The Maya Mountains were known as the Cockscomb or Coxcomb Mountains to Baymen and later Belizeans at least until the mid-20th century.[1][2][3][4][note 2][citation needed] Their current appellation is thought to be in honour of the Mayan civilisation.[5]
Nine streams with a Strahler order greater than 1 flow from the Mountains into the Caribbean Sea, namely, five tributaries of the Belize River, two tributaries of the Monkey River, and the Sittee River and Boom Creek.[6]
Karst
Prominent karstic features within the Mountains include the Chiquibul Spring and Cave System, the Vaca Plateau, the Southern and Northern Boundary Faults, and possibly an aquifer contiguous with that of the Yucatán Peninsula.[7][8][note 3]
Plutons
The Mountains 'are the only source of igneous and metamorphic materials' in Belize.[9] These are exposed in three plutons, i.e. Mountain Pine Ridge, Hummingbird Ridge, and the Cockscomb Basin.[10] It has been recently suggested that the former was mined by stonemasons at Pacbitun for the manufacture and trade of stonetools, e.g. manos and metates.[11]
Climate
Precipitation decreases from 98 inches (2,500mm) per annum in the northwestern extreme of the Mountains to 59 inches (1,500mm) per annum in its southeastern extreme.[12]
Human
Parks
Much of the Mountains is in protected areas spanning seventeen parks, reserves, sanctuaries, or monuments in southern Belize and northern Guatemala.[13][14]
Unauthorised farming and resource extraction by Guatemalans have been identified as a significant threats to Belize's protected areas bordering Peten.[18] For instance, in 2008 an estimated 1,000–1,500 xateros i.e. fishtail palm foragers were operating in the region, and by 2011 some 13,500–20,000 acres had been cleared for various agricultural activities, thereby severing the ecologically important contiguity of Belizean forests to the Guatemalan Selva Maya.[19] Furthermore, unlicensed interlopers often hunt for sustenance during their extended incursions, leading to worrying declines in wildlife populations, such as that of the white-lipped peccary, which has been extirpated from 'was once the species' primary stronghold in Belize [i.e. Chiquibul].'[20] Threats indigenous to Belize have also been identified, however, with demographic pressures deemed the most significant.[21] The recent construction of the hydroelectric Chalillo Dam in the Mountains, for instance, 'sparked international controversy for its widespread ecological effects,' including the inundation of 2,400 acres of forested and riparian ecosystems, and exposure of downstream villages to significant pollutants in 2009 and 2011.[22]
The Mountains' orogen mainly consists of metamorphosed late Carboniferous to middle Permian volcanic-sedimentary rocks overlying late Silurian granites.[27]
Stratigraphy
Basement
The Mountains' basement is sub-aerially exposed in four extremes of the mountain range.[23][29][30] The exposed portions in the northwestern, northeastern, and southeastern points of the range are predominantly composed of intermediate-to-silicic Palaeozoic plutons, with exposed portions in the southern point of the range predominated by Palaeozoic volcanic rocks.[23][note 6][note 7]
The geologic evolution of the exposed portions of the Mountains' basement has been deemed 'one of the most disputed aspects of Central American geology,' though it has subsequently been suggested that these formed during the late-Neogene to late-Pliocene.[31][32]
Cover
The Mountains' sedimentary cover blankets all of the province's foothills and plains, and all but a few portions of its mountain range.[23][32][30] The cover in the foothills and plains is predominantly composed of Cretacaeous marine strata to the south, west, and north, but this transitions into Quaternary alluvium to the east.[23][note 8] In contrast, the cover in the mountain range is predominated by Palaeozoic strata.[23][note 9]
The Mountains' cover in the mountain range has been recently characterised as an elevated relict landscape, i.e. an area where basement uplift has not been counterbalanced by fluvial erosion.[33]
Formation
Geologic mapping and dating of rocks in the Maya Mountains have 'led to a variety of interpretations and eventually to puzzling discrepancies between reported field relations, age of fossils, and geochronologic data.'[34] An early 1955 study divided the Mountains' sedimentary rocks into Macal and Maya series or formations, but these were subsequently rejected in favour of the single Santa Rosa Group of sedimentary rocks (discovered in Guatemala in 1966).[35] However, this consensus was upended upon the 1996 discovery of deeper granitoids which crystallisation ages 'considerably older' than known post-Devonian ages of Santa Rosa fossils.[36] The presence of pre-Devonian sediments was 'a matter of debate' until 'conclusively demonstrate[d]' in the affirmative in 2009.[37]
More information Name, Rocks ...
Stratigraphic units of the Maya Mountains per 21st century literature.[38][39][note 10]
The Mountains are wedged between the easterly to northeasterly trending Corozal and Belize Basins, themselves sub-basins of the Peten–Corozal Basin, which fully encompasses the Mountains.[27][40][note 20]
Pre-Columbian
The Mountains are thought to have remained sparsely populated, and culturally and economically isolated, until 600–830 CE, during the Late Classic, when the region experienced major demographic growth, possibly peaking in the 8th century.[41] In c.830 CE, during the Classic Maya Collapse, most of the Mountains' settlements experienced demographic decline, leading to sparse settlement during the Postclassic.[41]
The earliest public conservation-like efforts in Belize are thought to have been geared towards regulating mahogany logging, via a 28 October 1817 proclamation vesting unclaimed lands in the Crown.[44][45] The measure quickly proved futile however, as by 17 April 1835 Belize's Superintendent would note that 'no regulation or restriction has prevailed respecting the cutting of Wood or the occupation of Land and thus the mahogany on the extensive Tracts to the Southward of the Sibun and between the Rivers Belize & Hondo above Black Creek has been subjected to great waste and devastation.'[46][45] The next step is thought to have been in 1894, with the passage of the first legislative protections for antiquities in colonial Belize, subsequently strengthened in 1897, 1924, and 1927.[47][48][49][50] Archaeological conservation in Belize progressed quickly with the 1952 appointment of Alexander Hamilton Anderson as First Assistant Secretary to the Governor with responsibility for archaeological activities in the country, and the subsequent 1954 establishment of the Department of Archaeology, with Anderson as its inaugural commissioner or permanent secretary.[51][52][53][note 21] Natural conservation likewise advanced with the 1887 Hooper and 1921 Hummel Reports, the 1922 establishment of a Department of Forestry, with Cornelius Hummel as inaugural conservator or permanent secretary, and the 1924, 1926, 1927, 1935, 1944, and 1945 passages of legislative protections for flora and fauna.[54][55][56][57][45][58][note 22] Significantly, Silk Grass and Mountain Pine Ridge were gazetted as forest reserves in 1920, making these Belize's earliest non-archaeological protected areas.[45][59]
In Guatemala
The earliest conservation efforts in Guatemala are thought to have been the 1921 and 1945 Leyes Forestales, leading to the 1955 establishment of the country's first protected areas, the Atitlán and Rio Dulce National Parks.[60]
A map of a part of Yucatán / 1787 map printed for W. Faden / via LC
Exploration
The earliest known exploratory expedition into the Mountains was led by captains Samuel Harrison and Valentín Delgado in 8July– 9August1787(1787-07-08– 1787-08-09). The captains had been commissioned by the superintendent of colonial Belize, Edward Marcus Despard, and the visiting Spanish commissary, Enrique de Grimarest, to discover the source of the Sibun River, so as to ascertain the limits of the British settlement under the 1786 Convention of London.[61][62][63][64]
Subsequent pioneering explorations were led by Henry Fowler in 1879, C. H. Wilson in 1886, Karl Sapper in 1886–1935, J. Bellamy in 1888, L. H. Ower in 1922–1926, C. G. Dixon in 1950–1955, and J. H. Bateson and I. H. S. Hall in 1969–1970.[65][66][1][67] Sapper's trips have been deemed 'the first geologic expeditions' into the Mountains, while Ower's survey produced what has been called 'the first geological map of the Colony [of British Honduras, including the Mountains].'[65][66][note 23]
The term Maya Mountains may additionally refer a geologic or physiographic province coincident with the mountain range and its abutting foothills and plains, rather to the mountain range per se, eg as in Andreani & Gloaguen 2016, pp.76–77. This article employs the geologic sense of the term when appropriate, eg in the 'Geology' section.
Mountains called only Cockscomb or variants in Bellamy 1889, Sapper 1896a, Sapper 1899; called both Cockscomb and Maya in USDI 1947 and Dixon 1956; and called only Maya in Dixey 1957, Bateson & Hall 1977. The Cockscomb name survives in various designations, including that of the Cockscomb Range, an east-west spur of the Maya Mountains extending some 10 miles (16km) (EB 2012, para. 1).
The aquifer's existence has been suggested on the basis of karstifiable carbonates and evaporites, contiguous to those of the Peninsula, being present in the western and southern foothills and plains of the Mountains (Goldscheider et al. 2020, p.1666).
WDPA ID is the identifier used in the World Database on Protected Areas in UNEP-WCMC 2022a, sec. 'Belize Protected Areas' and UNEP-WCMC 2022b, sec. 'Guatemala Protected Areas'.
The southern extreme of the range further includes an exposed portion predominated by intrusive, undivided, intermediate-to-silicic rocks of unknown age (French & Schenk 2004).
Martens 2009, pp.7, 23 give the basement as being sub-aerially exposed in three extremes of the mountain range, with exposed portions mainly composed of Palaeozoic granitic batholiths and stocks. Martens 2009, p.121 give a more accurate picture of the basement as being exposed in four extremes of the range, with Devonian–Silurian granitoids prevailing in portions in three extremes, and lithic conglomerates, sandstones, and rhyolites prevailing in portions of one extreme.
The cover in the western foothills and plains further includes some islands of Quaternary alluvium, Aeocene-to-Palaeocene marine strata, and Jurassic-to-Triassic marine and continental strata (French & Schenk 2004).
Age as per Martens 2009, p.142, and noted as the 'recognised' basement age of the Maya Block. Though Martens 2009, p.148 further notes that this age 'seems only valid for the northernmost tip of the [Maya] block.'
Age as per Martens 2009, pp.123, 137. Lower and upper ages considered uncertain per Martens 2009, p.123, fig. 4.2. Sandstones mature, in contrast to Macal Formation, per Martens 2009, pp.124–125. Detrital zircons from sandstone samples dated 1.9–0.5 Ga, with 1.2 and 1.0 Ga ages most prominent, per Martens 2009, pp.128, 133–134, 136–137, 140–143. Martens 2009, pp.142–143 suggest the 1.2–1.0 Ga Grenvillian zircons 'could be local to the Maya Block' or neighbouring Oaxaquia microcontinent, while the 1.6–1.5 Ga zircons are 'probably not autochthonous to the Maya Block nor [the] Oaxaquia [microcontinent], inasmuch as no rocks older than ~1.4 Ga have been found on them,' rather suggesting that the latter were 'most likely' sourced from the Rio Negro–Juruena province of the Western Amazonian craton of Gondwana. Zhao et al. 2020, p.140 further note that 'inherited zircon ages of 1210 Ma from the Maya mountain and 1100 Ma from the Chicxulub granitoids imply that the northern Maya block may [...] have Grenville-aged materials.' Ross et al. 2021, p.243, fig. 1 further suggest the 0.6–0.5 Ga zircons may have a Pan-African orogeny affinity.
Age as per Martens 2009, pp.123, 135, Ross et al. 2021, p.244, and Guzman-Hidalgo et al. 2021, p.2. Dated 422–circa406 Ma in Martens 2009, pp.126–127. Pluton is mostly two-mica granite, granodiorite, and tonalite containing > 10 percent quartz, per Martens 2009, p.125, and exhibits relatively high potassium content and large circa 10 millimetres (0.39in) minerals, per Lewis & Valdez 2015, p.143 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFLewisValdez2015 (help).
Age as per Martens 2009, pp.119, 123 and Ross et al. 2021, p.244. Lower and upper ages considered uncertain per Martens 2009, p.123, fig. 4.2. Dated circa415–circa406 Ma in Martens 2009, pp.135, 136. This Formation is an east-west belt covering over 200 square kilometres (77sqmi), and consists almost entirely of rhyolitic-dacitic lava flows and tuffs, with some original volcanic features partly preserved (eg autobrecciated lava flows and flow banding), per Martens 2009, p.126.
Age as per Martens 2009, p.123. Described as 'regionally equivalent to the Santa Rosa Group of Guatemala' and 'containing fossils similar to those in the Santa Rosa Group' in Martens 2009, pp.122, 135. Sandstones immature, in contrast to Baldy Unit, per Martens 2009, pp.124–125.
Age as per Martens 2009, p.123. Pluton ranges from muscovite quartz-monzonite to biotite granodiorite, with rare garnet xenocrysts, per Martens 2009, p.125, and exhibits relatively high muscovite-biotite ratio and small circa 5 millimetres (0.20in) minerals, per Lewis & Valdez 2015, p.143 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFLewisValdez2015 (help).
Age as per Martens 2009, p.123. Dated 235–205 Ma in Martens 2009, p.126. Dated 237–205 Ma in Ross et al. 2021, p.244. Pluton is a biotite granodiorite with accessory white mica, per Martens 2009, p.125, and exhibits relatively high biotite-muscovite ratio and small circa 5 millimetres (0.20in) minerals, per Lewis & Valdez 2015, p.143 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFLewisValdez2015 (help).
Though Steel & Davidson 2020a, foldout map describe the Mountains as wedged between three basins, ie the Corozal, Belize, and Peten Basins, none of which is noted as a sub-basin of any other.
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Other
EB (2012). "Cockscomb Range". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID place/Cockscomb-Range.
EB (2017). "Maya Mountains". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online ID place/Maya-Mountains.