| Return to Caribbean Plate Origin Return to the Meetings page. |
 |
|
Organization Networking Strategy and Activities Report 2000 Membership | Scientific Progress Report for Year 2000. IGCP Project 433: Caribbean Plate Tectonics.
M. Iturralde-Vinent and Edward Lidiak |
Introduction
During the 15th Caribbean Geological Conference held June 28-July 2, 1998 in Jamaica, the Permanent Standing Committee of the Caribbean Conferences agreed that it will be very important to organize a new IGCP project focused on Caribbean plate tectonic models. Such a project was approved by the IGCP Scientific Board last February, 2000.
The project is planned as a five-year (2000-2004) evaluation of existing Caribbean Plate Tectonic Models and paleogeographic reconstructions. It will encourage a critical review of existing models and promote fundamental discussions concerning the basic facts that should serve as a framework for the formulation of a properly substantiated model of the origin and evolution of the Caribbean.
As the Caribbean is a region where the interaction between two continents and two oceans have been taking place along major tectonic zones, the knowledge obtained from this project will contribute to the improvement of plate tectonics theory and practice, and will produce more refined paleogeographic reconstructions of the area. Societal benefits are enhanced with the possibility of improving forecasts of geodynamically-driven catastrophes thanks to a better understanding of plate tectonics.
During the five-year duration of the project, researchers will assemble in key areas of the Caribbean and its surroundings to discuss in extensus their different points of view and to share their field experience and expertise. Field workshops are being organized in critical areas of the Caribbean where specific subjects and problems can be discussed. An active Internet website and an email forum (see networking below) has been created for the members of the project to communicate and share information and ideas.
Organization
The project is organized into several working groups. The leaders are Manuel A. Iturralde-Vinent (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Obispo no. 61, Plaza de Armas, La Habana 10100, Cuba; Email iturralde@mnhnc.inf.cu) and Edward G. Lidiak (Dept. of Geology & Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, U. S. A.; Email egl@vms.cis.pitt.edu). In order to join these working groups, please just email to M. Iturralde-Vinent your preference, one or more. The following is a list of the working groups:
WG-1. Coordination Group. Leaders of the project and leaders of the working groups will integrate and coordinate the efforts of the membership of the project, organize meetings and workshops, keep the web page updated, and promote the accomplishments and goals of the project.
WG-2. Positioning of major plates: Jurassic to Recent. This group will evaluate existing models for the break-up of Pangaea and the evolution of the major plates surrounding the Caribbean (NOAM, SOAM, FARALLON, NAZCA, COCOS, etc.) from Jurassic to Recent. As a result they will provide the other working groups with a modern framework for the reconstruction of the Caribbean area.
WG-3. Positioning of terranes of Northern South America. This group will define plates, blocks and terranes, will identify the palinspastic evolution, historic position and relationships, and produce sets of time-framed reconstructions of the tectonic position of these terranes.
WG-4. Positioning of terranes of Southern North America. This group will define plates, blocks and terranes, will identify the palinspastic evolution, historic position and relationships, and produce sets of time-framed reconstructions of the tectonic position of these terranes.
WG-5. Positioning of terranes of the Greater Antilles. This group will define plates, blocks and terranes, will identify the palinspastic evolution, historic position and relationships, and produce sets of time-framed reconstructions of the tectonic position of these terranes.
WG-6. Positioning of terranes in Central America. This group will define plates, blocks and terranes, will identify their palinspastic evolution, historic position and relationships, and produce sets of time-framed reconstructions of the tectonic position of these terranes.
WG-7. Paleontological support of Caribbean Paleogeography. The purpose of this group is to study the fossil assemblages - marine and terrestrial - of different ages in distinct terranes, and identify the biogeographic and paleogeographic implications of its occurrences, with special focus on their input toward understanding the positioning of the terranes in selected time-frames.
WG-8. Geochronological, Geochemical and Paleomagnetic control of the historic position of terrenes, plates and subduction zones. This group will evaluate the tectonic positions of Caribbean terranes, plates and subduction zones taking into account geochronology, geochemistry and paleomagnetics.
WG-9. Origin, composition and age of the Caribbean oceanic lithosphere. This group will investigate the occurrence of oceanic crust of different ages within the Caribbean, both in the present marine basins and regions of obducted lithosphere.
Networking
The network of the project is based on two main Internet sites, a WebSite (http://www.ig.utexas.edu/CaribPlate/CaribPlate.html) and an email discussion group (carib@egroups.com).
The WebSite is intended to provide current information on Caribbean tectonics; it is updated generally every month. At this site is found the full text of the project, references to papers dedicated to the Caribbean geology, direct access to existing Caribbean Plate Tectonic models, a list of forthcoming meetings and workshops, important news, and a forum section, which may be used to post questions and data related to specific topics. For example, presently in the forum are well-illustrated discussions of major problems associated with present tectonic models. Links to related WebSites may also be found.
The Egroup was created in order to have a more active forum for the exchange of information. Subscribers to the Egroup will automatically receive all messages relevant to the project. The site is presently being used to direct attention to new information posted on the web, new publications, updates of forthcoming activities, and in a lesser degree, to post questions. As the project develops, the Egroup will become a more active forum for discussion of key geological problems.
Strategy and Activities
In the first year (Year 2000), focus was directed toward critically overviewing existing models, pointing out both similarities and differences among the various models, and in highlighting general problems. These topics were the subject of the first meeting of the project in Río de Janeiro (August 7-8th, 2000) and the second meeting in Stuttgart (October 11-13th, 2000). In conjunction with these meetings, diagrams of existing models are posted on the Website.
Year 2001
Field workshop on the Northern Caribbean Boundary as part of the 4th Cuban Geological and Mining Congress, Havana, March 19-23, 2001. This meeting will focus mainly on issues concerning the northern margin of the Caribbean, but papers about the early evolution of the Caribbean are welcome. Abstracts of presentations (oral and/or posters) must be send before January 10, 2001, to fundora@geoastro.inf.cu and caribpt@mnhnc.inf.cu. A field trip to Central Cuba will be taking place just after the Congress, March 24 to 27, in order to visit some areas of Camaguey, Central Cuba ,which have never been a subject of field trips in the past. The party will visit the northern plate boundary encompassing elements of the passive continental margin, ocean crust and sediments, Cretaceous volcanic arc, as well as foreland and piggyback basins. For a recent reference to the geology of the area see Iturralde-Vinent et al. (2000). Please confirm participation the sooner the better. The second circular of the congress is available from fundora@geoastro.inf.cu and soon will be posted our CaribPlate WebSite.
T4 - Carribean Mesozoic Biogeography: Paleontological Constraints on the Formation and Early Evolution of the Caribbean Seaway. Berkeley, California (June 26-July 1st, 2001). This session will explore the importance of the Early Jurassic to Cretaceous Carribean biota for understanding the history of the opening of the Caribbean seaway and communications between the Pacific and Tethys. This biota includes invertebrates (ammonites, rudists, gastropods, calpionelids, etc.), plants, and marine vertebrates (pterosurs, plesiosaurs, turtle, crocodyles, pliosaurs, etc.) but is not well understood. For more information please contact NAPC Web Site at the Museum of paleontology of the University of California at Berkeley or contact our CaribPlate WebSite.
Year 2002
Will be directed toward a study of the eastern and southeastern Caribbean borderlands, in other words, the geology and evolution of the Lesser Antilles-Granada basin-Aves ridge area and the contact between the Caribbean plate and South America. A meeting is tentatively scheduled in Barbados, as part of the 16th Caribbean Geological Conference, but additional meetings are under negotiation.
Year 2003
The evolution of the Central American margin of the Caribbean and its relationships with North America are going to be issued in year 2003, with field workshops to be organized in the area. We are negotiating date and place with the Costa Rican colleagues.
Year 2004
These final year we shall return to the original topic, and evaluate the progress made in establishing basic principles necessary for the formulation of a convincing and generally acceptable plate tectonic model of the Caribbean. We are negotiating date and place of the meeting, but a Penrose style of conference is planned.
Report on Year 2000
Two very important meetings were celebrated this year, which fully subscribed the aim of the project. Follow is a general report on these events.
First Meeting: General Symposium 17-6. Caribbean Plate Tectonics, Origin and Evolution. 31st International Geological Congress, Río de Janeiro, August 6 to 17, 2000.
This symposium, celebrated August 7th and 8th, was dedicated to analize the present status of Caribbean Plate Tectonic models. Four special oral presentations and 12 posters were the subject of interesting debates and active exchange of data and interpretations.
The oral session, attended by more than 50 persons, was celebrated the morning of the7th. Four special speakers presented their respective viewpoints concerning how they understand the formation and evolution of the Caribbean, but the fact is that each one produced a quite distinct scenario. In this regard, it is important to quote the senior convener, in the fact that "The Caribbean is a singular area of planet Earth, and therefore, it had had a single history". The plate tectonic models that understand the Caribbean plate as an allochthonous crust originated within the Pacific Ocean, was very well exemplified by the model of J. Pindell and L. Kennan. The special speaker Martin Meschede reviewed some shortcomings of recent Pindell's and Paul Mann's models, and presented his arguments for an in situ origin of the Caribbean plate. Another version of the in situ model was presented by Giuseppe Giunta (visit Comparison at CaribPlate Web Site). M. Iturralde-Vinent, as special speaker, evaluated the few similarities and many contradictions that exist among modern Caribbean Plate Tectonic models (visit Forum at CaribPlate Web Site). The in situ models were criticized because they have a problem of space to explain the Cretaceous and early Tertiary Greater Antilles-Aves Ridge-Caribbean mountains subduction-related volcanic arcs. Some questions were also rise concerning the polarity of these arcs and the original position of some terranes of the Caribbean margins, subjects that will request more careful attention in the future.
The Poster Session was presented both days 7th and 8th in the afternoon, with as many as 12 papers. They included three of the special oral presentations as well as new results from field research in key areas of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. This session produced an active exchange of viewpoints among presenting authors, but also with many interested congress members.
The conveners (M. Iturralde-Vinent and E. Lidiak) and participants agreed that the symposium was an excellent forum for the most valuable exchange of ideas, but as exiting was the possibility to meet people based in different areas of the world with personal expertise and strong interest in the Caribbean. In terms of the scientific impact of the symposium, we concluded that despite the great amount of valuable information available about the Caribbean submarine and land areas, remains a long way to go in order to reach an agreement concerning the origin and evolution of the region. This way must be headed toward gathering new necessary hard data, but no less concern must be paid to the improvement of the conceptual basis of our interpretations. It is unfortunate that in many cases, we have been unable to agree even in the way we interpret the same set of data.
Second Meeting: 17th Symposium about the Geology of Latinamerica (17 LAK). Stuttgart Institute for Geology and Paleontology, October 11 to 13, 2000.
The Symposium about the Geology of Latinamerican countries, which dedicated several sessions to the geology and plate tectonics of the Caribbean area, was held at the Institute for Geology and Paleontology of the University of Stuttgart, Germany, between 11 and 13, year 2000. The symposium in general was attended by nearly 300 researchers from countries in South America, Central America, North America, Cuba and Europe. There were presentations about the geology, paleontology, plate tectonics, seismicity and other geohazards, hidrogeology, and environmental issues of Mexico, Central America, Bahamas, Greater Antilles and South America, among them nearly 12 oral and 13 posters dealing with different aspects of the geology, paleontology and plate tectonics of the Caribbean. A round table was organized to discuss important issues concerning the origin and evolution of the Caribbean Plate. It was organized a visit to the Paleontological Museum in Stuttgart, which has an elegantly designed exhibit of unique fossils showing an excellent preservation with a highest quality of preparation. We all enjoyed the stay in Stuttgart, as the weather was cooperative, with both sunny and cloudy sky, and just one short morning shower. There were two parties, one icebreaking at the University, with free wine, beer and food, and a great celebration at the Natural History Museum, with well tuned real Mexican Mariachis, and Tango dance, with the excellent performance by Hartmut Sayfried. The 18 LAK (Geowissenschaftliches Lateinamerika-Kolloquium) will be in two years. Let's keep in touch.
This meeting, characterized by a high level of organization and strict attachment to the schedule, was a great opportunity to share opinions and discuss hot issues of the Caribbean geology in general, and Central American and Greater Antilles geology in particular. Also was a great possibility to meet with South and Central American geologists that, for different reasons, usually do not attend the Caribbean Geological Conferences (CGC) celebrated within the area. It is the hope that in the future such a situation will change for good, and more geologists from the countries surrounding the Caribbean Sea will attend the forthcoming meetings of the IGCP Project 433 and CGC.
As a result of this conference, it became highlighted again the very different interpretations that still exist regarding fundamental issues concerning the origin and evolution of the Caribbean area. Lets comment briefly on some of these matters.
The Galapagos hotspot and the original position of the Caribbean Plate.
The are two fundamental positions regarding the roll of the Galapagos hotspot in the geology of the Caribbean. One holds that the Galapagos hotspot has nothing to do with the ProtoCaribbean crust or the Caribbean Plate (M. Meschede, J. Pindell), because it was always positioned west of both crustal areas, and, consequently, was not the source of the so called Caribbean plateau basalts. The other interpretation holds that the Galapagos hotspot actually produced the Caribbean plateau basalts and the ridges within the Nazca and Cocos plates (Hoenie). This divergence in opinions is determined by the kind of general plate framework one choose, so this is a problem that has to be focused during future meetings of the IGCP-433.
Another problem issued during the conference is the determination of the initial position of the Caribbean Plate (CARIB) with respect to NOAM, SOAM and FARALLON plates. In this point there was a concurrence of opinions, as with independence of the tectonic model chosen to explain the evolution of CARIB, authors agreed that the original location of CARIB was very much near the Equator; a position that satisfy recent paleomagnetic results (M. Meschede).
The alleged Albian-Campanian arc in Central America/p>
One subject that did not found any agreement in the meeting was the existence of an Albian-Campanian arc section as part of the Nicoya complex in Central America. According to a paper by Calvo and Bolt (1994) there is an arc-derived volcaniclastic calcalkaline section in Costa Rica, but several other attendees to the meeting (Hoernie, Alan Astorga) stated that their geochemical and geological investigations in the Nicoya Complex do not confirm this.
The new plate tectonic reconstruction by J. Pindell and L. Kennan presented during the symposium adopted this arc, but other not. The existence of an Albian-Campanian island arc as part of present-day southern Central America is a major issue of the geology of the Caribbean plate, because it will control the rate of relative eastward movement of CARIB, something that has a strong bearing in the palinspastic reconstruction of the circum Caribbean foldbelts. Therefore, this is a hot question to be issued in future IGCP-433 meetings.
The original position of Pinos, Escambray and Guaniguanico terranes of Cuba
The Pinos, Escambray and Guaniguanico terranes of Cuba were the subject of several presentations during the symposium, and a matter of interesting in room and out-session discussions. Today there seems to be a general agreement that these terranes are allochthonous in the Cuban foldbelt, so the point to deal with is where they were originated. J. Pindell and L. Kennan hold the position that these terranes may have been part of the southern margin of the Maya (Yucatan) Block, facing the Pacific Ocean; while M. Iturralde-Vinent (1998) prefer an intra Caribbean location, representing part of the protoCaribbean crust. Current research by P.-K. Stanek and colleagues is producing important results, including several P-T path records of Escambray and related units, which will provide new clues into this subject. Bearing on this matter, is the discovery by A. Schaffhauser and colleagues of Lower Cretaceous pelagic limestones in Belize, similar to those found in the isochronous sections of Guaniguanico terrane, suggesting that some Guaniguanico elements (or non-metamorphosed Escambray units) were located off Belize at least in the Lower Cretaceous (see also Hutson et al., 1999).
This subject will be of major concern during the next IGCP-433 meeting (La Habana, March 19-23, 2001: www.ig.utexas.edu/CaribPlate/CaribPlate).
The Pindell and Kennan Caribbean plate tectonic model
J. Pindell and L. Kennan presented a new unpublished version of the Pacific origin of the Caribbean plate style of model, as two distinct papers. This model was also a subject of concern during the first IGCP-433 meeting in RÌo de Janeiro (Symposium 17-6 at 31 IGC, visit www.31igc for a post-event report). Many new important issues are reviewed in this new version, so is much more comprehensive than previous ones. This is a new step forward into a better understanding of the Caribbean origin and evolution, and will require detail scrutiny in further IGCP-433 meetings. This model will soon be available, along with others already on display, at the WebSite of the Project (www.ig.utexas.edu/CaribPlate/CaribPlate), an event that will be informed to subscribers of the carib@egroups.com.
Membership
If you like to join us in this adventure, please register at carib@egroups.com and visit the website, fill and submit your registration. Help us to unveil this plate tectonic puzzle!
Nos vemos en La Habana!.
References
Calvo, C., Bolz, A., 1994. The oldest calcalkaline island arc volcanism in Costa Rica. Marine tephra deposits from the Loma Chumico Formation (Albian to Campanian). In Seygfried and W. Hellmann (Ed.), Geology of an evolving island arc. Profil Band 7, Inst. Geol. and Paleont., Univ. Stuttgart, 235-264.
Hutson, F., Mann, P., Renne, P., 1999. 40Ar/39Ar dating of single muscovite grains in Jurassic siliciclastic rocks (San Cayetano Formation): Constraints on the paleoposition of western Cuba. Geology, 26(1), 83-86.
Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., P.-K. Stanek, H.U. Thieke, D. Wolf, W. Muller, 2000. Geology of Camaguey, Central Cuba: Evolution of a collisional margin. (TO BE COMPLETED)
Programa y Resúmenes Extendidos. XVII Simposio sobre la geología de Latinoamérica, 11 al 13 de octubre 2000, Stuttgart, Alemania, Profil Band 18:1-62. and CD with extended abstracts.
Last modified: 29 Mar 2002 13:36