Early Miocene shortening in the lower Comondú Group in Baja California Sur (México)

Abstract

The Late Oligocene-Early Miocene volcaniclastic deposits of Baja California Sur form most of the exposed western margin of the Gulf of California rift. In some places these deposits, collectively referred to as Comondú Group, show complex deformation patterns given by the coexistence of tectonic and gravitational features. The area north of La Paz is characterized by the occurrence of several slump bodies, which are displaced by normal faults connected with the rift opening. In some places we have identified 100'sm scale thrust-related folds and reverse faults that we have interpreted as shortening features. The latter displace the slump layers and are offset by the normal faults. If confirmed, this would represent the first report of a shortening event in the Early Miocene volcaniclastic deposits of Baja California Sur. The observed shortening has modest magnitude (ca 3–5% bulk shortening), and has been detected in a sector extending over ~100km north from La Paz. New 40Ar-39⁎Ar ages, integrated with existing radiometric age datasets, constrain the timing of this shortening episode. The rocks affected by shortening have ages between ~24 and 21Ma, and are capped by undeformed volcanic rocks with ages spanning between ~19.4 and ~17.2Ma. These relationships define an intra-Early Miocene unconformity, which we interpret to be related to the shortening deformation. The available timing constraints allow us to infer that a main ENE-to-ESE-trending shortening was short-lived, possibly ca. 19.4–21Ma. The account of this shortening event may shed some light on the complex subduction and microplate processes that preceded the continental rifting of the Gulf of California.