Transition from the Farallon Plate subduction to the collision between South and Central America: Geological evolution of the Panama Isthmus

Barat, F.; Lépinay, Bernard Mercier de; Sosson, Marc; Müller, Carla; Baumgartner, Peter O.; Baumgartner‐Mora, Claudia

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2014.03.008

Cited by 45 publications

(106 citation statements)

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“…It is made of the following oceanic assemblages (Figure 2b) gartner et al, 2008;Flores et al, 2015) or Siuna Terrane (Rogers, Mann, & Emmet, 2007) corresponds to a vast composite terrane displaying blocks of oceanic remnants enclosed in a serpentinite matrix. The western edge of the CLIP constitutes most of the land bridge encompassing southern Costa Rica and Panama (Buchs et al, 2010;Wegner, W€ orner, Harmon, & Jicha, 2011;Montes et al, 2012;Barat et al, 2014;Figure 2a, b). The MCOT was accreted to the southern margin of the Chortis Block (continental terranes; Rogers et al, 2007) during an earliest Cretaceous arcarc collision Flores, 2009;Flores et al, 2015).…”

Section: Mesozoic-early Cenozoic Terranes Of Costa Ricamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

2018

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The collision of bathymetric features with modern convergent margins has been investigated with the full range of tools used in geosciences. Hence, a comprehensive picture exists of the characteristic effects of collision events on the evolution of convergent margins. In contrast, much less studies documented past collisions of bathymetric features with convergent margins, as colliding features were generally lost to subduction. The arc-trench system of southern Central America provides modern and past textbook examples of active margin interaction with incoming bathymetric reliefs. Here, we propose a synthesis which combines basin and terrane analysis of the forearc of northern Costa Rica and takes up the challenge of documenting past episodes of plateau accretion to the active margin. As illustrated in modern examples, our study shows that kilometric uplift of the overriding plate and termination of the volcanic arc activity are the most profound effects of colliding/accreting oceanic plateaus. Kilometric uplift of the forearc is documented by short-lived (ca. 3 m.y.) occurrences of shallow-water deposits in an overall deep-water forearc record. These shallow deposits contain material reworked from underlying sedimentary and basement lithologies. The development of spatial gaps in arc volcanism is deduced from the transition from arcderived turbidites to pelagic sediments. Eventually, end of the collision event is evidenced by the subsidence of the whole forearc to deep-water environments.Basin subsidence is accompanied or followed by renewed volcanic arc activity and coeval arc-derived sedimentation, which may occur 1-7 m.y. after plateau collision. These past episodes of plateau accretion are archetypal for the following reasons: (a) they may be studied in outcrop, whereas most of the modern collisions of plateaus largely occur underwater; (b) no tectonic or metamorphic imprint has significantly complicated the forearc geological record; (c) the colliding feature and the sedimentary response to its collision are both preserved in the forearc geology; (d) they may be used as analogues for any setting where a bathymetric feature is suspected to have caused rapid forearc uplift and cessation of the volcanic arc activity.---

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Section: Mesozoic-early Cenozoic Terranes Of Costa Ricamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

2018

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“…The igneous basement rocks are unconformably overlain by Eocene to Miocene shallow‐ and deep‐water volcaniclastic rocks and shallow‐water marine limestones (Barat et al, ; Kolarsky, Mann , & Monechi, ; H. Krawinkel, Wozazek, Krawinkel, & Hellmann, ). Oblique collision between Panama and South America had probably started already at the end of the Middle Eocene ( ca 40–38 Ma), which is indicated by the sudden appearance of transtensive and rotational deformation in the Panama Canal area, leading to the development of local extensional basins (Barat et al, ). Subsequently volcanism of adakitic composition was initiated in central Panama at around 29 Ma, which could be linked to slab tearing during break‐up of the Farallón Plate (Barat et al, ).…”

Section: Tectonic Structure and Terrane Concept Of Southern Central Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Continued plate convergence was possibily accommodated by movements along the Panama fracture zone and in the North Panama deformed belt (Mann & Kolarsky, ). The collision of the southern Central American island arc with South America led to widespread uplift at around 7 Ma (Barat et al, ) and a progressive closure of the Isthmus of Panama (Coates, Collins, Aubry, & Berggren, ; Hoernle et al, ; Montes et al, ). According to Montes et al (, ) the Central American seaway probably disappeared at around 15–13 Ma.…”

Section: Tectonic Structure and Terrane Concept Of Southern Central Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along the South Costa Rican and West Panamanian arc segments seamount accretion/subduction during the Eocene probably caused strong uplift and regional deformation (Buchs et al, ; Hauff et al, ; H. Krawinkel et al, ; Seyfried et al, ). The onset of oblique collision between Panama and South America at the end of the Middle Eocene led to transtensive and rotational deformation in central Panama and probably caused the formation of the structural Chocó and Chorotega blocks, which rotated in different orientations (Barat et al, ).…”

Section: Basin Systems Of the Southern Central American Island Arcmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Miocene unconformity in the forearc basins is probably a composite result of (i) low‐angle subduction of young oceanic lithosphere with rough relief on the downgoing slab; (ii) the accretion of seamounts and aseismic ridges (e.g. Buchs et al, ; De Boer et al, ; Hauff et al, ; H. Krawinkel et al, ), probably related to the break‐up of the Farallón Plate at around 25 Ma and a related major change in plate vectors; and (iii) the onset of compressional deformation at around 25–23 Ma related to the completed oblique collision of Panama with South America between (Barat et al, ; Bowland, ; Farris et al, ; Winsemann, ).…”

Section: Basin Systems Of the Southern Central American Island Arcmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From incipient island arc to doubly‐vergent orogen: A review of geodynamic models and sedimentary basin‐fills of southern Central America

Brandes

Winsemann

2018

Island Arc

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Southern Central America is a Late Mesozoic/Cenozoic island arc that evolved in response to the subduction of the Farallón Plate beneath the Caribbean Plate in the Late Cretaceous and, from the Oligocene, the Cocos and Nazca Plates. Southern Central America is one of the best studied convergent margins in the world. The aim of this paper is to review the sedimentary and structural evolution of arc‐related sedimentary basins in southern Central America, and to show how the arc developed from a pre‐extensional intra‐oceanic island arc into a doubly‐vergent, subduction orogen. The Cenozoic sedimentary history of southern Central America is placed into the plate tectonic context of existing Caribbean Plate models. From regional basin analysis, the evolution of the southern Central American island arc is subdivided into three phases: (i) non‐extensional stage during the Campanian; (ii) extensional phase during the Maastrichtian‐Oligocene with rapid basin subsidence and deposition of arc‐related, clastic sediments; and (iii) doubly‐vergent, compressional arc phase along the 280 km long southern Costa Rican arc segment related to either oblique subduction of the Nazca plate, west‐to‐east passage of the Nazca–Cocos–Caribbean triple junction, or the subduction of rough oceanic crust of the Cocos Plate. The Pleistocene subduction of the Cocos Ridge contributed to the contraction but was not the primary driver. The architecture of the arc‐related sedimentary basin‐fills has been controlled by four factors: (i) subsidence caused by tectonic mechanisms, linked to the angle and morphology of the incoming plate, as shown by the fact that subduction of aseismic ridges and slab segments with rough crust were important drivers for subduction erosion, controlling the shape of forearc and trench‐slope basins, the lifespan of sedimentary basins, and the subsidence and uplift patterns; (ii) subsidence caused by slab rollback and resulting trench retreat; (iii) eustatic sea‐level changes; and (iv) sediment dispersal systems.

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Exhumation of the Panama basement complex and basins: Implications for the closure of the Central American seaway

Ramírez

Foster

Min

et al. 2016

Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.

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The emergence of the Central American isthmus occurred episodically from Eocene to Pliocene time and was caused by a series of tectonic and volcanic processes. Results from zircon U‐Pb geochronology, zircon (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) and apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe) thermochronology, and zircon Lu‐Hf isotopic data from sedimentary (sandstones and recent river sands) and plutonic rocks from the Azuero Peninsula and Central Panama document the exhumation and uplift history of the Panamanian basement complex. Our data support previous paleobotanical and thermochronological studies that suggest that by middle Eocene time some areas of Central Panama and Azuero Peninsula were exposed above sea level as a series of islands surrounded by shallow open marine waters. The Gatuncillo, Cobachón and Tonosí formations were deposited during this partial emergence. Transtension in the Oligocene‐early Miocene produced various pull‐apart basins (e.g., the Canal Basin) and local uplift that exhumed the Eocene strata (Gatuncillo and Cobachón formations). This event probably reduced circulation between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The Tonosí Formation records late Miocene to Pleistocene cooling and exhumation, which may be related to uplift above the subducting Coiba Ridge. These results suggest that the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama followed a series of diachronous events that led to the final closure of the Central American seaway.

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Transition from the Farallon Plate subduction to the collision between South and Central America: Geological evolution of the Panama Isthmus

Cited by 45 publications

References 51 publications

Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

From incipient island arc to doubly‐vergent orogen: A review of geodynamic models and sedimentary basin‐fills of southern Central America

Exhumation of the Panama basement complex and basins: Implications for the closure of the Central American seaway

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