Paleomagnetic results from southern México

Abstract

The paleomagnetic analysis of samples from the lower Permian Paso Hondo y Grupera Formations, collected near Chicomuselo, Chiapas, yields an equatorial latitude and implies that the sampling area was in a position rotated 22° counterclockwise relative to cratonic North America. By contrast, the poleposition obtained from the Pennsylvanian-Permian Yododeñe Formation, collected near Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, closely agrees with equivalent North American data. This implies that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec represents a major discontinuity. The new results support our previous suggestion that Mesoamerica consisted of a series of tectonic blocks.