Trinidad and Tobago

Arkle, Jeanette C.; Owen, Lewis A.; Weber, John C.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-55787-8_17

Cited by 5 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The development of normal faults and extension of the upper crust as a result of flexural bulging is consistent with shallow stress‐fields modeled for STEP faulting (Govers & Wortel, 2005) and is observed in other known tear fault localities (e.g., Gallais et al., 2013; Polonia et al., 2016). The overall slow rates and shallow magnitudes of exhumation post‐Pliocene we observe are consistent with low rates of surface erosion measured over millennial‐timescales (Arkle, Owen, Weber, Caffee, & Hammer, 2017), and enhanced subsidence in the Gulf of Paria pull‐apart basin (Babb & Mann, 1999; Flinch et al., 1999).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Extension and subsidence of the Gulf of Paria pull‐apart basin occurred in the middle Pliocene to Pleistocene as the Central Range fault became the principal strike‐slip fault in Trinidad (e.g., Flinch et al., 1999; Babb & Mann, 1999). In response to subsidence in the Gulf of Paria, the east‐side‐up tilting observed in the western Northern Range is generally constrained to the Pliocene and Quaternary (Figure 3; Arkle, Owen, Weber, Caffee, & Hammer, 2017; Ritter & Weber, 2007; Weber, 2005). The synchronous change in exhumation rates defined by the AHe ages more narrowly constrains the inversion to east‐side‐up tilting of the Northern Range to have occurred at ∼4 Ma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1998), Weber, Ferrill, and Roden‐Tice (2001), and Cruz et al. (2007) and 10 Be erosion rate data are from Arkle, Owen, Weber, Caffee, and Hammer (2017). Fission track samples that failed the chi‐squared test or are partially reset have a line on the symbol and unreset zircon fission track (ZFT) ages are not shown here.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The development of the Gulf of Paria basin is related to pull‐apart extension (Babb & Mann, 1999). This extension contributes to the modern subsidence of the eastern Paria Peninsula and western Northern Range and likely caused Quaternary east‐side‐up tilting of the Northern Range (Arkle, Owen, & Weber, 2017; Arkle, Owen, Weber, Caffee, & Hammer, 2017; Ritter & Weber, 2007; Weber, 2005). The majority of current Caribbean plate boundary dextral shear, ∼12 – 15 mm/yr, is accommodated along the Central Range Fault in central Trinidad, which is ∼30 km south of the Northern Range (Figures 1 and 2; Weber, Dixon, et al., 2001; Weber et al., 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geomorphic patterns and estimates of surface uplift rates from Quaternary marine terraces indicate that the locus of uplift and exhumation in the west inverted to east‐side‐up tilting of the Northern Range post‐collision (Ritter & Weber, 2007; Weber, 2005). 10 Be erosion rate data and geomorphic analyses indicate this inversion initiated during the mid‐Pliocene to the Holocene and that tectonic tilting was the dominant driver of inversion and east‐side‐up tilting of the Northern Range (Arkle, Owen, Weber, Caffee, & Hammer, 2017). The along‐strike transition from surface subsidence in the west to uplifted topography in the east could alternatively correspond with STEP‐related processes and be related to lithospheric flexure at the plate corner.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exhumation of the Coastal Metamorphic Belt Above the Subduction‐to‐Transform Transition, in the Southeast Caribbean Plate Corner

et al. 2021

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Plate corners that transition from subduction to transform motion can result in complex deformation. The southeastern corner of the Caribbean plate is a site where active westward subduction of the oceanic South American plate transitions to transform motion along continental South America. The Northern Range (Trinidad) and Paria (Venezuela) metamorphic mountains are located directly above this eastward propagating plate transition zone. We examined the exhumation history of the Northern Range and eastern Paria using apatite fission track (AFT) and apatite and zircon (U‐Th)/He (AHe and ZHe, respectively) thermochronology on 21 bedrock samples. These samples yield ages of ∼43–6 Ma (ZHe: aliquots), ∼20–4 Ma (AFT: pooled) and ∼5–2 Ma (AHe: aliquots). Along strike of the mountains, our new and published samples show a gradual eastward increase in age. Thermal modeling reveals two phases of rapid cooling and inferred exhumation that post‐dates oblique collision and that migrated from west to east. We record an ∼six‐fold increase in cooling and exhumation between ∼13–9 Ma in the Paria Peninsula and western Northern Range; a deceleration followed this rapid exhumation at ∼7 and 5 Ma. Synchronous with the deceleration in the west, exhumation of the eastern Northern Range increased ∼4 Ma. These post‐collisional changes in exhumation constrain the inversion to east‐side‐up tilting of the Northern Range to ∼4 Ma. We interpret the timing and pattern of exhumation since the mid‐Miocene to be consistent with the time‐transgressive processes produced by an eastward propagating lithospheric subduction‐transform edge propagator fault.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exhumation of the Coastal Metamorphic Belt Above the Subduction‐to‐Transform Transition, in the Southeast Caribbean Plate Corner

et al. 2021

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Two Islands, Two Origins

Murphy,

Weber,

Jowers

et al. 2024

Islands and Snakes

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The Trinidad-Tobago archipelago contains two major islands and about 25 satellite islands ranging in size from 3.6 km2 to less than 1 ha. Despite different origins, both islands with satellites share a continental biota and have a rich snake fauna originating from vicariance and dispersal events. The authors used published molecular and morphological data to compare the two faunas and here discuss their origins and biogeography. Relatively high snake diversity and local endemics are present on both islands, which share some species with each other or with the mainland. Spatiotemporal distribution patterns illuminated by genetic clocks enhance understanding of evolution in the region and provide a more general example for the study of other biogeographic patterns. The authors also examined the literature for historical records. Trinidad shares many species with the Paria Peninsula in Eastern Venezuela, while Tobago species are more closely related to those from Venezuela’s more distant Central Caribbean Coastal Range.

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Testing molecular date estimates using an ecological and vicariant case study in treefrogs: The Geological‐Ecological Molecular Calibration

Jowers,

Pajares,

Weber

et al. 2024

Journal of Biogeography

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AimTo date a vicariant event through the mutualistic relationship of a hylid frog and its bromeliad host found across two isolated mountain ranges as part of an island–continental split and to use this information to calibrate a molecular dating analysis of hylids.LocationSouth America.Time PeriodPliocene.Major Taxa StudiedTreefrogs, Arboranae.MethodsPliocene tectonic movements sank a portion of a mountain range that connected present‐day Trinidad (island) and northern Venezuela, eventually isolating populations of the golden tree frog Phytotriades auratus and its host bromeliad Glomeropitcairnia erectiflora on both sides of a saltwater barrier. We estimated the submersion rate timing of the vicariant event, then employed ecological niche modelling to establish the distribution of the frog and its host to the Pliocene. We generated nucleotide sequence data for the hylid on each side of the marine barrier and proposed a biogeographic calibration for the split between populations. Using Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, we evaluated the impact of incorporating this biogeographic calibration on estimates of treefrog divergence times.ResultsA relatively continuous, high‐elevation mountain range existed before the Pliocene and the opening of the Gulf of Paria (4.45 ± 0.85 Ma). Phytotriades auratus and G. erectiflora would have been distributed across the Paria and Northern Range mountains as a single population since the Pliocene. Divergence times among treefrogs (Arboranae) were older than those inferred using fossil calibrations alone, with mean age estimates for subfamilies and genera being ~2 and ~1.2 million years older, respectively.Main ConclusionsOur study presents a biogeographic calibration based on a vicariant model that connects the evolution of the populations of a hylid through geology and ecological data. The implementation of this date as a molecular clock calibration reduces the uncertainty in date estimates for the shallower nodes in the phylogeny of Arboranae.

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Trinidad and Tobago

Cited by 5 publications

References 51 publications

Exhumation of the Coastal Metamorphic Belt Above the Subduction‐to‐Transform Transition, in the Southeast Caribbean Plate Corner

Exhumation of the Coastal Metamorphic Belt Above the Subduction‐to‐Transform Transition, in the Southeast Caribbean Plate Corner

Two Islands, Two Origins

Testing molecular date estimates using an ecological and vicariant case study in treefrogs: The Geological‐Ecological Molecular Calibration

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