[1] The timing of collision of the Cocos Ridge at the Middle America Trench remains one of the outstanding questions in the tectonic evolution of the Central American convergent margin. New analyses of the tectonic geomorphology of the Cordillera de Talamanca, the extinct volcanic arc inboard of the Cocos Ridge, coupled with low temperature thermochronometry data, provide insight into the cooling and erosional history of the arc from late Miocene to present. We identify a low-relief surface at high elevation along the northeastern flanks of the range, which represents a relict erosional landscape cut across shallow plutonic rocks of the arc edifice. Longitudinal profiles of rivers on this surface are isolated from steep downstream sections by prominent knickzones that are interpreted to reflect a migrating wave of transient incision generated during differential rock uplift of the range. Reconstruction of pre-incision profiles suggests that rock uplift during the growth of the Cordillera de Talamanca is no greater than $2 km. This inference is corroborated by results from our apatite (U-Th)/He and apatite fission track analyses along an elevation transect on Mt. Chirripó, the highest mountain in the Cordillera de Talamanca. Low-temperature cooling ages overlap significantly with published high-temperature 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages; the combined results imply that rapid cooling in the late Miocene was related to secular cooling of a shallow pluton, rather than exhumation. Our results imply that rapid incision along downstream channel segments, differential rock uplift, and growth of the Talamanca as a bivergent orogenic wedge associated with the onset of Cocos Ridge subduction are relatively young characteristics of the range. A review of previously published radiometric ages and revised plate reconstructions for the late Miocene further suggest that the cessation of arc volcanism in both the Cordillera de Talamanca and the Cordillera Central of western Panama was coeval with the initiation of oblique subduction of the Nazca plate during the late Miocene. Thus, we conclude that the cessation of arc volcanism in the late Miocene (>5-8 Ma) and the onset of Cocos Ridge collision (<3 Ma) are separate events that reflect recent changes in the configuration of the plate boundary system.

Along the Middle America Trench in southern Costa Rica, fl at slab subduction of the aseismic Cocos Ridge has uplifted and exposed the outer forearc, shortened the Térraba forearc basin sequence in the inner forearc (i.e., the Fila Costeña thrust belt), and uplifted the magmatic arc. The Osa Peninsula, an outer forearc high ~20 km inboard of the Middle America Trench and ~3 km to ~10 km above the plate interface at its trenchward edge, is deforming in response to variations in the bathymetry of the subducting aseismic Cocos Ridge where relief locally exceeds 1 km. Modern topography of the Osa Peninsula, elevation of the basement rocks (Early to Middle Tertiary Osa mélange), elevations of Quaternary marine deposits (Marenco formation), and distribution of late Quaternary uplift rates directly mirror the bathymetry on the Cocos Ridge outboard of the Middle America Trench. Rates of late Quaternary uplift are calculated from eight new radiocarbon ages, fi ve new optically stimulated luminescence ages, and 10 previously published radiocarbon ages. Rates of uplift range from 1.7 m/k.y. to 8.5 m/k.y. The Osa Peninsula is fragmented into small (~5 km), independently deforming blocks bounded by trench-parallel and trench-perpendicular, subvertical, normal and reverse faults that extend down to the plate interface, allowing for greatly different deformation histories over short distances. Quaternary deformation on the Osa Peninsula is modeled as a thin, outer-margin wedge that deforms in response to subduction of short-wavelength, high-relief asperities on the downgoing plate. Permanent deformation is largely accomplished by simple shear on a complex array of subvertical faults that allow the upper plate to adjust to variations in the slope of incoming ridges and seamounts. Currently, permanent deformation of the outer forearc does not appear to involve signifi cant subhorizontal shortening of the margin wedge, although the global positioning system velocity fi eld records elastic shortening related to locking of the plate interface. Permanent uplift and uplift rates in the outer forearc in southern Costa Rica are driven, to the fi rst order, by the bathymetry associated with the subducting Cocos Ridge and not by the basal shear stress on the plate interface.

New plate reconstructions constrain the tectonic evolution of the subducting Cocos and Nazca plates across the southern Central American subduction zone from late Miocene to recent. Because of the strong relationships between lower and upper (Caribbean) plate dynamics along this margin, these constraints have wide‐ranging implications for the timing and growth of upper plate deformation and volcanism in southern Central America. The reconstructions outline three important events in the Neogene history of this margin: (1) the coeval development of the Panama Triple Junction with the initiation of oblique subduction of the Nazca plate at ∼8.5 Ma; (2) the initiation of seamount and rough crust subduction beginning at ∼3–4 Ma; and (3) Cocos Ridge subduction from ∼2 to 3 Ma. A comparison of these events with independent geologic, geomorphic, volcanic, and stratigraphic data sets reveals that the timing, rates, and origin of subducting crust directly impacted the Neogene growth of upper plate deformation and volcanism in southern Central America. These analyses constrain the timing, geometry, and causes of a number of significant tectonic and volcanic processes, including rapid Plio‐Quaternary arc‐fore arc contraction due to Cocos Ridge subduction, the detachment of the Panama microplate at ∼1–3 Ma, and the late Miocene cessation of mantle‐wedge‐derived volcanism across ∼300 km of the subduction zone.