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This volume presents an integrated set of seven chapters on the geological, geophysical, and seismological evolution of the plate boundaries bounding the Chortis block of northern Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) and southern Mexico. Topics covered include: GPS, geologic, and geophysical data to document eastward translation of the Caribbean plate and its internal deformation in northern Central America; geologic and regional aeromagnetic data to propose a new subdivision of the structurally complex Chortis block into tectonic terranes; results of field-based mapping studies that document the internal structure of the terranes making up the Chortis block; and a field-based petrologic study of ignimbrites and tephras derived from the Central American volcanic arc in northwestern Central America. Integration of these data on active and ancient tectonics of the Chortis block provide important new constraints on the origin and evolution of the tectonically active margins of the northwestern Caribbean plate.