Galapagos Rift Research Articles

Fore‐arc motion and Cocos Ridge collision in Central America

We present the first regional surface velocity field for Central America, showing crustal response to interaction of the Cocos and Caribbean plates. Elastic half‐space models for interseismic strain accumulation on the dipping subduction plate boundary fit the GPS data well and show strain accumulation offshore and beneath the Nicoya and Osa peninsulas in Costa Rica but not in Nicaragua. Since large subduction zone earthquakes occur in Nicaragua, we suggest that interseismic locking in Nicaragua and some other parts of Central America occurs but is mainly shallow, <20 km depth, too far offshore to be detected by our on‐land GPS measurements. Our data also show significant trench‐parallel motion for most of the region, generally interpreted as due to oblique convergence and strong mechanical coupling between subducting and overriding plates. However, trench‐parallel motion is also observed in central Costa Rica, where plate convergence is normal to the trench, and in the Nicaraguan fore arc, where trench‐parallel motion is fast, up to 9 mm a−1, but mechanical coupling is low. A finite element model of collision (as opposed to subduction) involving the aseismic Cocos Ridge also fits the GPS surface velocity field, most significantly reproducing the pattern of trench‐parallel motion. We infer that buoyant, thickened CNS‐2‐Cocos Ridge crust resists normal subduction and instead acts as an indenter to the Caribbean plate, driving crustal shortening in southern Costa Rica and contributing to trench‐parallel fore‐arc motion in Costa Rica and perhaps Nicaragua as a type of tectonic escape.

Galapagos‐OIB signature in southern Central America: Mantle refertilization by arc–hot spot interaction

Although most Central American magmas have a typical arc geochemical signature, magmas in southern Central America (central Costa Rica and Panama) have isotopic and trace element compositions with an ocean island basalt (OIB) affinity, similar to the Galapagos‐OIB lavas (e.g., Ba/La < 40, La/Yb > 10, 206Pb/204Pb > 18.8). Our new data for Costa Rica suggest that this signature, unusual for a convergent margin, has a relatively recent origin (Late Miocene ∼6 Ma). We also show that there was a transition from typical arc magmas (analogous to the modern Nicaraguan volcanic front) to OIB‐like magmas similar to the Galapagos hot spot. The geographic distribution of the Galapagos signature in recent lavas from southern Central America is present landward from the subduction of the Galapagos hot spot tracks (the Seamount Province and the Cocos/Coiba Ridge) at the Middle American Trench. The higher Pb isotopic ratios, relatively lower Sr and Nd isotopic ratios, and enriched incompatible‐element signature of central Costa Rican magmas can be explained by arc–hot spot interaction. The isotopic ratios of central Costa Rican lavas require the subducting Seamount Province (Northern Galapagos Domain) component, whereas the isotopic ratios of the adakites and alkaline basalts from southern Costa Rica and Panama are in the geochemical range of the subducting Cocos/Coiba Ridge (Central Galapagos Domain). Geological and geochemical evidence collectively indicate that the relatively recent Galapagos‐OIB signature in southern Central America represents a geochemical signal from subducting Galapagos hot spot tracks, which started to collide with the margin ∼8 Ma ago. The Galapagos hot spot contribution decreases systematically along the volcanic front from central Costa Rica to NW Nicaragua.

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages as indicators of the paleoceanographic conditions in the eastern Equatorial Pacific

Five assemblages of benthic foraminifers reflecting the changes in the properties of the intermediate water masses and the biological productivity during different periods of the last glacial-interglacial cycle are defined based on the abundances and relative contents of indicative species in the upper 9 m of giant Core MD02-2529 from the Cocos Ridge. High bioproductivity and low oxygen content in the bottom water layer and sediments are established for the interstadial period based on the high abundance of the species Uvigerina peregrina, U. hispida, and C. pachyderma (Assemblage I) and especially for the Last Glacial Maximum (Assemblage II) with the dominant role of the same species and E. smithi. The transition from the glaciation to the current interglacial (Termination I, Assemblage III) is characterized by a high share of the epifaunal species C. wuellerstorfi and H. subhaidingeri, which indicates enhanced hydrodynamic activity and ventilation of the intermediate water washing the bottom. The end of Termination I was marked by strengthened selective dissolution of carbonate microfossils due to the increased influx of fresh organic matter to the bottom and/or advection of more aggressive intermediate waters. The diverse Early Holocene assemblage (Assemblage IV) points to variable ecological niches, while the abundance of the infaunal U. hispida in Assemblage V indicates low productivity of the surface waters and a low oxygen concentration in the bottom sediments of the Late Holocene.

Symbiotic diversity in marine animals: the art of harnessing chemosynthesis

Chemosynthetic symbioses between bacteria and marine invertebrates were discovered 30 years ago at hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rift. Remarkably, it took the discovery of these symbioses in the deep sea for scientists to realize that chemosynthetic symbioses occur worldwide in a wide range of habitats, including cold seeps, whale and wood falls, shallow-water coastal sediments and continental margins. The evolutionary success of these symbioses is evident from the wide range of animal groups that have established associations with chemosynthetic bacteria; at least seven animal phyla are known to host these symbionts. The diversity of the bacterial symbionts is equally high, and phylogenetic analyses have shown that these associations have evolved on multiple occasions by convergent evolution. This Review focuses on the diversity of chemosynthetic symbionts and their hosts, and examines the traits that have resulted in their evolutionary success.

Age and Geochemistry of the Central American Forearc Basement (DSDP Leg 67 and 84): Insights into Mesozoic Arc Volcanism and Seamount Accretion on the Fringe of the Caribbean LIP

The igneous forearc basement along the Pacific coast of northern Central America (between southern Mexico and Costa Rica) comprises a highly tectonized accretionary assemblage of igneous and ultramafic rocks. Volcanic and gabbroic rocks with primitive arc geochemical signatures formed between ∼100 and ≥180 Ma and are interpreted to have originated by arc magmatism resulting from subduction of the Pacific–Farallon plate. Geochemically enriched ocean island basalt (OIB)-like units are interpreted as accreted seamounts and islands of a hotspot track, which was active between ≥220 and 100 Ma and originated from a hotspot located in the central Pacific. Based on their combined Pb, Nd and Hf isotopic compositions an affiliation of these rocks with the Caribbean Large Igneous Province or the present-day Galapagos hotspot appears unlikely. Rocks of similar age and geochemistry are exposed on the Santa Elena Peninsula in Costa Rica, suggesting that a similar forearc basement is accreted to the continental Chortis Block from southern Mexico to Costa Rica.

Collision versus sliver transport in the hanging wall at the Middle America subduction zone: Constraints from background seismicity in central Costa Rica

Earthquake focal mechanism solutions for 135 small‐magnitude events are inverted for best fitting partial strain rate tensors that characterize contemporary strain in five areas that span the western margin of the Panama microplate in central Costa Rica. The results indicate the predominance of subhorizontal maximum stretching subparallel to the Middle America Trench (MAT) and provide constraints on the role of Cocos ridge collision at the MAT. The trajectory of maximum stretching changes ∼25°–45° over several tens of kilometers from the Central Costa Rica Deformed Belt (CCRDB) where it is nearly E–W to the area inboard of the Cocos ridge where it is NW–SE. This change suggests that background seismogenic deformation reflects the transition from the trailing edge of a fore‐arc sliver to an area of the upper plate affected by ridge collision. This diffuse deformation may be localized, in part, on conjugate strike‐slip faults of the CCRDB.

Geochemical variations in the Cocos Plate subducting beneath Central America: implications for the composition of arc volcanism and the extent of the Galápagos Hotspot influence on the Cocos oceanic crust

New geochemical data from the Cocos Plate constrain the composition of the input into the Central American subduction zone and demonstrate the extent of influence of the Galapagos Hotspot on the Cocos Plate. Samples include sediments and basalts from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1256 outboard of Nicaragua, gabbroic sills from ODP Sites 1039 and 1040, tholeiitic glasses from the Fisher Ridge off northwest Costa Rica, and basalts from the Galapagos Hotspot Track outboard of Central Costa Rica. Site 1256 basalts range from normal to enriched MORB in incompatible elements and have Pb and Nd isotopic compositions within the East Pacific Rise MORB field. The sediments have similar Pb-206/Pb-204 and only slightly more radiogenic Pb-207/Pb-204 and Pb-208/Pb-204 isotope ratios than the basalts. Altered samples from the subducting Galapagos Hotspot Track have similar Nd and Pb isotopic compositions to fresh Galapagos samples but have significantly higher Sr isotopic composition, indicating that the subduction input will have a distinct geochemical signature from Galapagos-type mantle material that may be present in the wedge beneath Costa Rica. Gabbroic sills from Sites 1039 and 1040 in East Pacific Rise (EPR) crust show evidence for influence of the Galapagos Hotspot similar to 100 km beyond the morphological hotspot track

Arc-parallel flow in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Resolving flow geometry in the mantle wedge is central to understanding the thermal and chemical structure of subduction zones, subducting plate dehydration, and melting that leads to arc volcanism, which can threaten large populations and alter climate through gas and particle emission. Here we show that isotope geochemistry and seismic velocity anisotropy provide strong evidence for trench-parallel flow in the mantle wedge beneath Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This finding contradicts classical models, which predict trench-normal flow owing to the overlying wedge mantle being dragged downwards by the subducting plate. The isotopic signature of central Costa Rican volcanic rocks is not consistent with its derivation from the mantle wedge or eroded fore-arc complexes but instead from seamounts of the Galapagos hotspot track on the subducting Cocos plate. This isotopic signature decreases continuously from central Costa Rica to northwestern Nicaragua. As the age of the isotopic signature beneath Costa Rica can be constrained and its transport distance is known, minimum northwestward flow rates can be estimated (63-190 mm yr(-1)) and are comparable to the magnitude of subducting Cocos plate motion (approximately 85 mm yr(-1)). Trench-parallel flow needs to be taken into account in models evaluating thermal and chemical structure and melt generation in subduction zones.

Basin modelling of the Limón Back‐arc Basin (Costa Rica): burial history and temperature evolution of an island arc‐related basin‐system

ABSTRACTThe Limón back‐arc basin belongs to the southern Central American arc‐trench system and is situated at the east coast of Costa Rica. The basin‐fill consists of Late Cretaceous to Pleistocene sedimentary rocks. A northern and a southern sub‐basin can be defined, separated by the E–W‐trending Trans Isthmic Fault System. The North Limón Basin is nearly undeformed, whereas the South Limón Basin is characterized by a fold‐and‐thrust belt. Both sub‐basins have a very similar sedimentary fill and can act as a natural laboratory for reconstructing controlling factors of arc‐related sedimentary basins as well as the influence of deformation on a basin system. Modelling focused on burial history and temperature evolution. Two‐dimensional simulations were carried out with the software PetroMod®. The geohistory curve of the North Limón Basin is overall linear, indicating continuous subsidence. The South Limón Basin is also characterized by continuous subsidence, but rates strongly increased at the beginning of the Neogene. Despite a rapid Plio‐Pleistocene deformation of the fold‐and‐thrust belt, the present‐day temperature field is not disturbed in that area. The modelling results indicate a mean heat flow of 60 mW m−2 for the North Limón Basin and 41 mW m−2 for the South Limón Basin. These values are low compared with other back‐arc basins. The lower values are attributed to the following effects: (1) underlying basaltic crust, (2) the lack of an initial rift phase, (3) the low extension rates, (4) absence of volcanic activity and (5) insulation effects of a thick sediment pile. The reasons for the locally lower heat flow in the southern sub‐basin can be found in the low‐angle subduction of the Cocos Ridge. Owing to the low subduction angle, the cool fore‐arc mantle‐wedge below the island‐arc is pushed backwards increasing the cooled area.

UPPER TRIASSIC TO CRETACEOUS RADIOLARIA FROM NICARAGUA AND NORTHERN COSTA RICA - THE MESQUITO COMPOSITE OCEANIC TERRANE

We propose a new terrane subdivision of Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica, based on Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous radiolarian biochronology of ribbon radiolarites, the newly studied Siuna Serpentinite Melange, and published 40Ar/39Ar dating and geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock units of the area. The new Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane (MCOT) comprises the southern half of the Chortis Block, that was assumed to be a continental fragment of N-America. The MCOT is defined by 4 corner localities characterized by ultramafic and mafic oceanic rocks and radiolarites of Late Triassic, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age: 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Melange (NE-Nicaragua), 2. The El Castillo Melange (Nicaragua/Costa Rica border), 3.The Santa Elena Ultramafics (N-Costa Rica) and, 4. DSDP Legs 67/84. 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Melange contains, high pressure metamorphic mafics and Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian) radiolarites in original, sedimentary contact with arc-metandesites. The Siuna Melange also contains Upper Jurassic black detrital chert formed in a marginal (fore-arc?) basin shortly before subduction. A phengite 40Ar/39Ar -cooling age dates the exhumation of the high pressure rocks as 139 Ma (earliest Cretaceous). 2. The El Castillo Melange comprises a radiolarite block tectonically embedded in serpentinite that yielded a diverse Rhaetian (latest Triassic) radiolarian assemblage, the oldest fossils recovered so far from S-Central America. 3. The Santa Elena Ultramafics of N-Costa Rica together with the serpentinite outcrops near El Castillo (2) in Southern Nicaragua, are the southernmost outcrops of the MCOT. The Santa Elena Unit (3) itself is still undated, but it is thrust onto the middle Cretaceous Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC), that contains Lower to Upper Jurassic, highly deformed radiolarite blocks, probably reworked from the MCOT, which was the upper plate with respect to the SRAC. 4. Serpentinites, metagabbros and basalts have long been known from DSDP Leg 67/84 (3), drilled off Guatemala in the Nicaragua-Guatemala forearc basement. They have been restudied and reveal 40Ar/39Ar dated Upper Triassic to middle Cretaceous enriched Ocean Island Basalts and Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous depleted Island arc rocks of probable Pacific origin. The area between localities 1-4 is largely covered by Tertiary to Recent arcs, but we suspect that its basement is made of oceanic/accreted terranes. Earthquake seismic studies indicate an ill-defined, shallow Moho in this area. The MCOT covers most of Nicaragua and could extend to Guatemala to the W and form the Lower (southern) Nicaragua Rise to the NE. Some basement complexes of Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico may also belong to the MCOT. The Nicoya Complex s. str. has been regarded as an example of Caribbean crust and the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP). However, 40Ar/39Ar - dates on basalts and intrusives indicate ages as old as Early Cretaceous. Highly deformed Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous radiolarites occur as blocks within younger intrusives and basalts. Our interpretation is that radiolarites became first accreted to the MCOT, then became reworked into the Nicoya Plateau in Late Cretaceous times. This implies that the Nicoya Plateau formed along the Pacific edge of the MCOT, independent form the CLIP and most probably unrelated with he Galapagos hotspot. No Jurassic radiolarite, no older sediment age than Coniacian-Santonian, and no older 40Ar/39Ar age than 95 Ma is known from S-Central America between SE of Nicoya and Colombia. For us this area represents the trailing edge of the CLIP s. str.

Birth of an intraoceanic spreading center

The Cocos-Nazca spreading center is one of the few examples of the formation of a spreading center by splitting of oceanic lithosphere. It was created when the Farallon plate broke up in the early Miocene following the collision of the Pacific-Farallon spreading center with the North American continent. Much of the ancient Farallon plate corresponding to the area of opening is lost to subduction beneath Central America and South America, but new data from the conjugate area on the Pacific plate allow the first detailed reconstruction of the break-up process. The opening began after chron 7 (25 Ma) at a location of focused crustal extension caused by overlapping spreading centers that had evolved in response to a slight reorientation of a Pacific-Farallon ridge segment. Beginning at chron 6B (22.7 Ma), eastward progressing seafloor spreading started along an axis that most likely migrated toward the region of weak lithosphere created by the Galapagos hotspot. By chron 6 (19.5 Ma), plate splitting from the spreading center to the trench was complete, allowing the fully detached Cocos and Nazca plates to move independently. This kinematic change resulted in a significant ridge jump of the newly established Pacific-Nazca spreading center, a change in plate motion direction of the Nazca plate by 20° clockwise, and a large increase in Pacific-Cocos plate velocity in the middle Miocene.

Constraints on inner forearc deformation from balanced cross sections, Fila Costeña thrust belt, Costa Rica

The Fila Costeña thrust belt in the forearc of Costa Rica is accommodating a significant portion of the convergence of the Cocos plate and Panama microplate. Geologic mapping of the thrust belt depicts a duplex with three horses that incorporate Eocene limestones and Oligocene to early Miocene clastics inboard of the subducting Cocos Ridge axis. By constructing a cross section at this location along a NE–SW trending transect perpendicular to the thrust belt, we constrain a shortening rate of approximately 40 mm/a and propose that as much as 50% of the total plate convergence rate is taken up in the inner forearc. The Eocene limestones at the base of the thrust sheets pinch out in both directions away from the onland projection of the Cocos Ridge axis owing to decrease in slip on faults and a lateral ramp in the basal décollement. The thrust belt terminates near the Panama border at the onland projection of the subducting Panama Fracture Zone. These observations suggest that shortening is propagating to the east with the migration of the Panama triple junction and the onset of shallow subduction of the thickened edge of the Cocos plate. The absence of similar features in the Nicaraguan forearc, where the subducting crust is older, subducts more steeply, and lacks incoming ridges and seamounts, indicates that deformation of the forearc basin in Costa Rica reflects greater coupling between the converging plates inboard of the Cocos Ridge.

Inner forearc response to subduction of the Panama Fracture Zone, southern Central America

Subduction of the right-lateral Panama Fracture Zone, along the convergent margin of Central America creates abrupt lateral variations in convergence rate, obliquity, and subducting crustal thickness at its intersection with the Middle America Trench. This intersection, known as the Panama (CO-NZ-CA) Triple Junction, is migrating to the southeast at a rate of 55 mm/yr, and currently coincides with the lateral termination of the Fila Costeña Thrust Belt in the inner forearc of the overriding plate. Mapping in the inner forearc in the area that straddles the subducting Panama Fracture Zone reveals that Cocos–Caribbean convergence west of the triple junction leads to the development of an inner forearc thrust belt inboard of the colliding Cocos Ridge, while little deformation is evident inboard of Nazca–Caribbean convergence, east of the triple junction. This results in the lateral termination of the Fila Costeña Thrust Belt in the region of the forearc that projects over the Panama Fracture Zone, where four out of five mapped thrust faults tip out and are buried by lahars. Three new balanced cross-sections indicate a steep gradient in shortening from the center of the thrust belt to its southeastern termination. The short-term history of the inner forearc recorded in the landscape and topography of the Fila Costeña is consistent with the southeastward migration of the thrust belt and the Panama Triple Junction throughout the past ∼ 3 Ma, with evidence for the growth of a new topographic divide and reorganization of stream channel networks.

Identification of proteins involved in the functioning of Riftia pachyptila symbiosis by Subtractive Suppression Hybridization

BackgroundSince its discovery around deep sea hydrothermal vents of the Galapagos Rift about 30 years ago, the chemoautotrophic symbiosis between the vestimentiferan tubeworm Riftia pachyptila and its symbiotic sulfide-oxidizing γ-proteobacteria has been extensively studied. However, studies on the tubeworm host were essentially targeted, biochemical approaches. We decided to use a global molecular approach to identify new proteins involved in metabolite exchanges and assimilation by the host. We used a Subtractive Suppression Hybridization approach (SSH) in an unusual way, by comparing pairs of tissues from a single individual. We chose to identify the sequences preferentially expressed in the branchial plume tissue (the only organ in contact with the sea water) and in the trophosome (the organ housing the symbiotic bacteria) using the body wall as a reference tissue because it is supposedly not involved in metabolite exchanges in this species.ResultsWe produced four cDNA libraries: i) body wall-subtracted branchial plume library (BR-BW), ii) and its reverse library, branchial plume-subtracted body wall library (BW-BR), iii) body wall-subtracted trophosome library (TR-BW), iv) and its reverse library, trophosome-subtracted body wall library (BW-TR). For each library, we sequenced about 200 clones resulting in 45 different sequences on average in each library (58 and 59 cDNAs for BR-BW and TR-BW libraries respectively). Overall, half of the contigs matched records found in the databases with good E-values. After quantitative PCR analysis, it resulted that 16S, Major Vault Protein, carbonic anhydrase (RpCAbr), cathepsin and chitinase precursor transcripts were highly represented in the branchial plume tissue compared to the trophosome and the body wall tissues, whereas carbonic anhydrase (RpCAtr), myohemerythrin, a putative T-Cell receptor and one non identified transcript were highly specific of the trophosome tissue.ConclusionQuantitative PCR analyses were congruent with our libraries results thereby confirming the existence of tissue-specific transcripts identified by SSH. We focused our study on the transcripts we identified as the most interesting ones based on the BLAST results. Some of the keys to understanding metabolite exchanges may remain in the sequences we could not identify (hypothetical proteins and no similarity found). These sequences will have to be better studied by a longer -or complete- sequencing to check their identity, and then by verifying the expression level of the transcripts in different parts of the worm.

Internal tectonic structure of the Central American Wadati‐Benioff zone based on analysis of aftershock sequences

Relocated Engdahl et al. (1998) global seismological data for 10 aftershock sequences were used to analyze the internal tectonic structure of the Central American subduction zone; the main shocks of several of these were the most destructive and often referenced earthquakes in the region (e.g., the 1970 Chiapas, 1983 Osa, 1992 Nicaragua, 1999 Quepos, 2001 El Salvador earthquakes). The spatial analysis of aftershock foci distribution was performed in a rotated Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z) related to the Wadati‐Benioff zone, and not in a standard coordinate system (ϕ, λ, h are latitude, longitude, focal depth, respectively). Available fault plane solutions were also transformed into the plane approximating the Wadati‐Benioff zone. The spatial distribution of earthquakes in each aftershock sequence was modeled as either a plane fit using a least squares approximation or a volume fit with a minimum thickness rectangular box. The analysis points to a quasi‐planar distribution of earthquake foci in all aftershock sequences, manifesting the appurtenance of aftershocks to fracture zones. Geometrical parameters of fracture zones (strike, dip, and dimensions) hosting individual sequences were calculated and compared with the seafloor morphology of the Cocos Plate. The smooth character of the seafloor correlates with the aftershock fracture zones oriented parallel to the trench and commonly subparallel to the subducting slab, whereas subduction of the Cocos Ridge and seamounts around the Quepos Plateau coincides with steeply dipping fracture zones. Transformed focal mechanisms are almost exclusively (>90%) of normal character.

Reply to comment by David M. Buchs and Peter O. Baumgartner on “From seamount accretion to tectonic erosion: Formation of Osa Mélange and the effects of the Cocos Ridge subduction in southern Costa Rica”

Reply to comment by David M. Buchs and Peter O. Baumgartner on “From seamount accretion to tectonic erosion: Formation of Osa Mélange and the effects of the Cocos Ridge subduction in southern Costa Rica”

Comment on “From seamount accretion to tectonic erosion: Formation of Osa Mélange and the effects of Cocos Ridge subduction in southern Costa Rica” by P. Vannucchi et al.

Comment on “From seamount accretion to tectonic erosion: Formation of Osa Mélange and the effects of Cocos Ridge subduction in southern Costa Rica” by P. Vannucchi et al.

Crustal growth by magmatic overplating in the Galápagos

The isotopic compositions of xenoliths hosted in lavas from Floreana Island indicate that they formed from magmas unlike those at present-day Floreana. Instead, the xenoliths are geochemically more similar to magmas now erupting from Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes, at the leading edge of the Galapagos hotspot. This is the first evidence for compositional evolution at a Galapagos volcano and indicates increasing contributions from an iso topically enriched source with time as the volcano is carried away from the focus of the hot-spot. Clinopyroxenes in many of the xenoliths exhibit positive anomalies of Sr and Eu, which are attributed to the breakdown of plagioclase. The growth of clinopyroxene at the expense of plagio clase results from compression as the crust cools. Compression is caused by growth mostly from above, as shallow intrusions and lavas load the middle and upper oceanic crust.

Structure of the Malpelo Ridge (Colombia) from seismic and gravity modelling

Wide-angle and multichannel seismic data collected on the Malpelo Ridge provide an image of the deep structure of the ridge and new insights on its emplacement and tectonic history. The crustal structure of the Malpelo Ridge shows a 14 km thick asymmetric crustal root with a smooth transition to the oceanic basin southeastward, whereas the transition is abrupt beneath its northwestern flank. Crustal thickening is mainly related to the thickening of the lower crust, which exhibits velocities from 6.5 to 7.4 km/s. The deep structure is consistent with emplacement at an active spreading axis under a hotspot like the present-day Galapagos Hotspot on the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre. Our results favour the hypothesis that the Malpelo Ridge was formerly a continuation of the Cocos Ridge, emplaced simultaneously with the Carnegie Ridge at the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre, from which it was separated and subsequently drifted southward relative to the Cocos Ridge due to differential motion along the dextral strike-slip Panama Fracture Zone. The steep faulted northern flank of the Malpelo Ridge and the counterpart steep and faulted southern flank of Regina Ridge are possibly related to a rifting phase that resulted in the Coiba Microplate’s separation from the Nazca Plate along the Sandra Rift.

Correction to “From seamount accretion to tectonic erosion: Formation of Osa Mélange and the effects of Cocos Ridge subduction in southern Costa Rica”

[1] The Costa Rica portion of the Middle America Trench (MAT) is characterized by active tectonic erosion, a process that causes the removal of material from the base of the upper plate as the plate boundary migrates upward. Offshore studies demonstrate accelerated subduction erosion starting at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, as the result of subduction of thickened Galapagos related crust, as presently represented by the Cocos Ridge. The subduction of the Cocos Ridge also caused uplift and exposure of the outer forearc on the Osa Peninsula, which offers a window to explore the tectonic evolution of the area. The rocks outcropping on Osa Peninsula are a middle Eocene–middle Miocene melange dominated by basalt, chert, and limestone resulting from accretion of seamounts. The accretion-dominated period of the MAT evolution ended at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, when thickened crust, a paleo-Cocos Ridge, produced at the Galapagos hot spot arrived at the trench. The thick crust caused uplift and severe tectonic erosion of the accretionary edifice allowing exhumation of the Osa Melange. The change from accretion to erosion caused the outer forearc to be offset along subvertical faults that define small (kilometer to tens of kilometers size) blocks that are going through differential vertical movements in response to the morphology of the subducting ridge. Subduction accretion and erosion are two processes that can alternate in time and space or coexist along the same margin, so that mass removal can develop on a previously growing margin and completely remove an accretionary prism.