BOLETÍN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLÓGICA MEXICANA

TOMO 59, NÚM:. 2, 2007, p. 147-162

http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2007v59n2a1

Estudio geológico para entender los procesos de remoción en masa en la región de Zacapoaxtla, Puebla, México

Víctor Manuel Hernández-Madrigal1-2, Víctor Hugo Garduño-Monroy2, Irasema Alcántara-Ayala1

1 Unidad Académica de Geografía, Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro N° 8701, Ex-Hda. San José de la Huerta, C.P. 58089. A.P. 3-72 (Xangari). Morelia, Mich., México.
2 Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Edificio “U”, Ciudad Universitaria, Morelia, Mich., México.

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Abstract

The Zacapoaxtla region comprises the ridges Sierra Cinco de Mayo, Las Lomas, Atacpan, Tlatlauquitepec, Apulco and Zacapoaxtla plateau. It is a geologic transitional zone between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The Sierra Madre Oriental is characterized by a series of outcrops dated from the Lower Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary (Cahuasas, Molango and Valles petrotectonic units); as well as by intrusive bodies associated to contact metamorphism. The activity of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is expressed in this region by the Teziutlan, Apaxtepec geologic formations and by the emplacement of the Xáltipan ignimbrite, the latest identified by geochemical analyses and field mapping. With base in the analysis of the deformation of the Sierra Madre Oriental, spatial distribution of lithlogies and landslides types on the study area, we found in this work three mains factors that explain the landslides for Zacapoaxtla area: the geometric deformation of the Sierra Madre Oriental being had that for the styles Ramps and Flats, the translational slides are presented in the ramps and gravitational deep deformations in the advance front; mechanical properties of the soft materials (clay and silt); and hydraulic, mechanical and geometric conditions of not welded Xáltipan ignimbrite.

Keywords: Zacapoaxtla region, Sierra Madre Oriental, Apaxtepec geologic formation, Xáltipan ignimbrite, mass movement.