Preliminary investigation of the Tertiary Balsas group, Mesa Los Caballos area, northern Guerrero State, Mexico using Landsat Thematic Mapper data

Conference · · Mountain Geologist; (United States)

OSTI ID:5617038

Jansma, P E; Lang, H R ^[1]; Johnson, C A ^[2]

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1. California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena (United States)
2. Univ. of Miami, FL (United States)

The Tertiary Balsas group was mapped at 1:50,000 scale in a 900 km{sup 2} (350 mi{sup 2}) area between Ciudad Altamirano and Arcelia, northern Guerrero, to refine the regional stratigraphy and to better constrain the geologic evolution of southern Mexico. The project is part of a continuing effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop and use remote sensing methods as a tool for sedimentary basin analysis. Landsat TM image mapping results yielded a generalized stratigraphic column of the Balsas group. In the study area, the Balsas group consists of three sequences, which correspond to lithostratigraphic units, separated by major unconformities. The oldest and youngest sequences are predominantly sedimentary, whereas the middle sequence is almost exclusively volcanic. The total exposed thickness of the group is approximately 2,400 m (8,000 ft). Results show that the Tertiary was marked locally by a period of folding that stopped before deposition of the youngest sequence and by intrusion of siliceous plugs and dikes. The folding was most intense prior to volcanism during accumulation of the middle sequence and is attributed to (Cretaceous-Tertiary) Laramide deformation. The trends of the later, open folds are similar to trends of structures assigned by Johnson et al (1989) to post-Laramide deformation in southern Mexico associated with truncation of the southern margin of Mexico as the Chortis block followed the Caribbean plate eastward.

• OSTI ID: 5617038
• Report Number(s): CONF-8905393--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Mountain Geologist; (United States) Journal Volume: 28:2-3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DIMENSIONS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
LANDSAT SATELLITES
LATIN AMERICA
MAPPING
MEXICO
MULTISPECTRAL PHOTOGRAPHY
NASA
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
PHOTOGRAPHY
REMOTE SENSING
SATELLITES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
STRATIGRAPHY
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
THICKNESS
US ORGANIZATIONS
VOLCANIC REGIONS