Geology of the late Pleistocene Tres Vírgenes Volcanic Complex, Baja California Sur (México)

Abstract

"The geological map of the Tres Vírgenes Volcanic Complex (TVVC) Baja California Sur, México consists of three northeast-southwest aligned stratovolcanoes named from older to younger, El Viejo, El Azufre, and La Virgen. The map (scale 1:20,000) comprises an area of 856 km2 edited on an ArcMap data set. The map compiles previous studies combined with new mapping and stratigraphy supported by 5 new 230Th/U geochronology in zircons. The TVVC sits on top of Cretaceous granite, Cenozoic volcaniclastics, the Esperanza basalt (7.64 Ma), and the Aguajito ignimbrite (1.17 Ma). The TVVC commenced its activity around 300 ka by constructing El Viejo volcano, followed by El Azufre volcano (∼173–128 ka), la Virgen scoria cones (∼128–112 ka), and La Virgen stratovolcano (∼112–22 ka). The La Virgen volcano emplaced the La Virgen rhyolitic tephra (∼31 ka), and the Upper Andesite lavas (∼22 ka)."