Abstract
The deformation adjacent to, and within, a 40 km segment of the seismogenic Polochic fault zone is studied with a view towards investigating the processes and environment of deformation within the fault zone, and from these identify mechanical properties important to the earthquake process. The regional deformation is studied in order to relate the amount, and distribution, of displacement along the Polochic fault to the deformation within the fault zone. The regional analysis focuses on two major structures: a high-angle reverse fault (Rio Ocho fault) and a fault north of the Polochic (Taluca fault). It is shown that (a) the Rio Ocho fault must correspond in age with the Cenozoic fold belt, (b) both predate the Polochic fault, (c) the Rio Ocho and adjacent sedimentary rocks have subsequently deformed to accommodate fault-induced strain, and (d) these deformations are produced by combined pure and simple shear. The Taluca fault is shown to be a left-lateral, strike-slip fault which is structurally continuous with the Polochic fault. A model is proposed for the structural history of the Polochic fault in which the Taluca represents an older, now abandoned, trace of the Polochic. The Polochic fault is not older than Tertiary...
Dengo, Carlos Artur (1982). Structural analysis of the Polochic fault zone in western Guatemala, Central America. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -394861.