The Chixoy-Polochic fault and its associated fractures in western Guatemala
In western Guatemala, post-Cretaceous volcanic and sedimentary rocks locally cover the trace of the Chixoy-Polochic fault. No single throughgoing fault cuts these units. However, a complicated series of en echelon lineations identified from aerial photographs and field mapping represent the accommodations of displacements along the underlying fault. Comparison of fracture trends in the Chixoy-Polochic fault zone with models from experimental studies and field examples of strike-slip faults suggest that left-lateral displacement along the Chixoy-Polochic fault in this area is probably no more than a few kilometres, since the accumulation of the overlying beds of probable post mid-Tertiary age. Earlier lateral displacements of large magnitude are not precluded, although none have been documented by field study.