The continental interior of Mexico is characterized by a Late Cretaceous-Eocene fold-thrust belt named the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt, which shows characteristics of an eastward-tapering orogenic wedge. The juxtaposition of the Guerrero terrane to the west of the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt has motivated many to propose the accretion of this terrane as the cause for the regional shortening in the Mexican continental interior. The Sierra de los Cuarzos is located in the westernmost Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt, directly to the east of the boundary with the Guerrero terrane. Based on its position, the Sierra de los Cuarzos is key in reconstructing the possible propagation of shortening deformation from the Guerrero terrane suture belt into the Mexican continental interior. Our new paleontologic and K-Ar geochronologic data from the Sierra de los Cuarzos show that shortening in the westernmost Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt started ca. 83 Ma, which is ~30 m.y. later than the late Aptian age of the Guerrero terrane suture boundary. Therefore, the integration of our new paleontologic and geochronologic determinations with previous data suggests that the Guerrero terrane was already accreted and amalgamated with the Mexican continental interior at the time of the formation of the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt. In light of this, the shortening structures in the western Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt do not show any in-sequence relationship with the adjacent Guerrero terrane suture belt. Therefore, we favor the idea that the Guerrero terrane suture boundary and the Mexican Fold-Thrust Belt are two distinct orogens that mark two distinct stages of tectonic evolution of the North American Pacific margin.

No abstract

No abstract

During the early Maastrichtian an assemblage rich in large foraminifera, mostly composed of orbitoidal foraminifera, developed in the shallow-water deposits of the Cárdenas Formation (Valles-San Luis Potosí Platform, Mexico). Among them, the most abundant is Lepidorbitoides minima, some of which display a morphologically abnormal test consisting of polyvalent forms, conical tests and budding, which could be induced by abrupt changes in environmental factors. The occurrence of the abnormalities preceded the demise of this species and of all the larger foraminiferal association in the upper part of the Gansserina gansseri Zone (early Maastrichtian). The abnormalities could be induced by environmental stress, probably related to interplay of different events such as increased terrigenous input and the transition to deeper facies due to Laramide tectonic instability before the K/P boundary.A late Maastrichtian community of dwarfed planktic foraminifera composed of Trinitella scotti Brönnimann, Plummerita reicheli Brönnimann, Rugoglobigerina cf. macrocephala Brönnimann, Rugoglobigerina hexacamerata Brönnimann, Heterohelix punctulata (Cushman), Pseudoguembelina costulata (Cushman), Pseudotextularia intermedia de Klasz, Globigerinelloides asperus Bolli, Guembelitria cretacea Cushman, Rugoglobigerina rugosa (Plummer), Rugotruncana sp., Globotruncanita stuarti (de Lapparent), and Globotruncana arca (Cushman) developed in the upper part of the sequence. This uncommon morphology could also be related to the highly stressed paleoenvironmental conditions related to global climatic change and local tectonic activity. Associated with this planktic assemblage is a deeper-water dwarfed benthic foraminiferal community composed of Gyroidinoides nitidus (Reuss), Coryphostoma incrassata (Reuss), Pseudouvigerina plummerae Cushman, P. cretacea Cushman, Bolivina cretosa Cushman, Planulina texana Cushman and Cibicides harperi (Sandidge).Keywords: Abnormal foraminifera tests, Lepidorbitoides minima, dwarfed planktic foraminfera, Maastrichtian, Cárdenas Formation, Valles-San Luis Potosí Platform. ResumenDurante el Maastrichtiano temprano una asociación rica en macroforaminíferos compuesta principalmente de formas orbitoidales, se desarrolló en los depósitos de agua somera de la Formación Cárdenas (Plataforma Valles-San Luis Potosí, México

Este artículo presenta los resultados del estudio sobre la sedimentación, los ambientes sedimentarios, la evolución tectono-sedimentaria y paleogeográfica de los depósitos clásticos pos-Laramide y pre-vulcanismo de la Sierra Madre Occidental en la Sierra de Guanajuato. Los depósitos clásticos rojos analizados corresponden al Conglomerado Guanajuato y al Conglomerado Duarte del Eoceno que fueron depositados en la parte media y distal de abanicos aluviales. Los depósitos estudiados están constituidos de clastos de calizas, granito, andesita, rocas sedimentarias, diorita y piroxenita, que indican la erosión de bloques levantados del complejo basal de la Sierra de Guanajuato (Terreno Guerrero). El análisis composicional y petrográfico de clastos de calizas permitió reconocer calizas de cuenca y calizas de plataforma somera provenientes del complejo basal de la Sierra de Guanajuato (Cuenca Arperos). Las calizas de plataforma somera presentan fragmentos esqueletales de bivalvos, braquiópodos, gasterópodos, equinodermos y foraminíferos bentónicos del Berriasiano-Valanginiano. Los clastos de caliza de plataforma se interpreta que podrían proceder de facies someras limítrofes de la cuenca Arperos, cuyos afloramientos originales actualmente no afloran en la Sierra de Guanajuato.

No abstract

No abstract

The Eocene Guanajuato Conglomerate is composed of clasts derived from igneous and metasedimentary sources that can be related to the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous arc and back-arc assemblages of the El Paxtle and Arperos Basin. Limestone clasts contain a shallow-water platform fauna that includes bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, echinoderms and foraminifers. Foraminiferal studies were carried out on these limestone clasts. The benthic foraminiferal association is composed of Pseudocyclammina lituus (Yokoyama, 1890); Everticyclammina virguliana (Koechlin, 1942); Montsalevia salevensis (Charollais, Brönnimann and Zaninetti, 1987); Neotrocholina valdensis (Reichel, 1955); Andersolina cherchiae (Arnaud-Vanneau, Boisseau and Darsac, 1988); Neotrocholina molesta (Gorbatchik, 1959); Pfenderina neocomiensis (Pfender, 1938); Nautiloculina bronnimanni Arnaud-Vanneau and Peybernès, 1978; Hechtina praeantiqua Bartenstein and Brand, 1949; Protopeneroplis cf. P. banatica Bucur, 1993; Istriloculina sp., Moesiloculina sp., Protomarsonella sp., Ammovertellina sp. and Glomospira sp.The Tethysian foraminiferal assemblage observed in the limestone clasts indicate the age of the calcareous source as Berriasianearly Valanginian, which is the age of the deposition within the Arperos Basin.The occurrence of these shallow-water limestone clasts suggests the existence of a shallow-water platform deposit located in the Arperos Basin. This is significant considering that all previous work focused on the deep-water sedimentary rocks (siliciclastic and calcareous). Thus, these clasts are a key to reconstructing the depositional history and architecture of this basin.Keywords: Tethysian benthic foraminifera, Berriasian-early Valanginian, Guanajuato Conglomerate. Resumen