Subduction of fore-arc crust beneath an intra-oceanic arc: The high-P Cuaba mafic gneisess and amphibolites of the Rio San Juan Complex, Dominican Republic
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Intra-oceanic island-arc formation can be studied through lower crustal and upper mantle xenoliths or from obducted sections of arc lithosphere. Middle to lower intra-oceanic arc crustal sections are well exposed in the Talkeetna of south-central Alaska and Kohistan of Pakistan Himalaya (Bard, 1983, Burg et al., 1998, DeBari and Coleman, 1989, Kelemen et al., 2003, Greene et al., 2006, Garrido et al., 2006, Dhuime et al., 2007, DeBari and Greene, 2011, Burg, 2011). In both regions, a tectonically dissected but relatively complete arc section of Mesozoic age outcrop, from lower residual mantle peridotites to upper volcanic rocks and sediments, through pyroxenites, lower crustal garnet-bearing metagabbroic rocks (mafic garnet granulites), gabbronorites and associated intrusions of diorite, tonalite and granite. The P–T conditions of metamorphic equilibria at the Moho recorded in both sections are of 850–1000 °C and 1–1.2 GPa (DeBari and Coleman, 1989, Kelemen et al., 2003, Yoshino and Okudaira, 2004, Hacker et al., 2008), indicating an arc crustal thickness of ~ 30 km. A high-P/high-T metamorphism attaining pressures ≥ 1.8 GPa has also been described at the base of the Kohistan section (Jijal complex), which is probably related to the later Indian–Asian collision (Ringuette et al., 1999, Anczkiewicz and Vance, 2000).
On the basis of mineral, whole rock and isotope compositions, a genetic link between the lowermost ultramafic part and the overlying gabbronoritic and volcanic mafic part has been proposed in the Talkeetna arc crustal section (DeBari and Coleman, 1989, DeBari and Sleep, 1991, Kelemen et al., 2003, 2006; Greene et al., 2006). Following this interpretation, the ultramafic–mafic sequence results from the crystallization of primitive arc magma in the lower crust and upper mantle. This is supported by the experimental work of Müntener et al. (2001), which successfully reproduced high-Mg# pyroxenites (Mg# ≤ 88) and low-Mg# liquids (Mg# ≥ 53) from the crystallization of high-Mg# magmas at hydrous (> 3% H2O) and P–T conditions typical of the lower arc crust. Greene et al., 2006 implement crystal fractionation models that reproduce the most primitive Talkeetna arc basalts and predict that 20–30% of the arc crust should be composed of pyroxenite, which contrasts sharply with the < 0.5 km-thick pyroxenite layer found between underlying residual mantle peridotites and overlying gabbronorites. Thus, missing primitive cumulates may have been viscously removed from the base of the Talkeetna arc section via density inestabilities (delamination) between more dense pyroxenites and underlying mantle (e.g., Behn and Kelemen et al., 2006).
A thick ultramafic layer of cumulates is also absent in the Kohistan arc crustal section, which has been interpreted as a consequence of delamination of dense, unstable lower crust and/or convective thermomechanical erosion of the sub-arc lithosphere (Garrido et al., 2006, Garrido et al., 2007, Dhuime et al., 2007). However, petrological observations, major and trace element and SrNdPb isotopic data from Kohistan, as well as REE numerical modeling, rule out a cumulate origin for the basal ultramafic sequence and suggest an alternatively origin by melt-rock reaction at the expense of the sub-arc oceanic mantle (Burg et al., 1998, Garrido et al., 2006, Garrido et al., 2007). The compositional variations observed between the ultramafic section and the overlying plutonic crust also discards a simple crystal fractionation model from a single parental magma (Dhuime et al., 2007). These variations indicate different mantle sources for the ultramafic and mafic rocks, which can be best explained by a multi-stage tectono-magmatic history for the ~ 30 Ma evolution of the Kohistan arc.
A multi-stage tectono-magmatic evolution has also been proposed to explain the characteristics of the mantle and crustal sections of the Puerto Plata ophiolitic complex (PPC), which forms part of the Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism in northern Dominican Republic of Hispaniola (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2014, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2016). In the crustal section, the older LREE-depleted tholeiitic melts are successively replaced by younger boninitic and island-arc tholeiitic (IAT) melts, which are similar in composition to the IAT of the overlying Los Caños Formation and contemporaneous Aptian–lower Albian basalts and basaltic andesites of the Los Ranchos Formation (Fm) and Cacheal complex. This temporal change in the mantle sources places important constraints on the magmatic and tectonic processes associated with the initiation and evolution of the Lower Cretaceous intra-oceanic Caribbean island-arc (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2006, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2010, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2014, Marchesi et al., 2006, Marchesi et al., 2016).
Located in the northeastern side of northern Hispaniola, the Rio San Juan metamorphic complex (RSJC; Fig. 1) contains several major structural units/nappes, whose Mesozoic mafic igneous protoliths also derive from arc-like magmas (Escuder-Viruete, 2010, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2011a, Gazel et al., 2011, Gazel et al., 2012). In structural ascending order, these units are: Helechal, Cuaba, Morrito and Rio Boba metagabbro suite (Draper and Nagle, 1991, Abbott and Draper, 2007, Escuder-Viruete, 2010, Saumur et al., 2010). Although the P–T metamorphic evolution of each unit and their links to the structural evolution have been established and in time constrained (Abbott and Draper, 2007, Abbott and Draper, 2013, Krebs et al., 2008, Krebs et al., 2011, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2013a, Escuder-Viruete et al., 2013b), the origin and significance of their protoliths is very little known. These data can shed light on the controversial origin and emplacement of the meter-size lenses of garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks included in the Cuaba subcomplex, which record ultra-high-P conditions in the mantle (Abbott et al., 2005, Abbott et al., 2006, Abbott et al., 2007, Abbott and Draper, 2007, Abbott and Draper, 2010, Abbott and Draper, 2013, De Hoog, 2012, Gazel et al., 2011, Gazel et al., 2012, Hattori et al., 2010a, Hattori et al., 2010b).
This paper present new detailed maps, tectonostratigraphy, large-scale structure, mineral chemistry, in situ trace element composition of clinopyroxene, and bulk rock geochemical data for representative ultramafic and mafic rocks of the Cuaba and Helechal subcomplexes, excluding the exotic garnet peridotite lenses. These data allow us to argue that the southern RSJC: (a) represents tectonically deformed and metamorphosed crust of the Caribbean intra-oceanic island-arc, (b) contains fragments of its supra-subduction zone (SSZ) mantle, and (c) includes different geochemical groups of arc-like mafic protoliths generated by varying partial melting degrees of diverse mantle sources. As Kohistan arc, the RSJC therefore records a multi-stage magmatic evolution for the Caribbean island-arc, prior to the Late Cretaceous high-P metamorphism. Further, the mafic protoliths present comparable geochemical features to mafic igneous rocks of the Puerca Gorda Schists, Cacheal and Puerto Plata complexes, which are all structurally located overlying the Jagua Clara mélange suture, as well as the Los Ranchos Fm. These relations suggest that the southern RSJC complex represents part of the subducted fore-arc of the Caribbean island-arc. This complex could experience initial subduction during early oblique arc–continent collision, underplating below the Caribbean island-arc, and final exhumation in the Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism. The absence of thick ultramafic cumulates also suggests delamination and/or thermomechanical erosion at the base of the Caribbean arc section during the advanced arc stage.
Section snippets
Main structural subdivision
The Greater Antilles orogenic belt results from the Mesozoic to Cenozoic oblique convergence and collision of the upper Caribbean and lower North American plates (Draper et al., 1994, García-Casco et al., 2008, Stanek et al., 2009, Pindell and Kennan, 2009). Northern Hispaniola contains several igneous and metamorphic inliers that collectively represent a segment of the subduction-to-collision accretionary prism of the orogenic belt (Fig. 1; Escuder-Viruete et al., 2011b, Escuder-Viruete et
The Cuaba and Helechal subcomplexes: field relations and petrography
Our mapping at the 1:50,000 scale covered the southernmost part of the RSJC and complemented the work of Draper and Nagle (1991). In this area, the Cuaba subcomplex is a 45 km long and < 8 km wide, lenticular slab, mainly composed of mafic metaigneous rocks and minor ultramafic lenses (Fig. 2 and Appendix A). Cross-section show that the unit is folded by WNW–ESE trending, D3 subvertical antiforms and synforms, which fold on a regional scale the S2 foliation in the different units, the tectonic
Major elements
Sample locations are shown in Fig. 2, which correspond to mafic metaigneous rocks of the Jobito and Guaconejo assemblages, as well as representative garnet-free peridotites of the Cuaba and Helechal subcomplexes. Some selected peridotite samples of the Gaspar Hernández and Jagua Clara mélange subcomplexes are also included for comparisons. Major element compositions of minerals were obtained by EMPA. Representative analytical data, instrumental details and analytical conditions are given in
Chemical changes due to alteration and metamorphism
Bulk rock compositions of major and trace elements were obtained by ICP-MS analysis with LiBO2 fusion. The results for selected samples of each geochemical group are reported in Appendix F, as well as details of analytical accuracy and reproducibility. The analyzed rocks of the La Cuaba and Helechal subcomplexes have been variably deformed and metamorphosed to greenschists, amphibolite and eclogite facies conditions. As certain major (e.g., Si, Na, K, Ca) and trace (e.g., Cs, Rb, Ba, Sr)
Origin of the highly depleted signature in the Cuaba subcomplex peridotites
The garnet-free peridotites of the Cuaba subcomplex are Cpx-poor harzburgites characterized by: (1) a low modal amount (or absence) of primary clinopyroxene; (2) high values of Cr# in spinel, forsterite end-member in olivine and Mg# in ortho and clinopyroxene; (3) low contents of Al2O3 and TiO2 in spinel, ortho and clinopyroxene; (4) low MREE and HREE abundances in clinopyroxene; (5) low Al2O3, TiO2 and CaO contents in whole-rock compositions; and (6) low contents in incompatible trace elements
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Gren Draper and Peter Baumgartner for their comments on the geology of Dominican Republic and the Caribbean paleogeography. We also thank Angela Suárez-Rodríguez (IGME) and Jacques Monthel (BRGM) for their involvement in mapping and sampling the Guayabito area. The Servicio Geológico Nacional of the Dominican Government is thanked for collaboration, particularly to Santiago Muñoz. Richard Abbott and Gren Draper provided very careful and constructive reviews. The
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2019, LithosCitation Excerpt :These ultra-depleted compositional characteristics are often interpreted as the result of further melting in a second-stage that took place in a SSZ environment (e.g., Marchesi et al., 2016; Pearce et al., 2000; Uysal et al., 2012). Accordingly, MREE and HREE concentrations in Cpx are similar to those in the forearc peridotites (e.g., Parkinson et al., 2003), the Massif du Sud ultra-depleted SSZ peridotites (Marchesi et al., 2009) and the SSZ depleted harzburgites from the Rio San Juan complex and Santa Elena nappe (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2015; Escuder-Viruete and Castillo-Carrión, 2016). Clinopyroxene from undeformed and deformed pyroxenite cumulate exhibits an extended trace-element pattern similar to the Cpx-rich harzburgite (Fig. 7).