The Meso-Cenozoic tectonopalaeogeographic characteristics and evolution of Caribbean Plate margins
Chen Rong1, Shen Yanping2, Zhang Chenchen1
1.School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871 2 Strategic Research Center of Oil and Gas, Ministry of Land and Resources, Beijing 100034
Abstract：The Caribbean marginal region is divided into four belts,i.e.,the Central American palaeocontinent and volcanic arcs in the west,the Greater Antillean belt in the north,the Lesser Antillean belt in the east,and the northern boundary of South America in the south. Sedimentation began firstly in the west and then progressed gradually eastwards. Respectively,the Central American palaeocontinent is mainly carbonate rocks and volcaniclastic rocks;the Greater Antillean belt and the northern boundary of South America are dominated by mixed carbonate-clastic sedimentation;and the Central American volcanic arcs and the Lesser Antillean belt are characterized of volcanic-clastic rocks. This sedimentary differentiation is mainly due to the various palaeogeographical characteristics controlled by tectonic evolution. Four stages of tectonopalaeogeography in Caribbean Plate and its peripheral areas are indentified:(1)Rift facies developed at the boundaries of South and North American Plates due to the rifting of Pangea in the Jurassic;(2)In the Cretaceous, shallow marine facies of passive margin were developed in the boundaries of South and North American Plates with the opening of Proto-Caribbean trough;(3)In the latest Cretaceous-Eocene,the palaeogeography of southern and northern margins of Caribbean Plate changed into continental facies;(4)The volcanic arcs were developed at eastern and western margins of Caribbean Plate and continental facies were further developed on the northern and southern margins at the end of the collision since the Eocene.
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