Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen Conmemorativo del Centenario Temas Selectos de la Geología Mexicana Vol. 7, núm. 3, 2005, p. 227-283 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2005v57n3a2

Petrogénesis ígnea de la Faja Volcánica Transmexicana

Arturo Gómez-Tuena*¹, Ma. Teresa Orozco-Esquivel¹, Luca Ferrari¹

¹Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Apartado postal 1-742, Querétaro, Qro., 76001, México

* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

The magmatic diversity of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt is directly or indirectly controlled by two independent oceanic plates with differing geophysical and compositional parameters, by an extensional tectonic regime that operates with different intensities over the upper plate, by a continental basement with a diversity of ages, thicknesses and compositions, and by a compositionally heterogeneous mantle wedge that has been modified to various extents by the subduction-derived chemical agents. The convergent margin and the magmatic arc have not been evolving homogenously though their geologic histories, but instead have shown significant changes in position, geometry and composition. For these reasons, the Transmexican Volcanic Belt is the result of one of the most complex convergent margins on the planet, the subject of more than a century of scientific investigations, and the core of the most notable debates on the Mexican geology.

Keywords: Transmexican Volcanic Belt, Mexico, subduction, magmatic arc, igneous petrology, mantle, crust.