Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T05:32:48.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geochemical Characterization of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Tephra Layers from the Basin of Mexico, Central Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Beatriz Ortega-Guerrero  and
Anthony J. Newton
Beatriz Ortega-Guerrero
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geofı́sica, UNAM. Cd. Universitaria, 04510, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Anthony J. Newton
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, Scotland, United Kingdom
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In order to aid palaeoenvironmental research of Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of central Mexico, tephra layers collected from the sediments of the Texcoco and Chalco sub-basins, in the southern part of the Basin of Mexico, are geochemically characterized and used as stratigraphic markers. The tephra layers range in composition from basaltic andesites to rhyolites and are calc-alkaline. The tephras range in age from >34,000 to ca. 260014C yr B.P. New names are used informally to designate correlated tephras. The Tlahuac tephra is present in Chalco, at a depth of 18 m; in the southeastern part of Texcoco, at a depth of around 10 m; and at the Tlapacoya archaeological site, where it had been mistakenly described as basaltic. This basalt–andesite tephra is dated to at least 34,00014C yr B.P. The Tlapacoya 1 tephra is dated to between 15,020 ± 450 and 14,430 ± 190 yr B.P. and is present in all Chalco sections. The Tlapacoya 2 tephra corresponds to the previously described “pomez gruesa con fragmentos de andesita” (ca. 14,400 yr B.P.) and is present in all Chalco and Texcoco sections. The likely source of these three tephras is the volcano Popocatepetl. Tephra II at Chalco dates to 12,520 ± 135 yr B.P. and correlates with the Upper Toluca Pumice from Nevado de Toluca volcano. These represent the first geochemical glass-shard analysis of tephras from the Basin of Mexico, and so further research is necessary before a reliable tephrochronology can be established.

Keywords

tephrochronology, Basin of Mexico, glass-shard geochemistry
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , July 1998 , pp. 90 - 106
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnold, J.R., and Libby, W.F. (1951). Radiocarbon data. Science 113, 111–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, K. (1975). A late-Quaternary monogenetic volcano field in central Mexico. Geologischen Rundschau 64, 476–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, K., and Valastro, S. (1974). Late Pleistocene eruptive history of Nevado de Toluca volcano, central Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin 85, 901–906.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, K., and Valastro, S. (1977). Late Quaternary tephrochronology of Nevado de Toluca volcano, central Mexico. Overseas Geology and Mineral Resources 46, 1–15.Google Scholar
Bradbury, J.P. (1989). Late Quaternary lacustrine paleoenvironments in the Cuenca de Mexico. Quaternary Science Reviews 8, 75–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordova, F.A.C., Martin del Pozzo, A.L., and López-Camacho, J. (1994). Palaeolandforms and volcanic impact on the environment of prehistoric Cuicuilco, Southern Mexico City. Journal of Archaeological Science 21, 585–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., Larsen, G., Newton, A.J., and Sugden, D.E. (1992). Geochemical stability of fine-grained silicic Holocene tephras in Iceland and Scotland. Journal of Quaternary Science 7, 173–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugmore, A.J., Larsen, G., and Newton, A.J. (1995). Seven tephra isochrones in Scotland. The Holocene 5, 257–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, G.J., and Libby, W.F. (1963). UCLA radiocarbon dates II. Radiocarbon 5, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fries, C. (1960). Geologı́a del Estado de Morelos y de partes adyacentes de México y Guerrero, región centromeridional de México. Boletin Instituto de Geologı́a 60, 1–236.Google Scholar
Garcı́a Bárcena, J. (1986). Algunos aspectos cronológicos. Tlapacoya: 35,000 años de Historia en el Lago de Chalco, Colección Cientı́fica Instituto Nacional de Antropologı́a e Historia, p. 219–224Google Scholar
González Quintero, L., and Fuentes Mata, M. (1980). El Holoceno de la porción central de la Cuenca del Valle de México. III coloquio de Paleobotánica y Palinologı́a, Memorias Instituto Nacional de Antropologı́a e Historia, p. 113–132Google Scholar
Hasenaka, T., and Carmichael, I.S.E. (1987). The cinder cones of Michoacan-Guanajuato, Central Mexico: Petrology and Chemistry. Journal of Geology 28, 241–269.Google Scholar
Hunt, J., and Hill, P.G. (1993). Tephra geochemistry: a discussion of some persistent analytical problems. The Holocene 3, 271–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irvine, T.N., and Baragar, W.R.A. (1971). A guide to the chemical classification of the common volcanic rocks. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 8, 523–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirianov, V., Kiloskov, A., De La Cruz, S., and Martin, A.L. (1990). The major stages of manifestation of recent volcanism in the Chichinautzin zone. URSS Academy of Sciences—Geology 311, 430–434.Google Scholar
Kittleman, L.R. (1979). Tephrochronology by microprobe glass analysis.Sheets, P.D., Grayson, D.K. Volcanic Activity and Human Ecology Academic Press, London.49–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, W. (1986). Descripcion preliminar de los estratos de tefra en Tlapacoya I.Lorenzo, J.L., Mirambel, L. Tlapacoya: 35,000 años de Historia en el Lago de Chalco, Coleccion Cientı́fica Instituto Nacional de Antropologı́a e Historia, 77–100.Google Scholar
Larsen, G. (1981). Tephrochronology by microprobe glass analysis.Self, S., Sparks, R.S.J. Tephra Studies Reidel, Dordrecht.95–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Maitre, R.W. (1989). A Classification of Igneous Rocks and Glossary of Terms. Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Limbrey, S. (1986). Análisis de los suelos y sedimentos.Lorenzo, J.L., Mirambel, L. Tlapacoya: 35,000 años de Historia en el Lago de Chalco, Coleccion Cientı́fica Instituto Nacional de Antropologı́a e Historia, 67–76.Google Scholar
Lozano Garcı́a, M.S., Ortega Guerrero, B., Caballero Miranda, M., and Urrutia Fucugauchi, J. (1993). Late Pleistocene and Holocene paleoenvironments of Chalco Lake, central Mexico. Quaternary Research 40, 332–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lozano Garcı́a, M.S., and Ortega Guerrero, B. (1998). Late Quaternary environmental changes of the central part of the Basin of Mexico; correlation between Texcoco and Chalco basins. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 99, 77–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin del Pozzo, A.L. (1982). Monogenetic vulcanism in Sierra Chichinautzin, México. Bulletin Volcanologique 45, 9–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin del Pozzo, A.L. (1990). Paleomagnetismo y geoquimica de Sierra Chichinautzin. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de MéxicoFacultad de Ciencias, Google Scholar
Mirambell, L. (1978). Tlapacoya: a late Pleistocene site in central Mexico.Bryan, A.L. Early Man in America, from a Circum-Pacific Perspective University of AlbertaDepartment of Anthropology, Google Scholar
Mooser, F. (1967). Tefracronologia de la Cuenca de México para los ultimos treinta mil años. Boletı́n 30, 12–15.Google Scholar
Mooser, F., Nairn, A.E.M., and Negendank, J.F.W. (1974). Palaeomagnetic investigations of the Tertiary and Quaternary igneous rocks: VIII A palaeomagnetic and petrologic study of volcanics of the Valley of Mexico. Geologischen Rundschau 63, 451–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newton, A. J., Metcalfe, S. E. Tephrochronology of the Toluca Basin. central Mexico, Quaternary Science ReviewsGoogle Scholar
Niederberger, C.B. (1976). Fechas de radiocarbono. Serie Arqueologı́a 30, 12–15.Google Scholar
Nixon, G.T. (1988). Petrology of the younger andesites and dacites of Iztaccihuatl volcano, Mexico: I. Disequilibrium phenocryst assemblages as indicators of magma chamber processes. Journal of Petrology 29, 213–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nixon, G.T. (1989). The geology of Iztaccihuatl volcano and adjacent areas of the Sierra Nevada and Valley of Mexico. Geological Society of America Special Paper 219, 1–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ortega Guerreo, B. (1992). Paleomagnetismo, magnetoestratigrafia y paleoecologia del Cuaternario tardio en el Lago de Chalco, Cuenca de México. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Google Scholar
Robin, C., and Boudal, C. (1987). A gigantic bezymianny-type event at the beginning of modern volcan Popocatepetl. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 31, 115–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlaepfer, C. J (1968). Hoja México 14Q-h(5), con resumen de la geologia de la Hoja México. Distrito Federal y estados de México y Morelos. Carta Geologica de México, Serie de 1:100 000 mapa con texto al reverso, Instituto de Geologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México, Google Scholar
Siebe, C., Abrams, M., and Macias, J. L (1995). Derrumbes gigantes, depósitos de avlancha de escombros y edad del actual cono del volcán Popocatépetl. In, Comité cientı́fico asesor de la Secretarı́a de Gobernación, 195, 230., CENAPRED-UNAM, México.Google Scholar
Sosa Nájera, S., Lozano Garcı́a, M.S., and Ortega Guerrero, B. (1996). Preliminary palynological results of Core E in Chalco Lake, Central Mexico. Ninth International Palynological Congress p. 150Google Scholar
Sweatman, T.R., and Long, J.V.P. (1969). Quantitative electron microprobe analysis of rock forming minerals. Journal of Petrology 7, 332–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorarinsson, S. (1981). The application of tephrochronology in Iceland.Self, S., Sparks, R.S.J. Tephra Studies Reidel, Dordrecht.1–12.Google Scholar
Urrutia Fucugauchi, J., and Martin del Pozzo, A.L. (1993). Implicaciones de los datos paleomagneticos sobre la edad de la Sierra de Chichinautzin, cuenca de México. Geofisica Internacional 33, 523–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Urrutia Fucugauchi, J., Lozano Garcı́a, S., Ortega Guerrero, B., Caballero Miranda, M., Böhnel, H., Hansen, R., and Negendank, J.F.W. (1995). Palaeomagnetic and palaeoenvironmental studies in the southern basin of México. II. Late Pleistocene-Holocene Chalco lacustrine record. Geofisica Internacional 43, 33–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villaseñor, M.G. Geochemistry of Pumices from Central Mexico(1974). University of Leeds, Google Scholar
Westgate, J.A., and Gorton, M.P. (1981). Correlation techniques in tephra studies.Self, S., Sparks, R.S.J. Tephra Studies Reidel, Dordrecht.73–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar