Tectono-stratigraphic response of the Sandino Forearc Basin (N-Costa Rica and W-Nicaragua) to episodes of rough crust and oblique subduction

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Serval ID
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Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
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Title
Tectono-stratigraphic response of the Sandino Forearc Basin (N-Costa Rica and W-Nicaragua) to episodes of rough crust and oblique subduction
Journal
The Depositional Record
Author(s)
Andjic G., Baumgartner-Mora C., Baumgartner P. O., Petrizzo M. R.
ISSN
2055-4877
Publication state
Published
Issued date
13/02/2018
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
4
Pages
90-132
Language
english
Abstract
The southern Central American active margin is a world-class site where past and
present subduction processes have been extensively studied. Tectonic erosion/accretion
and oblique/orthogonal subduction are thought to alternate in space and time
along the Middle American Trench. These processes may cause various responses
in the upper plate, such as uplift/subsidence, deformation, and volcanic arc migration/
shut-off. We present an updated stratigraphic framework of the Late Cretaceous–
Cenozoic Sandino Forearc Basin (SFB) which provides evidence of
sedimentary response to tectonic events. Since its inception, the basin was predominantly
filled with deep-water volcaniclastic deposits. In contrast, shallow-water
deposits appeared episodically in the basin record and are considered as tectonic
event markers. The SFB stretches for about 300 km and varies in thickness from
5 km (southern part) to about 16 km (northern part). The drastic, along-basin, thickness
variation appears to be the result of (1) differential tectonic evolutions and (2)
differential rates of sediment supply. (1) The northern SFB did not experience major
tectonic events. In contrast, the reduced thickness of the southern SFB (5 km) is the
result of at least four uplift phases related to the collision/accretion of bathymetric
reliefs on the incoming plate: (i) the accretion of a buoyant oceanic plateau (Nicoya
Complex) during the middle Campanian; (ii) the collision of an oceanic plateau (?)
during the late Danian–Selandian; (iii) the collision/accretion of seamounts during
the late Eocene–early Oligocene; (iv) the collision of seamounts and ridges during
the Pliocene–Holocene. (2) The northwestward thickening of the SFB may have
been enhanced by high sediment supply in the Fonseca Gulf area which reflects
sourcing from wide, high relief drainage basins. In contrast, sedimentary input has
possibly been lower along the southern SFB, due to the proximity of the narrow,
lowland isthmus of southern Central America. Moreover, two phases of strongly
oblique subduction affected the margin, producing strike-slip faulting in the forearc
basin: (1) prior to the Farallon Plate breakup, an Oligocene transpressional phase
caused deformation and uplift of the basin depocenter, triggering shallowing-upward
of the Nicaraguan Isthmus in the central and northern SFB; (2) a Pleistocene–Holocene transtensional phase drives the NW-directed motion of a forearc sliver
and reactivation of the graben-bounding faults of the late Neogene Nicaraguan
Depression. We discuss arguments in favour of a Pliocene development of the
Nicaraguan Depression and propose that the Nicaraguan Isthmus, which is the
apparent rift shoulder of the depression, represents a structure inherited from the Oligocene
transpressional phase.
Keywords
Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic, Nicaragua, oblique subduction, Sandino forearc basin, seamount/plateau collision, tectonic uplift
Open Access
Yes
Create date
10/12/2018 18:32
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:53
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