The geology of Cuba: A brief overview and synthesis

Abstract

Cuba is the largest island in the Greater Antilles, and its geology records three important episodes: (1) the Jurassic breakup of North and South America (Pangea) and associated passive margin and oceanic sedimentary and magmatic evolution; (2) the sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic evolution of an intra-oceanic Cretaceous-Paleogene ophiolite-arc complex; and (3) the Paleogene "soft collision" and transfer of the NW Caribbean plate (and Cuba) to the North American plate. Thick sequences of JurassicCretaceous strata (conglomerates, sandstones, limestones, dolostones, shales) and interlayered basaltic rocks characterize passive margin sequences preserved in the Guaniguanico terrane (western Cuba, related to the Mayan passive margin and the Gulf of Mexico) and the Bahamas Platform borderlands (north of Cuba). Passive margin deposition ceased in latest Cretaceous time, when increasing relief of accreted (overriding) oceanic arc and ophiolite complexes shed coarse sediments (olistostrome and flysch), followed by carbonate deposition. Fragments of the intervening oceanic lithosphere (Proto-Caribbean, connected to the Central Atlantic) and fore-and back-arc oceanic lithosphere (Caribbean, of Pacific origin) occur as tectonic fragments detached from the ophiolitic units, including serpentinized harzburgites and dunites, banded and isotropic gabbros, basalts (tholeiitic and fore-arc basalts, locally with boninites) and Late Jurassic (Tithonian) through Late Cretaceous (Coniacian and younger) oceanic sediments. Arc activity in the Cuban segment of the Greater Antilles produced sedimentary, volcanic, and plutonic rocks during Cretaceous times (ca. 135-70 Ma). A new arc developed in eastern Cuba during Paleocene-middle Eocene times. Cuban arc sequences include island-arc tholeiitic, calcalkaline, and alkaline bimodal suites of volcanic and plutonic rocks. Remnants of ProtoCaribbean oceanic lithosphere occur as exhumed mélange-bearing eclogite-, blueschist-, and garnet-amphibolite-facies tectonic blocks (oldest age ca. 120 Ma) within a serpentinite matrix intercalated with, or at the base of, the overthrusted ophiolitic bodies. Cuban Cretaceous arc magmatic activity ended due The geology of Cuba: A brief overview and synthesis to the subduction of Proto-Caribbean passive margin sequences of the Caribeana terrane, an offshore protuberance of Yucatan. This event formed strongly deformed high-pressure metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks at ca. 70 Ma, when the Caribbean plate began to collide with North America. The collision, which included overriding of the ophiolitic and arc units over both subducted and unsubducted passive margin sequences, also produced synorogenic basins and filled them, a process that continued until ca. 40 Ma. This foldbelt was succeeded by local uplift and subsidence to form late Eocene-Recent unconformable post-orogenic continental basins.

¡Cuba! River Water Chemistry Reveals Rapid Chemical Weathering, the Echo of Uplift, and the Promise of More Sustainable Agriculture

“…The diverse geology of Cuba reflects its tectonic setting at the boundary of the North America and Caribbean plates. Central Cuban basement lithologies include accreted igneous rocks, sediments (clastic, carbonate, and evaporite) formed along passive margins, obducted ophiolite, and island arc rocks (Iturralde-Vinent et al, 2016). This basement is unconformably overlain by slightly deformed, younger marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks (Iturralde-Vinent, 1994).…”

An Alternative Scenario on the Origin of Ultra-High Pressure (UHP) and Super-Reduced (SuR) Minerals in Ophiolitic Chromitites: A Case Study from the Mercedita Deposit (Eastern Cuba)

“…The Mercedita chromitite deposit is located in eastern Cuba (Figure 1a), part of the Mayarí-Baracoa ophiolitic belt. It is associated with Cretaceous HP serpentinite-matrix subduction mélanges (Sierra del Convento and La Corea), Early to Late Cretaceous volcanic arc sequences, and a Late Cretaceous metamorphic sole (the Güira de Jauco Amphibolite Complex) related to the onset of ophiolite obduction [16,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] (Figure 1a,b). The synorogenic La Picota and Mícara formations date oceanic arc-terrane collision and exhumation during latest Cretaceous to earliest Paleocene times, prior to the final northeasterly verging collision with the Bahamas platform and accretion of tectonic pile onto the North American plate (Figure 1b) [23,27,28,35,36].…”

Trampas No Convencionales Asociadas Con Ofiolitas De La Faja Septentrional De Hidrocarburos (La Habana-Matanzas, Cuba)

“…Situado en el extremo noroccidental del Mar Caribe el archipiélago cubano es de origen plutónicovolcánico, aunque actualmente constituye un cinturón plegado acrecionado al margen meridional de la Placa Norteamericana (Sykes et al, 1982;Stephan et al, 1990;Iturralde-Vinent et al, 2016). Las características geológicas del territorio cubano son el resultado de una historia tectosedimentaria multiepisódica, representada por una serie de secuencias y estructuras relacionadas estrechamente con la evolución del Caribe Occidental.…”

“…Las ofiolitas se presentan discontinuamente en la mitad septentrional de la isla en decenas de afloramientos desde Cajálbana (Pinar del Río), al occidente, hasta Baracoa la provincia de Holguín (zona oriental) con una extensión de unos 1000 km de largo y varias decenas de km de ancho (FIGURA 4). En general, presentan una estructura muy compleja relacionada con las secuencias volcánicas y del margen norteamericano originada por el emplazamiento tectónico de obducción desde el Cretácico tardío al Eoceno tardío (Pszczolkowski, 1999;Iturralde-Vinent et al, 2016). Exhiben deformaciones muy variadas en superficie tanto como fajas estrechas muy deformadas dúctil y frágilmente (FIGURA 5), o bien como mantos o escamas tectónicas con diversas potencias deca a hectométricas.…”

“…Principales afloramientos de las rocas máfico-ultramáficas de Cuba (tomado deIturralde-Vinent et al, 2016).…”