Gravity and seismicity over the Guerrero Seismic Gap, Mexico

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Abstract
Four detailed (average station interval = 5 km) gravity transects were recently conducted in the Pacific coastal region of Mexico. A differential GPS technique was used to determine the elevation and coordinates of the gravity stations. The profiles are oriented northeast‐southwest and extend from the coast up to ∼60 km inland. The Bouguer gravity anomaly is decreasing consistently along every profile from 60–80 mGal at the coast with an approximately constant regional gradient of −2.2 mGal/km normal to the trench. A plot of the gravity anomaly against the distance from the trench axis demonstrates that the regional slope in the gravity anomaly is shifting gradually (20–25 mGal) inland along the coast of Guerrero from the southeast (Atoyac) to the northwest (Petatlán ‐ Zihuatanejo). A model cross section of the Mexican subduction zone (MSZ) based on the tomography inversion for the Guerrero region shows that the gravity anomaly values and the regional anomaly trend can be explained mostly by the effect of the density contrast between the slab and the continental crust. The upper surface of the subducted slab (USS) and the seismogenic contact zone between the upper plate and the slab is traced clearly in several seismicity cross sections based on the data of the regional seismic network in Guerrero. The depth and shape of the USS revealed from the seismicity and gravity anomaly data for the same profiles are in good agreement. This correlation may be fairly useful when applied to gravity profiles in order to estimate the depth of the USS and the seismogenic contact in other parts of the MSZ which lack reliable seismicity data.