the fold test in palaeomagnetism summary the fold test suggested by mcelhinny is shown to be inappropriate more correctly one should determine whether the mean direction of a group of sites from one limb of a fold may be distinguished statistically from the mean direction of a group of sites from another limb details of the application of this test are given with examples it is shown that the test indicates significance under far less severe folding than does the test suggested by mcelhinny

error analysis for the determination of tectonic rotation from paleomagnetic data appendix b is available with entire article on microfiche order from american geophysical union 2000 florida avenue n w washington d c 20009 document b83 001 2 50 payment must accompany order recent determinations of tectonic rotation and flattening from paleomagnetic data have exaggerated the size of the confidence limits or error bars by about 25 this has been caused by the misuse of conventional error propagation formulas to derive one degree of freedom error bars from a two dimensional cone of confidence 95 an analytical calculation which is valid when error bars are small shows that the correct error bars are 75 to 80 of the values derived in previous studies i have used numerical integration to check on the applicability of the analytical solution and to calculate error bars when the analytical approximation cannot be used the analytical approximation may be used whenever 95 is less than 10 and the mean inclination is not too close to vertical confidence limits given for tectonic rotation and flattening in recent literature are too large and should be reduced by 20 25 narrowing the error bars in this way permits a more accurate interpretation of paleomagnetic data

fragment of the coast range ophiolite and the great valley sequence in the san juan islands washington the decatur terrane is a small allochthonous fragment of upper jurassic oceanic crust with an overlying blanket of upper jurassic lower cretaceous sedimentary rocks in the san juan islands the stratigraphy and petrotectonic elements are dissimilar to those of coeval sequences in the pacific northwest oregon washington and southern british columbia but are virtually identical to those of the coast range ophiolite and overlying great valley sequence south of san francisco california this stratigraphic correlation together with regional considerations suggests that the decatur terrane was detached and transported during cretaceous time the resultant displacement is in excess of 1000 km

formation of compound strike slip fault zones mount abbot quadrangle california abstract numerous strike slip fault zones in granitic rocks of the mount abbot quadrangle california developed from steeply dipping subparallel joints these joints generally were less than 50 m long and were spaced several centimeters to several meters apart some joints subsequently slipped and became small faults simple fault zones formed as oblique dilatant fractures splay fractures linked non coplanar faults side to side and end to end these simple fault zones are as much as 1 km long and accommodated displacements as great as 10 m compound fault zones formed as splay fractures linked small faults and simple fault zones they are as much as several kilometers long and accommodated displacements as great as 100 m these zones are distinctly different from riedel shear zones and the mechanics of their formation are unlikely to be described well by mohr coulomb mechanisms simple and compound fault zones are composed of non coplanar segments that join at steps or bends splay fracture length determines step widths the longest splay fractures occur along the longest fault zones allowing step widths to increase as the length and displacement across the zones increase these findings are consistent with the structure of some active seismogenic faults and they provide a mechanically consistent field based conceptual model for fault zones that grow in basement rocks from a preexisting set of joints

early mesozoic southward migration of cordilleran transpressional terranes oblique plate convergence can cause forearc arc and back arc regions of active margin orogenic belts to behave as semi independent terranes relative to bordering continental and oceanic lithospheric plates these terranes called here transpressional terranes are bound by the subduction zone on one side by arc parallel strike slip faults in the forearc in the volcanic arc or in the back arc region on the other and are underlain by throughgoing basal decollements these terranes undergo shortening in a direction perpendicular to the subduction zone and migrate as coherent structural bodies parallel to the subduction zone along bounding strike slip faults many terranes of the north american cordillera may have behaved in this manner and perhaps did not travel across the pacific basin but rather were always peripheral to north america we propose that during the triassic to mid cretaceous portions of the cordillera borderland generally were displaced southward with respect to the north american craton due to left oblique convergence since the mid cretaceous they moved northward due to right oblique subduction the proposed displacements are consistent with structural paleomagnetic and paleontologic data and with the relative and absolute motions of north america and the pacific basin plates based on hotspot reference frame models

tectonics of formation translation and dispersal of the coast range ophiolite of california data from the coast range ophiolite and its tectonic outliers in the northern california coast ranges suggest that the lower part of the ophiolite formed 169 to 163 ma in a forearc or back arc setting at equatorial latitudes beginning about 156 ma and continuing until 145 ma arc magmatism was superimposed on the ophiolite and concurrently a transform developed along the arc axis or in the back arc area rapid northward translation of this rifted active magmatic arc to middle latitudes culminated in its accretion to the california margin of north america at about 145 ma this late jurassic episode of translation arc magmatism and accretion coincided with the nevadan orogeny and a proposed major plate reorganization in the eastern pacific basin the high rate of poleward motion necessary to translate the coast range ophiolite to middle latitudes during this time implies that the ophiolite traveled north on a fast moving plate of the eastern pacific basin here termed plate x plate x probably was driven by a cryptic ridge east northeast of the pacific farallon izanagi ridge triple junction structural relations indicate that following late jurassic time parts of the coast range ophiolite were displaced from the west side of the great valley province and incorporated into the central belt of the franciscan complex along steep dipping to low angle reverse faults having dominant components of dextral shear a northwest trending eastern zone of these right laterally displaced outliers shows strong affinities to the main coast range ophiolite of the northwestern sacramento valley the elder creek terrane in that the outliers include ophiolitic breccias of oxfordian to kimmeridgian age a southwestern zone of outliers lacks ophiolitic breccia and instead includes latest oxfordian or kimmeridgian to tithonian arc derived volcanic rocks like those found in the del puerto and stanley mountain terranes of the main ophiolite whereas outliers of the northeastern outlier zone are right laterally displaced no more than 260 km from the western side of the sacramento valley outliers of the southwestern zone are displaced a minimum of 169 to 249 km this displacement occurred between about 60 and 52 ma ophiolitic rocks in the decatur terrane of western washington that have recently been correlated with the coast range ophiolite and the great valley sequence of california were apparently displaced at least 950 to 1200 km from the west side of the great valley between early tertiary and early cretaceous time derived rates of northward translation for the ophiolite outliers in california are in the range of 1 to 4 cm yr rates for the decatur terrane are in the range of 2 5 to 4 cm yr if translation was initiated 90 ma but as much as 11 9 to 15 cm yr if it was not initiated until 60 ma the lower rates for the decatur terrane are consistent with the rates derived for the california outliers and with the northward component of relative motion between the farallon and north american plates from 90 to 50 ma the higher rates require northward transport on the kula plate or on a fast moving microplate the higher translation rates derived for the decatur terrane are also consistent with paleomagnetically determined rates for some limestones of the central belt this may indicate that outliers of the coast range ophiolite dispersed in the central belt of the franciscan complex record only part of the total displacement which occurred along the late cretaceous to early tertiary western margin of north america

paleomagnetism and tectonic significance of albian and cenomanian turbidites ochoco basin mitchell inlier central oregon 1 understanding continental growth and convergent margin dynamics associated with terrane accretion and modification of the cordilleran margin of north america is prevented by conflicts in paleogeographic models for major terranes oceanic plates and the north american margin we present new paleomagnetic data suggesting that the blue mountains superterrane located at an inboard portion of the cordilleran margin has undergone substantial northward translation and clockwise rotation relative to north america since mid cretaceous time positive baked contact conglomerate and fold tests provide evidence that the magnetization of these rocks dates from their deposition these results yield a mean direction of d 10 8 i 58 5 k 127 95 4 1 and n 11 comparison of magnetic inclinations and magnetic fabrics shows no evidence for inclination error a paleolatitude of 39 2 4 8 4 3 n is obtained indicating a paleolatitude anomaly of 15 9 4 1 northward translation of 1760 460 km and cw rotation of 37 7 3 with respect to north america since circa 93 ma application of an ad hoc 5 inclination error yields translation of 1200 460 km through comparison with other units in the western cordillera we infer that the mitchell inlier was located adjacent to the sierra nevada arc during mid cretaceous time and that the blue mountains province may correlate with the intermontane superterrane in british columbia other interpretations such as large inclination errors or an independent displacement history for the mitchell inlier are possible but unlikely more work is needed to fully test these hypotheses and resolve major questions of cordilleran tectonics

exotic terranes of western california numerous distinct geological terranes compose the north american cordillera1 there may be as many as 50 terranes in california alone2 critical to deciphering the history of cordilleran tectonic assembly is an understanding of the displacement history of individual terranes it is therefore important to know 1 whether a terrane has undergone significant motion with respect to the stable craton that is whether it is allochthonous or exotic 2 if so when relative motion started and stopped 3 from where an individual terrane originated and 4 the nature of interterrane movements we consider here the problem of determining whether the now juxtaposed salinian and stanley mountain terranes of california became amalgamated at or near their present position with respect to cratonic north america or if they collided at a considerable distance from their present positions and were later accreted to north america as a composite package the palaeomagnetic data that we present indicate that the latter was the case

paleomagnetic evidence for poleward transport of upper jurassic rocks in the decatur terrane san juan islands washington the san juan islands are underlain by a west vergent late cretaceous thrust and nappe system part of a larger thrust belt exposed in the northwest cascades of washington and the southwestern coast mountains of british columbia published paleomagnetic data from cretaceous plutons for example the coast plutonic complex intruding the thrust belt suggest that it has been displaced northward by as much as 2400 km since 90 100 ma this study focuses on the preintrusive travel history of the decatur terrane one of the units involved in the san juan thrusting the decatur terrane is of special interest because it may be correlative with the coast range ophiolite cro and great valley sequence of the southern california coast ranges we report new paleomagnetic data from the james island formation an upper jurassic preintrusive turbidite unit and from the obstruction formation a terrigenous sandstone unit deposited on the decatur terrane in the late cretaceous nine sites in the obstruction formation yield a single remanence direction grand mean d 90 7 i 67 9 that is clearly a postfolding overprint possibly of late cretaceous age the six site mean remanence directions from the james island formation cluster well only after restoring the beds to horizontal by a scheme that takes account of their complex structure this positive fold test and the presence of two polarities provide evidence that the remanence is primary the mean paleolatitude corresponding to the corrected remanence direction from the james island formation is 0 9 2 the data thus corroborate equatorial paleolatitudes derived from parts of the cro by others and suggest that the decatur terrane and cro represent fragments of a larger terrane originally located near the jurassic equator unlike the cro however the decatur terrane was still near the equator at 145 ma if the plutons intruding the san juan north cascades thrust belt formed 2400 km to the south then the paleomagnetism of the decatur terrane suggests it moved 20 farther poleward in the interval 145 ma to 97 ma than did an equivalent site on north america a much smaller amount of pre late cretaceous motion is allowed by error limits on the paleolatitudes but more is required if tilting is partly responsible for the shallow paleomagnetism of the cretaceous plutons

major dextral transcurrent displacements along the northern rocky mountain trench and related lineaments in north central british columbia the northern rocky mountain trench and a number of other prominent lineaments along and east of the eastern margin of the intermontane belt mark faults along which dextral transcurrent movements have been dominant offsets of shelf to off shelf facies boundaries in lower paleozoic rocks indicate a cumulative displacement of at least 750 km and probably 900 km within the system of faults related to those in the northern rocky mountain and the tintina trenches farther west another system of faults appears to offset plutons and stratigraphic assemblages along the eastern margin of the intermontane belt by as much as 300 km these faults including the kutcho and the pinchi connect in part with the teslin suture zone in yukon territory and probably with the fraser river straight creek fault zone in southern british columbia although dextral transcurrent faulting may have taken place between the middle jurassic and early cenozoic the most convincing evidence points to middle cretaceous and particularly to early cenozoic eocene displacements the eocene movements were temporally related to plutonism volcanism lamprophyre dike emplacement high heat flow sedimentation in grabens and rapid uplift of northwesterly trending elongate ranges climactic episodes of granite emplacement particularly in and near the northern omineca crystalline belt at 100 m y 70 m y and 50 m y ago may have been facilitated by changes from dominantly compressional to dominantly transcurrent and related tensional strain

structural geology and accretionary history of the northwest cascades system washington and british columbia pre tertiary rock units on the western flank of the cascades in washington and southern british columbia constitute the northwest cascades system nwcs this litho tectonic package is characterized by predominantly oceanic lithologies subjected to high p t metamorphism and structurally mixed to form a regional melange although the focus of this report is on rocks of the nwcs as originally defined survey of the regional geology suggests broadening of the limits of this system to include the san juan islands the pacific rim complex and pre tertiary rocks on the western flank of the central and southern washington cascades the shuksan metamorphic suite a relatively coherent and broadly exposed unit of the nwcs contains a regionally consistent stretching lineation which provides evidence of east northeast directed underthrusting subduction during the early cretaceous blue schist metamorphism metamorphic f2 folds are approximately normal to the stretching lineation and appear to have developed late in the same deformational event the melange structure postdates the high pressure regional metamorphism it is characterized by a tectonic assemblage of diverse and unrelated rock units occurring as fragments as much as 10 or more kilometres in breadth and separated by a network of low to high angle north northwest striking faults pre fault restoration is impossible argillaceous or serpentinitic material commonly occurs in deformation zones between more competent lithologies mylonite zones as much as several metres thick are widely developed and display stretched clast lineations indicating a north northwest south southeast transport direction for both low and high angle faults the high angle faults are therefore strike slip in nature shear sense indicators are mixed in thrust fault zones but many indicate dextral movement for the strike slip faults k ar whole rock ages of mylonites range from 20 127 ma but two late cretaceous ages of 87 and 91 3 ma are considered as best representing the time of faulting the inferred shift in direction of tectonic transport from east northeast west southwest during early cretaceous metamorphism to north northwest south southeast during late cretaceous faulting and melange formation is correlated with a mid cretaceous change in plate interaction between the north american and farallon kula plates from high to low angle convergence the nwcs melange is interpreted to have formed during large dextral transform motion along the continental margin and to have reached final emplacement by thrusting against the southern end of wrangellia and the coast plutonic complex

remagnetization during cretaceous normal superchron in eastern san juan islands wa implications for tectonic history abstract the eastern san juan islands expose an island arc ophiolite sequence and one or more ocean floor terranes cover rocks of the former including red radiolarian tuff and arc derived sandstone have no penetrative fabric and lack high pressure minerals in contrast pillow basalts and ribbon cherts of the latter are strongly deformed and the overlying metagraywacke is folded with a penetrative axial plane cleavage all ocean floor rocks have aragonite in veins indicative of higher pressure conditions than experienced by the island arc rocks a downward magnetization is common to the ocean floor rocks consistent with widespread remagnetization during the cretaceous normal superchron this magnetization is carried by magnetite and in red rocks by hematite fluid flow during or after deformation and high p metamorphism likely facilitated remagnetization at low temperature the magnetic directions are somewhat scattered but most are moderately to steeply down to the southeast they are far from directions expected with or without northward transport of baja bc rotation of observed directions into agreement with those expected for either present or more southerly locations also rotate structural elements in the host rocks three alternative rotation histories explored here all produce structural reconstructions that differ considerably from the present structure a tectonic history of the eastern san juan islands based on any of these reconstructions would be superior to one based on present attitudes of structures this is because at least a constraint that the restored paleomagnetic directions match a paleomagnetic field direction is satisfied choices among alternative reconstructions would become clearer with better understanding of relative ages of specific structures and their magnetizations improved geologic understanding of the regional setting where the rocks could have been deformed and remagnetized would also help

paleomagnetic results for eocene volcanic rocks from northeastern washington and the tertiary tectonics of the pacific northwest the direction of remanent magnetization for 102 sites in eocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the o brien creek formation sanpoil volcanics and klondike mountain formation suggests approximately 25 of clockwise rotation of a 100 by 200 km area in northeastern washington the volcanic rocks consist chiefly of rhyodacite and quartz latite flows with intercalated ash flow tuff and volcaniclastic layers these rocks have been sampled at 102 sites distributed among five volcanotectonic depressions the toroda creek republic keller and first thought grabens and the spokane enterprise lineament the volcanic rocks probably range in age from 55 m y to about 48 m y and the 50 to 48 m y old volcanic rocks within this suite appear to be rotated as much as the older rocks previous investigators have shown that 40 m y old and younger plutonic rocks of northwestern washington are not rotated hence we infer that the north central washington rocks were rotated to their present declination between 48 and 40 m y b p during the middle and or late eocene during early eocene time this region was extended in a westward direction through crustal necking gneiss doming diking and graben formation internal deformation of the region related to this crustal extension was extreme but most bedrock units that were formed concurrent with the crustal extension were probably in place prior to the rotation hence we infer that the rotation was chiefly accommodated by movement on faults peripheral to the sampled area faults active during paleogene time appear to define boundaries of a triangular crustal block the sanpoil block encompassing much of northeastern washington northern idaho northwestern montana and adjacent parts of british columbia the faults include the laramide thrusts of the rocky mountain thrust belt the strike slip faults of the lewis and clark line and strike slip faults of the straight creek fraser zone we suggest that during early eocene time the sanpoil block was extended westward through crustal necking and dilation and then during the middle eocene was rotated clockwise and thrust over the craton in a final stage of laramide thrusting the motor driving these deformations presumably was interaction of north america with oceanic lithosphere off its western margin such interaction probably involved right oblique underthrusting and dextral shear

statistical significance of the fold test in palaeomagnetism summary the significance of the change in direction dispersion on applying the fold test in palaeomagnetism is used as the criterion for deciding whether or not the fold test has statistical significance a set of tables is compiled which can be used for quick application of the test

history of recurrent activity along a major fault in northeastern mexico mesozoic and tertiary faulting within a 280 km long west northwest trending zone in coahuila mexico is inferred from stratigraphic and structural evidence the fault forms the northern boundary of the late jurassic early cretaceous coahuila island uplift on the south during the jurassic and early cretaceous is indicated by a large detrital lithosome that formed on the northern side of the fault clast size within the early cretaceous part diminishes northward where the unit is divided into upper and lower parts by a limestone tongue these two early cretaceous detrital units plus two jurassic conglomerates at valle san marcos suggest episodic pre tertiary movement deformation of 242 2 m y old granites at valle san marcos also reflects several periods of pre tertiary movement uplift on the north along the same fault zone during the tertiary laramide raised permian and jurassic rocks into juxtaposition with cretaceous limestones extensive left lateral movement is neither proven nor precluded nevertheless because of the size orientation general location and times of movement of the fault we suggest that it may either be part of the megashear postulated by several authors for northern mexico or a splay of that megashear

paleomagnetic evidence for displacement from the south of the coast plutonic complex british columbia the mid cretaceous spuzzum and porteau plutons of the coast plutonic complex of british columbia have two magnetizations a and b the a magnetization eight sites 83 specimens d 30 3 i 56 7 95 4 9 paleolatitude 37 5 n paleopole 65 0 n 14 9 w a95 6 2 is considered to have been acquired in the age range 105 90 ma this result differs from the field established for cratonic north america in this time range the difference could be caused either by previously undetected tilting about a horizontal axis of the plutons or by their rotation about a vertical axis and lateral displacement relative to the craton previously observed mid cretaceous magnetizations from other rock units from the western canadian cordillera and the cascades of washington united states are similarly discordant with respect to the craton this similarity over such a large area indicates that although local undetected tilting could be partly responsible it is unlikely to be the prime cause and we argue ther

tectono stratigraphic evolution of eastern mexico during the break up of pangea a review abstract the lower jurassic cenomanian successions of mexico can be grouped into two different tectono stratigraphic systems that were developed under the influence of two distinct geodynamic processes 1 the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico which occupies the eastern two thirds of the country and was dominantly influenced by the break up of pangea and consequent opening of the atlantic ocean and 2 the mesozoic pacific system of mexico which is exposed along its western margin and was controlled by the subduction of the farallon plate beneath the pacific margin of north america the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico can be subdivided into two tectono stratigraphic subsystems representing the two main tectonic stages of the break up of pangea the early middle jurassic rift subsystem was developed during the initial stage of lithospheric attenuation of western equatorial pangea which is evidenced by the opening of a number of right lateral transtensional troughs that were opened according to the nw se regional extension imposed by north america south america divergence rift related troughs were progressively infilled by continental to marginal marine deposits and locally by volcanic lava flows that display a geochemical signature typical of supra subduction settings based on these characteristics the rift subsystem is interpreted in this work as a hybrid tectono stratigraphic domain that displays characteristics that are typical both of the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico and mesozoic pacific system of mexico reflecting the superposition of the atlantic and pacific tectonic processes during the initial phase of north america south america divergence by late callovian time most of intra continental extension in western equatorial pangea had occurred and was followed by anticlockwise rotation of the yucatan block to its present position and initial seafloor spreading in the gulf of mexico the opening of the gulf of mexico promoted the incursion of marine waters in eastern mexico and the onset of carbonate basins and platforms that make up the late jurassic cenomanian drift and cooling subsystem the lack of arc like igneous rocks in the drift and cooling subsystem suggests that by the late callovian the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico was developed independently of the tectonic processes related to subduction along the pacific margin according to our synthesis the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico represents a unique stratigraphic record that was developed at least in part under the combined influence of two main tectonic processes that are 1 the divergence between north america and south america and 2 the subduction of the farallon plate in light of this the mesozoic atlantic system of mexico can be considered a natural laboratory to explore the evolution of complex geodynamic settings related to the interaction of plate tectonic boundaries

stratigraphy depositional setting and tectonic significance of the clastic cover to the fidalgo ophiolite san juan islands washington the san juan islands of northwest washington state comprise a diverse assemblage of paleozoic and mesozoic terranes amalgamated during a regional cretaceous orogenic event detailed tectono stratigraphy of the sedimentary cover to the fidalgo complex indicates the presence of several stratigraphically distinct units which are described and formalized in this paper the fidalgo complex and its sedimentary cover are the structurally highest rocks in the san juan thrust system the fidalgo complex is a highly disrupted middle to upper jurassic ophiolite with arc related intrusives volcanics and sediments the trump unit is an informally named sequence of siliceous sediments volcanic graywacke and minor volcanics that occurs at the stratigraphically highest portion of the fidalgo complex complex facies lithologies and provenance indicate that deposition of this oxfordian to upper tithonian unit occurred in an arc proximal setting the upper tithonian and younger lummi group elevated here lies depos

synextensional pliocene pleistocene eruptive activity in the camargo volcanic field chihuahua mexico the camargo volcanic field is the largest mafic alkalic volcanic field in the mexican basin and range province and the relationship between volcanism and normal faulting is especially strong the camargo volcanic field lies in the northern part of the province midway between the sierra madre occidental and trans pecos texas it is formed by pliocene pleistocene 4 7 0 09 ma intraplate mafic alkalic volcanic rocks some of which contain peridotite pyroxenite and granulite xenoliths the volcanic field covers 3000 km2 and has an estimated volume of 120 km3 erupted from 300 recognized vents twenty six new 40ar 39ar age determinations for the camargo volcanic field and its environs show that volcanic activity began in the southwest part of the field and shifted toward the northeast at 15 mm yr the average magmatic eruption rate during growth of the field was 0 026 km3 k y the camargo volcanic field lies within an accommodation zone with west dipping faults and east tilted blocks to the north and east dipping faults and west tilted blocks to the south these faults are expressed in the volcanic field by a n30 w trending graben with scarps up to 100 m high through its central part volcanism and faulting were at least in part coeval and younger volcanic products commonly drape fault scarps that cut earlier lavas normal faulting is bracketed between 4 7 and 2 1 ma and may have also migrated northeastward estimated vertical slip rates on four pliocene faults range from 0 03 mm yr a likely long term rate to 1 67 mm yr interpreted as a short term rate operative during periods of active faulting northwest striking normal faults that cut alluvial fan deposits and pleistocene lavas in the northern camargo volcanic field and geomorphic evidence for recent uplift to the south of the volcanic field suggest that the region is still extending

framboidal pyrite early diagenetic late diagenetic and hydrothermal occurrences from the acton vale quarry cambro ordovician quebec

the distribution of fe mn ni cr and co between the acid soluble and fe oxides and hydroxides and matrix fractions of the gercus red beds of northeast iraq abstract twenty samples of the gercus middle eocene red marl and carbonate of northeast iraq have been analysed for their mn cr ni co and fe content in the hcl soluble and free fe oxide and hydroxide phases the greater bulk of hcl soluble mn is associated with carbonate minerals only trace amounts up to 120 ppm of mn are associated with free fe oxides and hydroxides hcl soluble cr ni and co varies between 12 and 67 68 and 529 and 14 and 41 ppm respectively these constitute 4 5 26 and 36 9 respectively of their total content in the samples good positive correlation was found between free fe oxides and hydroxides and the associated cr ni co and mn content cr ni and co was found to be enriched in the free fe oxides and hydroxides relative to their total content in the main matrix enrichment factors are in the order co 5 0 ni 3 5 cr 2 4 this together with the similar partition order of these elements in the hcl soluble phase is in agreement with the relative mobility of these elements during the weathering transportation and deposition regime of the sediments

paleogeographic evolution of early deep water gulf of mexico and margins jurassic to middle cretaceous comanchean the paleobathymetric configuration of the early gulf of mexico is inferred from 1 cretaceous carbonate shelf margins interpreted from seismic profiles and other stratigraphic data 2 distribution of jurassic and cretaceous platform and basinal facies and 3 hindcasting of subsidence history in the central basin substantial paleogeographic ambiguity results from uncertainty about 1 kinematics and timing of late triassic to jurassic extensional opening of the gulf basin which probably involved major strike slip faulting 2 the magnitude of subsequent compressive deformation on the western and southern basin margins and 3 possible accretion of allochthonous terranes the initial sub sea level topographic depression created by crustal extension is manifested by the distribution of callovian pre marine salt and oxfordian basinal marine facies late jurassic sea floor spreading split the main salt body and created a central deep water 1 km trough from the oxfordian to early neocomian ramp like platform margins generally underwent net retreat except in the northern gulf where major clastic progradation took place carbonate platform margins with sufficient paleorelief for geometric expression on seismic profiles developed early in the cretaceous these cretaceous carbonate margins exhibit a variety of architectural styles including 1 in the northwestern gulf two cycles of progradation coahuilan and comanchean terminated by drowning events 2 in the southwestern gulf a single cycle of progradation 3 continuous aggradation along the florida and campeche escarpments paleobathymetric relief across cretaceous carbonate margins ranges from high and steep to low relief to ramplike the close of comanchean drowning event greatly and permanently reduced the extent of circum gulf carbonate platforms and especially rimmed margins locations of cretaceous carbonate margins were influenced by basement hinge zones and paleohighs developed on attenuated continental crust by the distribution of salt and by clastic progradation eustacy is commonly invoked to explain behavior and architecture of carbonate margins in the gulf but other paleoenvironmental variables such as nutrient abundance are probably important as well

paleomagnetism and tectonics of the cretaceous mt stuart batholith of washington translation or tilt abstract the mt stuart batholith is a composite pluton of late cretaceous age that intrudes the crystalline north cascades terrane of northwestern washington its paleomagnetic direction d 10 0 i 45 5 95 4 9 is markedly different from the direction expected for cretaceous rocks from northwestern washington d 330 5 i 73 0 which means that the mt stuart batholith either has moved relative to the north american interior or has been tilted through a substantial angle or both since it acquired its magnetism either tilt or translation are possible geometrically but translation is more likely because 1 local geology apparently does not support tilt in the required direction 2 it probably is not possible for a panel of rock the size of the mt stuart batholith to tilt through the necessary angle ca 35 after its deeper parts have cooled sufficiently to retain remanent magnetization 3 the sense of paleomagnetic discordance found in the mt stuart batholith clockwise rotation of declination flattened inclination is identical to that found in nearly every other allochthonous terrane in the western north american cordillera including every other cretaceous batholith studied except the sierra nevada