The Guayape-Papalutla fault system: A continuous Cretaceous structure from southern Mexico to the Chortís block? Tectonic implications: COMMENT and REPLY

COMMENT: doi: 10.1130/G24949C.1 ently lies on the Caribbean plate, is generally located along the ENE- trending Cayman transform faults (Leroy et al., 2000). The latter J. Duncan Keppie boundary lies ~20° clockwise of the Guayape Fault, which, if pro- Departamento de Geologia Regional, Instituto de Geologia, Universidad jected northeastwards, would intersect the Cayman Trough at 80°W, Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 04510 Mexico D.F., Mexico not 85°W as shown by Silva-Romo.

The use of piercing points in making paleogeographic reconstruc- PROBLEMATICAL STATEMENTS tions greatly adds to their accuracy beyond that available using other Silva-Romo makes the following problematic statements: techniques. Thus, Silva-Romo’s (2008) proposal that the Papalutla fault 1. “The Papalutla fault represents the eastern limit of the Guerrero- in southern Mexico and the Guayape fault in Honduras provide piercing Morelos Platform” (p.76), which is characterized by Cretaceous shelf points to constrain a Late Cretaceous reconstruction (Fig. 1) of the alloch- carbonates (Centeno-Garcia et al., 2008). Such carbonates represent an thonous Chortís block is a worthwhile objective. However, such a correla- overstep sequence that extends from the eastern boundary of the Guer- tion raises more questions than it solves. rero terrane (located west of the Papalutla fault) across the Mixteca, Oaxaquia, and Maya terranes (Keppie, 2004). This suggests that the QUESTIONS Papalutla fault lies within the Paleozoic Mixteca terrane (comprising 1. What Euler pole was used? Silva-Romo (2008, p. 75) states that it is the Acatlán Complex) (Centeno-Garcia et al., 2008). a “nonrotational hypothesis” and that the Chortís block was merely 2. “Basement rocks of the Central Chortís terrane are similar to those of moved westwards. This implies that the Euler pole lay 90° away to the Acatlan Complex” (p. 76). This contradicts Rogers et al. (2007) who the south, near the coast of Antarctica. This contradicts the Ceno- state that the Central Chortís terrane represents the core of the Chortís zoic Euler pole for the Caribbean plate derived by both Pindell superterrane (including the Northern, Central and Eastern Chortís ter- et al. (1988) and Ross and Scotese (1988), which lies near Santiago ranes), which is underlain by ~1 Ga basement. (Chile), i.e. ~50° to the SSE of the Cayman Trough. This Euler pole 3. “Northeast of Papalutla town, the Papalutla fault displays left lateral is consistent with the southward concavity of the Cayman Trough strike slip” (p. 76). At this location, the Papalutla fault deviates from its transform faults. general NE trend into an E-W trend. This may explain the discrepancy 2. How is the Chortís block transported through the Gulf of Tehuantepec, between the kinematics: thrust (Cerca et al., 2007) or sinistral strike- which contains an undeformed Late Cretaceous–Holocene sedimen- slip (Silva-Romo, 2008). tary sequence that straddles the Motagua fault zone, generally consid- ered to be the boundary between the Chortís and Maya blocks (Keppie FUTURE RECONSTRUCTIONS and Morán-Zenteno, 2005)? Any future reconstructions must take into account the following: 3. Where is the Nicaragua Rise in the Late Cretaceous reconstruction? 1. The Euler pole and displacement across the Cayman Trough since It is generally considered to be part of the Chortís block (Rogers 49 Ma (Leroy et al., 2000). et al., 2007, and references therein), which poses a geometric problem 2. The undeformed, untruncated nature of the latest Cretaceous sedi- because it would overlap southern Mexico in Silva-Romo’s (2008) ments in the Gulf of Tehuantepec that straddle the Motagua Fault Zone reconstruction. (Keppie and Morán-Zenteno, 2005). 4. Why does Silva-Romo use a WNW-trending boundary for the north- 3. Removal of an ~210-km-wide Eocene-Oligocene forearc from the ern margin of the Chortís block, when no such feature has been southern coast of Mexico during the Upper Oligocene and Lower identifi ed? The northern boundary of the Chortís block, which pres- Miocene (Keppie et al., 2007).

95°W 90°W 85°W GUER TE Mixteca terrane Ca. 1 Ga RRANE R Paleozoic basement E 20°N RO UGH N TRO Figure 1. Late Cretaceous N reconstruction of south- PF MA Y BOC ern Mexico and the loca- CA I tion of the Chortís block ES ORT SPENTR L K and the Guayape fault GF MAYA CH at according to Silva-Romo GF GF n (2008), in contrast to that et 14°N of Rogers et al. (2007). CHORTIS CHORTIS carpm GF—Guayape Fault; PF— E Papalutla Fault. BLOCK BLOCK ss (Si a-Rlv o mo, (Rogers Hes NICARAGUA 208)0 et al., 2007) Kilometers RISE 0500 LATE CRETACEOUS RECONSTRUCTIONS

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e171 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-pdf/36/1/e171/3535420/i0091-7613-36-1-e171.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 REFERENCES CITED Centeno-Garcia, E., Guerrero-Suastegui, M., and Talavera-Mendoza, O., 2008, The Guerrero composite terrane of western México: Collision and subsequent rifting in a supra-subduction zone, in Draut, A., Clift, P., and Scholl, D., eds., Formation and applications of the sedimentary record in arc collision zones: Geological Society of America Special Paper 436, p. 279–308. Cerca, M., Ferrari, L., López-Martínez, M., Martiny, B., and Iriondo, A., 2007, Late Cretaceous shortening and early Tertiary shearing in the central Sierra Madre del Sur, southern Mexico: Insights into the evolution of the Caribbean-North America plate interaction: Tectonics, v. 26, TC3007, doi: 10.1029/2006TC001981. Keppie, J.D., 2004, Terranes of Mexico revisited: A 1.3 billion year odyssey: International Geology Review, v. 46, p. 765–794, doi: 10.2747/0020-6814. 46.9.765. Keppie, J.D., and Morán-Zenteno, D.J., 2005, Tectonic implications of alternative Cenozoic reconstructions for southern Mexico and the Chortís Block: International Geology Review, v. 47, p. 473–491, doi: 10.2747/ 0020-6814.47.5.473. Keppie, J.D., Moran-Zenteno, D.J., Martiny, B.M., Gonzalez-Torres, E., 2007, Estimates of Cenozoic forearc subduction off southwestern Mexico: Constraints on Eocene-Miocene reconstructions: Eos (Transactions, American Figure 1. A: Papalutla fault as a major northeast trend structure that Geophysical Union), v. 88, Joint Assembly Supplement, Abstract U53A–02. accommodates deformation on south Mexico during Cretaceous Leroy, S., Mauffret, A., Patriat, P., and Mercier de Lépinay, B., 2000, An alternative and Cenozoic time. B: Laramidian reconstruction for south Mexico interpretation of the Cayman Trough evolution from a reidentifi cation of (Keppie, 2004). GMp—Guerrero-Morelos platform. Terranes: magnetic anomalies: Geophysical Journal International, v. 141, p. 539–557, J—Juárez; Ma—Maya; Mx—Mixteca; Ox—Oaxaca; SM—Sierra doi: 10.1046/j.1365-246x.2000.00059.x. Madre. Overlap volcanic provinces: SMO—Sierra Madre Occidental; Pindell, J.L., Cande, S.C., Pitman, W.C., III, Rowley, D.B., Dewey, J.F., TMVB—Transmexican Volcanic Belt. Labrecque, J., and Haxby, W., 1988, A plate kinematic framework for models of Caribbean evolution: Tectonophysics, v. 155, p. 121–138, doi: 10.1016/0040-1951(88)90262-4. Rogers, R.D., Mann, P., and Emmet, P.A., 2007, Tectonic terranes of the Chortís block based on integration of regional aeromagnetic and geologic data, in boundary (Sedlock et al., 1993). When comparing my model with the cor- Mann, P., ed., Geologic and tectonic development of the Caribbean plate relation between southern Mexico and the Chortís block (Rogers et al., in northern Central America: Geological Society of America Special 2007a), I used the tectonostratigraphic map of Campa and Coney (1983). Paper 428, p. 65–88. Here, I claim that Papalutla fault (1) is a major structure that controlled Ross, M.I., and Scotese, C.R., 1988, A hierarchical tectonic model of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean region: Tectonophysics, v. 155, p. 139–168, Cretaceous sedimentation in the Guerrero-Morelos platform, which has doi: 10.1016/0040-1951(88)90263-6. a different Cretaceous stratigraphic column than the Mixteca terrane Silva-Romo, G., 2008, The Guayape-Papalutla fault system: A continuous (Hernández-Romano, 1999); (2) its main Laramide kinematics were left- Cretaceous structure from southern Mexico to the Chortís block? Tectonic slip; (3) its inverse thrust segment near Papalutla town is a right bend in implications: Geology, v. 36, p. 75–78, doi: 10.1130/G24032A.1. a left-slip fault; (4) its northeast projection is hidden by the eastern sector of the Transmexican volcanic belt (Fig. 1A)—on this sector, the Papalutla REPLY: doi: 10.1130/G25152Y.1 fault acted as tear fault in an Eocene Laramide thrust belt, as Mossman and Viniegra (1976) expected; and (5) the Papalutla fault projection was G. Silva-Romo reactivated as a normal fault, and the tectonic front became the Cenozoic Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad complex Veracruz Basin (Jannette, et al., 2003). Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 México D.F., México In response to Statement 2: Laramide reconstruction by Keppie (2004) invokes a Oaxaca terrane dislocated by a major left-slip fault In Figure 1 of his Comment (Keppie, 2008), Keppie confused the where the Transmexican volcanic belt is presently located (Fig. 1B). Papalutla fault with the Teloloapan fault in his Comment’s Figure. Here I propose the Papalutla fault is that major structure (Fig. 1A). With this (in my Figure 1), I correctly identify the Papalutla fault in south Mexico, tectonic array , an ~1 Ga basement may extend below Guerrero-Morelos which supports my original hypothesis (Silva-Romo, 2008). platform and may conciliate with central Chortís terrane basement in- voked in Keppie’s Comment. ANSWERS Keppie presented a list of questions, which I answer here. FUTURE RECONSTRUCTIONS 1. My hypothesis assumes a Caribbean plate stationary relative to the My model allows some rotation of the Chortís block and erosion by mantle after Chron 18 at 38.4 Ma (Müller et al., 1999). subduction after the Chortís block departure, but southern Mexico trunca- 2. The ancestral Acapulco trench–Motagua transform fault was dis- tion only by erosion by subduction (Keppie et al., 2007) implies a rate located ~70 km by the Chiapas massif southeast displacement, dur- process yet unproven. ing Neogene convergence of the North America and South America REFERENCES CITED plates after the Chortís block departure (Silva-Romo and Mendoza- Campa, M.F., and Coney, P.J., 1983, Tectonostratigraphic terranes and mineral Rosales, 2007). Thereafter, the sedimentary sequence of the Gulf of resource distributions in Mexico: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v. 20, Tehuantepec was northward from the fault zone. p. 1040–1051. 3. The structural characteristics of the Colon fold belt of Honduras Hernández-Romano, U., 1999, Facies, stratigraphy, and diagenesis of the (Rogers et al., 2007a) are congruent with a left strike-slip fault sys- Cenomanian-Turonian of the Guerrero-Morelos Platform, southern Mexico [Ph.D. thesis]: Reading, UK, University of Reading, 322 p. tem, which might have displaced the Nicaraguan Rise from a south- Jannette, D., Wawrzyniec, T., Fouad, K., Dallas, B.D., Meneses-Rocha, J., Grimaldo, west location during Cenozoic time. F., Muñoz, R., Barrera, D., Williams-Rojas, C.T., and Escamilla-Herrera, A., 2003, Traps and turbidite reservoir characteristics from a complex and CLARIFING STATEMENTS evolving tectonic setting, Veracruz Basin, southeastern Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 87, p. 1599–1622. In response to Keppie’s “Problematical Statements” (1) and (3): Just Keppie, J.D., 2004, Terranes of Mexico revisited: A 1.3 billion year odyssey: as the tectonostratigraphic division does, the Papalutla fault may cut the International Geology Review, v. 46, p. 765–794, doi: 10.2747/0020-6814. Mixteca terrane (Campa and Coney, 1983; Keppie, 2004) or be a terrane 46.9.765

e172 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-pdf/36/1/e171/3535420/i0091-7613-36-1-e171.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Keppie, J.D., 2008, The Guayape-Papalutla fault system: A continuous Cretaceous Chortís block and intra-oceanic Caribbean arc, in Mann, P., ed., Geologic structure from southern Mexico to the Chortís block? Tectonic implications: and tectonic development of the Caribbean plate in northern Central Comment: Geology, v. 36, doi: 10.1130/G24949C.1. America: Geological Society of America Special Paper 428, p. 129–149. Keppie, J.D., Moran-Zenteno, D.J., Martiny, B.M., Gonzalez-Torres, E., 2007, Rogers, R.D., Mann, P., and Emmet, P.A., 2007b, Tectonic terranes of the Chortís Estimates of Cenozoic forearc subduction off southwestern Mexico: block based on integration of regional aeromagnetic and geologic data, in Constraints on Eocene-Miocene Reconstructions: Eos (Transactions, Mann, P., ed., Geologic and tectonic development of the Caribbean plate American Geophysical Union), v. 88, Joint Assembly Supplement, in northern Central America: Geological Society of America Special Abstract U53A–02. Paper 428, p. 65–88. Mossman, R.W., and Viniegra, F., 1976, Complex fault structures in Veracruz Sedlock, R.L., Ortega-Gutiérrez, F., and Speed, R.C., 1993, Tectonostratigraphic Province of Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists terranes and tectonic evolution of Mexico: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 60, p. 379–388. Special Paper 278, 153 p. Müller, R.D., Royer, J.Y., Cande, S.C., Roest, W.R., and Maschenkov, S., 1999, Silva-Romo, G., and Mendoza-Rosales, C.C., 2007, La alineación neógena de la New constraints on the Late Cretaceous/Tertiary plate tectonic evolution of Trinchera Acapulco con el sistema Polochic-Motagua, in Ortega-Gutiérrez, the Caribbean, in Mann, P., ed., Caribbean basins, Sedimentary Basins F., Ferrari, L., and Tolson, G., eds., Simposio la Conexión Chortís-Sur of the World, Volume 4: Amsterdam, Elsevier, p. 33–59. de México en el Tiempo y en el Espacio: Juriquilla, Querétaro, México, Rogers, R.D., Mann, P., Emmet, P.A., and Venable, M.E., 2007a, Colon fold belt Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología, Centro of Honduras: Evidence for Late Cretaceous collision between the continental de Geociencias, p. 21.

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