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Laramide Wrench Faults, Basement-Cored Uplifts, and Complementary Basins in Southern New Mexico

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Laramide Wrench Faults, Basement-Cored Uplifts, and Complementary Basins in Southern New Mexico Laramidewrench faults, basement-cored uplifts, and complimentarybasins in southernNew Mexico byWilliam R. Seager,Earth Science Department, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 Abstract ACKNowLEDGTuENTs-Manyof the ideas 1978;Thompson, 1982).These furassic car- expressedin this paper maturedthrough dis- bonatesprobably thicken southward into the mode Laramide The chief of deformation of E. Chapin, R. Chihuahua trough where evaporites the foreland area of south-central and adjacent cussionswith Glen Brown, C. |urassic parts of southwest New Mexico was uplift of E. Clemons,G. Mack, and S. Thompson III. are diapiric and may be responsible for Lar- relatively simple basement blocks similar in I thank Exxon for permission to use drill hole amide decollement and "thin-skinned" fold- stvle, but smaller in size, to some of those of data from their No. L Prisor well, and C. E. ing in the Chihuahua tectonic belt, including the central Rocky Mountains. Uplifts trend Chapin, S. Cather,G. Mack, and F. E. Kott- the Sierraluarez (Haengii and Gries, 1970). generally west-northwest, and are asymmetric lowski for their reviews of the manuscript. I In Cretaceoustime the Burro uplift-Dem- with steep, southwest-dipping, reverse-faulted especiallv want to thank the New Mexico ing axis (Elston, 1958;Turner, 1.952)extended northeast margins. Broad, less-deformed Bureauof Mines and Mineral Resourcesand northwestward from the West Potrillo southwest flanks plunge into deep Wind River- F. E. Kottlowski, Director, for their contin- Mountains through the Florida Mountains basins filled with lower Tertiary type clastic research in into Arizona, separating4.5-km (15,000-f0- rocks 1-2 km (3,000-7,000ft) thick. The general uing support of my geologic style of deformation seems to extend into the southern New Mexico. thick Lower Cretaceousmarine and non- northern margin of southwest New Mexico ter- marine rocks to the south from thin or miss- rane previously regarded as part of the Cor- Paleotectonicsetting and stratigraphy ing sections on the foreland region to the dilleran "overthrust" belt. In this latter region, Precambrian granitic and metamorphic north (Zeller, 1965, 7970;Hayes, 1970).Up- right slip as well as vertical uplift and associ rocks form the basementof all of south-cen- per Cretaceousand lower Tertiary rocks, ated transpressionalthrusting distinguishesat tral and southwestNew Mexicoand adiacent mostlysynorogenic clastic and volcanicrocks, leastsome marginal upthfusts; basinsmay be are nearly 4 km (13,500ft) thick south of the Wind River parts of Arizona. During the Paleozoicthe a mixture of both and Echo Park Burro uplift (Zeller, 1965,197 0 ; Hay es, 7970). types. This interpretation of Laramide tectonic region was buried by a south- and south- North and northeast of the Burro uplift, ma- styles in southern New Mexico has important westward-thickening wedge of marine implications for the searchfor petroleum in the rocks-mostly carbonates. More than 4 km rine and nonmarine Upper Cretaceousrocks Pedregosaand various late Tertiary basinsof (13,500ft) thick in the southwest corner of are as much as 1.9 km (5,500f0 thick where southern New Mexico. New Mexicoand about 2.5km (8,200ft) thick they havebeen preserved in Laramidebasins near El Paso, the Paleozoic section thins (Kelley and Silver, 1952).Syn- to post-oro- Introduction northward to less than L km along a line genic uppermost Cretaceousand lower Ter- Corbitt and Woodward (1973), Drewes between Silver City and Truth or Conse- tiary fanglomerates,red beds, and sandstones (1978, 1982), and Woodward and DuChene quences(Kottlowski, 1963;Greenwood and are of comparablethickness in the sameba- Kelley (1981) have emphasized the importance of others, L977;Thompson, 1982).Epeirogenic sins (Doyle, 1951;Bushnell, 1953; and large-scaleregional overthrust faulting in ex- uplift in Middle Ordovician, Early Silurian, Silver,1952; Seager, 1981). treme southwest New Mexico and southeast and Late Silurian-Middle Devonian is rep- Arizona during the Laramide (Cordilleran) resentedby unconformitiesin the sedimen- Age of Laramide deformation orogeny (Drewes, L978), some of which is tary record; these unconformities are partly Clast composition of thick fanglomerate controversial (Davis, 1979). Less well known responsiblefor the overall northward thin- units within the Hell-to-Finish and naoiit is the array of west-northwest to northwest- ning. Thickness variations also reflect late trending basement-cored block uplifts and Paleozoicsubsidence of the PedregosaBasin complimentary basins that have been rec- in the southwestcorner of New Mexico and ognized in the foreland area to the north and adjacentparts of Arizona, as well as subsi- Alsoin thisissue northeast of the overthrust belt (Fig. 1.;Seager, denceof the Orogrande Basin in the south- BacaFormation glyptosaurine 1975, l98l; Brown, 1982; Brown and Cle- centralpart of New Mexico (Greenwoodand lizard P.77 mons, 1983). The purpose of this paper is to others, 1,977;Kottlowski, 1955). Approxi- Cephalopodaptychi lrom Los review the structural characteristics of these mately3 km (10,000ft) of Pennsylvanianand MoyosLimestone P.78 uplifts and basins and to show that some of Permian marine strata accumulated in the ClaytonLake State Park P. 81 the high-angle faults in the overthrust belt, PedregosaBasin and half that amount in the Service/News P. 83 previously considered to be examples of re- Orogrande Basin. Between the two basins, Five-yearcumulative index P.87 gional sled-runner type overthrusts, might Pennsylvanianand Permian rocks thin across also be interpreted as boundary faults of a positive area near the Florida Mountains Gomingsoon basement-block uplifts. Furthermore, some (Kottlowski, 1958,1960). SunsetRidge fluorite deposit of these steep faults display evidence for sig- Triassicand |urassic rocks generally are ab- Stratigraphicnomenclature history of nificant right-lateral strike-slip motion and sent over most of southern New Meico, al- marineUpper Cretaceous rocks in associated transpressional (convergent though marine Jurassicrocks are known from SocorroCounty wrenching) and transtensional (divergent a deep oil test southwest of Las Cruces wrenching) structures (Reading, 1980). (Thompson and Bieberman, 1975; Uphoff, Formations of southwest New Mexico record plete by late Eocene(40-43 m.y. B.P.)time. Exposuresin the San Andres and Caballo Early Cretaceousuplift and erosionof Paleo- So far, dating of individual movement phases Mountains reveal the general nature of Lar- zoic and Precambrian rocks from the Burro or recognition of the two-fold evolution of amide uplift margins but offer little insight uplift and/or deformationsouthwest or west Laramidedeformation describedby Chapin into the overall geometry of the uplifts and of New Mexico (ZelIer, L970;Drewes, 1978; and Cather (1981)has not proved possible. basins.In this regard structuresand uncon- G. Mack, personal communication, 1983). formities in the San Diego Mountain-Rob- Laramide deformation commencedin latest Structural style, south-centralNew Mexico ledo Mountains area,together with deep drill- Cretaceoustime with movement phasesre- In south-centralNew Mexico the chief mode hole information in southern Dofla Ana corded by angular unconformitiei between of Laramide deformation was uplift and tilt- County, enhance our interpretation. These the Mojado (Lower Cretaceous) and Ring- ing of large basement fault blocks accom- havepermitted reconstructionof a maior west- bone formation (Upper Cretaceous-lower panied by subsidenceof complimentary northwest-trending Laramide uplift, facing Tertiary), between the Ringbone and the Hi- (Green River-Wind River type) basins. The east-northeast,whose southern flank dips dalgo volcanics, and between the Hidalgo structural style is similar to that of the Lar- southward a few degreesinto a complimen- volcanicsand relatively undeformed middle amide Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and the tary (Wind River-type)basin (Potrillo Basin) Tertiary volcanic rocks (Zeller, 1965, 7970), ColoradoPlateau (e.9., Kelley, 1955; Stearns, filled with lower Tertiarv sedimentarv rocks Loring and Loring (1980)have dated thrusts 1978),although southernNew Mexico struc- more than 2 km (6,500ft; tnict (Fig. a). cutting the Hidalgo volcanicsas Paleocene tures display more structural relief than those In overall geometry the structure resem- in age, about 50 m.y. old. of the Plateau and less than those of the bles the Wind River range of Wyoming and Rejuvenationof at leastthe southeastpart Rockies.Small parts of uplifts are exposed adjoiningparts of the Wind River basin.The of the Burro uplift during the Laramide is in the Caballo, San Andres, Robledo, and northern margin of the uplift, exposedat San suggestedby lower Tertiary fanglomerate Organ Mountains, and at San Diego Moun- Diego Mountain, is a west-northwest-strik- (Love Ranch equivalent) outcrops in the tain (Kelley and Silver, 1952; Bachman and ing thrust fault dipping southward 35". Pre- Fluorite Ridge-southern Cooke's Range area Myers, 1969;Seager , 1975, 1981;Seager and cambrian granitic rocks form the hanging wall near Deming (Fig. 1). The fanglomerate,a others, in preparation). Large parts of the and a small exposureof folded Paleozoicrocks very coarsegrained, proximal-fan facies,was centraland southernJornada del Muerto and forms the foofwall. Near this marginal thrust, derived largely from Precambrianrocks which MesillaBasins contain remnants of Laramide Love Ranch fanglomerate depositionally must have been exposed
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