The geologic history of the Caribbean-Cocos plate boundary with special reference to the Nicoya ophiolite complex (Costa Rica) and D.S.D.P. results (Legs 67 and 84 off Guatemala): A synthesis

Campanian-Maastrichtian limestone with larger foraminifera from peña Bruja Rock (Santa Elena Peninsula)

“…Probably, the microfacies is similar to the one described by Burgois et al (1984) from isolated hills located inshore, near Playa Naranjo (Southern Santa Elena Peninsula). …”

“…In the east part of the area (Fig. 1), the peridotites are directly overlain by El Viejo Limestone, composed by Cretaceous rudists, nerineas and corals (Schmidt-Effing, 1974;Burgois et al, 1984), and calcareous mudstone that overlay El Viejo (Burgois et al, 1984).…”

“…The northern part of the Santa Elena Peninsula is composed by Upper Cretaceous pelagic limestones, followed by Paleogene turbiditic sediments (Baumgartner et al, 1984). Upper Miocene-Pliocene ignimbrites unconformably overlie the sedimentary and igneous Cretaceous-Paleogene rocks.…”

The Costa Rican Jurassic to Miocene oceanic complexes: Origin, tectonics and relations

“…Tholeiitic Albian basalts of the Murciélago Islands do not have a clear geological relationship to the other units of Santa Elena, but they do show a geochemical signature affinity to the Santa Elena Nappe (Tournon, 1984;Hauff et al, 2000;Gazel et al, 2006). Originally, the Santa Elena Peninsula ultramafics were considered part of an ophiolitic suite and/or related to the Nicoya Complex (Dengo, 1962b;Azéma and Tournon, 1980;Kuijpers, 1980;Azéma et al, 1982;Baumgartner et al, 1984;Burgois et al, 1984). However, more recent geochemical analyses made by Beccaluva et al (1999) and Hauff et al (2000) suggest that Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex samples do not correspond to the Galapagos mantle plume signature.…”

Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica: A single suite of Caribbean oceanic plateau magmas

“…In general, previous authors have subdivided the Nicoya Peninsula igneous rocks into two general units, termed the Matapalo and Esperanza units by Kuijpers [1980] and Bourgois et al [1984]. This division was originally based on fossil age and field observations [Schrnidt-Effing, 1979; Baurngartner et al, 1984], although no contact between the two units was defined [Kuijpers, 1980].…”