Guerrero terrane of Mexico: Its role in the Southern Cordillera from new geochemical data

Abstract

The Guerrero terrane makes up most of the western part of Mexico, is one of the largest terranes of the North American Cordillera, and is characterized by an Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous volcanic-sedimentary sequence of are affinity. Metamorphic rocks that crop out in the western area of the terrane (Arteaga complex) may represent its basement. They are mostly composed of terrigenous sediments (Varales Formation) with minor basaltic pillow lavas, chert, tuff, and limestone. Initial ϵ Nd values (+13) and rare earth element (REE) values for pillow lavas of the Arteaga complex are characteristic of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). In contrast, the Varales Formation sedimentary rocks from the Arteaga complex have negative initial ϵ Nd (-6.2 and -7.2) and are enriched in light REEs. These data indicate that the sediments of the Varales Formation were supplied from an evolved continental crust. The overlying Jurassic(?)-Cretaceous arc-related rocks have initial ϵ Nd (+7.9 to +3.9) and REE patterns similar to those of evolved intraoceanic island arcs. These data show that the evolution of the Guerrero terrane had an early pre-Cretaceous(?) stage, which consisted of an crust receiving sediments from a continental source, and a Cretaceous stage, which was the development of an island arc.The oceanic-continental isotopic signature of the Arteaga complex is different from other western North American Cordilleran terranes (e.g., Alexander, Wrangelfia) that are more completely oceanic in affinity. Nevertheless, the extensive Jurassic(?).Cretaceous arc represents additions of juvenile material to the western North American Cordillera.