Maya Block

The Maya Block, also known as the Maya Terrane, Yucatan Block, or Yucatan–Chiapas Block, is a physiographic or geomorphic region and tectonic or crustal block in the southernmost portion of the North American Plate.

Maya Block Maya Terrane Yucatan Block Yucatan–Chiapas Block
Tectonic block
Maya Block / detail of 2006 map by French & Schenk / via USGS
Maya Block
Coordinates: 20°N 89°W / 20; -89
Location	Belize, northern Guatemala, southeastern Mexico1
Part of	North American Plate
Geology	tectonic or crustal block
Area
• Total	233,130 sq mi (603,800 km2)1
Dimensions
• Length	760 mi (1,220 km)1
• Width	450 mi (720 km)1
1 Data for most commonly accepted extension as per sec 'Extent' of this article.

Extent

The Block is commonly delimited by the continental margin in the Gulf of Mexico to the north, in the Caribbean Sea to the east, and in the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and further, by the Motagua–Polochic Faults to the south-southeast, and by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the west.^[1] The Motagua–Polochic Faults divide the Maya Block from the Chortis Block, while the Isthmus of Tehuantepec divides it from the Oaxaquia Block (i.e. the Juarez, Cuicateco, or Oaxaquia Block, Terrane, or microcontinent).^{[2][n 1]}

The Block's precise subaerial limits are not widely agreed upon, in contrast to its relatively exact submarine borders.^{[n 2][citation needed]} Furthermore, it has been recently suggested that the Block's western extreme may rather extend past the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, along the Gulf of Mexico, and into Louisiana.^{[3][n 3]}

Geography

Physical

Mountains

A broad arching fold belt of 'morphological distinct mountain ranges separated by deep fault-controlled canyons and occasional broad alluvial valleys' extends along the south-southeasterly limit of the Block.^[4] The most prominent of said mountain ranges are the Northern Chiapas Mountains and the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Mexico, the Cuchumatanes, Chama, Santa Cruz, and Lacandon Ranges in Guatemala, and the Maya Mountains in Belize.^[5]

Karstlands

The 'most extensive karstlands of the North American continent' extend northwards from the Block's southern extreme.^[6] The Block's most prominent karstic landform is the Yucatán Platform to its north.^{[citation needed]} Relatively less prominent karstic formations occur in the Block's southern portion, including an unnamed formation in northwestern Peten to northeastern Belize, the Belize Barrier Reef, the Lacandon Range, the Cuchumatanes Range, and various formations to the north and south of the Maya Mountains.^{[7][n 4]}

Coasts

The most prominent topographic features of the Block's Caribbean coast are extensive seagrass beds and coral reefs, with the Belize Barrier Reef forming a notable example of the latter.^[8] Its Pacific coast, in contrast, is predominated by extensive mangrove forests.^[9]

Human

The terrestrial portion of the Block encompasses all six districts of Belize, five northerly departments of Guatemala (Huehuetenango, Quiche, Alta Verapaz, Izabal, Peten), and five southeasterly states of Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo). Its submarine portion encompasses the continental shelf which abuts the coastal districts.

Geology

Stratigraphy

Crust

Mean thickness of the continental crust constituting the Block increases southwards, ranging from 20–25 kilometres (12–16 mi) in the northern Yucatán Peninsula to 30–40 kilometres (19–25 mi) in the Peninsula's south.^[10] The crust's i.e. Block's crystalline basement is composed mainly of Silurian–Triassic metamorphic and igneous rocks, and is exposed in at least five formations, namely, the Mixtequita Massif, Chiapas Massif, Cuchumatanes Dome, Tucuru–Teleman, and the Maya Mountains.^[11] Elsewhere, the basement is overlain by a thick sedimentary cover of Upper Palaeozoic clasts and carbonates, Upper Jurassic continental redbeds, and Cretaceous–Eocene carbonates and evaporites.^[4]

It has been suggested that the Block's continental basement is stretched, since its sedimentary cover reaches a thickness of up to 6 kilometres (3.7 mi), this being considered impossible on an unstretched basement at isostatic equilibrium.^{[10][n 5]}

Morphology

Provinces

The Block is thought to fully or partially incorporate between two and thirteen geologic provinces.^[12]

Basins

The Block is believed to fully or partially comprehend some four or five sedimentary basins.^[13]

Faults

A number of faults or fault zones have been identified within the Block, the most prominent of which include various boundary faults abutting the Maya Mountains, various offshore faults east of the Yucatán Peninsula–Belize, the Ticul Fault, the Malpaso Faults, and the Rio Hondo Faults.^{[14][n 6]}

Tectonics

The Block is thought to experience significant counterclockwise rotation and a north-northwest down tilt, which gradually lowers the northern portion of the Yucatán Platform, thereby lifting its southern extreme in the Maya Mountains.^[15] It is nonetheless tectonically rigid or stable, experiencing an absolute west-southwest motion of 1.8 centimetres (0.71 in) per annum.^{[16][n 7]} Central America, including the southern portion of the Maya Block, 'is very well-known and characterised by numerous, medium size earthquakes preceded and followed by damaging shocks,' with the Middle America Trench in the Pacific deemed the main source of such quakes.^{[17][n 8]} Of thirty-three earthquakes of M_s ≥ 7.0 in Central America during 1900–1993, the epicentres of at least two of these were located within the Block (in its southwestern quadrant), though a further nine were located near it (in the Motagua–Polochic Faults or the portion of the Middle America Trench bordering the Block).^[18]

History

Pre-Cenozoic

Middle America, including the Maya Block, is thought to have taken shape sometime after 170 million years ago.^[19] Its formation is thought to have 'involved [the] complex movement of [various] crustal blocks and terranes between the two pre-existing continental masses [ie North and South America].'^[20] Details of the pre-Cenozoic portion of this process (170–67 million years ago), however, are not widely agreed upon.^{[20][n 9]} Nonetheless, it has been proposed that the Block formed before or during the opening of the Iapetus Ocean.^[21] It, together with the Oaxaquia, Suwannee, and Carolina Blocks, are thought to have constituted a peri-Gondwanan terrane on that continent's western, northwestern, northern, or eastern edge during the Appalachian–Caledonian or Ouachita–Marathon–Appalachian orogeny (that is, during the formation of Pangaea from the collision of Gondwana and Laurentia).^[22] It is thought to have been displaced away from the Laurentian craton by clockwise rotation, translation, or anticlockwise rotation, during the Middle Jurassic opening of the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent northwesterly drift of North America away from Pangaea.^{[23][n 10][n 11]}

Cenozoic

Peri-Gondwanan terranes of North America (in yellow; present configuration) / Fig 1A in Tian et al 2021 / via GSA

Details of the Cenozoic (66–0 million years ago) geologic history of Middle America, including that of the Maya Block, are relatively more widely agreed upon.^[20] In broad strokes, the Chortis Block is thought to have reached its present-day position by at least 20 million years ago.^[24] The northern and eastern coasts of the Block are not thought to have been fully subaerially exposed until some 5–2 million years ago.^[25] The Block's coastlines, which were initially more expansive than its present-day ones, are thought to have reached modern dimensions due to rising sea levels some 11–8 thousand years ago.^[26]

Scholarship

The Block was discovered in 1969 by Gabriel Dengo, a Guatemalan geographer.^[27] It was quickly adopted in scholarship, and remains 'accepted by many as a valid subdivision of Central America's geology, especially of its crystalline basement.'^[28]

Tables

Karstlands

Topographic characterisations of karstland in the northern portion of the Maya Block.^[29]

Description	Location	Notes
Block-faulted coastal plain	east	incl broad lagoons, mangrove swamps, and seasonal marshlands; incl north-northeast fault-bounded ridges and depressions; incl coral reefs and cayes
Pitted peninsular plain	north, west	incl dense network of cenotes; incl extensive, contiguous system of flooded caverns; not incl any surface streams
Hilly peninsular plain	west	incl La Sierrita de Ticul hills; incl ephemeral surface streams
Varied inland plain	south, west	incl steep, irregular hills and depressions; incl extensive fractures and caverns; incl vast alluvial plain with various large swamps and lakes; incl various surface streams

Provinces

Geologic provinces in the Maya Block per 21st century literature.^{[30][n 12]}

USGS No.	Name	Location	Notes
5308	Yucatán Platform	north	cf [n 13]
6117	Greater Antilles Deformed Belt	east	cf [n 14]
6125	Maya Mountains	south	cf [n 15]
5310	Sierra Madre de Chiapas–Peten Foldbelt	south, west	cf [n 16]
6122	Chiapas Massif–Nuclear Central America	south, west	–
6088	Pacific Offshore Basin	south, west	cf [n 17]
5311	Chiapas Massif	west	–
5302	Veracruz Basin	west	–
5303	Tuxla Uplift	west	–
5307	Campeche–Sigsbee Salt Basin	north, west	–
5304	Saline–Comalcalco Basin	north, west	–
5305	Villahermosa Uplift	north, west	–
5306	Macuspana Basin	north, west	–

Basins

Sedimentary basins in the Maya Block per 21st century literature.^{[31][n 18]}

Evenick ID	Name	Location	Notes
119	Campeche	north, west	cf [n 19]
757	Yucatán	east	cf [n 20]
519	Peten–Corozal	south	cf [n 21]
–	Limon–Bocas del Toro	south	cf [n 22]
647	Sureste	west	cf [n 23]

Tectonics

Earthquakes of M_s ≥ 7.0 during 1900–1993 with epicentres located in or near the Maya Block.^{[32][n 24]}

Date	Location	Lat. ºN	Lon. ºW	Depth mi	Ms
19 Apr 1902	SW Guatemala	14.9	91.5	0–25	7.5
3 Sep 1902	S Chiapas	16.5	92.5	N	7.6
14 May 1903	S Chiapas	15.0	93.0	N	7.6
4 Feb 1921	SW Guatemala	15.0	91.0	75	7.2
10 Dec 1925	S Chiapas	15.5	92.5	N	7.1
14 Dec 1935	S Chiapas	14.8	92.5	N	7.3
6 Aug 1942	SW Guatemala	14.8	91.3	25	7.9
28 Jun 1944	S Chiapas	14.3	92.6	N+	7.2
23 Oct 1950	SW Guatemala	14.3	91.8	19	7.3
29 Apr 1970	S Chiapas	14.6	92.6	N	7.3
4 Feb 1976	SE Guatemala	15.2	89.2	S	7.6

Timeline

Prominent events related to the geologic history of the Maya Block.^{[n 25]}

Start	End	Unit	Epoch	Event	Notes
1600	910	Ma	Calymmian–Tonian	Maya Block basement formation starts	partially during Grenville orogeny; cf [33][n 26][n 27]
240	200	Ma	Middle Triassic–Early Jurassic	Pangaean rifting starts	cf [34][n 28]
165	165	Ma	Middle Jurassic	Gulf of Mexico seafloor spreading starts	incl exposed northern Yucatán Peninsula; cf [35]
144	144	Ma	Early Cretaceous	Caribbean Sea seafloor spreading starts	cf [35][n 29]
120	120	Ma	Early Cretaceous	Chortis Block subduction into southwestern Mexico stops	cf [36][n 30]
78	72	Ma	Late Cretaceous	Greater Antilles Arc collision into Maya Block starts	cf [37]
78	63	Ma	Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene	Chortis Block collision into Maya Block starts	cf [38][n 31]
66	66	Ma	Palaeocene	Chicxulub asteroid impact on Maya Block occurs	cf [39]
49	49	Ma	Eocene	Cayman Trough rifting starts	cf [40]
26	20	Ma	Oligocene–Miocene	Cayman Trough rifting slows down	cf [40]
23	22	Ma	Miocene	Farallon Plate rifting starts	cf [41]
22	22	Ma	Miocene	Cocos Plate subduction into Chortis Block starts	incl end of eastwards migration of Chortis Block; incl possible uplift of Chortis Block; incl formation of Bay of Honduras i.e. initial linking of Maya and Chortis Blocks; cf [42]
19	10	Ma	Miocene	Super-fast spreading of East Pacific Rise starts and stops	cf [43]
15	3	Ma	Miocene–Pliocene	Panamanian isthmus closure starts and stops	cf [44]

See also

• Carolina terrane, a similar peri-Gondwanan block