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

Benedikt Braszus (), Saskia Goes (), Rob Allen, Andreas Rietbrock, Jenny Collier, Nick Harmon, Tim Henstock, Stephen Hicks, Catherine A. Rychert, Ben Maunder, Jeroen Hunen, Lidong Bie, Jon Blundy, George Cooper, Richard Davy, J. Michael Kendall, Colin Macpherson, Jamie Wilkinson and Marjorie Wilson
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Benedikt Braszus: Geophysical Institute (GPI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Saskia Goes: Imperial College London
Rob Allen: Imperial College London
Andreas Rietbrock: Geophysical Institute (GPI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Jenny Collier: Imperial College London
Nick Harmon: University of Southampton
Tim Henstock: University of Southampton
Stephen Hicks: Imperial College London
Catherine A. Rychert: University of Southampton
Ben Maunder: Imperial College London
Jeroen Hunen: Durham University
Lidong Bie: Geophysical Institute (GPI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Jon Blundy: University of Bristol
George Cooper: University of Bristol
Richard Davy: Imperial College London
J. Michael Kendall: University of Oxford
Colin Macpherson: Durham University
Jamie Wilkinson: Imperial College London
Marjorie Wilson: University of Leeds

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24413-0

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