32-10 Imaging a Cross-Basin Fault in the Salton Trough: New 2D seismic observations from the Riito and North of the Altar Basins.

Session: Recent Advances in the Gulf of California Oblique Rift: Offshore and Onshore Studies // Avances Recientes en el Rift Oblicuo del Golfo de California: Estudios Marinos y Terrestres (Part II)

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

The Salton Trough comprises a series of complex basins and faults associated with the oblique rift tectonic margin of the Gulf of California. However, the structural linkage between the Mexicali Valley and the Altar Basin remains unclear. Analogue and numerical models of oblique rifts frequently predict the development of two depocenters separated by a cross-basin fault.

In this study, we analyze 2D seismic profiles from the border region between these basins and identify such a structure. Our interpretation reveals the presence of the Riito Basin, which is separated from the northern Altar Basin by a cross-basin fault. We propose that this fault connects the western edge of the Calipatria Deformation Zone with the Cerro Prieto Deformation Zone, providing a new structural link between these major domains

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 3, 2026

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