A Regional Shallow Décollement at the Front of the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt: Microstructure of the Santiago Shale

This contribution analyses the role played by the mechanical properties of a decollément shale layer in the evolution of the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt (MFTB). The mobility of overpressured shales can accommodate large strains by grain-scale plastic mechanisms, and affect the folding and thrusting styles of the overburden. Research on shale deformation mechanisms is necessary to improve the knowledge of these processes and their influence on the structural style of fold and thrust belts. The ductile behavior of rocks involving grain-scale plasticity was documented in the Jurassic Santiago shale sequence using geological mapping, microstructural observations on thin-oriented sections, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. Structural styles such as detachment folding, fault-bend folding, and shale-cored fold-thrusts were observed at the regional scale. At the outcrop scale, the shale developed strong foliation and pencil cleavage, with immersed packstone boudins. Observed structures include thrusting, soft and open folds, and buckle folding. In thin section, the ductile textures include a strong penetrative foliation with lenticular and wavy-parallel laminae composed of carbonates, ribbons of reoriented clays and organic matter (clay+OM), s-c structures, porphyroblasts microtextures, development of oblique cleavage concerning folded foliation (crenulation cleavage), and carbonates dissolution. The Santiago shale shows also evidence of brittle deformation including calcite-filled fractures and cataclastic gouges. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the clay size fraction suggests that the authigenic calcareous shale was deformed in conditions of the deep diagenetic zone (between 100 and 200°C) and fluid overpressure (>70 MPa). The results help to improve the understanding of ductile microstructure and its role in shale deformation cretaceous cover, promoting the formation of localized fault propagation folds in the overburden. This study aims to open new perspectives in the kinematics and rheology interpretations for this sector of the MFTB, highlighting the role of the décollement layers during the progression of the orogen.