U–Th dating of broken speleothems from Cacahuamilpa cave, Mexico: Are they recording past seismic events?

Cacahuamilpa cave is one of the largest karst systems in Central Mexico. The cave contains numerous massive speleothems broken and fallen following oriented directions, damaged during cataclysmic geological events. One fallen and two broken speleothems were sampled in the Cacahuamilpa cave for dating the rupture event using measured U–Th disequilibrium ages. A total of eight small carbonate cores were drilled perpendicular and longitudinal to the rupture surface. Results showed three groups of ages (weighted average): 0.95 ± 0.02 ka, 28.8 ± 0.2 ka and 88.0 ± 0.7 ka. This indicates that the construction of the Cacahuamilpa karst system, for which no absolute ages existed before this study, initiated at least since Late Pleistocene. The first two groups of ages might be related to two distinct episodes of intense seismic activity. Calculated minimum horizontal ground acceleration and frequency values of the seismic events needed to create the rupture of the stalagmites dated at 0.95 ± 0.02 ka and 28.8 ± 0.2 ka range between 1.3 and 2.0 m s−2 and between 13.4 and 20.8 Hz, respectively. These parameters are compatible with earthquakes of magnitude equal or higher than 7 M, with an epicentral distance between 50 and 100 km from the Cacahuamilpa cave. The stalagmite rupture dated at 88.0 ± 0.7 ka might result from the invasion of the cave by one of the older lahars deposits of the nearby volcano Nevado del Toluca, and successively fell by gravity instability.