[LIBRE] LIBRE - Lake Izabal Basin Research Endeavor

ICDP-Topics:
Climate & Ecosystems


Year of Application: 2019

Expedition ID: 999999

Current Status: Proposed

Master Data

Dr. Liseth Perez (PI)

Projektstart:
Projektdauer:
Geologisches Alter: Miocene to Recent

Latitude: 15°30'0''N
Kontinente:

South America

Regionen & Städte:

Lake Izabal

Longitude: 89°10'0''W
Länder:

Guatemala

Themen:

Drilling Data

Drilling Depth:
Core Yield:
Core Length:
Amount of Drill Holes:
Amount of Drill Locations:

Core Length-Drill Depth-Ratio:
Core Yield-Core Length-Ratio:

Description

The Lake Izabal Basin (LIB) is an active pull-apart basin that developed along the Polochic Fault (PF), the northern left-lateral fault of the Polochic-Motagua Fault System (PMFS). The PMFS represents the western, onland extension of the North American (NA) and Caribbean (CA) plate boundary. Preliminary analysis of an industry well, reflection seismic profiles, and outcrops indicate that the basin fill is thick and asymmetric, with more than 4 km of sedimentary rocks that started to accumulate in the early Miocene. We intent to 1) produce climate records over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, and potentially into the Pliocene, making LIB a very attractive target for improving our understanding of climate and its changes in the Neotropics; 2) provide a Quaternary record that will allow the estimation of rates of origination, extinction, and migration of species that gave rise to the main vegetation types that occupy the area today; and 3) provide a long record to understand volcanic activity along the Central American volcanic arc.

Related Publications

Obrist-Farner, J., Eckert, A., Douglas, P. M. J., Perez, L., Correa-Metrio, A., Konecky, B. L., Bauersachs, T., Zimmerman, S., Scheidt, S., Brenner, M., Kutterolf, S., Maurer, J., Flores, O., Burberry, C. M., Noren, A., Myrbo, A., Lachniet, M., Wattrus, N., Gibson, D., the, Libre scientific team (2023). "Planning for the Lake Izabal Basin Research Endeavor (LIBRE) continental scientific drilling project in eastern Guatemala" Sci. Dril. p85-100