Evolution of the Northern Part of the Lesser Antilles Arc—Geochemical Constraints From St. Barthélemy Island Lavas

Abstract

The Lesser Antilles arc, located at the easternmost boundary of the Caribbean plate, is related to the westward subduction of the Atlantic oceanic lithosphere of the North and South American Plates below the Caribbean Plate at a rate of ∼2.1-2.2 cm yr −1 (De Mets et al., 2000;Jordan, 1975;Minster & Jordan, 1978) (Figure 1a). The arc shows a north-south dichotomy along the Lesser Antilles margin. The Lesser Antilles arc intruded the upper plate in the south and has not shifted its position since the Late Eocene-Early Miocene (Aitken et al., 2011;Speed et al., 1993), where it is still active till date. To the north, remnants of a Late Eocene-Latest Oligocene extinct arc crop out in the forearc of the present-day active arc (e.g., Westercamp, 1988) (Figures 1a-1b).