Neogene-Quaternary tectonics along the North Caribbean transform fault, Cuba (original) (raw)
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Tectonophysics, 2005
In this study, we address the late Miocene to Recent tectonic evolution of the North Caribbean (Oriente) Transform Wrench Corridor in the southern Sierra Maestra mountain range, SE Cuba. The region has been affected by historical earthquakes and shows many features of brittle deformation in late Miocene to Pleistocene reef and other shallow water deposits as well as in pre-Neogene, late Cretaceous to Eocene basement rocks. These late Miocene to Quaternary rocks are faulted, fractured, and contain calcite-and karst-filled extension gashes. Type and orientation of the principal normal palaeostress vary along strike in accordance with observations of large-scale submarine structures at the south-eastern Cuban margin. Initial N-S extension is correlated with a transtensional regime associated with the fault, later reactivated by sinistral and/or dextral shear, mainly along E-W-oriented strike-slip faults. Sinistral shear predominated and recorded similar kinematics as historical earthquakes in the Santiago region. We correlate palaeostress changes with the kinematic evolution along the boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. Three different tectonic regimes were distinguished for the Oriente transform wrench corridor (OTWC): compression from late Eocene-Oligocene, transtension from late Oligocene to Miocene (?) (D 1 ), and transpression from Pliocene to Present (D 2 -D 4 ), when this fault became a transform system. Furthermore, present-day structures vary along strike of the Oriente transform wrench corridor (OTWC) on the south-eastern Cuban coast, with dominantly transpressional/ compressional and strike-slip structures in the east and transtension in the west. The focal mechanisms of historical earthquakes are in agreement with the dominant ENE-WSW transpressional structures found on land. D
Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 2008
A structural study was carried out along the southern Sierra Maestra mountain range, SE Cuba. This was aimed to monitor the effects of Paleogene island arc formation and collision due to convergence of the Caribbean and North American plates and subsequent Neogene disruption of the arc by initiation of the North Caribbean Transform Fault. In the Sierra Maestra two different and unrelated volcanic arcs are exposed, one of Cretaceous age (pre-Maastrichtian) and the other of Paleogene age, the latter forming the main expression of the mountain range. The volcanic arcs are overlain by Middle–Upper Eocene siliciclastic, carbonate and terrigenous rocks. Six distinct phases of deformation were recognized in this area (D1–D6). The first phase (D1) is related to the intrusion of a set of extensive subparallel, N-trending subvertical basalt-andesite dikes which record mainly E–W extension and N–S shortening during the Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene. The final stage of collision of eastern Cuba (Caribbean plate) with the Bahamas Platform (North American plate) began in the Middle Eocene and coincided with cessation of magmatism in the Sierra Maestra. Following uplift in the Sierra Maestra, coarse clastic sediments were deposited along the northern edge with clast provenance from the uplifted, southerly located, areas. Between Late Middle Eocene and Early Oligocene, rocks of the Sierra Maestra were deformed by nearly east-west trending folds and north-vergent thrust faults (D2) in an overall antiformal structure. This deformation was linked to a shift in the stress regime of the Caribbean plate from mainly N–S to NE–SW compression. Subsequent shifting in plate motion caused the abandonment of the Nipe-Guacanayabo fault system in the Early Oligocene and initiation of a deformation front to the south where the Oriente fault is now located. Shortening structures within the Sierra Maestra were overprinted in the Oligocene to Early Miocene by widespread extensional structures (D3), represented mainly by normal faults with southward-directed displacement. These faults resulted from a major S-directed detachment system, probably associated with regional isostatic readjustment, and developed in a transtensional regime during initiation of the Oriente fault. During this period, the plate boundary jumped to the Oriente fault. This event was followed by transpressive and transtensive structures (D4–D6) due to further development of the sinistral E-trending Oriente transform wrench corridor (OTWC). These structures are consistent with oblique convergence in a wide zone of mainly left-lateral shear along an E–W-oriented transform fault, during a short period of dextral motion. Our new structural data provide evidence for a Middle Eocene to Early Miocene transition from regional NNE- to NE-directed compression to left-lateral transform deformation along the OTWC in the northern Caribbean realm.
Cenozoic tectonic history of the North America-Caribbean plate boundary zone in western Cuba
Journal of Geophysical Research, 1997
Structural studies of well-dated Jurassic to lower Miocene rocks in western Cuba constrain the sequence of structural events affecting this oblique collisional zone between the late Cretaceous island arc and the Jurassic-Cretaceous North America passive margin in the southeastem Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida. Results of detailed mapping and collection of fault slip data at 34 sites define a regionally consistent, five phase tectonic model for the period from the late Paleocene to the post-early Miocene. During the late Paleocene to the early Eocene, the Cuban island arc collided with the North American passive margin (Bahamas Platform). Northwest-ward overthrusting during the collision defines tectonic phase I. A NNE-SSW compression concurrent with early Eocene left-lateral strike-slip faulting along the Pinar fault zone defines phase II. This result is consistent with structural mapping showing sinistral shear within the 065 ø striking Pinar fault zone. An ENE-WSW to E-W compression defining phase III overprinted phase II faults in the lower Eocene and older rocks. Post-early Miocene normal faulting characterizes phase IV. Inversion of fault slip data indicates two contemporaneous directions of tension of 120 and 170. Strike-slip faults that overprint phase IV normal faults yield a 120 compression (phase V). The direction of compression associated with the arc/continent collision rotates clockwise from NW-SE in the late Paleocene/early Eocene (phase I), to NNE-SSW (phase II) and to ENE-WSW by the middle Eocene (phase III). The rotation in the compression direction occurred because the arc turned toward an oceanic area in the present-day area of central and eastern Cuba. Progressive collision led to complete subduction of the remnant oceanic crust by middle to late Eocene time. Collision between arcs and continents leads to orogenesis and the reorientation of arcs toward a nearby oceanic margin or "free face" [McKenzie, 1972; Burke and Seng6r, 1986]. The Cenozoic collisional history of the Caribbean arc has been proposed as an example of the tectonic escape process. Northwestward movement of the Caribbean plate was opposed by the collision between the Caribbean plate and Bahamas Platform [Malfait and Dinkelman, 1972; Rosencrantz, 1990] (Figure lb) and yielded to Eocene to Recent east-northeastward motion in eastern Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico [Mann et al., 1991, 1995] (Figure la). Transtensional left-lateral strikeslip faults beneath the Yucatan basin and in the Cayman Trough allowed continued clockwise rotation, collision, and eastward motion toward a free face in the Atlantic Ocean. The negative buoyancy of the subducted Jurassic-Cretaceous age Atlantic Ocean lithosphere [Royden, 1993] was probably the driving force for the change in plate convergence direction and continued motion of the Caribbean arc toward the free face to the east
Tectonophysics, 1991
The left-lateral relative motion between the Caribbean and the North American plates has previously been inferred as occurring along a fault zone located north of Hispaniola. East of the northern Dominican Republic, a relatively linear fracture zone {the Septentrional Fault Zone, SFZ) extends into the Puerto Rico subduction zone. Similarly, south of Haiti, the &race of the inactive Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EPGFZ) extends into the Muertos Trench and may represent a major fault along the plate boundary. Between these two major strike-slip fault systems, the central part of Haiti shows a diffuse fracture zone that trends N130. The chronology of deformation involves an initial Paleocene to Eocene suturing of allochthonous terranes, a Late Miocene development of a strong spaced cleavage within the late Paleocene to Late Miocene strata that overlap the terrane suture, and diffuse Pliocene to Pleistocene strike-slip faulting along traces that reactivate the older spaced cleavage planes. During the Pleistocene, basalts ranging in age from 0.4 to 1.3 Ma were extruded in pull-apart basins associated with N130-trending faults (antithetic features of the SFZ) and N30 normal faults (antecedent synthetic features of the SFZ). This event is coeval with the compression recorded at the Muertos-Beata collision front in the southwestern Dominican Republic. The most recent phase of tectonism involves strong uplifts and broad, open folding along NW-striking axes, which is consistent with the regional maximum deformation pattern predicted for E-W left-laterai shear along the North America-Caribbean plate boundary.
Geophysical Journal International, 2002
A new 1-D velocity model along the southern Cuban margin has been determined using local earthquake data, which are the result of the merged Cuban and Jamaican catalogues. Simultaneous inversion using joint-hypocentre determination was applied to solve the coupled hypocentre–velocity model problem. We obtained a seven-layer model with an average Moho interface at 20 km. The average velocity was found to be 7.6 km s−1 on the top of the crust–mantle transition zone and 6.9 km s−1 in the basaltic layer of the crust. The improvement in the earthquake locations allowed us for the first time to use local seismicity to characterize the activity on local faults and the stress regime in the area. For this purpose, 34 earthquake focal mechanisms were determined along the eastern segments of the Oriente Fault. These solutions are consistent with the known left-lateral strike-slip motion along this major structure as well as with the stress regime of two local structures: (1) the Cabo Cruz Basin and (2) the Santiago deformed belt. The first structure is dominated by normal faults with minor strike-slip components and the second by reverse faults. The shallow seismicity in the Cabo Cruz Basin is associated with fault planes trending N55°–58°E and dipping 38°–45° to the north. The Santiago deformed belt, on the other hand, exhibits diverse fault plane orientations. These local structures account for most of the earthquake activity along the southern Cuban margin. Deep seismicity observed in the Santiago deformed belt, supported by focal mechanisms, suggests underthrusting of the Gonave Microplate beneath the Cuban Block in this area. The principal stress orientations obtained from stress inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms suggest a thrust faulting regime along the Southern Cuban margin. We obtained a nearly horizontal σ1 and nearly vertical σ3, which indicates active compressional deformation along the major Oriente transcurrent fault in agreement with the dominant structural trend associated with the Santiago deformed belt.
Journal of Structural Geology, 2009
The deformation history of sedimentary units incorporated in the North Cuban fold and thrust belt in the Paleocene to middle-late Eocene was associated with major shortening between the Caribbean and North American plates. This led to the formation of an intensely deformed tectonic pile comprising from top to bottom of a volcanic arc nappe, a deformed mafic-ultramafic complex with Mesozoic ophiolite components and a serpentinitic mé lange with blocks of sedimentary (the Placetas belt) and metamorphic rocks; and the structurally lower unit composed of folded and thrusted sediments of the southern promontory of the Bahamas platform. In this paper we study the deformation history of sedimentary units incorporated in the North Cuban fold and thrust belt associated with this shortening history. We find that the occurrences of the Placetas sedimentary rocks within the foliated serpentinite mé lange show varying styles and intensity of deformation, and varying number of deformation phases. They form isolated blocks within the serpentinite mé lange and do not represent a coherent nappe underlying the allochtonous mafic-ultramafic complex. The deformation of the Remedios belt, part of the Bahamas platform, underwent a single phase of folding and thrusting, with shortening perpendicular to the plate contact. This folding occurred in the middle to late Eocene and marks the arrest of subduction and arc-continent collision. We find no evidence for a component of strike-slip during collision. The volcanic arc is thrusted upon the mafic-ultramafic complex, and the original forearc ophiolite appears to be shortened. This shortening may attest to a period of subduction erosion. Thrusting of the volcanic arc led to deposition of the Paleocene-lower Eocene Taguasco olistostrome which may date this event. We show that careful analysis of the complexly deformed Cuban fold and thrust belt may allow identification of subduction erosion and subduction accretion episodes. Expanding the analysis carried out in this paper to the scale of the northern Caribbean fold and thrust belt may provide a new and independent geological tool to constrain the geodynamic processes associated with subduction and arc-continent collision along the northern Caribbean margin.
Journal of Structural Geology, 2006
An integrative structural and geochronologic study of the Loma de Cabrera batholith (LCB, Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic) and its country rocks reveals the interplay of deformation, metamorphism and plutonism produced in the Caribbean island-arc during Late Cretaceous oblique convergence. The results emphasize the interference between three contemporaneous strain fields: (1) a northern and southern domains produced by (<95 Ma) arc-perpendicular NE-and SW-vergent folding and thrusting, respectively; (2) arc-parallel sinistral strike-slip shearing along the La Meseta shear zone (LMSZ), active during the 88e74 Ma interval; and (3) the adjacent syn-kinematic emplacement of the LCB (90e74 Ma; 40 Ar/ 39 Ar in hornblende) during sinistral transpressional shearing. Comparison of the structural data with strain models of oblique plate convergence suggest that the LMSZ is a preserved ductile signature of strike-slip partitioning within a sinistral transpressional intra-oceanic subduction zone. In the LCB, microstructural data indicate that the magmatic to high-temperature solid-state deformation initially occurred over a wider band of heterogeneously distributed shear deformation, and was partitioned in narrow bands of mid-to low-temperature deformation connected with the LMSZ during the cooling of the batholith. Field and geochronologic studies also suggest that shortening across the southern domain took place concurrently with sinistral strike-slip movement along the crustal-scale La Guácara and Macutico fault zones, also consistent with a transpressional setting for the Late Cretaceous Caribbean magmatic arc. Shear and fault zones were variably reactivated during Upper Eocene-Oligocene thrusting and Miocene to Recent uplift of the Cordillera Central.
Cuban Geology: A New Plate-Tectonic Synthesis
Journal of Petroleum Geology, 1994
Cuba is considered here to consist of two separate geological units: a foldbelt and a neoautochthon. The foldbelt can be subdivided into: (i) continental units, comprising Mesozoic Bahamian Platform and slope deposits, which are overlain by a Paleocene-Late Eocene foreland basin; and the Cuban SW terranes (Guaniguanico, Pinos and Escambray), which were probably originally attached to the Yucatan Platform; (ii) oceanic units, namely: the northern ophiolite belt; the Cretaceous (?Aptian Campanian) volcanic arc, which is overlain by a series of Latest Cretaceous-Late Eocene "piggy-back" basins; and the Paleocene-Middle Eocene volcanic arc which is overlain by a late-Middle-latest Eocene "piggy-back" basin. The neo-autochthon is composed of slightly-deformed, latest Eocene to Recent sedimentary rocks, which unconformably overlie the folded belt. A large number of tectonic models for the Caribbean area have been published in recent years, but rarely include modern data on the geology of Cuba. The Author here presents a plate-tectonic model for the western Caribbean which is based on the following premises: (i) opening of the Caribbean took place along several parallel rifts-zones, and a main transform fault located between the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico and the Demarara Plateau; (ii) the Cretaceous Greater Antilles volcanic arc faced the ProtoCaribbean Sea, and essentially northward-dipping subduction took place; and (iii) the western Caribbean Paleocene-Middle Eocene volcanic arc also faced the Caribbean Sea, with subduction dipping towards the NNW. Hydrocarbon production in Cuba comes from oilfields located in both continental and oceanic units. The Northern Oil Province coincides with the Bahamian platform and slope deposits and the Guaniguanico Terrain. The Southern Oil Province is represented by the latest Cretaceous-late Eocene sedimentary basins and the Cretaceous volcanic arc.
Marine Geophysical Researches, 1995
Marine geophysical data including Seabeam, seismic reflection, magnetics, gravimetry and side-scan sonar have been recently collected along the northern Caribbean strike-slip plate boundary between Cuba and Hispaniola, in the Windward Passage area. The analysis of this comprehensive data set allows us to illustrate active strike-slip tectonic processes in relation to the kinematics of the Caribbean Plate. We show that the transcurrent plate boundary trace runs straight across the Windward Passage, from the southern Cuban Margin in the west (Oriente Fault) to the Tortue Channel in the east. The Windward Passage Deep is thus not an active pull-apart basin, as previously suggested. The plate boundary geometry implies that the motion of the Caribbean Plate relative to the North American Plate is partitioned between a strike-slip component, accommodated by the Windward Passage active fault zone, and a convergence component, accommodated by compression at the bottom of the Northern Hispaniola Margin. On the basis of a correlation with onland geological data, an age is given to the stratigraphic sequences identified on seismic profiles. A kinematic reconstruction is proposed that follows the tectonic unconformities recognized at sea and on land (Late Eocene, Early Miocene, Middle Miocene and Late Pliocene). Each one of these tectonic events corresponds to a drastic reorganization of the plate boundary geometry. We propose to correlate these events with successive collisions of the northern Caribbean mobile terranes against the Bahamas Bank. During each event, the plate boundary trace is shifted to the south and a part of the Caribbean Plate is accreted to North America.