Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

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Tectonophysics
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto

Review Article

The dynamic history of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Mexico
subduction zone
Luca Ferrari a, b,, Teresa Orozco-Esquivel a, Vlad Manea a, Marina Manea a
a
Computational Geodynamics Laboratory, Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Campus Juriquilla, Quertaro, Qro., 76230, Mexico
b
Instituto de Geologa, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, D.F., 04510, Mexico

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is a 1000 km long Neogene continental arc showing a large variation in
Received 8 March 2011 composition and volcanic style, and an intra-arc extensional tectonics. It overlies the Rivera and Cocos slabs,
Received in revised form 17 August 2011 which display marked changes in geometry. Geophysical studies indicate that lithospheric mantle is very thin
Accepted 28 September 2011
or absent beneath the forearc and arc, the uids from the slab are released in a 40 to 100 km wide belt beneath
Available online 8 October 2011
the frontal part of the arc, and the lower crust beneath the arc is partially molten. East of 101W the TMVB is
Keywords:
built on a Precambrian to Paleozoic crust with thickness of 5055 km. West of 101W the TMVB is underlain by
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Jurassic to Cenozoic marine and continental arcs with a 3540 km thick crust.
Cocos plate The evolution of the TMVB occurred in four stages: 1) from ~20 to 10 Ma the initial andesitic arc moved inland
Rivera plate showing progressively drier melting and, eventually, slab melting, suggesting attening of the subducted slab;
Subduction dynamics 2) since ~11 Ma a pulse of mac volcanism migrated from west to east reaching the Gulf of Mexico by 7 Ma.
Arc volcanism This mac lavas marks the lateral propagation of a slab tear, triggered by cessation of subduction beneath Baja
Mexico crust and lithosphere California; 3) thereafter, the volcanic front started moving trenchward, with a marked phase of silicic volcanism
between 7.5 and 3 Ma, local emplacement of small volume intraplate-like basalts since 5 Ma, and development
of extensional faulting. These features are related to slab rollback, enhancing asthenophere ux into the mantle
wedge and promoting partial melting of the crust; 4) the modern arc consists of a frontal belt dominated by ux
and slab melting, and a rear belt characterized by more differentiated rocks or by mac lavas with little or no
evidence of subduction uids but higher asthenosphere ngerprint.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
2. Regional geologic framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3. Geophysical perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.2. Thickness and nature of the upper plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.3. Geometry of the subducting plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.4. Fluids and melts in mantle wedge and crust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4. Geologic and geochemical evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.1. Spacetime distribution of the volcanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.2. The early TMVB (early to late Miocene) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.3. The eastward migrating mac pulse (late Miocene) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.4. The silicic to bimodal episode (latest Miocene to early Pliocene) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.5. The modern TMVB (late PlioceneHolocene) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5. Neogene tectonics in the TMVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.2. Faulting around the Jalisco block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.3. Eastern Jalisco, Michoacn, Guanajuato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Corresponding author at: Computational Geodynamics Laboratory, Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Campus Juriquilla, Quertaro, Qro.,
76230, Mexico. Tel.: + 52 55 5622 4288x117.
E-mail address: luca@geociencias.unam.mx (L. Ferrari).

0040-1951/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2011.09.018
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 123

5.4. The Bajo depression and the Morelia Acambay system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.5. Faulting in the eastern TMVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.6. Migration of fault activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.1. Cause of at subduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.2. The slab detachment model for the Late Miocene mac episode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.3. Silicic volcanism, bimodal volcanism, and slab rollback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.4. Melting mechanism in the modern arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.5. Cause of the intra-arc deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
6.6. Concluding remarks and outstanding questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Appendix A. Thermal models construction and test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
145

1. Introduction California to Panama, post-10 Ma volcanism in the region between the

The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is the largest Neogene
volcanic arc in North America, encompassing 160,000 km 2 and a
length of almost 1000 km between 1830 and 2130N in central
Mexico (Fig. 1). The TMVB is built upon Cretaceous and Cenozoic
magmatic provinces (Fig. 1) and a heterogeneous basement made of
tectonostratigraphic terranes of different age and lithology (Fig. 2).
In a geodynamic frame, the TMVB is built on the southern edge of
the North America plate, which overrides the Rivera microplate and
the northern part of the Cocos plate (Fig. 1). The western end of the
TMVB lies near the southern Gulf of California oblique rift, which
began seaoor spreading at 3.6 Ma (Lonsdale, 1991). To the east,
the TVMB ends at the Gulf of Mexico ocean basin, produced by Jurassic
seaoor spreading and counter-clockwise rotation of the Yucatan block
in a back-arc position (Pindell et al., 2006; Stern and Dickinson, 2010).
Although the Cocos plate is subducted continuously from the Gulf of
eastern end of the TMVB and the Central America arc is discontinuous
and only represented by the submarine Anegada High (Ferrari et al.,
2005b), the Los Tuxtlas Volcanic Field (Nelson et al., 1995) (Fig. 1),
the El Chichn volcano, and the modern Chiapanecan volcanic arc
(Damon and Montesinos, 1978), which are not considered in this paper.
Compared with the Central America arc, the TMVB has a much more
variable width, ranging between 90 and 230 km, and east of 102W is
not parallel to the Middle America trench (Figs. 1 and 2). The TMVB dis-
plays other peculiarities when compared with most volcanic arcs: 1) the
main stratovolcanoes are aligned oblique to the general orientation of
the arc (Fig. 2); 2) igneous products are compositionally variable, with
small amounts of lavas showing an intraplate geochemical signature
(also called Ocean Island BasaltsOIB) juxtaposed with the dominant
magmatic products typical of a subduction setting (Gmez-Tuena et al.,
2007b); 3) the subducting plates in front of the arc are young (10 to
19 Ma at the trench; Fig. 3, Table 1), a fact that in other cases yields scarce

114 111 108 105 102 99 96

Hermosillo
Chihuahua

North America
27
Plate

Durango 24

Gulf of
Pacific Gulf of Mexico
California
Plate
21
Rivera Guadalajara
Plate T M V B Mexico
City AH

Middle Miocene to Holocene LTVF

volcanism 18
Early Miocene ignimbrites

Oligocene ignimbrites

Eocene igneous rocks Cocos Plate

Late K-Paleocene igneous rocks

Fig. 1. Geodynamic setting and main continental magmatic provinces of Mexico based on Ferrari et al. (2007) and our unpublished data. AH: Anegada high; LTVF: Los Tuxtlas volcanic
eld; TMVB: Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
124 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

Mesozoic basement
Precambrian-Paleozoic
Gulf of basement
California Gulf of
Mexico
Gdl RP
Western
Central 21
Eastern
Jalisco
Block MC Easternmost

Pe
Guerrero Maya
composite terrane GMP Terrane 19

Mixteco
Terrane

Xol Oaxaca
Pacific Ocean apa Terrane
Cuicateco
Ter Terrane
ran 17
e

105 W 103 W 101 W 99 W 97 W 95 W

Fig. 2. MODIS satellite image of central Mexico outlining the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (yellow line) with the main stratovolcanoes (red triangles) and calderas (red circles) as
well as the four sectors described in Table 1 (thin dashed white lines). The main crustal units are outlined with thick white lines. The eastern boundary of the Mesozoic Guerrero
composite terrane is inferred either on the west (Campa and Coney, 1983) or on the east (Sedlock et al., 1993) of the Guerrero-Morelos platform (GMP), but continental crust may
extend even more to the west as indicated by sialic crustal xenoliths found at Pepechuca (Pe) and Rincn de Parangueo (RP). The Jalisco block is part of the Guerrero composite
terrane and might be also underlain by pre-Mesozoic crust according to Nd values and Nd model ages of its Cretaceous granitoid batholiths. MC: Mexico City; Gdl: Guadalajara.

volcanism (e.g., southern Japan); 4) seismicity associated with the sub-
ducting Cocos plate ends at around 100 km depth and is absent beneath
the arc (e.g., Pardo and Surez, 1995). These anomalies prompted several
workers to develop genetic models at variance with a classic subduction
scenario such as an intraplate leaky transform fault (Cebull and Shurbet,
1987; Shurbet and Cebull, 1984), an eastward jump of the East Pacic
Rise (Allan et al., 1991; Luhr et al., 1985), a mantle plume (Mrquez et al.,
1999a, 1999b; Moore et al., 1994), and continental rifting (Sheth et al.,
2000; Verma, 2002).
The modern study of the TMVB is relatively recent, essentially car-
ried out in the past three decades. Judging from the large number of
published papers, the TMVB is the best studied geological province of
Mexico. In spite of this, comprehensive studies are rare (e. g., Demant,
1981; Ferrari, 2000; Gmez-Tuena et al., 2007b; Verma, 1987) as most

N
A
Rivera B
C Gulf of
Plate Mexico
TMVB
E
MAS

23 AH
A
Rive 10 Ma MARS
ra F
Z LTVF

38
VEOX

Pacific 11 Ma B
Plate
EPR

55
17 Ma
14 Ma C
59
Z
Orozco F Cocos Plate 64 0 50 100
17 Ma

Fig. 3. Location of broadband seismic stations used in the MARS experiment (black squares) and in the Colima Volcano Deep Seismic Experiment (CODEX) (black triangles) (Yang et al.,
2009), MASE and VEOX proles (open circles) (Melgar and Prez-Campos, 2011; Prez-Campos et al., 2008), and the 2D thermal models presented in Manea, V. and Manea (2011) and
this work (gray dashed lines). The boundaries of the Pacic, Rivera and Cocos oceanic plates as well as the age of the subducting plate at the trench are also indicated. Small arrows show
direction and relative convergence rate (mm/yr) at the trench. FZ = Fracture Zone; EPR = East Pacic Rise; AH = Anegada High; LTVF = Los Tuxtlas volcanic eld.
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 125

Table 1
Summary of Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt features.

Sector Western Central Eastern Easternmost

Boundaries West of 103 00W
Subducting plate Rivera
Plate age at trench ~ 10 Ma
Slab dip under forearc and 30, 70
arc (Fig. 6)
Max T below the present ~ 1220 C at depth of ~ 67 km
volcanic front (Fig. 7)
Nature and age of Mesozoic (Guerrero terrane),
basement (Fig. 2) possibly continental crust of
older age.
Previous continental arc Late Cretaceous to Paleocene
magmatism (Fig. 1) granitoid batholiths and silicic lavas and dioritic to granodioritic
ignimbrites in the south.
Oligocene to Early Miocene
silicic ignimbrites in the north.
Crust thickness beneath 35 to 40
the arc (Fig. 4)
Age of TMVB inception ~ 11 Ma
Migration of the front Trenchward since ~ 10 Ma
almost continuously
Migration of the rear arc Negligible, arc broaden
to the south
Silicic volcanism Abundant, mostly large
domes complexes, less
ignimbrites. Only emplaced
in the rear half of the arc
Intraplate alkaline (OIB) Since Early Pliocene in the
volcanism rear part of the arc
103 00W100 30W 100 30W97 30W East of 97 30W
Cocos west of Orozco Cocos between Orozco and Cocos between O'Gorman
fracture zone O'Gorman fracture zones FZ and Tehuantepec ridge
1117.6 Ma 14.517-5 Ma 1823 Ma
35, 60 0 (at), 75 ~ 15, ~ 26
~ 1110 C at depth of ~ 67 km ~ 1090 C at depth of 56 km Not available
Mesozoic (Guerrero terrane), Precambrian and Paleozoic Precambrian and Paleozoic
mostly marine mac magmatism continental crust (Mixteco (Maya terrane) partly thinned
and metaysch. Early Cretaceous and Oaxaca terrane) during the opening of the
arc in the easternmost part Gulf of Mexico
(Teloloapan arc)
Mostly Eocene mac to intermediate Not after Jurassic (Nazas arc) No
plutons.
35 to 40 km 45 to 50 km 20 to 35 km
~ 11 Ma ~ 19 Ma ~ 16 Ma
Trenchward since ~ 9 Ma in three main Inland (moderately) between No, arc mostly at the same
pulses (Los Altos, Chapala, MGVF) ~ 16.5 Ma and ~ 9 Ma. Trenchward position
since ~ 9 Ma
Same as the front Rapid inland, arc broaden to the No, arc mostly at the same
north after 16.5 Ma. Moderate position
since ~ 9 Ma, arc broaden to
the south.
Almost absent Abundant, at least 7 large Almost absent
calderas and less dome
complexes. Mostly emplaced
in the rear half of the arc
Rare in the Pleistocene at the arc front Rare in the Pleistocene at the Abundant since Late Miocene
(MichoacanGuanajuato volcanic eld). arc front (Sierra Chichinautzin)

workers have approach the TMVB from relatively narrow disciplinary
perspectives, such as volcanology, geochemistry, or seismology, with
little or no interdisciplinary consideration. Also, many papers are devot-
ed to PleistoceneHolocene volcanism and only a few studies address
the previous ~18 Ma of volcanic history.
In this paper we present an integrative review of the main geophys-
ical, geological, and geochemical features of the TMVB. We rst present
an overview of the geophysical perspectives obtained in the past decade
that reveal the present subduction system. This is followed by an anal-
ysis of the geologic and geochemical evolution of the TMVB (Plates 1
and 2, Movie 1), and a review of the Neogene fault systems developed
within the arc. This analysis is based on an updated version of the
data presented in Ferrari et al. (2005a) and Gmez-Tuena et al.
(2007b). The integration of this information allows recognition of
rst-order patterns that illuminate the dominant geodynamic processes
controlling the arc evolution. The most relevant topics on the genesis of
the TMVB are eventually discussed.
Table 1 summarizes the main geodynamic, tectonic, geologic and
magmatic features of the TMVB and the Mexico subduction system de-
scribed in this review. These features allow the identication of four
sectors with distinctive subduction geometry, crust thickness, base-
ment geology and volcanic behavior. This fourfold subdivision will be
used throughout this paper.
2. Regional geologic framework
The TMVB represents the most recent episode of long-lasting conti-
nental magmatic activity that, since the Jurassic, produced a series of
partially overlapping arcs as a result of the eastward subduction of the
Farallon plate beneath western Mexico. Since the Late Cretaceous arc
magmatism was entirely continental and the geographic distribution
of the arcs can be reconstructed with reasonable precision (Fig. 1).
The Late Cretaceous to Paleogene igneous assemblage consist of the plu-
tonic and volcanic rocks included in the Lower Volcanic Complex of the
Sierra Madre Occidental (McDowell and Clabaugh, 1979), the Peninsu-
lar Range Batholiths of Baja California and its prolongation south of the
TMVB in the Jalisco Block (e.g., Ortega-Rivera, 2003) (Figs. 1 and 2). A
second magmatic arc of Eocene age is represented by andesitic and
less daciticrhyolitic lavas discontinuously exposed in the Sierra
Madre Occidental (Aguirre-Daz and McDowell, 1991; Ferrari et al.,
2007), and basaltic to andesitic lavas, and granitic to dioritic plutons ex-
posed south of the western TMVB (Martini et al., 2009, 2010). These
rocks are covered by a blanket of silicic ignimbrites emplaced in two
main pulses, or are-ups. The Late EoceneEarly Oligocene pulse affect-
ed the entire Sierra Madre Occidental (Ferrari et al., 2007) and con-
tinues south of the central-eastern TMVB (Morn-Zenteno et al.,
1996), whereas the Early Miocene pulse is recognized only in the south-
ern Sierra Madre Occidental, southern Baja California and adjacent Gulf
of California, and immediately south of the volcanic front of the central
TMVB (Ferrari et al., 2002; Orozco-Esquivel et al., 2009, 2010a). North of
the TMVB, arc magmatism migrated to the east between Cretaceous and
Eocene time and then returned toward the trench in the Oligocene and
early Miocene (Fig. 1). By contrast, south of the TMVB the arc moved
progressively toward the east. As a whole, the magmatic belts main-
tained a general NNW orientation until the Eocene but since Oligocene
began a counter-clockwise rotation, eventually reaching its present
transverse ~EW orientation typical of the TMVB in the middle Miocene
(Ferrari et al., 1999) (Fig. 1).
Because the TMVB is oriented oblique to the trend of Mexican tec-
tonic provinces, its pre-Cretaceous basement is highly heterogeneous
(Ortega-Gutirrez et al., 2008) (Fig. 2). The eastern half of the TMVB,
east of 101 W, is built on Precambrian terranes, grouped into the so-
called Oaxaquia microcontinent (Ortega-Gutirrez et al., 1995), as
well as on the Mixteco terrane of Paleozoic age (Nance et al., 2006).
126 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
West of 101W, the TMVB is underlain by the Guerrero composite ter-
rane, an assemblage of Jurassic to Cretaceous marine marginal arcs
built on TriassicEarly Jurassic siliciclastic turbidites (Centeno-Garca
et al., 2011). The westernmost Guerrero composite terrane is the Jalisco
block, dominated by a late Cretaceous to Paleocene batholith intruding
mid to late Jurassic schists (Schaaf et al., 1995; Valencia et al., 2009) and
covered by Late Cretaceous to Eocene subaerial ignimbrites and lavas
(Ferrari et al., 2000b; Frey et al., 2007) (Fig. 2). Part of the batholith
has low to negative Nd values (1.7 to +2.4) and Precambrian Nd
model ages (Schaaf et al., 2003), which suggests that pre-Mesozoic con-
tinental basement may exist in the Jalisco block. The easternmost Guer-
rero composite terrane is also probably underlain by a continental
basement, as inferred from crustal granulitic xenoliths at Pepechuca
and Rincn de Parangueo (Ortega-Gutirrez et al., 2008) (Fig. 2). The in-
tervening region probably consists of Mesozoic thinned and partly
oceanized crust (Centeno-Garca et al., 2011; Elas-Herrera et al.,
2000; Martini et al., 2011), with an uppermost mantle modied by sub-
duction-related uids and melts since at least ~110 Ma (Martini et al.,
2009) (Fig. 1). In contrast, crust and upper mantle below the eastern
half of the TMVB were scarcely affected by magmatism since the Early
Jurassic. As a result, lithosphere beneath the TMVB may vary in thick-
ness, composition and rheology, affecting the petrogenetic evolution
of the arc; this will be discussed in the last section.
3. Geophysical perspectives
3.1. Introduction
The amount and quality of geophysical data for central Mexico has
greatly increased in the past decade. Thanks to the three joint USMexico
seismic experiments: Mapping the Rivera Subduction Zone (MARS),
Middle America Subduction Experiment (MASE) and Veracruz-Oaxaca
seismic line (VEOX), carried out between 2006 and 2010, both the geom-
etry of the subducting plate and the thickness of the upper plate are now
known in enough detail. The MARS experiment, led by the University of
Texas at Austin with the collaboration of UNAM and University of New
Mexico, deployed a seismic network of 50 broadband stations in the
Jalisco and Michoacn states, covering a region between the coast and
the northwestern TMVB (Fig. 3). The MASE experiment, led by the
California Institute of Technology with the collaboration of University
-107 -105 -103
25 30 40
Rivera
35
Plate
40
35
30
25
Pacific
Plate
Cocos Plate
Fig. 4. Map showing the thickness of the crust beneath and south of the TMVB (in km). Moho depth compiled using the results of receiver function studies from the MARS, MASE
and VEOX experiments as well as the gravimetric model of Urrutia-Fucugauchi and Flores-Ruiz (1996). MARS results courtesy of Steve Grand.
of California at Los Angeles and UNAM, deployed 100 broadband stations
at ~5 km intervals along a trench-orthogonal prole from Acapulco to
the northern Veracruz state, crossing the TMVB near Mexico City
(Fig. 3). Half of these stations were subsequently employed along the
VEOX prole, located in the western part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
with the same inter-station distance (Fig. 3). Other recent geophysical
studies provide important information regarding the presence of uids
and melt beneath the TMVB. These include magnetotelluric studies car-
ried out along the MASE prole and some tens of km west of the VEOX
prole (Jdicke et al., 2006), numerical models of the thermal structure
of the subduction zone (Manea, V. and Manea, 2011; Manea et al.,
2004), and the determination of the Curie temperature depth beneath
central Mexico (Manea, M. and Manea, 2011). In the following sections
we synthesize the main results of these studies and explore their impli-
cations for understanding the TMVB. We also present two new 2D nu-
merical models of the thermal structure and slab dehydration for the
western and central TMVB based on improved understanding of subduc-
tion geometry resulting from the MARS experiment.
3.2. Thickness and nature of the upper plate
In Fig. 4 we have compiled the thickness of the crust using the re-
sults of receiver functions studies from the MARS, MASE and VEOX
data, combined with the estimation from gravimetric data of Urrutia-
Fucugauchi and Flores-Ruiz (1996) for areas where seismic information
was not available. The map shows a rst order ~NS change just east of
101W. The region to the east has thicker crust with maxima over
50 km, whereas to the west the thickness rapidly decreases to 40 km
or less. This steep crustal thickness gradient also corresponds to an ob-
vious boundary in the aeromagnetic map of central Mexico (Fig. 5A) be-
tween a western region characterized by short wavelength anomalies
and an eastern region with low amplitude and long wavelength anom-
alies. The western region features indicate high magnetic susceptibility
igneous bodies in the upper crust, in agreement with the occurrence in
this area of the Mesozoic arc assemblage of the Guerrero composite ter-
rane overlain by the Cretaceous to Paleogene continental magmatic arcs
(Figs. 1 and 2). The magnetic boundary coincides well with the west-
ernmost known occurrence of the Paleozoic and Precambrian basement
overthrusted by the Guerrero terrane assemblage. The Bouguer anoma-
ly map (Fig. 5B) show similar, though less precise, crustal domains
-101 -99 -97
30
35
45
45
40
40
30
40
21
Mex 50
20
25
35 19
40 40 30
35 40
30 35
30
17
100 km
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 127

23
GC Gulf of
PPB Mexico
MB

21
TMVB
19

GCT
GMP MT
MiT
17

XT CT
COCOS PLATE OT
15

-107 -105 -103 -101 -99 -97 -95

Magnetic Anomalies - Pole Migrated (nT)
-200
-150
-100

-75

-25
-50

25
50
75
100
150
200
23

MB
PPB
21

TMVB
19

GCT
GMP MT
MiT
17

XT CT
OT
15

-107 -105 -103 -101 -99 -97 -95

Bouguer gravity anomaly (mGals)

-250

-200

-100
-150

-50

100
50

Fig. 5. A) Map of aeromagnetic anomalies migrated to the pole for central Mexico. Data from the Aeromagnetic Map of North America (North America Magnetic Anomaly Group,
2002). Main crustal units and TMVB outline as in Fig. 2. B) Bouguer anomaly map of central Mexico based on the gravimetric map of Mexico (De la Fuente et al., 1994).

beneath the TMVB, with a less pronounced negative anomaly in the
west compared with the eastern half. This is likely a consequence of a
shallower Moho and higher bulk density of the crust, heavily intruded
by plutons.
Other geophysical and geologic data allow a further subdivision of
crustal domains beneath the western half of the TMVB. The central sector
presents the thinnest crust within the TMVB (~3540 km) (Mazzarini
et al., 2010) (Fig. 4), in agreement with crustal thickness estimated in
the region to the north and to the south. In fact, the Mesa Central,
north of the TMVB has a crustal thickness of 3033 km based on group
velocity of surface waves (Fix, 1975) and gravimetric data (Campos-
Enriquez et al., 1994). The crust of the Guerrero terrane south of the
TMVB has an average thickness of ~30 km according to spectral analysis
and inversion of gravimetric data (Garca-Prez and Urrutia-Fucugauchi,
1997).
In the Tehuantepec Isthmus, the VEOX prole shows a zone with a
maximum crustal thickness of 40 km beneath the coastal plain, an
area thought to be underlain by the Precambrian Oaxaquia microconti-
nent. Crust thickness decreases rapidly toward the coast and is estimat-
ed in the range 2834 km beneath the Los Tuxtlas volcanic eld (Fig. 4)
128 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
(Zamora-Camacho et al., 2010). A 40 km thick crust south of Los Tuxtlas
corresponds to an area of very low elevation. Areas with similar thick-
ness in the western TMVB stand at 1500 to 2000 m above sea level, sug-
gesting that the topography there is supported by low density
asthenospheric mantle, as discussed in the following section.
3.3. Geometry of the subducting plate
The classic paper by Pardo and Surez (1995), based on relocation
of teleseismic events, rst dened the geometry of the subducted Ri-
vera and Cocos slabs in the Mexican subduction zone but was unable
to determine the position of the slab beneath the TMVB because this
region is almost devoid of earthquakes. The combined results of the
MARS, MASE and VEOX experiments better dened the depth of the
slab beneath the forearc region using receiver functions and, using
seismic tomography, imaged for the rst time the complex geometry
of the subducting plate beneath the TMVB. A general view of the
resulting subduction geometry is summarized in Fig. 6.
The seismicity recorded by the MARS experiment and the resulting
tomography images (Yang et al., 2009) show that the Rivera plate
dips at 40 beneath the forearc region and then dips ~70 beneath the
TMVB. The westernmost Cocos slab dips slightly less, both beneath
the forearc and beneath the TMVB. The two plates are separated by a
trench-orthogonal tear starting just north of Colima volcano (Fig. 6)
and broadening northwards. The tomography also indicates that the
subducting plate ends at about 350 km depth, implying that no slab un-
derlies the northern end of the western TMVB (Fig. 6). On the other
hand, a recent seismic anisotropy study (Len-Soto et al., 2009) sug-
gests that the mantle ows toroidally around the Rivera plate, both at
its western edge, adjacent to the Gulf of California, and through the
tear separating it from the subducted Cocos slab. This supports the
model of Ferrari et al. (2001), which explains the occurrence of Ocean
Island Basalt (OIB) type volcanism in the western TMVB by the inux
of deep asthenosphere into the mantle wedge.
East of 101W the dip of the Cocos plate decreases markedly. Receiv-
er function results along the MASE prole show that the plate initially
dips at 15 until 80 km from the coast and then attens at 50 km
depth (Kim et al., 2010; Prez-Campos et al., 2008), rening the results
of previous seismology studies (Pardo and Surez, 1995; Singh and
Pardo, 1993). The at slab extends inland for 200 km just below the
Rivera 260 320
200
Plate 1
10 50
60 800
20 40
Co
RFZ
Pacific
Plate
EPR
Cocos
Plate
OFZ
Fig. 6. Depth of the subducted slab beneath central Mexico compiled using the results of receiver function and tomography studies from the MARS, MASE and VEOX experiments.
The geometry of Pardo and Surez (1995) was used in areas not covered by these studies. Co = Colima volcano; Po = Popocatpetl volcano.
Moho of the upper plate, implying that lithospheric mantle is missing
here. In other regions worldwide, at subduction tends to promote
shortening in the upper plate (e.g., Gutscher et al., 2000) but this is
not seen in central Mexico. Such an apparent contradiction can be
explained by decoupling due to low viscosity blueschist metamorphic
facies minerals along the upper part of the at slab (Manea et al.,
2004). In addition, recent seismic studies using the MASE data identify
a 35 km thick layer characterized by ultra-low seismic velocity and
high uid pressure (Kim et al., 2010; Song et al., 2009), which further
helps decouple subducting and overriding plates. The most important
results, however, are provided by the seismic tomography, showing
that beneath the volcanic front the Cocos plate abruptly plunges with
a 75 dip (Husker and Davis, 2009; Prez-Campos et al., 2008). The
high velocity anomaly of the Cocos slab is truncated ~450 km deep,
which would conrm the slab detachment model proposed by Ferrari
(2004). A separated high velocity anomaly imaged below ~600 km
might represent the upper part of the detached slab.
East of 96W, the at subduction segment shortens and eventually
disappears beneath the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where the VEOX
prole imaged the Cocos plate subducting with an almost constant
26 dip between 140 and 310 km from the trench (Melgar and
Prez-Campos, 2011). The seismic signal of the slab disappears at
~145 km depth due to loss of receiver function resolution. Regional
tomographic models, however, show a truncation of the slab at
~350 km and a detached slab fragment below 500 km (Rogers et al.,
2002).
3.4. Fluids and melts in mantle wedge and crust
The thermal structure of the sub-TMVB subduction zone and the
evolution of uids and melts released from the subducted plate are cru-
cial to determine the amount and location of mantle partial melting that
produce arc volcanism. Compared with other subduction zones world-
wide the age of the subducting plate in central Mexico is relatively
young, being ~10 Ma for the Rivera plate and between 11 and 17 Ma
for the Cocos plate at the trench (Table 1, Fig. 3). In principle, slab of
these ages are young enough to melt at depth, yielding magmas with
adakitic signatures (Defant and Drummond, 1990). Evidence for slab
melting has been reported for lavas of several locations along the volca-
nic front and will be discussed in the following section. Fluids and melts
E
MAS
MARS
Slab edge
320
400 km
260
200 300 km
400 km
150 200 km
150 km 300 km AH
200 km
X
VEO
150 km
Po
LTVF 150 km
100
km
80 km
60 km
40 km
20 km
0 50 100
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 129

in the subduction zone below Mexico City were imaged by the magne- mantle and beyond. Anomalies closer to the slab are interpreted as
totelluric (MT) study of Jdicke et al. (2006), which includes one prole uids released by the break-down of chlorite and amphibole. However,
near the MASE line. The MT experiment revealed a series of low resistiv- a series of anomalies is also observed in the lower crust further north
ity anomalies that, once compared with pressure and temperature con- along the entire width of the TMVB. These anomalies can only be
ditions of metamorphic reactions for basalticgabbroic mineralogy, explained by low percentage of melts in the lower crust, an interpreta-
identify the main dehydration zones along the subducting Cocos plate. tion supported by the study of Chen and Clayton (2009), who found
The rst dehydration zone, corresponding to the break-up of zeolite high seismic attenuation in the same low resistivity region beneath
minerals, occurs beneath the coast, where the slab has a gentle dip of the TMVB. Particularly, this latter study identies two high attenuation
15. A second broad zone is located above the northern half of the at zones. The southern one is clearly associated with Pleistocene volca-
slab segment and corresponds to subducted oceanic crust reacting nism. The northern zone coincides at surface with bimodal volcanism
from blueschist to eclogite. A series of strong resistivity anomalies are of Late Miocene to Pliocene age (~7.52.5 Ma: Ferrari et al., 2005b;
observed further north, where the Cocos slab plunges steeply into the Orozco-Esquivel and Ferrari, 2008) (Plate 1). From a geologic point of

Profile A-A
A VF D VF
Trench Coast QA Trench Coast QA
0 100C
0
300C
V=3.2 cm/yr 500C
700C 3 1 wt%
Sediments
Age=10 Ma 50
0
900C Moho Moho
C 1100C 4 0.5 wt%
6.5 6 wt% Oceanic Crust
Serp. Mantle
1300
C
6 1.5 wt%
-100 -100
70
Depth (km)

Depth (km)
Serp. Mantle
0
C

1.5 0.5 wt%

Serp. Mantle

0.5 0 wt%
90

Oceanic Crust
0 11
C 00

-200 -200 Continental

crust
Mantle
wedge
Sediments
Oc. Crust

H 2O release
5 Serp. Mantle

(wt%)
C
13

0
00

0 100 200 300 400

C

Distance from the trench (km)

-300 -300
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Distance from the trench (km) Distance from the trench (km)

Profile B-B
B VF E VF
Trench Coast QA Trench Coast QA
0 100C
0
300C 500C
V=5.0 cm/yr 700C 3 1 wt%
Age=14 Ma 900C Moho Sediments Moho
50 1100
0
C C 6.5 6 wt% 4 0.5 wt%
Serp. Mantle Oceanic Crust
13
-100 00
C -100
Depth (km)

70
Depth (km)

0
C 6 1.5 wt%
Serp. Mantle
90
0
C
11
0

-200 -200 1.5 0.5 wt%

0 130

Continental Mantle Sediments

crust wedge
C

Oc. Crust Serp. Mantle

H 2O release

5 Serp. Mantle
(wt%)
C0

0
0 100 200 300 400
Distance from the trench (km)
-300 -300
0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300
Distance from the trench (km) Distance from the trench (km)

Profile C-C
C Coast
VF
QA
F Coast
VF
QA
Trench Trench
0 100C
0 3 1.5 wt%
200C Sediments
V=5.5 cm/yr 300C
400C
Age=14 Ma 900C Moho Moho
500C
1100C 6 1.5 wt%
Depth (km)

Depth (km)

Serp. Mantle
6.5 6 wt% 4 0.5 wt%
-100 1300C -100 Serp. Mantle Oc. Crust
900

Sediments Continental Mantle

crust wedge 1.5 0.5 wt%
Oc. Crust 0.5 0 wt%
C

H 2O release

5 Serp. Mantle Serp. Mantle Oceanic Crust

110

(wt%)
0 C

-200 -200
130

0
0 100 200 300 400
0C

Distance from the trench (km)

0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400

Distance from the trench (km) Distance from the trench (km)

Fig. 7. 2D instantaneous thermal models and estimated amount of water released during subduction for the proles in Fig. 3. Proles A and B are constrained by the slab and crustal
geometry of proles AA and DD of the MARS experiment (Yang et al., 2009). Prole CC (modied from Manea, V. and Manea, 2011) is constrained by the slab and crustal
geometry of the MASE line (Prez-Campos et al., 2008). See Appendix A for details.
130 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

view these anomalies may correspond to the hot zone predicted by the
numerical models of Annen et al. (2006), where mac magmas are
underplated and intruded as sills at different levels in the lower crust.
The isotope signature of post 7 Ma lavas in this sector supports this in-
terpretation (see next section).
The thermal structure of the Mexican subduction system was
modeled in the past decade using the slab geometry dened by
Pardo and Surez (1995). Since the dip of the slab beneath the
TMVB was unknown, this rst generation of models assumed a mod-
erate inclination of 20 to 30 (Currie et al., 2002; Manea et al., 2004).
With this conguration, the models were unable to reach tempera-
tures high enough to produce melts beneath the TMVB front and re-
produce the heat ow measured across the arc (Ziagos et al., 1985),
unless a strongly temperature-dependent viscosity was used
(Manea et al., 2004). A new set of thermal models has been recently
obtained by Manea, V. and Manea (2011) using the slab geometry im-
aged by the MASE study (Fig. 7). Here we expand this work present-
ing 2D steady-state temperature distribution for two additional
proles located in the western TMVB and constrained by the slab ge-
ometry obtained by the MARS experiment (Fig. 7A and B). Details on
the modeling procedure are given in the Appendix A. The PT values
obtained for the slab along the proles were subsequently used to es-
timate the amount of water that can be released at each segment of
the slab on the basis of phase equilibrium diagrams for metabasalt,
sediments and serpentinized mantle of the oceanic lithosphere
(Fig. 7). In all the models, temperatures high enough to promote
mantle melting are present right below the volcanic front. However,
temperature and available water vary signicantly in the three pro-
les. In the prole crossing the central-eastern TMVB at the longitude
of Mexico City (Fig. 7C, MASE prole) the hottest region below the
volcanic front reaches ~ 1090 C at ~ 56 km of depth and the largest
release of uids occurs in the last part of the at slab segment.
These uids may accumulate in the ultra low velocity layer (Song et
al., 2009) just below the Moho, and partly inltrate the lower crust
just south of the volcanic front. Dehydration reactions within the
slab release 2.5 to 8% of water down to ~ 150 km depth, either from
the oceanic crust or mantle. However, because of the steeply dipping
geometry of the slab, the uids are concentrated in the 40 km imme-
diately behind the volcanic front. By contrast, in the prole of the
eastern Rivera plate beneath the western TMVB (Fig. 7A) the volcanic
front is underlain by a maximum mantle temperature of ~1220 C at
~ 67 km of depth but only 2 to 0.5% of water is released in a ~80 km
wide belt behind the arc. The prole in the westernmost Cocos plate
beneath the central TMVB (Fig. 7B) displays an intermediate situa-
tion: a maximum temperature of ~ 1110 C is achieved at ~67 km of
depth and 7.5 to 2% of water is released for at least 100 km behind
the volcanic front. The mantle wedge above the Rivera slab (Fig. 7A)
is therefore less hydrated than that above the Cocos slab but, because
it is hotter, the mantle can melt even if it is water undersatured (H2O
b0.5%). In the three cases, little uids appear to be released beneath
the rear part of the arc (Fig. 6), with implications for the magma gen-
esis that will be discussed in the last section of the paper.
Thermal models indicate that lithospheric mantle is very thin be-
neath the TMVB because temperatures of 1300 C typical of astheno-
spheric mantle (Fischer et al., 2010) are reached close to the Moho.
This is also conrmed by the mantle densities obtained from model-
ing of gravimetric data, which indicates low density material just
below TMVB crust (Campos-Enrquez and Snchez-Zamora, 2000).
Additional independent support comes from the high heat ow
(90100 mW/m 2) measured across the TMVB passing through Mexi-
co City (Ziagos et al., 1985), which are equal or just above those of arc
and back-arc regions with very thin mantle lithosphere (Currie and
Hyndman, 2006). Heat ow throughout central Mexico has been
also indirectly estimated by computing the depth of the Curie tem-
perature from the Aeromagnetic Map of North America (Manea, M.
and Manea, 2011). With this method, values above 100 mW/m 2 are
observed in the western TMVB, underlain by the thinner crust of the
Guerrero composite terrane. The forearc of the eastern TMVB shows
a wide heat ow minimum that matches with the region underlain
by the at slab.
4. Geologic and geochemical evolution
4.1. Spacetime distribution of the volcanism
The TMVB was established as an independent province in the early
to middle Miocene, as a result of the counterclockwise rotation of the
volcanic axis from the NNW-oriented Oligocene Sierra Madre Occiden-
tal (SMO). The initiation of the TMVB can be thus distinguished by its E
W orientation, but also by a change in the style and composition of the
dominant volcanism, from silicic and explosive in the SMO to interme-
diate and effusive in the TMVB (Ferrari et al., 1999; Gmez-Tuena et al.,,
2007b).
Since the early Miocene, the evolution of the TMVB involved re-
markable changes in the location of volcanism. In Fig. 8, published
ages of magmatic rocks have been plotted against the distance to the
present trench and volcanic front; data are presented separately for
the regions east and west of 101W, the approximate boundary be-
tween the thick (~50 km) Precambrian to Paleozoic crust, and the thin-
ner Mesozoic crust of the Guerrero composite terrane (Fig. 2), which
also represents the western boundary of the at slab segment. Younger
ages are certainly more abundant but the amount of data is large

25 25
A B
W W
20 20

15 15
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

10 10

5 5

0 0
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Distance to trench (km) Distance to volcanic front (km)

Fig. 8. Published isotopic ages of magmatic rocks plotted against the distance to (A) the present trench and (B) the present volcanic front. Data are colored differently for the regions
to the east and west of long 101W, the approximate boundary between the thick (~50 km) Precambrian to Paleozoic crust, and the thinner Mesozoic crust of the Guerrero com-
posite terrane. Bars represent the errors as reported in the original works.
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 131

enough to see a general pattern of evolution. West of 101W, volcanism 4.2. The early TMVB (early to late Miocene)
started at the end of middle Miocene, and since the late Miocene the
volcanic front progressively migrated trenchward at an average speed The products of the early TMVB are found between 10130W and the
of ~7.5 mm/a, to its present position ~150 km from the trench. East of Gulf of Mexico coast, where they build a ~245 km broad arc in central
101W, volcanism started at the end of the early Miocene and then mi- Mexico (Figs. 8, 9, Plate 1). Volcanic rocks of similar age exposed at the
grated for ca. 250 km to the north, reaching a distance of ~480 km from Pacic coast (Fig. 9) (Ferrari et al., 2000a; Gastil et al., 1979) probably
the trench by ~10 Ma. Afterwards, the volcanic front migrated tren- constitute the southernmost part of the so-called Comond arc, which
chward at a similar speed as in the western region, to reach its present is mainly exposed in Baja California (Hausback, 1984; Umhoefer et al.,
position at 270 km to 345 km from the trench. In both regions, the 2001). Between these two areas, the stratigraphic record indicates a hia-
northernmost rear end of the arc had a less pronounced trenchward mi- tus in the volcanic activity between ~22 Ma and ~11 Ma (e.g., Ferrari et
gration than the arc front, resulting in the broadening of the arc up to al., 2000b, 2003b; Rosas-Elguera et al., 2003).
150 km in the west and to almost 200 km in the east. The evolution of As previously stated, the initiation of TMVB activity is characterized
volcanism in space and time can be visualized in Plate 2 and Movie 1 by predominantly effusive volcanism of intermediate composition. The
provided as electronic supplementary material. oldest rocks that may be related to this phase are exposed in central
On the basis of the spatial distribution and composition of volca- Mexico, near to the modern volcanic front (TenancingoMalinalco
nism, the geologic evolution of the TMVB has been divided into four area, Sierra Mil Cumbres, Sierra de Angangueo, Mexico basin; Fig. 10).
main episodes described in Gmez-Tuena et al. (2007b) and rened in Lava samples of intermediate composition collected in those areas
this work (Fig. 9): (1) the beginning of a volcanic arc of intermediate have been dated between ~22 and 16.5 Ma (Jacobo-Albarrn, 1986;
composition in the early to mid Miocene; (2) a late Miocene episode Garca-Palomo et al., 2000; Lenhardt et al., 2010; Pasquar et al., 1991;
of eastward migrating mac volcanism located to the north of the pre- our unpublished data). In the Chalcatzingo area (Fig. 9), a group of rhy-
vious arc; (3) a latest Miocene silicic episode that became bimodal olitic domes that were dated at 20.7 0.3 Ma are noteworthy because
(macsilicic) in the early Pliocene and marked the beginning of the of their isolated location to the south of the main TMVB and their
trenchward migration of volcanism; (4) late Pliocene and Pleisto- high-silica adakitic composition; these rocks have been interpreted as
cene development of an arc characterized by remarkable composi- nearly unmodied slab melts belonging to the initial TMVB (Gmez-
tional variability. Tuena et al., 2008).

11-9 Ma
Early to Late Miocene (~19 - 8 Ma) 10.5 - 9
Ma a
9 -7.5 Ma 6.5 M
Tepic 7.5 - Gulf of
Gulf of Tepic Len Mexico
Mexico 7-3 Ma
Quertaro
Guadalajara
Quertaro
Pachuca Pachuca

Morelia Mexico
Morelia
City
Mexico City Colima
A B Puebla

Chalcalzingo domes
Mafic pulse 11 - 3 Ma
Middle to Late Miocene
Late Miocene-early Pliocene mafic pulse

Tepic Tepic
Len
Gulf of Len Gulf of
Guadalajara Ama
Mexico Mexico
Quertaro Guadalajara Quertaro
Ca

Hu
Am Mexico
Az
Morelia Morelia City
Colima Colima
Mexico
C City Puebla D Puebla

Dome complex
Calderas and ignimbrite Late Pliocene-Quaternary

Mafic pulse 11 - 3 Ma Silicic volcanism (~7.5 - 3 Ma) Mafic pulse 11 - 3 Ma Late Pliocene - Quaternary

12 12 12 12
10 E SiO2 = 61.6 4.4 (1)
10 F SiO2 = 51.1 3.7 (1)
10 G SiO2 = 72.1 5.1 (1)
10 H
Na2O + K2O wt.%

Na2O + K2O wt.%

Na2O + K2O wt.%

Na2O + K2O wt.%

8 8 8 8

6 6 6 6

4 4 4 4 SiO2 = 59.2 6.3 (1)

2 Episode 1. Early to late Miocene 2 Episode 2. Late Miocene to 2 Episode 3. Latest Miocene - Pliocene 2 Episode 4. Late Pliocene - Pleistocene
195 analyses early Pliocene 344 analyses 139 analyses 3,386 analyses
0 0 0 0
40 50 60 70 80 40 50 60 70 80 40 50 60 70 80 40 50 60 70 80
SiO2 wt.% SiO2 wt.% SiO2 wt.% SiO2 wt.%

Fig. 9. The four magmatic episodes of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. Location of samples in the database are represented by dots (chemical analyses) and stars (age). Also shown
is the composition of volcanics in the total alkalies vs. silica (TAS) diagram (Le Bas et al., 1986) for each episode, including mean SiO2 values and number of analyses. A) and E) The
early TMVB of early to late Miocene; B) and F) The eastward migrating mac pulse of the late Miocene to early Pliocene; C) and G) The silicic episode of the late Miocene to early
Pliocene; D) and H) The modern TMVB of late Pliocene to Pleistocene.
132 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

25
A
Central sector (99 101 W)
20
<150 km from front
Age (Ma)

15 >150 km from front

Eastern sector (96.4 99 W)

10
<150 km from front

5
250 300 350 400 450 500
Distance to trench (km)
75 4.5
B C
70 4.0

3.5
65
SiO2 (wt. %)

3.0

Gd/Yb
60
2.5
55
2.0

50 1.5

45 1.0
250 300 350 400 450 500 250 300 350 400 450 500
Distance to trench (km) Distance to trench (km)

CC
LJ
Za D
PH
SM
Zi

150 km Quertaro
to front Pachuca

450
SMC
Morelia SA
CG PS
400
Mexico 350
City
300 km
T-M to tren
ch
99W

Fig. 10. The early to late Miocene Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Variation of (A) age, (B) SiO2 content, and (C) Gd/Yb ratio with respect to the distance from the modern trench. D) Distribution
of rocks belonging to this episode. Thin dotted lines indicate distance to the trench; thick dotted lines are boundaries used in the legend. CC: Cerro Colorado dome; CG: Cerro Grande volcano;
LJ: La Joya volcano; PH: Palo Hurfano volcano; PS: Palma Sola; SA: Sierra de Angangueo; SM: San Martn; SMC: Sierra de Mil Cumbres; TM: TenancingoMalinalco; Za: Zamorano volcano;
Zi: Zimapn area. The dashed lines in AC indicate the general trends.

Thereafter, magmatism extended farther from the trench (Fig. 10A),
to the north as well as toward the Gulf of Mexico, and the arc acquired
its characteristic EW orientation. Available ages point to an abrupt wid-
ening of the arc (from ~100 to ~200 km) toward the north at ca. 16.5 Ma,
accompanied by a less pronounced migration of the volcanic front away
from the trench. Some of the oldest rocks dening the arc-widening
stage are exposed at the northern end of the TMVB (Cerro Colorado,
San Martn, Zimapn area, Fig. 10, Plate 1) and have been dated at 16.5
to 15.2 Ma (Prez-Venzor et al., 1996; Suter et al., 1997; Vassallo et al.,
2008; our unpublished data). Among the youngest manifestations relat-
ed to this episode are the andesitic to dacitic stratovolcanoes Palo
Hurfano, La Joya, Zamorano and Cerro Grande (Fig. 10), formed between
12.1 and 8.9 Ma and located at the greatest distance from the trench.
In the eastern sector of the TMVB, early magmatism is represented by
gabbroic to tonalitic intrusive and subvolcanic bodies, with associated
mac dykes and intermediate lavas that have been dated between
16 and 9 Ma (Cantagrel and Robin, 1979; Ferrari et al., 2005b; Lpez-
Infanzn, 1991; Negendank et al., 1985). Some younger domes and
stocks outcropping in this area and dated at 7.48 Ma (Ferrari et al.,
2005b) are considered part of this early TMVB on the basis of their
sub-alkaline composition (dacitetrachyte) with adakitic signature
(see below) and because they precede the emplacement of alkali basalt
plateaus associated with the late Miocene mac episode, which in this
area started at 7 Ma.
Rocks emplaced during the early TMVB episode are sub-alkaline,
with predominant andesite to dacite composition (Fig. 9), and have
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 133

geochemical features indicating a progressive decrease in the inu-
ence of subduction components (mainly uids) towards the N and
NE, as the distance to the trench increases (Orozco-Esquivel et al.,
2010b). This trend was interrupted abruptly by the emplacement of
adakitic rocks (Defant and Drummond, 1990; Kay, 1978) that form
the Palo Hurfano, La Joya, Zamorano, and Cerro Grande volcanoes
(Fig. 10) (Mori et al., 2007) with ages of ~ 12 to ~9 Ma (Gmez-
Tuena and Carrasco-Nez, 2000; Prez-Venzor et al., 1996; Valdz-
Moreno et al., 1998; Verma and Carrasco-Nez, 2003). A series of
subvolcanic bodies exposed in the Palma Sola area were also consid-
ered part of this adakite suite (Gmez-Tuena et al., 2003) although a
clear adakitic signature is observed only in more differentiated and
younger rocks dated at 7.48 Ma (Ferrari et al., 2005b; our unpub-
lished data). The adakitic rocks are characterized by higher Gd/Yb ra-
tios and SiO2 contents and are only found at the greatest distance
from the trench (Fig. 10), where they mark the end of the arc migra-
tion away from the trench as well as the end of the early magmatic
episode. Their adakitic character has been interpreted as the result
of slab melting promoted by prolonged at subduction (Gmez-
Tuena et al., 2003; Mori et al., 2007). A scenario of progressive slab
attening between early and late Miocene time would also account
for the migration of volcanism away from the trench, for the observed
broadening of the arc, and for the progressive decrease in the contri-
bution of slab-derived uids to the magmas.

10
160
A Alk
D Western area
140 Central area
Na2O + K2O wt. %

8 lk
Suba 120 Eastern area

Ba/Nb
100
6 80
60
4 40
20
OIB
2 0
250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
40 45 50 55 60 65
Distance to trench (km)
SiO2 wt. %

4 B Subalkaline rocks E
3
High-K
TiO2 wt. %

3
K2O wt. %

Medium-K 2
2

1 Early to late
1 Miocene arc
Low-K
0
0 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
40 50 60 70 80
SiO2 wt. % Distance to trench (km)

4
6
Alkaline rocks OIB
F
5
C
3
High-K
K2O wt. %

K-Alkaline
TiO2 / K2O

4 Alkaline
3 2
Na-Alkaline
2 Early to late
1 Miocene arc
1

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 100 1000
Na2O wt. % Ba/Nb

Western Central Eastern

G 11.5-9 Ma Len 9-7.5 Ma 7.5-6.5 Ma Gulf of
Tepic Mexico

Quertaro
Guadalajara
Pachuca
7-3 Ma
Mexico
Morelia City
Colima
Puebla

Fig. 11. Late Miocene to early Pliocene mac pulse. Diagrams show differences in rock composition of three areas dened in the map below (G). The areas were selected to better display
the differences among localities of this episode and do not correspond to those dened in Table 1. A) total alkalies vs. silica (TAS) diagram. Subdivision of (B) subalkaline and (C) alkaline
rocks. Variation with respect to the distance from the modern trench of (D) Ba/Nb ratios and (E) TiO2 contents; and F) Ba/Nb vs TiO2/K2O variation diagram. The OIB eld was dened with
data from the GEOROC database (http://georoc.mpch-mainz.gwdg.de/georoc). Composition of the early TMVB (early to late Miocene rocks) is shown for comparison.
134 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

4.3. The eastward migrating mac pulse (late Miocene)
An abrupt change in the style and composition of volcanism oc-
curred in the late Miocene, when a large volume of mac lavas was
emplaced along the arc to the north of the region affected by the pre-
vious episode (Ferrari, 2004; Ferrari et al., 1994, 2000a, 2005b) (Fig. 9,
Movie 1, Plate 1). Volcanism formed plateaus of basaltic lava erupted
through ssures, or less often from relatively small shield volcanoes
and lava cones. The volume of lava emplaced during this episode is
much higher in the western area and diminishes toward the east
(Plate 1).
Radiometric ages indicate that mac volcanism migrated from
west to east (Figs. 9, 11): 11.58.4 Ma in the western and central sec-
tors (Alva-Valdivia et al., 2000; Ferrari et al., 2000b; Moore et al.,
1994; Nieto-Obregn et al., 1981; Righter et al., 1995; Rosas-Elguera
et al., 1997, 2003; Rossotti et al., 2002; Verma et al., 1985); 9
7.5 Ma between 101W and 99W (Aguirre-Daz and Lpez-Martnez,
2001; Pasquar et al., 1991; Suter et al., 1995a), 7.56.5 Ma east of
99W in the area north of Pachuca, and 73 Ma in the Palma Sola
area (Cantagrel and Robin, 1979; Ferrari et al., 2005b; Lpez-Infanzn,
1991).
Rocks emplaced during the late Miocene episode are more mac
than lavas from any other episode (SiO2 average: 51.1 3.7 1).
West of 99W volcanic rocks mostly show sub-alkaline, medium-K
compositions (in part tholeiitic) and high Ba/Nb ratios characteristic
of subduction-related magmatism, although their TiO2 contents and
TiO2/K2O ratios tend to be higher than in the sub-alkaline rocks of
the previous episode (Fig. 11). In contrast, volcanism in the region
east of 99W is dominated by Na-alkaline compositions with intra-
plate afnities (Orozco-Esquivel et al., 2007), as indicated by the
low Ba/Nb ratios and the clearly higher TiO2 contents and TiO2/K2O
ratios, similar to those of ocean island basalts (OIB) (Fig. 11). This
along-arc variation in composition and volume may reect the previ-
caldera (7.36.6 Ma; Aguirre-Daz and Lpez-Martnez, 2001), but
since the end of Miocene (~ 6 Ma) mac to intermediate lavas are
interstratied with the silicic rocks or mingled in some ignimbrites,
as in the Huichapan caldera (5.04.2 Ma, Aguirre-Daz and Lpez-
Martnez, 2009) and Amealco caldera (4.7 Ma; Aguirre-Daz, 1996;
Aguirre-Daz and Lpez-Martnez, 2001). Caldera products are char-
acterized by intermediate to silicic compositions in contrast to the
bimodal compositions of rocks unrelated to calderas (Fig. 12b).
This episode has been dened on the basis of the distinctive contrast
between the mac plateau lavas and the subsequent silicic volcanism,
nevertheless silicic and bimodal volcanism is not limited to this episode
and continues up to the Recent with a clear migration toward the trench
(Fig. 13, Movie 1, Plate 1). Since the late Miocene, silicic volcanism mi-
grated over 200 km in the eastern sector, whereas in the western sector
trenchward migration was less pronounced (~100 km) and mostly con-
ned to the TepicZacoalco graben (Plate 1, Movie 1).
4.5. The modern TMVB (late PlioceneHolocene)
Since the late Pliocene, the style and composition of volcanism in the
TMVB became more diverse. In several areas, the volumetrically domi-
nant calc-alkaline rocks are associated in time and space with modest
volumes of intraplate-like lavas and/or with lamprophyres and other
potassium-rich rocks; besides, Quaternary volcanic centers of rhyolitic
peralkaline composition adds to the compositional diversity.
This nal episode is characterized by the construction, in the last
1 m.y., of stratovolcanoes, which had been absent in the geological
12
West of 101o
A
10
Na2O + K2O (wt. %)

ous history of magmatism (Fig. 1, Table 1), with the western region 8
characterized by arc magmatism since early Cretaceous, whereas in
the east magmatism was scarce since the Jurassic. Besides, crustal
6
thickness and basement composition (Figs. 2, 4) may also play a
role in dening magma composition, by inuencing the minimal
4
pressure (depth) of magma segregation in the mantle and the degree
and effect of crustal assimilation on the ascending magmas.
2
4.4. The silicic to bimodal episode (latest Miocene to early Pliocene)
0
Following the emplacement of the mac plateau lavas, in latest Mio- 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
cene and early Pliocene times volcanism changed along the arc to more SiO2 wt. %
silicic compositions and started to migrate toward the trench. East of
12
101 W, dome complexes, lava ows and ignimbrites of dacitic to rhyolit-
East of 101o
ic composition were emplaced immediately south of the previous epi- B
sode, whereas west of 103W large dome complexes and less 10
Na2O + K2O (wt. %)

ignimbrites are found in a position similar to the previous episode

(Fig. 9). A notable feature is the absence of silicic volcanism between 8
these regions during the whole TMVB history (Fig. 9; Plate 1). In the west-
ern sector, volcanism was silicic between ca. 8.5 and 6.0 Ma (Castillo- 6
Hernndez and Romero-Ros, 1991; Gilbert et al., 1985; Rossotti et al.,
2002) and afterwards became bimodal (Fig. 12A, Plate 1), when small
4
volumes of mildly alkaline basalt lava ows were emplaced along Huichapan caldera
with silicic domes and ignimbrites, resulting in some cases in magma Amealco caldera
2
mingling/mixing processes (Allan, 1986; Ferrari et al., 2000a; Frey et Monogenetic
al., 2004; Gastil et al., 1979; Gilbert et al., 1985; Moore et al., 1994; volcanism
Righter and Rosas-Elguera, 2001). 0
40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
East of 101W, volcanism was characterized by the formation of large
SiO2 wt. %
calderas that produced large volume ignimbrites (>50 km3) and associ-
ated pyroclastic deposits. Also, a signicant volume of lava ows and
Fig. 12. Silicic to bimodal episode of the late Mioceneearly Pliocene. Rock composition
dome complexes was emplaced during this episode (e.g., Ferrari et al., is shown in the TAS diagram for the western (A) and central-eastern (B) sectors. Caldera-
1991; Herrera and Miln, 1981; Nichols, 1970). Early volcanism within related rocks have intermediate to felsic compositions, whereas those unrelated to calderas
this episode was exclusively silicic, as exemplied by the Amazcala or stratovolcanoes have a bimodal macfelsic distribution.
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 135

10 10
A West of 101o W B East of 101o W
8 8

Age (Ma)
Age (Ma)

6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Distance to front (km) Distance to front (km)
8 8
Mafic episode (11-3 Ma)
D
6 6 Western sector crust Western sector
Caldera
4 4
Epsilon Nd

Epsilon Nd
Monogenetic
volcanism
2 2
Eastern sector
0 0 Caldera
Monogenetic
-2 -2 volcanism
Eastern sector crust
C
-4 -4
40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 0.702 0.703 0.704 0.705 0.706 0.707 0.708 0.709 0.710
SiO2 (wt. %) 87Sr/86Sr

Fig. 13. Migration toward the modern volcanic front of the silicic volcanism (SiO2 >65 wt.%) post-dating the late Miocene mac event in the western (A) and eastern (B) sectors.
Variation of Nd isotopic composition with SiO2 content (C) and 87Sr/86Sr composition (D) for rocks from calderas or monogenetic vents in the eastern and western sectors. Fields of
basement composition and of volcanic samples belonging to the late Miocene mac event are shown in D for comparison. Basement data from Aguirre-Daz et al. (2002), Urrutia-
Fucugauchi and Uribe-Cifuentes (1999), Elas-Herrera et al. (1998), Roberts and Ruiz (1989).

record since the end of the rst magmatic episode (~9 Ma). In the west-
ern sector, stratovolcanoes are located in a WNWESE-oriented belt
~100 km behind the volcanic front (Fig. 14, Plate 1). A notable excep-
tion is the Colima volcanic complex, emplaced at the volcanic front at
the southern end of the Colima graben (Fig. 14, Plate 1), close to the
trench and just south of the southern tip of the tear between the
Cocos and Rivera slabs (Fig. 6). This complex (~700 km 3; Robin et al.,
1987) is by far the largest volcanic edice in the TMVB. Toward the
east, all stratovolcanoes are located at the volcanic front. Tanctaro is
the only stratovolcano in the central sector, whereas several large stra-
tovolcanoes punctuate the eastern sector, some of which are part of NS
alignments (TllocIztacchuatlPopocatpetl, Pico de OrizabaCofre de
Perote; Fig. 14) characterized by southward-younging volcanism.
Also characteristic for this episode is the formation of monogenetic
volcanic elds. The most prominent is the MichoacnGuanajuato volca-
nic eld (MGVF) with ca. 1000 volcanic centers distributed over
40,000 km2 in the central TMVB sector (Hasenaka, 1994; Hasenaka and
Carmichael, 1985) (Fig. 14). Volcanism in the MGVF started in the late
Pliocene (2.78 Ma; Hasenaka and Carmichael, 1985) in the northern por-
tion and continued until historical times, with the eruption of the Jorullo
and Parcutin cinder cones near the trench. In spite of the numerous vol-
canic centers, the volume of material erupted in the last 40,000 years has
been relatively small (31 km3; Hasenaka and Carmichael, 1985), an
order of magnitude less than Colima or Popocatpetl stratovolcanoes.
Many other smaller monogenetic volcanic elds occur along the arc.
In the western sector, the volcanic front is dened by the San Sebastin,
Mascota (Lange and Carmichael, 1990, 1991), Los Volcanes (Wallace
and Carmichael, 1989), Ayutla and Tapalpa (Righter and Rosas-Elguera,
2001) monogenetic volcanic elds (Fig. 14). A westward shift in the
onset of volcanism in these elds is indicated by the oldest lavas
dated, with early Pliocene ages in Tapalpa (4.69 Ma; Allan, 1986) and
Ayutla (4.5 Ma; Righter and Rosas-Elguera, 2001), late Pliocene in Los
Volcanes (3.3 Ma; Wallace and Carmichael, 1989) and early Pleistocene
in Mascota (2.35 Ma; Ownby et al., 2008) and San Sebastin (1.52 Ma;
Lange and Carmichael, 1991).
In the central-eastern and eastern sectors, the most prominent
volcanic elds are those of ZitcuaroValle de Bravo (Blatter and
Carmichael, 1998), TenangoChichinautzin (Bloomeld, 1973,
1975), ApanTezontepec (Garca-Palomo et al., 2000), and Xalapa
(Rodrguez et al., 2010) (Fig. 14). In the ApanTezontepec volcanic eld,
volcanic activity lasted until the late Pleistocene (2.10.2 Ma; Garca-
Palomo et al., 2002; Lpez-Hernndez et al., 2009) at a relatively large
distance to the modern front. In addition, lava ows and plateaus of sim-
ilar age (1.61.4 Ma) are found further to the NE, close to the Alamo vol-
canic eld (Ferrari et al., 2005b) (Fig. 14), at a distance of more than
200 km from the modern front and 550 km from the trench.
During this period, the volcanic front continued migrating toward the
trench and by the late Pleistocene had acquired its modern conguration
(Fig. 9, Movie 1). The younger lavas at the volcanic front are characterized
by high Mg# (Figs. 15A, 16AC), with intermediate to low Mg# values be-
coming more frequent toward the east. Also, maximum Mg# values are
higher in the western sector (~80) than in the central and eastern sectors
(~70) (Fig. 16). The highest values in the west correspond to lampro-
phyres emplaced in the monogenetic volcanic elds at the volcanic
front, whereas the lowest Mg# values behind the front correspond most-
ly to the silicic rocks discussed in the previous section, which in the west-
ern sector are conned to the TepicZacoalco graben and in the central
and central-eastern sectors are mostly related to caldera formation.
Values of Ba/Nb, a proxy for the contribution of subduction compo-
nents, are also highest at the volcanic front, and progressively decrease
 136
-105 -104 -103 -102 -101 -100 -99 -98 -97

TEPIC LN
MG
Sa
SJ
ST
Tp
SP
SPC Ce LEON

21
PB-CM
Ba
21

jo AVF
fau Za
ACHg lt Tfl
PH LJ
Altos de Jalisco
G Tq QUERTARO
PV SS Ama
Baha de LP GUADALAJARA
Banderas Ahg
Amec
Ma a fau
lt
sc
ota Hu
v. PG Ca
f. LV SM
ZAC Chapala rift
Am PACHUCA
Ay ZFZ

L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

u

20
tla CG
rift
v.
20

ma

f.
Acam Ac
Coli

Ta bay F Ch-PS
pa Co Az S A-T
lpa tija
v. ha
f. lf g

lts
rab Hm
MORELIA SMC

fau
en Xa
MGVF SAn
JALAPA

an
CG CP

Ap
CVC ZVC MEXICO
Te
Ta TOLUCA CITY
SLC Ma
COLIMA Iz
NT PUEBLA
LP-TF Ch V F

19
PdO
19

Po
CUERNAVACA

-105 -104 -103 -102 -101 -100 -99 -98 -97

A-T: Apan-Tezontepec volcanic field LJ: La Joya volcano SLC: Sierra de Las Cruces
LEGEND Ac: Acoculco caldera LN: Las Navajas volcano SM: San Marcos fault
ACHg: Amatln de Caas half-graben LP: La Primavera caldera SMC: Sierra de Mil Cumbres
Vent Ahg: Aljibes half-graben LP-TF: La Pera-Tenango fault system SP: San Pedro volcano
Am: Amealco caldera LV: Los Volcanes volcanic field SPC: San Pedro-Ceboruco graben
Fault Ama: Amazcala caldera Ma: La Malinche volcano SS: San Sebastin volcanic field
AVF: lamo volcanic field MG: Mecatn graben ST: Sierra de Tantima
Az: Los Azufres caldera MGVF: Michoacn-Guanajuato volcanic field Ta: Tanctaro volcano
Collapse crater Ca: Carboneros caldera NT: Nevado de Toluca volcano Te: Telapon volcano
Ce: Ceboruco volcano PB-CM: Plan de Barrancas-Cinco Minas graben Tq:Tequila volcano
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Ch-PS: Chiconquiaco-Palma Sola PdO: Pico de Orizaba volcano Tfl: Tlanchinol flows
ChVF: Chichinautzin volcanic field PG: Penajmillo graben Tp: Tepeltitic volcano
City CG: Citlala graben PH: Palo Hurfano volcano VCG: Cerro Grande volcano
CP: Cofre de Perote volcano Po: Popocatpetl volcano Xa: Xalapa volcanic field
0 25 50 100 km PVG: Puerto Vallarta graben
CVC: Colima volcanic complex Za: Zamorano volcano
Lake
Hm: Los Humeros caldera Sa: Sangangey volcano ZAC: Zacoalco
Hu: Huichapan caldera SAn: Sierra de Angangueo ZFZ: Zacoalco fault zone
Iz: Iztacchuatl volcano SJ: San Juan volcano ZVC: Zitcuaro volcanic complex

Fig. 14. Tectonic and volcanic structures of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt updated from Ferrari et al. (2005b).
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 137

from west to east, as distance to the trench increases (Figs. 15B, 16DF).
Some of the highest values, especially in the western volcanic font, cor-
respond to lamprophyres and other potassic rocks. On the other hand,
low Ba/Nb values, which mostly correspond to rocks described in the
literature as high-Nb, high TiO2, intraplate-type, or OIB-like rocks, are
mainly found behind the volcanic front, although some occurrences
are also found close to the front in the monogenetic elds of the central
and central-eastern sectors. Such rocks have been related to partial
melting of enriched asthenospheric mantle sources showing little or
no inuence of subduction components (e. g., Luhr, 1997; Petrone et
al., 2003; Wallace and Carmichael, 1999).
In Figs. 15C and 16GI, the TiO2/K2O ratio is used to identify such
intraplate-type rocks; high values indicating an enriched mantle
source occur in the western sector within the TepicZacualco graben
(e.g., Petrone et al., 2003; Verma and Nelson, 1989), Atenguillo graben
(Righter and Carmichael, 1992), and Amatln de Caas graben (Righter
et al., 1995), whereas in the eastern sector they are found scattered in
the MichoacnGuanajuato and Chichinautzin volcanic elds, as well as
in the volcanic elds located behind the front. The lowest TiO2/K2O values,
which indicate a higher contribution of K-rich slab components, occur
mostly along the volcanic front, but tend to be dominant in three areas:
the volcanic elds at the volcanic front in the western sector, the Colima

Mg#
104 102 100 98
0 - 20
22
20 - 40
Tepic
40 - 50
Len
50 - 60
60 - 80

Qro
Gdl

Pach
20
Mexico
Mor City 19
Colima
Pue

104 102 100 98

Ba/Nb
0 - 20
22
20 - 50
Tepic
50 - 100
Len
100 - 150
>150

Gdl Qro

Pach
20

Mor Mexico
City

Colima
Pue

MgO > 5 wt.% B

TiO2 /KO2
104 102 100 98
22 < 0.5
0.5-1.0
Tepic
1.0-1.5
Len > 1.5

Qro
Gdl

Pach
20
Mexico
Mor City

Colima
Pue

MgO > 5 wt.% C

Fig. 15. Late PlioceneHolocene episode. Maps showing the geographic distribution of (A) Mg# values, (B) Ba/Nb ratios, and (C) TiO2/K2O ratios. Data set used in B and C was limited
to samples with MgO > 5 wt.% in order to reduce fractionation effects.
138 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149

Western sector Central sector Central-eastern and eastern sectors

80 Mg# 80 Mg# 80 Mg#

60 60 60

40 40 40

20 20 20
A B C
0 0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
1000 1000 1000
Ba/Nb Ba/Nb Ba/Nb

100 100 100

10 10 10

MgO > 5 wt. % D MgO > 5 wt. % E MgO > 5 wt. % F

1 1 1
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
10.0 10.0 10.0
TiO2/K2O TiO2/K2O I

1.0 1.0 1.0

MgO > 5 wt. %

G MgO > 5 wt. %
H MgO > 5 wt. %
TiO2/K2O
0.1 0.1 0.1
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Distance to front (km) Distance to front (km) Distance to front (km)

Fig. 16. Late PlioceneHolocene episode. Across-arc variation of Mg# values (AC) Ba/Nb ratios (DF), and TiO2/K2O ratios (GI). Data are plotted against distance to the modern
volcanic front, and are shown separately for the western (A, D, G), central (B, E, H), and central-eastern and eastern sectors (C, F, I). Data set used in DI was limited to samples with
MgO > 5 wt.% in order to reduce fractionation effects.

volcanic complex, and the ZitcuaroValle de Bravo volcanic eld. They
are also scattered in the Chichinautzin volcanic eld and, less often, in
the MGVF.
At the volcanic front, K-rich, plagioclase-free rocks are abundant,
which has been related to high water content in the magmas (e.g.,
Carmichael et al., 1996). Studies of olivine-hosted melt inclusions in-
dicate elevated water (up to 7 wt.%) and uid-mobile element con-
tents at the arc front, which markedly decrease at larger distance
from the front (Cervantes and Wallace, 2003; Johnson et al., 2009;
Luhr, 2001; Maria and Luhr, 2008; Vigouroux et al., 2008) and con-
rm the pattern of slab dehydration predicted by our 2D thermal
models (Fig. 7). Melt inclusion compositions also indicate that the hy-
drous subduction component is quite variable and likely composed by
mixtures of uids and melts from the basaltic slab and subducted
sediments.
5. Neogene tectonics in the TMVB
5.1. Introduction
Due to the lack of parallelism between the TMVB and the Meso-
American Trench as well as its oblique orientation with respect to the
main geologic and tectonic provinces of Mexico, the rst genetic models
postulated the existence of a crustal fault zone beneath the arc. This
idea, initially put forward by Mooser (1972), was reiterated by Gastil
and Jensky (1973), Shurbet and Cebull (1984), and Cebull and Shurbet
(1987), who suggested that the TMVB is underlain by an ancient suture
or shear zone reactivated during the Cenozoic. Old regional plate recon-
structions for Gulf of Mexico opening and Caribbean plate evolution also
postulated a megashear beneath the TMVB (Pindell, 1985; Ross and
Scotese, 1988; Silver and Anderson, 1974). However, structural geology
studies carried out in the past two decades indicate that, rather than a
continuous tectonic structure, the TMVB covers several ancient fault
systems which were partially reactivated at different times during its
evolution. In fact, since the end of the Eocene, the regions to the north
and south of the TMVB (Mesa Central and Sierra Madre del Sur, respec-
tively) have been characterized by different deformation styles, with ki-
nematics that implies a broad transtensional zone distributed in the
region occupied by the TMVB (Alaniz-lvarez and Nieto-Samaniego,
2007). In detail, however, the geometry, kinematics, and age of the
main brittle fault systems affecting the TMVB dene a complex pattern
suggesting that multiple factors control the deformation.
Unlike other continental volcanic arcs characterized by back-arc
extension, in central Mexico the Neogene deformation occurred with-
in the TMVB (Fig. 14). This intra-arc extension (e. g., Ferrari et al.,
2000a; Suter et al., 1995a) is conspicuous west of 100 W, whereas
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
the eastern part of the TMVB presents only a limited number of faults,
with lesser displacement. In the following section, the main fault sys-
tems are described from west to east.
5.2. Faulting around the Jalisco block
The western part of the TMVB is dominated by three major tectonic
depressions forming a triple junction south of Guadalajara. Initially called
TepicChapala (later TepicZacoalco) graben, Colima graben, and Cha-
pala graben (Demant, 1981) these structures were subsequently dened
as rifts by UC Berkeley petrologists, who proposed they reected
active rifting of the Jalisco block produced by an eastward jump of
the East Pacic Rise beneath Mexico (Allan, 1986; Allan et al., 1991;
Luhr et al., 1985). In their model, the TepicZacoalco rift (TZR) would
be the locus of right-lateral displacement during Plio-Quaternary times.
The TZR was thus considered as a series of grabens and right lateral
pull-apart basins (Barrier et al., 1990; Garduo and Tibaldi, 1991) or
right lateral faults (Bourgois and Michaud, 1991; Michaud et al., 1991;
Moore et al., 1994; Nieto-Obregn et al., 1985). More detailed structural
studies then began to document that during Pliocene and Quaternary
times, deformation in the TZR was essentially extensional (Ferrari et al.,
1994; Nieto-Obregn et al., 1992; Quintero-Legorreta et al., 1992;
Rosas-Elguera et al., 1997), although the zone underwent two phase of
shearing in Mid- to Late Miocene time (Ferrari, 1995; Quintero-Legorreta
et al., 1992). Toward the end of the 90s the rst regional geologic map-
ping supported by a large number of isotopic ages (Ferrari et al.,
2000b) permitted more precise denition of TZR deformation (Ferrari
and Rosas-Elguera, 2000). We now dene the TZR as a series of grabens
and half-grabens distributed along two belts developed in different epi-
sodes along the northern boundary of the Jalisco block since the Late
Miocene (Fig. 14). The southern belt is formed by the Puerto Vallarta gra-
ben, the Amatln de Caas half-graben, the Ameca and San Marcos faults,
and the Zacoalco fault zone (Fig. 14), all showing geomorphic and seis-
mologic evidence of neotectonic activity (Ferrari et al., 1994; Pacheco
et al., 1999; Rosas-Elguera et al., 1997; Surez et al., 1994). Marine geo-
morphology studies in front of Puerto Vallarta also infer active extension
in a ~ EW fault zone in the Baha de Banderas (Fig. 14) (lvarez, 2002),
which is supported by signicant seismic activity in this area (Nez-
Corn et al., 2002). The northern belt consists of the San PedroCeboruco
graben and the Plan de BarrancasCinco Minas graben, and coincides
with the tectonic contact between the Jalisco block and the Sierra
Madre Occidental (Fig. 14) (Ferrari and Rosas-Elguera, 2000; Ferrari et
al., 2003b). These two complex grabens developed since the end of Mio-
cene but are likely inactive as they do not cut late PleistoceneHolocene
rocks. On average, Plio-Pleistocene deformation in the TZR is dominantly
extensional with a NNESSW-oriented horizontal minimum principal
stress (Ferrari and Rosas-Elguera, 2000).
The Colima rift is located along the eastern boundary of the Jalisco
block, above a Cretaceous marine basin shortened during Late Creta-
ceousPaleogene transpression (Serpa et al., 1992). This structure
was initially dened as a roughly NS graben of Plio-Quaternary age
with at least 2500 m of sediment lling its northern segment (Allan,
1986; Allan et al., 1991). Subsequent structural and geophysical stud-
ies have questioned the continuation of the rift south of Colima,
where only pre-Pliocene transpressional deformation was found
(Serpa et al., 1992). Rosas-Elguera et al. (1996) and Garduo-Monroy
et al. (1998) proposed that, south of the volcano, Plio-Quaternary de-
formation would be accommodated by the so-called Tamazula fault,
a system of transcurrent and normal faults with a NESW orientation
passing through the Colima volcano and reaching the coast near
Manzanillo. For these authors, the Tamazula fault represents the
southeastern boundary of the Jalisco block. A recent detailed struc-
tural study, however, found evidence of neotectonic activity only in
the NS faults bounding the Colima rift and in ~ EW trending exten-
sional faults affecting Colima volcano, caused by the interplay be-
tween tectonic stress and southward spreading of the volcano
139
(Norini et al., 2010). Recent geodetic studies in the triple junction
area show that motion across the northern Colima rift is likely to
be sinistral oblique extension, and that the maximum extension in
the TZR is less than 8 mm/year (Selvans et al., 2011). This inferred
bulk geodetic strain rate is higher than the long term geologic rate
deduced by the analysis of major fault motions (Ferrari and Rosas-
Elguera, 2000), but it is still an order of magnitude less than the con-
vergence rate at the plate boundary.
As a result of the structural, seismic and geodetic studies carried
out in the past two decades, models proposing that the Jalisco block
is rifting NW-ward away from Mexico (Frey et al., 2007; Luhr et al.,
1985) need to be revised. Deformation along the TZR and Colima
rifts in Plio-Quaternary times is dominantly extensional so that
the Jalisco block moved SW with respect to stable North America
(Rosas-Elguera et al., 1996). The transfer of the Jalisco block to the
Pacic plate as proposed by Luhr et al. (1985) may only occur if sub-
duction at the Rivera-North America plate boundary and spreading
at the Rivera-Pacic plate boundary cease. The occurrence of big
thrust earthquakes along the Rivera subduction zone (Escobedo et
al., 1998; Pardo and Surez, 1995; Singh et al., 1985) and the rela-
tively high Quaternary spreading rate (60 mm/yr) at the Rivera seg-
ment of the East Pacic Rise (DeMets and Traylen, 2000) clearly
indicate that this process is not occurring. Extension at the bound-
aries of the Jalisco block is better considered to result from the
stress applied at the RiveraCocosNorth America plate boundaries
(Ferrari and Rosas-Elguera, 2000; Rosas-Elguera et al., 1996).
5.3. Eastern Jalisco, Michoacn, Guanajuato
East of Guadalajara, the Late Miocene basaltic plateau of the Los
Altos de Jalisco is cut by two extensional fault systems with a minor
component of left-lateral motion (Ferrari et al., 2000a). These systems
are oriented WSWENE, parallel to the alignment of some lava cones
dated at ~ 9 Ma, which suggest that this faulting began during the
nal stage of mac volcanism (Ferrari et al., 2000a). To the south,
the Los Altos plateau is cut by an EW belt of south-dipping normal
faults, locally with a right-stepping en echelon array, which tilt and
lower the basaltic succession as far as Chapala Lake (Fig. 14). The lat-
ter formed inside the Chapala rift, a structure composed by two half
grabens with opposite rotations, south in the western part and
north in the eastern part (Rosas-Elguera and Urrutia-Fucugauchi,
1998; Urrutia-Fucugauchi and Rosas-Elguera, 1994). The master
faults of these half-grabens cut early Pliocene rocks (Rosas-Elguera
and Urrutia-Fucugauchi, 1998; Rosas-Elguera et al., 1989). However,
the morphology of the scarps is not fresh, suggesting that the faults
may have been inactive during PleistoceneHolocene times. By con-
trast, the Citlala graben, located just south of Chapala Lake, show geo-
morphic evidence of a neotectonic activity (Garduo-Monroy et al.,
1993; Rosas-Elguera and Urrutia-Fucugauchi, 1998). Further to the
southeast lies the Cotija half graben, bounded by WNWESE-striking
and SSW-dipping faults, which cut Late Miocene rocks (Rosas-Elguera
et al., 2003). West of 103W, the MichoacanGuanajuato volcanic
eld hides any pre-late Pliocene faults. However, a number of
WNWESE and WSWENE normal faults affect Plioceneearly Pleis-
tocene rocks (Fig. 14), and most of the cinder cone are aligned parallel
to these trends (Connor, 1990).
5.4. The Bajo depression and the Morelia Acambay system
The NS trending Penjamillo graben bounds the Los Altos and Chapala
extensional fault systems (Fig. 14). The graben is an 8 to 15 km wide and
60 km long tectonic trough cutting Plio-Pleistocene rocks (Plate 1). To the
east lies the ~100 km wide Bajo tectonic depression, bounded to
the north by the Bajo fault and to the south by the western part of the
MoreliaAcambay fault system. The Bajo fault is ~70 km long, with a
minimum displacement of 2 km, and was active mainly during the
140 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
Eocene and the Oligocene. However, a secondary displacement of at least
500 m occurred after ~13 Ma (Alaniz-lvarez and Nieto-Samaniego,
2007; Nieto-Samaniego et al., 1999). The MoreliaAcambay fault system
is distributed in a ~30 km wide belt where WSWENE to EW extension-
al faults formed the lacustrine basins of Zacapu, Cuitzeo, Morelia and
Acambay (Ferrari et al., 1990; Martnez Reyes and Nieto-Samaniego,
1990; Pasquar et al., 1991). Structural studies indicate that faulting
began at the end of the Miocene with left-lateral oblique motion that
later became more extensional (Ferrari et al., 1990; Suter et al., 1995b).
Faults in the northwestern part of the system (Cuitzeo Lake) affect Mio-
cene to Pliocene volcanic sequences, whereas faults in the Morelia area,
in the southern part of the system, show evidences of late Pleistocene
to Holocene motion (Garduo-Monroy et al., 2001; Suter et al., 2001;
Szynkaruk et al., 2004). The Venta de Bravo and Acambay faults, at the
eastern end of the system, are denitively active. The latter produced
the magnitude 6.9 earthquake of 1912 with epicenter in Acambay town
(Suter et al., 1995b, 1996; Urbina and Camacho, 1913), for which a recur-
rence interval of ~3600 years during the Holocene has been estimated on
paleoseismologic grounds (Langridge et al., 2000).
The NNWSSE TaxcoSan Miguel de Allende fault system (TSMA)
obliquely crosses the TMVB between Quertaro and Toluca (Fig. 14)
and coincides with the boundary where the crustal thickness decreases
~10 km between the PrecambrianPaleozoic basement and the Meso-
zoic basement of the Guerrero composite terrane (Fig. 2). This system
is part of a major continental structure, 500 km long and up to 35 km
wide, whose segments have been reactivated with different kinematics
at different times since the Oligocene (Alaniz-lvarez et al., 2002a,
2002b).
5.5. Faulting in the eastern TMVB
East of the TSMA Neogene deformation is less intense. The south-
ern part of this system bounds the TolucaMexico City basin, a tec-
tonic trough over 2 km deep formed in the Oligocene (Ferrari et al.,
2003a) or at the end of Eocene (Alaniz-lvarez and Nieto-Samaniego,
2007). The southern boundary of the basin is the ~EW trending La
PeraTenango fault system (Garca-Palomo et al., 2000). This system
shows evidence of Holocene activity with left-lateral transtensional
movements (Norini et al., 2006) and also controlled the emplacement
of the monogenetic volcanoes of the Sierra Chichinautzin volcanic
eld (Mrquez et al., 1999b) and the evolution of the Nevado de
Toluca stratovolcano (Norini et al., 2008). However, the stratigraphy
revealed by deep drilling in the Mexico City basin shows that the
TenangoLa Pera system is essentially a set of north-dipping normal
faults, as the Albian limestone of the Morelos formation is found at
least 1.5 km deeper than in the Cuernavaca area to the south (Ferrari
et al., 2003a). Seismic and gravimetric studies also indicate that the
TolucaMexico City basin is divided in secondary sub-basins by a
grid of normal faults parallel to the TSMA and the TenangoLa Pera
systems buried beneath the clastic and lacustrine ll of the basin
(Prez-Cruz, 1988).
North of Mexico City, other Neogene tectonic structures are the
Aljibes half graben and the Mezquital graben (Suter et al., 2001), as
well as the TenochtitlnApan fault system (GarcaPalomo et al.,
2002). The Aljibes half graben consists of four EW trending normal
faults located at the northern boundary of the TMVB, ~140 km NNW
of Mexico City (Fig. 14), which slightly tilt late Miocene basalts to
the south and which may be active (Suter et al., 1995a, 1996).
About 40 km east of Aljibes is the Mezquital graben, which gravimet-
ric studies suggest may be part of the same tectonic trough (Campos-
Enrquez and Snchez-Zamora, 2000). The northernmost structure is
the Cardonal fault that cuts rocks older than 4.6 Ma (Suter et al.,
2001). The occurrence of two seismic events of Mw ~ 5 in the area in-
dicates that this structure is active (Quintanar et al., 2004; Suter et al.,
1996). The TenochtitlnApan fault system is a series of NESW nor-
mal faults distributed between Mexico City and Pachuca, originally
dened as the Tenochtitln shear zone (de Cserna et al., 1988). In
the Apan region these faults acted as a left-lateral deformation zone
during the late Miocene and subsequently as normal faults during
the Pleistocene (Garca-Palomo et al., 2002). In the Apan region
these faults cut only Late Miocene rocks whereas in the Sierra de las
Cruces, west of Mexico City, they cut also Pliocene rocks (Garca-
Palomo et al., 2008).
5.6. Migration of fault activity
Although the information on age of deformation is still incom-
plete, a coherent pattern of southward migration of TMVB tectonic
activity can be outlined. In the TZR, the northern graben was active
in the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene whereas the southern belt is
still active. To the east, the Los Altos de Jalisco faults were active in
the Miocene, the half graben of the Chapala rift in the Pliocene, and
the faults bounding the Citlala graben in the Pleistocene. Similarly,
the Bajo fault was active until the Miocene, the faults bounding the
Cuitzeo Lake in the Pliocene and the southern part of the Morelia
Acambay system is presently active. East of the TSMA this pattern is
not evident as a low level of PleistoceneHolocene tectonic activity
is reported both in the north (Mezquital graben) and in the south
(TenangoLa Pera system).
6. Discussion
6.1. Cause of at subduction
The origin of the at subduction segment in central Mexico is not ob-
vious. Excluding the age of the subducting plate as a dominant factor
(Cruciani et al., 2005; Syracuse and Abers, 2006), oceanic plateau sub-
duction and a fast overriding upper plate are the factors most common-
ly cited to explain at subduction (e.g. Gutscher et al., 2000; von Huene
et al., 2004). The velocity of convergence does not change much along
the Mexican convergence zone (Fig. 3) and is similar for the Mexican
at slab segment and in the steeply-dipping Central America segment.
Besides, as reviewed by Skinner and Clayton (2011), no thick oceanic
lithosphere of the right age and position is found to produce the at
slab in central Mexico. One mechanism to produce at subduction has
been suggested by Manea and Gurnis (2007) and tested by numerical
models of temperature and viscosity along 2D proles. These authors
found that when the viscosity of the mantle wedge increases above,
and/or the thickness of the wedge decreases below a certain threshold,
then the subducted slab tends to atten as a consequence of suction
forces acting on both plates. This general mechanism may work for
the central Mexico case, although it does not explain why the at slab
segment is conned between ~101W and 96W (Fig. 6). We note
that this area broadly matches with the region of thicker continental
crust, suggesting a causal relationship. Accordingly, we suggest that
the presence of a thick, strong crust in this region, together with
the decreasing input of uids inferred from the volcanic record
(Orozco-Esquivel et al., 2010b) played a role in narrowing the as-
thenospheric wedge, increased viscosity and suction forces, eventu-
ally generating at subduction by preventing sinking of the oceanic
plate into the mantle. A similar mechanism has been proposed for
the at slab segment of the central Andes (Manea et al., in press;
Prez-Gussiny et al., 2008).
6.2. The slab detachment model for the Late Miocene mac episode
A comprehensive model for the origin of the Late Miocene mac
episode was proposed by Ferrari (2004), and detailed for the eastern
TMVB by Orozco-Esquivel et al. (2007). The model involves slab detach-
ment propagating eastward from the Gulf of California between late
Miocene and early Pliocene, allowing the inux of asthenosphere
into the mantle wedge. This conceptual model was not intended as a

detailed explanation for the petrogenesis of the mac lavas but recog-
nized that the increase in temperature associated with the detachment
(e.g., Van de Zedde and Wortel, 2001) would promote melting of the
subcontinental mantle. Differences in the composition and volume of
volcanism between the sectors (Fig. 11) express different local geologic
histories: in the region west of 99W, arc magmatism was active since
the Early Cretaceous, leaving a mantle enriched in uids and other
slab-derived components, whereas east of 99W subduction-related
magmatism has not been important since the Jurassic (Fig. 1). The de-
tachment of the lower part of the subducted Cocos plate is a geody-
namic requirement for the formation of the Gulf of California that has
been acknowledged by many studies (e.g., Calmus et al., 2011; Fletcher
et al., 2007). In fact, once subduction ceased offshore southern Baja Cal-
ifornia, the slab must have broken beneath the present Gulf to allow as-
cent of the asthenosphere that eventually formed the new oceanic
basin. As shown by tomographic studies in the Mediterranean area
(Wortel and Spakman, 2000), a slab tear always propagates toward
the zone where subduction is still active because there the slab in-
creases its down-dip pull. Recent 3D numerical models (Burkett and
Billen, 2010) show that slab tears typically propagate at ~100 km/Ma,
which is consistent with the migration of the mac episode between
~11 and 3.5 Ma along ~900 km in the northern part of the TMVB. The
slab detachment model correctly predicted the slab geometry later ob-
served in the seismic tomography, which can be quantitatively tested
along the MASE prole. Considering that the detachment of the slab oc-
curred at subcrustal depth beneath the locus of the mac pulse (i.e.,
north of Pachuca) at ~7 Ma (age of the older mac lavas in that region),
the slab imaged in the seismic tomography (Husker and Davis, 2009)
would have an excess length of ~400 km (Fig. 17). This slab length
can be achieved by subduction since ~7 Ma at a velocity of 57 mm/yr,
similar to velocity of the present Cocos plate at the longitude of Acapul-
co (Fig. 3).
For specic areas included in the late Miocene episode, however, dif-
ferent models have been put forward to explain the origin of such mac
Popocatpetl
Elevation [km]
Acapulco
Sierra Quaternary
Chichinautzin TMVB
2 2
0 0
100
200
Slab chmen
deta
sub t = 4
300
Depth [km]
duc
ted 0 km
400
0
afte
r
500
600 Slab lenght excess ~400 km
Present convergence Vc = 60 mm/yr
Detachment age for present Vc = 6.7 Ma
700
0 100 200 300
Horizontal distance from Acapulco station [km]
Fig. 17. Test of the slab detachment model prediction along the MASE line. Interpretation
of the present slab (thick solid black line) and inferred slab position at ~7 Ma is superim-
posed on the receiver function and tomography results shown in Fig. 3 of Prez-Campos et
al. (2008).
L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149 141
volcanism, which is unusual for arc volcanism. On geochemical argu-
ments, the voluminous mac plateau lavas of Los Altos de Jalisco have
been linked to inferred lithosphere dripping (Mori et al., 2009). For
the Quertaro area, the sudden switch from adakitic to mac plateau
volcanism during the late Miocene has been associated to changes in
the thermal structure of the slab that favored slab dehydration instead
of slab melting (Mori et al., 2007). For the eastern sector (Palma Sola-
Chiconquiaco), the origin of late Miocene to early Pliocene alkaline
lava plateaus emplaced shortly after the adakitic rocks has been
explained through slab rollback, which induced corner ow and decom-
pression melting (Gmez-Tuena et al., 2003).
Given the independent conrmation of the eastward propagation
of the slab tear by seismic tomography and 3D numerical modeling,
as well as its geodynamic requirement following the end of subduc-
tion off Baja California, we consider that while details of the petroge-
netic processes associated with the detachment can be rened, this
general mechanism seems appropriate. In this context, while we ac-
knowledge that melting of the mantle lithosphere is one possible in-
terpretation of the geochemical data presented by Mori et al. (2009),
we consider that the mechanism of lithospheric dripping presents
geologic inconsistencies. In fact, delamination or dripping has been
documented worldwide in orogenic belts, where shortening thickens
the lithosphere (up to 100%), leading to eclogitization of lower crust
so that the lithosphere becomes denser than asthenosphere and grav-
itationally unstable. In other areas, such as the Sierra Nevada of Cali-
fornia, lithosphere dripping is thought to have occurred beneath
70 km thick crust after subduction ceased, although the resulting
magmatism was volumetric insignicant (Ducea and Saleeby, 1998;
Farmer et al., 2002). All the above may not apply to the central Mex-
ico case. However, Mori et al. (2009) proposed that mac underplat-
ing during the Sierra Madre Occidental ignimbrite are up in
Oligocene and early Miocene time (Ferrari et al., 2007) would have
thickened the continental lithosphere, which subsequently inhibited
the ascent and eruption of magmas during the middle Miocene, forc-
ing them to stall and crystallize at progressively greater depths. Sev-
Inferred eral lines of evidences indicate that this mechanism is implausible.
detachment
point at ~7 Ma First, isotopic compositions and zircon ages from the southern Sierra
Madre Occidental ignimbrites just north of the Los Altos de Jalisco
(states of Jalisco, Zacatecas and San Luis Potos) indicate that they
were dominantly produced by crustal melting (Bryan et al., 2008;
Ruiz et al., 1988; Verma, 1984), a process that needs much less
100 mac underplating than assimilation and fractional crystallization
(e.g., Annen, 2011; Annen et al., 2006). Second, the foundering of a
major piece of mantle lithosphere would have produced a major up-
200 lift (Elkins-Tanton, 2007). However, the Los Altos de Jalisco region
stands at an average elevation of 1.9 km and the SMO ignimbrite be-
neath the mac plateau are 400500 m lower than those exposed to
300
the north in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Third, the absence of middle
Miocene volcanism in the Los Altos area is unlikely to be due to the
presence of a thick crust. Magmas nd their way to the surface even
400
in regions with crust 60 to 70 km thick, like the central Andes. In
the TMVB basaltic and even andesitic magmas are thought to cross
500 a 50 km thick crust with negligible interaction (Straub et al., 2011).
In our view, the absence of middle Miocene volcanism in the western
and central TMVB is due to the young (>8 Ma) age of the subducting
600 Cocos plate west of the Orozco fracture zone at that time (Fig. 18),
which mostly dehydrated before reaching the temperature needed
to partially melt oceanic crust. In this situation, the lower part of
700 the slab was already transforming into eclogite, a situation that signif-
icantly favors its detachment. Once the tear in the slab started in the
400 500 southern Gulf of California at the end of middle Miocene times, it
quickly propagated eastward until reaching the subducted Orozco
fracture zone (Fig. 18). This is supported by the short interval (~11
to 9 Ma) for the emplacement of the mac lavas in the ~ 400 km
long western segment (Fig. 11, Plate 1). A very fast rate of detach-
ment of up to 800 mm/yr is predicted by 3D numerical models in
142 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
Co
mo
nd
c
en
ter
s
Guadalupe
Plate
arc volcanism
scarce to absent
6
3 6
3
Pacific
Plate
zco
Oro
Z
C larion F
Fig. 18. Plate tectonic conguration during the middle Miocene based on data in Lonsdale (1991). Number in circles represent the age of the plate at the trench. Note that the region
of scarce or no volcanism corresponds to the segment where the Cocos plate is ~ 3 to 8 Ma old.
the case of young plates (Van Hunen and Allen, 2011) or when the
slab break by boudinage-type necking (Burkett and Billen, 2010).
Foundering of a large chunk of the lower part of the slab induced up-
welling of hot and low density asthenosphere mantle, which may
have melted the subcrustal mantle and eventually had produced an
effect similar to the delamination suggested by Mori et al. (2009). In
this scenario, however, the amount of mantle lithosphere thermally
removed would have been signicantly less than that due to gravita-
tional delamination. This also explains why this kind of volcanism did
not occur in other areas of the Sierra Madre Occidental, where the
crust is even thicker than in the western and central TMVB.
6.3. Silicic volcanism, bimodal volcanism, and slab rollback
The concurrent inception of silicic volcanism with the beginning of
the trenchward migration of the arc (Fig. 8; Section 3.4), points to a
causal link between the two phenomena. Trenchward migration of
the volcanic front suggests that, after the detachment event, the slab
started to rollback and the slab dip increased. In this scenario, silicic vol-
canism may have originated by partial melting of the lower crust due to
its progressive exposure to asthenospheric mantle as the slab retreated.
Large amounts of silicic magma can form by partial melting of lower
crust that has been hydrated by inltration of slab-derived uids during
at subduction (e.g., Manea, V. and Manea, 2011). The participation of
the continental crust in the genesis of silicic magmas is strongly sug-
gested by Nd and Sr isotopic composition of rocks emplaced since the
Late Miocene. In rocks from the eastern sector, Nd values progressively
decrease as silica increases, although in caldera-related rocks they reach
relatively constant values at intermediate silica contents (Fig. 13C), and
the more evolved rocks have isotopic compositions similar to those of
the underlying basement (Fig. 13D). Rocks from the western sector
have higher Nd, which in the less evolved rocks slightly decrease as sil-
ica increases and then remain relatively constant; noteworthy, highly
silicic rocks, like those of La Primavera caldera, have relatively high
Nd, similar to those of the local basement (Mahood and Halliday,
16 Ma
Very young
slab (< 8 Ma)
Early TMVB
8
F Z 12
15
Cocos Plate
Plate ages based on Lonsdale (1991)
1988). As shown in Fig. 19, location of low Nd samples roughly coin-
cides with the location of older (Oaxaquia) and thicker basement,
whereas those with higher Nd tend to concentrate in areas with youn-
ger and thinner basement. Moreover, caldera-related rocks of interme-
diate composition may represent hybrid magmas generated by mixing
of felsic and mac magmas like those making up the bimodal suite,
and which, at least in part, have been considered as derived from crustal
and mantle sources, respectively (e.g., Besch et al., 1988; Ferriz and
Mahood, 1987). In summary, at least for the eastern sector, the available
evidence point to a central role of crustal melting and crustal assimila-
tion processes since the beginning of the trenchward arc migration in
the late Miocene.
6.4. Melting mechanism in the modern arc
The modern TMVB displays a rst order across-arc behavior. Rocks
are distributed in two belts, 40 to 80 km wide, parallel to the present
front (Figs. 15, 16). The belt closer to the front has more primitive
rocks (Mg# >60), tends to have a strong subduction-related uid sig-
nal (Ba/Nb > 100) and less or negligible asthenospheric signal
(TiO2/K2O b1). In contrast, the belt farther from the front is character-
ized by more differentiated rocks or by mac lavas with little or no
evidence of subduction components and stronger asthenospheric
ngerprint.
When coupled with the thermal and dehydration models presented
in this work (Fig. 7) these geochemical parameters have a relatively
straightforward explanation. The models show that most uids are re-
leased before the volcanic front and in the region 40 to 100 km to the
north of it. Ascent of uids in this distance range promotes ux melting
where they cross the hotter region of the mantle wedge. The models
also show that the Rivera slab and the central Cocos slab at the longi-
tude of Mexico City (prole 7A and 7C) are hotter than the intervening
westernmost Cocos slab (prole 7B). Due to their steep inclination, the
Rivera and central Cocos slab cross the basalt wet solidus (~800 C at
3 GPa) at ~200 km of depth, whereas the western Cocos slab is barely
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
Fig. 19. Geographic distribution of published epsilon Nd data for TMVB samples and its relation with the variable crustal thickness. Low values roughly coincide with the location of
thicker crust and older basement (see Fig. 2).
at 700 C at this depth. Melting of the subducted basaltic slab and sedi-
ments is therefore favored in the former regions, where the slabs steep-
ly plunge into the mantle. Whole rock and melt inclusion studies
suggest that such slab-derived melts have contributed to magmas gen-
erated along the arc front in these regions (e.g., Gmez-Tuena et al.,
2007a; Johnson et al., 2009; Luhr, 1997; Martnez-Serrano et al.,
2004). During ascent, the silicic slab melts interact with mantle perido-
tite, and, depending on the melt/peridotite ratio, they may reach the
surface or be consumed in reactions that form pyroxenitic veins (Rapp
et al., 1999). Subsequent melting of such pyroxenitic lithologies, and
mixing with peridotite-derived melts, has been invoked as a mecha-
nism for the generation of the magmas of diverse composition at the
volcanic front, including lamphrophyres, shoshonitic rocks, and high-
Mg andesite and basaltic andesite (e.g., Luhr, 1997; Luhr et al., 1989;
Straub et al., 2009, 2011).
Also, the pronounced enrichment in large ion lithophile and light
rare earth elements in K-rich magmas from the volcanic front may
be related to melting of metasomatic veins containing hydrous min-
erals (amphibole, phlogopite), garnet and apatite (Carmichael et al.,
1996; Luhr, 1997; Luhr et al., 1989). Xenoliths of hornblende-rich
lherzolite found in lavas from Zitcuaro-Valle de Bravo (Blatter and
Carmichael, 1998) would support this model. An alternative model
for the origin of the magmatic diversity at the volcanic front of west-
ern Mexico invoke variable subduction agents related to slab depth
and residual mineralogy in the steeply dipping slab; low-pressure
slab-derived aqueous uids cause ux melting of the peridotitic man-
tle to generate calc-alkaline magmas, whereas higher-pressure slab
melts or supercritical uids, formed in the stability eld of phengite,
contribute to the potassic magmas (Gmez-Tuena et al., 2011). The
result in all cases is that magmas generated in a narrow belt beneath
the arc front have a strong subduction signature (high Ba/Nb, Fig. 15;
the potassic front of the western TMVB, Lange and Carmichael,
1991). In contrast, in the rear part of the arc subduction components
play a small role and melting reects decompression of astheno-
sphere drawn into the wedge from behind the arc by the corner
ow (Luhr, 1997) and/or owing in from tears in the subducting
slabs (Ferrari, 2004; Ferrari et al., 2001). The ascent of hot sub-slab
mantle may also promote crustal melting where the composition of
the crust is suitable, such as in the rear of the western TMVB under-
lain by the Sierra Madre Occidental silicic batholiths (Plate 1) or in
the crust hydrated during the mid-Miocene advance of the at slab
143
beneath the eastern TMVB. The existence of a near-front belt domi-
nated by mantle uxing and slab melting, and a rear belt dominated
by decompression melting of little or not modied mantle is con-
rmed by several studies that document lower water contents and
subduction signatures, and higher pre-eruptive equilibrium tempera-
tures as distance from the arc front increases (e.g., Blatter et al., 2001;
Johnson et al., 2009; Luhr, 1992).
Notable exceptions to this trend are some cinder cones at the volca-
nic front in the Chichinautzin and MichoacnGuanajuato volcanic
elds, which display very low Ba/Nb and high TiO2/K2O values
(Fig. 15B and C). A possible explanation was put forward by Straub et
al. (2009), who proposed that OIB-type magmas reect fertilization
of a pre-existing MORB-type subarc mantle by enriched, little-fraction-
ated slab melts. Alternatively we note that the MichoacnGuanajuato
and Chichinautzin volcanic elds are anked by the RiveraCocos
trench-orthogonal tear and by a strong gradient in dip between the
at slab and the moderately dipping western Cocos slab, respectively.
These discontinuities in the geometry of the subducted slab might in-
duce lateral mantle ow that modies the rst order mechanisms de-
scribed above.
6.5. Cause of the intra-arc deformation
The structural geology and seismology studies summarized in this
review show that the TMVB is affected by an extensional tectonic re-
gime which is strongest in the west. The cause of this extension has
been related either to body forces or plate boundary forces. Suter et
al. (1992, 2001) studied the MoreliaAcambay fault system and pro-
posed that Quaternary faulting was caused by isostatically compen-
sated surface loads in response to the high elevation of the TMVB,
whereas Singh and Pardo (1993) suggested that trench retreat may
have been responsible. The thermal models presented in this work
along with heat ow measurements (Ziagos et al., 1985) indicate
that the volcanic front is underlain by hot (~ 950 to 1000 C) and
thus low density mantle just below the Moho. This promotes uplift
and extension of the arc as proposed by Suter et al. (1992, 2001).
However, this process is not steady-state. The trenchward migration
of the volcanic front observed along the whole TMVB since late Mio-
cene times (Fig. 8) points to steepening of the slab since that time. In
general, faulting also has migrated from north to south with time (see
Section 5). The increase in slab dip enhanced mantle corner ow and
144 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
the formation of a high temperature and low density nose in the man-
tle wedge, which migrated progressively to the south, widening the
arc and producing extension. This general process explains why all
central Mexico is under extension; however the spatial distribution
of faults appears to have been affected by the thickness and tectonic
history of the crust. Extension is more intense in the west, where
the crust is thinner and younger. Along the same line, reactivation
of pre-existing structures has undoubtedly played a role. ~ NS struc-
tures that cross the arc trend such as the Colima rift, the Penjamillo
graben, and the TaxcoSan Miguel de Allende fault systems (Fig. 14)
may follow older structures. Slow reactivation of old crustal struc-
tures has been also proposed as a mechanism explaining the anoma-
lous orientation of stratovolcanoes in the TMVB (Alaniz-lvarez et al.,
1998).
Plate boundary may also control the observed intra-arc deforma-
tion. The Pleistocene and Holocene faults in the central TMVB have
a small and variable but consistent left-lateral component of offset.
This weak transtensional regime can be explained considering that
CocosNorth America convergence is slightly oblique and that the
left lateral component is not accommodated at the plate boundary
since earthquake focal mechanisms there show essentially thrusting
orthogonal to the trench (Ego and Ansan, 2002). The small left-lateral
component of motion may be accommodated in another, more inland
zone. The TMVB is the main weak crustal zone north of the trench and
therefore the most likely place where this small lateral component of
motion is accommodated (Ego and Ansan, 2002). Other authors have
proposed that the left lateral component may be accommodating a
small fraction of the North AmericaCaribbean relative motion
(Andreani et al., 2008). In this model the so-called southern Mexico
block, bounded to the north by the TMVB and an inferred left lateral
Veracruz fault, would be moving toward the ESE as the Polochic
Motagua fault zone would not accommodate all the North Ameri-
caCaribbean strain.
6.6. Concluding remarks and outstanding questions
Throughout this review we tried to integrate the most relevant
geophysical, geological and geochemical information on the TMVB
and the Mexican subduction system to provide a general picture of
the arc evolution and the rst order processes that govern the petro-
genesis of the arc magmas. Our main conclusion is that the evolution
of the subduction system during the Neogene and the nature of the
crust beneath the TMVB are the primary factors controlling the
large spatial and temporal variation in volcanic style, magma compo-
sition, and the geographic position of volcanism and extension. Sever-
al aspects of the TMVB however are still unclear and constitute
opportunities for future research. Geophysical and geochemical data
indicate that the mantle lithosphere is very thin or absent beneath
most of the fore-arc and the arc, but the timing and the mechanism
of removal remains elusive. A related issue is the relation between
geodynamic, tectonics, and landscape evolution. The timing and ex-
tent of emplacement of low density asthenosphere mantle at shallow
depth beneath the arc should produce surface uplift and erosion that
can be constrained by a range of geochronologic techniques as well as
stratigraphic and paleobotany studies. The composition of the lower
crust and the three dimensional ow of the subcontinental mantle
are also poorly known but are crucial to constrain any petrogenetic
models of the TMVB. Interdisciplinary studies involving seismology,
potential methods, isotope geochemistry and thermochronology as
well as detailed geologic mapping and sediment provenance studies
will undoubtedly help elucidate these questions and provide insight
into the four dimensional behavior of the TMVB and continental mag-
matic arcs worldwide.
Supplementary materials related to this article can be found on-
line at doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2011.09.018.
Acknowledgments
A preliminary version of this review was presented as an invited talk
in the special session The Geology of Major Continental Volcanic Belts
and Fields: A Supersession in Honor of Peter Lipman organized by the
Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology and Volcanology Division of the
Geological Society of America in the October 2010 Annual Meeting.
We thank Steve Grand for providing unpublished information about
the crustal thickness in western Mexico, Michelangelo Martini for dis-
cussion on the central TMVB basement and a pre-print of a paper. Re-
views by R. Stern and D. Moran provided many useful suggestions
that considerably improved the paper. Financial support for this study
was provided by grants CONACyT 58373 (to T. Orozco), PAPIIT
IN102801 (to L. Ferrari), PAPIIT IN110709 and IN115810 and CONACyT
84035 (to V.C. Manea and M. Manea). Laura Luna Gonzlez supervised
the Geographic Information System of the TMVB and produced the
maps of Fig. 14, Plates 1 and 2. Ma. Carolina Muoz Torres, Tania Norato,
Violeta Reyes Orozco, Mayra Garca Sierra, and Julio Csar Castro
Climaco helped with data compilation.
Appendix A. Thermal models construction and test
Models of the thermal structure of the Mexico subduction zone
were obtained using the numeric procedure proposed by Manea et
al. (2004). Rivera and Cocos plate ages and convergence rates are
10 and 14 Ma, and 3.2, and 5.0 cm/yr, respectively. A high pore pres-
sure ratio of 0.98 is assumed between the oceanic and continental
plates, in agreement with the ultraslow velocity, high pore uid
pressure layer found on top of the subducted Cocos plate by Song
et al. (2009).
Fig. 7B. show the modeling results that are the closest with the
benchmark examples performed by van Keken et al. (2008): the
slab dips is around 45 and the slab subducts at 5 cm/yr. The main dif-
ference is the plate age, which in our case is 14 Ma while in van Keken
et al. (2008) is 50 Ma. However, the two modeling results are quite
similar in shape and magnitude; we predict maximum mantle
wedge temperatures beneath the volcanic arc (located at 100 km
above the slab surface) in the order of 1160 C, whereas van Keken
et al. (2008) predict around 1200 C. We use a grid resolution near
the mantle wedge tip in the order of several kilometers. The resolu-
tion benchmark of van Keken et al. (2008) show that when the reso-
lution near the mantle wedge tip is in the order of 34 km, then the
temperature difference among the models varies in the range of 30
40 C (their Fig. 7). Therefore we think that our modeling results are
likely to be reproduced by other numerical codes used in the scientic
community involved in thermal modeling of subduction zone.
To better constrain the thermal structure we took advantage of re-
cent tomographic studies of the Mexico subduction zone. A synthetic
Vp anomaly is obtained using the thermal models along the three
proles (Fig. A1) and the temperature dependence of seismic wave
from Karato (1993). The seismic velocity perturbations are calculated
relative to the PREM model (Dziewonski and Anderson, 1981). The
detailed procedure and equations can be found in Manea et al.
(2005). The high temperature in the mantle wedge beneath the vol-
canic arc (Fig. 7AC) produces a strong negative velocity anomaly of
2% to 6% (Fig. A1). This result is consistent with the P-wave to-
mography of Gorbatov and Fukao (2005) and Yang et al. (2009). In
particular, our Vp perturbations inferred from mantle wedge thermal
anomaly for proles AA and BB are reasonably similar in size and
shape to the P-wave tomographic model of Yang et al. (2009). Also,
most of the intraslab sesismicity is contained within the 600 C iso-
therm, which represents the transition from brittle to ductile regime
inside the subducting slab. These results show that our numeric
models are well constrained and reect accurately the thermal distri-
bution of the subduction system beneath Mexico.
 L. Ferrari et al. / Tectonophysics 522523 (2012) 122149
Fig. A1. Synthetic Vp anomaly in the mantle wedge obtained using the thermal models
presented in Fig. 7 A-C and the temperature dependence of seismic waves from Karato
(1993).
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