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The tectonics of eastern Hispaniola: an investigation into the formation and episodic uplift of the Beata Ridge and the geologic and velocity structure of the Cibao basin
Abstract
Through the analysis of present-day tectonic plate configurations and Motions, a mechanism for the episodic uplift of the Beata Ridge in the Caribbean is developed based on modeling the geodynarriic response of an broken elastic plate under the influence of an end load. The response to the bending of an elastic plate is the creation of a forebulge distal to the point of loading. The bathymetry of the Venezuelan basin and the Muertos trough is investigated to show that the bulge in the eastern Caribbean is related to the underthrusting of the Caribbean plate in the Muertos trough beneath eastern Hispaniola. Underthrusting beneath eastern Hispaniola and not the western half of the island is facilitated by motion along a previous zone of weakness. Uplift along the eastern side of this zone of weakness is related to the forebulge created by the underthrusting of the Caribbean plate beneath Hispaniola. This uplift produces the long wavelength topography of the Beata Ridge. The timing of uplift and subsidence of the Beata Ridge is correlated with events occurring on the northern Caribbean plate boundary. Plate interactions around the island of Hispaniola initiate episodic north-south compression reactivating underthrusting and producing uplift along the Beata Ridge. Through this modeling process the elastic thickness of the bending plate is determined. Analysis of the elastic thickness of the eastern Caribbean plate corroborates previous work classifying the Caribbean lithosphere as anomalously thick. Lateral variations in the elastic thickness of the Caribbean plate may be responsible for some of the topography of the Beata Ridge. The Cibao basin in the northern Dominican Republic is investigated using data obtained from a seismic reconnaissance survey. The geologic facies variation and structure of the basin is determined from the interpretation of the seismic data. This information along with interval velocity data calculated from the rms velocity data from the processing of the seismic data is used to infer the location of zones of porosity and fracturing within the Cibao basin.
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Citation
Boucher, Paul James (1994). The tectonics of eastern Hispaniola: an investigation into the formation and episodic uplift of the Beata Ridge and the geologic and velocity structure of the Cibao basin. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1994 -THESIS -B753.
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