Geology of the Azua and Enriquillo basins, Dominican Republic; 2, Structure and tectonics

Mann, Paul; McLaughlin, Peter P.; Cooper, Calvin

doi:10.1130/spe262-p367

Cited by 17 publications

(37 citation statements)

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“…As a consequence, the deformation is partitioned between left-lateral strike-slip faults as the Septentrional fault (SF) and the EPGF and a series of folds and thrusts [Mann et al, 1995;Saint Fleur, 2014] (Figure 1). The CSE Quaternary basin is bounded to the north by the frontal thrusts of the southwestward verging Haiti fold and thrust belt (HFTB) and to the south by the southwestward dipping thrusts that limit and uplift the oceanic crust (Massif de la Selle-Sierra de Bahoruco, MSB, Figure 1) (Granja Bruña et al [2014], Mann et al [1991a], and crosscut by thrusts that reach the seafloor, indicating late Quaternary activity [Mann et al, 1995]. South of the Gonâve Island, a~50 km long, south dipping, N120°E striking active thrust system (Trois-Baies) was recognized [Mercier de Lépinay et al, 2011] (Figure 2a).…”

Section: Seismotectonic Setting Of the 2010 Haiti Earthquakementioning

confidence: 99%

Seismotectonics of southern Haiti: A new faulting model for the 12 January 2010M7.0 earthquake

Fleur

Feuillet

Grandin

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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The prevailing consensus is that the 2010 Mw7.0 Haiti earthquake left the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden strike‐slip fault (EPGF) unruptured but broke unmapped blind north dipping thrusts. Using high‐resolution topography, aerial images, bathymetry, and geology, we identified previously unrecognized south dipping NW‐SE striking active thrusts in southern Haiti. One of them, Lamentin thrust, cuts across the crowded city of Carrefour, extends offshore into Port‐au‐Prince Bay, and connects at depth with the EPGF. We propose that both faults broke in 2010. The rupture likely initiated on the thrust and propagated further along the EPGF due to unclamping. This scenario is consistent with geodetic, seismological, and field data. The 2010 earthquake increased the stress toward failure on the unruptured segments of the EPGF and on neighboring thrusts, significantly increasing the seismic hazard in the Port‐au‐Prince urban area. The numerous active thrusts recognized in that area must be considered for future evaluation of the seismic hazard.

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Section: Seismotectonic Setting Of the 2010 Haiti Earthquakementioning

confidence: 99%

Seismotectonics of southern Haiti: A new faulting model for the 12 January 2010M7.0 earthquake

Fleur

Feuillet

Grandin

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…From east to west, the Puerto Rico trench and north Hispaniola and Oriente faults define the southern boundary of the North America plate (Fig. 1), and the Muertos Trough and Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden fault zone and Walton fault define the northern boundary of the Caribbean plate (Heubeck et al 1990; Mann et al 1991; Rosencrantz & Mann 1991; Mann et al 1995; Fig. 1).…”

Section: Tectonic Setting and Microplate Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

GPS estimates of microplate motions, northern Caribbean: evidence for a Hispaniola microplate and implications for earthquake hazard

Benford¹,

DeMets²,

Calais

2012

Geophysical Journal International

111

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SUMMARY We use elastic block modelling of 126 GPS site velocities from Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and other islands in the northern Caribbean to test for the existence of a Hispaniola microplate and estimate angular velocities for the Gônave, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico‐Virgin Islands and two smaller microplates relative to each other and the Caribbean and North America plates. A model in which the Gônave microplate spans the whole plate boundary between the Cayman spreading centre and Mona Passage west of Puerto Rico is rejected at a high confidence level. The data instead require an independently moving Hispaniola microplate between the Mona Passage and a likely diffuse boundary within or offshore from western Hispaniola. Our updated angular velocities predict 6.8 ± 1.0 mm yr−1 of left‐lateral slip along the seismically hazardous Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden fault zone of southwest Hispaniola, 9.8 ± 2.0 mm yr−1 of slip along the Septentrional fault of northern Hispaniola and ∼14–15 mm yr−1 of left‐lateral slip along the Oriente fault south of Cuba. They also predict 5.7 ± 1 mm yr−1 of fault‐normal motion in the vicinity of the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden fault zone, faster than previously estimated and possibly accommodated by folds and faults in the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden fault zone borderlands. Our new and a previous estimate of Gônave‐Caribbean plate motion suggest that enough elastic strain accumulates to generate one to two Mw∼ 7 earthquakes per century along the Enriquillo‐Plantain Garden and nearby faults of southwest Hispaniola. That the 2010 M= 7.0 Haiti earthquake ended a 240‐yr‐long period of seismic quiescence in this region raises concerns that it could mark the onset of a new earthquake sequence that will relieve elastic strain that has accumulated since the late 18th century.

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“…The detrital feldspar fraction in Pliocene deposits consists of labradorite that signals erosion and sourcing from CLIP-type basalts in the area (Bizon et al, 1985;Desreumaux, (1987), in Bourgueil et al, 1988). A similar facies change occurred during the late Miocene to Pliocene in the Enriquillo Basin in the Dominican Republic (Mann et al, 1991b;McLaughlin and Sen Gupta, 1991;Díaz de Neira, 2002). Quaternary continental facies were deposited in basins along-strike and proximal to the trace of the EPGFZ, and in the Les Cayes, Leogâne and Cul-de-Sac basins (Fig.…”

Section: Stratigraphy Of the Southern Peninsulamentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Miocene uplift and deformation is also recorded in the eastern Enriquillo Valley in the Dominican Republic (Mann et al, 1991b;McLaughlin and Sen Gupta, 1991;Díaz de Neira, 2002).…”

Section: Late Miocene -Present-day; Strike-slip To Transpressive Defomentioning

confidence: 97%

Polyphase tectonic history of the Southern Peninsula, Haiti: from folding-and-thrusting to transpressive strike-slip

et al. 2019

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The Southern Peninsula of Haiti is a seismically active east-west trending transpressive mountain range with elevations over 2 km. Present-day deformation is mainly partitioned along the left-lateral Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EPGFZ) and associated oblique reverse faults and/or folds. The configuration of these faults, their respective timing, and the role of structural heritage on their development is poorly understood. To address these questions we present the results of extensive field campaigns, combined with satellite imagery interpretation and published data, which allows us to constrain the Cenozoic evolution of the Southern Peninsula. Our results show a polyphase tectonic history consisting of three major tectonic events: 1) Maastrichtian to early Paleocene crustal-scale folding that developed coevally with predominantly north to northeast dipping thrusts, resulting in uplift and erosion of the Cretaceous sedimentary cover in large parts of the Southern Peninsula. 2) Early Miocene uplift and erosion, which was strongest in the southwestern part of the peninsula and decreased eastwards, did not affect the Massif de la Selle. Uplift is most likely unrelated to strike-slip activity but resulted from folding in response to NE-SW shortening that possibly reactivated older, predominantly N-to NE-dipping thrusts. 3) Late Miocene to present-day deformation and uplift. Spatially distributed strike-slip started during the late Miocene and became progressively focused along the EPGFZ in the latest Miocene. Oblique and thrust faults locally postdate strike-slip activity from the Pliocene onward. Increase in compressional deformation from west to east is reflected by a change in structural style, with predominantly strike-slip faults in the west and transpressional faults in the east, the latter possibly rooted on the EPGFZ at depth. Paleo-stresses associated with a strikeslip regime are at a significantly high angle to the trace of the EPGFZ, indicating that the EPGFZ is a mechanically weak fault.

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Geology of the Azua and Enriquillo basins, Dominican Republic; 2, Structure and tectonics

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Seismotectonics of southern Haiti: A new faulting model for the 12 January 2010M7.0 earthquake

Seismotectonics of southern Haiti: A new faulting model for the 12 January 2010M7.0 earthquake

GPS estimates of microplate motions, northern Caribbean: evidence for a Hispaniola microplate and implications for earthquake hazard

Polyphase tectonic history of the Southern Peninsula, Haiti: from folding-and-thrusting to transpressive strike-slip

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