COSEISMIC STRATIGRAPHY: A USEFUL APPROACH IN THE STUDY OF ACTIVE TECTONIC BASIN SCENARIOS IN CENTRAL MEXICO

We propose the concept of coseismic stratigraphy, an approach that could be highly useful for studying lacustrine basins in zones with important tectonic activity. Extant and past lakes have been studied in many parts of the world with paleolimnological objectives, for knowing climate evolution, or for detecting anthropogenic effects. Our research team working in lakes of the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt has noticed that many of the secondary effects of important earthquakes (>5) have been either omitted or interpreted as effects of climate and human processes. Through the analysis of stratigraphy and the examination of secondary structures generated by earthquakes or by coseismic ruptures, we propose the term coseismic stratigraphy in order to call the attention of students of sediments in basins within scenarios that have been modified by seismic events that changed the conditions of sediment deposition and sediment structure.