The Amina-Maimon Schists and the Duarte Complex form two parallel metamorphic belts in central Hispaniola. They are separated by a belt of serpentinites and mafic rocks of mid-ocean ridge basalt affinity and are flanked on both sides by Cretaceous island-arc volcanic sequences. A model is presented in which the Duarte forms the oceanic basement of the southward-facing Hispaniola arc, and the Anima-Maimon rocks are the early volcanic and sedimentary deposits of that arc. A back-arc basin formed during Cenomanian time, which separated the Amina-Maimon deposits from the main arc. During the Campanian, or perhaps slightly earlier, a collisional event took place that closed the back-arc basin and caused a flip in the polarity of subduction from southwest facing to northeast facing. As the basin closed, the Duarte and rocks of the basin floor were thrust northeastward over the Amina-Maimon rocks, causing their deformation and metamorphism. -from Authors
