Cretaceous paleogeography of Peninsular California
Conference
·
· Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6931585
For the past 15 years, paleomagnetic studies on various rock types have consistently shown southern and Baja California to have been located at 10/sup 0/-17/sup 0/ lower latitude, relative to cratonal North America, than it is today. Similar studies on the Salinian block and in southwestern Oregon also indicate substantially lower latitudes for the deposition of Upper Cretaceous rocks. In seeming contradiction, apparent correlations across the Gulf of California plate boundary relate Cambrian(.) to Triassic stratal rocks of Sonora and the Great Basin to their contemporaries in Baja California, and Jurassic and Cretaceous arc rocks in the peninsula to those in mainland Mexico. Therefore, relative movement along the San Andreas system seems limited to approximately 300 km in a right-lateral direction since the Miocene. A possible accommodation to both sets of evidence places the Baja Peninsula near its present position relative to cratonal North America until about the Middle Jurassic, when it began moving relatively southeastward. This left-lateral motion placed it about 11/sup 0/ southeast by the Aptian-Albian and 17/sup 0/ southeast by the Campanian-Maestrichtian. The Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous arcs trended southeast through Sonora, Sinaloa, and Jalisco, and then down the length of peninsular California. The right-lateral return of the peninsula began during the Late Cretaceous. The fault systems for the return motion cannot lie west of the Gulf of California, and thus, neither can the earlier left-lateral fault.
- Research Organization:
- San Diego State Univ., CA
- OSTI ID:
- 6931585
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8604187-
- Conference Information:
- Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 70:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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