Collisional zones in Puerto Rico and the northern Caribbean

Laó‐Dávila, Daniel A.

doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2014.04.009

Cited by 15 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…The PRVI 25° counterclockwise rotation is taken from Reid et al (). All of the paleogeographic maps are shown relative to a fixed North America (simplified from Pindell & Kennan, , and Lao‐Davila, ). GAC stands for the Great Arc of the Caribbean and LA stands for the Lesser Antilles arc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trench Bending Initiation: Upper Plate Strain Pattern and Volcanism. Insights From the Lesser Antilles Arc, St. Barthelemy Island, French West Indies

et al. 2018

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The upper plate deformation pattern reflects the mechanical behavior of subduction zones. Here we focus on the consequences of the entrance of a buoyant bank into the Caribbean subduction zone during the Eocene by studying the oldest exposed rocks belonging to the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. Using a novel geochronological data set, we show that the volcanic arc activity on the island of St. Barthelemy spanned over the mid‐Eocene to early Miocene with a westward migration of the tectono‐volcanic activity, which is comparable to what has already been observed on other volcanic islands in the Lesser Antilles. The kinematics analysis allows us to identify a switch in the stress field from pure to radial extension at the Oligo‐Miocene hinge with a subhorizontal σ3 that has a mean trend of N20°. A three‐step restoration of the regional deformation indicates that this switch from pure parallel‐to‐the‐trench extension to radial extension may reflect a strain partitioning initiation affecting the upper Caribbean Plate in response to trench bending that followed the entrance of the Bahamas Bank into the subduction zone. We show that the northern end of the Lesser Antilles arc shows a tectono‐volcanic evolution which is similar to the southern one. The north‐south dichotomy in the perpendicular‐to‐the‐trench extension, 15% in the north versus 30% in the south, may reflect different slab ends that are highly curved to the north (restraining the extension in the upper plate) versus a tear to the south (allowing a larger amount of extension within the upper plate).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trench Bending Initiation: Upper Plate Strain Pattern and Volcanism. Insights From the Lesser Antilles Arc, St. Barthelemy Island, French West Indies

et al. 2018

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“…Volcanic rocks of PIA/IAT affi nity are not exposed in western Puerto Rico. The oldest exposed rocks are part of the Bermeja complex (Mattson, 1960;Mattson and Pessagno, 1979;Schellekens, 1998aSchellekens, , 1998bMarchesi et al, 2011;Lao-Davila, 2014;Lao-Davila and Anderson, 2009;Lao-Davila et al, 2012). This complex consists of allochthonous serpentinized peridotites that were emplaced onto a sequence of Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous (Santonian) pelagic chert (Marquita Chert).…”

Section: Cubamentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the Caribbean plate and origin of the Gulf of Mexico in light of plate motions accommodated by strike-slip faulting

Lidiak¹,

Anderson²

Geological Society of America Special Papers

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Restoration of plate consumption recorded by Caribbean arc volcanism reveals probable plate movements that led to the emplacement of the proto-Caribbean plate into the present Caribbean region and provided the space necessary to accommodate the rotation of the Yucatán Peninsula concurrent with the opening of the Gulf of Mexico between ca. 170 Ma and 150 Ma. Fault movement of the Yucatán, caused by edge-driven processes, resulted in counterclockwise rotation, as shown by paleomagnetic studies. Restoration of Yucatán rotation necessitates the presence of a paleogeography different from the current distribution of the Greater and Lesser Antilles. During emplacement of the Caribbean plate region, four magmatic belts with distinct ages and different geochemical characteristics are recorded by exposures on islands of the Antilles. The belts distinguish the following segments of Cretaceous and Tertiary magmatic arcs: (1) an Early Cretaceous geochemically primitive islandarc tholeiite suite (PIA/IAT) typically containing distinctive dacite and rhyodacite that formed between Hauterivian and early Albian time (ca. 135-110 Ma); (2) after a hiatus at ca. 105 Ma of ~10 m.y., a voluminous, more-extensive calc-alkaline magmatic suite, consisting mainly of basaltic andesite, andesite, and locally important dacite, developed beginning in the Cenomanian and continuing into the Campanian (ca. 95-70 Ma); (3) a second (calc-alkaline) suite, spatially restricted relative to the older belts, that consists of volcanic and intrusive rocks, which formed between the early Paleocene and the middle Eocene (ca. 60-45 Ma); and (4) a currently active calc-alkaline suite in the Lesser Antilles typically composed of a basalt-andesitedacite series that began to develop in the Eocene (ca. 45 Ma). Plate convergence took place along northeastward-or eastward-trending axes during the formation of the Caribbean, which is outlined by the Antillean islands and Central and South America. Movements were facilitated by strike-slip faults, commonly trench-trench transforms, as subducting crust was consumed. Restoration of apparent displacements of at least several hundreds of thousands of kilometers along the inferred lateral faults of the Eocene and younger Cayman set separating Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the Oriente Province of southeastern Cuba brings together Eocene volcanic rocks revealing a magmatic domain along the paleo-south-southwestern Lidiak, E.G., and Anderson, T.H., Evolution of the Caribbean plate and origin of the Gulf of Mexico in light of plate motions accommodated by strike-slip faulting, in

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“…This might be the result of multiple subduction and collision events, with its history starting at c . 195 Ma (Schellekens, 1998 a, b ; Smith & Schellekens 1998; Laó-Dávila, 2014) (Fig. 1a).…”

Section: General Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Meanwhile, Jolly et al (1998) suggested that the peridotites might be emplaced into the overlying island-arc complex during a slow upwelling that took place during Maastrichtian time and was associated with a crustal extension induced by strike-slip fault movement. Furthermore, Lidiak, Jolly & Dickin (2011) and Laó-Dávila (2014) suggested that the peridotites might be a lithospheric mantle formed in the back-arc region. Based on spatial relations between the pelagic cherts and amphibolites, Schellekens (1998 a, b ) suggested that the amphibolites likely represent part of a transform fault on the ocean floor on which the pelagic cherts have been deposited, or the obducted part of a seamount on the ocean floor that was subducted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peridotites and basaltic rocks within an ophiolitic mélange from the SW igneous province of Puerto Rico: relation to the evolution of the Caribbean Plate

Franqui

Choi

Lee³

2016

Geol. Mag.

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The geology of Puerto Rico is divided into three regions: the north, central and SW igneous provinces. Characterized by its Jurassic ophiolitic mélange basement, lithology of the SW Igneous Province (SIP) is not related to either of the other two provinces. The ophiolitic mélange is exposed in three peridotite belts: Monte del Estado, Rio Guanajibo and Sierra Bermeja. We present geochemical data to identify the tectonic setting of the SIP peridotite formation and its relation to the evolution of the Caribbean Plate. Comparisons of spinel Cr no. (13–21), Mg no. (63.3–69.6) and TiO2suggest an abyssal peridotite origin; however, only Sierra Bermeja presents high TiO2characteristics of a mid-ocean-ridge-basalt- (MORB-) like melt reaction. Temperatures determined with two-pyroxene geothermometers indicated a cold thermal regime ofc. 800–1050°C, with characteristics of large-offset transform fault abyssal peridotites. The geochemistry and Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic compositions of basalts within the mélange were also analysed. Las Palmas amphibolites exhibited normal-MORB-like rare earth element (REE) and trace-element patterns, whereas metabasalts and Lower Cajul basalts exhibited island-arc tholeiitic-like patterns. Highly radiogenic Sr isotopes (0.70339–0.70562) of the basalts suggest seawater alteration; however, Pb–Pb and Nd–Hf isotope correlations represent the primary compositions of a Pacific/Atlantic MORB source for the amphibolites, metabasalts and Lower Cajul basalts. We propose that the SIP ophiolitic mélange was formed along a large-offset transform fault, which initiated subduction and preserved both proto-Pacific and proto-Caribbean lithospheric mantle. Younger Upper Cajul basalts exhibited enriched-MORB-like geochemical and isotopic signatures, which can be attributed to a tectonized Caribbean ocean plateau.

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Collisional zones in Puerto Rico and the northern Caribbean

Cited by 15 publications

References 104 publications

Trench Bending Initiation: Upper Plate Strain Pattern and Volcanism. Insights From the Lesser Antilles Arc, St. Barthelemy Island, French West Indies

Trench Bending Initiation: Upper Plate Strain Pattern and Volcanism. Insights From the Lesser Antilles Arc, St. Barthelemy Island, French West Indies

Evolution of the Caribbean plate and origin of the Gulf of Mexico in light of plate motions accommodated by strike-slip faulting

Peridotites and basaltic rocks within an ophiolitic mélange from the SW igneous province of Puerto Rico: relation to the evolution of the Caribbean Plate

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