Tectonics and volcanism in central Mexico - A Landsat Thematic Mapper perspective

Digitally enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images were used to map neotectonic deformation in central Mexico. This region has been studied for decades using a variety of geological and geophysical techniques, but synoptic mapping of neotectonic activity and major fault zones there, and an evaluation of their regional relationship to the character and location of volcanism were not previously possible until the application of synoptic, high resolution satellite imagery. Interpretation of the TM images shows that the tectonic deformation is closely linked in time and space to the dominantly calc-alkaline volcanics of the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB). The eruptive style and distribution of the volcanics is clearly related to the deformation resulting from relative motions of three large crustal blocks south of the MVB. Therefore, zones of weakness within the crust of central Mexico, which may be inherited from earlier episodes of deformation, are a principal factor controlling the oblique orientation of the MVB relative to the Acapulco Trench.