The Middle America Trench in the geological framework of Central America ( DSDP, Leg 67).

Abstract

The tectonic framework of the Middle America Trench is composite. In its N part, the Trench runs along the North American continent (at the least, along Mexico up to the Guatemala Transverse Zone; at the most, up to the Honduras Platform). In this part the Trench is not related to the tectonic features of Mexico, which it cuts very obliquely, and is thus a recent neotectonic feature. In its S part, the Isthmus of Central America is a tectonic edifice (with a strike like that of the Trench) supporting a huge Tertiary volcanic cover; in this part, the Trench could have originated from an ancient subduction zone involving Mesozoic oceanic sediments and crust. Along the Guatemala Transverse Zone the following events took place: at the end of the Cretaceous, a big overthrust of Central American-Caribbean ophiolitic facies occurred towards the N, at the termination of the North American continent; and during the Pliocene to Quaternary.-from Authors