Evidence for an Ordovician continental arc in the pre-Mesozoic basement of the Huizachal–Peregrina Anticlinorium, Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico: Peregrina Tonalite

Abstract

The Huizachal–Peregrina Anticlinorium basement of the Sierra Madre Oriental in north-eastern (NE) Mexico comprises a wide variety of Precambrian and Paleozoic units. A granitic unit, described in this work as the Peregrina Tonalite (PTo), intruded the Neoproterozoic Novillo Gneiss, which is the northernmost expression of the Oaxaquia microcontinent. In contrast, the PTo’s contact with the Carboniferous Granjeno Schist is tectonic along vertical faults with a strike-slip component. This Paleozoic lithodeme is part of the Granjeno–Acatlan Belt. The PTo has been described as an orphaned block associated with an enigmatic Carboniferous magmatic arc located along the north-western (NW) margin of Gondwana. In this study, new U–Pb LA–ICP–MS data from PTo zircons included a youngest Late Ordovician (Katian stage) population at 448.8 ± 2.9 Ma, interpreted as the crystallisation age, and an oldest Grenvillian population interpreted as the potential age of its protolith. Additionally, major and trace element concentrations and ratios indicate a link to a continental arc that developed along the NW margin of Gondwana. Given this proposed arc’s age and position, a comprehensive model for the development of the NE Mexican basement without the involvement of exotic or orphaned terranes is now proposed. The PTo outcropping near Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, is interpreted to be part of a previously unreported magmatic arc in NE Mexico established during the Late Ordovician, herein described as the Peregrina–Mochonian Orogeny. It represents an extension of the South American Famatinian arc into Mexico.