Maya Lowlands

Mayan Lowlands Maya Lowlands
The Mayan Lowlands / prominent rivers and some settlements labelled / 2019 map by Inomata et al. / via PLOS
Mayan Lowlands
Coordinates: 18.109030123697906°N 89.8704880046714°W / 18.109030123697906; -89.8704880046714
Location	Belize, northern Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, southeastern Mexico
Part of	Mayan Region of Mesoamerica
Area
• Total	106,800 sq mi (277,000 km2)a
Dimensions
• Length	460 mi (740 km)b
• Width	400 mi (640 km)b
Highest elevation	3,688 ft (1,124 m) (Doyle's Delight)
Sub-divisions	Northern Central Southern
a cf b cf

The Maya or Mayan Lowlands are the largest of three common first-order sub-divisions of the Mayan Region of Mesoamerica.

Extent

The Mayan Lowlands are restricted by the Gulf of Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Mayan Highlands to the south and west. The precise northern and eastern limits of the Lowlands are widely agreed upon, being formed by conspicuous bodies of water. Their southern and western limits, however, are not precisely fixed, as these are restricted by 'subtle environmental changes or transitions from one zone [the Highlands] to another [the Lowlands],' rather than conspicuous geographic features.

The Lowlands fully encompass Belize, the Guatemalan department of Peten, and the Mexican states of Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo. They may further partially encompass a number of northerly Guatemalan departments, northwesterly Honduran departments, and southeasterly Mexican states.

Divisions

The Lowlands are usually sub-divided either into northern and southern regions, or into northern, central, and southern regions. As with the Lowlands–Highlands border, the boundaries of the Lowlands' internal sub-divisions are not precisely fixed, being rather formed by gradual environmental or climatic transitions.

Northern

The Northern Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively low rainfall and high temperatures, typically ranging within 20–80 inches (510–2,030 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. Their rainy season typically lasts six or seven months during June–December, with a subsequent six- or five-month dry season. Their terrain is predominated by tropical forests in the south, gradually giving way to low bush-and-scrub forests in the north. Prominent bodies of water include Lake Bacalar and varous cenotes. Prominent groupings of archaeological sites within the Northern Lowlands include the Northern Plains, the East Coast, the Puuc, and the Chenes sites.

The Northern Lowlands generally encompass portions of Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo in Mexico.

Central

The Central Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively low rainfall and high temperatures, typically ranging about 80 inches (2,000 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. Their rainy season typically lasts eight-and-a-half months, from mid-May to January, with a subsequent dry season of three-and-a-half months, from February to mid-May. Their terrain is predominated by low east-west ridges of folded and faulted limestone, covered by tropical forests, grasslands, and wetlands. Prominent bodies of water include the Hondo, New, and Belize Rivers and their tributaries, and a roughly 910 square miles (2,400 km²) drainage basin in central Peten housing some fourteen lakes, the largest of which is Lake Peten Itza.

The Central Lowlands generally encompass portions of Peten in Guatemala, Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Cayo, Belize [District], Orange Walk, and Corozal in Belize.

Southern

The Southern Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively high rainfall and temperatures, typically ranging within 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. Their rainy season ranges between nine to eleven months, with the dry season compressed to three months or fewer, with the latter typically occurring during March–May. Their terrain ranges from broken karst topography, predominated by rain-forest and limestone formations, to low-lying coastal topography, predominated by swamps. Prominent bodies of water within the Southern Lowlands, which often feature relatively deep and fertile soils, include the Usumacinta River and its tributaries, the Sarstoon River, Lake Izabal, the Rio Dulce, the alluvial valley of the lower Motagua, and the Chamelecon and Ulua Rivers.

The Southern Lowlands generally encompass portions of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche in Mexico, Huehuetenango, El Quiche, Alta Verapaz, Izabal, and Peten in Guatemala, Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo in Belize, and Cortes, Santa Barbara, and Copan in Honduras.

Geography

Physical

The Lowlands are generally characterised by elevations below 2,625 feet (800 m) and a tropical climate. They are predominantly covered by evergreen tropical forests, which tend to grow taller and denser in the southern Lowlands, given increased rainfall in this area, compared to the northern Lowlands, which experience relatively less rainfall. The climate of the eastern coasts is made relatively warmer and more humid by the Atlantic North Equatorial Current and the Gulf Stream.

Geology

Morphology

Provinces

The Lowlands are thought to fully or partially encompass at least eleven geologic provinces. Notably, the northern and central Lowlands 'encompass the most extensive karstlands of the North American continent' ie the Yucatan Platform.

Geologic provinces within the Mayan Lowlands per 21st century literature.

USGS No.	Name	Location	Notes
5308	Yucatan Platform	northern Lowlands	–
6117	Greater Antilles Deformed Belt	offshore Lowlands	–
6120	Cayman Trough	southern Lowlands	–
6125	Maya Mountains	central Lowlands	–
5305	Villahermosa Uplift	western Lowlands	–
5306	Macuspana Basin	western Lowlands	–
5304	Saline–Comalcalco Basin	western Lowlands	–
5302	Veracruz Basin	western Lowlands	–
5303	Tuxla Uplift	western Lowlands	–
5311	Chiapas Massif	western Lowlands	–
5310	Sierra Madre de Chiapas–Peten Foldbelt	southern Lowlands	–

Basins

The Lowlands are believed to fully or partially comprehend at least four sedimentary basins.

Sedimentary basins within the Mayan Lowlands per 21st century literature.

Evenick ID	Name	Location	Notes
119	Campeche	northern Lowlands	–
519	Peten–Corozal	central Lowlands	–
757	Yucatan	northern Lowlands	–
647	Sureste	western Lowlands	–

Tectonics

The Lowlands lie wholly within the Maya Block of the North American Plate. They notably house the Ticul Fault to the north, the Rio Hondo, Yucatan Channel, and Maya Mountain Faults to the east, and a portion of the Motagua–Polochic Fault Zone to the south.

Stratigraphy

In the northern and central Lowlands, encompassed within the Yucatan Platform, mean crustal thickness increases from 12–16 miles (20–25 km) in the north to 19–25 miles (30–40 km) in the south. These portions of the Lowlands are blanketed by a carbonate sedimentary cover reaching a mean thickness of up to some 4 miles (6 km).

Notes and references

Full citations

Print

1. Adams, Richard E. W.; Macleod, Murdo J., eds. (2000a). Mesoamerica, Part 1. The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521351652. ISBN 9781139053778. S2CID 163512332.
2. Adams, Richard E. W.; Macleod, Murdo J., eds. (2000b). Mesoamerica, Part 2. The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521652049. ISBN 9781139053464.
3. Braswell, Geoffrey E., ed. (2022). 3,000 Years of War and Peace in the Maya Lowlands : Identity, Politics, and Violence. Routledge archaeology of the ancient Americas. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781351268004. ISBN 9781351268004. S2CID 246542762.
4. Bundschuh, Jochen; Alvarado, Guillermo E., eds. (2012) [First published 2007]. Central America : Geology, Resources and Hazards (Reprint of 1st ed.). London: Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1201/9780203947043. ISBN 9780429074370. OCLC 905983675.
5. Carrasco, Davíd, ed. (2006) [First published 2001]. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures : The Civilisations of Mexico and Central America (Online reprint of 1st print ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001. ISBN 9780195188431.
6. Gómez-Pompa, Arturo; Allen, Michael F.; Fedick, Scott L.; Jiménez-Osornio, Juan J., eds. (2003). The Lowland Maya Area: Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface. Binghamton, NY: Food Products Press. ISBN 1560229705. OCLC 50725221.
7. Nairn, Alan E. M.; Stehli, Francis G., eds. (1975). The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The Ocean Basins and Margins. Vol. 3. New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-8535-6. ISBN 978-1-4684-8537-0.
8. Pohl, Mary DeLand, ed. (1990). Ancient Maya wetland agriculture : excavations on Albion Island, Northern Belize. Westview special studies in archaeological research. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. hdl:2027/txu.059173017866398. ISBN 081337202X. OCLC 15421978.
9. Sharer, Robert J.; Traxler, Loa P., eds. (2006) [First published 1946]. The Ancient Maya (6th ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. hdl:2027/mdp.39015062626216. OCLC 57577446.
10. UISPP, ed. (2020). Different Times? : Archaeological and environmental data from intra-site and off-site sequences : proceedings of the XVIII UISPP World Congress (4-9 June 2018, Paris, France) : Volume 4, Session II-8. Archaeopress archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing. ISBN 9781789696516. OCLC 1154813259.
11. Woods, Charles A.; Sergile, Florence E., eds. (2001) [First published 1989 in Gainesville, FL by Sandhill Crane Press]. Biogeography of the West Indies : patterns and perspectives (2nd revised ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 0849320011. OCLC 46240352.

Journals

1. Beach, Tim; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Dunning, Nicholas; Jones, John; Lohse, Jon; Guderjan, Tom; Bozarth, Steve; Millspaugh, Sarah; Bhattacharya, Tripti (August 2009). "A review of human and natural changes in Maya Lowland wetlands over the Holocene". Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (17–18): 1710–1724. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.02.004.
2. Brenner, Mark (6 July 2022). "Classics revisited/from the archive Mayan Urbanism: Impact on a Tropical Karst Environment". Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment. doi:10.1177/03091333221112360.
3. Brenner, Mark; Rosenmeier, Michael F.; Hodell, David A.; Curtis, Jason H. (14 August 2002). "Paleolimnology of the Maya Lowlands: Long-term perspectives on interactions among climate, environment, and humans". Ancient Mesoamerica. 13 (1): 141–157. doi:10.1017/S0956536102131063. S2CID 62887180.
4. Evenick, J. C. (2021). "Glimpses into Earth's history using a revised global sedimentary basin map". Earth-Science Reviews. article no. 103564. 215 (sn): 103564. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503564E. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103564. S2CID 233950439.
5. Hoggarth, Julie A.; Restall, Matthew; Wood, James W.; Kennett, Douglas J. (February 2017). "Drought and Its Demographic Effects in the Maya Lowlands". Current Anthropology. 58 (1): 82–113. doi:10.1086/690046. S2CID 151904763.
6. Metcalfe, Sarah E.; Holmes, Jonathan A.; Jones, Matthew D.; Gonzalez, Roger Medina; Primmer, Nicholas J.; Martinez Dyrzo, Haydar; Davies, Sarah J.; Lenge, Melanie J. (15 April 2022). "Response of a low elevation carbonate lake in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) to climatic and human forcings". Quaternary Science Reviews. 282: 1-18 of article no. 107445. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107445. S2CID 247514101.
7. Ross, C. H.; Stockli, D. F.; Rasmussen, C.; Gulick, S. P. S.; Graaff, S. J.; Claeys, P.; Zhao, J. (2021). "Evidence of Carboniferous arc magmatism preserved in the Chicxulub impact structure". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 134 (1–2): 241–260. doi:10.1130/B35831.1. S2CID 238043996.
8. Shrock, R. R. (1945). "Karst Features in Maya Region of Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico". Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science. 45: 111–116.
9. Wahl, David; Byrne, Roger; Schreiner, Thomas; Hansen, Richard (May 2006). "Holocene vegetation change in the northern Peten and its implications for Maya prehistory". Quaternary Research. 65 (3): 380–389. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2005.10.004. S2CID 128976862.
10. Wahl, David; Byrne, Roger; Schreiner, Thomas; Hansen, Richard (September 2007). "Palaeolimnological evidence of late-Holocene settlement and abandonment in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala". The Holocene. 17 (6): 813–820. doi:10.1177/0959683607080522. S2CID 129244758. ProQuest 220526400.
11. Walsh, Megan K.; Prufer, Keith M.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Kennett, Douglas J. (20 January 2017). "A late Holocene paleoenvironmental reconstruction from Agua Caliente, southern Belize, linked to regional climate variability and cultural change at the Maya polity of Uxbenká". Quaternary Research. 82 (1): 38–50. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2014.01.013. S2CID 128702315.

Other

1. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2004). "Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Caribbean Region". Open-File Report (Report). Open-File Report 97-470-K. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470K.
2. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2006). "Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Gulf of Mexico region". In French, Christopher D; Schenk, Christopher J (eds.). Open-File Report (Report). Open-File Report 97-470-L. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470L.
3. Kirst, K. Kris (14 December 2019). "Maya Lowlands". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 9 September 2022 suggested (help)
4. LACGeo (15 July 2020). "Maya Region: Maya Highlands and Lowlands (Mexico, Central America)". LAC Geographic. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 9 September 2022 suggested (help)
5. Martens, Uwe (2009). Geologic evolution of the Maya Block (southern edge of the North American plate): An example of terrane transferral and crustal recycling (PhD Thesis). Stanford University. ProQuest 304999167.