Schedule.
Field Workshop "High-pressure belts of Central Guatemala: The Motagua Suture and
the Chuacús Complex"
Schedule.
Field Workshop "High-pressure belts of Central Guatemala: The Motagua Suture and
the Chuacús Complex"
Below you will find important information regarding hotels, transportation, costs and visas for the Guatemala 2007 field trip.
PROGRAM OF GUATEMALA 2007 FIELD TRIP and Photographs
General
Food
PLEASE drink only bottled water in Guatemala! If you have a portable water filter, please use it at all times. Food in Guatemala City varies greatly in price. In Zona 10 food may be pricy, but it is generally safe. Price of meals ranges between US$8 to as much as you want to pay. In small towns, food is generally between US$5-9. Food options, especially in Pachalum, are very basic. We will not be providing lunch, but we will stop every day at a local shop where small meals, refreshments, bottled water, and sodas will be available.
Visa
Visitors from most countries do not need a Visa to Guatemala. But please check with the local Guatemalan embassy. Visitors from a few countries such as Colombia, need a visa. If you need an official invitation letter for Visa purposes, please email Antonio or Uwe.
PART 1: Monday, Dec 3 - Wednesday, Dec 5
Hotels
The Ministry of Mining has negotiated a special price for attendees of the Guatemala 2007 Field Trip at the Biltmore Express Hotel, in Zona 10 (a touristy and reasonably safe place in Guatemala City). The price will be $65 + local tax per night for a double room (single rooms, same price). Continental Breakfast is included. The hotel is located near the airport. We realize this price is not the cheapest, but finding a safe accommodation in Guatemala City is a challenge. The great advantage of this hotel is that it is linked directly to conference center. This increases safety and decreases cost of transportation within Guatemala City.
Hotel taxes in Guatemala are 22%, which include sales tax and tourism tax. Uwe Martens will arrange reservations at the Biltmore Express. If you wish to be stay in a different hotel, you will have to make your own arrangements.
Visit to Carrizal Grande. Departure from Hotel Biltmore Express, Zona 10, at 8am by bus arranged by organizers. If you are going to participate in the Carrizal Grande trip, we recommend you arrive in Guatemala Monday Dec3. Please remember that this trip involves hiking in extremely rugged terrain. Lunch will not be provided, and we suggest you take your own food from Guatemala City.
Transportation: We will visit Carrizal Grande on a bus. Parking in Carrizal is extremely limited, and we want to reduce the number of private or rented vehicles to be parked there. This is why participation is limited to 20 people. You will be charged Quetzales100 (US$14) to get a ride on the bus.
Wednesday Dec 5th. Conference in Guatemala City
Conference in Guatemala City at the Westin Camino Real, Zona 10. The Westin is connected to the Biltmore Express Hotel, where the Ministry of Mining has negotiated a special price for attendees of the IGCP546 field trip.
PART 2: Thursday, Dec 6 - Sunday, Dec 9
Transportation
For the second part of the trip (Dec6-9) The Ministry of Mining has six 4WD vehicles. Participants from low-income countries, especially students, will get a ride in these vehicles. They will be asked to help paying for gasoline, but not for rental.
Participants from developed countries, especially non-students, will be requested to rent a car. We have pre-arranged groups of people and have asked them to rent a vehicle (if you have not been contacted regarding transportation please email us). If requested, Uwe Martens is happy to reserve a 4WD for your group, but he will not take any responsibility for bad service or any problems with the rental company (sorry!). You are welcome to do you own car rental arrangements but chances are high that you are going to pay more.
You will need a valid driver’s license, a passport, and you will need US$2500 on your credit card (you will not be charged this amount, unless your car needs repair after an accident or your rented car is stolen). There is NO full insurance in Guatemala. In case of minor scratches, dents, a broken window, etc…, you will be responsible to pay for repair. Please photograph the vehicle from all sides once you get it. You don’t want to pay for scratches made by someone else. Guatemalan companies will charge heavily for minor repairs. If you are involved in an accident and repair costs are high, then the insurance on the car will cover all costs over US$2500. Same for theft.
The cost of rental will be $85 dollars per day (this includes taxes and insurance). Unfortunately December is high-season and negotiating a cheaper price has been very difficult. As every vehicle will hold 3-4 people, each participant should count on spending US$80-110 for vehicle rental.
We will stay at Hotel Pasabien, near Teculutan. Reservations will be made based on your request of double or single room in the pre-inscription form. The price of accommodation in this hotel is US$30 per person (based on double occupancy). We are currently trying to negotiate a better price through the Ministry of Mining. We will keep you posted.
We will stay in the town of Salamá. This town is small and has a few basic hotels. Accommodation will be paid for through our IGCP funds. You will be assigned a hotel and a room once we pre-pay the hotels in late November.
We will stay at the small town of Pachalum. There are only 2 hotels there. We will pre-pay all rooms in these small hotels from IGCP funds. As accommodation is limited, some of you may be accommodated in the town of Granados, an hour drive from Pachalum. You will be assigned a hotel and room in late November.
Sunday, Dec 9th: Mixco Viejo Archaeological Site.
Visit to Mixco Viejo archeological site, 9am. Some of you may not want to participate in this part of the trip, as you may need to be at the airport for your return flights. Therefore we will arrange some of the vehicles to either depart the field area early that day or the night before.
Tuesday December 4th: Carrizal
Visit to Carrizal Grande lawsonite eclogite. We will depart from Hotel Biltmore Express, 15 Calle 0-31, Zona 10, Guatemala City at 8am. Transportation will be by rented bus.
South Motagua mélange and lawsonite-eclogite
Carrizal Grande, Quebrada del Mico
Leaders: Tatsuki Tsujimori, George Harlow, John Cleary
Rugged topography in the Carrizal Grande area.
Quebrada del Mico with blocks of lawsonite eclogite.
Detail of lawsonite-eclogite block.
Blocks of blueschist containing boudins of lawsonite eclogite.
Block of lawsonite-phengite rock.
(The second part of the field trip will be by rented 4WD vehicles. You may will be contacted regarding the cost of transportation).
Departure 7:30am from Hotel Biltmore Express.
Subinal Formation
Road CA9, km77
Leaders: Axel Gutierrez, Uwe Martens
Red beds of the Subinal Formation along highway CA9.
Geomorphology and soil color near the town of Subinal.
Lithified medium-grained sandstone interbedded with very-fine-grained standstones of the Subinal Formation alogn highway CA9.
Outcrop of red beds near the border with Honduras. Some authors have regarded these as part of the Subinal as well.
Cabañas
Juan Pablo Ligorría, Uwe Martens
Las Ovejas complex, South Motagua Mélange
Jinny Sisson & George Harlow
Road from Cabañas to San Diego. Mass wasting along road is common. Outcrop of serpentinite (South Motagua mélange).
Rodingite in serpentinite (South Motagua mélange).
Outcrop of somewhat weathered blueschist, El Tambor complex.
South of the Cabañas fault, abundant granites crop out. Ages of granites are mostly unknown.
Las Ovejas complex
Río Huité, roads Huité
Rafael Torres de León & Luigi Solari
Boudinaged and faulted granite in garnet+staurolite metapelite. Road south of Huité.
Garnet porphyroblast in Ovejas metapelite. Road south of Huité.
Cobbles of staurolite-bearing metapelite in Huite River.
Night in Hotel Pasabien near Teculután
Departure from Hotel Pasabien 8am.
Chuacús complex Pasabién River
Uwe Martens, Jinny Sisson & Mauricio Chiquín
Gorge of the Pasabien River.
Chuacús complex banded gneiss in Pasabien River.
Folded leucosome in biotite+garnet schist, Hondo River.
San Agustin granite with mylonitic shear zone, Teculutan River.
Jones Phyllite, road to Jones.
Stop 8: Jade in Motagua mélange
Pica Pica
George Harlow & group
Large blocks of jadeitite. Presumably as exotic blocks in serpentinites in Pica Pica.
Estancia de al Virgen
George Harlow, Jinny Sisson & group
Stop 10: North Motagua Serpentinite
Road CA-14
George Harlow, Jinny Sisson & group
Serpentinite with rodingite bands along Highway CA14, North Motagua mélange.
Blocks of antigorite schist in foliated matrix of antigorite+lizardite(?), North Motagua mélange.
Bands of pyroxenite in serpentinized peridotite. Highway CA14
Stop 11: Baja Verapaz ultramafic
Quarry Purulhá
Uwe Martens
Night in Salamá
Departure from main plaza of Salamá at 8:00am.
San Gabriel Sequence & Rabinal Granite
Cumbre de Rabinal
Luigi Solari
Undeformed Rabinal granite in Nimacabaj.
Protomylonitic Rabinal granite, near Rabinal.
Intrusion of Silurian Rabinal-like granite (below, pink) in San Gabriel sequence (above, gray, foliated)
Detail of intrusions in San Gabriel sequence.
Stop 13: Chuacús complex in El Chol
El Chol
Uwe Martens & Luigi Solari
Banded gneisses of Chuacús complex with complex folding in El Chol.
Detail of banded gneiss. Thin section reveals relics of eclogite-facies in dark amphibolitic bands.
Banded gneisses with complex folding along creek just outside of El Chol.
Refolding of banded gneiss along creek just outside of El Chol.
Stop 14: Chuacús complex in Agua Caliente
Bridge Agua Caliente
Fernando Ortega-Gutiérrez & Uwe Martens
Lineated gneiss hosting epidosite boudins in Quebrada Honda (Agua Caliente unit). Granite intrusion on upper right.
Block of eclogite and felsic gneiss, Agua Caliente River.
Lineated orthogneiss in Agua Caliente.
Slightly deformed igneous contact between two generations of orthogneisses, Agua Caliente River.
Stop 15: Eclogites and blueschist Belejeyá
Río Belejeyá
George Harlow, Hannes Bruckner, Tatsuki Tsujimori,
Belejeyá River with blocks and cobbles, including eclogite and blueschist.
Detail of eclogite block in Belejeyá River.
Detail of blueschist in Belejeyá River.
Hotels in Pachalum, Granados, El Chol.
Sunday, 9th December: Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo Archaeological Site. Departure from main plaza of Pachalum at 9am.
Leader: Juan Luis Velásquez
Piramides of Mixco Viejo archeological site.
Detail of wall. Blocks used are mostly Chuacús complex gneiss and marble.
We look forward to seeing you in Guatemala in December!
last modified: 01.12.08 12:09 +0100
