Subduction history of the Caribbean from upper-mantle seismic imaging and plate reconstruction

Braszus, Benedikt; Goes, Saskia; Allen, Rob; Rietbrock, Andreas; Collier, Jenny; Harmon, Nick; Henstock, Tim; Hicks, Stephen; Rychert, Catherine A.; Maunder, Ben; van Hunen, Jeroen; Bie, Lidong; Blundy, Jon; Cooper, George; Davy, Richard; Kendall, J. Michael; Macpherson, Colin; Wilkinson, Jamie; Wilson, Marjorie

Abstract

The margins of the Caribbean and associated hazards and resources have been shaped by a poorly understood history of subduction. Using new data, we improve teleseismic P-wave imaging of the eastern Caribbean upper mantle and compare identified subducted-plate fragments with trench locations predicted from plate reconstruction. This shows that material at 700–1200 km depth below South America derives from 90–115 Myr old westward subduction, initiated prior to Caribbean Large-Igneous-Province volcanism. At shallower depths, an accumulation of subducted material is attributed to Great Arc of the Caribbean subduction as it evolved over the past 70 Ma. We interpret gaps in these subducted-plate anomalies as: a plate window and tear along the subducted Proto-Caribbean ridge; tearing along subducted fracture zones, and subduction of a volatile-rich boundary between Proto-Caribbean and Atlantic domains. Phases of back-arc spreading and arc jumps correlate with changes in age, and hence buoyancy, of the subducting plate.

Citation

Braszus, B., Goes, S., Allen, R., Rietbrock, A., Collier, J., Harmon, N., Henstock, T., Hicks, S., Rychert, C. A., Maunder, B., van Hunen, J., Bie, L., Blundy, J., Cooper, G., Davy, R., Kendall, J. M., Macpherson, C., Wilkinson, J., & Wilson, M. (2021). Subduction history of the Caribbean from upper-mantle seismic imaging and plate reconstruction. Nature Communications, 12(1), Article 4211. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24413-0

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 21, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 9, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 10, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 26, 2021
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 4211
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24413-0
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1272412