exotic block, either the Guerrero terrane or the Chortís block. Following the Laramide orogeny in southern Mexico (roughly during the Late Cretaceous) the Paleocene–Miocene tectonic evolution in the Tierra Colorada area involved an alternation of magmatic pulses with extensional and contractile events. This was the result of a combination of several factors, including the geometry of the subducted slab, convergence rate, stress transmission between the subducting and overlying plates, and the rate of subduction erosion. 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