Provenance of modern sands from Baja California rivers (Mexico): petrographic constraints from light and heavy minerals
Authors: Le Pera Emilia , Tangari Anna Chiara , Marinangeli Lucia , Morrone Consuele , Riber Lars , Andò Sergio 
Published: October 2023

We used high-resolution petrographic and dense-mineral data on modern sand to investigate erosion patterns of the El Rosario, San Fernando, and San Vicente river basins of Baja California (Mexico) to better understand the interrelationships between a complex magmatic arc terrane and surface processes. Modern sand composition of these three rivers reflects the nature of the source region, which lies in the central part of the Alisitos arc (Peninsular Ranges, Baja California, Mexico). The sand detrital modes correspond well with the main structural units drained by the El Rosario, San Fernando, and San Vicente rivers: 1) the Early Cretaceous oceanic arc of the Alisitos Group, 2) the Paleozoic to Mesozoic continental-margin metasedimentary rocks, 3) the Cretaceous plutons, 4) the Upper Cretaceous to Tertiary sedimentary rocks, and 5) the Tertiary volcanics. The modern sand of the San Vicente, San Fernando, and El Rosario rivers is fed chiefly from erosion of a magmatic arc and consists mostly of minor feldspatho-lithic (Fl) to quartzo-litho-feldspathic (qFL) sand and dominant quartzo-feldspatho-lithic (qLF) and litho-feldspatho-quartzose (lQF) sand. Framework petrography also suggests a progressive increase in quartz, K-feldspar, sedimentary and metamorphic lithic fragments, and a decrease in volcanic lithic fragments. Sand, in the Lv field, microlitic (Lvmi), felsitic (Lvf) and lathwork (Lvl) types, and trace amounts of vitric grains (Lvv), such as pumice particles. The andesitic volcanic province of the Alisitos arc sheds quartz-poor sand containing mainly microlitic lithic fragments and plagioclase, whereas sand derived from more felsic rhyolites and rhyodacitic and trachyandesitic products contains largely felsitic volcanic lithics and minor lathwork lithics are mainly derived from subordinate basalts. The abundance of intrusive rock fragments and volcanic and sedimentary lithics of the sampled river sands faithfully represents the relative abundance of a heterogeneous bedrock exposure consisting of sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks, as well as volcanic, plutonic, and medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks in each drainage basin. Transparent heavy-mineral assemblages including major amounts of amphibole, pyroxene, epidote, titanite, zircon, and minor amounts of staurolite, rutile, actinolite, tourmaline, garnet, kyanite, andalusite, sillimanite, and apatite are in good agreement with a mixed provenance characterized mainly by magmatic, primarily volcanic (andesite, rhyolite, and basalt) and secondarily plutonic (granitoid rocks) and metamorphic source rocks. Some labile species such as hornblende and pyroxene grains show mainly corroded to etched morphologies due to dissolution processes and by chemical weathering processes occurring in a paleo and current semiarid climate. The Zircon+Tourmaline+Rutile index of the heavy-mineral modes, coupled with their subrounded to rounded grain surface texture, indicates recycling from the sedimentary source rocks. Heavy-mineral abundance and weathering textures in the San Fernando and San Vincente river sands match predominantly volcanic bedrock lithologies, while the El Rosario river sands match sedimentary and metasedimentary source rocks.