U-Pb zircon geochronology of Palaeozoic units in Western and Central Guatemala: insights into the tectonic evolution of Middle America

Precambrian and Palaeozoic basements are present in southern Mexico and Central America, where several crustal blocks are recognized by their different geological record, and juxtaposed along lateral faults. Pre-Mesozoic reconstructions must take into account the nature of such crustal blocks, their geological history, age and petrology. Some of those crustal blocks are currently located between southernmost north America (the Maya Block) and Central America (Chortis Block). To better understand the geology of these crustal blocks, and to establish comparisons between their geological history, we performed U-Pb dating of both igneous and metasedimentary key units cropping out in central and western Guatemala. In the Altos Cuchumatanes (Maya Block) granites yield both Permian (269 +/- 29 Ma) and Early Devonian (391 +/- 7.4 Ma) U-Pb ages. LA-ICPMS detrital zircon ages from rocks of the San Gabriel sequence, interpreted as the oldest metasedimentary unit of the Maya Block, and overlain by the Late Palaeozoic Upper Santa Rosa Group, yield Precambrian detrital zircons bracketed between c. 920 and c. 1000 Ma. The presence of these metasedimentary units, as well as Early Devonian to Silurian granites in the Mayan continental margin, from west (Altos Cuchumatanes), to east (Maya Mountains of Belize) indicates a more or less continuous belt of Lower Palaeozoic igneous activity, also suggesting that the continental margin of the Maya Block can be extended south of the Polochic fault, up to the Baja Verapaz shear zone. A metasedimentary sample belonging to the Chuacus Complex yielded detrital zircons with ages between c. 440 and c. 1325 Ma. The younger ages are similar to the igneous ages reported from the entire southern Maya continental margin, and show proximity of the Complex in the Middle-Late Palaeozoic. The S. Diego Phyllite, which overlies high-grade basement units of the Chortis Block, contains zircons that are Lower Cambrian (c. 538 Ma), Mesoproterozoic (c. 980 to c. 1150 Ma) and even Palaeoproterozoic (c. 1820 Ma). Absence of younger igneous zircons in the San Diego Phyllite indicates that either its sedimentation took place in a close range of time, during the Late Cambrian, or absence of connection between Chortis and Maya Blocks during the Early -Mid-Palaeozoic. The Precambrian zircons could have come from southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Guichicovi Complexes), or from Mesoproterozoic Massifs exposed in Laurentia and Gondwana. Palaeogeographic models for Middle America are limited to post-Jurassic time. The data presented here shed light on Palaeozoic and, possibly, Precambrian relationships. They indicate that Maya and the Chortis did not interact directly until the Mesozoic or Cenozoic, as they approached their current position.