Geochemical diversity in the Mesozoic tectonic units of oceanic affinity of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic
Article
Escuder Viruete, J, Lewis, JF, Hernáiz Huerta, PP et al. (2004). Geochemical diversity in the Mesozoic tectonic units of oceanic affinity of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic
. 115(1), 117-136.
Escuder Viruete, J, Lewis, JF, Hernáiz Huerta, PP et al. (2004). Geochemical diversity in the Mesozoic tectonic units of oceanic affinity of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic
. 115(1), 117-136.
Accreted terranes, comprising a wide variety of Jurassic and Cretaceous igneous and sedimentary rocks, are an important and conspicuous feature of Dominican Republic geology. Within the variably deformed and metamorphosed Mesozoic rocks of the Cordillera Central Dominicana, five main igneous suites have been identified: oceanic intraplate metabasalts, mid-oceanic ridge metabasalts, island arc tholeiites, boninites and backarc basin metebasalts. Rift-related metabasalts may have formed during the development of the proto-Caribbean, as the Yucatan block rifted away from northern South America in Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous time. Oceanic intraplate metabasalts have flat rare earth element patterns, and are compositionally similar to Pacific mantle plume-derived oceanic plateaux of Early Cretaceous age. The Early Cretaceous subduction-related rocks are either backarc metabasalts, boninites and relatively trace-element-depleted island arc tholeiites. These data provide geochemical constraints on the tectonic development of the northern part of the Caribbean plate. In consequence, a tectonomagmatic model for the Dominican segment of the Caríbbean during the Early Cretaceous is presented.
