The Sierra de Chuacús is situated in the central highlands of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, and runs southeast from

El Quiché EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

Baja Verapaz Baja Verapaz () is a department in Guatemala. In 2018, the population of the department was 299,476. The capital is Salamá. 78.5% of the department’s population identifies as Maya, with 53% belonging to the Achi linguistic group. Baja Verap ...

. Its northwestern border is marked by the

Chixoy River The Chixoy River or Río Chixoy is a river in Guatemala. The river is called Río Negro from its sources in the highlands of Huehuetenango and El Quiché until it reaches the Chixoy hydroelectric dam (located at ), where the Río Salamá and Rio ...

basin in Uspantán, which separates it from the

Sierra de los Cuchumatanes The Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, in western Guatemala, is the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America. Etymology The name "Cuchumatán" is derived from the Mam words ''cuchuj'' (to join or unite) and ''matán'' (with superior forc ...

. Its eastern border is marked by the

Salamá River The Salamá River is a river in Guatemala. It is a tributary of the Chixoy River. The river is fed by a number of streams running down the slopes of the Sierra de las Minas and Sierra de Chuacús and flows in a north-westerly direction through the ...

which separates it from the

Sierra de las Minas Sierra de las Minas is a mountain range in eastern Guatemala which extends 130 km west of the Lake Izabal. It is 15–30 km wide and bordered by the valleys of the Polochic River in the north and the Motagua River in the south. Its we ...

. Its southeastern border is defined by the

Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Riv ...

valley. The main crest of the Sierra the Chuacús is located along the El Quiché and Baja Verapáz border, and extends at an elevation above 2,100 m for more than 50 km. Its highest peak reaches up to 2504 m. Located between the

Motagua Fault The Motagua Fault (also, Motagua Fault Zone) is a major, active fault, active left lateral-moving transform fault which cuts across Guatemala. It forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate. It i ...

and the

Chixoy-Polochic Fault The Chixoy-Polochic Fault, also known as Cuilco-Chixoy-Polochic Fault, is a major fault zone in Guatemala and southeast Mexico. It runs in a light arc from the east coast of Guatemala to Chiapas, following the deep valleys of the Polochic River, ...

, the Chuacús mountains were formed by complex tectonic and geological processes that started in the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

References

See also