Yucatán Platform

The Yucatán Platform or Yucatán Shelf is a geologic or physiographic province, and a continental and carbonate platform, in the Maya Block of the southernmost portion of the North American Plate. It comprises the Yucatán Peninsula and its continental shelf, located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.[note 1]

Yucatán Platform
Yucatán Shelf
Platform
Extent of the Yucatan Platform / in 2006 map by French & Schenk / via USGS, Esri, Natural Earth
Extent of the Yucatan Platform / in 2006 map by French & Schenk / via USGS, Esri, Natural Earth
Yucatán Platform is located in Middle America
Yucatán Platform
Yucatán Platform
Coordinates: 20.445647°N 89.588987°W / 20.445647; -89.588987
LocationBelize, northern Guatemala, southeastern Mexico
Part ofMaya Block
Geology
Area
 • Total163,730 sq mi (424,100 km2)
Dimensions
 • Length563 mi (906 km)
 • Width381 mi (613 km)
USGS geologic province number5308

Extent

The Yucatán Platform is commonly defined as the continental platform constituted by the Yucatán Peninsula and its continental shelf.[1][2] As such, the margins of the continental shelf, or, more particularly, their 650 feet (200 m) isobaths or depth contours, are often taken as the platform's submarine limits.[2] Its subaerial limits (on the Yucatán Peninsula) are less precisely fixed.

The US Geological Survey have demarcated the limits of the Yucatán Platform.[3][4] Their British, Belizean, and Mexican counterparts have not defined an equivalent geologic, physiographic, or geomorphic province or region.

Geography

Political

The exposed or peninsular portion of the Yucatán Platform encompasses four districts of Belize (i.e., Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize, and Cayo), one department of Guatemala (i.e., Peten), and four states of Mexico (i.e., Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, and Tabasco).[4][3] Its submarine portion encompasses the continental shelf which abuts those of the aforementioned districts with a coast.[4][3]

Basins

At least three sedimentary basins have been identified in the Yucatán Platform, namely, the Campeche, Yucatán, and Peten‍–‍Corozal.[5]

Faults

At least six fault systems or zones have been identified in the Yucatán Platform, namely, the Holbox, Hondo, Ticul, Ring of Cenotes, Chemax‍–‍Catoche, and La Libertad, with the first four of these considered prominent.[6]

Geology
Terrestrial rocks of the Yucatan Platform / in 2006 map by French & Schenk / via USGS, Esri, Natural Earth

Formation

The Gulf of Mexico formed during a 70‍–‍90 million year rifting of Pangaea, which began some 240 million years ago, during the Middle Triassic, and ended some 170‍–‍150 million years ago, during the Middle or Late Jurassic.[7][8] The subaerially exposed (i.e., peninsular) portion of the platform is thought to have been fully submarine up to some 30‍–‍10 million years ago.[9]

Basement

The platform's crystalline basement is composed mainly of Precambrian to Palaeozoic granodiorite rocks.[10][11] It starts at a depth of some 2.3 miles (3.7 km) in the centre-point of the platform's exposed or peninsular portion, but steeps down towards the platform's eastern and northwestern extremes, starting at a depth of 3.4–3.7 miles (5.5–6.0 km) in the latter point.[12][9]

Cover

The platform's sedimentary cover is composed mainly of carbonates and evaporites formed during or after the Early Cretaceous.[1] It forms one of the largest deposits of carbonate minerals on Earth, with a depth range of 2.3–3.7 miles (3.7–6.0 km) .[13]

Notes
  1. The terms Yucatán Platform and Yucatán Shelf are sometimes used as a synonyms for the Yucatán Peninsula, i.e., the exposed portion of the Yucatán Platform (e.g., in Nairn & Stehli 1975, pp. 257–258 and Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 77, fig. 3.1). This article does not employ said usage.

Citations
  1. Miranda-Madrigal & Chavez-Cabello 2020, pp. 187–189.
  2. Monroy-Rios 2020, pp. 43–44.
  3. French & Schenk 2004, doc. map.
  4. French & Schenk 2006, doc. map.
  5. Evenick 2021, p. 6, fig. 4.
  6. Monroy-Rios 2020, pp. 32, 76.
  7. Davidson, Pindell & Hull 2020, pp. 3, 6.
  8. Miranda-Madrigal & Chavez-Cabello 2020, p. 183.
  9. Monroy-Rios 2020, p. 43.
  10. Davidson, Pindell & Hull 2020, p. 3.
  11. Monroy-Rios 2020, pp. 43–45.
  12. Miranda-Madrigal & Chavez-Cabello 2020, p. 189.
  13. Monroy-Rios 2020, pp. 26, 43.

References
  1. Bundschuh, J.; Alvarado, G. E., eds. (2012) [First published 2007]. Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards (Reprint of 1st ed.). London: Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1201/9780203947043. ISBN 9780429074370. OCLC 905983675.
  2. Canales-Garcia, I.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.; Aguayo-Camargo, E. (2018). "Seismic imaging and attribute analysis of Chicxulub Crater central sector, Yucatán Platform, Gulf of Mexico". Geologica Acta. 16 (2): 215–235. doi:10.1344/GeologicaActa2018.16.2.6.
  3. Davidson, I.; Pindell, J.; Hull, J. (2020). "The basins, orogens and evolution of the southern Gulf of Mexico and Northern Caribbean". Special Publications of the Geological Society of London. 504 (sn): 1–27. doi:10.1144/SP504-2020-218. S2CID 231884613.
  4. Dengo, G.; Case, J. H., eds. (1990). The Caribbean Region. The Geology of North America; v. H. Boulder, Colo.: Geological Society of America. hdl:2027/mdp.39015018862931. ISBN 9780813752129. OCLC 21909394.
  5. Evenick, J. C. (2021). "Glimpses into Earth's history using a revised global sedimentary basin map". Earth-Science Reviews. article no. 103564. 215 (sn): 103564. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503564E. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103564. S2CID 233950439.
  6. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2004). Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Caribbean Region (Map). 1:2,500,000. Open-File Report 97-470-K. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470K.
  7. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2006). Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Gulf of Mexico region (Map). 1:2,500,000. Open-File Report 97-470-L. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470L.
  8. Goldscheider, N.; Chen, Z.; Auler, A. S.; Bakalowicz, M.; Broda, S.; Drew, D.; Hartmann, J. (2020). "Global distribution of carbonate rocks and karst water resources". Hydrogeology Journal. 28 (sn): 1661–1677. Bibcode:2020HydJ...28.1661G. doi:10.1007/s10040-020-02139-5. S2CID 216032707.
  9. Guzman-Hidalgo, E.; Grajales-Nishimura, J. M.; Eberli, G. P.; Aguayo-Camargo, J. E.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.; Perez-Cruz, L. (2021). "Seismic stratigraphic evidence of a pre-impact basin in the Yucatán Platform; morphology of the Chicxulub Crater and K/Pg boundary deposits". Marine Geology. article no. 106594. 441 (sn): 106594. Bibcode:2021MGeol.441j6594G. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2021.106594.
  10. Mann, P., ed. (1999). Caribbean Basins. Sedimentary Basins of the World. Vol. 4. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 0444826491. OCLC 43540498.
  11. Martens, Uwe (2009). Geologic evolution of the Maya Block (southern edge of the North American plate): An example of terrane transferral and crustal recycling (PhD). Stanford University.
  12. Miranda-Madrigal, E.; Chavez-Cabello, G. (2020). "Regional geological analysis of the southern deep Gulf of Mexico and northern Yucatán Shelf". Special Publications of the Geological Society of London. 504 (sn): 183–204. doi:10.1144/SP504-2020-1. S2CID 225750222.
  13. Monroy-Rios, Emiliano (2020). Advancements in Our Understanding of the Yucatán Platform: Sedimentary Geology and Geochemistry, Speleogenesis, Chicxulub Ring of Cenotes, and Tectonic Stability (PhD). Northwestern University. ProQuest 2469739315.
  14. Nairn, A. E. M.; Stehli, F. G., eds. (1975). The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The Ocean Basins and Margins. Vol. 3. New York and London: Plenum Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-8535-6. ISBN 978-1-4684-8537-0. OCLC 1255226320.
  15. Sapper, K. (1896). Sobre la geografía física y la geología de la península de Yucatán. Instituto geológico de México; boletín núm. 3. México: Oficina Tip. de la Secretaría de Fomento. hdl:2027/hvd.tz1rcx. OCLC 4688830.
  16. Steel, I.; Davidson, I. (2020a). The basins and orogens of the Southern Gulf of Mexico map (Map). 1:4,000,000. Special Publications; v. 504; pp. 557-558. London: Geological Society of London. doi:10.1144/SP504-2020-2.
  17. Steel, I.; Davidson, I. (2020b). Map of the geology of the Northern Caribbean and the Greater Antillean Arc (Map). 1:4,000,000. Special Publications; v. 504; pp. 559-560. London: Geological Society of London. doi:10.1144/SP504-2020-3.
  18. Villeneuve, M.; Marcaillou, B. (2013). "Pre-Mesozoic origin and paleogeography of blocks in the Caribbean, South Appalachian and West African domains and their impact on the post "Variscan" evolution". Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 184 (1–2): 5–20. doi:10.2113/gssgfbull.184.1-2.5.
  19. Weber, B.; Iriondo, A.; Premo, W. R.; Hecht, L.; Schaaf, P. (2007). "New insights into the history and origin of the southern Maya block, SE México: U–Pb–SHRIMP zircon geochronology from metamorphic rocks of the Chiapas massif". International journal of earth sciences: Geologische Rundschau. 96 (2): 253–269. Bibcode:2007IJEaS..96..253W. doi:10.1007/s00531-006-0093-7. S2CID 55983939.
  20. Weidie, A. E.; Murray, G. E., eds. (1967). Yucatán field trip guide book. New Orleans, La.: New Orleans Geological Society. LCCN 72196658. OCLC 00636646.
  21. Zhao, J.; Xiao, L.; Gulick, S. P. S.; Morgan, J. V.; Kring, D.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J. (2020). "Geochemistry, geochronology and petrogenesis of Maya Block granitoids and dykes from the Chicxulub Impact Crater, Gulf of México: Implications for the assembly of Pangea" (PDF). Gondwana Research. 82 (sn): 128–150. Bibcode:2020GondR..82..128Z. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2019.12.003. S2CID 214359672.
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