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Overview of Recent Coastal Tectonic Deformation in the Mexican Subduction Zone

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Abstract

Holocene and Pleistocene tectonic deformation of the coast in the Mexico subudction margin is recorded by geomorphic and stratigraphic markers. We document the spatial and temporal variability of active deformation on the coastal Mexican subduction margin. Pleistocene uplift rates are estimated using wave-cut platforms at ca. 0.7–0.9 m/ka on the Jalisco block coast, Rivera-North America tectonic plate boundary. We examine reported measurements from marine notches and shoreline angle elevations in conjunction with their radiocarbon ages that indicate surface uplift rates increasing during the Holocene up to ca. 3 ± 0.5 m/ka. In contrast, steady rates of uplift (ca. 0.5–1.0 m/ka) in the Pleistocene and Holocene characterize the Michoacan coastal sector, south of El Gordo graben and north of the Orozco Fracture Zone (OFZ), incorporated within the Cocos-North America plate boundary. Significantly higher rates of surface uplift (ca. 7 m/ka) across the OFZ subduction may reflect the roughness of subducting plate. Absence of preserved marine terraces on the coastal sector across El Gordo graben likely reflects slow uplift or coastal subsidence. Stratigraphic markers and their radiocarbon ages show late Holocene (ca. last 6 ka bp) coastal subsidence on the Guerrero gap sector in agreement with a landscape barren of marine terraces and with archeological evidence of coastal subsidence. Temporal and spatial variability in recent deformation rates on the Mexican Pacific coast may be due to differences in tectonic regimes and to localized processes related to subduction, such as crustal faults, subduction erosion and underplating of subducted materials under the southern Mexico continental margin.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the kind permission of Dr. G. Harper and A. Lefton to allow access to their unpublished C14, U-Series and OSL dates and to reference them, and for providing insightful discussion vital to the success of this review. We thank J. A. Navarrete for help with figure design and GIS data management. Ramirez-Herrera acknowledges funding provided by DGAPA-PAPIIT IN123609. Constructive review by Associate Editor Eugenio Carminati greatly helped clarify the ideas presented in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geomorphology and Geohazards Group, Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701 Col. Ex-Hacienda de San José de La Huerta, 58190, Morelia, Michoacán, México

    M. Teresa Ramírez-Herrera

  2. Departamento de Sismologia, Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, México, DF, México

    Vladimir Kostoglodov

  3. Proyecto Universitario de Perforaciones en Oceanos y Continentes, Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, México, DF, México

    Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi

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  1. M. Teresa Ramírez-Herrera
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  2. Vladimir Kostoglodov
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  3. Jaime Urrutia-Fucugauchi
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Correspondence to M. Teresa Ramírez-Herrera.

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Ramírez-Herrera, M.T., Kostoglodov, V. & Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J. Overview of Recent Coastal Tectonic Deformation in the Mexican Subduction Zone. Pure Appl. Geophys. 168, 1415–1433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-010-0205-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-010-0205-y

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