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Geology
Latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic southern margin of North America and the
accretion of Mexico
John H. Stewart
Geology 1988;16;186-189
doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<0186:LPAPSM>2.3.CO;2

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Latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic southern margin

of North America and the accretion of Mexico
John H. Stewart
U.S. Geological Survey, M.S. 901, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025

ABSTRACT
The latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic southern margin of the
North American continent is interpreted to have been located in what
is n o w northern Mexico. The interpretation is based on (1) the convergence across northern Mexico of the Cordilleran geosynclinal belt
on the west toward the Ouachita geosynclinal belt on the east, and
(2) the lack of North American uppermost Proterozoic and Paleozoic
shelf and cratonal platform rocks south of lat 28 in Mexico. Complex
rifting in the latest Proterozoic to Cambrian is interpreted to have
formed the southern margin and may have produced microcontinental
blocks n o w represented by Precambrian crystalline basement rocks in
eastern Mexico and possibly elsewhere in the Caribbean region.
Precambrian crystalline rocks, associated Paleozoic sedimentary
rocks, and perhaps far-traveled exotic terranes were accreted to
North America in the late Paleozoic, and perhaps Triassic, and
formed the nucleus of Mexico.

INTRODUCTION
In recent years speculation has increased that the southern margin of
the North American continent extended across northern Mexico during
latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic time (Ross, 1976; Stewart, 1976, 1981;
Peiffer-Rangin, 1979; Stevens, 1982; Palmer et al., 1984; AlmazanVazquez et al., 1986). In this article I review information on the location of
this proposed margin, explain seemingly anomalous Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks south of the proposed margin, and describe the tectonic
development of the southern margin of North America and the accretion
of Mexico.
L O C A T I O N O F THE S O U T H E R N M A R G I N
The boundary between shallow-water miogeosynclinal and cratonal
platform carbonate-siliciclastic rocks and fringing eugeosynclinal sequences of deep-water siliceous and detrital rocks defines the latest
Proterozoic and Paleozoic continental margin of North America. This
boundary (Fig. IB), modified by thrusting, trends east in the Cordilleran
geosynclinal belt of northwest Mexico and has an irregular but generally
southwest trend in the Ouachita geosynclinal belt of the southern United
States. The convergence of these two belts toward one another has led to
the speculation that they join in a region of few outcrops of Paleozoic
rocks in northern Mexico. This hypothesis is supported by facies and
thickness trends of Paleozoic rocks that extend generally east across the
southern and southwestern United States and northern Mexico (Stevens,
1982; Palmer et al., 1984; Almazan-Vasquez et al., 1986) and by southerly
Late Proterozoic and Cambrian paleocurrents that suggest a flow outward
from the North American platform toward a southern shelf (Stewart et a l ,
1984, Fig. 14). The hypothesis is also supported by the widespread distribution of uppermost Proterozoic and Paleozoic shallow-water shelf rocks
(Fig. 1 A, IB) in the United States and northern Mexico as far south as lat
28, and the lack of any shallow-water rocks that can be tied with assurance to the North American shelf south of this latitude (Stewart, 1981).
Speculation on the location of the southern margin of North America
is interrelated with the problem of the amount, if any, of Mesozoic or
186

younger tectonic dislocations in northern Mexico. In particular, 700 to 800

km of Jurassic displacement on the left-lateral Mojave-Sonora megashear
(Fig. 1) has been proposed by Silver and Anderson (1974) and Anderson
and Schmidt (1983). This interpretation is based on an apparent disruption
in northwest Mexico of Precambrian crystalline basement rocks and the
seemingly identical disruption of unconformably overlying uppermost
Proterozoic and Paleozoic Cordilleran geosynclinal rocks (Fig. 1A, IB).
The megashear is an important boundary between different types of rocks
and structures in northern Mexico (Fig. 1) and, as such, may represent a
zone of significant lateral movement. O n the other hand, the alignment of
the Cordilleran and Ouachita belts (Fig. 1) may argue against such movements. In any case, tectonic dislocations in northern Mexico are poorly
understood, and significant disruptions in the relative positions of rocks
and structures shown in Figure 1 are possible.
PRECAMBRIAN A N D PALEOZOIC ROCKS SOUTH
O F THE P R O P O S E D M A R G I N
Precambrian crystalline basement rocks and Paleozoic sedimentary
and metamorphic rocks crop out, or have been penetrated in drill holes, at
scattered localities in Mexico south of the proposed southern margin of
latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic North America (Fig. 1A, IB, 1C). Some
geologists have proposed that the Ouachita belt turns south in northeast
Mexico (Anderson and Schmidt, 1983; Handschy et al., 1987) and that the
Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks in Mexico form a southward-extending
prong of the North American continent (Guzman and D e Cserna, 1963;
Shurbet and Cebull, 1987). Such relation, if true, would be in conflict with
the concepts presented here.
The most important locality south of the proposed margin is the
Huizachal-Peregrina area in eastern Mexico (Fig. IB) where Precambrian
Grenvillian basement rocks and Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian sedimentary rocks crop out (Carrillo-Bravo,

Figure 1. Surface and subsurface distribution of Precambrian to

Triassic rocks, southern United States and central and northern Mexico. MC = Mexico City; MSM = Mojave-Sonora megashear; CA = California; MX = Mexico; SA = San Andreas fault system; TX = Texas; US =
United States. Symbols queried where facies assignments or ages are
uncertain. Blank areas are no-data regions. A: Precambrian crystalline
rocks. HP = Huizachal-Peregrina anticlinorium; HU = Huayacocotla anticlinorium. Based mainly on Condie (1981), Anderson and Silver
(1979), and Bickford et al. (1986). B: Uppermost Proterozoic to Lower
Mississippian. HP = Huizachal-Peregrina anticlinorium; M = Marathon
region; OB = Ouachita belt; TA = transcontinental arch. Based on many
sources, including Gastil and Miller (1984), Stewart et al. (1984), Flawn
et al. (1961), and Lopez-Ramos (1981,1982). C: Upper Mississippian to
Middle Triassic. OB = Ouachita belt; PB = Pedregosa basin; S = serpentinite; V = volcanic rock. Based on many sources, including Gastil and
Miller (1984), Lopez-Ramos (1972, 1981, 1982), Mellor and Breyer
(1981), and Handschy et al. (1987). D: Upper Triassic. Based on
many sources, including Belcher (1979) and Lopez-Ramos (1972,
1981,1982).
GEOLOGY, v. 16, p. 186-189, February 1988

EXPLANATION

EXPLANATION

Upper Paleozoic or Triassic (?) thrust fault D a s h e d w h e r e

Mesozoic or Cenozoic strike-slip f a u l t A r r o w s s h o w

inferred. S a w t e e t h on upper plate

relative m o v e m e n t

Mesozoic or Cenozoic strike-slip f a u l t A r r o w s s h o w

A g e , in M a

relative m o v e m e n t

1700-1800

^/'.yvj Cratonal platform

1550-1770
1340-1400

''.'.''*.

Cordilleran miogeosynclinal belt

750-1200

li^^l

Siliceous and detrital (eugeosynclinal) assemblages

EXPLANATION

EXPLANATION
. Upper Paleozoic or Triassic (?) thrust fault D a s h e d w h e r e
inferred. S a w t e e t h on upper plate
Mesozoic or Cenozoic strike-slip f a u l t A r r o w s s h o w
relative m o v e m e n t

Mesozoic or Cenozoic strike-slip f a u l t A r r o w s s h o w

relative m o v e m e n t
Chinle Formation and D o c k u m Group
l.'-.iy.j Coarse rift-basin deposits

Cratonal platform
j ^ j j Marine sedimentary rocks
Cordilleran miogeosynclinal belt
I'-'-V^l Granitoid rocks
Thick flysch sequences; little chert
Thin flysch sequences; c o m m o n to abundant chert
Turbidite sequence of Pedregosa basin
Upper Paleozoic m e t a m o r p h i c rocks, including interior
z o n e of Ouachita belt
Granitoid rocks

GEOLOGY, February 1988

187

Downloaded from geology.gsapubs.org on May 22, 2013

1961). These rocks have been correlated (Flawn et al., 1961; CarrilloBravo, 1961) with Paleozoic rocks of the Marathon region of southwest
Texas, and this correlation has been given as evidence that the Ouachita
geosynclinal belt extends southward into northeast Mexico (Flawn et al.,
1961; Carrillo-Bravo, 1961). This correlation, however, seems unlikely
because the lower Paleozoic sedimentary sequence there does not closely
resemble that of the Marathon region. In particular, Silurian and Devonian
strata consist of gravity-flow deposits with a transported shallow-water
fauna, unlike any rocks in the Marathon region. In addition, rocks in the
Huizachal-Peregrina area that were previously reported as Devonian novaculite, a distinctive unit in the Ouachita geosynclinal belt, are now
identified as volcanic rocks of unknown age (Gursky and RamirezRamirez, 1986).
Farther south, Precambrian crystalline basement and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks occur in the subsurface of eastern Mexico (Lopez-Ramos,
1972), in the Huayacocotla anticlinorium, and in Oaxaca in southern
Mexico (south of the area of Fig. 1). The only Paleozoic shallow-water
rocks in this region that could conceivably be considered to be a piece of
the North American shelf occur in Oaxaca (Pantoja-Alor and Robison,
1967). Here, however, the stratigraphic sequence is unlike that of the
North American shelf, and Cambrian trilobite faunas in this sequence have
their greatest affinities to faunas in Argentina (Robison and Pantoja-Alor,
1968).
TECTONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN
MARGIN OF NORTH AMERICA
Latest Proterozoic to Early Mississippian
The latest Proterozoic and Paleozoic southern margin of North
America is interpreted to have formed either during a single Late Proterozoic rifting event (Keller and Cebull, 1973; Stewart, 1976) or during two
stages of rifting, one in the late Precambrian and one in the Cambrian
(Lowe, 1985). In the latter interpretation, microcontinental blocks separated from North America during the Cambrian, migrated away from
North America, and in their wake produced basins in which the rocks of
the Ouachita belt were deposited. Subsequent to the rifting event (or
events), the margin remained generally tectonically passive into the
Mississippian.
This passive margin in northwest Mexico is a continuation of the
Cordilleran belt of western North America and is characterized by an
outward-thickening sequence of shallow-water shelf deposits of the miogeosynclinal belt (Stewart et al., 1984) and offshelf deep-water siliceous
and detrital rocks of the eugeosynclinal belt (Poole and Madrid, 1986).
Deposition of these sequences was interrupted in Nevada by a major
convergent event (Antler orogeny) in latest Devonian and Mississippian
time, but no rocks or structures related to this event have yet been recognized in northwest Mexico.
The Ouachita belt contrasts with the Cordilleran belt because it lacks
an outward-thickening miogeosynclinal sequence. In the Ouachita belt,
thin cratonal platform rocks extend southward to the thrust contact with
the tectonically overlying siliceous and detrital (eugeosynclinal) rocks on
the south (Flawn et al., 1961; Nicholas and Rozendal, 1975; Greenwood
et al., 1977). Miogeosynclinal sequences comparable to the Cordilleran
belt may exist at depth south of the thrust contact (Lillie et al., 1983;
Palmer et al., 1984), but the thickness and distribution of these rocks
cannot be determined with available information.
Late Mississippian to Middle Triassic
During the late Paleozoic, the southern margin of North America
became tectonically active. Flysch sequences (Fig. 1C) as thick as 10 km
were deposited in the Ouachita belt and emplaced in a major allochthon
over coeval shelf carbonate rocks (Flawn et al., 1961) during the enchroachment and final collision of South America and North America
during the late Paleozoic Ouachita orogeny. A widespread allochthon of
188

upper Paleozoic metamorphic rocks (interior zone of the Ouachita belt)

was also emplaced during this time. In northeastern and eastern Mexico,
thinner and finer grained sequences of upper Paleozoic flysch (LopezRamos, 1981,1982), as well as upper Paleozoic metamorphic rocks (Garrison et al., 1980; Handschy et al., 1987), serpentinite (Carrillo-Bravo,
1961), volcanic rocks (Lopez-Ramos, 1981, 1982), and poorly dated
Permian to Triassic granitic rocks (Lopez-Ramos, 1972; Handschy et al.,
1987) occur in scattered outcrops and in the subsurface. Rocks in northeast Mexico, north of the Mojave-Sonora megashear, were considered by
Handschy et al. (1987) to be a composite terrane composed of late Paleozoic voclanic-arc rocks and exotic continental crust, accreted to North
America during the Ouachita orogeny.
In north-central Mexico, upper Paleozoic turbiditic rocks are exposed
in the Pedregosa basin (Mellor and Breyer, 1981; Greenwood et al., 1977),
but these rocks depositionally overlie lower Paleozoic carbonate shelf
rocks, in contrast to the Ouachita belt where similar rocks depositionally
overlie siliceous and detrital offshelf rocks. Armin (1987) ascribed the
southern Pedregosa basin to Early Permian downflexure under northwardmoving thrust sheets during the Ouachita orogeny in north-central
Mexico.
In northwest Mexico, upper Paleozoic turbiditic sequences also overlie lower Paleozoic eugeosynclinal rocks (Poole and Madrid, 1986) similar
to the stratigraphic relations in the Ouachita belt, although the turbiditic
sequences are much thinner in northwest Mexico than in the Ouachita
belt. Deformation in northwest Mexico occurred between the midPermian and the Late Triassic and resulted in the emplacement of a major
allochthon of Paleozoic eugeosynclinal and turbiditic rocks over Paleozoic
carbonate shelf rocks (R. Amaya and T. Calmus, 1987, oral commun.).
A paleogeographic continuity from North America across Mexico to
South America resulted from late Paleozoic tectonic events. This continuity is evident fron the similarity of upper Paleozoic faunas between and
in the two continents (Ross, 1979; Stevens, 1982; Anderson and Schmidt,
1983).
Late Triassic
By Late Triassic time the assembly of much of Mexico may have
been complete. In northeast Mexico, assembly of accreted terranes apparently was complete by Early Permian time when the thrust systems of the
Marathon region stopped moving and definitely before emplacement of
Triassic plutons in northeast Mexico (Handschy et al., 1987). In northwestern Mexico, Upper Triassic rocks that rest unconformably on
allochthonous eugeosynclinal terranes contain coarse, locally derived detritus from North American shelf rocks, indicating the juxtaposition of the
accreted rocks and North America by Late Triassic time. These and other
Upper Triassic rocks in northern Mexico appear to have accumulated in
rift basins (Belcher, 1979; Stewart and Roldn, 1986) suprajacent to the
accreted terranes.
TECTONIC MODEL
The model presented here is an attempt to integrate various ideas
concerning the geologic development of the North American continent
and Mexico, and it incorporates the idea that the Late Proterozoic and
early and middle Paleozoic southern margin of North America extended
across northern Mexico. If the margin was there, most of Mexico has been
accreted to the North American continent during or since late Paleozoic
time.
The southern margin of North America, as interpreted here, was
developed by Late Proterozoic and Cambrian rifting that may have taken
place in two stages (Lowe, 1985). During the second stage, small microcontinental blocks may have rifted from North America and form what
are now Precambrian basement terranes in eastern Mexico (Fig. 1A) and
perhaps elsewhere in the Caribbean region. Little is known of the history
of these blocks; some may have remained close to North America, others
GEOLOGY, February 1988

may have traveled far from North America, and still others may have been
derived from other continents. Whatever their origin, these blocks were
assembled and attached to North America, or enmeshed in the collision
zone between North America and South America during the late Paleozoic, and perhaps the Early and Middle Triassic. Orogenic activity that led
to this assembly occurred from Mississippian to Permian time in the Ouachita belt in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico and from
Permian to perhaps Triassic time in north-central and northwest Mexico.
Assembly of the various blocks may have been complete by Late Triassic
time when rift basins formed in the tectonically weak belt that was the site
of the late Paleozoic and perhaps Triassic accretion (Stewart and Roldn,
1986). This same zone of weakness corresponds in part to the site of the
proposed large-scale left-lateral displacement along the Jurassic MojaveSonora megashear.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank R. Amaya-Martinez, T. H. Anderson, T. Calmus, M. F. Campa,
R. Dyer, C. Gonzales-Leon, Gordon Gastil, P. C. Goodell, H. J. Gursky, A. E. Guzman, N. W. Jones, K. B. Ketner, R. J. Madrid, J. W. McKee, I. Minjarez-Sosa,
J. M. Morales-Ramirez, F. G. Poole, C. Ramirez-Ramirez, J. Roldin, G. Salas, and
L. T. Silver for their help in my geologic studies; C. Carter, R. C. Douglass, J. T.
Dutro, Jr., A. G. Harris, B. Murchey, A. R. Palmer, J. E. Repetski, R. J. Ross, Jr.,
and B. R. Wardlaw for their paleontologic help; and J. E. Case, W. R. Muehlberger,
R. A. Robison, and Paul Stone for helpful reviews of the manuscript.
Manuscript received August 10,1987
Revised manuscript received October 26,1987
Manuscript accepted November 4, 1987

Printed in U.S.A.

189