Interrelationship of the terranes in western and central Cuba—Comment

Abstract

K. Piotrowska’s paper (Piotrowska, 1993) addresses some of the fundamental problems of Cuban and western Caribbean geology. These include the definition, original position and later displacement of suspect terranes in the area. Problems that have been controversial for many years. The model presented by K. Piotrowska (her Fig. 4) is extremely simple. In her model, tectonic terranes such as Los Organos and Escambray originally formed part of the Yucatan borderland, from which they were detached and transported northward. During the Cretaceous, the Farallon plate pushed the Escambray Terrane until it reached its present position. Finally, the Escambray Terrane was overthrust and pressed into the Zaza zone (ophiolites and Cretaceous volcanic arc suites). Later, during the Middle Eocene, the Los Organos Terrane detached from the Yucatan and overthrust the Farallon plate (Zaza zone in this case). In order to support this scenario, Piotrowska (1993) relies on opinions rather than observa-