The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin

V. 69, No. 7 (July 1985), P. 1160-1180, 12 Figs.

A Transform Continental Margin Rich in Hydrocarbons,

Gulf of California^
PETER LONSDALE'

ABSTRACT The assemblage of structures created by wrench tectonics

includes many petroleum reservoirs that are exploited along
Conventional and near-bottom geophysical surveys continental shear zones (e.g., Harding and Lowell, 1979).
mapped shallovt" deformational structures and sediment Early in their formation, transform margins are sites of
accumulation patterns along part of the actively shearing wrench faulting as two blocks of continental crust slide past
continental margin of Sonora, including the intersection one another, then as the continental crust shears against new
with a Guaymas Basin spreading center. The principal oceanic crust (Le Pichon and Hayes, 1971). Structures
strike-slip faults occupy a zone 1-2 km (0.6-1.2 mi) wide formed in these tectonically active phases provide the
along the lower slope, with a ridge of tightly folded sedi- framework for subsidence and sedimentation during the
ments raised by uplift of sheared basement at the abrupt subsequent inactive phase, after strike-slip faulting aban-
boundary between continental and oceanic crust. This dons the boundary between sheared continental and oce-
transformridgeand a continental rise on its seaward slope anic crust. Some ancient transform margins have been
grows as the fault zone ages away from the spreading-center intensely and successfully explored for hydrocarbons, as in
intersection, shoaling at a net rate of 500 m/m.y. (1,600 ft/ northeastern Brazil and in the marginal plateaus of north-
m.y.) despite erosion of its crest. A clathrate horizon in the west Australia. However, few studies have been made of
upper 80 m (260 ft) of sediment is inferred from bottom- modern, seismically active analogs, where the characteristic
simulating reflectors in the rise and lower slope, hydrocar- structures and stratigraphy are in the process of formation,
bon seeps occur at 1,600 m (1 mi) below sea level along the in part because of the small number of extant examples.
crest of the transformridge,and patchy gas accumulation This paper describes the young transform boundary
and seepage are recognized on a young marginal plateau. between the North American continent and the oceanic
crust of Guaymas Basin, one of the nascent ocean basins in
the Gulf of California (Figure 1). The focus is on a 14-km
(9-mi) section of the actively shearing margin and on the
INTRODUCTION intersection of the continental margin with an oceanic
spreading center. Shallow structure and recent sedimenta-
Modern passive continental margins have long been rec- tion patterns in these areas were examined with the same
ognized as sites of hydrocarbon accumulations and as envi- Deep Tow geophysical survey vehicle (Spiess and Lonsdale,
ronments where the deposition of potential source and 1982) that had been used for near-bottom studies of mid-
reservoir rocks can be studied. TWo distinct types of passive ocean-ridge transform fault zones (Detrick et al, 1973;
margins are found (Mascle, 1976). Rifted marginsthe Lonsdale, 1978; Gallo et al, 1984). The remainder of the
subject of most studies on patterns and rates of faulting, margin was studied with conventional marine magnetic,
subsidence, and basin formationare approximately gravity, 3.5-kHz, and multichannel seismic profiles.
orthogonal to relative plate motion and are abandoned by
the plate boundary at the beginning of the spreading phase
of crustal separation. Transform margins, also known as
strike-slip or sheared margins (Scrutton, 1979), are aligned SONORAN MARGIN OF GUAYMAS BASIN
parallel to the spreading direction and may remain sites of
active ridge-ridge transform faults for millions of years. Recent mapping (Gastil and Krummenacher, 1977;
S.P.P., 1982) has improved knowledge of the onshore geol-
ogy adjacent to Guaymas Basin, though the picture is neces-
Copyright 1985. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All sarily incomplete because of deep burial of the bed rock
rights reserved. beneath extensive deltaic plains. Most of the better exposed
^H^anuscript received, July 16,1984; accepted, February 7,1985.
^Marine Physical Laboratory of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
interior of Sonora is within the basin-and-range structural
University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, California 92093. province and has a Precambrian basement that was
I am grateful to G. IWoore and K. Becker tor collecting and processing the intruded by batholiths during the Cretaceous and broken by
3.5-l<Hz, multichannel seismic and gravity data of Figures 2 and 5, and to K.
Kastens and M. Linzer for help with processing the Deep Tow data. Also essen-
extensionaj faulting during the Oligocene and Miocene.
tial was the assistance and enthusiasm at sea of the crews and scientific par- However, neither typical basin-and-range structures nor
ties of R/V Washington and RA/ Melville, especially Captain A. Phinney and Precambrian rocks have been mapped in a strip 50 km (30
the Deep Tow engineers led by D. E. Boegeman.
The government of Mexico graciously extended permission for scientific mi) wide seaward of Gastil and Krummenacher's (1977)
worl< in their waters. Principal support for data collection and interpretation "craton margin lineament." The basement exposed in this
was from IvISF grant OCE-79-08811. The manuscript was prepared by R. strip between the Sonora and Yaqui deltas, and offshore at
Hagen, S. Levine, and J. Griffith, and was reviewed by G. f^oore, T Shipley
and K. Becker. Isla San Pedro Nolasco, consists of Cretaceous granites that

1160
 Peter Lonsdale 1161

J FAULT SYEtSM

AREA OF
CHART

DSDP SITE

D DREDGE SAMPLE
. APPROXIMATE LIMITS
/ / SCAR PS OF AXIAL ,-;^'i'' OF OCEANIC CRUST
/ / R I F T VALLEYS IN GUAYMAS BASIN

Figure 1Bathymetry of Guaymas Basin and its slieared margins, modified after Sharman (1976), Bisclioff and Niemitz (1980), and
Curray et al (1982). A sonic velocity of 1,500 m/sec (4,900 ft/sec) is assumed. Recent mapping shows two spreading-center troughs
that overlap at a nontransform offset, instead of being linked by a "central transform fault" as reported by Williams et al (1979) and
Lonsdale and Lawver (1980). Subdives located on Baja California transform margin are those described by Lonsdale and Lawver
(1980). Approximate extent of oceanic crust is inferred from Harrison and Mathur's (1964) gravity data; the boundary is not shown
where it coincides with the transform fault zone. Several hundred kilometers of profQes in the spreading-center troughs, where there
are intensive surface ship and Deep Tow surveys, are not plotted. Most tracks that are plotted also have air-gun reflection data. Inset at
top right locates map and position of plate boundary throughout gulf.

intrude Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic
strata. It is mainly covered with basaltic to rhyolitic lavas,
mostly undated but probably of Oligocene-Miocene age,
that are broken and tilted along mainly north-south faults.
North and east of Guaymas are extensive flows of post-
tilting (Pliocene-Pleistocene?) basalt.
The crustal structure of the central part of Guaymas
Basin has been investigated by geophysical methods, sub-
mersible dives, and deep-water drill sampling (e.g., Phillips,
1964; Lonsdale and Lawver, 1980; Einsele, 1982; Saunders
et al, 1982); the only subaerial outcrop is the small oceanic
volcano of Isla Tortuga, a recently active tholeiitic shield
(Batiza, 1978). The crustal structure is superficially differ-
ent from a normal ocean basin because a high rate of sedi-
mentation at the spreading axis prevents magmatic
eruption, so that the normal carapace of pillow lavas is
replaced by a thicker layer of intercalated sills, altered sedi-
ments, and more massive intrusions. In most other respects
the igneous crust seems similar to typical oceanic crust, e.g.,
in its 5-8 km (3-5 mi) thickness (Harrison and Mathur, 1964;
Phillips, 1964), its tholeiitic chemistry (Saunders et al,
1982), and its mode of accretion at well-defined narrow
axes aligned at right angles to the spreading direction. The
width of oceanic crust inferred from Harrison and Mathur's
(1964) gravity survey is about 130 km (80 mi), symmetrically
disposed about the present spreading-center troughs and
with outer limits approximately coincident with the 1,600-m
(5,250-ft) isobath. At the spreading rate of 54 mm/year (2.1
in./year), inferred from magnetic studies at the mouth of
the gulf, this strip could have accreted in the past 2.4 m.y.
The rest of the basin is probably floored by attenuated con-
tinental crust.
The high sedimentation rates that modify processes of
crustal accretion are not limited to the axial troughs, though
they are enhanced there by downslope sediment transport.
Estimated accumulation rates for Holocene sediments on
the upper continental slope are 0.5-2.5 m/lO' years (1.6-8.2
ft/ltf years) (Calvert, 1966; Schrader, 1982); rates near the
middle of this range also prevailed for the past 0.25 m.y. at
Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 478 on the basin
1162 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

-SOOm

PAIRED
TRANSFORM-
RIOGES

im

^ BREAK BETWEEN UPPER ANC LOWER SLOPES

J (CREST OF MAIN CONTINENT-EDGE FAULT SCAfiP)

AXIS OF PRINCIPAL SHEAR ZONE

APFSOX 3mi
APPSOX. S km

Figure 2Acoustic profiles (3.S kHz) across lower slope (profiles 1-7) and marginal plateau (profiles 8 and 9) of Sonoran margin,
located on Figures 1 and 4. Profiles 1-7 have a common depth scale but are not aligned.

floor (Curray et al, 1982). Rapid sedimentation results from
high influxes of both terrigenous and pelagic sediments.
The principal suppliers of clastic sediment to this semi-arid
coast have been the Sonora and Yaqui Rivers, which drain
the Sierra Madre. Floods of planktonic debris are products
of diatom blooms that are stimulated by upwelling, espe-
cially in the spring.
Preservation of organic material is enhanced by the low
oxygen content of the basin's waters, especially in the oxy-
gen-minimum zone at 300-800 m (1,000-2,600 ft). The sea
floor in this depth range accumulates finely laminated sedi-
ments under essentially anoxic conditions (Calvert, 1966),
and even in the deeper parts of the basin, reducing condi-
tions prevail just a few centimeters into the sediment. The
combination of organic-rich sediments and high heat flow
from igneous intrusions has produced recent petroleum at
the spreading axes (Simoneit and Lonsdale, 1982). In sedi-
ments cored at DSDP Site 479, overlying continental crust
 Peter Lonsdale
where thermal gradients are much lower, the hydrocarbons
found at high concentrations in the upper few hundred
meters are mainly biogenic methane, but C^-Cg compounds
increased exponentially toward the bottom of this 440-m
(1,440-ft) hole (Whelan and Hunt, 1982).
Another oceanographic factor affecting sedimentation
on this margin is the presence of fast bottom currents,
believed to be mainly of tidal origin. A current meter
moored for 11 days, 45 m (150 ft) above the basin floor and
2 km (1.2 mi) from the foot of the continental slope, mea-
sured a northwesterly net flow with semidiurnal currents of
5-12 cm/sec (2-5 in./sec).
BATHYMETRY AND SHALLOW STRUCTURE OF
CONTINENTAL SLOPE AND RISE
The Sonoran slope of Guaymas Basin (Figure 1) is split
tectonically into active (shearing) and inactive (sheared)
halves by the intersection of the spreading-center trough
with the Guaymas fault zone, part of the Guaymas trans-
form fault system that extends northwest for 325 km (200
mi) to a spreading center in Delphin Basin. A complex,
changing pattern of intracontinental shearing within this
fault system has created San Pedro Martir Basin in the
northwest part of the active half of the Guaymas Basin mar-
gin. The straightness of much of the inactive half is inter-
rupted by a broad structural embayment, probably also
inherited from an earlier phase of intracontinental shearing,
which has been partly filled by sediments from the Yaqui
River. Southeast of Yaqui Embayment is a shallow shelf
with an abrupt break to a steep (10-15), straight upper
slope that flattens into a small continental rise. The funda-
mental structure of this heavily sedimented part of the basin
margin is probably a hinge fauh between variably subsided
blocks of continental crust (Francheteau and Le Pichon,
1972), rather than a fossil shear zone.
The 80 km (50 mi) of continental margin between the
structural complications of San Pedro Martir Basin and
Yaqui Embayment are the best surveyed and sampled. Off
the Sonora delta, the upper slope or depressed shelf has a
smooth convex profile to depths of 500-600 m (1,600-2,000
ft); but seaward of the fault block that includes Isla San
Pedro Nolasco (Figure 1), there is a gently sloping (l-3)
marginal plateau at 500-1,250 m (1,600-4,100 ft). Diatoma-
ceous muds accumulated on this plateau include a finely
layered facies with laminae less than 1 mm (0.04 in.) thick
(Calvert, 1966; Kelts and Niemitz, 1982), and form a blan-
ket of acoustically laminated sediment. Some of the many
parallel reflectors resolved in the upper 100 m (300 ft) by
3.5-kHz profiles (e.g., Figure 2) may correspond to sand,
volcanic ash, or dolomite layers sampled at DSDP Site 479
(Curray et al, 1982), but most are probably interference
composites from many closely spaced geologic interfaces,
as in acoustically laminated strata elsewhere (Mayer, 1979).
In some profiles (e.g., 3 and 5, Figure 2) reflectors dip
gently seaward all the way to their abrupt truncation at the
top of the lower slope, though current-impeded deposition
within about 5 km (3 mi) of the slope break is indicated by
1163
downslope thinning of the superficial strata. Elsewhere,
dips reverse at an elevated rim along the slope break (e.g.,
profile 6). Where this rim forms a topographic feature (pro-
file 7), the effects of bottom currents are more marked.
Similar patterns of current erosion and nondeposition
occur at the inner edge of the marginal plateau, along the
foot of the San Pedro Nolasco fault block. Recent erosion
and uplift-induced tilting at the unusually shallow slope
break crossed by profile 7 are recorded by the onlap of land-
ward-dipping strata across an angular unconformity that
cuts more steeply inclined reflectors. Near the axis of the
broad upper slope depression formed by uplift of the slope
break, the smooth depositional surface is incised by a few
narrow channels 100-200 m (300-700 ft) deep. One ero-
sional channel drains southeast into the Yaqui Embayment
(profile 2), and another drains south from near DSDP Site
479 (profile 8). Upstream reaches of the latter channel have
been filled in by the mud blanket (profile 9), and its activity
as a turbidity-current conduit, supplying the sands cored at
DSDP Sites 479 and 480 (Curray et al, 1982), may date from
Pleistocene low sea level stands.
The lower slope at the spreading-center intersection
appears on 3.5-kHz profiles (Figure 2, profile 3) as a simple
fault scarp thatin less than 3 km (2 mi)plunges from the
slope break at 1,220 m (4,000 ft) to the floor of the North-
ern Trough at more than 2,000 m (6,500 ft). It strikes 120,
5 oblique to the spreading direction (Figure 3), and con-
tinues for about 10 km beyond the spreading center along
the inactive margin (e.g.. Figure 2, profile 2) to the border
of Yaqui Embayment. Higher resolution profiles were col-
lected with the 4-kHz sonar on the Deep Tow vehicle (Spiess
and Lonsdale, 1982), but neither profiling system found
much unconsolidated sediment on the steep slope, where
Deep Tow side-scan sonars mapped lithified outcrops on an
irregular stepped profile shaped by slumping, step faulting,
or both. Weathered blocks of basaltic rock have been
dredged from the comparable scarp at the end of the South-
ern Trough (Figure 1), but the slope examined by Deep Tow
was not sampled. Its foot is onlapped by diatomaceous mud
ponded within the trough (Figure 3). Within 300 m (300 yd)
of the margin of this pond, where the unconsolidated sedi-
ment is a thin veneer, its smooth surface is strewn with sonar
targets 1-10 m (3-30 ft) in diameter that are interpreted as
boulders fallen and slid from the slope, like the detached
siltstone slide blocks examined from a submersible at the
base of the Baja California transform margin (Lonsdale
and Lawver, 1980).
On the outer corner of the spreading center-transform
intersection (Figure 3), the boundary faults of the axial rift
valley, mapped by side-scan sonar, continue without devia-
tion (on 035) to the foot of this scarp. By contrast, the nor-
mal step faults created by extension and uplift of the newly
accreted oceanic crust at the inner (western) corner of the
intersection trend 355, 40 oblique to the axial direction.
Oblique extension on just the inner corner, where the
regional stress field is distorted by the adjacent shear
couple, is typical of spreading-center intersections with
wholly oceanic transform faults, (e.g., Karson and Dick,
1983; Karson et al, 1984). The structure mapped with Deep
1164 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

Figure 3Intersection of Nortliern Trougli spreading center and Guaymas fault zone. On chart, small fault scarps in the intersection
basin are shown dashed where extrapolated beyond the range of Deep Tow side-scan sonars. As discussed in the text, the (topo-
graphic) fault scarp marking the break between upper continental slope (marginal plateau) and lower slope has probably retreated
from a (structural) fault line that is more parallel to the transform ridge. On near-bottom 4-kHz profiles, arrows indicate position of
strike-slip furrows, and stars locate hydrocarbon plumes. Note abrupt change in vehicle altitude on profile X in a futile attempt to
avoid sonar target, which is at least 900 m (3,000 ft) tall (Merewether et al, in press).

Tow and submersibles at the southeast end of the Tamayo
transform fault (Gallo et al, 1984) is similar in pattern and
scale to that at the southeast end of the Guaymas fault zone.
The three sets of step faults define a triangular intersection
basin (Figure 3), which contains an arm of the Northern
Trough's sediment pond. Where the northwest end of this
basin was crossed by Deep Tow profile Y (Figure 3), the
pond fills two narrow troughs 1 km (0.6 mi) apart. Beside
both troughs are anticlinal ridges, one just submerged by
the sediment pond and one with an erosionally truncated
crest, in which a blanket of layered sediment that was prob-
ably deposited horizontally has been folded to dips of up to
20. The troughs are interpreted as a pair of strike-slip fur-
rows, with the adjacent ridges indicating uplift beside the
shear zone. Side-scan data show that the southwestern
trough and ridge truncate the 355 fault scarps of the inner
corner and have a trend appropriate for a transform fault
(i.e., 305, parallel to the spreading direction), though they
do not extend far to the northwest. The other structure is
aligned with a prominent ridge and trough mapped 9 km (6
mi) away in the Deep Tow survey area (Figure 3) and
recorded on intervening 3.5-kHz profiles (e.g.. Figure 2,
profile4). In fact, a straight 305 ridge can be traced on suc-
cessive 3.5-kHz profiles for 130 km (80 mi) from profile Y
 Peter Lonsdale 1165

to the continental margin of Baja California. This "trans- profile 5 the boundary is marked by a magnetic ridge,
form ridge" is a distinctive feature of the actively shearing appropriate for an edge-effect anomaly from negatively
margin and is the main surface manifestation of the magnetized oceanic crust. Magnetic stripes that match the
Guaymas fault zone. pattern of sea-floor-spreading anomalies found in other
The (extrapolated) intersection of the transform ridge oceanic basins are difficult to identify in Guaymas Basin,
and the Northern Trough is precisely orthogonal. Previous which has been described as a magnetic quiet zone (Larson
estimates of an acute (75) angle between this transform etal, 1972). However, subdued magnetic ridges and troughs
fault and spreading center (Sharman, 1976) were based on parallel the prominent axial anomaly along the Northern
the observed angle between the axial trough and the gross Trough (Bischoff and Henyey, 1974), and the predicted age
contours of the lower slope. The latter is greatly affected byof the oceanic crust on profile 5 (0.8-0.9 Ma, assuming a 5.5
the trend of the main continental boundary scarpwhich at cm/year or 2.2 in./year spreading rate) corresponds to a
300 (Figure 3) is slightly oblique to the spreading direc- time of reversed polarity. Although the transform ridge is
tionand by sedimentation that has built a small, steep well developed on profiles 5 and 6, it produces no local mag-
continentalriseoutboard of the transform ridge (Figure 2). netic anomaly and the near-bottom magnetometer attached
Volume and breadth of theriseincreases with distance from to the Deep Tow vehicle during the survey around profile 5
the spreading center and with age of the oceanic crust on (Figure 3) recorded no effect of this structure. High-ampli-
which it is built. The crestline of the transform ridge climbstude anomalies over the upper slope, notably the -I- 800-nT
from 2,000 m (6,500 ft) at the intersection basin (profile X) feature mapped by Bischoff and Henyey (1974) beside the
to 1,700 m (5,600 ft), 8 km (5 mi) away (profile 4, Figure 2),Yaqui Embayment, probably mark shallow volcanic rocks
and 750 m (2,500 ft) at 65 km (40 mi) (profile 6). Some within the continental crust.
crossings (e.g., profiles 5 and 7) show more than one ridge,
probably marking overlapping branches and strands of the New gravity measurements, some collected along lines of
shear zone, as can be demonstrated where there is areal cov- multichannel seismic profiles (Figure 4), add detail to the
erage in the Deep Tow survey (Figure 3). Narrow intraslope gravity map of Harrison and Mathur (1964) but do not war-
basins and terraces with ponded and folded superficial rant revision of their crustal models. The abrupt transition
strata occur between the main boundary fault scarp and the from continental crust to thin, dense oceanic crust at the
transform ridge, and between transform ridges where they Northern Trough spreading center is even clearer on gravity
overlap. Outside the intraslope basins, there is scant evi- profiles than on magnetic profiles. On profile 3 (Figure 4)
dence for local folding or faulting of recent sediment; the there is a transition zone 3.5 km (2.2 mi) wide with a 10
gentler parts of the lower slope and the continental rise are mgal/km (16 mgal/mi) gradient in the Bouguer anomaly; at
mostly blanketed with acoustically laminated strata. A few profile 6 the Bouguer anomaly is smaller over older, more
profiles across the rise show bedding-plane disruptions that thickly sedimented oceanic crust, but the transition zone,
are more characteristic of gravity-induced mass movements occupied by a well-defined transform ridge, is almost as
than of tectonic deformation. For example, the lower rise narrow. Across the rifted margin at the northwest end of
of profile 6 (Figure 2) has the fuzzy bottom return typical ofGuaymas Basin, Bouguer anomaly gradients of only 1
debris flow deposits (Embley, 1976), and some parts of the mgal/km (2 mgal/mi) (Harrison and Mathur, 1964) indi-
rise along the inactive margin off the Yaqui delta have the cate a much more gradual transition in crustal thickness and
hummocky hyperbola-producing relief that is diagnostic of composition.
major sediment slides on other continental margins (e.g., On seismic reflection profiles (Figure 4, profiles 5 and 6)
Embley and Jacobi, 1977; Flood et al, 1979). the transform ridge is a 2-3 km (1-2 mi) wide zone of diffrac-
tion hyperbolas separating almost flat-lying planar reflec-
tors in the sedimentary sections of oceanic and continental
crust. Strong but fairly nonpersistent reflectors in the
MAGNETIC, GRAVITY, AND SEISMIC PROFILES deeper parts of the Guaymas Basin section probably mark
basaltic sills of limited lateral extent (Curray et al, 1982).
The lower slope of this shearing margin has a 200-300 nT Reflectors and the ill-defined basement deepen toward the
(nanno Tesla) magnetic anomaly attributable to the juxta- basin margin in profile 5, and in profile 6 there appears to
position of oceanic crust and less magnetized continental be a downfaulted trough in the oceanic crust beside the
crust, like those along transform faults in the northern gulf transform ridge. Reflectors in the continental rise immedi-
(Klitgord et al, 1974). At the north end of the Northern ately adjacent to the transform ridge dip seaward; however,
Trough, where new (positively magnetized) oceanic crust is on the low-resolution reflection profiles, tilting caused by
beside the continent, the crustal boundary anomaly is a ridge uplift cannot be distinguished from original deposi-
magnetic trough. Its peak-to-peak width is only 5 km (3 mi) tional dip.
(Figure 4, profile 3), indicating the shallow depth of the The sedimentary section beneath the marginal plateau is
magnetization contrast as well as the abruptness of the at least 3 km (2 mi) thick. On profile 6 (Figure 4) and on
boxmdary; otherwise, the anomaly resembles the edge- nearby single-channel profiles (Curray et al, 1982), strata in
effect anomalies that define the extent of oceanic crust the outer part of the basin have experienced mild deforma-
along ancient sheared margins (e.g., Rabinowitz and tion, with uptilting (in places accompanied by erosion)
LaBrecque, 1979). A similar, though broader, magnetic toward the plateau rim and gentle folding on approximately
trough marks the continental boundary on profile 6 (Figure east-west axes. With stratigraphic control from DSDP Site
4), where the older oceanic crust is more deeply buried. On 479, Curray et al (1982) inferred that the outer margin of the
1166 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California
 Peter Lonsdale 1167

Figure 4Multichannel seismics, magnetics, and gravity on profiles of Sonoran margin, located on Figure 1. (Sections extend t)eyond
corresponding 3.S-kHz profiles of Figure 2.) Profiles are aligned on main continental boundary fault scarp (BF). TR - transform
ridge. Reflection records were coUected with a 21-channel streamer and three air guns (40,120, and 300 in.^) fired at 15-sec intervals.
Processing included application of a 8-45 kHz bandpass filter and deconvolution for bubble-pulse removal. No reflection profile is
available for line 3.

plateau was uplifted 1.6-0.1 Ma. Elevation and erosion of
the rim have been greater northwest of this region (e.g., at
profile 7, Figure 2) but are not evident to the southeast,
where undeformed, upper slope strata dip gently and uni-
formly seaward (profile 5, Figure 4).
ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE FOR SHALLOW
HYDROCARBON ACCUMULATIONS AND
DEEP-WATER SEEPS
Although most of the reflectors on 3.5-kHz profiles are
identifiable as bedding planes, or as interference compos-
ites that parallel bedding planes, some of the strongest
reflectors have a different origin. On the upper continental
rise of profile 6 (Figure 2) acoustic basement, at about 60 m
(200 ft) subbottom, is a strong reverberant layer that trun-
cates overlying reflectors dipping seaward more steeply
than the sea floor. The subbottom depth of this bottom-
simulating reflector (BSR in Figure 2) corresponds to that
calculated for the base of a methane clathrate horizon (Fig-
ure 5). Downslope, where bedding planes are parallel to the
sea floor, the BSR merges into a bedding-plane reflector of
gradually diminishing reflectivity. My interpretation fol-
lows explanations of similar patterns at other continental
margins (e.g., Tucholke et al, 1977; Shipley et al, 1979;
Katz, 1982): the BSR marks the base of a clathrate horizon
formed where pore waters lying within the pressure-temper-
ature stability field for gas hydrates become saturated with
gas. Reflectivity and reverberation of the interface may be
enhanced by accumulation of free gas in warmer strata
beneath the clathrate (Bryan, 1974). In Guaymas Basin,
decomposition of young organic-rich muds provides shal-
low sources of methane, so clathrate horizons are not
restricted to sites where landward-dipping beds allow gas

SUBBOTTOM DEPTH OF BSR (m TEMPERATURE ( " 0

Figure 5At left, variation in subbottom and overall depth of bottom-simulating reflector on profiles of Figure 2 and in Deep Tow
survey area (stippled area). Atright,estimated position of bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) on a phase diagram (from TUcholke et
al, 1977), with phase boundary for a pure methane and seawater system shown as solid line. Error bars on Guaymas data show range
of estimated in-situ temperatures for thermal gradients corresponding to heat flows of 3.0 to 4.0 ^cal/cm^ sec. BBOR = calculated
field of much deeper BSRs at Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge (Itichoike et al, 1977).
1168 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

TRSCK OF
DEEP TOW V E H I l

ELECrnONIC NOISE

k??K)% 1000 yi

APPROX 1 ka
 Peter Lonsdale
Figure 6Unprocessed Deep Tow 4-kHz profiles in survey area mapped in Figure 8. Profiles are on curving tracks with general south-
west to northeast trend and have been aligned along outer transform ridge. See Figure 10 for rectified line drawings of selected pro-
files. AV = acoustic void; BSR = bottom-simulating reflector; ER = (gas?) enhanced reflector; P = plume above a hydrocarbon
seep.
migration from deeply buried sources, as on other margins
(Tucholke et al, 1977; Shipley et al, 1979). However, updip
lateral migration is needed to concentrate enough gas for a
clathrate plus free-gas accumulation, as shown by the
reflector fading downslope and its absence in the flat basin
floor.
Other 3.5-kHz transects of the same small continental
rise (profiles 5 and 7, Figure 2) have a BSR like that on pro-
file 6, although the angular discordance with bedding-plane
reflectors is less obvious. In profile 4, near the spreading
axis where the oceanic crust is too young to have developed
a continental rise, a BSR lies within the thin sediment blan-
ket on the 7 lower slope. The BSR of profile 7 continues
downslope across the entire floor of Guaymas Basin, as the
rise wraps around a short section of rifted margin. A BSR
also occurs in the sediment cover of the ridge northwest of
Isla Tortuga, but cannot be identified in 3.5-kHz profiles of
the actively shearing Baja California margin on the south
side of Guaymas Basin, where slopes in the appropriate
depth range are steep and have only a patchy sediment
cover.
Subbottom depths of the BSRs increase with increasing
water depth within and between these profiles (Figure 5),
consistent with their origin as markers of a phase boundary.
They are shallower than BSRs on other Middle American
margins, where 200-500 m (650-1,650 ft) subbottom depths
beyond the range of high-frequency profilers have been
reported (Shipley et al, 1979), because of the higher geother-
mal gradient and warmer bottom water in Guaymas Basin.
Conductive heat flow through the young oceanic crust
beside the shearing margin averages 3-4 /tcal/cm^ sec (Law-
ver et al, 1973). The difference in subbottom depth of the
reflector on the shearing and rifted margins (Figure 5) could
be caused by a regional difference (of about 10%) in the
geothermal gradient, though the position of the phase
boundary is also sensitive to small variations in chemical
composition of the hydrate (Figure 5).
The BSRs identified on 3.5-kHz records of the upper rise
(Figure 2, profile 5) and lower slope (profile 4) extend into
the Deep Tow survey area, where they are recorded on near-
bottom 4-kHz profiles (Figure 6). These higher resolution
records show details of deformation in the overlying sedi-
ments and of the structure of the clathrate base itself. For
example, some parts of the BSR are composed of short sec-
tions of bedding-plane reflectors even where these are not
strictly parallel to the sea floor (e.g., left side of profile F,
right side of C, Figure 6). The survey also reveals significant
local variation in the subbottom depth of the bottom-simu-
lating reflectors. On the upper rise, the BSR has an anoma-
lous increase in subbottom depth, from 65 to 75 m (213 to
246 ft), as it shoals toward the crest of the transform ridge
(Figure 6, profiles B, C, E, and F). The BSR beneath the
intraslope basin, at similar or greater depth below sea level
(profiles C-E), is unusually shallow at 55 m (180 ft) subbot-
tom (Figure 5). It seems unlikely that chemical composition
1169
of the hydrate-forming gas and pore water would change
over these small distances. The variations are more plausi-
bly related to local patterns of heat flow; however, no close-
spaced heat flow measurements were made to test this
hypothesis. A 50% change in geothermal gradient within a
distance of 1 km (0.6 mi) across the shear zone would be
needed to account for the variation in BSR depth on' pro-
files C and E. Processes that could cause this much varia-
tion include topographic distortion of a uniform
conductive flux, localized shear heating along the fault
zone, and a hydrothermal circulation.
In the Deep Tow survey, the strong BSR formed by gas
that has migrated up the continental rise ends within 1 km
(0.6 mi) of the transform ridge as it is intercepted by a
steeper bedding-plane reflector of similar acoustic signature
(e.g., profile F, Figure 6). Where this reflector crops out at
the crest of the ridge, a Une of seeps is overlain by hydrocar-
bon plumes (probably mainly methane) that rise more than
600 m (2,000 ft) above the sea floor (Merewether et al,
1985). The plumes were detected at up to 75 m (250 ft) from
the side by Deep Tow's side-scan sonars (Figure 7a), and
from below by its uplooking 23.5-kHz sonar; the small size
predictable for methane bubbles under great hydrostatic
pressure makes them poor sonar targets at lower frequen-
cies, and unlike gas plumes in shallow water they are not vis-
ible on 3.5-kHz and 4-kHz profiles. The steep enhanced
reflector at the transform ridge is interpreted as a bedding
plane that overlies free gas, even though its shallow depth
implies that it should be wholly within the clathrate stability
field. Gas and pore water are mferred to migrate upslope
beneath the clathrate, rising to sea-floor discharge sites fast
enough not to cool to clathrate temperatures. The condmts
to the sea floor are steeply dipping permeable beds that crop
out because of erosional truncation at the ridge crest; bot-
tom photographs there show tilted ledges of thin-bedded
outcrops that may be siltstone like the lower Pleistocene
rocks dredged from the ridge 20 km (12.5 mi) to the north-
west (Figure 1) (Moore, 1973; Moore and Curray, 1982).
Other seeps were located by the same Deep Tow sonars on
the eroded anticlinal ridge beside the youngest part of the
strike-slip fault (profile Y, Figure 3) and over an extensional
fracture in the intersection basin (profile X).
The natural upper limit of clathrate horizons is poorly
defined on the active Sonoran margin, where strong BSRs
are truncated upslope by the transform ridge or the main
continental boundary fault. On the inactive and structurally
uncomplicated rifted margin of Baja California, the BSR
can be traced to a depth of 1,275 m (4,180 ft), 43 m (141 ft)
below the sea floor. With the bottom-water temperatures of
Guaymas Basin, the sea floor, and an upward-thinning lens
of underlying sediment lies with the clathrate P,T stability
field up to about 600 m (2,000 ft) below sea level (Figure 5).
The observed termination of clathrate horizons at twice this
depth is explained by inadequate methane concentrations
for hydrate formation within 40 m (140 ft) of the sea floor,
1170 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California
where rapidly accumulating muds are less than a few thou-
sand years old. At DSDP Site 479 the amount of methane
diminished rapidly above 38 m (125 ft) subbottom (Whelan
and Hunt, 1982).
Shallower than 1,275 m (4,180 ft) on both the shearing
and rifted margins, the only evidence on the 3.5-kHz
records for hydrocarbon accumulations are discontinuous
bedding-plane reflectors with the characteristic strong,
reverberant signature but varying subbottom depths, and
acoustic voids similar to those that identify gas-charged
zones in shallow-water sediments (e.g.. Tinkle et al, 1973;
Bryant and Roemer, 1983). Abrupt changes in depth of 3.5-
kHz penetration on the Guaymas marginal plateau (e.g.,
profiles 8 and 9, Figure 2) are caused by discontinuous
enhancement of reflectivity, probably because of patchy gas
accumulation in sand lenses like those cored at DSDP Site
479 (Curray, et al, 1982). Some acoustic voids may be
caused by shadowing from small patches of high reflectivity
on the surface or at shallow depth in the section, as in shal-
low-water environments with gas seeps (Tinkle et al, 1973).
A void 100 m (330 ft) wide beneath a reverberant sea floor
at one side of the buried channel on profile 9 (Figure 2) has
all the acoustic characteristics of a typical active gas seep in
shallow water (e.g., Bryant and Roemer, 1983, their Figure
48), including a mud mound with 2 to 4 m (7 to 15 ft) of
relief. A large field of mud mounds overlying an acoustic
void several kilometers wide was crossed at similar depth
(800 m or 2,600 ft) on profUe 3 (Figure 2).
Acoustic voids also occur more anomalously at deeper
sites above BSRs, where gas should be locked up as a clath-
rate. The most plausible explanation is that gas-charged flu-
ids have episodically broken through the clathrate seal,
disturbing the bedding of the overlying muds as the fluids
rose through the muds (the sediment homogenization
hypothesis of Tinkle et al, 1973). Gas breakout would be
concentrated at sites with high gas buildup at a trap struc-
ture and at sites with weak clathrate horizons. Several
acoustic voids overlie a strong BSR at the top of the gas trap
formed by the intersection of the clathrate cap and trans-
form ridge in profile 6 (Figure 2). Voids are common inter-
ruptions to the patchy, weak BSR landward of the
transform ridge in the Deep Tow survey area (Figure 6),
where the clathrate layer is probably thin and weak because
rapid sedimentation must continually depress its base below
the phase boundary. Breakout of the large volumes of gas
thus released by clathrate burial and decomposition may
cause the observed disruptions in the overlying strata. One
acoustic void is overlain by a small acoustically detected
plume (Merewether et al, 1985). Above others are local
folds in the unconsolidated muds, which appear to have
been deformed by vertical fluid motion (e.g., on profile D,
Figure 6). At one site (Figure 7b), even the surface stratum
has been uplifted into low mud mounds. The flat sea floor
above several other acoustic voids has small patches of high
back scatter (e.g., Figure 7c), which also occur beneath the
hydrocarbon plumes in the intersection basin (Merewether
et al, 1985). These patches could result from condensation
of heavy hydrocarbons at the seeps, such as the reflective
sheets of asphaltic material around high-temperature vents
elsewhere in Guaymas Basin (Simoneit and Lonsdale, 1982)
or the tar mounds at various shallow-water seeps (Vernon
and Slater, 1963). None were photographed or sampled.
Beneath the plumes along the transform ridge, the sea
floor is made highly reflective by abundant rock outcrops
(Figure 7a) and no areas of anomalous back scatter could be
identified against this background. A line of bottom photo-
graphs across the ridge crest 750 m (0.5 mi) from the nearest
detected seep shows patches with unusually dense popula-
tions of animals, including ophiuroids intertwined on some
of the rocks, and asteroids and bivalve moUusks clustered
on the surrounding sediments. Hydrocarbon seeps in shal-
low water off southern California have a distinctive and
abundant fauna, with concentrations of surface-feeding
bivalves, ophiuroids, and asteroids, plus other animals that
could not be resolved by bottom photography (Spies and
Davis, 1979; Davis and Spies, 1980). The original food
source for these seep communities is in part the activity of
chemo-autotrophic bacteria that live off the hydrocarbons
and associated hydrogen sulfide (Spies and DesMarais,
1983). The animal clusters photographed on the transform
ridge are tentatively identified as part of a deep-water seep
community. However, none of the photographs include the
striking mats of the megascopic bacterium Beggiatoa,
which grows at the most active parts of shallow-water seeps
(Spies and Davis, 1979) and was photographed with Deep
Tow at high-temperature vents on the floor of Guaymas
Basin (Lonsdale and Becker, in press).
FINE-SCALE STRUCTURE OF DEEP
TOW SURVEY AREA
Mapping hydrocarbon seeps and clathrate horizons was
an unexpected result of the Deep Tow survey of the shear
zone; the intended objective was better definition of shal-
low deformational structures than was possible with sur-
face-ship data. The survey (Figure 8) occupied the lower
slope and upper rise around profile 5 (Figure 2), where a
small ridge of unresolved structure is found at the top of the
rise and another higher ridge impounds gently folded shal-
low sediments forming a terrace at the foot of a seaward-
dipping fault scarp. By obtaining higher resolution profiles
tied together by crisscrossing transponder-navigated tracks
and overlapping side-scan coverage, we sought to clarify the
structure, continuity, and plan pattern of the transform
ridges and other strike-slip traces; to establish the style and
orientation of the secondary folds and faults; and to exam-
ine how recent deformation has affected patterns of deposi-
tion and erosion. Analyzing the attitudes of bedding-plane
reflectors on 4-kHz profiles (Figure 6) (the key to these
objectives) is aided by the acoustically laminated nature of
most of the sequences, which makes local changes of dip
and small fauh offsets easy to recognize. Drawbacks
include the need to distinguish phase-boundary (clathrate)
reflectorswhich limit 4-kHz penetration to 50-75 m (165-
250 ft) over most of the areathe small penetration of con-
solidated beds, and the poor resolution of steeply dipping
interfaces. No directly measured dips exceed 30, but
steeper true dips can be inferred (Figure 9) from profiles
oblique to fold structures.
The observed dips of bedding planes are the combined
effects of the original dip, established by topography and
 Peter Lonsdale 1171

REFLECTIVE
PATJCHES

Figure 7Evidence of hydrocarbon accumulations and seeps displayed on Deep Tow side-scan and 4-l(Hz profiler records, located in
Figure 8. (A) Side-scan record of plumes rising into bottom water from crest of outer transform ridge. (B) Superficial doming of
recent sediment over acoustic voids; close-up of part of profile D (Figure 6). (C) Side-scan image of highly reflective patches on other-
wise smooth, muddy sea floor. Plume was located in the nearfieldof a side-scan sonar record (as in A) on another pass across this
area. Rough, rocky area with acoustic shadow at left of image is crest of outer transform ridge. (D) 4-kHz profile (from right end of
profile B, Figure 6), showing slight fold in lower slope strata above a strong BSR and minor disruptions of bedding-plane reflectors
near crest of fold.

depositional process, plus subsequent deformation. These
effects are difficult to disentangle where sedimentation and
tectonism have been concurrent. Two seismic faciesa
ponded sequence and a blanket drapecan be distin-
guished by their differences in original dip, but they are gra-
dational and both are laminated. At the margins of some of
the intraslope basins (e.g., profile E, km 2.7, Figure 10),
horizontal layers of the quickly deposited ponded facies
plainly onlap the sediment blanket on the lower slope, but
elsewhere (e.g., profile C, km 2.7), individual strata on the
slope merely thicken as the gradient decreases. Although
rapid deposition of siliceous muds is the prevailing regime
in the area, widespread truncation of bedding at the sea
floor indicates local erosion. For example, the scarp that
separates the upper and lower slopesthe outer edge of the
marginal plateauhas retreated by differential erosion up
to 1 km (0.6 mi) from the principal fault line (km 6, profile
K). Here and at other sites of erosional truncation on steep
parts of the lower slope, Deep Tow side-scan sonars mapped
shallow downslope grooves, suggesting that some of the
slope retreat is by mass wasting processes. In addition to
erosional trimming of the lower slope, truncation of steeply
inclined beds at the inner and outer transform ridges (e.g.,
profile G) indicates removal of as much as 100 m (300 ft) of
section to expose inliers of consolidated sedimentary rock in
the cores of anticlines. Similar local unconformities within
the section, characteristic of sedimentation along subaerial
transform fault zones (Crowell, 1974), represent some of
the best evidence that observed dips are partly caused by
deformation rather than merely by draping over uneven
topography. A common pattern on the lower slope (e.g.,
profile J, km 4.0), the inner ridge (e.g., profile G, km 2.6),
and the outer ridge (e.g., profile K, km 1.9) is an angular
erosional unconformity that bevels the crests of folds and
has been buried by a relatively even blanket. Although these
alternations of deposition and erosion could have been
caused by changes in external factors (e.g., bottom cur-
rents), the observed localization of erosion to anticlinal
structures makes it more plausible that the local erosion was
provoked by an episode of local deformation. The generally
1172 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

1 5 kHz PROFILE '}

DEEP TOW TRACK /ifJO'il'
PROFIL E OF F I G U R E S

oocoo PHOTOGRfkPHIC RUN

# HTDROCARBON PLJME

Figure 8Bathymetry of Deep Tow survey area, based on narrow beam echo sounding and side-scan imaging along tracks shown.

observed increase in dip with increasing stratigraphic age faults. Such offsets increase in abundance, and in some
even where internal erosional unconformities are absent cases in magnitude, with depth in the section and are best
is further evidence for syndepositional deformation of the displayed where deeper levels have been exposed by erosion
sediment blanket. (e.g., profile J, km 5.2, Figure llA). A few of the faults
The other clear signs of recent deformation are disrup- break the sea floor, even in areas of modern deposition, and
tion and, especially, vertical offset of bedding planes by cause small-scale relief that was mapped by side-scan

; PROFILE OF FIGJRE 10 UPPER n/W'W

AriTICLINAL AXIS

SLOPE
ESTIMATED TRUE DIP,
IM DEGREES
^^^ FAULT SCARP, FROM SIDE-SCAN

.-* FAULT TRACE, FROM PROFILER

'/S^O
C O N ' T I N E N T A L ^5V

^^ J6'A

-^ '-

sSi .a , . ^.^$1^ a,# A^5-irr\i," 1, . - ^ ,' " 'i= ' 'i*" , > SLOPE, _ FOOT I

^'"-^^sioiM'i^f -'--^zis^-., Uj^^,.f;" J ^ '!^-r \^o,^ ;

Figure 9Structure mapped in Deep Tow survey area. Underlined dip angles are estimates from oblique crossings; numbers in brack-
ets are uncertain because of poor penetration. In all cases angles plotted are the steepest measured dips, which generally increase with
depth in the section.
 Peter Lonsdale
sonars. The principal problem in interpreting these shallow
features in unconsolidated strata is distinguishing slide
planes caused by superficial slumps from tectonic faults,
especially since the latter must be secondary results of defor-
mation in the bed rock. On Figure 9, those offsets where
strata are downthrown downslope, which may therefore
simply mark slope instability induced by sediment loading,
are distinguished from those upthrown downslope in defi-
ance of gravity. Some of the latter are seen (most easily on
oblique crossings) to be fairly steep thrust faults (e.g., Fig-
ure 1 IB). Components of strike-slip displacement cannot be
demonstrated conclusively on any of the faults mapped by
profiler and side-scan. Minor right-lateral motion could
explain the apparent upslope-downthrown displacement on
faults near the foot of the lower slope (e.g., profile B, km
2.3, and profile L, km 3.2), and several other small faults
have a variable amount and sense of vertical separation
along their lengths. The fracture shown in Figure IID,
crossing a sediment pond that laps around the end of the
inner transform ridge, is probably a major active strike-slip
trace, having no significant vertical separation but with
beds dragged down toward the fault with dips that increase
with subbottom depth. Side-scan sonar records show that a
few hundred meters along strike the surface of the sediment
pond is broken by en echelon scarps similar in pattern to
those along many subaerial strike-slip faults.
Lateral continuity is a diagnostic characteristic of strike-
slip faults, but few of the shallow faults mapped in the sur-
vey area can be interpolated with confidence between
profiles, except for the normal faults near the top of the
lower slope. The most continuous mappable structures are
three sets of antichnal folds (Figure 9): one group called
transform ridges because of their 305 trend parallel to rela-
tive plate motion; a set of slightly oblique folds that link the
inner and outer transform ridges; and several open folds
that extend en echelon up the lower continental slope.
At profile A (Figure 10) the outer transform ridge resem-
bles the small anticlinal ridge along the strike-slip furrow at
the intersection basin (profile Y, Figure 3), although the
asymmetric fold is tighter and minor faulting has occurred
at its crest. The furrow is a synchnal depression containing a
small sediment pond at the foot of the lower slope, but 1 km
(0.6 mi) to the northwest (profile B), it develops into a nar-
row scarp-bounded trough more like the strike-slip furrows
mapped in less heavily sedimented oceanic transform fault
zones (e.g., Choukroune et al, 1978; Lonsdale, 1978). The
trough floor, which at 1,810 m (5,940 ft) is almost as deep as
the adjacent floor of Guaymas Basin, is the deepest site in
the Deep Tow survey, and the lack of an infilling sediment
pond indicates recent tectonic activity. Continuing uplift of
the ridge crest is suggested by the progressively steeper dips
of deeper bedding planes on the seaward side of the ridge,
but bedding is poorly resolved in the lithified strata that out-
crop along the crest and northeast face. On oblique profiles
(e.g., Figure 1IC), the steeply dipping beds on the upper rise
are seen to flatten at the ridge crest and either plunge steeply
down the northeast face (e.g., profile C) or be truncated
there by a fault (e.g., profile B). Between profiles F and G,
the ridge bends inland from its 305 trend and becomes a
tight, more symmetric anticline onlapped by both upper rise
1173
and intraslope basin sediments. At profile G, angular
unconformities on the seaward side indicate episodic rather
than continuous uplift of the ridge. Farther northwest the
ridge diminishes, and the eroded anticlinal crest is almost
overtopped byrisesediments (profile K).
In profile G the inner ridge is similar in tight antichnal
structure and crestal depth to the outer ridge that is 1 km
(0.6 mi) seaward. To the northwest (profile H, Figure 6) the
ridge impounds a slope basin whose flat surface forms the
lower terrace, and the seaward slope has the steeper dip.
Farther along strike is a large inlier of Uthified sedunent
called the combined transform ridge because anticlinal
structures in the lower terrace, the inner ridge, and the outer
ridge seem to merge with it. At the northwestern limit of the
survey, its crest is 250 m (820 ft) shallower and 1.5 km (1 mi)
farther inland than the crest of the outer ridge at profile A,
and, as previously noted, it continues for another 100 km
(62 mi) to the Baja California margin.
Southwest of profile G, three ridges (A, B, and C; Fig-
ures 9, 10) obliquely bridge the region between iimer and
outer transform ridges. Ridges A and B are almost
uneroded uphfts of ponded intraslope basin strata, which
have been deformed into faulted asymmetric folds, presum-
ably by vertical movements of the bed rock. Although
raised so recently they have had little observed effect on sed-
imentation patterns, their ends have been truncated by the
strike-slip furrow. Erosion has cut the 30 side slopes of
ridge C (profile F) into almost flay-lying strata and has
removed the unconsolidated cover to expose lithified beds
near its junction with the outer transform ridge (Profile E).
Ridge C was raised mainly by faulting along its east side.
Upfaulting may have been unaccompanied by folding of
overlying beds, but more likely a folded section correspond-
ing to the superficial beds of ridges A and B has been
removed by erosion.
A set of open folds in unconsolidated sediments occurs in
the 2-3 km (1-2 mi) wide zone between the transform ridges
and the continental boundary fault at the top of the lower
slope. In the ponded sediment of the upper terrace (profile
K, Figure 10), these structures are evident even on surface-
ship records (e.g., profile 5, Figure 2), but they are less obvi-
ous where the cover on the lower slope is a blanket with a
high (5-10) original dip. Because of erosional truncation,
these anticlines seldom form topographic ridges, and their
approximately east-west trend is interpolated between Deep
Tow profiles.
STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF TRANSFORM
MARGIN
At the lower slope of the active Sonoran margin, ocean
crust slips northwest past the continental block at an esti-
mated rate of 5.4 cm/year (2.1 in./year). The transform
and bridging ridges mapped within the Deep Tow survey
area are interpreted as tectonic landforms, upthrust above
and beside the strike-slip faults that contain this motion.
They resemble features known to have this origin along
more accessible subaerial shear zones (e.g., Kingma, 1958;
Sylvester and Smith, 1976), and they trend parallel and sub-
parallel to Pacific-North America plate motion. Magnetic,
1174 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

OUTER
iMMco (TRANSFORM

COMBINED

PULL-APART BASIN

BRIDGING RIDGES
STRIKE-SLIP FURROW

CBS = MAIN CONTINENTAL

BOUNDARY SCARP

DEPTHS IN METERS
 Peter Lonsdale
Figure 10Line-drawing interpretations of selected Deep Tow 4-kHz profiles, projected strilce-normal (i.e., onto 035). ProfUes
located in Figure 10.
profiler, and photographic evidence prove that the ridges
are not volcanic extrusions, as had been suggested (Moore,
1973; Klitgordetal, 1974).
Along the San Andreas fault zone, structural ridges com-
monly result from compression across the fault zone, occur-
ring at all scalesfrom squeeze-up of gouge to form small
pressure ridges or "center-trough ridges" (Wallace, 1949)
and raising of fault-slice ridges bounded by mappable fault
traces (Sharp, 1954), to more regional uplift forming rift
arches (Dickinson, 1966) and welts (Allen, 1981) bisected by
the fault. Along the Guaymas fault zone, tight symmetric
anticlines (e.g., the outer ridge, Figure 10, profiles G-K) are
inferred to be types of pressure ridges uplifted over shat-
tered and fault-sliced zones in the underlying bed rock. At
profile G the core of the outer ridge anticline is aligned with
the strike-slip furrow on profile B, while along strike from
the inner ridge at this crossing, an anticUne is clearly
bisected by a crestal fault (ridge B, profile F) and, in the
other direction, an outcropping fault trace can be mapped
by side-scan sonar. Fault-sUce ridges are readily identified
where their bounding faults break the unconsolidated sedi-
ments (e.g., ridge B, profile E), but where shallow deforma-
tion has been by folding, the geometry of uplift in the
competent beds is unclear. The narrow outer ridge at profile
A may be primarily a fault-slice structure, since steep faults
are mapped at the top of its outer slope. Where the outer
ridge is a highly asymmetric structure at a step in the lower
STEP FAULTS, TOP
OF LOWER SLOPE
B T H R U S T FAULTS, RIDGE A
Figure 11Close-ups of superficial faults and folds from Deep Tow 4-kHz records. Located on Figure 8. Inferred fault planes have
been added in A and B.
1175
slope topography (profiles B-F), it is interpreted as a mainly
monoclinal fold raised by uplift of the edge of oceanic base-
ment along the primarily strike-slip fault, which is exposed
where erosion has removed the competent beds (profile B).
Better exposed and well-mapped subaerial analogs occur in
the San Andreas fault zone at the transform margin of Sal-
ton Trough (Sylvester and Smith, 1976).
Evidence showing that the transform ridges grow by
shearing-induced uplift of the edge of the oceanic litho-
sphere is that the height of the overall ridge structure,
though reduced by submarine erosion, is directly related to
the duration of shearing experienced by oceanic crust. Its
crest climbs 1,250 m (4,100 ft) from the intersection basin to
profile 6 (Figure 2), as the age of the fault zone (calculated
from the rate of sea-floor spreading) increases from zero to
2.4 Ma. Where multiple ridges are found within the fault
zone, as in the Deep Tow survey, their relative heights reflect
the partitioning of shearing between adjacent faults. The
breadth of the fault zone also increases with age (Figures 2,
4) and is locally affected by branching and en echelon over-
lap of the fault traces. In the Deep Tow survey, where two
major traces overlap around a pull-apart basin 1 km (0.6
mi) wide, the principal transform displacement zone is 1 -1.5
km (0.6-1 mi) broad, a width comparable to many major
subaerial (continental) strike-slip fault zones.
Deformation on the continental side of the beh of strike-
sUp faulting has produced open anticlines with an orienta-
ANTICLINAL FOLD, CREST OF
OUTER TRANSFORM RIDGE
D STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
1176 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

tion appropriate for en echelon compressional folds ai the Also, continental crust in this region was probably injected
margin of a right-lateral shear system (Wilcox et al, 1973). with sills that overshot the end of the spreading center.
The east-west antichnes are similar to structures beside the Comparison of profile 2 (Figure 2) with profile 3 indicates
San Andreas fault zone (e.g., Harding, 1976) but are on a that a narrow strip of the continental rim was rapidly ele-
smaller scale. In the Deep Tow survey area, the folds affect vated several hundred meters soon after passing the spread-
recent sedunent only directly adjacent to the fault zone, sea- ing axis. The intersection with Yaqui Embayment prevents
ward of the plateau's boundary scarp. Farther northwest, any pattern of thermal uplift being traced farther along
where the transform ridge is larger, coupling of the conti- strike; there is a ridge across the mouth of this depression
nental crust to the transform motion seems to increase. (profile 1, Figure 2), on line with the crest of the lower slope,
Near profile 6 (Figure 4), gentle east-west folds in shallow but its structure and origin are unknown.
strata on the marginal plateau can be traced 10 km (6 mi)
landward of the boundary fault to the vicinity of DSDP Site SEDIMENTATION AND EROSION PATTERNS ALONG
479. A few north-south normal faults mapped on the oce- THE MARGIN
anic side of the fault zone in the southeast part of the Deep
Tow survey (Figure 9) may be complementary tensional The principal sediment deposit on continental crust,
structures, probably inherited from the oblique normal apart from the Sonora and Yaqui deltas, is the accumula-
faults formed in young crust at the intersection basin (Fig- tion of hemipelagic diatomaceous muds on the marginal
ure 3). Submersible observations established that en eche- plateau. The northwest part of the plateau is a broad terrace
lon north-south fauUs are prominent features of the shear protected by the transform ridge (Figure 12A). As continen-
zone at the Baja California margin on the south side of tal crust beside the shearing margin slides southeast toward
Guaymas Basin (Lonsdale and Lawver, 1980). the spreading center, the damming effect of the transform
Uplift of the continental margin beside a transform fault ridge decreases as its height diminishes. This leaves the outer
has been predicted because of expected thermal effects: as margin of the plateau vulnerable to erosion. Retreat of the
the sheared continental crust passes young oceanic litho- boundary scarp, documented in the Deep Tow profiles
sphere and the heat source represented by the oceanic (e.g., Figure 10 E, J, K), probably is mainly by mass trans-
spreading center, its edge should be heated by thermal con- port since the lower slope has many of the attributes that
duction and elevated (Scrutton, 1979). At first glance the contribute to slope instability (Embley and Jacobi, 1977;
inferred pattern of continental uplift along the Sonoran Carpenter, 1981): steepness, rapidly accumulated sediment,
margin offers little support for this prediction, for the mostfrequent earthquake shaking, and potentially unstable
clathrate horizons.
elevated part of the slope break (profile 7, Figure 2) has only
recently slid beside oceanic lithosphere and the most In the Deep Tow survey area, deposition of a sediment
depressed part (profile 3) is immediately adjacent to the blanket on the lower slope persists on all but the steepest
spreading axis. However, uplift of the northwest end of this parts, and the complex stratigraphy in this area results from
part of the sheared margin is probably related not to ther- interruptions of the deposition by unconformity-producing
slumps. The unconsolidated sediment removed by mass
mal effects, but to isostatic elevation of the shoulders of the
San Pedro Martir rift basin. Lack of uplift beside the transport is redeposited as ponded sequences in the
spreading center can be explained, in part, by the short time intraslope basins, where they are vulnerable to further ero-
this section of the continental crust has been in contact withsion following uplift in the fault-zone ridges.
the narrow primary heat source, and by the ineffective heat As the continent passes the spreading-center intersection,
conduction across the active fault zone. Lateral heat trans- where seismic shaking may be most frequent, lack of a pro-
fer from the oceanic crust may be responsible for deepening tective transform ridge allows wholesale removal of uncon-
sohdated sediment from the lower slope. Exposures of
the oceanic basement toward the shearing margin (Figure
lithified strata and (on the Baja California margin) even
4), which causes a topographic depression or transform
basement are wasted by rock falls and slides. The obliquity
zone sag along the foot of the slope on the less heavily sedi-
of the intersection between the spreading center and the
mented Baja California transform margin (Lonsdale and
slope break (Figure 3) is probably caused by retreat of the
Lawver, 1980). However, profiles along the spreading axes scarp crest between the Deep Tow survey and the intersec-
(Lonsdale and Lavi^ver, 1980) show that part of the deepen- tion, by about 1 km (0.6 mi) in a distance of 18 km (11 mi)
ing toward the margins is an original feature of the oceanic (equivalent to 0.7 m.y. of relative motion). A similar pattern
basement, presumably with the same origin as the deepen- prevails on the shearing Baja California margin, where a
ing of normal oceanic spreading centers toward their inter- prominent transform ridge extends to within 20 km (12.5
sections with transform faults on mid-ocean ridges (Sleep mi) of the Southern Trough intersection (Figure 1) and the
and Biehler, 1970; Fox and Gallo, 1984). Also, much of the intervening section of lower slope is in erosional retreat
heat lost at the active margin is probably not transferred to (Lonsdale and Lawver, 1980).
continental crust but is convectively discharged along the
After the continent has slid past the spreading center and
fault zone, as suggested by Lawver and Williams (1979).
become part of the inactive sheared margin, thermal uplift
Thermal uplift should be greatest in the inactive sheared of its rim reinstates a protective dam for the marginal pla-
sector of the margin southeast of the spreading-center inter- teau, increasing its capacity for accumulation of hemipela-
section, which has been exposed to the greatest heating for gic muds (Figure 12D). The most immediate effect,
the longest time (Lawver and Williams, 1979) and is not iso- however, may be erosion of the outer, back-tilted parts of
lated from young, hot oceanic crust by an active fault zone. the plateau behind the elevated rim. The development of
 Peter Lonsdale 1177

MARGIN OF OCEANIC CRUST MARGINAL PLATEAU

T E C T O N I S M : GENTLE
TECTONISM: THERMAL
EN ECHELON FOLDING
SUBSIDENCE OF BASIN
OF SEAWARD PART
FLOOR, UPLIFT OF
FAULT SLICES IN
SHEAR ZONE
SEDIMENTATION:
ACCUMULATION OF
MUDS

SEDIMENTATION: HYDROCARBONS:
ACCUMULATION OF MATURING WITHIN
MUDS ON BASIN PLAIN PLATEAU MUDS
AND YOUNG CONTINENTAL
RISE
TECTONISM:
CONTINUED GENTLE
FOLDING NEAR
FAULT ZONE
HYDROCARBONS:
MIGRATIONS, MAINLY
SEDIMENTATION:
ACCUMULATION
OF METHANE, TO
IMPEDED ON
CLATHRATES AND
OUTER PLATEAU
SEEPS ON RISE

TECTONISM: INTENSE
T E C T O N I S M : ACCRETION HEATING AND PROBABLY
OF OCEANIC CRUST WITH MAGMA INJECTION
SILL AND DIKE BEGIN BESIDE
EMPLACEMENT SPREADING AXIS

S E D I M E N T A T I O N : A FLOOD
OF MUD TURBIDITES AND S SEDIMENTATION:
DEBRIS FLOWS " EROSIONAL RETREAT
OF OUTER EDGE
HYDROCARBONS: GENERATION
OF H Y D R O T H E R M A L HYDROCARBONS:
PETROLEUM AND DISCHARGE SEEPAGE AT
AT HOT SPRINGS EROSIONALLY
TRUNCATED MARGINS

ERODING SLOPE
/' TECTONISM: THERMAL
DIATOMACEOUS UPLIFT OF RIM WITH
HEMIPELAGIC MUD DIP-SLIP FAULTING
* " * *
DEBRIS FLOW DEPOSITS
SEDIMENTATION:
TURBIDITES OF EROSION AT
REWORKED MUD UPLIFTED RIM; MAYBE
MAINLY TERRIGENOUS CHANNEL INCISION
SEDIMENTS FROM
EARLIER PHASE OF
RIFTING

1
HYDROCARBONS:
OCEANIC CRUST ACCELERATED LOSS
AT PLATEAU MARGIN
AND CHANNELS
CONTINENTAL CRUST

Figure 12Simplified evolutionary model of transform margin, based on interpreting observed and inferred spatial patterns (e.g.,
Figures 2, 4) as stages in a temporal sequence. Note that continental crust ages down the page (in 1-m.y. increments from A to D),
whereas oceanic crust ages in both directions from C. As a result, panel A shows oceanic crust now at spreading center as it will be 2 x
10* years after present (A.P.), but continental crust now at spreading center as it was 2 x 10* years before present (B.P.). Numbers in
sections are crustal and sediment ages, in 10* years. Large arrows beside diagrams indicate plate motion with respect to spreading axis.
The most speculative parts of this diagram are: position of boundary between diatomaceous muds and underlying upper Miocene-
lower Miocene strata, extent of magma intrusion into continental crust (panel C), and amount of rim uplift (panel D).

dissecting channels in this region (profile 2, Figure 2) sug-
gests that some of the sediment that is removed is remobi-
lized in turbidity currents. On the Sonoran margin, further
evolution of the marginal plateau cannot be foUovi'ed
because the plateau is truncated by the Yaqui Embayment
structure.
The pattern of sediment accumulation on oceanic crust at
the margin is simpler. Newly accreted crust at the intersec-
tion receives an initial flood of redeposited slope sediment,
but much of this is dispersed tens of kilometers from the
margin by turbidity currents. The axial troughs afford con-
venient pathways leading along the spreading center from
1178 Transform Continental Margin, Gulf of California

the very parts of the lower slope where sediment is truncated edges of marginal plateau strata that they uncon-
unloaded. Both the Northern and Southern Troughs are formably bury. The concentration of acoustic voids along
partly filled with ponds of mud turbidites, including well- the crest of one of the lower slope anticHnes that was fol-
sorted diatom ooze layers (Einsele and Kelts, 1982) that lowed by a Deep Tow track (profile D, Figure 6) implies that
thicken toward the continental margins (Lonsdale and these en echelon fold structures may affect hydrocarbon
Lawver, 1980, their Figure 2). Redeposition of diatoma- migration and accumulation, as they do on a greater scale in
ceous slope mud, localized along the spreading centers, is a subaerial California (Harding, 1976).
major contributor to the sediment smothering that causes Rapid maturation of hydrocarbons in the late Miocene to
the unusual style of axial volcanism. Holocene muds of the marginal plateau is favored by fairly
As sections of the spreading oceanic crust are uplifted out high temperature gradients (95.9C/km or 278.11 F/mi at
of the axial troughs, they lose the rapid supply of turbidites. DSDP Site 479; Curray et al, 1982) and high organic carbon
Along the Sonoran margin a pair of continental rises grows content (2-4% in the Pleistocene section cored at Site 479;
in the marginal depressions produced by enhanced cooling Whelan and Hunt, 1982). Although there may be seepage
of oceanic crust beside the continental edge. The rise that from deep stratigraphic levels along the outer edge, espe-
thickens as it moves northwest, on aging oceanic crust cially where the rim is uptilted, most of the plateau is not
beside the shearing margin, is buttressed by the transform vulnerable to hydrocarbon loss, and the gentle anticlines
ridge, which is shoaling much more rapidly in the same and intercalated sands provide structural and stratigraphic
direction. Uplift of the ridge deforms and exposes to ero- traps. This situation contrasts with some ancient marginal
sion the irmermost rise sediments, and the slumping off of plateaus, like the Exmouth Plateau (Barber, 1982), where
this tectonic landform is probably responsible for the debris truncation by a long section of rifted margin has engen-
flow deposits at the foot of therise(profile 6, Figure 2). The dered widespread, long-continued extensional faulting that
growth of the other continental rise, spreading southeast allowed early maturing hydrocarbons to escape. The lack of
with the sheared margin, is not well documented and is faulting in most of the section on Guaymas marginal pla-
complicated by the effects of the turbidity currents that exit teau (Figure 4) is remarkable, considering its nearness to a
Yaqui Embayment at the deepest point in the ridge across its major plate boundary. Principal seepage loss on the plateau
mouth (near profile 1, Figure 2). surface is probably of young biogenic methane from shal-
low horizons, especially where the horizons have been dis-
sected by turbidity-current channels (profile 9, Figure 2)
HYDROCARBON MIGRATION, STORAGE, AND LOSS
and trimmed by current erosion near the inner and outer
edges.
The distribution pattern of clathrates on the oceanic part
of the Sonoran margin demonstrates updip gas migration
mto the continental rise from the diatomaceous muds on SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS
the basin floor. Some migration also must occur up the gen-
tle gradient parallel to the shear zone, supplying the clath- 1. On the northeast side of Guaymas Basin, an active
rate horizon on the rifted margin. Though most of this spreading center has a right-angle intersection with a long
hydrocarbon deposit is surely biogenic methane, an admbc- strike-slip fault zone, which abruptly separates oceanic
ture of heavier hydrocarbons may be thermally generated in crust from a marginal plateau made of continental crust. To
axial parts of the basin. At the Southern Trough spreading the northwest of the intersection, the continental margin is a
center, Holocene petroleum is transported in an intense, seismically active part of the Pacific-North America plate
high-temperature hydrothermal circulation (Simoneit and boundary; to the southeast it is an inactive transform mar-
Lonsdale, 1982). A lower temperature hydrothermal circu- gin. The pattern of faulting at the intersection resembles
lation, cooling older crust and its sedimentary overbur- that mapped where spreading centers meet oceanic trans-
dena circulation that seems to be required to explain form faults on mid-ocean ridges.
measured values of conductive heat flow (Lawver and 2. The outer edge of the marginal plateau is a steep lower
Williams, 1979)may help transport hydrocarbons to the continental slope. The section of slope that has recently
transform fault zone. At the spreading centers the high- drifted past the end of the spreading center has been
temperature circulation discharges at 100 C-315 C thermal upUfted several hundred meters, probably in part by basal-
springs, some venting oil-water emulsions, that are overlain tic dikes overshooting into the continental crust.
by thermal bottom-water plumes detected by Deep Tow's 3. Where the margin contains the active strike-slip fault
conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensor (Lonsdale zone, a major structural element is a transform ridge
and Becker, in press). There are also some acoustically formed by uplift of sheared oceanic crust. The height of this
sensed hydrocarbon plumes in the spreading-center ridge increases away from the spreading center, in propor-
troughs, similar to those along the transform ridge in that tion to the length of time the oceanic crust has experienced
they are not associated with a CTD anomaly (Merewether et strike-slip faulting. The ridge is recognizable about 5 km (3
al, 1985). The seeps along the top of the continentalrisemay mi) from the spreading axis as a small subbottom structure
be at the cooler end of a spectrum of hydrothermal- at the foot of the continental slope. At 65 km (40 mi) from
hydrocarbon discharges within this hot, hydrocarbon-rich the axis, its crest is as high as the surface of the marginal pla-
oceanic basin. teau. Between these sites the transform ridge is partway up
Clathrate horizons on the blanket of lower slope sedi- the lower continental slope.
ment landward of the transform ridge might be locally gen- 4. Where the transform ridge is high, it forms a protect-
erated, but are more likely derived from the erosionally ive dam for hemipelagic sediments accumulating on the
 Peter Lonsdale
marginal plateau. Near the spreading center, where the
transform ridge is absent, there is major erosional recession
of the entire lower slope, with redistribution of its sediments
to the spreading-center trough. In between, erosion from
the unprotected top of the lower slope supplies reworked
sediment to small intraslope basins bounded by the trans-
form ridge. Other small intraslope basins form as puU-
aparts between overlapping strands of the fault zone.
5. In the region of detailed study, 14-28 km (9-17 mi)
from the spreading-axis intersection, the transform fault
zone is only 1-1.5 km (0.6-1 mi) wide. Within this zone,
intense folding and faulting deform young sediments,
accompanied by local erosion of anticlinal crests. Only
minor en echelon folds and faults are mapped outside this
zone.
6. Gas hydrates have accumulated in the sediments on
much of the lower slope and on the small continental rise
that has grown seaward of the transform ridge. The
hydrates, which are probably mainly methane, have a lower
boundary marked by a bottom-simulating reflector at 40-75
m (130-250 ft) subbottom. This lower boundary is unus-
ually shallow because of the high thermal gradients in the
region; local changes in the thickness of the hydrate horizon
are probably caused by patchiness in heat flow. At depths
less than 1,275 m (4,200 ft) below sea level, where almost the
entire sedimentary section is too warm for hydrate stability,
there is widespread evidence for free gas accumulation
(e.g., within superficial sediments on the marginal plateau).
7. In the transform fault zone, especially along the crest
of the transform ridge, hydrocarbon seeps are surmounted
by acoustically detected plumes (probably of methane),
which rise at least 900 m (3,000 ft) above the sea floor.
8. The geologic variation mapped along this margin can
be related to distance from the spreading-center intersec-
tion, and thereby to the age of the oceanic crust and the
strike-shp fault zone. The observed spatial patterns of struc-
ture and sedimentation can therefore be used to infer an
evolutionary model for a young transform boundary. Addi-
tional information on the distribution and composition of
hydrocarbon plumes, seeps, and accumulations is needed
before the implications of this model for hydrocarbon mat-
uration, migration, and loss (at this and other transform
margins) can be fully assessed.
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