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Mexican record of circum-Gulf of Mexico Jurassic depositional systems and climate

Roberto Stanley Molina Garza, Timothy F. Lawton, Alberto Figueroa Guadarrama and James Pindell
Mexican record of circum-Gulf of Mexico Jurassic depositional systems and climate (in Southern and central Mexico; basement framework, tectonic evolution, and provenance of Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins, Uwe C. Martens (editor) and Roberto Stanley Molina Garza (editor))
Special Paper - Geological Society of America (December 2021) 546: 331-351

Abstract

Jurassic northward migration of Mexico, which lay on the southern part of the North America plate, resulted in temporal evolution of climate-sensitive depositional environments. Lower-Middle Jurassic rocks in central Mexico contain a record of warm-humid conditions, indicated by coal, plant fossils, and compositionally mature sandstone deposited in continental environments. Paleomagnetic data for central Oaxaca and other regions of central and eastern Mexico indicate that Lower and Middle Jurassic rocks were deposited at near-equatorial paleolatitudes. In the Late Jurassic, the Gulf of Mexico formed as a subsidiary basin of the Atlantic Ocean when the Pangea supercontinent ruptured. Upper Jurassic strata across Mexico, including eolianite and widespread evaporite deposits, indicate dry-arid conditions. Available paleomagnetic data (compaction-corrected) from southern and northeast Mexico for Upper Jurassic strata indicate deposition at approximately 15-20 degrees N. As North America moved northward during Jurassic opening of the Atlantic Ocean, different latitudinal regions experienced coeval Middle-Late Jurassic climatic shifts. Climate transitions have been widely recognized in the Colorado Plateau region. The plateau left the horse latitudes in the late Middle Jurassic to reach temperate humid climates at approximately 40 degrees N in the latest Jurassic. Affected by the same northward drift, the southern end of the North America plate represented by central Mexico gradually reached the arid horse latitudes in the late Middle Jurassic as the Colorado Plateau was leaving them. As a result, Late Jurassic epeiric platforms developed in the circum-Gulf of Mexico region after a long period of margin extension and were surrounded by arid land masses. We propose that hydrocarbon source-rock deposition was facilitated by arid conditions and wind-induced coastal upwelling.


ISSN: 0072-1077
EISSN: 2331-219X
Coden: GSAPAZ
Serial Title: Special Paper - Geological Society of America
Serial Volume: 546
Title: Mexican record of circum-Gulf of Mexico Jurassic depositional systems and climate
Title: Southern and central Mexico; basement framework, tectonic evolution, and provenance of Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins
Author(s): Molina Garza, Roberto StanleyLawton, Timothy F.Figueroa Guadarrama, AlbertoPindell, James
Author(s): Martens, Uwe C.editor
Author(s): Molina Garza, Roberto Stanleyeditor
Affiliation: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Centro de Geociencias, Queretaro, Mexico
Affiliation: S2SGeo, Walnut Creek, CA, United States
Pages: 331-351
Published: 20211209
Text Language: English
Publisher: Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
ISBN: 9780813725468
ISBN: 9780813795461
References: 112
Accession Number: 2022-061087
Categories: Stratigraphy
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. strat. col., geol. sketch map
N15°00'00" - N30°00'00", W114°00'00" - W90°00'00"
Secondary Affiliation: Tectonic Analysis, GBR, United Kingdom
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2022, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 202221
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