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Bahía de Banderas, Mexico: Morphology, Magnetic Anomalies and Shallow Structure

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Geodynamics of the Latin American Pacific Margin

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Abstract

The Bahía de Banderas lies within a tectonically complex area at the northern end of the Middle America Trench. The structure, morphology, subsurface geology and tectonic history of the bay are essential for unraveling the complex tectonic processes occurring in this area. With this focus, marine geophysical data (multi-beam bathymetry, high resolution seismic reflection and total field magnetic data) were collected within the bay and adjacent areas during four campaigns aboard the B.O. EL PUMA conducted in 2006 and 2009. These data image the detailed morphology of, and sedimentation patterns within, the Banderas Canyon (a prominent submarine canyon situated on the south side of the bay) as well as the shallow subsurface structure of the northern part of the bay and the submarine Marietas Ridge, which bounds the bay to the west. We find that the Marietas Ridge is presently a transtensional feature; the course of the Banderas Canyon is controlled by extensive turbidite fan sedimentation in its eastern extremity and by structural lineaments to the west; the canyon floor is filled by sediments and exhibits almost no evidence for recent tectonic movements; the southern canyon wall is quite steep and a few sediments are deposited as submarine fans at the base of the southern wall; and extensive turbidite fans form the lower part of the northern canyon wall, producing a gently sloping lower northern wall. We find no evidence for a regional east–west striking lineament between the bay and the Middle America Trench, which casts doubts on the previous assertion that the Banderas Canyon is unequivocally related to the presence of a regional half-graben. Finally, a N71°E oriented normal fault offsets the seafloor reflector by 15 m within the central part of the bay, suggesting that the bay is currently being subjected to NNW–SSE extension.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacan, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Carlos A. Mortera Gutiérrez, William L. Bandy & Daniel A. Pérez Calderón

  2. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacan, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Francisco Ponce Núñez

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  1. Carlos A. Mortera Gutiérrez
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  2. William L. Bandy
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  3. Francisco Ponce Núñez
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  4. Daniel A. Pérez Calderón
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Correspondence to Carlos A. Mortera Gutiérrez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geofísica Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    William L. Bandy

  2. Vatican City State Holy See, Italy

    Juanjo Dañobeitia

  3. Instituto de Geofisica Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, Mexico, Mexico

    Carlos Gutiérrez

  4. Volcanology Department, Institute of Geophysics, UNAM, 3000 Av. Universidad, 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Yuri Taran

  5. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar-CSIC, P. Marítimo de la, Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Rafael Bartolomé

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Mortera Gutiérrez, C.A., Bandy, W.L., Ponce Núñez, F., Pérez Calderón, D.A. (2016). Bahía de Banderas, Mexico: Morphology, Magnetic Anomalies and Shallow Structure. In: Bandy, W.L., Dañobeitia, J., Gutiérrez, C., Taran, Y., Bartolomé, R. (eds) Geodynamics of the Latin American Pacific Margin. Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51529-8_17

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