Tectonic events recorded in the sediments and crust of the Caribbean sea floor

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6463968

Holcombe, T L

A reconnaissance review of reflection-seismic sections from the Caribbean, together with limited information derived from dredged rocks, sediment cores, and drillholes, yields or contributes to first-order conclusions regarding the tectonic history of the water-covered Caribbean. Broadly speaking, tectonic episodes for which there is some evidence are: (1) late Cenozoic convergence and accretion along deformed continental or island margins off Panama, Colombia/Venezuela, and Hispaniola/Puerto Rico; (2) late Cenozoic generation of oceanic crust within the Cayman Trough; (3) late Cenozoic secondary deformation along the Caribbean-North American plate boundary zone, in the form of small pull-apart basins, transcurrent faults, tensional rift basins, and compressional features; (4) late Cenozoic slow disintegration of the western part of the Caribbean plate; (5) Cenozoic rift-basin formation on the upper Nicaraguan rise; (6) early Cenozoic or late Cretaceous opening of the Yucatan Basin; (7) late Cretaceous through early Cenozoic island arc formation; and (8) late Cretaceous and earlier emplacement of flow basalts in the northwestern Venezuelan Basin and possibly beneath large areas of the Caribbean. There is no evidence that except along their active margins, the Venezuelan Basin, Beata Ridge, Colombian Basin, and Nicaraguan rise areas have been sites for large-scale relative movements which created or destroyed plate material since late Cretaceous time - or earlier.

• Research Organization: National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6463968
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
580201 -- Geophysics-- Seismology & Tectonics-- (1980-1989)
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
CENOZOIC ERA
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
DRILL CORES
EARTH CRUST
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MESOZOIC ERA
OCEANIC CRUST
PLATE TECTONICS
RIFT ZONES
SEA BED
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
SEISMIC SURVEYS
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
TECTONICS