Kinematics of the North American–Caribbean‐Cocos plates in Central America from new GPS measurements across the Polochic‐Motagua fault system

Lyon‐Caen, H.; Barrier, Éric; Lasserre, Cécile; Franco, Aurore; Arzu, I.; Chiquin, L.; Chiquín, M.; Duquesnoy, Thierry; Flores, Omar; Galicia, O.; Luna, Julio R.; Molina, Emilio; Porras, O.; Requena, Jaime; Robles, V.; Romero, J.; Wolf, Rüdiger Escobar

doi:10.1029/2006gl027694

Cited by 100 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…These events are particularly common in low coupled subduction zones, as is the case of the Central American subduction (Pacheco et al, 1993;Guzmán-Speziale and Gómez-González, 2006;Lyon-Caen et al, 2006;Álvarez-Gómez et al, 2008), and have been recently studied in the area by Álvarez-Gómez et al (2012). To simulate these normal outer-rise events we used tsunamigenic sources proposed by Álvarez-Gómez et al (2012).…”

Section: Local Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami hazard assessment in El Salvador, Central America, from seismic sources through flooding numerical models.

Álvarez‐Gómez

Aniel-Quiroga

Gutiérrez

et al. 2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America; its coast has an approximate length of 320 km, 29 municipalities and more than 700 000 inhabitants. In El Salvador there were 15 recorded tsunamis between 1859 and 2012, 3 of them causing damages and resulting in hundreds of victims. Hazard assessment is commonly based on propagation numerical models for earthquake-generated tsunamis and can be approached through both probabilistic and deterministic methods. A deterministic approximation has been applied in this study as it provides essential information for coastal planning and management. The objective of the research was twofold: on the one hand the characterization of the threat over the entire coast of El Salvador, and on the other the computation of flooding maps for the three main localities of the Salvadorian coast. For the latter we developed high-resolution flooding models. For the former, due to the extension of the coastal area, we computed maximum elevation maps, and from the elevation in the near shore we computed an estimation of the run-up and the flooded area using empirical relations. We have considered local sources located in the Middle America Trench, characterized seismotectonically, and distant sources in the rest of Pacific Basin, using historical and recent earthquakes and tsunamis. We used a hybrid finite differencesfinite volumes numerical model in this work, based on the linear and non-linear shallow water equations, to simulate a total of 24 earthquake-generated tsunami scenarios. Our results show that at the western Salvadorian coast, run-up values higher than 5 m are common, while in the eastern area, approximately from La Libertad to the Gulf of Fonseca, the run-up values are lower. The more exposed areas to flooding are the lowlands in the Lempa River delta and the Barra de Santiago Western Plains. The results of the empirical approximation used for the whole country are similar to the results obtained with the high-resolution numerical modelling, being a good and fast approximation to obtain preliminary tsunami hazard estimations. In Acajutla and La Libertad, both important tourism centres being actively developed, flooding depths between 2 and 4 m are frequent, accompanied with high and very high person instability hazard. Inside the Gulf of Fonseca the impact of the waves is almost negligible.

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Section: Local Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tsunami hazard assessment in El Salvador, Central America, from seismic sources through flooding numerical models.

Álvarez‐Gómez

Aniel-Quiroga

Gutiérrez

et al. 2013

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…Subsequent studies demonstrated that the lack of sediments in the trench, less than a few hundred metres thick, was mainly due to important crustal erosion by subduction that produce in many cases important extensional faults and collapse of the forearc (Von Huene and Ranero 2003; Vannucchi et al 2004). On the other hand, the Guatemala subduction is adjacent to the Polochic-Motagua left-lateral strike-slip zone, a plate boundary between the North America and Caribbean plates (Lyon-Caen et al 2006). Guatemala has a special position as part of the Caribbean Plate relatively moving east-southeast, and immediately adjacent to the North American Plate, which is moving in a westward direction (Morgan et al 2008).…”

Section: Nicaragua Subduction Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evidence for extension in the back-arc is a long-accepted fact in Guatemala (Burkart and Self 1985;Guzmán-Speziale 2001;Lyon-Caen et al 2006), where it is usually attributed as a by-product of the interaction of the Caribbean-North American plate boundary with the Middle American Arc. The extension in Nicaragua and in the offshore Nicaraguan Rise was early described by Mann and Burke (1984) and is presently attributed to a faster westward motion of North America relative to South America that is accommodated by the extension within the Caribbean Plate (Doglioni et al 2007).…”

Section: Nicaragua Subduction Zonementioning

confidence: 99%

The tectonic regime along the Andes: Present‐day and Mesozoic regimes

Ramos¹

2009

Geological Journal

225

139

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The analyses of the main parameters controlling the present Chile-type and Marianas-type tectonic settings developed along the eastern Pacific region show four different tectonic regimes: (1) a nearly neutral regime in the Oregon subduction zone; (2) major extensional regimes as the Nicaragua subduction zone developed in continental crust; (3) a Marianas setting in the Sandwich subduction zone with ocean floored back-arc basin with a unique west-dipping subduction zone and (4) the classic and dominant Chile-type under compression. The magmatic, structural and sedimentary behaviours of these four settings are discussed to understand the past tectonic regimes in the Mesozoic Andes based on their present geological and tectonic characteristics. The evaluation of the different parameters that governed the past and present tectonic regimes indicates that absolute motion of the upper plate relative to the hotspot frame and the consequent trench roll-back velocity are the first order parameters that control the deformation. Locally, the influences of the trench fill, linked to the dominant climate in the forearc, and the age of the subducted oceanic crust, have secondary roles. Ridge collisions of seismic and seismic oceanic ridges as well as fracture zone collisions have also a local outcome, and may produce an increase in coupling that reinforces compressional deformation. Local strain variations in the past and present Andes are not related with changes in the relative convergence rate, which is less important than the absolute motion relative to the Pacific hotspot frame, or changes in the thermal state of the upper plate. Changes in the slab dip, mainly those linked to steepening subduction zones, produce significant variations in the thermal state, that are important to generate extreme deformation in the foreland.

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“…1) in order to test existing models of the North American-Caribbean-Cocos plate boundary (e.g., Malfait and Dinkelman, 1972;Burkart, 1983;Guzmán-Speziale et al, 1989;Lyon-Caen et al, 2006;Ratschbacher et al, 2009;Authemayou et al, 2011). The oceanic Cocos Plate is subducted beneath the North American and Caribbean plates along the Middle America Trench, while the North American-Caribbean plate boundary is a sinistral transform system which accommodates the eastward escape of the Caribbean Plate (e.g., Lyon-Caen et al, 2006;Manea and Manea, 2006;Andreani et al, 2008a;Authemayou et al, 2011). The complexity of the plate boundary comes from the fact that both the Caribbean and the North American Plate are limited to the west by a forearc sliver ( Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic analysis of transient landscapes in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains (northern Central America): implications for the North American–Caribbean–Cocos plate boundary

Andreani

Gloaguen

2016

Earth Surf. Dynam.

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Abstract. We use a geomorphic approach in order to unravel the recent evolution of the diffuse triple junction between the North American, Caribbean, and Cocos plates in northern Central America. We intend to characterize and understand the complex tectonic setting that produced an intricate pattern of landscapes using tectonic geomorphology, as well as available geological and geophysical data. We classify regions with specific relief characteristics and highlight uplifted relict landscapes in northern Central America. We also analyze the drainage network from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains in order to extract information about potential vertical displacements.Our results suggest that most of the landscapes of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains are in a transient stage. Topographic profiles and morphometric maps highlight elevated relict surfaces that are characterized by a low-amplitude relief. The river longitudinal profiles display upper reaches witnessing these relict landscapes. Lower reaches adjust to new base-level conditions and are characterized by multiple knickpoints.These results backed by published GPS and seismotectonic data allow us to refine and extend existing geodynamic models of the triple junction. Relict landscapes are delimited by faults and thus result from a tectonic control. The topography of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas evolved as the result of (1) the inland migration of deformation related to the coupling between the Chiapas Massif and the Cocos forearc sliver and (2) the compression along the northern tip of the Central American volcanic arc. Although most of the shortening between the Cocos forearc sliver and the North American Plate is accommodated within the Sierra de Chiapas and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, a small part may be still transmitted to the Maya Mountains and the Belize margin through a "rigid" Petén Basin.

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Kinematics of the North American–Caribbean‐Cocos plates in Central America from new GPS measurements across the Polochic‐Motagua fault system

Cited by 100 publications

References 21 publications

Tsunami hazard assessment in El Salvador, Central America, from seismic sources through flooding numerical models.

Tsunami hazard assessment in El Salvador, Central America, from seismic sources through flooding numerical models.

The tectonic regime along the Andes: Present‐day and Mesozoic regimes

Geomorphic analysis of transient landscapes in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and Maya Mountains (northern Central America): implications for the North American–Caribbean–Cocos plate boundary

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