ABSTRACT
Structural and stratigraphic field studies in Jamaica and
Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and synthesis of
published data from surrounding areas refine previously proposed
models for convergent and strike-slip plate interactions in the
northern Caribbean. Specifically: 1) new data and regional
stratigraphic analysis of major unconformities in the Greater
Antilles supports the idea of two distinct arcs that terminated by
collision at slightly different times in the latest Cretaceous and
Paleogene; unconformities and sedimentation associated with both
collisions are used to constrain a pre- strike-slip, early
Oligocene reconstruction of the northern Caribbean; 2) field
studies in the Port Maria area of northeastern Jamaica essentially
complete mapping of the Wagwater Belt, a reactivated Paleogene
graben and overlying sedimentary basin, that records approximately
east-west extension normal to the trend of the latest Cretaceous
Jamaican island arc; the relatively narrow Wagwater Graben
contains at least 5.6 km of coarse clastic terrestrial sediments
and is overlain by the much larger, saucer-shaped basin filled
with a fining-upward section of 1.2 km of marine sediments;
consideration of the orientation, distribution, and ages of other
Cenozoic graben in Jamaica, the Nicaragua Rise and Central America
suggests that all of the graben, including the Wagwater, may have
formed by internal deformation of the northern Caribbean plate as
it moved eastward during the Cenozoic around a promotory in the
North America plate in southern Mexico; and 3) the interpretation
of satellite imagery and aerial photographs and field studies in
the Enriquillo Valley and Sierra el Numero, Dominican Republic;
the Cul-de-Sac Valley and southern peninsula of Haiti; and the
Clydesdale area of eastern Jamaica indicate the presence of a 700
km long, approximately east-west trending throughgoing
left-lateral strike-slip fault zone - named here, the
Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden Fault Zone; field studies in the
Clydesdale area and the overall fault pattern of Jamaica suggest
that the island constitutes a large restraining bend or
compressional segment in the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault
Zone; the overall structure of the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden
Fault Zone is remarkably consistent with the east-west direction
of Caribbean-North America relative plate motion which has been
previously determined from earthquake slip vectors and
fault-strikes mostly from the Cayman Trough. Although many
problems remain in the late Cretaceous and Cenozoic geology of the
Caribbean, a plate tectonic framework into which many of them can
be accommodated is beginning to emerge.
Mann, W.P., 1983. Cenozoic tectonics of the Caribbean: Structural
and stratigraphic studies in Jamaica and Hispaniola. Unpublished
PhD dissertation, State University of New York at Albany. 688pp.(2
volumes), +xxi; 5 folded plates (maps)
University at Albany Science Library call number: SCIENCE
MIC Film QE 40 Z899 1983 M35
Copies of this PhD dissertation can be ordered
from Proquest UMI
Front matter (title,
table of contents, abstract, acknowledgements) - 0.6MB pdf
file
Photo pages in dissertation
(coloured
and greyscale photos with captions) 26.6MB pdf file
Plate 1 - Geologic
map of the Camp Perrin Basin, southwestern Haiti
(uncoloured geological map;
scale 1:50,000) 0.8MB pdf file
Plate 2 - Geologic
Map of the L'Asile Basin, SW Haiti
(uncoloured geological map;
scale 1:50,000) 1MB pdf file
Plate 3 - Geologic
map - Clydesdale area, SE Jamaica
(uncoloured geological map;
scale 1:12,500) 6.1MB pdf file
Plate 4 - Geologic
map of the Port Maria - Anotto Bay area, northern Jamaica
(uncoloured geological map;
scale 1:12,500) 13MB pdf file
Plate 5 - Geologic
cross-sections, Port Maria, Jamaica
(uncoloured; scale 1:12,500)
0.5MB pdf file
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