Tag: Lesser Antilles

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Lesser Antilles SZI Events

Lesser Antilles subduction zone initiation

Schematic tectonic reconstruction of the Lesser Antilles SZI event (modified from van Benthem et al., 2013 and Boschman et al., 2014). Subduction of the North and South America plates beneath the Caribbean plate was probably already active earlier on. At 58–39 Ma, subduction jumped eastwards, creating the new Lesser Antilles subduction zone. Shown are the new subduction zone (pink line), other active (solid purple lines) and inactive (dashed purple lines) subduction zones, and transform faults (red dashed lines).
Schematic tectonic reconstruction of the Lesser Antilles SZI event (modified from van Benthem et al., 2013 and Boschman et al., 2014). Subduction of the North and South America plates beneath the Caribbean plate was probably already active earlier on. At 58–39 Ma, subduction jumped eastwards, creating the new Lesser Antilles subduction zone. Shown are the new subduction zone (pink line), other active (solid purple lines) and inactive (dashed purple lines) subduction zones, and transform faults (red dashed lines).

The Lesser Antilles SZI event, occurring between 59–38 Ma, marks the transition from the Greater Caribbean Arc to the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, with debates on whether it was episodic or continuous. Geological evidence includes varying volcanic rock ages and the formation of the Barbados Accretionary Prism, indicating complex tectonic interactions.