The Cabullona Basin of northeastern Sonora is a structural depocenter that was formed during Late Cretaceous time. The 2.5 km-thick sedimentary fill of this basin, the Cabullona Group, is composed in ascending order of the Corral de Enmedio formation, Camas Sandstone, Packard Shale, Lomas Coloradas formation, and, laterally equivalent to the last two units, El Cemento conglomerate. Abundant vertebrate and invertebrate as well as pollen identifications from these units indicate the Cabullona Group is of middle Santonian to Maastrichtian age. The Corral de Enmedio formation represents shallow lacustrine deposits. Lithofacies of the Camas and Lomas Coloradas formations indicate they were deposited by braided- and meandering-fluvial systems, whereas the eight members of the Packard Shale represent complex fluvio-deltaic-and-lacustrine systems. The El Cemento conglomerate is a thick clastic wedge of coarse-grained alluvial deposits that was deposited adjacent to the structural margin of the basin. Clast composition and paleocurrent directions of the El Cemento conglomerate indicate it was derived from strata of the nearby uplift of the Sierra Anibacachi-Cerro Cabullona. The low-angle, southwest directed Cabullona thrust fault that separates the uplift from the basin formed the structural margin of the basin. The tectono-sedimentary history of the Cabullona Group, its age and regional tectonic setting support the idea that this basin was formed because of typical Laramide-style deformation and indicates that the Rocky Mountain foreland province of Laramide deformation extended southward to northeastern Sonora.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/186846 |
Date | January 1994 |
Creators | González-León, Carlos Manuel. |
Contributors | Schreiber, Joseph, Jr., Ortega-Gutierrez, Fernando, Lawton, Tim F., Flessa, Karl W. |
Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
Source Sets | University of Arizona |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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