Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2011 Provenance and origin of Holocene beach ridge and modern beach sands from the Costa de Nayarit, western Mexico Ruben Abe Cisneros Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Cisneros, Ruben Abe, "Provenance and origin of Holocene beach ridge and modern beach sands from the Costa de Nayarit, western Mexico" (2011). LSU Master's Theses. 3550. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/3550 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROVENANCE AND ORIGIN OF HOLOCENE BEACH RIDGE AND MODERN BEACH SANDS FROM THE COSTA DE NAYARIT, WESTERN MEXICO A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Geology and Geophysics by Ruben Abe Cisneros B.S., Texas Tech University, 2007 May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor and committee, Dr. Mike Blum, Dr. Jeff Nunn, and Dr. Gary Byerly, for their thoughtful reviews of the manuscript and many helpful suggestions throughout the research and writing process. I also thank the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University for granting me the opportunity to further my studies and research in the field of geology. I would like to extend my thanks to those who have provided me with assistance and many thoughtful and engaging discussions during my tenure at LSU. To name a few: Sandra Garzon, Matthew Garvin, Erik Prokocki, Clint Edrington, Jill Hattier-Womack, Rick Young and Dr. Xiaogang Xie, without their help this research and thesis would not have been possible. I would like to extend a very special thanks to all my family, friends, and previous professors at Texas Tech University who incited my passion for geology. In particular, I would truly like to thank my parents, Michael and Paula Cisneros and my brother Michael Paul Cisneros for all the love and support they have given to me throughout my collegiate career. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have never made it this far without their support, and I dedicate this manuscript to them and all of my family and friends, especially those who are no longer with us today. This research was supported by grants from ExxonMobil (grant to Dr. Mike Blum) and the LSU Department of Geology and Geophysics Geoscience Alliance to Enhance Minority Participation (GAEMP) program. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………….....ii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………….....v ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………..vii INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….......1 BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………….……………………5 The Costa de Nayarit…………………………………….……………………………………5 Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO)………………....…………………………………………..11 Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB)……………………………………………………...12 Progradational Shoreface Succession (Beach Ridge) Formation……………..……………..14 Costa de Nayarit: Current Understanding…………………………………………………...17 METHODS………………………………………………………………………………………28 Thin Section Descriptions……………………………………………………………………31 Beach Ridge Core Descriptions…..………………………………………………………….31 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Microprobe Analyses...………………………...32 Point Counting……………………………………………………………………………….33 Statistical Analysis…………………………………………………………………………...38 RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………………..40 River Sand Descriptions……………………………………………………………………..40 Modern Beach Sand Descriptions……………………………………………………………41 Beach Ridge Core Sand Descriptions…………………………..……………………………41 Core Descriptions…………………………………………………………………………….42 SEM and Microprobe Data…..………..……………………………………………………..44 Point Counting Data...………………………………………………...………………….…..48 Statistical Analysis…………………………………………………………………………...59 DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………………....63 Composition of River Sands..………………………………………………………………..63 Origin of Modern Beach Sands………………………………………………………………64 Progradational Shoreface Succession (Beach Ridge) Sands: Mixed Origin……...…………66 Source-to-Sink Sediment Dispersal along the Costa de Nayarit…………………………….69 CONCLUSIONS……………………….………………………………………………………..73 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………..76 APPENDIX A: MODERN RIVER SAND SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS….……………………80 APPENDIX B: MODERN BEACH SAND SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS…………….………...83 iii APPENDIX C: BEACH RIDGE CORE SAND SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS……….………….89 APPENDIX D: BEACH RIDGE CORE DESCRIPTIONS...………………………………….125 APPENDIX E: MICROPROBE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS DATA AND PLAGIOCLASE COMPOSITION CALCULATIONS…………………………………………………………..167 APPENDIX F: POINT COUNT AND TERNARY PLOT DATA…………………………….171 APPENDIX G: R SOFTWARE CODE AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS RESULTS…..….174 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………………179 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Satellite image of the Costa de Nayarit, western Mexico, showing the locations of the Rio Grande de Santiago, Rio San Pedro and the Rio Acaponeta………………………………….6 Figure 2. Bathymetric profile of the continental shelf off the Costa de Nayarit, western Mexico. The contours illustrate the depth below sea-level (in fathoms) of the continental shelf………….8 Figure 3. Map showing the distribution of the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) and the Trans- Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) throughout Mexico…………………………………………….9 Figure 4. Satellite image showing the extent and area of the drainage basins for the Rio Grande de Santiago, Rio San Pedro, and Rio Acaponeta………………………………………………...10 Figure 5. Sequence of events for formation of beach ridges along the Costa de Nayarit proposed by Curray et al. (1969)……………………………………………………………………….…..15 Figure 6. Bathymetric profile of the continental shelf off the Costa de Nayarit showing the paleo- shoreline positions associated with the three delta advances during the Pleistocene....................20 Figure 7. Schematic illustration showing the distribution of the different periods of shoreface succession (beach ridge) construction (Periods II – V) during the Holocene regression along the Costa de Nayarit……………………………………………………………………………….....22 Figure 8. Satellite image showing the locations at which sand samples were collected from modern rivers and beaches of the Costa de Nayarit………………………………………….…..29 Figure 9. Satellite image showing the locations from which shoreface succession (beach ridge) cores were collected along the Costa de Nayarit……………………………………………...…30 Figure 10. Grid spacing pattern applied to all the thin sections that were used for point count analysis………………………………………………………………………………………...…32 Figure 11. Diagram of the formation and accretion of shoreface successions (beach ridges) along the coastline in a wave-dominated depositional environment…………………………………...37 Figure 12. EDS spectral analysis curves for: a) basalt/andesite rock fragment; b) rhyolite rock fragment; and c) WAFT rock fragment………………………………………………………….45 Figure 13. Oxide weight percentages and plagioclase compositions calculated for: a) basalt rock fragment; b) andesite rock fragment; and c) rhyolite rock fragment…………….………………47 Figure 14. Graphic comparisons of the total number of point counts in each grain category for: a) the river sand samples; and b) the river sand samples and the modern beach average………….49 v Figure 15. Graphs comparing the total percentage of sample in each grain category for: a) the southern beach ridge core suite; and b) the northern beach ridge core suite…………………….51 Figure 16. Ternary diagram with the point count percentages plotted for basalt/andesite rock fragments, rhyolite rock fragments, and untwinned grains (QTZ/UTF) from the Rio Grande de Santiago, Rio San Pedro, Rio Acaponeta, and the modern beach average………………………53 Figure 17. Ternary diagram with the point count percentages plotted for basalt/andesite rock fragments, rhyolite rock fragments, and untwinned grains (QTZ/UTF) from the: a) southern beach ridge cores; and b) northern beach ridge cores……………………………………………55 Figure 18. Cluster diagram showing the relationship between the river and modern beach sand samples established via point counting…………………………………………………………..57 Figure 19. Cluster diagram showing the relationship between the river sand samples, the modern beach average value, and the beach ridge core sand samples established via point counting…...58 Figure 20. Principal component analysis plot based on point count data from the Rio Grande de Santiago, Rio San Pedro, Rio Acaponeta, the modern beach sand average and the beach ridge core sands. The plot shows the relationship between these samples according to the point counting outcome for the different grain type category.................................................................60 Figure 21. Schematic illustration showing the distribution of the different periods of shoreface succession (beach ridge) construction (Periods II – V) during the Holocene regression along the Costa de Nayarit as interpreted by Curray et al. (1969). The red dots show the locations from which the cores were collected from the shoreface successions of the different depositional periods ……………………………………………………………………………………...……68 vi ABSTRACT The Costa de Nayarit in western Mexico is