Integrated Geophysical and Geological Investigation of the Transition Zone between the Colorado Plateau, Rio Grande Rift and Basin and Range Provinces: Arizona and New Mexico.

摘要

The area comprising southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona has experienced a complex tectonic history. In particular, the period of time from the late Cretaceous to the present has brought varying degrees of compression, magmatic activity, uplift and extension. Three major provinces that developed as a result of this tectonism are the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range and Rio Grande Rift. The Colorado Plateau is a region which is uplifted and relatively undeformed with respect to surrounding provinces. It is characterized by gently dipping strata that have undergone minor folding and warping, volcanism, and epeirogenic uplift during Cenozoic time. To the west, south and southeast, the Colorado Plateau is bounded by the Basin and Range and Rio Grande Rift extensional provinces. They have undergone extensive deformation and volcanic activity during the past 40 Ma, with signs of active tectonism continuing to the present.