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Cenozoic rift formation in the northern CaribbeanRifts form in many different tectonic environments where the lithosphere is put into extension. An outline is provided of the distribution, orientation, and relative ages of 16 Cenozoic rifts along the northern edge of the Caribbean plate and it is suggested that these structures formed successively by localized extension as the Caribbean plate moved eastward past a continental promontory of North America. Evidence leading to this conclusion includes (1) recognition that the rifts become progressively younger westward; (2) a two-phase subsidence history in a rift exposed by upthrusting in Jamaica; (3) the absence of rifts east of Jamaica; and (4) the observation that removal of 1400 km of strike-slip displacement on the Cayman Trough fault system places the Paleogene rifts of Jamaica in an active area of extension south of Yucatan where the rifts of Honduras and Guatemala are forming today.
Document ID
19850056208
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Mann, P.
(Texas, University Austin, TX; New York, State University, Albany, NY, United States)
Burke, K.
(Lunar and Planetary Institute; Houston, University Houston, TX; New York, State University, Albany, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Geology
Volume: 12
ISSN: 0091-7613
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
85A38359
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF EAR-78-03319
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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