Why did the Southern Gulf of California rupture so rapidly?-Oblique divergence across hot, weak lithosphere along a tectonically active margin

GSA Today

Volumn 21, Issue 11, 2011, Pages 4-10

  Umhoefer, Paul J ^a  

^a NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACTIVE MARGIN; CRUSTAL THINNING; MICROPLATE; OCEANIC CRUST; OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE; PLATE BOUNDARY; PLATE CONVERGENCE; PULL APART BASIN; RIFTING; RUPTURE; SEAFLOOR SPREADING; STRIKE-SLIP FAULT; TECTONIC SETTING;

GULF OF CALIFORNIA; PACIFIC OCEAN;

EID: 81555200691     PISSN: 10525173     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1130/G133A.1     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Allen, P.A., and Allen, J.R., 2005, Basin Analysis, 2nd edition: Boston, Blackwell Science, 549 p
2. Atwater, T., and Stock, J., 1998, Pacific-North America plate tectonics of the Neogene southwestern United States: International Geology Review, v. 10, p. 375-402
3. Bird, D., Hall, S., Burke, K., Casey, J, and Sawyer, D., 2007, Central Atlantic Ocean seafloor spreading history: Geosphere, v. 3, p. 282-298, doi: 10.1130/GES00047.1
4. Brown, B.J., Muller, R.D., Gaina, C., Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Stagg, H.M.J., and Symonds, P.A., 2003, Formation and evolution of Australian passive margins: Implications for locating the boundary between continental and oceanic crust, in Hillis, R.R., and Müller, R.D., eds., Evolution and Dynamics of the Australian Plate: Geological Society of America Special Paper 372, p. 223-243; doi: 10.1130/0- 8137-2372-8.223
5. Brown, H.E., 2007, Crustal rupture, creation, and subduction in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico and the role of gas hydrate in the Storegga slide, Norway [Ph.D. thesis]: Cheyenne, Wyoming, University of Wyoming, 165 p
6. Buck, W.R., 2007, The Dynamics of Continental Break-up and Extension, in Watts, A.B., ed., The Treatise on Geophysics, G. Schubert series editor, Volume 6: Crustal and Lithosphere Dynamics: Palisades, New York, Columbia University, 335-376
7. Channell, J.E.T., and Kozur, H.W., 1997, How many oceans? Meliata, Vardar and Pindos oceans in Mesozoic Alpine paleogeography: Geology, v. 25, p. 183-186
8. Christie-Blick, N., and Biddle, K.T., 1985, Deformation and basin formation along strike-slip faults: SEPM Special Publication 37, p. 1-34
9. Cochran, J.R., 1983, A model for development of the Red Sea: AAPG Bulletin, v. 67, p. 41-69
10. Coney, P.J., and Harms, T.A., 1984, Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes; Cenozoic extensional relics of Mesozoic compression: Geology, v. 12, p. 550-554
11. Coney, P.J., Jones, D.L., and Monger, J.W.H., 1980, Cordilleran suspect terranes: Nature, v. 288, p. 329-333, doi: 10.1038/288329a0
12. D'Acremont, E., Leroy, S., Maia, M., Patriat, P., Beslier, M.-O., Bellahsen, N., Fournier, M., and Gente, P., 2006, Structure and evolution of the eastern Gulf of Aden: Insights from magnetic and gravity data (Encens-Sheba MD117 cruise): Geophysical Journal International, v. 165, p. 786-803 (Pubitemid 44056639)
13. DeMets, C., 1995, A reappraisal of seafloor spreading lineations in the Gulf of California: Implications for the transfer of Baja California to the Pacific plate and estimates of Pacific-North American motion: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 24, p. 3545-3548
14. DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., and Argus, D.F., 2010, Geologically current plate motions: Geophysical Journal International, v. 181, no. 1, p. 1-80, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04491.x
15. Dixon, T., Farina, F., DeMets, C., Suarez Vidal, F., Fletcher, J., Marquez- Azua, B., Miller, M., and Umhoefer, P., 2000, New kinematic models for Pacific-North America motion from 3 Ma to present: Evidence for a "Baja California shear zone": Geophysical Research Letters v. 27, p. 3961-3964 (Pubitemid 32152844)
16. Dorsey, R.J., and Umhoefer, P.J., 2000, Tectonic and eustatic controls on sequence stratigraphy of the Pliocene Loreto basin, Mexico: GSA Bulletin, v. 112, p. 177-199 (Pubitemid 32828194)
17. Ducea, M.N., 2001, The California arc: Thick granitic batholiths, eclogitic residues, lithospheric-scale thrusting, and magmatic flare-ups: GSA Today, v. 11, no. 11, p. 4-10
18. Ferrari, L., Valencia-Moreno, M., and Bryan, S., 2007, Magmatism and tectonics of the Sierra Madre Occidental and its relation with the evolution of the western margin of North America, in Alaniz-Álvarez, S.A., and Nieto-Smaniego, A.F., eds., Geology of México: Celebrating the Centenary of the Geological Society of México: Geological Society of America Special Paper 422, p. 1-39, doi: 10.1130/2007.2422(01)
19. Fletcher, J.M., Grove, M., Kimbrough, D., Lovera, O., and Gehrels, G.E., 2007, Ridge-trench interactions and the Neogene tectonic evolution of the Magdalena Shelf and southern Gulf of California; insights from detrital zircon U-Pb ages from the Magdalena Fan and adjacent areas: GSA Bulletin, v. 119, p. 1313-1336, doi: 10.1130/ B26067.1
20. Gans, P.B., 1997, Large-magnitude Oligo-Miocene extension in southern Sonora, Implications for the tectonic evolution of northwest Mexico: Tectonics, v. 16, p. 388-408
21. Garfunkel, Z., and Beyth, M., 2006, Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates, in Yirgu, G., Ebinger, C.J., and Maguire, P.K.H., eds., The Afar Volcanic Province within the East African Rift System: Geological Society Special Publication 259, p. 23-42 (Pubitemid 44026018)
22. Hausback, B.P., 1984, Cenozoic volcanic and tectonic evolution of Baja California, Mexico, in Frizzell, V.A., ed., Geology of the Baja California Peninsula: Bakersfield, Calif., Pacific Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, v. 39, p. 219-236
23. Helwig, J.E., 1974, Eugeosynclinal basement and a collage concept of orogenic belts: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 19, p. 359-376
24. Henry, C.D., 1989, Late Cenozoic Basin and Range structure in western Mexico adjacent to the Gulf of California: GSA Bulletin, v. 101, p. 1147-1156
25. Huismans, R.S., and Beaumont, C., 2007, Roles of lithospheric strain softening and heterogeneity in determining the geometry of rifts and continental margins, in Karner, G.D., Manatschal, G., and Pinhiero, L.M., eds., Imaging, Mapping and Modelling Continental Lithosphere Extension and Breakup: Geological Society (London) Special Publication 282, p. 107-134, doi: 10.1144/SP282.6 (Pubitemid 47316606)
26. Jokat, W., Boebel, T., Koenig, M., and Meyer, U., 2003, Timing and geometry of early Gondwana breakup: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 108, 2428, doi: 10.1029/2002JB001802
27. Kelts, K., 1981, A comparison of some aspects of sedimentation and translational tectonics from the Gulf of California and Mesozoic Tethys, northern Penninic margin: Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, v. 74, p. 317-338
28. Klemperer, S.L., and Ernst, W.G., eds., 2003, The George A. Thompson Volume: The Lithosphere of Western North America and its Geophysical Characterization: Geological Society of America International Book Series, v. 7, 544 p
29. Lizarralde, D., Axen, G.J., Brown, H.E., Fletcher, J.M., González-Fernández, A., Harding, A.J., Holbrook, W.S., Kent, G.M., Paramo, P., Sutherland, F., and Umhoefer, P.J., 2007, Variable styles of rifting in the Gulf of California: Nature, v. 448, p. 466-469 (Pubitemid 47123525)
30. Lonsdale, P., 1989, Geology and tectonic history of the Gulf of California, in Winterer, E.L., Hussong, D.M., and Decker, R.W., eds., The Eastern Pacific Ocean and Hawaii: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Decade of North American Geology, v. N, p. 499-521
31. Malinverno, A., and Ryan, W.B.F., 1986, Extension in the Tyrrhenian Sea and shortening in the Apennines as result of arc migration driven by sinking of the lithosphere: Tectonics, v. 5, p. 227-245
32. McCrory, P.A., Wilson, D.S., and Stanley, R.G., 2009, Continuing evolution of the Pacific-Juan de Fuca-North America slab window system- A trench-ridge-transform example from the Pacific Rim: Tectonophysics, v. 464, p. 30-42,
33. Menzies, M., Baker, J., Chazot, G., and Al'Kadasi, M., 1997, Evolution of the Red Sea volcanic margin, Western Yemen, in Mahoney, J., and Coffin, M., eds., Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic, and Planetary Flood Volcanism: American Geophysical Union, v. 100, p. 29-43
34. Moores, E.M., and Twiss, R.J., 1995, Tectonics: New York, W.H. Freeman, 415 p
35. Mortimer, E., Gupta, S., and Cowie, P., 2005, Clinoform nucleation and growth in coarse-grained deltas, Loreto basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico: A response to episodic accelerations in fault displacement: Basin Research, v. 17, p. 337-359 (Pubitemid 41800735)
36. Müller, R.D., Roest, W.R., Royer, J.-Y., Gahagan, L.M., and Sclater, J.G., 1997, Digital isochrones of the world's ocean floor: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 102, p. 3211-3214
37. Nicolosi, I., Speranza, F., and Chiappini, M., 2006, Ultrafast oceanic spreading of the Marsili Basin, southern Tyrrhenian Sea: Evidence from magnetic anomaly analysis: Geology, v. 34, p. 717-720 (Pubitemid 44430751)
38. Olsen, P.E., Kent, D.V., Cornet, B., Witte, W.K., and Schlische, R.W., 1996, High-resolution stratigraphy of the Newark rift basin (Early Mesozoic, Eastern North America): GSA Bulletin, v. 108, p. 40-77
39. Olsen, P.E., Kent, D.V., and Whiteside, J.H., 2004, The Newark Basin, the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, and the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. Field Trip for the 8th Annual DOSECC Workshop on Continental Scientific Drilling, 22-25 May 2004: New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University, 45 p
40. Oskin, M.E., and Stock, J.M., 2003a, Marine incursion synchronous with plate-boundary localization in the Gulf of California: Geology, v. 31, p. 23-26
41. Oskin, M.E., and Stock, J.M., 2003b, Pacific-North America plate motion and opening of the Upper Delfin basin, northern Gulf of California, Mexico: GSA Bulletin, v. 115, p. 1173-1190
42. Oskin, M.E., Stock, J.M., and Martín-Barajas, A., 2001, Rapid localization of Pacific-North America plate motion in the Gulf of California: Geology, v. 29, p. 459-462 (Pubitemid 35295130)
43. Pitman, W.C., III, and Andrews, J.A., 1985, Subsidence and thermal history of small pull-apart basins: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 37, p. 45-119
44. Plattner, C., Malservisi, R., Dixon, T.H., LaFemina, P., Sella, G.F., Fletcher, J., and Suarez-Vidal, F., 2007, New constraints on relative motion between the Pacific Plate and Baja California microplate (Mexico) from GPS measurements: Geophysical Journal International, v. 170, p. 1373-1380, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03494.x (Pubitemid 47299490)
45. Sawlan, M.G., 1991, Magmatic evolution of the Gulf of California rift, in Dauphin, J.P., and Simoneit, B.R.T., eds., The Gulf and Peninsula Province of the Californias: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 47, p. 217-229
46. Schettino, A., and Turco, E., 2011, Tectonic history of the western Tethys since the Late Triassic: GSA Bulletin, v. 123, p. 89-105, doi: 10.1130/B30064.1
47. Schoene, B., Guex, J., Bartolini, A., Schaltegger, U., and Blackburn, T.J., 2010, A correlation between the Triassic-Jurassic boundary mass extinction and flood basalt eruption at the 100 ka level using IDTIMS U/Pb zircon geochronology: Geology, v. 38, p. 387-390
48. Sodoudi, F., Kind, R., Hatzfeld, D., Priestley, K., Hanka, W., Wylegalla, K., Stavrakakis, G., Vafidis, A., Harjes, H.-P., and Bohnhoff, M., 2006, Lithospheric structure of the Aegean obtained from P and S receiver functions: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 111, B10304, doi: 10.1029/2005JB004082 (Pubitemid 44932623)
49. Spencer, J.E., and Normark, W.R., 1979, Tosco-Abreojos fault zone: A Neogene transform plate boundary within the Pacific margin of Baja California, Mexico: Geology, v. 7, p. 554-557
50. Stamps, D.S., Calais, E., Saria, E., Hartnady, C., Nocquet, J.-M., Ebinger, C.J., and Fernandes, R.M., 2008, A kinematic model for the East African Rift: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 35, L05304, doi: 10.1029/2007gl032781 (Pubitemid 351675994)
51. Stock, J.M., and Hodges, K.V., 1989, Pre-Pliocene extension around the Gulf of California and the transfer of Baja California to the Pacific plate: Tectonics, v. 8, p. 99-115
52. Stock, J.M., and Lee, J., 1994, Do microplates in subduction zones leave a geological record?: Tectonics, v. 13, p. 1472-1487
53. Sutherland, F.H., 2006, Continental rifting across the southern Gulf of California [Ph.D. thesis]: La Jolla, California, University of California at San Diego, 189 p
54. Thompson, G., and Burke, D., 1974, Regional geophysics of the Basin and Range province: Annual Reviews in Earth and Planetary Science, v. 2, p. 213-238
55. Umhoefer, P.J., and Dorsey, R.J., 1997, Translation of terranes: A perspective from the central domain of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico: Geology, v. 25, p. 1007-1010
56. Umhoefer, P.J., Dorsey, R.J., Willsey, S., Mayer, L., and Renne, P., 2001, Stratigraphy and Geochronology of the Comondú Group near Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico: Sedimentary Geology, v. 44, p. 125-147 (Pubitemid 33053309)
57. Umhoefer, P.J., Schwenicke, T., Del Margo, M.T., Ruiz-Geraldo, G., Ingle, J.C., Jr., and McIntosh, W., 2007, Transtensional fault-termination basins: An important basin type illustrated by the Pliocene San Jose Island basin and related basins in the southern Gulf of California, Mexico: Basin Research, v. 19, p. 297-322 (Pubitemid 46909319)
58. Umhoefer, P.J., Sutherland, F., Kent, G., Harding, A., Lizarralde, D., Schwennicke, T., Fletcher, J., Holbrook, W.S., and Axen, G., 2008, Synchronous changes in rift-margin basins and initiation of the Alarcón spreading ridge and related transform fault, Southwestern Gulf of California: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 40, no. 6, p. 151
59. Veevers, J.J., 1981, Morphotectonics of rifted continental margins in embryo (East Africa), youth, (Africa-Arabia), and maturity (Australia): Journal of Geology, v. 89, p. 57-82
60. Weissert, H.J., and Bernoulli, D., 1985, A transform margin in the Mesozoic Tethys: Evidence from the Swiss Alps: Geologische Rundschau, v. 74, p. 665-679
61. Wernicke, B.P., 1992, Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the Cordillera, U.S., in Burchfiel, B.C., Lipman, P., and Zoback, M.L., eds., The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S.: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America, Decade of North American Geology, v. G-3, p. 553-581
62. Wilson, J.T., 1966, Did the Atlantic close and then re-open?: Nature, v. 211, p. 676-681
63. Withjack, M.O., Schlische, R.W., and Olsen, P.E., 1998, Diachronous rifting, drifting, and inversion on the passive margin of central eastern North America: An analog for other passive margins: AAPG Bulletin, v. 82, p. 817-835 (Pubitemid 28437910)
64. Xie, X., and Heller, P.L., 2009, Plate tectonics and basin subsidence history: GSA Bulletin, v. 121, p. 55-64, doi: 10.1130/B26398.1
65. Ziegler, P.A., and Cloetingh, S., 2004, Dynamic processes controlling evolution of rifted basins: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 64, p. 1-50. (Pubitemid 37502876)