Neogene Tectonic History of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California Revealed by Careful Pairing of Cosmogenic Sampling with Topographic Analysis

Abstract:

The Sierra San Pedro Mártir (SSPM), MX defines a prominent section of the Main Gulf Escarpment that marks the breakaway fault of the Gulf of California rift. The SSPM is an uplifted rift shoulder that has the highest topography and relief in Baja California, with local elevations exceeding 3,000 m and range relief (summit to baselevel) ranging from ~500 to 2,500 m. Prior studies report Eocene apatite fission track ages from the base of the escarpment and indicate low total exhumation, thus limiting the use of low-temperature thermochronology to constrain the timing and pattern of Neogene faulting of this important structure. However, topography is expected to record tectonic, climatic, and rock strength controls on long-term denudation rates in active margins, and morphometric analysis offers an alternative approach, particularly when combined with cosmogenic ¹⁰Be-derived, catchment-averaged denudation rates. Denudation rates and topographic metrics in the SSPM record along-strike gradients in rock uplift that increase asymmetrically from fault tips to a maximum within the northern half of the range. Surface uplift of an Eocene paleo-erosion surface and slope-break knickpoints found at increasingly higher elevations in northern segments of the SSPM fault system suggest that range asymmetry is due to a recent northward acceleration in rock uplift rate. By characterizing the relationship between channel steepness and ¹⁰Be-derived denudation rates, we extrapolate millennial-scale denudation rates to million-year time-scales to estimate ages for the transient increase in rock uplift rates as well as the initial onset of faulting. From this, we predict that the SSPM fault system initiated during the Middle Miocene (~16-14 Ma) in the center of the range and ~11-8 Ma ago near the fault tips. These age estimates are consistent with independent, regional geologic constraints and show that careful pairing of cosmogenic denudation rates with topographic analysis can be used to extract million-year scale tectonic signals from the topography. Applying this same approach to knickpoint locations shows an increase in rock uplift rate during the Late Pliocene (~3-2 Ma), perhaps in response to either a local transfer of strain from hanging wall detachments to the east or a regional increase in extension.