Oblique Collision of the Bahamas Platform at the Northern Boundary of the Caribbean Plate Recorded by the Late Cenozoic Coastal Terraces of SE Cuba

• Published in: Tectonics (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 42; no. 8
• Main Authors: Authemayou, Christine, Nuñez, Arelis, Pedoja, Kevin, Peñalver, Leandro, Chauveau, Denovan, Dunán‐Avila, Pedro, Martin‐Izquierdo, Denyse, Gelder, Gino, Husson, Laurent, Castellanos Abella, Enrique, Benítez Frómeta, Pedro de Jesús, Pastier, Anne‐Morwenn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2023; American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Subjects: Bahamas Platform; Cenozoic; coastal terraces; Coasts; Cuba; Deformation; Elevation; Environmental Sciences; Fault zones; North America/Caribbean plates boundary; Offshore; Plate boundaries; Plates; Pleistocene; Quaternary; Sequencing; Terraces; Uplift; uplift rate; Cuba; Caribbean area; Hispaniola; Bahamas; Bahamas Platform; Cuba; coastal terraces; North America/Caribbean plates boundary; uplift rate
• ISSN: 0278-7407; 1944-9194
• DOI: 10.1029/2023TC007806

The southeastern tip of Cuba Island is limited to the south by the N‐Caribbean boundary. By revisiting the impressive sequences of coastal terraces of this region, we decipher the Quaternary deformation pattern of this plate boundary. We present a detailed mapping of coastal terraces uplifted over a hundred kilometers of coastline, and U/Th dating. At Punta de Maisí, the deformation pattern shows (a) a faster uplift close to the transform boundary and (b) a northward propagation of folding produced by the convergence of the Bahamas platform toward the Caribbean plate. Along the southern coast of Punta de Maisí, the sequence displays 29 coastal terraces up to 520 m in elevation and a upper Pleistocene uplift rate of 0.23 ± 0.07 mm yr−1. We interpret this deformation as resulting from an offshore north‐dipping reverse fault near the coast. This uplift rate corresponds to 3% to 1.6% of the short‐term horizontal slip rate of Septentrional Oriente Fault Zone (10 ± 0.1 mm yr−1). Along the northern coast of Punta de Maisí, the sequence displays height coastal terraces up to 220 m in elevation and the uplift rates amount to 0.1 ± 0.05 mm yr−1 and likely result from the reverse faulting and folding associated with the offshore North Hispaniola Fault Zone. Uplift rates quickly decrease to the West, in agreement with the westward decrease in the activity of the North Hispaniola Fault Zone due to the docking of the Bahamas Platform against Cuba, while the platform more gently underthrusts Cuba to the East.
Key Points
In SE of Cuba, the maximum uplift rate is 0.23 mm/yr and there is a maximum of 29 coastal terraces in a 520 m high sequence
The upper and middle coastal terraces of the sequences are tilted to the north and show northward folding
The uplift gradient expresses the docking of the Bahamas Platform against Cuba to the W, while the platform underthrusts Cuba to the E