Age and petrogenesis of the Lower Cretaceous North Coast Schist of Tobago, a fragment of the pre-Greater Antilles inter-American arc system

Neill, Iain, Kerr, Andrew Craig ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5569-4730, Hastie, Alan, Pindell, Jim, Millar, I. L. and Atkinson, N. 2012. Age and petrogenesis of the Lower Cretaceous North Coast Schist of Tobago, a fragment of the pre-Greater Antilles inter-American arc system. Journal of Geology 120 (4) , pp. 367-384. 10.1086/665798

Preview

PDF - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The North Coast Schist of Tobago is part of the leading edge of the Caribbean Plate, which has been in oblique collision with northern South America for much of the Cenozoic. The North Coast Schist is dominated by two volcanic “formations” metamorphosed under greenschist-facies conditions during later deformation. The Parlatuvier Formation mostly consists of mafic to intermediate tuffs and tuff breccias with a U-Pb zircon ID-TIMS age of Ma. Trace element data and radiogenic isotopes reveal that the Parlatuvier Formation is derived from a heterogeneous subduction-modified, locally incompatible trace element–enriched, mantle source with some rocks containing the highest 176Hf/177Hf ratios found in the offshore Caribbean. The Mount Dillon Formation comprises silicified tuffs and tuff breccias that are derived from a more isotopically enriched mantle source with a significant slab fluid-related component. A thin belt of amphibolite-facies dynamothermally metamorphosed metavolcanic rocks lies in contact with a younger island arc pluton. Some of these amphibolites have an isotopically similar source to the Parlatuvier Formation but lack a clear subduction-related component. The age, geochemical heterogeneity, and proximal nature of eruption confirm that the North Coast Schist lay within an east-dipping proto–Greater Antilles arc. We propose that the arc system at the time of North Coast Schist magmatism was actively rifting, possibly during development of a back-arc basin. This arc system shut down during the Cretaceous, making way for southwest-dipping Greater Antilles subduction and relative eastward motion of the Caribbean Plate.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QE Geology
Additional Information:	Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0022-1376/ (accessed 21/02/2014).
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
ISSN:	0022-1376
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	10 May 2023 19:39
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/32290

Citation Data

Cited 12 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item