Evidence of a collision between the Yucatán Block and Mexico in the Miocene

We present the evidence for an anomalous southwest-dipping slab in southern Mexico. The main evidence comes from a clear receiver function image along a seismic line across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and is also supported by a previous global tomographic model. The slab dips at 35°, is approximately 250 km in length and appears to truncate the Cocos slab at about 120 km depth. We hypothesize that the slab was created by subduction of oceanic lithosphere prior to the collision of the Yucatán Block with Mexico at approximately 12 Ma. This scenario would explain the Chiapas Fold and Thrust Belt as the product of this collision, and its age constrains the date of the event to be in the Miocene.