U-Pb zircon geochronology of Palaeozoic units in Western and Central Guatemala: insights into the tectonic evolution of Middle America

Abstract

Precambrian and Palaeozoic basements are present in southern Mexico and Central America, where several crustal blocks are recognized by their different geological record, and juxtaposed along lateral faults. Pre-Mesozoic reconstructions must take into account the nature of such crustal blocks, their geological history, age and petrology. Some of those crustal blocks are currently located between southernmost north America (the Maya Block) and Central America (Chortís Block).To better understand the geology of these crustal blocks, and to establish comparisons between their geological history, we performed U-Pb dating of both igneous and metasedimentary key units cropping out in central and western Guatemala. In the Altos Cuchumatanes (Maya Block) granites yield both Permian (269 + 29 Ma) and Early Devonian (391 + 7.

Late Cretaceous subduction of the continental basement of the Maya block (Rabinal Granite, central Guatemala): Tectonic implications for the geodynamic evolution of Central America

“…3E;Ortega-Obregón et al, 2008). Similar fi eld relations between Ordovician granites and metasedimentary wall rocks were established in the Huehuetenango area, suggesting that the Rabinal-San Gabriel belt extends as far as western Guatemala along, at least, 200 km (Solari et al, 2009).…”

Refining the age of magmatism in the Altos Cuchumatanes, western Guatemala, by LA–ICPMS, and tectonic implications

“…The ages previously reported by Solari et al (2009) Isotopic ratios are corrected relative to analysis of a standard zircon for mass bias and down-hole fractionation (see text for further explanations and the used zircon standards). The Andersen (2002) common Pb correction method is further applied.…”

“…Two granite samples belonging to the Altos Cuchumatanes were previously dated by Solari et al (2009). The single grains were dated by U-Pb ID-TIMS and yielded discordant results, with Grenvillian upper intercepts and Permian (269 ± 29 Ma) as well as Early Devonian (391 ± 7.4 Ma) lower intercepts interpreted as the best approximation of their crystallization ages.…”

“…Because the previous analyses by Solari et al (2009) yielded discordant results, the samples were dated by LA-ICPMS on minerals previously imaged by cathodoluminescence, following the methodology described below.…”

Control temporal y geología del magmatismo Permo-Triásico en Sierra Los Tanques, NW Sonora, México: Evidencia del inicio del arco magmático cordillerano en el SW de Laurencia

“…Estudios más recientes documentan magmatismo del Pensilvánico temprano en los Altos Cuchumatanes en Guatemala (312 -317 Ma, Solari et al, 2009) debido a la convergencia oblicua entre Laurencia y Gondwana causada por el desarrollo de una zona de subducción. En este sentido, en el Macizo de Chiapas se han interpretado protolitos de anatexitas del Pérmico temprano (~ 272 Ma, Weber et al, 2007).…”