%0 Journal Article
%A Jiménez Díaz, Alberto
%A Ruiz Pérez, Javier
%A Pérez Gussinyé, Marta
%A Kirby, John F.
%A Álvarez Gómez, José Antonio
%A Tejero López, Rosa
%A Capote Del Villar, Ramón
%T Spatial variations of effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere in Central America and surrounding regions
%D 2014
%@ 0012-821X
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33565
%X As a proxy for long-term lithospheric strength, the effective elastic thickness (Te) can be used tounderstand the relationship between lithospheric rheology and geodynamic evolution of complex tectonicsettings. Here we present, for the first time, high-resolution maps of spatial variations of Te in CentralAmerica and surrounding regions from the analysis of the coherence between topography and Bouguergravity anomaly using multitaper and wavelet methods. Regardless of the technical differences betweenthe two methods, there is a good overall agreement in the spatial variations of re recovered from bothmethods. Although absolute re values can vary in both maps, the qualitative re structure and locationof the main re gradients are very similar. The pattern of the re variations in Central America andsurrounding regions agrees well with the tectonic provinces in the region, and it is closely relatedto major tectonic boundaries, where the Middle American and Lesser Antilles subduction zones arecharacterized by a band of high Te on the downgoing slab seaward of the trenches. These high re valuesare related to internal loads (and in the case of the southernmost tip of the Lesser Antilles subductionzone also associated with a large amount of sediments) and should be interpreted with caution. Finally,there is a relatively good correlation, despite some uncertainties, between surface heat flow and ourre results for the study area. These results suggest that although this area is geologically complex, thethermal state of the lithosphere has profound influence on its strength, such that re is strongly governedby thermal structure.
%~