Mexican Volcanic Belt: an intraplate transform?

Abstract

Several regional tectonic events were especially important during the evolution of the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB). These include the development of a zone of weakness in the area of the present MVB, followed by tectonic activity in the Caribbean region, progressive southward cessation of subduction along the W coast of W and Central America, and development of the proto Gulf of California and extensional faulting N of the MVB. It is suggested that the MVB became a leaky transform, which implies that it is more closely linked to the cessation of subduction N of the MVB than to ongoing subduction to the S and that it is different from the typical volcanic arcs of the Pacific rim. -R.E.S.