Palaeomagnetic results from remagnetized mid-Cretaceous(Albian-Cenomanian) strata of northeastern Venezuela

We report palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic results of a sedimentary sequence (Pertigalete cement quarry) located in northeastern Venezuela. Sampling was restricted to the vicinity of the contact between the upper Cretaceous Chimana and Querecual formations. Biostratigraphic evidence reveals an upper Albian age for this formational transition. Profiles of site-averaged NRM intensity of the high-coercivity (over 30 mT) and high-temperature (over 400 degrees C) components appear to be related to the contact and distance from the contact. We interpret this profile as the probable outcome of overlapping thermochemical remagnetization events resulting from hydrothermal activity that was focused along the two formations. Direct spectral analyses performed on the site-averaged stable NRM intensity profile allow the separation of at least two of these remagnetization events. On the other hand, palaeomagnetic results show a considerable streaking of site mean declinations, suggesting that tectonic or structural horizontal movements around a vertical axis have occurred after NRM acquisitions. Horizontal rotation angles, plotted against stratigraphic levels for bedding-corrected data, show some features that seem to coincide with the alteration peaks isolated in the profile of site-averaged stable NRM intensities. Thus, it appears that repeated thermochemical remagnetizations with overlapping unblocking spectra, and horizontal movements around a vertical axis could have been responsible for much of the within-site dispersion. A simple three-stage reconstruction of the possible chain of thermochemical and tectonic occurrences that could lead to the present-day palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic evidence is proposed. These events, including clockwise horizontal rotations around a vertical axis, are tentatively placed in a geological time framework between middle Miocene and Pliocene times according to the main geological and geochemical evidence available.