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Structure of the Northern Altar Pull-Apart Basin Revealed by a 2D Reflection Seismic Survey: Evolution of the Gulf of California Shear Zone in Northwest Mexico

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Abstract

The northern Gulf of California and Salton Trough contain segmented marginal basins abandoned during the oblique rift system’s evolution during Late Miocene-Early Pliocene. The Altar basin, in northwestern Sonora, Mexico, contains a > 5 km-thick sedimentary record representing the first marine incursion (Late Miocene) of the Gulf of California seaway followed by the first deltaic deposits of the Colorado River. 2D reflection seismic lines were processed and interpreted to characterize tectonostratigraphic features of the transtensional Pacific-North America plate boundary in the northern Altar basin (deep structure, faults controlling the subsidence and accumulation of deltaic deposits). The results show the acoustic basement becoming increasingly shallow toward the northeast, new NW-trending faults, and three major seismic reflectors defining the base of three units: A (oldest), B, and C (youngest). Through similarities in sequence stratigraphy and fauna, we correlate Unit A with the Bouse Formation (SW Arizona and SE California), implying its presence in northwest Mexico. The Altar fault strikes ~ N45°W and aligns with the Dunas fault (SE California), suggesting that these faults are the same continuous structure. Seismic horizons above horizon C are less affected by faults. In contrast, horizons A, B and C are cut by faults, have steeper dips, and are laterally discontinuous. We propose the deposition of unfaulted strata occurred after the latest Pliocene abandonment of the Altar basin. Cessation of major transtensional activity in the Altar basin is coincident with a regional westward shift of transtensional plate boundary deformation, preserving a record of the evolving Gulf of California shear zone in northwest Mexico.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to CONACYT, Mexico, for financial support through scholarships; to PEMEX Exploración y Producción for allowing the use of seismic data and to Halliburton/Landmark software and OpendTect for the use of their software through the University Grant Programmes to CICESE, Baja California, Mexico. We thank Scott E. K. Bennett and an anonymous reviewer whose comments/suggestions helped improve and clarify this manuscript. J. Stock was supported by US National Science Foundation grant EAR-1728690.

Funding

We are indebted to CONACYT, Mexico, for financial support through a Master’s scholarship. J. Stock was supported by US National Science Foundation grant EAR-1728690.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. División de Ciencias de la Tierra, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Baja California, México

    Jorge Antonio Puente Huerta & Mario González-Escobar

  2. Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jorge Antonio Puente Huerta

  3. Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Joann M. Stock

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  1. Jorge Antonio Puente Huerta
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data processing and analysis were performed by JP, and MG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JP, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mario González-Escobar.

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Huerta, J.A.P., González-Escobar, M. & Stock, J.M. Structure of the Northern Altar Pull-Apart Basin Revealed by a 2D Reflection Seismic Survey: Evolution of the Gulf of California Shear Zone in Northwest Mexico. Pure Appl. Geophys. 179, 3191–3216 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-022-03138-1

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