For many years, my interest in finding caves took me to remote nooks and crannies of Western Mexico. While traveling through the backwoods, we would again and again come upon natural wonders known only to local ranchers.
I began to write about these discoveries in the Reporter and eventually published three books describing 90 attractive outdoor sites reachable from Guadalajara.
I drew a circle 500 kilometers in diameter with Guadalajara in the center. Inside, I found boundless biodiversity and geodiversity, so I named it the “Magic Circle.”
A map of the great ecosystems of Mexico revealed that my Magic Circle just happened to be located where five major ecosystems converge, meaning that a resident of Guadalajara could drive off into a different ecosystem every day of the week.
Finally, I learned of yet another factor contributing to the diversity of the Magic Circle. “You have to take into consideration a tectonic micro-plate to explain all that diversity,” an informed geography student told me.
The Twisting Plate
The Rivera Plate is located underneath Puerto Vallarta, lifting up and somewhat twisting the American Plate on which we live.
One result is earthquakes. On the other hand, the torsion has produced faults that cut right across the Magic Circle, producing dramatic deep canyons along with plenty of volcanoes and hot springs.
Below you will find just one example of each of these features caused by the Rivera Plate.
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