Reconnaissance paleomagnetic investigation of cretaceous limestones from southern México
Main Article Content
Abstract
Paleomagnetic data from a total of 174 oriented samples collected from a400 m thick sequence of Cretaceous limestones from Oaxaca State, southern Mexico (-16.6°N, 97.0°W) were reported. The magnetic stability and vectorial composition were investigated by detailed alternating field and thermal demagnetization. A selection procedure based upon directional stability of demagnetized vectors and within-site dispersion restricts the data population to 115 samples. All stable samples are normally magnetized, which is consistent with the geologic age suggested for the sequence of Albian-Cenomanian, within the normal polarity interval. The direction and pole position obtained are 348.7°, 23.0° (k = 27, α95=6.6°) y 78.4°N, 149.8°E (k = 38, A95 = 5.5°). The pole position apparently diverges from the corresponding segment of the North American apparent polar wander path, which may suggest the occurrence of relative tectonic movement between that part of Mexico and North America. The angular divergence is small, and at present, this is just considered as one of the possible tectonic events within the suggested theories for the evolution of Middle America.
Publication Facts
Reviewer profiles N/A
Author statements
- Editor & editorial board
- profiles
- Academic society
- Geofísica Internacional
To learn about these publication facts, click 
PF is maintained by the Public Knowledge Project
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
ALVAREZ, W. and W. LOWRIE, 1978. Upper Cretaceous palaeomagnetic stratigraphy at Moria. (Umbrian Apennines, Italy) 1: verification of the Gubbio section, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 55, 1-17.
CAREY, S. W., 1958. The tectonic approach to continental drift, in Continental Drift -A Symposium, Carey, S. A. (Ed.), Univ. Tasmania, Geology Dept. Hobart, Australia, pp. 177-355.
COLLINSON, D. W., L. MOLYNEUX and D. B. STONE, 1963. A total and anisotropic magnetic susceptibility meter, J. Sci. Inst., 40, 310-312.
DE SA, A. and J. W. WIDDOWSON, 1974. A digitally controlled AF demagnetizer for peak fields up to 0.1 tesla, J. Phys. E., 7, 266-268.
DIETZ, R. S. and J. C. HOLDEN, 1970. Reconstruction of Pangea: breakup and dispersion of continents, Permian to Present, J. Geophys. Res., 75, 4939-4956.
FISHER, R. A., 1953. Dispersion on a sphere, Proc. R. Soc. Lond., A217, 295-305.
FREELAND, G. L. and R. S. DIETZ, 1971. Plate tectonic evolution of Caribbean -Gulf of Mexico region, Nature, 232, 20-23.
GOSE, W. A., G. R. SCOTT, and D. K. SWARTZ, 1980. The aggregation of Mesoamerica. Paleomagnetic evidence, in The Origin of the Gulf of Mexico and the early opening of the central North Atlantic Ocean, Proceed. Symposium, Louisiana State University, pp. 51-54.
HELLER, F., 1977, Palaeomagnetism of Upper Jurassic limestones from southern Germany, J. Geophys., 42, 475-488.
HELSLEY, C. E. and M. B. STEINER, 1969. Evidence for long intervals of normal polarity during the Cretaceous period, Earth Planet Sci. Lett., 5, 325-332.
IRVING, E., 1964. Paleomagnetism and its application to geological and geophysical problems, J. Wiley & Sons, N. Y., 399 pp.
IRVING, E., 1979. Paleopoles and paleolatitudes of North America and speculations about displaced terrains, Can. J. Earth Sci, 16, 669-694.
IRVING, E. and R. COUILLARD, 1973. Cretaceous normal polarity interval, Nature, 244, 10-11.
IRVING, E. and G. PULLAIAH, 1976. Reversals of the geomagnetic field, magnetostratigraphy, and relative magnitude of paleosecular variation in the Phanerozoic, Earth-Sci Rev., 12, 35-64.
KEATING, B. H., C. E. HELSLEY and E. A. PESSAGNO, Jr., 1975. Late Cretaceous reversal sequence, Geology, 3, 73-76.
LARSON, R. L. and C. E. HELSLEY, 1975. Mesozoic reversal sequence. Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 13, 174-176. and 209.
LARSON, R. L. and T. W. C. HILDE, 1975. A revised time scale of magnetic anomalies for the Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic, J. Geophys. Res., 80, 2586-2594.
LOPEZ-RAMOS, E., 1974. Mapa geológico del Estado de Oaxaca, Instituto de Geología, UNAM, Mexico.
LOPEZ-RAMOS, E., 1979. Geología de México, Edición Escolar, México, 445 pp.
MALFAIT, B. T. and M. G. DINKELMAN, 1972. Circum-Caribbean tectonic and igneous activity and the evolution of the Caribbean plate, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 83, 251-272.
MANKINEN, E. A. and G. B. DALRYMPLE, 1979. Revised geomagnetic polarity time scale for the interval 0 to 5 m. y. B. P., J. Geophys. Res., 84, 615-626.
MOLYNEUX, L., 1971. A complete result magnetometer for measuring the remanent magnetization of rocks. Geophys. J. Roy. Astr. Soc., 24, 429-433.
NAIRN, A. E. M., 1976. A paleomagnetic study of certain Mesozoic formations in northern Mexico, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 13, 47-56.
NESS, G., S. LEVI and R. COUCH, 1980. Marine magnetic anomaly timescales for the Cenozoic and Late Cretaceous: A précis, critique, and synthesis, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 18, 753-770.
SHIVE, P. N. and W. E. FREDRICHS, 1974. Paleomagnetism of the Niobrara Formation in Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 3001-3007.
STEPHENSON, A., 1967. Apparatus for thermal demagnetization by the progressive method, in Methods in Palaeomagnetism, Collinson, D. W., K. M. Creer and S. K. Runcorn (Eds.), Elsevier Sci. Publ., Amsterdam, pp. 296-298.
SYMONS, D. T. A. and M. STUPAVSKY, 1974. A rational palaeomagnetic stability index, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 1718-1720.
TARLING, D. H., 1966. The magnetic intensity and susceptibility distributions in some Cenozoic and Jurassic basalts, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 11, 423-432.
TARLING, D. H. and D. T. A. SYMONS, 1967. A stability index of remanence in Palaeomagnetism. Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 12, 443-448.
UCHUPI, E., 1975. Physiography of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, in The Oceans Basins and Margins, Nairn AEM. and F. G. Stehli (Eds.), Plenum Press New York, pp. 1-64.
URRUTIA-FUCUGAUCHI, J., 1979. Preliminary apparent polar wander path for Mexico, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 56, 227-235.
VALENCIO, D. A., J. F. A. VILAS and J.E. MENDIA, 1977. Palaeomagnetism of a sequence of red beds of the Middle and Upper sections of Paganzo Group (Argentina) and the correlation of Upper Palaeozoic-Lower Mesozoic rocks, Geo-phys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 51, 59-74.
VANDER VOO, R., F. J. MAUK and R. B. FRENCH, 1976. Permian-Triassic continental configurations and the origin of the Gulf of Mexico, Geology, 4, 177-180.
VILA-GOMEZ, D. T., 1973. Geología general de una porción sur del Estado de Oaxaca (Salina Cruz, Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido, Miahuatlan, Tequisistlan), B. Sc. (Geology) thesis, Inst. Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, 57 pp.
WALPER, J. L. and C. L. ROWETT, 1972. Plate tectonics and the origin of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans., 22, 105-116.
YOLE, R. W. and E. IRVING, 1980. Displacement of Vancouver Island: Paleomagnetic Evidence from the Karmutsen Formation, Can. J. Earth. Sci., 17, 1210-1228.
ZIJDERVELD, J. D. A., 1967. AC demagnetization of rocks: Analysis of results, in Methods in Paleomagnetism, Collinson, D. W., Creer, K. M. and S. K. Runcorn (Eds.), Elsevier Sci. Publ., Amsterdam, pp. 254-286.