Tectono-stratigraphic terranes and mineral resource distributions in ~ e x i c o '

MARIA FERNANDA CAMPA

Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico, D .F .
AND

PETER J. CONEY
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, U.S.A. Received March 11, 1982 Accepted May 10, 1982

About 80% of the southern part of the North American Cordillera within the Republic of Mexico is made up of suspect terranes. These terranes are suspect because their paleogeographic setting with respect to cratonic North America at various times through much of Phanerozoic time is uncertain. Much of northeastern and southeastern Mexico is underlain by basement accreted during late Paleozoic time, an extension of the Appalachian-Ouachita orogeny. This orogen has been considerably modified by Jurassic strike-slip translations related to the opening of the Gulf of Mexico. Western and southwestern Mexico is largely made up of several distinct but coeval latest Jurassic to Late Cretaceous submarine magmatic arc terranes with unknown basement that appear to have accreted against the disrupted North American margin by early Tertiary time. Only northeastern Sonora and the State of Chihuahua appear to be floored by unmoved North American cratonic basement. The combined effect of Mesozoic accretions and translations essentially eliminates the overlap of South America upon Mexico that is drived from late Paleozoic early Mesozoic reconstructions of the closed Atlantic Ocean. This new vision of accretionary and translational tectonics in Mexico has profound implications for the study of tectogenesis in the southern Cordillera as well as for the interpretation of Mexico's vast natural resources. Preliminary analysis indicates that Mexico's gold-silver and lead-zinc deposits are directly or indirectly related to the terrane distributions discussed. Environ 80% de la partie sud de la Cordill2re de 1'AmCrique du Nord a I'intCrieur de la RCpublique du Mexique est formke de terrains ma1 dCfinis. Ces terrains sont mal dCfinis parce que leur contexte palCogCographique en rapport avec le craton de 1' AmCrique du Nord pour les diffkrents temps gCologiques surtout pour le PhanCrozo'iqueest indCterminC. De grandes regions du nord-est et du sud-est du Mexique reposent sur un socle rCsultant d'une accrCtion au cours du PalCozoique su@rieur, une extension de I'orogCnkse Appalache-Ouachita. Cette orogCnkse fut considkrablement affectke par des translations le long de dCcrochements au Jurassique accompagnant l'ouverture du golfe du Mexique. L'ouest et sud-ouest du Mexique est principalement constitut de terrains de nature diffkrente mais contemporains de la fin du Jurassique suptrieur jusqu'au CrCtacC sugrieur, formant des arcs d'origine magmatique sous-marine, dont le socle est inconnu mais semble rCsulter d'une accrCtion contre la marge rupturCe de 1'AmCrique du Nord durant le Tertiaire infkrieur. Seulement le nord-est de Sonora et 1'Etat du Chihuahua semblent prksenter un socle correspondant au craton non-dCplacC de 1'AmCrique du Nord. L'effet combink des accrktions et des translations du MCsozo'ique Ccartent l'hypothkse d'un chevauchement de 1'AmCrique du Sud sur le Mexique invoquCe dans les reconstitutions de la fermeture de 1'ocCan Atlantique durant la pCriode du PalCozoique supCrieur jusqu'au MCsozoique infkrieur. Cette nouvelle approche de tectonique d'accrCtions et de translations pour le Mexique peut contribuer au dCveloppementde la tectogknkse du sud de la Cordillkre et tgalement a l'interprttation concernant les vastes ressources naturelles du Mexique. Des Ctudes prkliminaires indiquent que les gites d'or-argent et de plomb-zinc du Mexique sont directement et indirectement reliCs 2 1 la distribution de terrains discutks dans le prCsent article. [Traduit par le journal]
Can. J. E a r t h Sci. 20, 1040-1051 (1983)

Introduction Tectono-stratigraphic terrane analysis (Jones and Silberling 1979) has proven fruitful in studies of the North American Cordillera. It has resulted in a series of new maps (Coney et al. 1980; Berg et al. 1978; Jones et al. 1981) that have shed much light on Cordilleran tectonic evolution and has focused attention on major issues in the interpretation of the tectonic evolution of continental margin mountain systems (Coney 1981;
'This paper was presented at a sympos~um entitled "Metallogeny and Tectonics of the North American Cordillera" held at the GAC/MAC/CGU Joint Annual Meeting in Calgary, Alberta, May 13, 1981.

Ben-Avraham et al. 1981). The approach has also yielded preliminary insights into the distribution and genesis of Cordilleran mineral resources (Albers 1981; Berg 1981). Tectono-stratigraphicterrane analysis is in its infancy in Mexico. We report here the results of preliminary work now in progress (Carnpa and Coney 1981). We are certain future work will require revision of what we portray here, but we are confident that the broad outline we propose is in general valid. These preliminary results provide a different vision of the tectonics of Mexico and at the Same time provide insight into the tectonic evolution of the southern part of the North American Cordillera. Finally, we suggest that some mineral

CAMPA AND CONEY

LEGEND

FIG.1. Tectono-stratigraphicterranes of Mexico. Basement terrane boundaries are shaded black lines. Superjacent (overlap) terranes shown by V pattern.

resource distributions in Mexico appear to be markedly controlled by the terrane distributions. This is a relationship that has not previously been perceived. The tectonics of Mexico has an inherent complexity not shared by most of the Cordillera to the north: here, Paleozoic Appalachian and Mesozoic Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico features mingle with those of the North American Cordillera. The paleogeographic implications of this complex union have always been a mystery, and include the earliest configuration of the North American late Precambrian - early Paleozoic continental margin in this region as well later Paleozoic and Mesozoic interactions. Added complexities are the relationships between the southern Mexico - Caribbean - Central America region and northwestern South America. Most of these problems derive at the outset from geometric reconstmctions of the closed Atlantic Ocean in Permo-Triassic time (Coney 1978). The well known overlap of South America upon all of the Caribbean Sea and Central America and including up to 50% of the Mexican Republic leads to one of two conclusions: (1) rocks exposed in the overlapped region

did not exist during Permo-Triassic time, or (2) they were somewhere else. When these geometric facts are taken into consideration along with the nature of much of the geology of this region, the implied mobility of tectonic elements places severe doubts on classic interpretations of Mexican tectonic history. When these geometric relationships are combined with our terrane analysis they indicate, for example, that only about 20% of Mexico can be unequivocally underlain by unmoved autochthonous North American Precambrian basement. The remainder of the Republic is thus "suspect" (Coney et al. 1980; Coney 1981) in its paleogeographic affinities during long periods of Phanerozoic time.

Description of terranes A preliminary tectono-stratigraphic terrane map of Mexico is shown as Fig. 1. The map shows the distribution of major basement terranes, which in most cases are areas assumed to be underlain by a basement litho-tectonic assemblage defined as internally homogeneous within the boundaries of the terrane. Some terranes are designated as "composite," and include

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CAN. J. EARTH SCI. VOL. 20, 1983

internal complexities the details of which are still to be worked out. The proposed internal homogeneity of terranes is represented by a stratigraphic record (in other words, a geologic history) that ties the terrane together as a tectono-stratigraphic entity in space and time. Boundaries between terranes are major discontinuities in stratigraphy that we believe mark abrupt or cryptic changes in age and (or) lithology that cannot be easily explained as due to a facies change or an unconfonnity. Many of the boundaries are known faults and all are suspected to be. Most of Mexico is in fact covered at the surface by what are termed "superjacent" terranes or overlap assmblages. Only some of these are shown in Fig. 1. These younger overlap assemblages cross terrane boundaries, indicating paleogeographic unity over a region larger than that represented by the basement terranes. Examples would be the mid-Tertiary volcanic plateau of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the late Tertiary trans-Mexico volcanic axis, both of which are shown in Fig. 1. The basement terranes of Mexico may be grouped into zonations that divide the Republic into three major tectono-stratigraphic subdivisions: (1) a northwestern zone, which is a direct continuation southward into Mexico of autochthonous North American cratonic Precambrian basement and its Paleozoic-Mesozoic cover; (2) an eastern zone, surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, of mainly late Paleozoic age, which though heterogeneous has a common origin as material accreted to North America during the latest Paleozoic Appalachian-Ouachita-Marathon orogeny; and (3) a western zone, making up Mexico's wider Pacific margin, which is characterized by a heterogeneous assemblage of mainly submarine volcanic and sedimentary rocks of late Mesozoic age, with presently unknown basement. Also found here are scattered smaller terranes, which include in part older rocks and whose paleogeographic affinities with North America are presently unknown or at best very speculative.

Lopez 1979, Figs. 4-8). The Precambrian basement is overlain depositionallyby a cratonic assemblageof up to 3000 m of Paleozoic sandstones, shales, and limestones (Malpica and de la Torre 1980) with a fauna and lithologies very similar to those of well known sequences in Arizona and New Mexico of the southwestern United States (Peirce 1976). Toward the southeastern edge of the terrane, upper Paleozoic detritial sequences seem to reflect proximity to the southwestward extremity of the Appalachian-Ouachita -Marathon orogenic belt (Bridges 1964). The southeastern boundary of the terrane is an assumed deep-seated fault along the northwestern frontal zone of the accreted late Paleozoic OuachitaMarathon orogen. The southwestern boundary is a major tectonic discontinuity separating disparate Precambrianage belts and Paleozoic - early Mesozoic stratigraphy. The discontinuity has been termed the Mojave-Sonora megashear (Silver and Anderson 1974; Anderson and Silver 1979). We simply term it the Mojave-Sonora discontinuity. The terrane is covered by latest Jurassic and younger Mesozoic rocks, which are part of the great transgression out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Caborca terrane The stratigraphic column for the Caborca terrane is based on isolated outcrops west of the city of Caborca, Sonora, which yield a Precambrian basement (Darnon et a1. 1962; Anderson and Silver 1979) overlain by a very thick miogeoclinal sequence of late Precambrian through Paleozoic age (Cooper and Arellano 1946; Malpica and de la Torre 1980), considered to be very similar to the Cordilleran miogeoclinal sequence of southwestern Nevada and southern California (Weber et al. 1979; Anderson et al. 1979). Overlying the Paleozoic rocks are Upper Triassic marine and continental deposits of the Barranca Formation and Liassic to Upper Jurassic clastic and volcanociastic rocks (Anderson and Silver 1979). The Caborca terrane is certainly composite since southeast of Hermosillo, Sonora there are outcrops of lower Paleozoic sequences Zone I: northwestern Mexico of deep-marine affinity (Peiffer 1979) and there are Zone I (Fig. 2) is made up of two terranes: the exposures of Lower Mesozoic rocks of uncertain affinity autochthonous North American cratonic terrane of in northeast Baja California (Gastil and Miller 1981). The close similarity of the pre-Late Jurassic Chihuahua and what may be a para-autochthonous displaced fragment of North America, the Caborca sequences to those of southwesternNevada and southern California and the marked contrast to sequences of the terrane in the State of Sonora. same age in nearby Chihuahua terrane have led to the Chihuahua terrane suggestion that the Caborca terrane is a displaced The Chihuahua terrane is underlain by unmoved fragment of North American Precambrian basement and cratonic North American Precambrian basement. This its Paleozoic miogeoclinal cover plus various Paleozoic basement outcrops in only scattered localities in allochthons and younger overlap assemblages, all northeastern Sonora, but it has been penetrated in wells brought southeastward up to 800 km along the Middle in the State of Chihuahua (unpublished well reports, Jurassic Mojave-Sonora megashear (Silver and AnderPetroleos Mexicanos, Gerencia de Exploracion; see also son 1974; Anderson and Silver 1979).

CAMPA AND CONEY

Caborca
Jurassic Ceno.

Chihuahua

&

U. Triassic

Dev.-Miss. Ord. Apt. Camb. Neoc..

Titon.

U. Precamb.
Perm. Penn.-Miss De v. S iI. Ord. Camb Precamb

Precamb

yO T -0 l 0 c o - n g ~ o m e r a t e

hl-l

limestone

I ; . : . ]

volcanic

[-Isandstone
..
.

_ . I .

..

dolomite

~ l m e t a m o r p h i c

FIG. 2. Tectono-stratigraphic columns for northwestern Mexico. Also shows lithologic symbols for Figs. 3 and 4. Abbreviations: Precam. = Precambrian basement; U. Precamb. = Upper Precambrian sedimentary rocks; Camb. = Cambrian; Ord. = Ordovician; Sil. = Silurian; Dev. = Devonian; Miss. = Mississippian; Penn. = Pennsylvanian; Perm. = Permian; U. I Trias. = Upper Triassic; L., M., U. Jura. = Lower, Middle, and Upper Jurassic; L. Cret. = Lower Cretaceous; U. Cret. = Upper Cretaceous; Titon. = Tithonian; Neoc. = Neocornian; Apt. = Aptian; Alb. = Albian; Ceno. = Cenomanian; Turon. = Turonian; Sant. = Santonian; Camp. = Campanian;Tert. = Tertiary; Paleo. = Paleocene;Plio. = Pliocene. Sources: citations in text, unpublished data from Pemez and Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo files, and fieldwork by the authors.

Zone 11: eastern Mexico Much of eastern Mexico is overlain by upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic superjacent terranes, which are part of the great post-Middle Jurassic transgression out

of the newly opened Gulf of Mexico. However, in scattered exposures and from well data there is evidence beneath the'cover of the basement terranes of concern here (Fig. 3). The largest are the Coahuila and Maya

CAN. J. EARTH SCI. VOL. 20, 1983

Coahuila
Camp Paleo.-PLio. Sant. ~ e n ~ o ~ . ~ ' " . Alb. Apt. Neoc. Titon.
i

Maya

U.

Cret.

L.
U. M.

Cret. Jura. ~ u r a . Jura. Perm. Penn. Miss.

Jura.

L.
Permian

Dev. ?

Sierra Madre
U. Cret. Turon. L. Cret.

U. Jura. M. Jura. U.Trias.L. Jura.

Perm.

Vertical
Penn. Miss. Dev. Sil. Camb.-Ord Precamb.

arrow

beside column

shows range of basement terrane Rocks above are superjacent (overlap) terrane

FIG.3. Tectono-stratigraphic columns for eastern Mexico. See caption to Fig. 2 for details.

terranes, which are both certainly composite but appear to be late Paleozoic accretions to North America related to closure of the proto-Atlantic Ocean as Africa and South America impinged on North America, which produced the later stages of the Appalachian-Ouachita -Marathon orogeny in latest Paleozoic time (Graham et al. 1975; Flawn et al. 1961). A third basement terrane is the Sierra Madre. This poorly exposed and poorly understood basement terrane is probably composite and is here portrayed as including part, at least, of the Altiplano region of central Mexico in the States of Durango, Zacatacas, and San Luis Potosi. Part of the

Sierra Madre basement terrane may be a displaced fragment of North American basement similar to the Chihuahua terrane. The terranes of eastern Mexico are overlapped first by a Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic early rift assemblage of continental redbeds and evaporites, then by a post-Middle Jurassic through Late Cretaceous marine transgression assemblage. Both of these sequences are part of the history of the opening of the Gulf of Mexico. The Sierra Madre and Maya terranes are also both locally overlain by an Early to Middle Jurassic (?) continental redbed and volcanic sequence, which we

AND CONEY

1045

interpret to be part of a Jurassic continental magmatic arc. Accretion of the Coahuila and Maya terranes onto the North American continent occurfed during the latest Paleozoic to Middle Triassic. The Maya and Sierra Madre terranes, however, were still mobile with respect to North America until Late Jurassic time, since Upper Jurassic limestones are the first units to overlap all three terranes. The mobility of the Maya and Sierra Madre terranes is related to movement along the TorreonMonterrey discontinuity. The discontinuity is apparently the southeastern extension of the Mojave-Sonora discontinuity. Movement along the feature thus occurred after the Middle Triassic and before the Late Jurassic.

highly deformed and metamorphosed Paleozoic flysch sequences (Hernandez 1973). In southernmost Chiapas and neighboring Guatemala there are Devonian to Permian sediments and possible older early Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks whose affinities with North America are unknown (Clemons et al. 1974). Jurassic redbeds and volcanic rocks and Middle-Upper Jurassic to Cretaceous transgressive marine sequences cover the basement terrane. The boundary between the Maya and Coahuila terranes is not known, but it is possibly the southeastern extension of the Torreon-Monterrey discontinuity where it enters the Gulf of Mexico somewhere between Matamoros and Vera Cruz.

Coahuila terrane The known lithology of the Coahuila terrane consists Sierra Madre The Sierra Madre Oriental is mainly a sequence of of two parts. One is a much deformed and generally mildly metamorphosed upper Paleozoic (mostly folded and imbricately thrust-faulted upper Mesozoic Permian) flysch with andesitic volcanics cut by scattered limestones, shales, and sandstones of the superjacent granodioritic plutons, which usually yield latest Gulf of Mexico transgressive sequence deformed during Paleozoic radiometric ages (Bose 1921;Flawn and Diaz the Late Cretaceous - early Tertiary Laramide orogeny 1959; Flawn et al. 1961; Denison et al. 1971). A second (de Cserna et al. 1977; Tardy 1980; de Cserna 1956). In part is the so-called "frontal zone" of the Ouachita- several anticlinoria, however, an older basement terrane Marathon orogen, which includes rocks of Cambrian is revealed (Carrillo 1961, 1965; Ramirez 1978; de through late Paleozoic age. These sequences are thrust Cserna et al. 1977). Near Ciudad Victoria the crystalline northwestward over cratonic North America in the basement is a metamorphic complex of "Grenville" age Ouachita and Marathon Mountains and we assume they (Fries et al. 1962b). Structurally above it is a are likewise thrust northwestward over the Chihuahua sedimentary sequence that ranges from Cambroterrane in Mexico. Unconformably above these Ordovician (?) to Pennsylvanian in age and culminates basement terranes lie continental redbeds and evaporites in a Permian flysch (Carrillo 1961; Malpica and de la of Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic age (Irnlay 1943; Torre 1980). This sequence is perhaps not unlike what one might expect as a southeasternmost occurrence of Humphrey 1956). The upper Paleozoic rocks are here interpreted to be the North American craton in Chihuahua terrane or the "hinterland" or interior zone of the Appalachian- perhaps the frontal zone of the Coahuila terrane here Ouachita-Marathon orogenic belt and probably displaced far to the southeast. Farther south near the represent magmatic arc and fore-arc assemblages trans-Mexico volcanic axis a Lower Jurassic marine accreted against North America during late Paleozoic sedimentary sequence with a fauna of "Pacific" aspect is closure of the proto-Atlantic Ocean. The frontal zone exposed structurally above Paleozoic rocks of Mississipmay have been distal, deep ocean-floor deposits that lay pian and Permian age, which in turn lie above south of North America. The Mesozoic redbed and Precambrian rocks. How far and to what degree the evaporitic sequences are considered equivalent to Paleozoic and Precambrian rocks extend beneath the similar facies found along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal remainder of the Sierra Madre terrane are presently regions to the north in the United States and are here unknown. It seems likely the Sierra Madre terrane as assumed to be related to early rifting that later led to the portrayed in Fig. 1 is composite. At scattered localities between Torreon and Ciudad opening of the Gulf of Mexico. The southern boundary Victoria along the northern margin of the terrane south of the Coahuila terrane is the Torreon-Monterrey of the Torreon-Monterrey discontinuity there are discontinuity. exposures of red conglomerates, siltstones, sandstones, Maya terrane and silty shales below Upper Jurassic limestones Where exposed the Maya terrane is apparently more (Zuluaga Formation) (C6rdoba 1963). The red heterogeneous than, but somewhat similar to, and sediments frequently have a considerable volcanic probably a displaced part of, the Coahuila terrane. A content, and there are occasional volcanic rocks as well. large meta-plutonic complex, at least in part of Usually evaporitic shales and siltstones intervene Permo-Triassic age, is exposed in Chiapas (Damon et between the redbeds and the Zuluaga limestones. The al. 1981; Webber and Ojeda Rivera 1957), and there are rocks are often slightly metamorphosed, retaining a faint

1046

CAN. 1. EARTH SCI. VOL. 20, 1983

cleavage. Some of these rocks have been considered Paleozoic basement. Recent fieldwork suggests most are eauivalent to the Lower to Middle Jurassic Nazas arma at ion (Pantoja-Alor 1963) exposed west of Torreon, which we interpret to be part of the Lower to Middle Jurassic magmatic arc (Damon et al. 1981) known from southern Arizona and Senora, where it lies the Chihuahua upon what we terrane. If the correlation is correct, these rocks are displaced far to the southeast from their equivalents to the north. Since the basement of these rocks is not are shown in a separate beside the Sierra Madre Oriental terrane column in Fig. 3.

Mexico volcanic axis, unconformably cover the basement terranes as an overlap assemblage in many areas. Alisitos terrane

This terrane is mainly a very thick Lower to Middle Cretaceous (Aptian-Albianl submarine to partly continental andesitic volcanic and associated volcanoclastic sequence that forms much of the western part of northern Baja California (Allison 1955; Gastil et al. 1978) The telrane possibly includes older rocks that may extend into latest Triassic or Jurassic time. The terrane is inmded by Cretaceous plutons and is in part metamorphosed. The terrane no doubt has correlatives across the Gulf of California in southern Sonora south of Zone 1 1 1 : western Mexico Guaymas and in Sinoloa (shown in Fig. 1 as the This vast region makes up almost one half of the Guerrero terrane). It may also reappear in southernmost Republic of Mexico and is formed by a composite group Baja California south of La Paz. of suspect terranes here considered to have accreted to North America in later Mesozoic to early Tertiary time. Guerrero terrane The principal basement terranes (Fig. 4) are a series of This vast terrane is best known in the Sierra Madre del submarine volcanic and sedimentary rocks of magmatic Sur south of the trans-Mexico volcanic axis. It is arc aspect, and are at least of Late Jurassic to late middle certainly composite, and at the time of this writing can Cretaceous age and possibly reach back to the Late be subdivided into at least three separate sequences. The Triassic and (or) Jurassic. Scattered through these relationships one to another of these three subdivisions terranes are smaller terranes with older ages and distinct is still not clear. All three subterranes are at least Late facies. All of the above terranes are difficult to organize Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous in age and are composed of into any paleogeographic reconstruction with the re- submarine volcanic and sedimentary squences, but there mainder of Mexico until late Mesozoic or even early are Upper Triassic rocks known near Zacatecas Cenozoic time. Any portrayal of this complex region is (McGehee 1976). The stratigraphy in each is different, complicated by the fact that much of it is covered by as are grade of metamorphism and deformational style. middle Tertiary and younger superjacent terranes such The three subterranes are: (1) Teloloapan-Ixtapan, (2) as the Sierra Madre Occidental and the trans-Mexico Zihuatanejo, and (3) Huetamo (see Fig. 4). volcanic axis. The Telolapan-Ixtapan terrane (Campa et al. 1974) is The main late Mesozoic arc terranes are the Alisitos a sequence of andesitic volcanic and volcanoclastic terrane of Baja California, the composite Guerrero sediments interstratified with limestone, shale, and terrane of southwestern Mexico, and the Juarez terrane sandstone. The sediments have yielded fossils of Late in the State of Oaxaca. The smaller terranes are Mixteca Jurassic and Early Cretaceous ages. No older basement and Oaxaca; both include Paleozoic rocks and the is presently known. The assemblage has been affected Oaxaca also includes Precambrian rocks. The Xolapa by low-grade regional metamorphism and is quite and Sonabari terranes are meta-plutonic complexes of severely deformed. Along the eastern margin of the largely unknown age and origin. Important deep-seated terrane in the State of Guerrero the volcanic and faults are known to bound these smaller terranes in sedimentary assemblage is thrust eastward over shelf several places, and we know of no evidence that permits carbonates of Cretaceous age that are part of the Mixteca the conclusion that any of them necessarily forms a terrane platform (Campa et al. 1976). basement to the larger submarine magmatic arc terranes. The Zihuatanejo terrane is best known along the south The terranes of western Mexico were apparently coast of Michoacan and in Colima. It is made up of accreted onto and consolidated with the North American mainly andesitic volcanic rocks, interbedded limestones continent during what might be termed the "greater" with Albian fauna, and some shale, sandstone, and Laramide orogeny, which took place from Late conglomerate. There are also locally continental Cretaceous to early Tertiary time. Folding, faulting, and redbeds with dinosaur footprints. The assemblage is some metamorphism at this time are widespread deformed, but shows no significant metamorphism throughout this complex and varied region. In any (Campa et al., in press). A recent Pemex well in the event, poorly dated continental sediments considered to State of Colima has penetrated over 3000 m of andesitic be of Late Eocene to Oligocene age and better dated volcanic rocks and limestones. middle Tertiary volcanic sequences, mostly in the Sierra The Huetamo terrane is best known in Michoacan Madre Occidental and beneath the younger trans- where a sequence of Upper Jurassic marine volcanoclas-

CAMPA AND CONEY

Alisitos

Guerrero
Zihuatanejo
Tert.
Cret.-

Huetamo
v "

Teloloapan

-&*.

...Ib' '

Tert. Apt. Alb. Titon.

> I .'

? Alb

Apt. --.
I,

V."

Titon.

U"

, v > :

.=

Juarez

Mixteca

Oaxaca

Alb.

4
I
I I
U.

Neoc. Perm. Penn. Miss. Camb.-Ord

Precamb.

Jura.

FIG.4. Tectono-stratigraphiccolumns for western Mexico. See caption to Fig. 2 for details. tic sediments is overlain by a Neocomian flysch-like de Juarez has carried it over the Maya terrane and the sequence of sands and shales. The flysch passes upward Gulf coastal plain. The Juarez terrane is also distinctive into Albian limestones interbedded with tuff and red- in that it lies "inboard," that is, east, of the Oaxaca beds. Upwards the abundance of redbeds increases and Precambrian terrane. Deformation is very severe, but a the entire upper part of the assemblage is continental provisional column is made up of Upper Jurassic redbeds and ignimbritic volcanics that are probably calcareous shale and sandstones, Neocomian thinLate Cretaceous in age. The terrane is deformed in bedded cherty limestones, and pillowed andesitic moderately tight upright folds but is not metamor- volcanic rocks (Charleston 1980; Carfantan 1981). phosed. There is no known basement older than the There are also ultramafic occurrences. Along the marine sediments of Late Jurassic age. western margin of the terrane the base of the assemblage appears to be made up of a very thick east-dipping Juarez terrane mylonitic gneiss of unknown age. The Juarez terrane is the most easterly of the Upper Mesozoic submarine volcanic and sedimentary assem- Mixteca terrane The Mixteca terrane consists of a tectonically blages. It is, in fact, found within 200 krn of the Gulf of Mexico where eastward verging thrust faulting in Sierra juxtaposed two-part metamorphic basement with an

1048

CAN. 1. EARTH SCI. VOL. 20, 1983

intervening ultramafic body. Radiometric age determina- Jose de las Rusias terrane (Malpica and de la Torre 1980) tions from metamorphic rocks of the lower package is a Carboniferous sedimentary sequence. The origins yield early Paleozoic apparent ages (Ortega 1978). The and relationships of these terranes are unknown'to the metamorphic rocks are overlain in places by deformed authors at this time and are not further discussed until Pennsylvanian terrigenous sediments (Calderbn Garcia work in progress is completed. 1956; Silva 1970), and in other places Lower to Middle Jurassic marine rocks overlie the metamorphic rocks. Mineral resource distribution in Mexico and These rocks are in turn overlain by Neocomian shales the tectono-stratigraphicterranes and limestones, Aptian-Albian-Cenomainian limestones, and finally a flysch-like Upper Cretaceous The distribution of Mexico's mineral resources has sequence (Calderbn Garcia 1956). been described largely as a function of present-day major physiographic-geologic provinces (Salas 1975) Oaxaca terrane The Oaxaca terrane consists of a granulite and and more recently as a function of paleo-Benioff zone anorthositic crystalline metamorphic basement above morphology (Damon et al. 1.981).The former study was which sits depositionally an uppermost Cambrian to largely descriptive and was accompanied by a useful Ordovician terrigenous deposit that is overlain by map (Salas 1975). The latter study carried a genetic Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian sediments implication based largely on age distribution of mineral (Pantoja-Alor and Robinson 1967). The basement has deposit zonations identified by groupings of deposit been isotopically dated as "Grenville" in age (Fries et al. types (Damon et al. 1981). We present a preliminary 1962a; Ortega et al. 1977). The early Paleozoic fossils alternative portrayal, which is also descriptive (Fig. 5). found above the basement complex are apparently most We show that at least two major commodity similar to South American forms rather than North distributions seem to be a function of the distribution of American (Robinson and Pantoja-Alor 1968). Above the basement terranes presented in this report. We offer the Paleozoic rocks are redbeds and Aptian-Albian no genetic explanation, but we feel the relationships are interesting and worth further study. They are consistent limestones. with the conclusions of studies elsewhere (Albers 1981; Xolapa terrane Berg 1981). The Xolapa terrane occurs as a long narrow belt along Our data base for mineral resource distribution is the the southern coast of the States of Oaxaca and Guerrero. metallogenetic map of Mexico compiled by Salas It is defined by its complex metamorphic-plutonic (1975). His map shows the principal producing mines of aspect and much development of migmatite. Where its Mexico since colonial times, a period of over 400 years. northern boundary is known it is in contact with terranes About 400 localities are shown on the map. We have north of it by major deep-seated faults. Isotopic ages simply superimposed the terrane map of our Fig. 1 on the from the terrane range from Jurassic to Tertiary (de metallogenetic map of Mexico. Then we counted Cserna 1965; Guerrero et al. 1978; Campa et al., in occurrences, regardless of size, of two major press). commodity groups: (1) the precious metals, gold and silver, with or without lead, zinc, and cobalt, and (2) Vizcaino terrane deposits of lead and zinc, with or without associated The Vizcaino terrane, which is certainly composite, is gold, silver, and cobalt. used here to encompass a very complex juxtaposition of When we performed this exercise we found the oceanic rocks found on the western coast of Baja California on the Vizcaino peninsula and on ~ e d r o s following: (1) Over 70% of Mexico's important gold and silver Island. The terrane may underlie much of southern Baja California. Lithologies include ophiolitic rocks, mines are located within the Mesozoic accreted terranes mklanges, and submarine volcanic sequences of arc of Alisitos, Guerrero, and Juarez. If one adds in the aspect. Ages range from Triassic through Jurassic and deposits of the Altiplano region of central Mexico, into Early Cretaceous (Rangin 1976, 1978; Minch et al. which lie just east of the Guerrero terrane in a region of 1976; Mina 1965). The assemblage is Franciscan-like in presently unknown basement, the percentage goes to aspect, and thus is similar to coastal California. The over 84%. (2) Only 8% of Mexico's gold and silver comes from assemblage is overlain by a Great Valley-like basin terranes floored by North American Precambrian sequence. basement such as the Chihuahua terrane, and only 7% Other terranes comes from the Maya-Coahuila terranes. Two other small terranes are found within the (3) Over 61% of Mexico's productive mines for lead Guerrero terrane along the western margin of the Sierra and zinc are in terranes floored by North American Madre Occidental in southern Sonora and Sinoloa. The Precambrian basement such as the Chihuahua terrane. Sonabari terrane is a meta-plutonic complex and the San (4) Only 17% of the lead and zinc occurrences are in

CAMPA AND CONEY

1049

L_J Atlsltam.

O u e r r e r o , nnd ~ u a r

ChChihuahua terrano

FIG.5. Selected mineral resource distributions in Mexico. Distribution of gold-silver and lead-zinc in Mexico with respect to
terranes of Alisitos, Guerrem, and J m z and cratonic Ncnth America terrane of Chihuahua. Mineral localities after S d a . (1975). Terranes after Fig. 1 of this report.
atmeted

the Mesozoic accreted terranes and only 14% are found within the Maya-Coahuila terranes. (5) Of the known massive sulfide volcanogenetic deposits, all are in the Mesozoic submarine volcanic accretionary terranes . The distribution patterns reported above are interesting when one considers that with the exception of the massive sulfides the vast majority of the deposits concerned are Late Cretaceous or Cenozoic in age (Salas 1975; Darnon et al. 198l), and are thus younger than the basement terranes upon which they are found. They are also younger than the accretion of the various suspect terranes of North America. We would certainly not wish to convey the impression that the distribution patterns we discern necessarily nullify the genetic models based on Benioff zone morphology. We would simply point out that the distribution pattern we observe strongly suggests a significant element of basement control on resource distributions in Mexico. This we feel is provocative and warrants further analysis both for future resource discovery strategies and for deeper insight into mineral deposit genesis in Mexico.

Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, the University of Guerrero, and the National Science Foundation for support, particularly field work leading to this report. This work is also part of a larger international effort supported by the United States Geological Survey (USGS),the Canadian Geological Survey (GSC), and Petroleos Mexicanos, which involves Norm Silberling James Monger (GSC), Maria and David L. Jones (USGS), Fernanda Campa (Pemex), and Peter J. Coney (University of Arizona). The objective of this in progress project is to compile a tectono-stratigraphic terrane map of the North American Cordillera. Continuing cooperation in Mexico with Paul Damon and discussions with Spencer Titley (University of Arizona) have been very useful, particularly in our understanding of Mexican mineral deposits. Discussions with Henry Berg and John Albers (USGS) and with W. R. Dickinson (University of Arizona) have been encouraging and very helpful.
J. P. 1981. A lithologic-tectonic framework for the ALBERS,
metallogenic provinces of California. Economic Geology, 76, pp. 765-790. ALLISON, E. C. 1955. Middle Cretaceous gastropods from Punta China, Baja California, Mexico. Journal of Paleontology, 29(3), pp. 400-432.

Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to Petroleos Mexicanos, the

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