Neotectonic faulting and forearc sliver motion along the Atirro-Rio Sucio fault system, Costa Rica, Central America

Late Miocene to recent plate tectonic history of the southern Central America convergent margin

“…The southern Central America convergent margin results from the subduction of the Cocos and Nazca plates beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle American Trench. The Cocos plate (CO, Figures 1 and 3) subducts rapidly (81 mm/a) and orthogonally to the northeast beneath the Caribbean plate [DeMets et al, 2010;Argus et al, 2011;Kobayashi et al, 2014] and is bound to its east by the Panama Fracture Zone (PFZ, Figure 1) [Lowrie et al, 1979;Bird, 2003], a transform fault whose intersection with the trench represents the Outer Forearc Rapid vertical tectonics on Nicoya Peninsula [Marshall and Anderson, 1995;Gardner et al, 2001;Sak et al, 2009;Marshall, 2008] Emergence and deformation of the Burica [Corrigan et al, 1990;Morell et al, 2011] and Osa Peninsulas [Gardner et al, 1992;Sak et al, 2004;Gardner et al, 2013] Southeastward migration of deformation on Burica Peninsula [Morell et al, 2011] Vertical tectonism within offshore slope sediments [von Huene et al, 1995[von Huene et al, , 2000] Subduction erosion [Ranero and von Huene, 2000] Rapid sedimentation and subduction erosion [Vannucchi et al, 2013] Trench embayment [Vannucchi et al, 2013;Gardner et al, 2013] Inner forearc Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt [Marshall et al, 2000;Sak et al, 2009] Development of the Fila Costeña thrust belt Fisher et al, 2004] Escape faulting away from the ridge [Kobayashi et al, 2014] Southeastward migration of the Fila Costeña Thrust Belt [Morell et al, 2008 Arc Shift of the active volcanic front [Marshall et al, 2003] Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt [Marshall et al, 2000;Montero et al, 2013] Exhumation of the Cordillera de Talamanca volcanic arc [Gr€ afe et al, 2...…”

“…This implication is supported by geomorphic and stratigraphic data that constrain the rapid vertical tectonics on the Nicoya Peninsula to less than 500 ka [Hare and Gardner, 1985;Gardner et al, 2001;Marshall, 2008;Sak et al, 2009]. Third, a number of seismic, geologic, and geomorphic data sets show that seamount subduction created the Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt (CCRDB, Figure 1), characterized by vertical faults that bound small (10 km) blocks in the fore arc, and diffuse deformation in the arc [von Huene et al, 1995;Ranero and von Huene, 2000;von Huene et al, 2000;Ranero et al, 2008;Marshall et al, 2000;Sak et al, 2009;Montero et al, 2013]. Given the evolution of seamount subduction depicted in Figure 5, the reconstructions imply that faults analogous to those in the present-day Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt could have first developed in the Pliocene and then expanded along-strike and across-strike as the influence of rough crust subduction continued to increase (Figure 7).…”

El sismo de Capellades del 2016 y su secuencia sísmica: Manifestación de fallamiento de rumbo en el arco volcánico de Costa Rica

“…Para esta zona, Montero (2003) y Montero et al (2013b) propusieron una cuenca de tracción (pull-apart) que denominan Turrialba -Irazú, que incluye fallas neotectónicas de rumbo noroeste predominantemente dextrales, como las fallas Azul, Turrialba y Tucurrique (FIGURA 2), pertenecientes a los sistemas de fallas Atirro y Río Sucio.…”

El Sistema de Falla Navarro: desplazamientos izquierdos a lo largo del Cinturón Deformado del Centro de Costa Rica

“…Del lado pacífico, la placa del Coco se subduce bajo la placa Caribe. Dentro de esta última se reconoce el bloque del Antearco Centroamericano, el cual tiene un escape tectónico al NW, que es paralelo a la fosa Mesoamericana (LaFemina et al, 2009;Montero et al, 2013a) y con una tasa de movimiento de entre 8 a 11 mm/año ( Fig. 1; LaFemina et al, 2009;Feng et al, 2012).…”

“…En la región central de Costa Rica, se ha definido el Cinturón Deformado del Centro de Costa Rica (CDCCR), que corresponde con una zona de deformación ancha caracterizada por fallas dextrales de rumbo NW a norte-sur y fallas sinestrales de rumbo este-oeste a ENE ( Fig. 1; Marshall et al, 2000;Montero, 2001;Montero et al, 2013a). Los mecanismos focales obtenidos para sismos recientes concuerdan con las fallas neotectónicas cartografiadas (Montero & Dewey, 1982;Fan et al, 1993;Fisher et al, 1994;Fernández, 1995;Fernández & Pacheco, 1998;López, 1999;Quintero & Güendel, 2000;Marshall et al, 2000;Montero, 2001).…”