Geological and geophysical signatures of the Jemez lineament: a reactivated Precambrian structure
The Jemez lineament (N52/sup 0/E) is one of several northeast-trending lineaments that traverse the southwestern United States. It is defined by a 500-km-long alignment of late Cenozoic volcanic fields extending southwest from at least the Jemez Mountains in the north-central New Mexico to the San Carlos-Peridot volcanic field in east-central Arizona. Geochronologic data from Precambrian basement rocks indicate that the lineament is approximately coincident with a boundary between Precambrian crustal provinces. Characteristics of the lineament are high heat flow (>104.5 mW/m/sup 2/), an attenuated seismic velocity zone from 25 to 140 km depth, and an upwarp of the crustal electrical conductor inferred from magnetotelluric studies. The high electrical conductivity is probably caused by the presence of interstitial magma in the rocks of the mid-to-upper crust. The average electical strike within the Precambrian basement is N60/sup 0/E, supporting a relationship between the Precambrian structural grain and the Jemez lineament. The geological and geophysical data suggest that the lineament is a structural zone that extends deep into the lithosphere and that its location was controlled by an ancient zone of weakness in the Precambrian basement. Ages of late Cenozoic volcanic rocks along the lineament show no systematic geographic progression, thus indicating that a mantle plume was not responsible for the alignment of the volcanic fields.Most of the faults, dikes, and cinder cone alignments along the lineament trend approximately N25/sup 0/E and N5/sup 0/W. These trends may represent Riedel shears formed by left-lateral transcurrent movement along the structure. Less common trends of cinder cone alignments and dikes are approximately N65/sup 0/W and N85/sup 0/W. The diversity in orientation indicates that the magnitudes of the two horizontal principal stresses within the lineament have been approximately equal for at least the last 5 m.y.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 5204555
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-82-561; CONF-810887-2; ON: DE82011971
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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