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Active Deformation along the Southern End of the Tosco-Abreojos Fault System: New Insights from Multibeam Swath Bathymetry

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Abstract

The relative motion of the Pacific plate with respect to the North America plate is partitioned between transcurrent faults located along the western margin of Baja California and transform faults and spreading ridges in the Gulf of California. However, the amount of right lateral offset along the Baja California western margin is still debated. We revisited multibeam swath bathymetry data along the southern end of the Tosco-Abreojos fault system. In this area the depths are less than 1,000 m and allow a finer gridding at 60 m cell spacing. This improved resolution unveils several transcurrent right lateral faults offsetting the seafloor and canyons, which can be used as markers to quantify local offsets. The seafloor of the southern end of the Tosco-Abreojos fault system (south of 24°N) displays NW–SE elongated bathymetric highs and lows, suggesting a transtensional tectonic regime associated with the formation of pull-apart basins. In such an active tectonic context, submarine canyon networks are unstable. Using the deformation rate inferred from kinematic predictions and pull-apart geometry, we suggest a minimum age for the reorganization of the canyon network.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. We thank the crews of the R/V Marion Dufresne (MONA cruise, chief scientist Luc Beaufort), R/V Atalante (FAMEX cruise, chief scientist F. Michaud), and R/V Melville (OXMZ01MV cruise chief scientist Alexander VanGreen and MOCE05MV cruise chief scientist Dennis Clark). The two R/V Melville cruises are from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and data are available on NOAA web site. Thanks to Alexandre Dano for data processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géoazur, UPMC, UNS, CNRS, La Darse, B.P. 48, 06230, Villefranche sur mer, France

    François Michaud, Gueorgui Ratzov, Marc Sosson & Florence Bigot-Cormier

  2. Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 1039, 83000, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico

    Thierry Calmus

  3. Domaines Océaniques UMR 6538, IUEM, CNRS, Université de Brest, Place Copernic, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Jean-Yves Royer

  4. Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    William Bandy & Carlos Mortera Gutiérrez

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  1. François Michaud
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  2. Thierry Calmus
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  3. Gueorgui Ratzov
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  4. Jean-Yves Royer
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  7. William Bandy
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  8. Carlos Mortera Gutiérrez
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Correspondence to François Michaud.

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Michaud, F., Calmus, T., Ratzov, G. et al. Active Deformation along the Southern End of the Tosco-Abreojos Fault System: New Insights from Multibeam Swath Bathymetry. Pure Appl. Geophys. 168, 1363–1372 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-010-0193-y

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