Prolonged plume volcanism in the Caribbean Large Igneous Province: New insights from Curaçao and Haiti

Abstract

[1] We present 36 new 40 Ar-39 Ar incremental heating age determinations from the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP) providing evidence for extended periods of volcanic activity and suggest a new tectonomagmatic model for the province's timing and construction. These new 40 Ar-39 Ar ages for the Curaçao Lava Formation (CLF) and Haiti's Dumisseau Formation show evidence for active CLIP volcanism from 94 to 63 Ma. No clear changes in geochemical character are evident over this period. The CLF has trace element signatures (e.g., Zr/Nb ¼ 10-20) and flat rare earth element (REE) trends consistent with plume volcanism. The Dumisseau Formation also has plume-like geochemistry and steeper REE trends similar to ocean island basalts. Volcanism in the Dumisseau Formation appears to have largely ceased by 83 Ma while at Curaçao it continued until 63 Ma. A rapidly surfacing and melting plume head alone does not fit this age distribution. Instead, we propose that the residual Galapagos plume head, following initial ocean plateau construction, was advected eastward by asthenospheric flow induced by subducting oceanic lithosphere. Slab rollback at the Lesser Antilles and Central America subduction zones created an extensional regime within the Caribbean plate. Mixing of plume with upwelling asthenospheric mantle provided a source for intermittent melting and eruption through the original plateau over a $30 Ma period.

Recycled crust in the Galápagos Plume source at 70 Ma: Implications for plume evolution

“…These terranes are markedly younger than CLIP related lavas (85-95 Ma) with 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages between 65-40 Ma and represent ancestral Galápagos plume tail segments accreted to Central America Hauff et al, 2000a;Hoernle et al, 2002). Around 23 Ma the Farallon Plate began spreading to form the Nazca and Cocos plates (e.g., Lonsdale, 2005). During the next 20 Ma the Galápagos hotspot and the Cocos-Nazca ridge experienced a series of complex interactions .…”

Heat flow estimates offshore Haiti in the Caribbean plate

“…Terre‐Neuve in Haiti, Above Rocks in Jamaica, Sierra‐Maestra in Cuba) have all a low radiogenic contribution of the crust to the surface heat‐flow. If the northern part of Haiti has a crust composed of island arc facies, the southern part of Haiti has a typical geochemical signature of CLIP (Loewen et al, , Figure a). A receiver function study (Corbeau et al, ) suggests that the crustal domain north of EPGFZ in Haiti is underlain by about 10 km of CLIP material, and thus that a large part of the crust in Haiti is made of underplated and low radiogenic basaltic material.…”

“…The structure and evolution of the Caribbean region result from the tectonic interactions of several major plates through time. The Caribbean plate formed in the Pacific during the Jurassic and thickened in the Cretaceous above a mantle plume/hotspot, that led to a large igneous province, the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP; Loewen, Duncan, Kent, & Krawl, ). The morphology of the oceanic domain of the Caribbean is governed by basins and structural highs, from west to east: the Yucatan Basin, the Cayman Trough, the Nicaraguan Rise, the Colombian Basin, the Beata Ridge, the Venezuelan Basin, the Aves Ridge and the Grenada Basin (Mauffret & Leroy, ).…”

Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

“…This phase postdates the separation of the CLIP from the Gal apagos hotspot, which coincided with subduction initiation along the western edge of the CLIP during the Campanian (Buchs, Hoernle, Hauff, & Baumgartner, 2016;Buchs et al, 2010). Some studies interpret this late plateau stage as the consequence of Gal apagos plume head volcanism in an extensional context (Escuder-Viruete et al, 2011;Loewen et al, 2013). The plume head was possibly entrained due to the eastward migration of the CLIP associated with slab rollback of the proto-Caribbean Plate.…”

“…The existence of the CLIP was suggested by the results of numerous drilling and seismic campaigns (Burke, 1988;Burke, Fox, & S ßeng€ or, 1978;Case, MacDonald, & Fox, 1990;Donnelly, 1973Donnelly, , 1994Donnelly, Melson, Kay, & Rogers, 1973;Edgar, Ewing, & Hennion, 1971;Mauffret & Leroy, 1997;Sinton, Duncan, Storey, Lewis, & Estrada, 1998;Sinton, Sigurdsson, & Duncan, 2000). Bulk of the CLIP is thought to have been emplaced on the Farallon Plate during the 94-89 Ma interval in relation to the Gal apagos hotspot activity Hauff et al, 2000;Loewen, Duncan, Kent, & Krawl, 2013;Kerr, 2014;Nerlich, Clark, & Bunge, 2014;Figure 2c). Onland, plateau igneous rocks crop out from Costa Rica to Ecuador, and in Curac ßao, Aruba, Hispaniola and Jamaica (Kerr, White, Thompson, Tarney, & Saunders, 2003;Vallejo et al, 2009).…”