Seismotectonics of Jamaica

Wiggins-Grandison, Margaret D.; Atakan, Kuvvet

doi:10.1111/j.1365-246x.2004.02471.x

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Castillo & Ellsworth 1993). Focal mechanisms reveal an island dominated by east -west-directed, left-lateral shear with a lesser north -south convergent component (Wiggins-Grandison 2003;Wiggins-Grandison & Atakan 2005). These focal mechanisms are in excellent agreement with our new GPS velocity field and roughly east -west-trending fold axes that affect the Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphic section on the island (e.g.…”

Section: Historic and Modern Seismicity Of Jamaicasupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Evolution of the restrainingbend faults in Jamaica has important implications for the assessment of seismic risk on this rugged, 10 991 km 2 island with a population of 2.6 million and a long historical record of destructive earthquakes and tsunamis (Wiggins-Grandison & Atakan 2005). An understanding of the present-day stage of restraining-bend development in Jamaica would improve our conceptual basis for understanding those Jamaican faults that might be the source of future large earthquakes.…”

Section: Tectonic Origin Of Restraining Bendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…EPGFZ: Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone; FHQFZ: Fat Hog Quarters fault zone. evolution of the Jamaican restraining bend and on the control of present-day earthquakes (Wiggins-Grandison & Atakan 2005).…”

Section: Implications For Seismic Hazard Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward a better understanding of the Late Neogene strike-slip restraining bend in Jamaica: geodetic, geological, and seismic constraints

Mann

DeMets

Wiggins-Grandison

2007

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We describe the regional fault pattern, geological setting and active fault kinematics of Jamaica, from published geological maps, earthquakes and GPS-based geodesy, to support a simple tectonic model for both the initial stage of restraining-bend formation and the subsequent stage of bend bypassing. Restraining-bend formation and widespread uplift in Jamaica began in the Late Miocene, and were probably controlled by the interaction of roughly east-west-trending strike-slip faults with two NNW-trending rifts oriented obliquely to the direction of ENE-trending, Late Neogene interplate shear. The interaction of the interplate strike-slip fault system (Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone) and the oblique rifts has shifted the strike-slip fault trace c. 50 km to the north and created the 150-km-long by 80-km-wide restraining bend that is now morphologically expressed as the island of Jamaica. Recorded earthquakes and recent GPS results from Jamaica illustrate continued bend evolution during the most recent phase of strike-slip displacement, at a minimum GPS-measured rate of 8 + 1 mm/a. GPS results show a gradient in leftlateral interplate strain from north to south, probably extending south of the island, and a likely gradient along a ENE-WSW cross-island profile. The observed GPS velocity field suggests that left-lateral shear continues to be transmitted across the Jamaican restraining bend by a series of intervening bend structures, including the Blue Mountain uplift of eastern Jamaica.

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Section: Historic and Modern Seismicity Of Jamaicasupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Tectonic Origin Of Restraining Bendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward a better understanding of the Late Neogene strike-slip restraining bend in Jamaica: geodetic, geological, and seismic constraints

Mann

DeMets

Wiggins-Grandison

2007

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“…The Gonave‐Caribbean boundary is defined by the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EPGFZ) in the east and the Walton Fault Zone (WFZ) in the west (Figure ; Horsfield, ; Mann et al, ). Seismicity is greatest in the east where the EPGFZ (DeMets & Wiggins‐Grandison, ; Salazar et al, ; Wiggins‐Grandison, ; Wiggins‐Grandison & Atakan, ) manifests as a broad and tectonically complex flower structure (Figure ; Mann et al, ; Mann et al, ; James‐Williamson et al, ). Fault zone deformation mainly includes thrusting and folding within several thrust mountains in eastern Jamaica (e.g., the Wagwater, Dallas, Long, and Blue Mountains) and sinistral motion along the Plantain Garden and Cavaliers faults, which define the main plate boundary (i.e., the EPGF; Figure ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neotectonics of Southeast Jamaica Derived From Marine Seismic Surveys and Gravity Cores

et al. 2019

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Tectonics in Southeast Jamaica is poorly understood, but the region may contain currently unknown faults that could generate large‐magnitude earthquakes. This study constrains tectonics in Southeast Jamaica by collecting and analyzing seismic and shallow sediment core data in and around Kingston Harbor. Seismic results reveal a previously unrecognized strike‐slip fault system that accommodates strain via a complex mix of compression and extension. The faults appear to be a blind extension of one major fault (i.e., The Bull Bay Strike‐Slip Fault) within the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden Fault Zone. This fault system may represent significant hazards to Kingston Jamaica because the fault is active, located less than 5 km from the city, and a complete rupture of the fault could generate a Mw 5.8–6.9 earthquake. Our analyses highlight the need for continued paleoseismic studies, both onshore and offshore Jamaica.

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“… (a) Major faults of Jamaica modified from Wiggins‐Grandison & Atakan (2005) and Benford et al (In preparation, 2012b). Long‐dashed line shows assumed offshore continuation of the Aeolus Valley fault.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seismic hazard along the southern boundary of the Gônave microplate: block modelling of GPS velocities from Jamaica and nearby islands, northern Caribbean

Benford¹,

DeMets²,

Tikoff³

et al. 2012

Geophysical Journal International

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SUMMARY We use block modelling of GPS site velocities from Jamaica and nearby islands, including Hispaniola, to test alternative plate boundary geometries for deformation in Jamaica and estimate slip rates along the island's major fault zones. Relative to the Caribbean Plate, GPS sites in northern Jamaica move 6.0 ± 0.5 mm yr−1 to the WSW, constituting a lower bound on the motion of the Gônave microplate across its southern boundary in Jamaica. Obliquely convergent motion of all 30 GPS sites on and near Jamaica relative to the island's ∼E–W‐trending strike‐slip faults may be partitioned into 2.6 ± 0.6 mm yr−1 of ∼N–S shortening across submarine faults south of Jamaica and 5–6 mm yr−1 of E–W motion. Guided by geological and seismic information about the strikes and locations of faults in Jamaica, inverse block modelling of the regional GPS velocities rejects plate boundary configurations that presume either a narrow plate boundary in Jamaica or deformation concentrated across a restraining bend defined by the topographically high Blue Mountains of eastern Jamaica. The best‐fitting models instead place most deformation on faults in central Jamaica. The 4–5 mm yr−1 slip rate we estimate for the Plantain Garden fault and Blue Mountain restraining bend of southeastern Jamaica implies significant seismic hazard for the nearby capital of Kingston.

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Seismotectonics of Jamaica

Cited by 16 publications

References 19 publications

Toward a better understanding of the Late Neogene strike-slip restraining bend in Jamaica: geodetic, geological, and seismic constraints

Toward a better understanding of the Late Neogene strike-slip restraining bend in Jamaica: geodetic, geological, and seismic constraints

Neotectonics of Southeast Jamaica Derived From Marine Seismic Surveys and Gravity Cores

Seismic hazard along the southern boundary of the Gônave microplate: block modelling of GPS velocities from Jamaica and nearby islands, northern Caribbean

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