Revisión estratigráfica de Punta Coyote (Baja California Sur, México) e implicaciones para el volcanismo de la Sierra Madre Occidental y el arco Comondú

Abstract

We present new stratigraphic evidence for a migration of the Upper Volcanic Supergroup that formed the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) volcanic arc in northwestern Mexico during the Oligocene-Miocene. Particularly we discuss the transition from the frontal arc to the Comondú volcanic arc in Punta Coyote, Baja California Peninsula. This information complements the knowledge of the stratigraphic evolution of the Oligocene-Miocene volcanic arc in Baja California and its correlation with the Upper Volcanic Supergroup of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. We present new stratigraphic and sedimentologic data of the volcanosedimentary succession of the lower unit of the Comondú group near of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, in Punta Coyote. Facies analysis and new 40Ar/39Ar dating allowed to interpret the sedimentary environment and evolution of volcanic pulses in the lower unit of the Comondú group in Punta Coyote. The study area was part of the forearc basin westward to the SMO volcanic arc during the Oligocene to early Miocene. The sedimentary environment of the lower unit of the Comondú group was initially a braided river system that prograded to an alluvial fan environment and three tuffs units: Los Azabaches tuff (30.6 ± 0.4 Ma), La Capilla and El Oro tuffs (22.0 ± 0.4 Ma). The succession studied provides new stratigraphic information related to the evolution of the Oligocene-Miocene volcanic arc in the Baja California Peninsula and its correlation with the Upper Volcanic Supergroup of the SMO in northwestern Mexico.