Central America, Two Volume Set: Geology, Resources and Hazards

1262 Pages·2007·48.49 MB·English

by  Bundschuh, Jochen

Central America: Geology, Resources and Hazards
Cover Illustrations
The cover page shows a preliminary geological map of Central America compiled
by the editors on the digital elevation model PIA3364 [Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech].
The digital elevation map from NASA can be used free for scientific purposes
mentioning the source: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03364.
The photos of the back covers of volume 1 are courtesy of G.E. Alvarado (Pliocene
turbidites, Pta. Burica), D. López (Cerro Verde volcano), and P. Lesage (spectrogram
tremor at Arenal volcano), those of volume 2 of O. Aragón (Arenal volcano, 1998),
S. Paniagua (road destroyed by the Limón earthquake, 1991), and G.E. Alvarado
(intrusive rock).
© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Central America: Geology,
Resources and Hazards
Edited by
Jochen Bundschuh
International Technical Cooperation Program, CIM (GTZ/BA), Frankfurt,
Germany — Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), San José, Costa Rica
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden
Guillermo E. Alvarado
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), San José, Costa Rica
Escuela Centroamericana de Geología, Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)

LONDON / LEIDEN / NEW YORK / PHILADELPHIA / SINGAPORE(cid:1)
(cid:1)
© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Taylor & Francis is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Reproduced as CRC by Charon Tec Ltd (A Macmillan Company), Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Spain by Grafos SA, Barcelona
All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written prior
permission from the publishers.
Although all care is taken to ensure integrity and the quality of this publication and the
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any damage to the property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication
and/or the information contained herein.
Published by: Taylor & Francis/Balkema
P.O. Box 447, 2300 AK Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: [email protected]
www.balkema.nl, www.taylorandfrancis.co.uk, www.crcpress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Central America : geology, resources, and hazards / edited by Jochen Bundschuh,
Guillermo E. Alvarado.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-415-41647-4 (hardcover, set : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-415-41648-1 (v. 1 : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-415-40169-2 (v. 2 : alk. paper)
1. Geology–Central America. 2. Natural resources–Central America.
3. Hazardous geographic environments–Central America. I. Bundschuh, Jochen.
II. Alvarado Induni, Guillermo E., 1960-
QE210.C46 2006
557.2–dc22 2006028790
ISBN13 set: 978-0-415-41647-4 (Hbk)
ISBN13 Volume 1: 978-0-415-41648-1 (Hbk)
ISBN13 Volume 2: 978-0-415-40169-2 (Hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-94704-3 (Ebook)
© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Volume 1

Table of content s ix
List of contributors xxxv
List of reviewers xli
Authors’ acknowledgements xlv
Editors’ foreword liii
Editors’ note lvii
About the editors lxi
I. REGIONAL OVERVIEW

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1 Geographical, social, economic, and environmental framework
and developments 1
Jochen Bundschuh, Manuel Winograd, Michael Day and
Guillermo E. Alvarado
2 History of geology 53
Gregorio Escalante and Gerardo J. Soto
II. GENERAL GEOLOGY

GEOMORPHOLOGY
3 Geomorphology and physiographic provinces 75
Jeffrey S. Marshall
4 Volcanism and volcanic landforms 123
Benjamin van Wyk de Vries, Pablo Grosse and Guillermo
E. Alvarado
5 Karst landscapes 155
Michael J. Day
6 Glacial geology and geomorphology 171
Matthew S. Lachniet
7 Coastal morphology and coral reefs 185
Jorge Cortés

TECTONICS AND GEODYNAMICS
8 Overview of plate tectonic history and its unresolved tectonic problems 201
Paul Mann, Robert D. Rogers and Lisa Gahagan
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9 Convergent margin tectonics: A marine perspective 239
César R. Ranero, Roland von Huene, Wilhelm Weinrebe and
Udo Barckhausen
10 Crustal structure 267
Ernst R. Flueh and Roland von Huene
11 Structural geology: From local elements to regional synthesis 277
Keith H. James
12 Seismicity and neotectonic 323
Mario Fernández, Eduardo Camacho, Enrique Molina,
Griselda Marroquín and Wilfried Strauch

STRATIGRAPHY AND PALEONTOLOGY
13 Stratigraphy and geologic history 345
Guillermo E. Alvarado, Carlos Dengo, Uwe Martens, Jochen
Bundschuh, Teresita Aguilar and Samuel B. Bonis
14 Onshore to offshore tephrostratigraphy and marine ash layer
diagenesis 395
Steffen Kutterolf, Ulrike Schacht, Heidi Wehrmann, Armin Freundt
and Tobias Mörz
15 Late Quaternary lake and swamp sediments: Recorders of climate and
environment 423
Sally P. Horn
16 Vertebrate paleontology 443
Spencer G. Lucas, Guillermo E. Alvarado, Ramiro García, Edgar
Espinoza, Juan Carlos Cisneros and Uwe Martens
17 Invertebrate paleontology 453
Rudolf Fischer and Teresita Aguilar
18 Micropaleontology 467
Laurel S. Collins

IGNEOUS AND METAMORPHIC PETROLOGY
19 Metamorphism and metamorphic rocks 485
Uwe Martens, Carlos Ortega-Obregón, Juliana Estrada

and Marvin Valle
20 Oceanic igneous complexes 523
Kaj Hoernle and Folkmar Hauff
21 Intrusive rocks 549
Lina C. Patino
22 Petrology and geochemistry of lavas 565
Michael J. Carr, Lina C. Patino and Mark D. Feigenson
23 Petrogenesis of ignimbrites 591
Thomas Vogel, Lina Patino, Guillermo
E. Alvarado and William I. Rose
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Volume 2

III. GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES

HYDROGEOLOGY AND GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
24 Hydrogeology 665
David Bethune, Cathryn Ryan, Marcelino
Losilla and Jiri Krasny
25 Water availability, use and valuation 687
John C. Bergstrom and Hugo Cardona
GEOTHERMICS AND GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES
26 High and low enthalpy geothermal resources and potentials 705
Peter Birkle and Jochen Bundschuh
27 Hydrogeochemical and isotopic composi tion of geothermal fluids 777
Peter Birkle and Jochen Bundschuh
28 G as geochemistry of volcanic and hydrothermal fluids 839
Tobias P. Fischer, Alison M. Shaw and David R. Hilton
29 Geothermal resources for development — valuation, present use
and future opportunities 869
Jochen Bundschuh, Peter Birkle, Asbjørn Aaheim and
Guillermo E. Alvarado
FOSSIL FUEL AND MINERAL RESOURCES
30 Petroleum geology 895
Carlos A. Dengo
31 Coal and peat resources 917
Luis Gmo. Obando and Kenneth Bolaños
32 Metallic mineral resources 931
Carl E. Nelson
33 Industrial minerals 963
Fernando Alvarado and Byron Mota
GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE RESOURCES
34 G eology-related tourism for sustainable developmen t1015

Jochen Bundschuh, Peter Birkle, Richard
C. Finch, Michael Day, Juan Romero, Sergio Paniagua,
Gui llermo E. Alvarado, Prosun Bhattacharya, Karola Tippmann
and Damaris Chaves

IV. GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS

SEISMIC HAZARDS AND MONITORING
35 Seismic hazard and microzonation 1099
Conrad D. Lindholm, Álvaro Climent, Eduardo
Camacho, Wilfried Strauch, José Cepeda, Diego Cáceres,
Juan P. Ligorría and Hilmar Bungum
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36 Seismic mon itoring 1119
Mario Fernández, Wilfried Strauch, Enrique Molina, Jaime
Toral and Griselda Marroquín
37 Strong-motion monitoring 1129
Álvaro Climent, Victor Schmidt, Douglas Hernández,
José Cepeda, Eduardo Camacho, Rüdiger
Escobar and Wilfried Strauch

VOLCANIC HAZARDS AND MONITORING
38 Volcanic activity, hazards, and monitoring 1155
Guillermo E. Alvarado, Gerardo J. Soto, Carlos R. Pullinger,
Rüdiger Escobar, Samuel Bonis, Demetrio
Escobar and Martha Navarro
39 V olcano seismology 1189
Philippe Lesage, Mauricio Mora, Wilfried Strauch,
Demetrio Escobar, Otoniel Matías, Virginia Tenorio,
Emilio Talavera, Ángel Rodríguez and Guillermo E. Alvarado

LANDSLIDES AND TSUNAMIS
40 Earthquake-induced landslides 1217
Carlos E. Rodríguez
41 Earthquake triggered tsunamis 1257
Mario Fernández and Modesto Ortiz

© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
Table of contents

Volume 1

TABLE OF CONT ixENTS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS xxxv
LIST OF REVIEWERS xli
AUTHORS’ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xlv
EDITORS’ FORE lWiiiO RD
EDITORS’ N OlvTiiE
ABOUT THE ED ITORS lxi
I. REGIONAL OVERVIEW

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1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The environment 2
1.2.1 Biophysical traits, resources and hazards 2
1.2.1.1 Climate 2
1.2.1.2 Hydrography 6
1.2.1.3 Geomorphology and soils 8
1.2.1.4 Geology 9
1.2.1.5 Energy, mineral, and water resources 11
1.2.1.5.1 Fossil fuel resources 11
1.2.1.5.2 Renewable energy resources 12
1.2.1.5.3 Freshwater resources 13
1.2.1.5.4 Mineral resources (metallic and non-metallic) 14
1.2.1.5.5 Geological tourism destination 15
1.2.2 Biological traits and resources 15
1.2.2.1 Land cover and forests 15
1.2.2.2 Land uses and productivity 18
1.2.2.3 Biodiversity and ecosystems 19

1.2.2.4 Coasts and seas 19
1.3 The changing nature of the environment 20
1.3.1 Socioeconomic traits and resources 20
1.3.1.1 Population, social dynamics and human development 20
1.3.1.2 Economy and economic dynamics 27
1.3.2 Conservation, environmental protection and sustainable development 32
1.4 Limitations and potential for sustainable development: risk and vulnerability 39
1.4.1 Geology and climate related hazards and risks 39
1.4.1.1 Seismicity and seismic hazard 40
1.4.1.2 Volcanic hazards 43
1.4.1.3 Landslide and soil liquefaction hazards 43
1.4.1.4 Tsunami hazard and risk 44
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1.4.1.5 Climate hazards 44
1.4.2 Renewable energy options for sustainable development 46
1.4.3 Increasing stress on freshwater resources 48
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2.1 Introduction 53
2.2 Pre-Columbian period 56
2.2.1 Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes 56
2.2.2 Non-metallic mineral resources and construction materials 57
2.2.3 Metallic mineral resources 58
2.3 Colonial and early independence period 59
2.3.1 Metallic mineral resources 60
2.3.2 Volcanoes and earthquakes 61
2.4 From independence to the first half of the 20 th century 62
2.4.1 The early interest in geological research 62
2.4.2 Pioneering geological works 63
2.4.3 Studies carried out for the Nicaragua and Panama canals projects 64
2.4.4 Seismology 65
2.4.5 Geological accomplishments during the late19 th and early 20th centuries 65
2.4.6 Outstanding results at the end of this period 67
2.5 From 1950 to the present 67
2.5.1 Regional geology 68
2.5.2 Central American geologists and international cooperation 68
2.5.3 Central American geological institutions 69
2.5.4 Consolidation of autochthonous geology 70
2.6 Overview and epilogue 70
II. GENERAL GEOLOGY
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3.1 Introduction 75
3.2 Geomorphology of northern Central America 77
3.2.1 Maya highlands province 78
3.2.1.1 Cuchumatanes range 79
3.2.1.2 Chamá and Santa Cruz ranges 80
3.2.1.3 Lacandón range 80
3.2.1.4 Maya mountains 80
3.2.2 Yucatán platform province 81
3.2.2.1 Northern pitted karst plain 81
3.2.2.2 Southern hilly-karst plain 81
3.2.2.3 Petén karst plateau and lowlands 82
3.2.2.4 Eastern block-faulted coastal plain 82
3.2.3 Motagua fault zone province 82
3.2.3.1 Motagua and Polochic valleys 83
3.2.3.2 Las Minas and Chuacús ranges 83
3.2.4 Chortis volcanic front province 83
3.2.4.1 Guatemalan cordillera 84
3.2.4.2 Salvadoran cordillera 84
3.2.5 Chortis forearc province 85
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3.2.5.1 Guatemalan coastal plain 85
3.2.5.2 Salvadoran coastal plain 85
3.2.6 Chortis highlands province 86
3.2.6.1 Central Chortis plateau 86
3.2.6.2 Western rifted highlands 86
3.2.6.3 Eastern dissected highlands 88
3.2.6.4 Honduran borderlands 88
3.2.7 Mosquito coast lowlands province 88
3.2.7.1 Northern Mosquitia 88
3.2.7.2 Southern Mosquitia 89
3.2.8 Nicaraguan depression province 89
3.2.8.1 Central Nicaraguan depression 89
3.2.8.2 Median trough, El Salvador 90
3.2.8.3 Los Guatusos and San Carlos lowlands, Costa Rica 90
3.2.9 Nicaraguan volcanic front province 90
3.2.9.1 Cosigüina peninsula 91
3.2.9.2 Los Marabios cordillera 91
3.2.9.3 Apoyeque and Las Sierras shields 91
3.2.9.4 Cocibolca cordillera 92
3.2.10 Sandino forearc province 92
3.2.10.1 Northern Nicaraguan coast 92
3.2.10.2 Southern Nicaraguan coast 93
3.2.10.3 Las Sierras shield 93
3.2.10.4 Punta Descartes, Costa Rica 93
3.3 Geomorphology of southern Central America 94
3.3.1 Chorotega volcanic front province 96
3.3.1.1 Guanacaste cordillera 96
3.3.1.2 Tilarán and Aguacate cordilleras 96
3.3.1.3 Central cordillera 97
3.3.1.4 Central valley 97
3.3.1.5 Talamanca cordillera 98
3.3.1.6 Central cordillera, Panama 98
3.3.2 Chorotega forearc province 99
3.3.2.1 Santa Elena peninsula and Papagayo gulf 99
3.3.2.2 Nicoya peninsula 100
3.3.2.3 Orotina-Esparza coast 102
3.3.2.4 Herradura headland 103
3.3.2.5 Quepos-Parrita coast 103
3.3.2.6 Fila Costeña 104
3.3.2.7 General and Coto Brus valleys 104
3.3.2.8 Osa peninsula 104
3.3.2.9 Burica peninsula 105
3.3.2.10 Soná and Azuero peninsulas 105
3.3.3 Chorotega backarc province 106
3.3.3.1 Tortuguero lowlands 106
3.3.3.2 Southern Limón and Bocas del Toro coast 106
3.3.4 Canal zone lowlands province 107
3.3.4.1 Gatún fracture zone 108
© 2007 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK