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The Caribbean lies west of a zone of diverging ocean fractures (the Vema Wedge), just as the Amazon Rift lies west of diverging fractures further south. These, and highlighted ocean fractures and intracontinental faults, show continued (Cretaceous– Cenozoic) divergence between North and South Americas, focused on Caribbean latitudes (James 2003a, fig. 4). This figure also highlights regional NE-trending faults crossing continents and extending along ocean ridges. In North America, displacements revealed by offsets (of yellow lines) in the Appalachian–Ouachita Palaeozoic suture as it enters the highly extended Gulf of Mexico– Caribbean region can be used to restore Middle America, the Caribbean included, which this map suggests is extended continental crust. This study after Szatmari (1983), Müller et al. (1997), Fairhead & Wilson (2005), Davison (2005).
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Compiled and synthesized geological data suggest that the Caribbean Plate consists of dispersed continental basement blocks, wedges of ? Triassic-Jurassic clastic rocks, Jurassic-Late Cretaceous carbonate rocks, volcanic arc rocks, widespread, probably subaerial basalts and serpentinized upper mantle. This points to an in situ origin of the Caribbe...
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... America and Europe/North Africa in the Early Triassic and affected Middle America by the Late Triassic (Ager 1986;Davison 2005). At 200 + 4 Ma the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) formed, heralding Pliensbachian -Toarcian (190- 180 Ma) Pangaean break-up ( Marzoli et al. 1999;McHone 2002, fig. 1 or http://www.mantle- plumes.org/CAMP.html, fig. 2). Large volumes of tholeiitic magma intruded Triassic rocks as sills and later extruded as continental flood basalt lavas ( Marzoli et al. 1999;McHone 2008). The CAMP event extended along eastern North America/ western Africa and as far south as northern Brazil ( Mohriak et al. 2008), but its focus on Middle Amer- ican latitudes ...
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... South Atlantic began with Early Cretaceous rifting in the south, propagating northwards so that westward drift of South America at Caribbean latitudes occurred around 100 Ma (Albian; Eagles 2007). Consequently, Jur- assic crust is present in the Central Atlantic, but not in the Equatorial Atlantic, and Central Atlantic Cretaceous crust is wider (Fig. 2). This map (Fig. 2) is simplified: ridge jumps occurred in the Jurassic along eastern North America, stranding the earliest crust instead of sharing it with Africa (Davison 2005;Bird et al. ...
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... with Early Cretaceous rifting in the south, propagating northwards so that westward drift of South America at Caribbean latitudes occurred around 100 Ma (Albian; Eagles 2007). Consequently, Jur- assic crust is present in the Central Atlantic, but not in the Equatorial Atlantic, and Central Atlantic Cretaceous crust is wider (Fig. 2). This map (Fig. 2) is simplified: ridge jumps occurred in the Jurassic along eastern North America, stranding the earliest crust instead of sharing it with Africa (Davison 2005;Bird et al. ...
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... in the western Atlantic show that the drift path of North America from South America at this time was N608W (Figs 2-4). Regional N608E trends fit extensional strain in this sinistral offset. ...
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... in the western Atlantic show that the drift path of North America from South America at this time was N608W (Figs 2-4). Regional N608E trends fit extensional strain in this sinistral offset. East-west trends, such as the northern Caribbean Plate boundary, are synthetic to the system (James 2009, fig. 2). The N358E grain reflects Palaeozoic sutures reactivated during Fig. 4. Continent margin-Mid Atlantic Ridge distance is c. 1800 km greater in the Central Atlantic than in the Equatorial Atlantic (broken white line reproduces the solid white line; red line indicates additional distance). The difference relates to Jurassic crust, not ...
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... the Late Eocene, that domi- nate the western Caribbean (James 2007a). Coeval pull-apart extension dispersing the Greater Antilles and the Aruba-Blanquilla islands along the northern and southern strike-slip plate boundaries also sums to around 300 km. The N608E trend of the eastern part of the Motagua Fault and Swan Fault as far as Swan Island ( Fig. 3; Pinet 1971, fig. 2) parallels the extensional strain expected in regional N608W sinistral slip (James 2009, fig. ...
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... Antilles and the Aruba-Blanquilla islands along the northern and southern strike-slip plate boundaries also sums to around 300 km. The N608E trend of the eastern part of the Motagua Fault and Swan Fault as far as Swan Island ( Fig. 3; Pinet 1971, fig. 2) parallels the extensional strain expected in regional N608W sinistral slip (James 2009, fig. ...
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... et al. 1988). However, the continent margin -Mid Atlantic Ridge distance is c. 1800 km greater in the Central Atlantic than in the Equatorial Atlantic. The differ- ence relates to presence of Jurassic crust, absent from the Equatorial Atlantic, and wider Cretaceous crust in the Central Atlantic, north of the Caribbean northern boundary (Fig. 2). The difference is matched by the vector sum of offsets between the Maya and Chortís Blocks and of the Hess Escarp- ment from the Mérida Andes trend (Fig. 4). These offsets respectfully fit the combined extension/ synthetic and extension within N608W sinistral offset of North from South ...
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... Mexico onto the trailing edge of the Caribbean Plate as it entered between the Americas. However, seismic data show northwest vergence of folds and thrusts on Chortís and the adjacent Rise, where continental Jurassic- Cretaceous geology of the N358E Colón Mountains, Honduras, continues into the offshore, but trending N608E ( Rogers et al. 2007b, fig. ...
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... some models, suturing to the Upper Rise (along the Pedro F.) in the Campa- nian (e.g. , fig. 4; Pindell & Kennan 2009, fig. 10). Undisturbed, upper Cretaceous sediments lie next to the Hess Escarpment, which therefore is older ( Edgar et al. 1973). Both faults represent extensional strain of N608W sinistral movement of North America (James 2009, fig. ...
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... Mexico. This paper proposes that Caribbean 'plateau' architecture continues the same geology into a more extensional location. In this scenario seismic line 1293 ( Diebold et al. 1999) shows blocks of extended continental crust flanked by wedges of dipping Jurassic sediments and flows below the smooth basalt flows of the western Venezuela Basin ( fig. 7, James 2007b). The unexplained 'ski-jump' ( Diebold et al. 1999) at the edge the plateau may be a marginal reef/carbonate mound. Rough Horizon B 00 is the equivalent 'oceanic', ser- pentinized mantle crust formed during extreme crustal attenuation. 'Oceanic' crust derived in this manner does not have organized magnetic anomalies. Downlap of Turonian ...
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... 'seamount' shown on line 1293 near CDP 2000 ( Fig. 7; Diebold et al. 1999, fig. 2) looks like a pier- cing diapir and so could consist of serpentinite or salt. The diapir rises at least 700 m above the sea floor and resembles Sigsbee Knoll diapirs that rise 200 -400 m above the 3600 m deep seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico (Fig. 8). Seafloor sediment push-up indicates that the feature on Line 1293 is active, but there ...
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... Caribbean crust, seen on seismic SE of thick crust in the Colombia and Venezuela basins, has fig. 2) to a drilled salt dome in the Gulf of Mexico (after Burk et al. 1969). Rim syncline adjacent to diapir in deeper reflections indicates withdrawal. Projection from the diapir along regional structural trend N358E leads to SE Puerto Rico and the coastal village of Salinas, whose flag illustrates five salt knolls. Seismic line is located ...
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... shallow marine limestones, commonly associated with unconformities and often karstified, are regionally distributed around margins of Middle America. Albian plate margin collision, intrusion and change of arc chemistry characterize Caribbean margins (James 2006, fig. ...
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... by the size of emplaced bodies. Cuban ophiolites extend for some 1000 km, are up to 5 km thick and suffered up to 140 km of transport (CobiellaReguera 2008. In Venezuela the Villa de Cura nappe is 250 km long and 5 km thick. Up to 18 thrust slices in Mexico's Veracruz Basin stack 6 km high and moved at least 30 km (Mossman & Viniegra 1976, fig. ...
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... Instead, the initial accommodation was associated with an Upper Cretaceous extensional margin that later underwent tectonic inversion caused by the oblique convergence of the Caribbean plate. This model has been proposed by studies that consider the Caribbean plate to be autochthonous, rather than allochthonous (James, 2006(James, , 2009(James, , 2010Cobbold et al., 2007;Rossello and Cossey, 2012;Alfaro et al., 2013). Several tectono-sedimentary sequences have been established by integrating geological mapping, seismic and biostratigraphic data of the SSJB (e.g., Geotec, 2003;. ...
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... Contrariamente, Stainforth (1969) y James (2006James ( , 2010 consideran, a partir de reconstrucciones paleogeográficas y evidencias de afloramientos claves, que la placa Caribe se formó in situ entre las placas de América del Norte y América del Sur desde el Triásico-Jurásico Temprano, prescindiendo de un escenario de subducción. Debido a estas interpretaciones confrontadas, la dinámica de la evolución tectonosedimentaria del MCC genera controversias sobre los mecanismos geotectónicos que la controlan; se consideran desde escenarios asociados con márgenes acrecionales subductantes (Duque-Caro, 1984a, 1984bToto y Kellogg, 1992;Flinch, 2003;Kerr y Tarney, 2005;Cerón et al., 2007;Mantilla-Pimiento, 2007;Higgs, 2009;Pindell et al., 2005;Vinnels et al., 2010;Bezada et al., 2010;Bernal-Olaya et al., 2015a, 2015bMora et al., 2018;Kellogg et al., 2019;Rodríguez et al., 2021) hasta pasivos (Ali-Zade et al., 1984;James, 2006James, , 2009James, , 2010Cobbold et al., 2007;Rossello y Cossey, 2012;Alfaro et al., 2013). ...
Se analizan la morfología y evolución de los diapiros y volcanes de lodo en el Margen Caribeño Colombiano (MCC) emplazados en secuencias sedimentarias transgresivas del Cretácico al Neógeno. Son estructuras extrusivas por argilocinesis que muestran la liberación de sedimentos sobrepresionados y fluidizados por aguas y/o hidrocarburos que perforan hasta la superficie. A partir de la modelación analógica, los condicionantes del origen y geometría de los mecanismos del diapirismo dependen de: i) la menor densidad de los niveles generadores infrayacentes en comparación con las secuencias suprayacentes y ii) de las débiles tasas de sedimentación de las secuencias que los postdatan. La progresiva exhumación del Cinturón Sinú-San Jacinto a partir del Oligo-Mioceno debido a la convergencia tectónica transpresiva dextral entre las placas Sudamérica y Caribe, generó una barrera al transporte sedimentario hacia el Norte del paleo río Cauca. Esta interrupción, impidió su descarga directa, forzándolo a coalescer hacia el río Magdalena. Se propone un provincialismo del diapirismo a partir de las diferencias en tasas de la progradación de sedimentos más densos sobre secuencias pelíticas asociados con conspicuos tipos de plegamientos: a) al norte (Cinturón San Jacinto), compresional tangencial con ejes de pliegues doblemente buzantes y escalonados subparalelamente al litoral caribeño y b) al sur (Cinturón Sinú), gravitatorio con amplios sinclinales en forma de cubetas y apretados anticlinales. El mejor conocimiento de la evolución 4D del diapirismo en el MCC contribuye con la definición del potencial de los sistemas petroleros infrayacentes y la prevención de riesgos ambientales en las maniobras exploratorias.
... The integrated story of the Caribbean plate and associated subduction zones has been described in various tectonic reconstructions (e.g., Meschede and Frisch, 1998;James 2009;Pindell and Kennan, 2009;Boschman et al., 2014). The onset of westward subduction at the north-eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate occurred in the Cretaceous, probably not later than 90 Ma (Pindell & Kennan, 2009;Mann, 2007). ...
The Eocene tectonic evolution of the easternmost Caribbean Plate (CP) boundary, that is the Lesser Antilles subduction zone (LASZ), is debated. Recents works shed light on a peculiar period of tectonic duality in the arc/back‐arc regions. A compressional‐to‐transpressional regime occurred in the north, while rifting and seafloor spreading occurred in Grenada basin to the south. The mechanism for this strong spatial variation and its evolution through time has yet to be established. Here, using 3‐D subduction mechanical models, we evaluate whether the change in the trench‐curvature radius at the northeast corner of the CP could have modulated the duality. We assume asymmetrical CP boundaries at the north (from east to west: oblique subduction to strike‐slip) and at the south (subduction‐transform edge propagator‐like behavior). Regardless of the imposed trench curvature, the southern half of our modeled CP undergoes a NW‐to‐W‐oriented extension due to the tendency of the southernmost part of the South‐America oceanic slab to rollback. In contrast, the tectonic regime in the northeast corner of the CP depends on the trench‐curvature radius. A low radius promotes transtension‐to‐transpression, with a NE‐oriented compressive component of the principal stress. A high radius largely reduces the compressive component and promotes an extensional regime similar to that in the south. We thus propose that an initially low‐curvature radius of the NE‐LASZ triggered the tectonic N‐S duality in the Eocene and led to an ephemeral period of transpression/compression at the north. However, an additional mechanism might have been required to locally enhance compression.
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... The greatest thicknesses in this sequence, greater than 2,000 m, were concentrated in an elongated strip, heading east to west, nearly 200 km wide, and over 300 km long. The axis of this strip is parallel to the direction of regional magnetic anomalies observed in the CB area [47], [86], [87], a zone characterized by eastwest strike normal fault systems, which mainly affected the basin's basement and preserve remnants of Mesozoic sediments ( Figure 5). Another area with thicknesses greater than 2,000 m, although Ec o p e t r ol [131], in black the global eustatic change curve [93] and the age of the MTCs previously identified [59], [115], [126] . ...
... Although there are several published works that show this type of normal faults in the Cretaceous basement [47], [97], it is generally described as the top of a rough basement. The S01 sequence isochore map suggests a linear filling, with an E-W heading, following the magnetic lines initially described by Christofferson [87]. The origin of these magnetic lineaments has not been discussed in depth, and only some authors consider them as the product of regional extension processes [87]. ...
... The S01 sequence isochore map suggests a linear filling, with an E-W heading, following the magnetic lines initially described by Christofferson [87]. The origin of these magnetic lineaments has not been discussed in depth, and only some authors consider them as the product of regional extension processes [87]. Taking into account the geometry shown in the isochore map of the S01 sequence, consistent with the magnetic lineament ( Figure 14), it is possible to consider, from 17.91 Ma to 11.62 Ma, sediments from NWCSA progressively covered from east to west, a rift formed during the Cretaceous, approximately 200 km wide by 400 km long, at a rate of 134 MTon/y ( Table 1 and Figure 15), slightly lower than the current sedimentary transport rate recorded for the Magdalena River of 144 MTon/y [25]. ...
The Colombia basin contains large volumes of sediment accumulated during the last 17 My. The use of isochore maps, exploratory wells, micropaleontological and geochronological dates has enabled us to estimate the volumes of sediment and accumulation rates in this basin. The analysis of source of sediments and exhumation data from the Northern Andes of South America led to the definition of areas and thicknesses of material eroded during the Neogene - Quaternary, to obtain volumes or material eroded from the continent that can be correlated with sediment volumes accumulated in the Colombia Basin. The analyzed sediment volumes suggest that during the last 17 My ~72.06x1015 Tons accumulated in the Colombia Basin, while ~ 7.16x1013 Tons accumulated in the continental catchment areas. The sedimentation in the Colombian Basin has occurred at variable rates, with values ranging from 55 MTons/My to 295 MTons/My, with a peak of 803 MTons/My in the early Pleistocene (between 2.4 and 2.2 Ma). The evaluation between the total volumes of sediment accumulated in the offshore and onshore, suggests that in the continental part of the basin less than 4% of
the total volume of eroded sediment is trapped and, therefore, the behavior of the accumulation rates calculated in the offshore directly reflect the relief evolution of South America’s Northern Andes. It seems, at large, that the lithospheric convergence rates
and subduction angle (South America vs Nazca and Meso Atlantic opening) have controlled the regional exhumation of the Northern Andes, with the exception of the Pleistocene high sedimentation event, which seems to coincide with local events such as the collision of the Panama Arch against Western Antioquia. It may be concluded that thanks to this collision, drainage systems such as those of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers were modified, which resulted in the formation of the Magdalena Submarine Fan.
... (Table 1), and circum-Caribbean locations. Locations and sources include Colombia (Ruiz et al., 1999); southern Mexico (Ruiz et al., 1999); northeastern Mexico James (2009aJames ( , 2009b has proposed an "in situ" origin for the Caribbean plate, stating that it is underlain by extended continental crust. Such an origin could provide a possible source for the ancient zircon ages from Providencia; however, neither geophysical observations nor the isotopic data presented here support such a scenario. ...
Providencia is the only example of subaerial volcanism on the Lower Nicaraguan Rise. In this volume, the authors examine this volcanism and the geological history of the western Caribbean and the Lower Nicaraguan Rise, whose origin and role in the development of the Caribbean plate has been described as enigmatic and poorly understood. While the Providencia alkaline suite is similar to others within the Western Caribbean Alkaline Province, its subalkaline suite is unique, having no equivalent within the province. In order to unravel its complex history and evolution, this volume presents new and previously published results for the geology, geochemistry, petrology, and isotopic ages from the Providencia island group.
... (Table 1), and circum-Caribbean locations. Locations and sources include Colombia (Ruiz et al., 1999); southern Mexico (Ruiz et al., 1999); northeastern Mexico James (2009aJames ( , 2009b has proposed an "in situ" origin for the Caribbean plate, stating that it is underlain by extended continental crust. Such an origin could provide a possible source for the ancient zircon ages from Providencia; however, neither geophysical observations nor the isotopic data presented here support such a scenario. ...
Providencia is the only example of subaerial volcanism on the Lower Nicaraguan Rise. In this volume, the authors examine this volcanism and the geological history of the western Caribbean and the Lower Nicaraguan Rise, whose origin and role in the development of the Caribbean plate has been described as enigmatic and poorly understood. While the Providencia alkaline suite is similar to others within the Western Caribbean Alkaline Province, its subalkaline suite is unique, having no equivalent within the province. In order to unravel its complex history and evolution, this volume presents new and previously published results for the geology, geochemistry, petrology, and isotopic ages from the Providencia island group.
... The integrated story of the Caribbean plate and associated subduction zones has been the matter of various tectonic reconstructions (e.g., Meschede and Frisch, 1998;James 2009;Pindell and Kennan, 2009;Boschman et al., 2014). The onset of westward subduction at the north-eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate occurred in the Cretaceous, probably not later than 90 Ma (Pindell & Kennan, 2009;Mann, 2007). ...
The Eocene tectonic evolution of the easternmost Caribbean Plate (CP) boundary, i.e. the Lesser Antilles subduction zone (LASZ), is debated. Recents works shed light on a peculiar period of tectonic duality in the arc/back-arc regions. A compressive-to-transpressive regime occurred in the north, while rifting and seafloor spreading occurred in Grenada basin to the south. The mechanism for this strong spatial variation and its evolution through time has yet to be established. Here, using 3-D subduction mechanical models, we evaluate whether the change in the trench-curvature radius at the northeast corner of the CP could have modulated the duality. We assume asymmetrical CP boundaries at the north (from east to west: oblique subduction to strike-slip) and at the south (subduction-transform edge propagator-like behavior). Regardless of the imposed trench curvature, the southern half of our modeled CP always undergoes a NW-to-W-oriented extension due to the tendency of the southernmost part of the South-America slab to rollback. In contrast, the tectonic regime in the northeast corner of the CP depends on the trench-curvature radius. A low radius promotes transtension-to-transpression, with a NE-oriented compressive component of the principal stress. A high trench-curvature largely reduces the compressive component and promotes an extensive regime similar to that in the south. We thus propose that an initially low-curvature radius of the NE-LASZ triggered the tectonic N-S duality in the Eocene and led to an ephemeral period of transpression/compression at the north, although an additional mechanism might have been required to locally enhance compression.
... Bien que certains auteurs plaident pour une origine intra-américaine de la Plaque Caraïbe (Meschede and Frisch, 1998;Giunta et al., 2006;James, 2009b), la plupart des études s'accordent sur un modèle dit « Pacifique » (e.g. Burke et al., 1984;Duncan and Hargraves, 1984;Pindell, 1994;Boschman et al., 2019), dans lequel le Plateau Caraïbe se forme au sein de la plaque Farallon (localisation de l'actuel Pacifique) à l'aplomb du point chaud des Galápagos (Nerlich et al., 2014), suivie d'une migration relative vers l'est jusqu'à sa position actuelle entre les deux Amériques ( Figure II.4). ...
Dans la région des Petites Antilles, marquée par la subduction des plaques Américaines sous la plaque Caraïbe, la grande majorité des études s’intéresse aux domaines d’arc et d’avant-arc, qui concentrent l’essentiel de l'activité volcanique et sismique. A l’inverse, l’arrière-arc antillais est longtemps resté une zone peu étudiée et mal comprise d'un point de vue tectonique. Ce domaine large de plus de 300 km inclut la Ride d’Aves, un arc éteint d’âge Crétacé supérieur à Paléocène mis en place au sein d’un plateau océanique. Cette ride, qui se trouve à environ 1 km sous le niveau de la mer, surplombe le Bassin de Grenade qui la sépare de l’arc actif des Petites Antilles. Les relations structurales entre ce bassin et les arcs adjacents ont fait l’objet de nombreuses controverses, tout comme la chronologie et les modalités de son ouverture. Pour répondre à ces problématiques, cette thèse repose essentiellement sur l’exploitation d’un important jeu de données de sismique réflexion multi-traces acquis lors de la campagne GARANTI en 2017, couvrant l’intégralité du Bassin de Grenade et le flanc est de la Ride d’Aves. Elle intègre également des résultats de dragages réalisés sur hauts bathymétriques de la Ride d’Aves. L’analyse de ces données a mené à la proposition d’un nouveau modèle d’évolution tectonique, dans lequel la formation du Bassin de Grenade débute à la fin du Paléocène par une extension NO-SE de la Ride d’Aves, aboutissant finalement à une expansion océanique à l’Eocène moyen. Aujourd’hui, la croûte océanique est couverte de 3 à 15 km de sédiments et elle occupe la moitié est du Bassin de Grenade entre les latitudes de Grenade et de la Martinique. L’asymétrie du socle et des dépocentres ante-Miocène suggère que le sud du Bassin de Grenade s’étendait initialement plus à l’est, probablement jusque dans l’avant-arc actuel, avant l’intrusion de l’arc des Petites Antilles du sud à l’Oligo-Miocène. Cette intrusion coïncide avec une inversion tectonique du sud du bassin résultant de la convergence oblique entre la Plaque Caraïbe et le continent sud-américain. En parallèle, une attention particulière a été portée aux mouvements verticaux de la Ride d’Aves. Celle-ci est supposée avoir émergé à la transition Eocène-Oligocène, permettant ainsi la migration de faunes terrestres depuis l’Amérique du Sud vers les Grandes Antilles (hypothèse du "pont terrestre GAARlandia"). La découverte d’une discordance régionale suggère que la Ride d’Aves faisait partie d’un pont terrestre reliant les deux Amériques au Crétacé-Paléocène, soit environ 30 millions d’années avant GAARlandia. De l’Eocène moyen au Miocène moyen, la Ride d’Aves a connu une subsidence relativement lente, permettant à des récifs coralliens de se développer sur des hauts-fonds. La période Eocène supérieur-Oligocène correspond à un ralentissement de la subsidence, qui pourrait en fait traduire un soulèvement de la Ride d’Aves. Cependant, bien que certains paléo-récifs présentent des indices d’émersions ponctuelles entre l’Eocène et le Miocène, rien n’indique une émersion généralisée à l’Eocène-Oligocène dans la zone explorée. A partir du Miocène supérieur, des changements géodynamiques régionaux ont provoqué une accélération de la subsidence et donc l’ennoiement complet de la Ride d’Aves. Cette étude apporte un éclairage inédit sur la structure et la stratigraphie de l’arrière-arc des Petites Antilles, permettant ainsi de préciser son évolution tectonique. Elle constitue également un premier pas vers une meilleure compréhension des mouvements verticaux ayant affecté cette région au Cénozoïque.
