Seismic Investigation of the Yavapai-Mazatzal Transition Zone and the Jemez Lineament in Northeastern New Mexico

A new seismic reflection profile of the Precambrian lithosphere under the Jemez Lineament (JL) (northeastern New Mexico, USA) shows impressive reflectivity throughout the crust. The upper crust is characterized by a 2 km thick undeformed Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary sequence above the Precambrian basement. At a depth of 5–8 km, undulating reflections image a Proterozoic nappe cropping out in the nearby Rincon Range. To the south the upper crust is seismically transparent except for south dipping reflections at 2–10 km depth. The middle-lower crust, from 10–45 km depth, shows oppositely dipping reflections that converge in the deep crust (35–37 km) roughly at the center of the profile. To the north the reflectivity dips southward at 25° to a depth of 33 km before fading in the lower crust. In the southern part of the profile a crustal-scale duplex structure extends horizontally for more than 60 km. We interpret the oppositely dipping reflections as the elements of a doubly vergent suture zone that resulted from the accretion of the Mazatzal island arc to the southern margin of the Yavapai proto-craton at ~1.65–1.68 Ga. Subhorizontal high amplitude reflections at 10–15 km depth overprint all the reflections mentioned above. These reflections, the brightest in the profile, are interpreted as mafic sills. Although their age is unconstrained, we suggest that they could be either 1.1 Ga or Tertiary-aged intrusions related to the volcanic activity along the JL. We further speculate that the Proterozoic lithospheric suture provided a pathway for the basaltic magma to penetrate the crust and reach the surface.

[1]  F. Pazzaglia,et al.  Epeirogenic Controls on Canadian River Incision and Landscape Evolution, Great Plains of Northeastern New Mexico , 2002, The Journal of Geology.

[2]  B. Zurek,et al.  Thick-structured Proterozoic lithosphere of the Rocky Mountain region , 2001 .

[3]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  A middle-crustal cross section from the Rincon Range, northern New Mexico Evidence for 1.68-Ga, pluton influenced tectonism and 1.4-Ga regional metamorphism , 1999 .

[4]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  The Yavapai-Mazatzal crustal boundary in the Southern Rocky Mountains , 1999 .

[5]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  Persistent influence of Proterozoic accretionary boundaries in the tectonic evolution of southwestern North America Interaction of cratonic grain and mantle modification events , 1998 .

[6]  D. Eaton,et al.  Winagami reflection sequence: Seismic evidence for postcollisional magmatism in the Proterozoic of western Canada , 1997 .

[7]  C. Juhlin,et al.  Interpretation of reflections from the central part of the Siljan Ring impact structure based on results from the Stenberg-1 borehole , 1997 .

[8]  G. Green,et al.  The Digital Geologic Map of New Mexico in ARC/INFO Format , 1997 .

[9]  S. Schmid,et al.  Geophysical‐geological transect and tectonic evolution of the Swiss‐Italian Alps , 1996 .

[10]  K. Miller,et al.  Evidence for late Middle Proterozoic extension in the Precambrian basement beneath the Permian basin , 1995 .

[11]  Walter D. Mooney,et al.  Seismic velocity structure and composition of the continental crust: A global view , 1995 .

[12]  E. Humphreys,et al.  Physical state of the western U.S. upper mantle , 1994 .

[13]  A. Levander,et al.  The crust as a heterogeneous “optical” medium, or “crocodiles in the mist” , 1994 .

[14]  Arthur E. Barnes,et al.  Moho reflectivity and seismic signal penetration , 1994 .

[15]  W. Mooney,et al.  Seismic evidence for active magmatic underplating beneath the Basin and Range Province, western United States , 1993 .

[16]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  Restoration of Laramide right-lateral strike slip in northern New Mexico by using Proterozoic piercing points: Tectonic implications from the Proterozoic to the Cenozoic , 1993 .

[17]  R. D. Dallmeyer,et al.  Tectonic evolution of Proterozoic rocks in the Cimarron Mountains, northern New Mexico, USA , 1993 .

[18]  Sean D. Willett,et al.  Mechanical model for the tectonics of doubly vergent compressional orogens , 1993 .

[19]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  Growth, stabilization, and reactivation of Proterozoic lithosphere in the southwestern United States , 1990 .

[20]  R. Gross,et al.  A tomographic glimpse of the upper mantle source of magmas of the Jemez Lineament, New Mexico , 1990 .

[21]  G. R. Keller,et al.  Geophysical and geochronological constraints on the extent and age of mafic intrusions in the basement of west Texas and eastern New Mexico , 1989 .

[22]  D. Okaya,et al.  Seismic identification of basement reflectors: The Bagdad Reflection Sequence in the Basin and Range Province—Colorado Plateau Transition Zone, Arizona , 1989 .

[23]  K. Karlstrom,et al.  Early Proterozoic Assembly of Tectonostratigraphic Terranes in Southwestern North America , 1988, The Journal of Geology.

[24]  D. DePaolo,et al.  Role of asthenosphere and lithosphere in the genesis of Late Cenozoic basaltic rocks from the Rio Grande Rift and adjacent regions of the southwestern United States , 1987 .

[25]  W. King,et al.  Petroleum geology of Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian strata, Tucumcari Basin, east-central New Mexico , 1987 .

[26]  M. Aldrich.  Tectonics of the Jemez Lineament in the Jemez Mountains and Rio Grande Rift , 1986 .

[27]  M. Dungan,et al.  The petrology and geochemistry of the Ocate volcanic field, north-central New Mexico , 1985 .

[28]  A. Nur,et al.  The nature of seismic reflections from deep crustal fault zones , 1984 .

[29]  F. Goff,et al.  Potassium-argon dates from the Jemez volcanic field--Implications for tectonic activity in the north-central Rio Grande rift , 1984, Rio Grande Rift (Northern New Mexico).

[30]  W. Hamilton.  Crustal evolution by arc magmatism , 1981, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[31]  P. Sims,et al.  Precambrian Ancestry of the Colorado Mineral Belt , 1963 .