North America - Caribbean plate motion as constrained by provenance of Eocene beds in Central Guatemala

The continental Subinal Formation of Central Guatemala is composed of red conglomerates and sandstones that outcrop along the Motagua Valley. The geographic distribution of the Subinal basin is elongate and constrained by the faults of the Motagua system. This suggests the basin developed as a trans-extensional feature associated with strike-slip tectonics at the Caribbean-North American plate boundary. Stratigraphic position of the Subinal implies a post-Cretaceous depositional age, possibly Eocene. This chronologic constraint is supported by detrital zircon geochronology by the LA-ICPMS U-Pb method. The presence of eclogite in conglomerate indicates that HP belts of the Guatemala Suture Complex were already exposed at that time. The study of pebbles in conglomerate indicates that the relative abundance of some clast groups correlates with the rock units exposed north, across the San Agustín fault. This implies provenance from the North American plate and minor motion along this fault. We hypothesize that the Subinal basin was formed as an onland response to the opening of the coveal Cayman Trough.