Erratum to “First description of a metamorphic sole related to ophiolite obduction in the northern Caribbean: Geochemistry and petrology of the Güira de Jauco amphibolite complex (eastern Cuba) and tectonic implications” [Lithos 179 (2013) 193–210]

Recycling and transport of continental material through the mantle wedge above subduction zones: A Caribbean example

Abstract Estimates of global growth rates of continental crust critically depend upon knowledge of the rate at which crustal material is delivered back into the mantle at subduction zones and is then returned to the crust as a component of mantle-derived magma. Quantification of crustal recycling by subduction-related magmatism relies on indirect chemical and isotopic tracers and is hindered by the large range of potential melt sources (e.g., subducted oceanic crust and overlying chemical and clastic sediment, sub-arc lithospheric mantle, arc crust), whose composition may not be accurately known. There is also uncertainty about how crustal material is transferred from subducted lithosphere …

First description of a metamorphic sole related to ophiolite obduction in the northern Caribbean: Geochemistry and petrology of the Güira de Jauco Amphibolite complex (eastern Cuba) and tectonic implications

Abstract The Guira de Jauco Amphibolite Complex underlies the Mayari–Baracoa Ophiolitic Belt (eastern Cuba) and is composed of highly foliated amphibolite, locally with blocks of sheared serpentinitie that enclose concordant layers of amphibolite. These amphibolites are interpreted as remnants of a sub-ophiolitic metamorphic sole likely formed during late Cretaceous times before the initiation of the collision between the Caribbean and the North American plates. The complex includes common amphibolites (Hbl + Pl ± Ep ± Ttn ± Rt ± Qtz ± Ap), garnet amphibolites (Hbl + Grt + Pl + Ep ± Ttn ± Qtz ± Ap) and clinopyroxene amphibolites (Hbl + Pl + Cpx ± Ep ± Ttn ± Qtz ± Ap). Geochemical data indic…

The geology of Cuba: A brief overview and synthesis

Cuba is the largest island in the Greater Antilles, and its geology records three important episodes: (1) the Jurassic breakup of North and South America (Pangea) and associated passive margin and oceanic sedimentary and magmatic evolution; (2) the sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic evolution of an intra-oceanic Cretaceous-Paleogene ophiolite-arc complex; and (3) the Paleogene 'soft collision' and transfer of the NW Caribbean plate (and Cuba) to the North American plate. Thick sequences of Jurassic-Cretaceous strata (conglomerates, sandstones, limestones, dolo­stones, shales) and interlayered basaltic rocks characterize passive margin sequences preserved in the Guaniguanico terrane (wes…

Cold plumes trigger contamination of oceanic mantle wedges with continental crust-derived sediments: Evidence from chromitite zircon grains of eastern Cuban ophiolites

The origin of zircon grains, and other exotic minerals of typical crustal origin, in mantle-hosted ophiolitic chromitites are hotly debated.We report a population of zircon grains with ages ranging from Cretaceous (99 Ma) to Neoarchean (2750 Ma), separated from massive chromitite bodies hosted in the mantle section of the supra-subduction (SSZ)-type Mayarí-Baracoa Ophiolitic Belt in eastern Cuba. Most analyzed zircon grains (n = 20, 287 +/- 3 Ma to 2750 +/- 60 Ma) are older than the early Cretaceous age of the ophiolite body, show negative εHf(t) (+/-26 to +/-0.6) and occasional inclusions of quartz, K-feldspar, biotite, and apatite that indicate derivation from a granitic continental crust…

Recycling in the subduction factory: Archaean to Permian zircons in the oceanic Cretaceous Caribbean island-arc (Hispaniola)

Abstract Little mineralogical evidence is left of the recycling of continental and oceanic crust into the mantle at subduction zones. Zircon, because of its exceptional robustness, is probably the only surviving phase and the best mineral tracer of this global-scale process. This article combines new in-situ U-Pb dating and O and Hf isotope analyses on Cretaceous (co-magmatic) and pre-Cretaceous (inherited) zircons separated from Albian-Aptian arc-related igneous rocks from the Dominican Republic. The O and Hf systematics of Cretaceous zircons reflect derivation from predominantly juvenile sources and variable mixing with evolved melts, as expected for an oceanic island-arc. Inherited zirco…