Cenozoic Plate tectonic history of the northern Venezuela‐Trinidad Area

Abstract

Geological and geophysical data, coupled with recent plate tectonic reconstructions, suggest that the Cenozoic geologic history of the northern Venezuela‐Trinidad area has been dominated by strike‐slip displacement of discrete crustal blocks. Allochthonous terranes within the area include metavolcanic rocks of the Cretaceous Villa de Cura Group and metamorphic rocks of the Precambrian to Cretaceous Cordillera de la Costa. A relatively competent crustal block (Margarita Block) is defined by an outline around the metamorphic basement of Margarita Island, the Araya/Paria peninsula, the Northern Range of Trinidad, and Tobago Island. Reconstruction of the Margarita Block to its original position requires at least partial closure of the Falcon Basin, closure of the Bonaire and Cariaco basins, and restoration of about 50 km of motion on both the Oca and Bocono faults. Post middle Eocene eastward translation of the Caribbean plate caused eastward motion of the Margarita Block. A minor change in relative plate motion during the late Oligocene or early Miocene produced a right step in the Moron fault, forming the Cariaco pull‐apart basin and El Pilar fault zone. Maximum offset on El Pilar fault is estimated to be no more than 125 km, though displacement along the entire fault zone may have been greater. Transpressional stresses between the Caribbean plate and northern South America caused folding of the Serrania del Interior of Venezuela and the Central Range of Trinidad. Eastward migration of transpressional stresses at the southeastern corner of the Caribbean‐South American plate boundary is being accommodated by formation of oblique thrusts, transpressive anticlines, and downwarping of the crust. Bouguer gravity data suggest that Jurassic‐aged Atlantic oceanic crust is being depressed as the Caribbean plate expands into the Demerara Plateau area. This study suggests that the faults and transtensional/transpressional/compressional structures identified in this study are the result of stresses produced during the large eastward translation of the Caribbean plate since the Paleocene, and are not the product of a shear couple.