130715A Pulliam CaribbeanTectonics

8/14/2019 130715A Pulliam CaribbeanTectonics

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Regional Tectonics

and Seismcity of thNortheast Caribbea

Jay Pulliam

Baylor University


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Overview of Tectonic Features and Issues

NE Caribbean contains all elements of platetectonics: subduction, spreading center, transformfaults

There has been disagreement regarding the origin of

the Caribbean Plate. Most now agree that thecentral core of the Caribbean formed in the Pacificand migrated eastward.

Northern Caribbean and Southern Caribbean havedifferent features.


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Tectonic Features in NE Caribbean

Impediments to eastward propagation

Consequences:

Big Bend of the NE Caribbean

Subduction to strike-slip transition

Strain partitioning between faults of different types Capture of Cuba by North American plate

Puerto Rico Trench

Muertos Trough

Micro-plates? Rotation of micro-plate(s)?

Tearing of subducting lithosphere?


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Caribbean Crustal Provinces


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Countries of the Caribbean


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Yucatan

Campeche Shelf

Chortis Block

Maya

Venezuela basin

Puerto Rico Trench

Aves

RidgeColombia Basin

Cocos PlateGuyana Shield

NorthAmericanPlate

Yucatan Basin

BATHYMETRY


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Some tectonic features

Caymanspreading center

Oriente Ft

Muertos Trough

PR Trench


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Geological provinces of the

Caribbean/Central American Region

Fig 1.1B from: Draper et al, 1994 in Donovan & Jackson Caribbean Geology - AnIntroduction. Simplified after Case and Dengo, 1990.

Lesser Antilles

Fig 1.1B from: Draper et al, 1994 in Donovan & Jackson Caribbean Geology - An Introduction. Simplified after Case and Dengo, 1990.


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Barbados Ridge





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Venezuelan Basin &

Colombia Basin





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Greater Antilles Orogenic Belt: Puerto

Rico, Hispaniola, Oriente Province Cuba.





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Beata Ridge & Aves Ridge





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Cayman Trough





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Gulf of Mexico





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Cuba





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Nicaraguan Rise &

Jamaica





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Chortis Block





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Chorotega Block





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Choco Block





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Colombian Andes





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Yucatan Block





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Yucatan Basin





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Bahama Platform





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Venezuelan Borderland




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From Pindell and Kennan, Geological Society, London, 2009; v. 328; p. 1-55

Tectonic Map of the



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NUVEL Plate Velocities


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Plate Reconstruction Paleomagnetism:

the magnetic inclination and declinationfrozen in the rock when and where itformed, give a paleo longitude andlatitude, in fact a paleo pole.

Relative strike-slip motion: Measuring pull-apart basins and spreading rates

Radiolarian stratigraphy: Radiolarian are one celled organisms that

create a silica shell

Their fossils, preserved in cherts, aregood for age dating and paleoenvironments.

Terrane analysis: Stitching plutons

Parallel stratigraphic sequences

Relative plate motion studies:

Magnetic anomalies (matching polepositions

Fracture zone traces


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Starting Point:

Reconstruction of pre-Mesozoic (> 252 Ma)

continental fragmentsbefore Permo-Triassictime, with the AtlanticOcean closed.

(from Pindell and Dewey, 1982)


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~174-201 Ma


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~163-174 Ma


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~157-166 Ma


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~145-152 Ma


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~113-145 Ma


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(Govers and Wortel, 2005)

Global Context: Similar regions around the worldCurved, D-shaped subduction zones

Termination of subduction trenches and start of transform fault

Geometric consequencese.g., subduction-transform edge propagator faults tear the lithosphere


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Figure from Paul Mann, pers. comm.


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San Juan

Figure from Mann et al., 2002


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Present Day

00.0 Ma

Plat animation by Paul Mann and Lisa Gahagen, UTIG Plates Project


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Late Oligocene

24.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

23.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

23.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

22.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

22.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

21.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

21.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

20.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

20.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

19.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

19.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

18.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

18.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

17.5 Ma


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Early Miocene

17.0 Ma


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Early Miocene

16.5 Ma


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Middle Miocene

16.0 Ma


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Middle Miocene

15.5 Ma


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Middle Miocene

15.0 Ma


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Middle Miocene

14.5 Ma


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Middle Miocene

14.0 Ma


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Middle Miocene

13.5 Ma


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Middle Miocene

13.0 Ma


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Middle Miocene

12.5 Ma


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Middle Miocene

12.0 Ma


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Middle Miocene

11.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

11.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

10.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

10.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

09.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

09.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

08.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

08.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

07.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

07.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

06.5 Ma


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Late Miocene

06.0 Ma


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Late Miocene

05.5 Ma


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Early Pliocene

05.0 Ma


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Early Pliocene

04.5 Ma


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Early Pliocene

04.0 Ma


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Late Pliocene

03.5 Ma


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Late Pliocene

03.0 Ma


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Late Pliocene

02.5 Ma


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Late Pliocene

02.0 Ma


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Pleistocene

01.5 Ma


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Pleistocene

01.0 Ma


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Pleistocene

00.5 Ma


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Present Day

00.0 Ma


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Hispaniola


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Hispaniola Hispaniola: Haiti & Dominican Republic

About 80,000 sq km, second largest island in GreaterAntilles

Geomorphologically it consists of four rugged WNW-

ESE mountain ranges separated by valleys.

Geomorphic Map of Hispaniola


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Geomorphic Map of Hispaniola

(from Draper & Lewis, 1994)

Samana

Cordillera Oriental

Massif de la HotteM de la SelleBahoruco


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T i T f Hi i l


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(Draper et al., 1994)

Samana Peninsula1.

Puerto Plata-Pedro Garcia-Rio San Juan

Cibao Valley3

2

Seibo4

5Oro

6 Amina-Maimon

Loma Caribe-Tavera ophiolitic complex

7

Duarte

8

8

Tireo 9

10

Trois Rivieres Peralta backarc

10

6

9

Tectonic Terranes of Hispaniola

Dominican Republic

regional cross sections


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Cibao basin

Cordillera Central

Sierra de NeibaEnriquillo basin

Duarteterrane

Tireoterrane

3Rivieres-PeraltaTortue-AminaMaimon

Altamira

Septentrional FZ

Enriquillo-Plantain Garden FZ

San Juan Basin

Presqueile de nord-oest

- Neiba terrane

Hotte-Selle-Baharuca terrane

Fig. 7-5 Draper, Mann & Lewis, 1994

Dominican Republic



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Cibao basin

Cordillera Central

Sierra de NeibaEnriquillo basin

Duarteterrane

Tireoterrane

3Rivieres-Peralta

Tortue-AminaMaimon

Altamira

Septentrional FZ

Enriquillo-Plantain Garden FZ

San Juan Basin

CordilleraSeptentrional

San Juan Los Pozos FZ

+.. +

Draper et al., 1994 CordilleraSeptentrional

Cibao basinCordillera CentralEnriquillo basin


Dominican Republic tectonic model


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p(Draper et al 1994)

Cenomanian Spreading: Siete Cabezas Fm

Cretaceous island arc LosRanchos/Amina Maimon

Ocean island: Duarte

Early Campanian

Northward subduction blocked bycollision with oceanic plateau

Reversal of subduction

Tireo GrDuarte

Siete Cabezas

Amina-Maimon

Los Ranchos

Extinctisland arcSpreading new ocean floor

Island arc

Dominican Republic tectonic model


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p(Draper et al 1994)

Late Campanian: Southward subduction

Rio San Juan complex

Post CampanianEarly Eocene

Rio San Juan complex

Tectonic Features in NE Caribbean


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Impediments to eastward propagation

Consequences: Big Bend of the NE Caribbean

Subduction to strike-slip transition

Strain partitioning between faults of different types

Capture of Cuba by North American plate

Puerto Rico Trench

Muertos Trough

Micro-plates? Rotation of micro-plate(s)? Tearing of subducting lithosphere?

tra n part t on ng etween au tsof different types


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of different types

Subduction zone(s) NOAM/Caribbean

Muertos

Transform faults SeptentrionalPrentice/Mann

Enriquillo Plantain Garden FaultMann et al.

Fault discovered on January 12, 2010 in Haiti


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Hispaniola Microplate?


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B. Benford, C. DeMets, and E. Calais, GPS estimates of microplate motions, northern Caribbean: evidence

for a Hispaniola microplate and implications for earthquake hazard, Geophys. J. Int. (2012) 191, 481490



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B. Benford, C. DeMets, and E. Calais, GPS estimates of microplate motions, northern Caribbean: evidence

for a Hispaniola microplate and implications for earthquake hazard, Geophys. J. Int. (2012) 191, 481490

Creation and Propagation of Puerto Rico Trench


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Evidence for

Tear in Subducting NOAM Lithosphere


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(ten Brink, 2005)

1. Sharp curvature of

trench is strain focalpoint

2. Subduction of Main RidgeSeamount

3. Angle of slab dip increasesfrom 15 to 20

4. Location of seismicswarms

Background Paper 2 Paper 1 Wrap Up ThanksPa er 3

Evidence for



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(Dominguez et al., 2000)

(Dominguez et al., 2000)

(ten Brink, 2005)

1. Sharp curvature of trench

is strain focal point

2. Subduction of Main

Ridge Seamount



Evidence for



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3. Angle of slab dip

increases from 15 to 20


Evidence for



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Earthquake location bias because

seismographs located only on islands





4. Location of seismic

swarms

Anisotropy Results


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(Meighan and Pulliam, 2013)

Slab Tear Model


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The subducting NA slab acts as a barrier to mantle

flow, forcing flow around the boundaries

Meighan, H. E. and J. Pulliam, (2013). Seismic anisotropy beneath the northeastern, Caribbean:implications for the subducting North American lithosphere. Bulletin of the Geological Society ofFrance,184, 67-76.

Meighan, H. E., J. Pulliam, U. ten Brink, and A. M. Lpez-Venegas (2013), Seismic evidence for aslab tear at the Puerto Rico Trench,J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 118, doi:10.1002/jgrb.50227

Slab tear located between two

distinct stress regimes.

Lively Debates that Concern NE

C ibb T i


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Caribbean Tectonics

Recurrence Intervals Locations of events

Mechanisms of events

Tsunami sources

Seismic & tsunami hazards


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From William H. Bakun, Claudia H. Flores, and Uri S. ten Brink, 2012. Significant Earthquakes on Enriquillo FaultSystem, Hispaniola, 15002010: Implications for Hazard, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 102,No. 1, pp. 1830, February 2012, doi: 10.1785/0120110077


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From Bakun et al., 2012. BSSA, 102(1), pp. 1830, doi: 10.1785/0120110077

18 October 1751


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The 18 October 1751 earthquake with the preferred intensity assignments. The black circles are sites withMMI assignments with symbol size increasing with intensity. The black lines are active fault traces.Theintensity center is a green filled triangle. Contours of MI are dashed red lines. The rms (MI) contourcorresponding to the 67% confidence contours for location (Bakun and Wentworth, 1999) is a green line.


4 August 1946


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The 4 August 1946 earthquake with the preferred intensity assignments. The black circles are sites withMMI assignments with symbol size increasing with intensity. The black lines are active fault traces.Theintensity center is a green filled triangle. Contours of MI are dashed red lines. The rms (MI) contourcorresponding to the 67% confidence contours for location (Bakun and Wentworth, 1999) is a green line.



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21 November 17519 November 1701


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8 April 18603 June 1770


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From Villasenor & Spakman (pers. comm., 2006)


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From Villasenor & Spakman (pers. comm., 2006)


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SKS Splitting in the Caribbean/Central America Region


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Acknowledgments


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Paul Mann Alejandro EscalonaLesli Wood and Lisa GahagenUniversity of Texas at Austin

Rob RogersCalifornia State University at Stanislaus

Imaging a plate boundary using double-sidedonshore-offshore seismic profiling


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onshore offshore seismic profiling

From Okaya et al., The Leading Edge, 2003


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Periodic Slow Earthquakes fromthe Cascadia Subduction Zone


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the Cascadia Subduction Zone

From Miller et al., Science, 2002

From Melbourne et al., Geophys Res. Lett., 2005

The shallow plumbing system of Stromboli Islandas imaged from 1 Hz instantaneous GPS positions


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as imaged from 1 Hz instantaneous GPS positions

From Mattia et al., Geophys Res. Lett., 2004

Coral reefs uplifted on anticlines in Haiti


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Late Quaternary uplift rate in Haiti: 0.37 mm/yr


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Historical earthquakes of Hispaniola, including the 22

September 2003 earthquake near Puerto Plata (Mw6.4)


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p q ( w )

(FromMannet

al.,

2004)

Relation of plate vector to along-strike structural changes


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Caribbean Plate Boundaries


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130715A Pulliam CaribbeanTectonics

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