Yucatán Platform
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The Yucatán Platform or Yucatán Shelf is a
geologic Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...
or
physiographic Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...
province, and a
continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
and
carbonate platform A carbonate platform is a Sedimentary rock, sedimentary body which possesses topographic relief, and is composed of Autochthon (geology), autochthonic calcareous deposits. Platform growth is mediated by Sessility (zoology), sessile organisms whose ...
, in the Maya Block of the southernmost portion of the North American Plate. It comprises the
Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
and its
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...
, located between the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
and the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
.


Extent

The Yucatán Platform is commonly defined as the continental platform constituted by the
Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...
and its continental shelf. As such, the margins of the continental shelf, or, more particularly, their isobaths or depth contours, are often taken as the platform's submarine limits. Its subaerial limits (on the Yucatán Peninsula) are less precisely fixed. The
US Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...
have demarcated the limits of the Yucatán Platform. Their
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, Belizean, and Mexican counterparts have not defined an equivalent geologic, physiographic, or geomorphic province or region.


Geography


Political

The exposed or peninsular portion of the Yucatán Platform encompasses four
districts of Belize Belize is divided into six districts: Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a mari ...
(i.e., Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize, and Cayo), one department of Guatemala (i.e., Peten), and four
states of Mexico A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent Federated state, federative Polity, entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, State g ...
(i.e., Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, and Tabasco). Its submarine portion encompasses the continental shelf which abuts those of the aforementioned districts with a coast.


Basins

At least three sedimentary basins have been identified in the Yucatán Platform, namely, the Campeche, Yucatán, and PetenCorozal.


Faults

At least six fault systems or zones have been identified in the Yucatán Platform, namely, the Holbox, Hondo, Ticul, Ring of Cenotes, ChemaxCatoche, and La Libertad, with the first four of these considered prominent.


Geology


Formation

The Gulf of Mexico formed during a 7090 million year rifting of
Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous period approximately 335 mi ...
, which began some 240
million years ago Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...
, during the
Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...
, and ended some 170150 million years ago, during the
Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...
or
Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...
. The subaerially exposed (i.e., peninsular) portion of the platform is thought to have been fully submarine up to some 3010 million years ago.


Layers


Basement

The platform's crystalline basement is composed mainly of
Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...
to
Palaeozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma at the start of ...
granodiorite rocks. It starts at a depth of some in the centre-point of the platform's exposed or peninsular portion, but steeps down towards the platform's eastern and northwestern extremes, starting at a depth of in the latter point.


Cover

The platform's sedimentary cover is composed mainly of carbonates and evaporites formed during or after the
Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...
. It forms one of the largest deposits of carbonate minerals on Earth, with a depth range of .


Notes


Citations


References

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # {{authority control Geology of North America Geology of the Atlantic Ocean Geology of Belize Geology of Guatemala Geology of Mexico Geomorphology#Physiographic divisions Physiographic divisions