Tectonic versus eustatic control on Neogene sedimentation in the Cibao basin of the Dominican Republic: Tectonic dominance near an active plate boundary

Conference · Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5739781

Erikson, J P ^[1]

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1. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)

Continuous Neogene subsidence, transgression, and brief periods of accelerated subsidence are indicated by the Yaque Group sediments of the Cibao basin of northern Dominican Republic, in which the generally fining-upward sediments are punctuated by two, thick, conglomeratic sequences. Lithologic and paleontologic evidence support continuous subsidence and a tectonic control on sedimentation and is in conflict with an interpretation of one or both of the conglomeratic sequences as being due to a rapid regressive-transgressive cycle and a correlation with a second-order fluctuation (supercycle) on a Vail-type sea-level curve. Subsidence generally outpaced sedimentation, such that water depths almost continuously increased during deposition of all but the uppermost Yaque Group (when the basin shallowed prior to the subaerial exposure), as interpreted from detailed paleontological analyses. The depositional history of the entire {approximately}1 km exposed section and {approximately}5 km subsurface section of the Yaque Group is best explained by a single, continuous, east to west, middle Miocene to earliest Pliocene transgression due to asymmetric basin subsidence. Deposition of the igneous clast-rich conglomerates was probably caused by accelerated basement subsidence at the northern edge of the basin, which oversteepened the depositional slope, led to accelerated transgression of the northern flank of the Central Cordillera, and produced brief pulses of coarse, partially Cordilleran-derived conglomerates. Varying subsidence of the Cibao basin is correlated with episodic uplift and sedimentation in the Cordillera Septentrional.

• OSTI ID: 5739781
• Report Number(s): CONF-910403-; CODEN: AABUD
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 75:3; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Dallas, TX (United States), 7-10 Apr 1991; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
STRATIGRAPHY
TECTONICS
CONGLOMERATES
DEPOSITION
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
SEDIMENTATION
SEDIMENTS
TERTIARY PERIOD
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
GREATER ANTILLES
HISPANIOLA
ISLANDS
LATIN AMERICA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
WEST INDIES
580000* - Geosciences