The Northern Boundary of the Michoacan Block: As Inferred From Aeromagnetic Data

Abstract:

The western part of the Guerrero terrane is comprised of the Jalisco and Michoacan Blocks (Rosas-Elguera et al., 1996 and references therein), a fault-bounded crustal blocks at western of Mexico. The Michoacan block is bounded by the N-NE segment of the Rio Balsas in the east, and the Colima graben in the west, the Chapala-Oaxaca fault to the north, and the Middle America Trench to the south.

Northern boundary is formed with the Chapala-Oaxaca fault zone (Harrison y Johnson, 1985). The Cotija half-graben is the end-tip of this fault zone. A combined radiometric and paleomagnetic analyses in the Cotija half-graben were carried out (Rosas-Elguera, et al, 2003). Radiometric dates between 31.60 and 8.39 Ma confirm both the southern extension of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the early mafic Tans-Mexican Volcanic Belt succession at the northern part of the Michoacan block. Paleomagnetic data indicate a counterclockwise rotation of ~ 24° about a vertical axis for the Michoacan block.

The Michoacan-Guanajuato Volcanic Field forms an area of extensive monogenetic volcanism. This volcanic field contains more than 1000 eruptive centers distributed over an area of 40,000 Km2. The Chapala-Oaxaca fault zone separates the northern MGVF and the southern MGVF.

Hasenaka and Carmichael (1987) recognized three different petrologic associations in the MGVF: calc-alkaline rocks typical arc characteristic, K2O-rich alkaline rocks with relatively high MgO contents and TiO2-rich alkaline rocks with relatively low MgO contents.

We present the aeromagnetic results (after Consejo de Recursos Minerales, 1999) which suggest a clear relationship between the geologic features and the magnetic response.