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To cite this article: J. Duncan Keppie & E. Ortega-Gutierrez (1995) Provenance of Mexican Terranes:
Isotopic Constraints, International Geology Review, 37:9, 813-824, DOI: 10.1080/00206819509465428
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International Geology Review, Vol. 37, 1995, p. 813-824.
Copyright © 1995 by V. H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.
Abstract
Pb isotopes in Mesozoic and Cenozoic lavas and mineral deposits of eastern Mexico (Oaxaquia
and Maya terranes) are highly radiogenic, in contrast to signatures from areas underlain by
Laurentian Grenville basement. The sharp boundary between these Pb-isotope domains and its
NE trend nearly perpendicular to the Laramide suture and the Cenozoic trench suggest that the
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main source of radiogenic Pb lies in the continental basement. Similar Pb-isotope signatures in
the lavas and mineral deposits in the western Mexican (Pacific) oceanic-arc terranes suggest a
source in sediments derived from eastern Mexico. The ca. 0.55 to 3.1 Ga Nd model ages of lower-
crustal granulite-facies xenoliths in Cenozoic lavas is consistent with the hypothesis that much
of eastern Mexico may be underlain by rocks of the ca. 1 Ga Oaxacan Complex of southern
Mexico or Late Proterozoic-Cambrian rocks in the basement of the Yucatán Peninsula.
Comparison of the Mexican Pb- and Nd-isotopic signatures with Laurentian and Gondwanan
data indicates that they are generally distinct from Laurentian Grenvillian basement, but are
similar to those in the Arequipa-Antofalla terrane (in Peru, western Bolivia, and northern
Chile), the southwestern Amazonian craton in Brazil, and the Appalachian-Ouachita terranes
derived from Gondwana. This suggests that a possible provenance of the Mexican Proterozoic
basement lies in northwestern South America, which is consistent with the Late Cambrian-
Early Ordovician faunal similarities between Oaxaca (Mexico) and Bolivia. Interaction between
eastern Laurentia and western South America during the Ordovician appears to be absent in
Oaxaquia, the earliest deformation being Devonian. A provenance for Oaxaquia off Colombia,
outside the sphere of such Ordovician interactions, is supported by lithological comparisons.
FIG. 1. Map showing the distribution of the main tectonic features of Mexico and southern United States
(modified from Stewart et al., 1993; Ortega-Gutiérrez et al., 1995). A slight modification involves placing a jog in the
boundary in northern Mexico to include Pb-isotope data within the Ouachita Inner Zone, as indicated by the
affinity of the Pb isotopes. Abbreviations: LO = La Olivina; LP = El Potrillo.
FIG. 2. Compilation of Mesozoic (A) and Cenozoic (B) Pb-isotopic data from Mexico and adjacent Texas plotted on
the 207Pb/204Pb versus 206Pb/204Pb diagram (data from de Cserna et al., 1978; Cumming et al., 1979; Barreiro et al.,
1984; Ortigoza-Cruz, 1988; Rubalcaba-Ruiz and Thompson, 1988; Heatherington, 1988; Lucio, 1990; Mango et al.,
1991; Yta, 1992; James and Henry, 1993a, 1993b; Verma and Luhr, 1993; Miranda-Gasca, 1995; Nelson et al., 1995).
Upper crust and Orogene curves are from Zartman and Doe (1981), and the Northern Hemisphere reference line for
mid-oceanic ridge basalts is from Hart (1984).
Bass, 1969; Anderson and Silver, 1971; Ortega- of about 1,000,000 sq. km (Oaxaquia) that
Gutiérrez et al., 1977; Robinson et al., 1989; extends southeastward from the Ouachita
Robinson, 1991; Yañez et al., 1991; Krogh et Orogen through much of eastern and southern
al., 1993; Herrmann et al., 1994; Murillo- Mexico (Fig. 1). Furthermore, on the basis of
Muñetón, 1994; Silver et al., 1994). Using lithological similarities and paleomagnetic data
these data, along with structural trends, from the ca. 1 Ga Oaxacan Complex (Ballard
exposures of undated but lithologically similar et al., 1989), Ortega-Gutiérrez et al. (1995)
high-grade banded gneiss, and occurrences of inferred that the microcontinent originated
granulite-facies xenoliths, Ortega-Gutierrez et adjacent to eastern Laurentia in the vicinity of
al. (1995) proposed that rocks similar to the the Adirondacks and Ontario. However, the
ca. 1 Ga Oaxacan Complex underlie an area paleomagnetic data also are satisfied by a prove-
816 KEPPIE AND ORTEGA-GUTIERREZ
nance along the northwestern Gondwana mar ary is sharply defined and is generally NE-
gin (Ballard et al., 1989); in latest Cambrian to trending (except in NW Mexico). This trend
earliest Ordovician times, faunal provinciality is roughly perpendicular to the late Meso-
indicates Gondwanan affinities for Oaxaquia zoic-early Cenozoic Laramide suture and
(Robison and Pantoja-Alor, 1968). Ca. 1 Ga Cenozoic trench, suggesting that continental
rocks in northwestern Gondwana have been basement composition east of the Laramide
recorded in the Sunsas Orogen, which runs suture is the main source of radiogenic Pb.
along the southwestern side of the Amazonian James and Henry (1993b) have shown that local
craton (Litherland et al., 1986; Teixeira et al., sedimentary rocks or basinal fluids also have
1989) and also in the Arequipa massif in Peru contributed radiogenic Pb to sediment-hosted
(Wasteneys et al., 1995), suggesting that a deposits. The overlap in Pb signatures of Oaxa
Gondwanan origin is equally compatible with
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FIG. 3. 207Pb/204Pb versus 206Pb/204Pb isotope signatures of Mexico (Oaxaquia and Pacific terranes) compared
with those of other locations. A. Grenvillian Cratonic North American bordering and within the Ouachita Orogen,
SW United States (in Cenozoic volcanic rocks and contained xenoliths overlying ca. 1.4 to 1.0 Ga Grenvillian
basement, after James and Henry, 1993a, 1993b; Kuentz et al., 1991; Ward and Walker, 1991); in the southern
Appalachians (ca. 1 Ga basement, after Sinha et al., 1996); in the Adirondacks (ca. 1 Ga basement, after Zartman,
1969); in the Humber Zone of the northern Appalachians (Paleozoic igneous rocks above Grenvillian basement,
after Ayuso and Bevier, 1991); and in the Precordillera of western Argentina (ca. 1 Ga xenoliths in Cenozoic lavas
and ca. 1 Ga Pie de Palo basement, after Kay et al., 1996). B. Gondwanan Basement in the Ouachita Inner Zone in
Cenozoic volcanic rocks and contained metasedimentary and lower crustal xenoliths at La Olivina (after James and
Henry, 1993a; Cameron et al., 1992); in the Piedmont and Goochland terranes of the southern Appalachians (ca. 1
Ga basement, after Sinha et al., 1996); in the Avalon Composite Terrane in the northern Appalachians (Precambrian
and Paleozoic igneous rocks, after Ayuso and Bevier, 1991); in the Arequipa-Antofalla terrane of southern Peru/
Bolivia and northern Chile (ca. 2 Ga and 1 Ga basement and ca. 1 Ga xenoliths in Cenozoic lavas, after Barreiro and
Clark, 1984; Tosdal et al., 1994; Aitcheson et al., 1995); and in the southwestern Amazon craton (in the Early and
Middle Proterozoic basement, after Tassinari, 1984; Tosdal et al., 1994).
818 KEPPIE AND ORTEGA-GUTIERREZ
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FIG. 4. Initial єNd versus crustal residence age data from Mexico compared with those from the Avalon Composite
Terrene in the northern Appalachians, from cratonic North American Grenvillian basement in United States and
adjacent Canada, and from the Tocantins province in the Amazon craton of Brazil. Upper limits generally are
omitted because they extend to the depleted mantle curve for lavas derived from such a mantle. Data from Patchett
and Ruiz (1987), Ruiz et al. (1988), Yañez et al. (1991), Pimental and Fuck (1992), Schaaf et al. (1994), and Keppie
et al. (in press). Depleted mantle evolution line assumes єNd = +9.3 and 1 4 7 Sm/ 1 4 4 Nd = 0.212 (average of DePaolo,
1988).
FIG. 5. Mid-Late Ordovician palinspastic reconstruction for Laurentia and Gondwana (after Keppie et al., 1996)
showing the preferred provenance of Oaxaquia of NW Colombia. Ca. 1 Ga orogens are shaded. Abbreviation: A =
Arequipa-Antofalla terrane.
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