2001 TC 001304

TECTONICS, VOL. 21, NO. 6, 1057, doi:10.
1029/2001TC001304, 2002
Oblique collision in the northeastern Caribbean from GPS

measurements and geological observations
Paul Mann,1 Eric Calais,2 Jean-Claude Ruegg,3 Charles DeMets,4 Pamela E. Jansma,5
and Glen S. Mattioli6
Received 31 May 2001; revised 16 April 2002; accepted 10 June 2002; published 11 December 2002.
[1] Previous Caribbean GPS studies have shown that Tectonophysics: Continental neotectonics; 8105 Tectonophysics:
the rigid interior of the Caribbean plate is moving east- Continental margins and sedimentary basins; 3025 Marine Geology
northeastward (070) at a rate of 18–20 ± 3 mm/yr and Geophysics: Marine seismics (0935); 3040 Marine Geology
relative to North America. This direction implies and Geophysics: Plate tectonics (8150, 8155, 8157, 8158); 7230
Seismology: Seismicity and seismotectonics; KEYWORDS: GPS,
maximum oblique convergence between the island of
neotectonics, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Bahama Platform,
Hispaniola on the Caribbean plate and the 22–27-km- earthquakes. Citation: Mann, P., E. Calais, J.-C. Ruegg, C.
thick crust of the Bahama carbonate platform on the DeMets, P. E. Jansma, and G. S. Mattioli, Oblique collision in the
adjacent North America plate. We present a tectonic northeastern Caribbean from GPS measurements and geological
interpretation of a 15-site GPS network which spans observations, Tectonics, 21(6), 1057, doi:10.1029/2001TC001304,
the Hispaniola-Bahama oblique collision zone and 2002.
includes stable plate interior sites on both the North
America and Caribbean plates. Measurements span the
time period of 1994–1999. In a North America 1. Introduction
reference frame, GPS velocities in Puerto Rico, St.
Croix, and the Lesser Antilles indicate that these areas 1.1. Neotectonics in the Northeastern Caribbean
move as a single block in an east-northeast direction [2] Prior to applications of GPS-based geodesy, the
(070) at a rate of 19–20 mm/yr consistent with the direction and rate of Caribbean plate motion remained
movement of the rigid interior of the Caribbean plate. controversial because the Caribbean plate is mainly
GPS velocities at six sites in central and eastern bounded by subduction or strike-slip boundaries where
Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) show drastically plate rates and directions are difficult to precisely estimate
different behavior with more eastwardly strikes from geologic structures and earthquakes alone (Figure
1a). For example, along the North America-Caribbean
(080) and much slower rates (4–17 mm/yr) than strike-slip boundary, measurements using fault strikes,
areas of the stable Caribbean plate. The boundary and earthquake focal mechanisms had produced results
between the relatively slower-moving Hispaniola varying in plate motion direction from due eastward at a
collisional zone and the relatively faster-moving, rate of about 1 – 2 cm/yr [Mann et al., 1991; Calais and
uncollided Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands area is the Mercier de Lépinay, 1993; DeMets et al., 1994] to east-
Mona Passage where late Neogene rifting occurs in a northeastward at a rate of 4 cm/yr [Sykes et al., 1982;
broad zone. Elastic modeling favors strain partitioning Deng and Sykes, 1995]. Recent GPS measurements made
with oblique slip on the outer, low-angle submarine at two islands, San Andres and Aves, that are well within
thrust faults (North Hispaniola, Muertos) and strike the aseismic, stable interior of the Caribbean plate (Figure
slip on the inner, subvertical subaerial, strike-slip 1b), together with mapped fault strikes from the strike-slip
faults (Septentrional, Enriquillo). INDEX TERMS: 8107 segment of the North America-Caribbean plate, have
demonstrated that the Caribbean plate is moving east-
northeastward (070) at a rate of 18– 20 mm/yr relative
1
Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas,
to North America [DeMets et al., 2000]. This rate is about
USA. 65% faster than the prediction of the Nuvel-1A global
2
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, plate motion model of DeMets et al. [1994]. In addition,
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA. the direction implies maximum oblique plate convergence
3
Laboratoire de Tectonique, CNRS-UMR 7578, Institut de Physique de between the Caribbean and North America plates centered
Globe de Paris, Paris, France.
4
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, on the topographically elevated and seismogenic island of
Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Hispaniola (Figure 1b).
5
Department of Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, [3] Plate boundary deformation and the long-term geo-
Arkansas, USA. logic evolution of the 600-km-long tectonic transition
6
Department of Geology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto
Rico. between westward subduction beneath the Lesser Antilles
arc and strike-slip faulting in western Hispaniola has been
Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union. intensively studied over the past 30 years using earthquakes,
0278-7407/02/2001TC001304 subaerial geologic, and structural mapping and submarine
7-1
7-2 MANN ET AL.: OBLIQUE COLLISION IN THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN
Figure 1. (a) Major plates of the Caribbean region and compilation of earthquake focal mechanisms
showing present-day plate kinematics. Base map is a satellite-derived gravity map of the Caribbean
compiled by Sandwell and Smith [1997]. Focal mechanisms shown in red are from earthquakes from 0 to
75 km in depth; blue mechanisms are from earthquakes 75 to 150 km in depth; and green mechanisms are
>150 km in depth. (b) Caribbean-North America velocity predictions of DeMets et al. [2000] (black
arrows) based on GPS velocities at four sites in the stable interior of the plate (red vectors) and two fault
strike measurements in the strike-slip segment of the North America-Caribbean boundary (open circles).
The predicted velocities are consistent with the along-strike transition in structural styles from
transtension in the northwestern corner of the plate to oblique collision between the Caribbean plate in the
Hispaniola (HISP) and Puerto Rico (PR) region and the Bahama Platform. One of the main objectives of
this paper is to use GPS-based geodesy to determine how this motion is partitioned into margin-parallel
strike-slip and margin-perpendicular thrust motions as shown in the inset diagram. See color version of
this figure at back of this issue.
MANN ET AL.: OBLIQUE COLLISION IN THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN 7-3
geophysical mapping (Figure 1a). These data types have led niola [McCann and Sykes, 1984; Mann et al., 1995;
to varying conceptual models for neotectonics, strain parti- Dolan et al., 1998].
tioning, and microplates in the Hispaniola region that we
reexamine in this paper using new GPS observations, elastic 1.3. Objectives of This Paper
modeling, and recent geological and marine geophysical [7] The central objective of this paper is to use new GPS-
observations. based geodetic results to test the three previous models for
[4] In a complex plate boundary zone like Hispaniola, Hispaniola neotectonics. The Global Positioning System
it is difficult to make direct comparisons between (1) has largely proven to be well suited for measuring crustal
geologic mapping data which record permanent deforma- deformation at plate boundary zones because of its high
tion in Neogene rock structures; (2) GPS velocities level of accuracy (2 – 3 mm horizontally over distances up to
recording interseismic elastic strain; and (3) earthquakes several hundreds of kilometers) and because large networks
representing the sudden release of elastic strain. However, can be established and occupied at a modest cost. In this
all three data types should in some way represent the paper, we present the results of GPS measurements from 16
continuation of progressive, late Neogene convergence sites measured in the period 1994 – 1999 in Hispaniola,
between Hispaniola on the Caribbean plate and the Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles, Aves Island
Bahama Platform on the North America plate as predicted in the eastern Caribbean, and Barbados (Figure 3). The
by plate tectonic reconstructions [e.g., McCann and Sykes, densest site distribution (10 sites) occurs on the eastern two
1984; Müller et al., 1999]. An integrated understanding of thirds of the island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic).
both the long-term pattern of permanent deformation and This paper complements earlier GPS results in the north-
the present-day, interseismic elastic strain accumulation on eastern Caribbean presented by (1) Dixon et al. [1998],
active faults within the plate boundary zone constitutes a based on five sites and measurements epochs covering the
critical step in both understanding the tectonic develop- 1989– 1995 period; (2) Jansma et al. [2000] focused on
ment of the region and quantitative estimates of seismic Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; and (3) DeMets et al.
hazard in Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands [2000] focused on the rigid kinematics of the Caribbean
that have a combined population of about 21 million plate (Figure 1b).
people. [8] In this work, we add GPS observation epochs through
1999 and include new GPS sites in the analysis. We benefit
1.2. Previous Models for Hispaniola Neotectonics from the improved North America-Caribbean GPS-based
plate model of DeMets et al. [2000]; a wider field of
[5] The first conceptual model emphasizes the domi- observation allowed by the larger network area; and the
nance of late Neogene to recent strike-slip restraining improved geologic and marine geophysical mapping which
bend convergence on the west-northwest trending and has confirmed the coexistence of onland, late Holocene
left-lateral Septentrional fault zone of northern Hispaniola strike-slip zones flanked by offshore, low-angle thrust faults
and its combined left-lateral shear effect with the parallel [e.g., Dolan et al., 1998; Mann et al., 1998] (Figure 2). We
and left-lateral Enriquillo fault zone of southern Hispa- explore the implications of these newly studied faults for
niola [Mann et al., 1984; Calais and Mercier de Lépinay, our GPS results and elastic models.
1993; Russo and Villaseñor, 1995] (Figure 2a). This
model assumed that both strike-slip faults were relatively 1.4. Significance of GPS Results
simple, vertical structures which accommodated all or
most of the present-day North America-Caribbean strike- [9] Integration of previous geologic data, new GPS
slip motion. Plate motion was assumed on the basis of results, and elastic strain modeling in order to address three
widely accepted global plate motion models to be oriented main questions which relate directly to the two different
in an east-west direction [Jordan, 1975; DeMets et al., conceptual models for Hispaniola neotectonics discussed
1994; Lundgren and Russo, 1996]. Dixon et al. [1998] above and are relevant to the understanding of deformation
assumed this east-west strike-slip fault geometry for their is tectonically similar settings: (1) how is motion partitioned
2-D elastic models of initial GPS results at five sites from between strike-slip and thrust faults in Hispaniola?; (2) is
Hispaniola. Hispaniola currently behaving as a separate microplate
[6] Later models for Hispaniola neotectonics empha- detached by oblique convergence with the east-southeast
size the presence of low-angle subduction thrusts con- trending promontory of the Bahama Platform on the North
tinuous with downdip Benioff zones bordering the America plate?; and (3) what are the implications of
northern (North Hispaniola fault zone-Puerto Rico trench) Hispaniola-Bahamas convergence for seismic hazard
and southern (Muertos) margins of the island coexisting assessment in the Hispaniola relative to adjacent plate
with onshore strike-slip faults (Figure 2b). The offshore boundary areas to the east in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands,
thrusts were attributed to either more oblique west-south- and northern Lesser Antilles?
westward convergence between North America and the
1.5. Strain Partitioning
Caribbean [Deng and Sykes, 1995], late Neogene north-
south convergence between the North and South Amer- [10] The first question is how interplate motion between
ican plates [Dillon et al., 1994; Dixon and Mao, 1997; the North America and Caribbean plates is partitioned
Müller et al., 1999], or progressive oblique collision between margin-parallel strike-slip and margin-perpendicu-
between the southeastern Bahama Platform and Hispa- lar thrust motions as shown schematically in the inset box of
Figure 2. (a) Earthquake focal mechanisms along the northeastern margin of the Caribbean plate
compared to the Caribbean-North America convergence direction. Focal mechanisms are from
earthquakes from 0 to 50 km in depth: mechanisms in yellow are 1946-8 earthquake sequence [Dolan
and Wald, 1998]; red mechanisms are compiled from the CMT catalogue [Calais et al., 1992; Molnar and
Sykes, 1969]. Most earthquake focal planes indicate thrusting along low-angle fault planes perpendicular
to the DeMets et al. [2000] plate vector in the region of oceanic subduction east of the yellow, dashed line
parallel to 67W. West of this line, focal planes indicate strike-slip and oblique thrusting along variably
oriented fault planes suggestive of strain partitioning within the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone. (b)
Plots of earthquake hypocenters in the Bahama Platform-Hispaniola-Puerto Rico collisional zone
projected to planes passing through each of the compartments shown on the map in A (modified from
Dillon et al. [1994]). Inferred tectonic setting, slab geometry, and crustal deformational style of each
compartment is summarized in inset. See color version of this figure at back of this issue.
Figure 3. (a) Comparison of observed GPS velocities for Caribbean sites relative to North America.
Color code for velocities shown in inset. Abbreviations for GPS sites: BARB, Barbados; MART,
Martinique; GUAD, Guadeloupe; AVES, Aves Island; CRO1, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; TURK,
Turk Island, Bahamas. Abbreviations of tectonic features: BAP, Barbados accretionary prism; LA, Lesser
Antilles volcanic arc; AF, Anegada fault; PRT, Puerto Rico trench; MR, Mona rift (gray area); MF,
Muertos fault; MB, Mona block; NHF, North Hispaniola fault; EF, Enriquillo fault; SHF, South Haiti
fault. (b) Comparison of observed GPS velocities relative to the stable Caribbean plate as defined by
DeMets et al. [2000]. Velocities show a strong southwestward component consistent with southwestward
thrusting of late Miocene to recent age in Hispaniola. Variations in the crustal thickness of the Caribbean
oceanic plateau on the Caribbean plate as determined by Mauffret and Leroy [1997] are shown.
Abbreviations: NR, Nicaraguan Rise; HSB, Haiti subbasin; BR, Beata Ridge; VB, Venezuelan basin. See
color version of this figure at back of this issue.
Figure 1b. This question is fundamentally important for plate boundary zone. For present-day estimates of strain
understanding the mechanics of obliquely convergent active partitioning into margin-parallel and margin-perpendicular
margins [McCaffrey, 1992]. The question of strain partition- components, we rely on 3-D elastic models constrained by
ing is also critical for understanding the types and locations GPS results and fault slip rates and fault dips taken from
of future earthquakes in this densely populated sector of the previous geologic studies and reviewed in maps and cross
sections presented in this paper. DeMets et al. [2000] note Table 1. Observation Schedule of the GPS Campaign Sites in the
that the plate-normal component of Caribbean-North Amer- Northeastern Caribbean Presented in This Study
ica motion the 650-km-long segment of the Hispaniola
Observation Epochs
restraining bend is 2 to 5 times higher (up to 11 ± 3 mm/
yr) than that predicted by their plate model for other areas Number Code Full Name 86 94 95 96 97 98 99
along the 3000-km-long plate boundary.
1 CAPO Capotillo JPL DR x x x
1.6. Microplates 2 CONS Constanza DR x x
3 FRAN Cabo Frances Viejo DR x x x
[11] The second question on the existence of microplates 4 MOCA Moca DR x x
in Hispaniola is addressed by study of GPS velocities in the 5 ROJO Cabo Rojo DR x x x
area of the proposed Hispaniola-Puerto Rico microplate of 6 SDOM Santo Domingo DR x x
7 COLO La Colonia DR x x
Byrne et al. [1985] in eastern Hispaniola and the Mona 8 ISAB La Isabella PR x x x x x
Passage and the proposed Gonave microplate of Mann et al. 9 PARG Parguera PR x x x x
[1995] in the area of central and western Hispaniola. A 10 CRO1 St Croix VI x x x x x
recent GPS study by Jansma et al. [2000] revealed that the 11 AVES Aves island Vene. x x
Puerto Rico-northern Virgin Islands microplate proposed by 12 TURK Grand Turk Bah. x x x
13 MAT0 Matouba Guad. x x
Masson and Scanlon [1991] on the basis of marine geo- 14 RCB1 Chutes du Carbet Guad. x x
physical data is moving at a rate no faster than about 1 mm/ 15 HOU0 Houelmont Guad. x x x
yr relative to the stable Caribbean plate. Longer time series 16 FSD0 Fonds St Denis Mart. x x x
at sites which were not available for the Jansma et al.
[2000] or this paper will better address the problem of
whether any slow (<1 mm/yr) relative motion exists the Lesser Antilles. GPS measurements were first carried
between Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean plate. out in the northeastern Caribbean in 1986 at a total of six
Jansma et al. [2000] showed that GPS data from Puerto sites on the Bahamas Platform (TURK), southern Cuba
Rico and Hispaniola is consistent with about 5 mm/yr of (GTMO), St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (SCRX) and three
opening in the Mona Passage, the marine strait between the sites in Hispaniola (ROJO, FRAN, CAPO [Dixon et al.,
two islands. The presence of microplates and their bounda- 1991]) (Figures 1 and 3).
ries with the Caribbean and North American plate is an [14] These sites were reoccupied in 1994 and the network
important question both for the long-term geologic evolu- was densified in 1998 to include an additional 15 sites in the
tion of the area and the associated seismic hazards of these Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands as
boundaries. part of the U.S.-French CANAPE project (Caribbean North
America Plate Experiment) [Dixon et al., 1998]. Partial
1.7. Seismic Hazards remeasurements of the network were subsequently carried
out in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999. In this study, we use
[12] A third and final set of questions relates to the these data along with GPS data from permanent sites at St.
seismic hazard of this particularly wide, seismogenic, and Croix (CRO1) and Barbados (BARB) which have operated
densely populated segment of the North America-Caribbean in the framework of the International GPS Service for
plate boundary where geologic fault slip studies have only Geodynamics (IGS) since October 1995, and November
been conducted on only one segment of the Septentrional 1997, respectively (Table 1).
fault [Prentice et al., 1993; Mann et al., 1998; Prentice et [15] We also integrated GPS data collected at four sites in
al., 2002] (Figure 2a) and where numerous, large historical Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles by the
earthquakes felt over the past 500 years may have originated Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, and one occupation
on the inner set of strike-slip faults (Septentrional, Enri- [1994] at Aves Island by the University of Colorado at
quillo) or on the outer set of low-angle thrust faults (North Boulder (data courtesy of R. Bilham) (Figure 3). The GPS
Hispaniola-Puerto Rico). These historical events are poten- results presented here are therefore based on a network of
tially large and destructive as shown by the M7.2 – 8.1 16 sites, seven in the Dominican Republic in Hispaniola,
1943 – 1953 earthquake series that occurred along the low- two in Puerto Rico, and one in St. Croix (US Virgin
angle North Hispaniola fault between northeastern Hispa- Islands), one on Aves Island, and five in the Lesser Antilles
niola and the Bahama Platform [Dolan and Wald, 1998] (Table 1). The entire GPS data set spans an area of about
(Figure 2a). We use GPS data to constrain fault slip rates 1600 by 850 km or about 30% of the entire area of the
and elastic strain accumulation across various segments of Caribbean plate (Figure 1). This regional scale of observa-
the plate boundary and derive information on earthquake tion is particularly important for addressing the question of
potential. microplate tectonics along the northern Caribbean plate
boundary zone.
2. GPS Data and Processing [16] GPS campaign data were collected using various
dual-frequency, code phase receiver/antenna combinations.
2.1. Data Distribution and Acquisition The 1994 measurements were performed using Ashtech Z12
[13] In order to address these problems, we have com- receivers with Geodetic II antennae and Trimble 4000 SSE
bined GPS data sets collected by collaborating U.S. and with Trimble SST antennae. In 1996, we used Trimble 4000
French institutions in Hispaniola, the Bahama Platform, and SSE with Trimble SST antennae. All observations after June
Table 2. GPS Horizontal Stations Positions, Velocities, and Associated Formal Errorsa
ITRF97 NOAM CARB
Site Lon. Lat. Ve Vn sve svn Corr. Ve Vn Ve Vn
CAPO 71.67 19.42 2.20 6.00 0.70 0.30 0.0080 10.55 3.49 8.21 2.00
COLO 71.45 18.37 1.30 7.10 0.60 0.30 0.0225 6.68 4.51 12.27 1.00
CONS 70.77 18.92 5.50 4.30 0.70 0.40 0.0146 13.66 1.45 5.21 4.10
RCB1 61.65 16.04 13.70 12.20 0.90 0.70 0.0608 20.64 5.92 1.05 0.06
MAT0 61.69 16.05 10.50 12.40 0.50 0.30 0.0754 17.44 6.13 2.15 0.16
HOU0 61.70 15.98 11.50 15.00 0.40 0.20 0.0716 18.42 8.74 1.18 2.76
FSD0 61.15 14.73 12.40 11.90 0.60 0.30 0.0808 18.87 5.43 0.91 0.56
FRAN 69.94 19.67 3.00 5.10 0.70 0.40 0.0024 5.41 1.93 13.36 3.66
ISAB 67.05 18.47 10.90 10.70 0.50 0.30 0.0647 18.83 6.43 0.24 0.70
MOCA 70.53 19.38 2.60 3.50 0.70 0.40 0.0390 5.72 0.56 13.08 5.00
PARA 67.04 17.97 11.40 11.50 0.50 0.30 0.0573 19.15 7.23 0.01 1.49
ROJO 71.67 17.90 10.70 6.20 0.60 0.30 0.0496 18.51 3.69 0.50 1.80
SDOM 69.87 18.47 6.60 7.40 0.60 0.30 0.0535 14.59 4.21 4.39 1.39
TURK 71.13 21.46 6.40 4.60 1.10 0.50 0.0378 2.65 1.89 15.76 3.64
CRO1 64.58 17.76 11.00 12.20 0.50 0.30 0.0474 18.62 7.01 0.64 1.16
a
Velocities are given in mm/yr. Formal errors (sv) are in mm, one standard deviation. Abbreviations are as follows: ITRF97, International Terrestrial
Reference Frame 1997 [Boucher et al., 1999]; NOAM, North American plate; CARB, Caribbean plate. Abbreviations are as follows: Lon, longitude; Lat,
latitude; Ve and Vn, east and north velocity components; Corr, correspondence.
1996, with the exception of the 1998 campaigns at San scale transformation. The height coordinate and velocity
Andres Island (SANA) and Aves Island (AVES), were were downweighted by a factor of 10 relative to the
obtained with Trimble 4000 SSI with Dorne-Margolin horizontal components.
choke-ring antennae. Each site was surveyed 22 to 24 hours
a day for an average of three consecutive days during each 2.3. Site Velocities and Errors
campaign. The data were collected at a 30 s sampling rate [20] Our results over the 5 year period 1994 – 1999 are
using a 10 elevation cutoff angle. listed in Table 2. We assess the accuracy of the GPS estimates
using daily and long-term baseline repeatabilities based on
2.2. Data Processing weighted RMS scatter about the best fit linear regression to
[17] We processed pseudorange and phase GPS data in the position time series. We find long-term baseline repeat-
single-day solutions using the GAMIT software. We solved abilities of the order of 2 – 4 mm for the horizontal compo-
for regional station coordinates, satellite state vectors, 13 nents and 5 to 10 mm for the vertical component.
tropospheric zenith delay parameters per site and day, and [21] The formal errors of the GPS-derived velocities have
phase ambiguities using doubly differenced GPS phase been computed by scaling the 1-s uncertainties of the final
measurements. We used IGS final orbits, IERS (Interna- adjustment by the overall chi-square per degree of freedom.
tional Earth Rotation Service) earth orientation parameters, The formal standard deviations are typically of the order of
and applied azimuth and elevation dependant antenna phase 2 mm/yr and 4 mm/yr for the north and east velocity
center models, following the tables recommended by the components, respectively, assuming a pure white noise error
IGS. We included 11 global IGS stations with position and model for site positions [Mao et al., 1999]. Time series
velocities well determined in the International Terrestrial analysis of continuous position time series in California and
Reference Frame (ITRF97) [Boucher et al., 1999] to serve at global sites [Mao et al., 1999] have shown that GPS
as ties with the global reference frame (stations GOLD, position estimates follow a noise model that combines white
BRMU, ALGO, CRO1, KOUR, MAS1, RSM5, RCM6, and colored noise. If similar noise spectra apply to our
AREQ, SANT, KOKB). station positions, the actual uncertainties could be 2 – 4
[18] The least squares adjustment vector and its corre- times larger than those derived from a white noise model
sponding variance-covariance matrix for station positions only. Velocity vectors shown in the figures are represented
and orbital elements estimated for each independent daily with their two-dimensional 95% confidence limit.
solution were then merged together using a Kalman filter.
2.4. Local and Regional Reference Frames
We also added daily solutions from global tracking sites
obtained from the IGS data processing center at Scripps [22] Tectonic interpretation of geodetic results requires a
Institution of Oceanography. Site positions and velocities, representation of the velocity field with respect to a rigid
earth orientation parameters, and orbits were loosely con- block such as a plate interior. This is usually done by
strained at this stage. removing a rigid plate rotation taken from a global kine-
[19] We then impose the reference frame using the matic model or estimated from the velocities at a number of
resulting combined solution by minimizing the position geodetic sites on that plate. Using 16 permanent GPS
and velocity deviations of 14 IGS stations with respect to stations in the stable interior of the North American plate,
the ITRF97, while estimating an orientation, translation and DeMets and Dixon [1999] estimated rotation parameters for
Table 3. Caribbean (CARIB) and North American (NOAM) Plate Angular Velocities and Uncertaintiesa
Rotation Azimuth Uncertainty in
Latitude, N Longitude, E Rate, /Myr Major Axis Minor Axis Clockwise Rotation Rate
NOAM/ITRF97 3.1 281.8 0.199 1.5 0.5 12 0.003

CARIB/ITRF97 36.9 270.7 0.297 4.8 1.1 22 0.033
CARIB-NOAM 73.1 228.9 0.198 13.6 1.6 56 0.017
a
In each case, the first plate rotates CCW about the pole with respect to the fixed frame. ITRF97 stands for Interntational Terrestrial
Reference Frame-1997.
the North American plate with respect to the ITRF96. ing the measured and predicted North America-ITRF97
Similarly, DeMets et al. [2000] estimated rotation parame- velocity at each of our GPS sites (Figure 3a). Similarly,
ters for the Caribbean plate relative to ITRF96 using four we represent our results in a Caribbean frame (Figure 3b) by
GPS sites on the Caribbean plate interior and two azimuths differentiating the measured and predicted Caribbean-
of the Swan Islands transform fault along the southern edge ITRF97 velocity at each of our GPS sites.
of the Cayman trough [Rosencrantz and Mann, 1991]
(Figure 1b). In this study, we reestimate the angular veloc-
ities of the Caribbean and North American plates employing 3. GPS Results and Elastic Strain Models
updated GPS velocities for Caribbean and North American
plate sites and the most recent geodetic reference frame 3.1. GPS Observations
ITRF97 [Boucher et al., 1999]. The NOAM-ITRF97 and [25] Figures 3a and 3b display the GPS-derived velocities
CARB-ITRF97 rotation parameters are given in Table 3. in North American and Caribbean fixed reference frames,
[23] For the Caribbean plate, we use two azimuths from respectively. In a North America fixed frame, we find an
the Swan Islands transform fault and the velocities of our insignificant residual velocity of 3.3 ± 3.3 mm/yr at site
GPS sites (SANA, AVES, ROJO, and CRO1) (Figure 1b). TURK on the Bahamas platform, consistent with the pre-
The GPS sites incorporate all data available as of August vious interpretation of Dixon et al. [1998] that this site is
2000. The residual velocities at these sites average 1.3 mm/ located on the stable North America plate.
yr for both the north and east components. For the North [26] For the sites located in Puerto Rico (ISAB, PARA),
American plate, we used velocities from 100 sites that have St. Croix (CRO1), Guadeloupe (GUAD), Martinique
operated continuously for periods ranging from 2.0 to 7.2 (MART), Aves Island, (AVES), and Barbados (BARB),
years. Although the geographic extent of these sites is no we find GPS velocities in very good agreement with
greater than for the 16 sites employed by DeMets and Dixon DeMets et al.’s [2000] kinematic model predictions for
[1999] to estimate the North American plate angular veloc- the Caribbean plate (Figure 1b). Residual velocities at these
ity, increases in both the length of the GPS time series and sites (see velocities in a Caribbean fixed frame, Figure 5)
the number of sites we employ reduce the uncertainties in range from 0.6 mm/yr to 3.3 mm/yr (1.4 mm/yr on average)
the North American angular velocity to negligible levels and are insignificant at the 95% confidence level. The same
(Table 3). The residual velocities at these sites average 1.0 is true for ROJO, located at the southernmost tip of
mm/yr in both the north and east components. Hispaniola (Figure 4a). Its velocity is consistent with the
[24] To represent our results in a North America frame, prediction of a rigid Caribbean model, with a residual
we therefore rotated our ITRF97 velocities by differentiat- velocity of 1.9 mm/yr (Figure 3b).
Figure 4. (opposite) (a) Crustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone in Hispaniola (HISP, includes
Dominican Republic and Haiti) compared with GPS velocities relative to the North America. Abbreviations for GPS sites:
PARG, Parguera, Puerto Rico; ISAB, La Isabela, P.R.; SDOM, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; ROJO, Cabo Rojo,
D.R.; COLO, Colorado, D.R.; CONS, Constanza, D.R.; CAPO, Capotillo, D.R.; MOCA, Moca, D.R.; FRAN, Cabo
Frances Viejo, D.R. The velocities straddle the boundary of the Hispaniola-Bahama collisional zone, whose eastern limit is
defined by the subducted carbonate high of the Bahama Platform, the Mona Block (MB), and the adjacent Mona rift (MR).
The now-subducted Mona block is collinear with presumably similar carbonate highs to the northwest: the Navidad (NB),
Silver (SB), and Mouchoir (MB) Banks. These banks grew to sea level on top of a broad, Mesozoic carbonate
‘‘megaplatform’’ now at an average depth of 4000 m. Active tectonic features of the overriding plate include thrust faults of
the North Hispaniola fault (NHF) and Puerto Rico trench (PRT), the North Puerto Rico Slope (NPRSF), the South Puerto
Rico Slope (SPRSF), the Septentrional (SF) and the Enriquillo (EF) left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Puerto Rico-Virgin
Islands (PRVI) arch, the Mona rift, and the Muertos fault (MF). (b) Subcrustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahamas
collision zone include three areas of the subducted North America slab reproduced from Dillon et al. [1994]: an area of a
continuous subducted slab in the east; an area of detached slab in the center; and an area to the west where no slab has been
mapped. The 1943– 1953 earthquakes (stars) and their magnitudes are in the general area of the continuous subducted slab
and probably represent increased coupling between the carbonate banks on the downgoing plate and the overriding
Caribbean plate in Hispaniola. See color version of this figure at back of this issue.
7 - 10 MANN ET AL.: OBLIQUE COLLISION IN THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN
[27] GPS-derived velocities at five sites in central and subvertical flower zone structure in rocks and sediments
eastern Hispaniola (CAPO, FRAN, CONS, MOCA, SDOM) of late Neogene to Quaternary age.
show significant discrepancies with the prediction of a rigid [30] The east-west striking Enriquillo fault of southern
Caribbean plate model as seen in the global, North America Hispaniola is less well exposed because its trace lies in the
(Figure 3a), and Caribbean reference frames (Figure 3b). Enriquillo Valley, a subsea level depression characterized by
These sites have consistently more easterly strikes and rapid alluvial fan and lake sedimentation along steep-sided
slower rates than the sites in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, mountain fronts (Figure 5a). Nevertheless, its location has
and the Lesser Antilles that are moving as part of the stable been mapped locally at the surface and in the subsurface
Caribbean plate [Jansma et al., 2000]. Residual velocities in using seismic reflection data [Mann et al., 1995, 1999]. The
a Caribbean fixed frame illustrate this result with residual Enriquillo fault ends abruptly in south central Hispaniola
velocities of 5 – 14 mm/yr in a west – southwest direction. In and cannot be traced as a continuous east-west fault into
addition, one can observe a decrease in velocities from south eastern Hispaniola. Its possible that strike-slip motion along
to north across Hispaniola in the North America (Figure 3a) the Enriquillo fault is transferred southeastward to the
and Caribbean (Figure 3b) reference frames. active, low-angle thrust motion at the western terminus of
[28] This spatial gradient, perpendicular to the trend of the Muertos fault [Mauffret and Leroy, 1999] (Figure 5a).
the roughly east – west trending plate boundary zone, could Motion on the low-angle Muertos thrust fault decreases
be caused by either elastic strain accumulation on individual from this point eastward to longitude 66W where little or
locked faults in Hispaniola shown in Figure 2a or contin- no active underthrusting is occurring [Masson and Scanlon,
uous and/or anelastic deformation across the entire Hispa- 1991]. The Enriquillo fault extends westward across the
niola plate boundary zone. However, four, throughgoing southern peninsula of Haiti and is continuous with the
active faults, mapped onland and offshore and spatially Plantain Garden fault zone of Jamaica [Mann et al.,
associated with large historical earthquakes, appear to con- 1995]. A number of historical earthquakes affected towns
centrate interplate strain in Hispaniola. We show the loca- of southern Hispaniola in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries
tions of these faults in Figures 4 and 5 including their suggesting that they may have occurred on a major fault in
relationships to (1) surface topography; (2) GPS velocities southern Dominican Republic, possibly the Enriquillo fault
in both a North American and Caribbean frame; (3) the (Figure 5a). However, no geological estimate of slip rate is
epicenters of large historical earthquakes; and (5) subducted yet available for this fault.
slabs known from earthquake studies.
3.2.2. Offshore Oblique-Slip Faults and
3.2. Major Active Faults in Hispaniola Subducted Slabs
3.2.1. Onland Strike-Slip Faults [31] The North Hispaniola fault has been mapped using
[29] The maps of Figures 4 and 5 show the two main left- side scan sonar and seismic reflection data by Dillon et al.
lateral strike-slip faults in Hispaniola, the Septentrional and [1992] and Dolan et al. [1998] along the northern margin of
Enriquillo faults. In northern Hispaniola, the right stepping, the island (Figure 4a). These data suggest a very low-angle
left-lateral Septentrional fault is responsible for the uplift of thrust boundary consistent with the occurrence of a series of
the Cordillera Septentrional in its area of maximum fault M7.2– 8.1 large thrust earthquakes in the period 1943– 1953
curvature in the northern Dominican Republic and for active [Dolan and Wald, 1998] (Figure 4b). The North Hispaniola
folding and faulting at its contact with late Neogene to fault is continuous with the Puerto Rico trench to the east
Holocene units of the Cibao valley [Calais et al., 1992; which is the site of recent strike-slip and low-angle thrust
Mann et al., 1998]. Fault trenching studies by Prentice et al. faulting and a very strong (400 mGal) negative gravity
[1993], Mann et al. [1998], and Prentice et al. [2002] along anomaly (Figure 1a). Both the North Hispaniola and Puerto
the Septentrional fault in northern Dominican Republic Rico trench faults mark the site of subduction for slabs of
show that the most recent ground-rupturing earthquake Atlantic lithosphere beneath Hispaniola and Puerto Rico,
occurred over 800 years ago and involved a minimum of respectively (Figure 2b). Detailed studies of earthquakes by
4 m of left-lateral slip. In addition, offset stream terrace Dillon et al. [1994] shows the presence of one or more slab
risers along the Septentrional fault provide Holocene left- fragments in the depth range of 70– 200 km (Figure 2b).
lateral slip rate estimates of 9 ± 3 mm/yr [Prentice et al., The slabs generally exhibit southward dips and therefore
2002]. Marine geophysical surveys north of Hispaniola appear to be broken off from the southward or southwest-
[Dillon et al., 1992; Dolan et al., 1998] and Puerto Rico ward subducting North America plate. A boundary can be
[Masson and Scanlon, 1991; Grindlay et al., 1997] indicate drawn near the west coast of Puerto Rico separating a
that the Septentrional fault zone extends eastward as far as continuous and unbroken subducted slab of Atlantic oceanic
the Mona rift with earthquake evidence for strike-slip crust (North America plate) beneath the northern Lesser
motion [McCann and Sykes, 1984; Calais et al., 1992] Antilles, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, and an area of
(Figure 4a). The Septentrional fault extends westward along detached slab(s) beneath the Mona Passage and eastern
the northern coast of Haiti and along the southern Cuban Hispaniola (Figure 2a).
margin [Calais and Mercier de Lépinay, 1991, 1993]
3.3. Elastic Strain Model Assumptions
(Figure 5a). In offshore areas, the fault appears vertical on
seismic reflection profiles. In northern Hispaniola, seismic [32] We use the a priori and admittedly incomplete geo-
reflection profiles by Edgar [1991] reveal a complex, logic information on active structures in the Hispaniola-
MANN ET AL.: OBLIQUE COLLISION IN THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN 7 - 11
Figure 5. (a) Crustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone compared with GPS
velocities relative to the Caribbean plate reference frame. The velocities provide good across-strike
coverage of the fold-thrust belt structure of Hispaniola (HISP) which represents southwestward
backthrusting produced by the oblique collision of Hispaniola with the Bahama Platform. Stars represent
a time-space progression of large historical earthquakes spatially associated with the Enriquillo fault that
began in 1751 and extended westward to 1860. Abbreviations: SB, Silver Bank; NB, Navidad Bank;
NHF, North Hispaniola fault; SF, Septentrional fault; EF, Enriquillo fault; SHF, South Haiti fault; BR,
Beata Ridge; MT, Muertos fault; HP, Haiti Plateau; HSB, Haiti subbasin; GM, Gonave microplate. B.
Subcrustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone include an area of subducted
Caribbean slab reproduced from Dillon et al. [1994]. The 1984 M6.7 thrust event occurred at a depth of
32 km and confirmed northward thrusting of the Caribbean plate beneath southeastern Hispaniola. See
color version of this figure at back of this issue.
Puerto Rico area to construct a simple deformation model convergence without the influence of the Bahama Platform
that assumes elastic strain accumulation on locked faults and localized oblique collision of the Bahama carbonate
[e.g., Savage, 1983, 1990]. This deformation model uses platform with Hispaniola. We are also interested in how the
GPS-derived velocities in order to gain a better under- total Caribbean-North America plate convergence is parti-
standing of the slip distribution on active faults across the tioned into a margin-parallel (strike-slip) and margin-per-
plate boundary zone in Hispaniola. In particular, we are pendicular (thrust) component of displacement as shown
interested in distinguishing the previously discussed neo- schematically in the inset of Figure 1b. Model-derived
tectonic model for a restraining bend on an east – west predictions for fault slip rates and fault character are
strike-slip fault from other models including simple oblique necessary since only one fault in Hispaniola (the Septen-
trional) has geologic slip rate information derived from fault a profile across Hispaniola. Their best fit model predicts 4 ±
trenching. 3 mm/yr of left-lateral slip on the North Hispaniola fault, 8
[33] In an earlier paper, Dixon et al. [1998] modeled ± 3mm/yr on the Septentrional fault, and 8 ± 4 mm/yr on the
elastic strain accumulation along a two-dimensional north- Enriquillo fault (Figure 6b and Table 4). Although the GPS
south profile across the Dominican Republic. Their model data were not sufficient to model the plate boundary-normal
was constrained by four GPS velocities and used assump- component, Dixon et al. [1998] estimated this component to
tions of vertical strike-slip faults only because at the time of be 7 mm/yr. Projection of the GPS-derived Caribbean-
the study the GPS data was not sufficient to constrain fault- North America velocity in the vicinity of the strike-slip
perpendicular motion. In this study, we use the more robust restraining bend of northern Hispaniola into components
GPS data set shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5 to model elastic parallel and perpendicular to the plate boundary yields an
strain in three dimensions and use a larger number of GPS even larger value, 12 ± 3 mm/yr for the boundary normal
sites spanning central and eastern Hispaniola in the Dom- component [DeMets et al., 2000].
inican Republic and Puerto Rico. We also consider the low- [38] The resulting velocities of these two previous studies
angle nature of the North Hispaniola-Puerto Rico trench are and compared with the more densely spaced, observed
fault and the Muertos fault based on marine geophysical GPS-derived velocities from this study in Figure 6c and
mapping. Table 4. We find that Lundgren and Russo’s [1996] fault
[34] We model elastic strain in an elastic half-space cut geometry and slip rates produce a very good fit with the
by active faults assumed to be fully locked to shallow depth GPS velocities for plate boundary-parallel motion, but a
and freely slipping below that depth [Feigl and Dupré, poor fit for plate boundary-normal motion. Moreover, the
1999]. Following Pollitz and Dixon [1998], we assume that predictions of Lundgren and Russo [1996] exhibit a system-
postseismic relaxation effects of the larger thrust events of atic rotation between predicted and measured velocities
the 1943 – 1953 earthquake series do not significantly con- (Figure 6a).
tribute to surface crustal velocities in our network in the [39] We find that Dixon et al.’s [1998] fault geometry and
1994 – 1999 time period. slip rates result in a good agreement with the GPS velocities
[35] Input into the model includes fault location, dip, for plate boundary-parallel motion (strike-slip component)
strike, and sense of slip constrained by geologic data (Figure 6b). Since no attempt was made to constrain fault-
compiled in Figures 4 and 5. Input into the elastic strain perpendicular motion, we make no comparison with our 3-
model also include fault-locking depth. Seismological stud- D model.
ies indicate that most hypocenter of shallow (<30 km) [40] We conclude that both models resolve well the plate
earthquakes in the northeastern Caribbean area are located boundary-parallel motion in Hispaniola accommodated by
near 15 km [Sykes et al., 1982; Calais and Mercier de the two inner, subaerial strike-slip faults (Septentrional,
Lépinay, 1991; Deng and Sykes, 1995; Dolan et al., 1998], Enriquillo). The Lundgren and Russo [1996] model pre-
consistent with a continental or transitional crust of normal dicts significantly less plate-normal shortening than meas-
heat flow. In the absence of more detailed information, we ured with GPS and probably accommodated by the outer,
assume in this model that all faults have a 15 km locking submarine thrust faults (North Hispaniola and Muertos)
depth. (Figure 2).
[41] The fact that Lundgren and Russo [1996] assume
3.4. Test of Previously Published Fault Slip Rates essentially strike-slip motion on all active faults across the
plate boundary, including on the NHF and fail to reproduce
[36] We first test the fault slip rates proposed by two the GPS-derived velocities, suggests that strike-slip motion
deformation models that have assumed that roughly east – through a simple restraining bend geometry is not sufficient
west interplate strike-slip motion occurs along vertical to explain the present-day strain distribution in the north-
strike-slip faults [Lundgren and Russo, 1996; Dixon et al., eastern Caribbean, particularly in Hispaniola. Lundgren and
1998]. Lundgren and Russo [1996] tested the role of Russo [1996] include 2 to 6 mm/yr of thrust motion on the
boundary conditions on interplate deformation in the north- Muertos fault, decreasing from west to east, but this does
eastern Caribbean using an elastic, two-dimensional, spher- not improve the fit to the observed GPS results.
ical shell, finite element model that includes faults. Their [42] Possible interpretations of this misfit by Lundgren
best fit model predicts 4 –8 mm/yr of left-lateral strike slip and Russo [1996] include (1) that elastic models are not
motion on the North Hispaniola fault, increasing from west sufficient to explain the velocities obtained by GPS, and
to east; 10 mm/yr of left-lateral strike slip motion on the that more complex models, including viscoelasticity and a
Septentrional fault, decreasing to 7 – 3 mm eastward along realistic lithospheric structure and heat flow, are necessary;
its eastward offshore prolongation; 1 – 3 mm/yr of left- and (2) that a significant amount of shortening is accom-
lateral strike slip on the Enriquillo fault; 6– 1 mm/yr of modated either by thrust motion on the North Hispaniola-
thrust motion across the Muertos fault, decreasing from Puerto Rico fault or by diffuse shortening across the plate
west to east (Figure 6a and Tables 4 and 5). boundary.
[37] Using a subset of the GPS data used herein, princi-
pally the components of four GPS velocities from Hispa-
3.5. Revised Best Fit Model
niola projected onto the local direction of the Septentrional
fault (110), Dixon et al. [1998] modeled the plate boundary [43] In the following, we test whether an elastic strain
parallel elastic strain accumulation in two dimensions along model accounting for significant thrust motion on the North
Figure 6. (a) Comparison of predicted GPS velocities from two-dimensional finite element model of Lundgren and Russo
[1996] (black arrows) with observed GPS velocities (gray arrows with error ellipses) in the Hispaniola-Puerto Rico area.
Major active strike-slip or thrust plate boundary faults are indicated: NHF, North Hispaniola fault; PRT, Puerto Rico trench;
SPRSF, South Puerto Rico Slope fault; SF = Septentrional fault; EF = Enriquillo fault; MF = Muertos fault. Lower graphs
show model-predicted fault-parallel and fault-perpendicular displacements (continuous, solid line) along profile A-A0
indicated by the dashed line in upper map. Small squares with error bars represent GPS site velocity data at locations shown
in upper map. (b) Comparison of predicted GPS velocities from two-dimensional elastic model of Dixon et al. [1998] (black
MANN ET AL.: OBLIQUE COLLISION IN THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN
arrows) with observed GPS velocities (gray arrows with error ellipses). Lower graphs show model-predicted fault-parallel
and fault-perpendicular displacements (continuous, solid line) along profile A-A0 indicated by the dashed line in upper map.
Small squares with error bars represent GPS site velocity data at locations shown in upper map. (c) Comparison of predicted
GPS velocities (black arrows) from our three-dimensional model in this paper with observed GPS velocities (gray arrows
with error ellipses). Our model allows significant, margin-perpendicular thrusting along the North Hispaniola fault
(Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone). Lower graphs show model-predicted fault-parallel and fault-perpendicular
displacements (continuous, solid line) along profile A-A0 indicated by the dashed line in upper map. Small squares with
error bars represent GPS site velocity data at locations shown in upper map. See text for discussion.
7 - 13
Table 4. Predicted Fault Slip Rates in Hispaniola and Surrounding Offshore Regions According to Models by Lundgren and Russo
[1996] (cf. Figure 6a), Dixon et al. [1998] (cf. Figure 6b), and This Paper (cf. Figure 6c)a
Fault Slip Rates, mm/yr
Locking Septentrional Enriquillo N. Hispaniola Puerto Rico Muertos

Depth, km Fault Fault Fault Trench Trough RMS, mm/yr
Lundgren and Russo [1996], Figure 6a 15 10.0 3.0 4.0 8.3 7.7 8.0
Dixon et al. [1998], Figure 6b 15 8.0 8.0 4.0 not modeled not modeled 7.8
This paper, Figure 6c 15 9.0 10.0 12.8 22.4 7.7 3.1
a
Fault slip rates in mm/yr.
Hispaniola fault as mapped by Dillon et al. [1992] and versus convergent deformation models in the northeastern
Dolan et al. [1998] can fit the GPS-derived velocities in Caribbean. We have shown that strike-slip models for
Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. We impose the fault geometry Hispaniola neotectonics (i.e., convergent deformation is
derived from geologic mapping summarized above along produced only by the restraining bend geometry of the
with the single slip rate on the Septentrional fault (9 mm/yr) plate boundary and motion on active faults are essentially
[Prentice et al., 2002] (Table 5). In addition, we use an purely strike-slip as proposed by Mann et al. [1984], Calais
additional external constraint by imposing that the total sum and Mercier de Lépinay [1993], Russo and Villaseñor
of the fault-parallel and fault-perpendicular velocities across [1995], and Lundgren and Russo [1996]) fail to reproduce
the plate boundary zone in the model matches the prediction the plate boundary normal shortening documented by the
of the boundary-normal and boundary-parallel velocity GPS velocities (Figure 6c). This misfit suggests that an
component derived from the Caribbean-North American additional tectonic process contributes to the current strain
kinematic model of DeMets et al. [2000] (Figure 1b). We regime in the Hispaniola area. We find that the GPS
then estimate individual slip rates on other faults by trial and velocities and a simple elastic strain model require a
error. This approach, although it results in nonunique significant amount of thrust motion on the North Hispaniola
solutions, shows the following: fault (13 mm/yr or more), of the same magnitude, or
[44] A minimum slip rate of 9 mm/yr is necessary on greater, than strike-slip motion on the Septentrional fault
the Enriquillo fault in order to account for the total left- or Enriquillo fault (Table 4). This result is consistent with a
lateral shear motion across the plate boundary, without model of oblique collision between Hispaniola and the
violating GPS velocities in northern Hispaniola (Figure 6c Bahamas platform, in which about half of the Caribbean-
and Table 4). Observed GPS velocities are violated if a North America relative motion is accommodated by oblique
strike-slip component larger than 9 mm/yr is placed on the
Septentrional and/or the North Hispaniola-Puerto Rico
trench fault). Table 5. Parameters Used for Faults Shown in Model in Figure 6ca
[45] It is not possible to fit the plate boundary-normal
Fault Name Lon1 Lat1 Lon2 Lat2 Dip U1 U2
shortening and direction of the GPS velocities without
including a significant amount of reverse motion on the Septentrional fault 72.8 20.0 71.7 19.7 90 9 0
North Hispaniola fault. 71.8 19.9 71.0 19.6 90 9 0
[46] Our best fit model shown in Figure 6c predicts 12.8 71.0 19.6 70.4 19.37 90 9 0
mm/yr on the North Hispaniola fault, 9 mm/yr on the 70.3 19.37 69.6 19.2 90 9 0
69.6 19.2 68.4 19.1 90 9 0
Septentrional fault, 10 mm/yr of left-lateral strike-slip 68.4 19.1 67.4 19.0 90 9 0
motion on the Enriquillo fault, 7.7 mm/yr on the Muertos 67.4 19.0 66.0 19.3 90 4 0
fault (decreasing in magnitude from west [Bahama collision 66.0 19.3 64.0 19.65 90 1 0
area] to east [area outside of collision area]), and 22.4 mm/ North Hispaniola fault 72.0 20.3 70.2 20.0 30 8 10
70.2 20.0 68.5 19.5 30 10 10
yr on the Puerto Rico trench fault. While the results of this Puerto Rico trench 68.5 19.5 67.2 19.6 20 13 10
modeling approach are of course highly nonunique, the 67.2 19.6 65.7 19.8 20 13 10
modeling results demonstrate that it is possible to fit 65.7 19.8 64.0 19.8 20 18 5
reasonably well the GPS-derived velocities in the northeast- Enriquillo fault 73.7 18.40 72.5 18.40 90 8 0
72.5 18.40 72.0 18.45 90 8 0
ern Caribbean if a significant amount of collision-related 72.0 18.45 70.9 18.2 90 8 0
thrusting is allowed on the North Hispaniola fault. Muertos fault 70.9 18.2 70.6 17.7 20 0 6
70.6 17.7 68.5 17.3 20 0 2
68.5 17.3 66 17.3 20 0 1
4. Discussion 66 17.3 65 17.4 20 0 0
4.1. Strain Partitioning in the Oblique Collision Zone a
Definitions are as follows: Lon1, lat1, lon2, and lat2 are the coordinates
Between Hispaniola and the Bahama Platform of the end points of each of the fault segments. Dip is the fault dip in
degrees (negative for north dipping faults). U1 is the strike-slip rate in mm/
[47] This analysis of the GPS results in terms of elastic yr, U2 is the dip-slip rate in mm/yr. Locking depth was fixed to 15 km for
strain accumulation has a direct bearing on strike-slip all the faults.
slip on a relatively shallow dipping thrust fault at the Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles that are moving as
interface between the two plates (Figure 6c). part of the stable Caribbean plate [Jansma et al., 2000].
[48] The fact that GPS-derived velocities favor a model Residual velocities in a Caribbean fixed frame (Figure 3b)
with oblique slip on the North Hispaniola fault is also illustrate this result with residual velocities of 5 – 14 mm/yr
consistent with an abrupt variation in the type of earth- in a west – southwest direction.
quake slip vectors in the Hispaniola-Bahama convergent [52] An important tectonic question becomes whether
zone (Figure 2a). Large, instrumentally recorded earth- these anomalies are indicating the geologic impedance and
quakes east of the convergent zone (whose eastern limit detachment of a Hispaniola microplate against the Bahama
is taken as the Mona block at 68W) show mostly low- Platform (i.e., permanent strain recorded in the geologic
angle thrust planes with slip vectors (Figure 2a) that are structure of the island) or whether these anomalies are
parallel to the east-northeast (070) direction of Caribbean- simply a much shorter-term impedance of the Caribbean
North America plate motion derived by DeMets et al. plate related to a slip deficit of major earthquakes (i.e.,
[2000] (Figure 1b). These earthquakes appear to be repre- elastic strain recoverable during one or two major earth-
sentative of ‘‘normal’’ subduction of denser, thicker, older quakes). In the former microplate interpretation, the clock-
(Cretaceous) ocean floor beneath the Puerto Rico trench. wise deflection of GPS velocities relative to sites in areas
West of 68W in the Hispaniola-Bahamas collision zone, east of the convergent zone would indicate sideways motion
earthquakes show a more diverse mix of strike-slip and of a detached Hispaniola block around the difficult to
thrust fault planes indicative of strain partitioning on both subduct, 22- to 27-km-thick crust of the Bahama Platform
thrust and strike-slip faults. Dolan and Wald [1998] argue (Figure 4a).
that these larger magnitude and more complex events [53] To attempt to answer this question, we describe
accompany the subduction of the Bahama Platform beneath young geologic structures in the areas bounding the zone
northern Hispaniola. of slow GPS velocities in central Hispaniola which record
[49] Oblique-slip motion on the North Hispaniola fault is permanent strains and block motions over the past several
also consistent with Dolan and Wald’s [1998] interpretation million years. We argue that these structures which have
of the 4 August 1946, Ms = 8.1, earthquake offshore developed to the east and south of Hispaniola over the past
northeastern Hispaniola, the largest earthquake to affect 3 to 5 million years support the possibility of microplate
the northern Caribbean plate boundary in the past 400 years detachment in the collision zone. However, the GPS data
(Figure 2a). Dolan and Wald [1998] interpret the event as an taken alone remains ambiguous because of the complexities
oblique left-lateral thrust on a gently south dipping plate of elastic strains along active faults and therefore may not
interface fault (corresponding to the North Hispaniola fault) directly support the microplate hypothesis. Continued
and with a slip vector trending 030 – 035. Russo and improvements in both the density of the Hispaniola and
Villaseñor [1995] argue for oblique-slip motion on a steeply Puerto Rico GPS networks and the accuracy of velocities at
northeastward dipping fault trending west-northwest, corre- these sites should help future studies to distinguish between
sponding to the western prolongation of the Septentrional permanent strains seen in young rock deformation and
fault offshore Dominican Republic, with a slip vector elastic strains imposed by the proximity of active faults.
trending due west, also consistent with the 9 mm/yr slip For the purpose of this paper, we use plate tectonic and
rate required by the elastic strain model and GPS velocities geologic data to develop a tectonic model shown in Figures
on the Septentrional fault (Table 4). 9a – 9d and point out areas of consistency and inconsistency
[50] In general, large historical earthquakes are confined between the geologic and GPS data.
to the area of Bahamas-Hispaniola convergence zone within
and to the west of the Mona block as shown in Figure 4b. 4.3. Rifting Between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico
The occurrence of large earthquakes in the area of the in the Mona Passage
convergence zone is consistent with the idea that subduction
of bathymetric highs like the Bahamas Platform is generally [54] Our best fit elastic strain model indicates strike-slip
accompanied by large thrust-type earthquakes related to motion of 12.8 mm/yr and 9 mm/yr on the North Hispaniola
increased frictional coupling between the highs and the fault and Septentrional fault, respectively (Figure 6c and
base of the overriding plate [Dolan et al., 1998]. Table 4). The model suggests that slip along the Septentrio-
nal fault decreases to the east and is taken up by very oblique
subduction along the Puerto Rico trench. Similarly, the
4.2. Is the Slip Deficit in GPS Velocities From model suggests that left-lateral strike-slip motion along the
Hispaniola Evidence for a Detached Hispaniola Enriquillo fault decreases to zero as it connects to the east
Microplate or the Manifestation of Elastic Strain with the Muertos fault and accretionary prism (Figure 5a).
Effects Along Active Faults? This implies that the long-term eastward motion of the
[51] GPS-derived velocities at five sites in central and central part of Hispaniola (between the Septentrional and
eastern Hispaniola (CAPO, FRAN, CONS, MOCA, Enriquillo faults) relative to North America is slower than
SDOM) show significant discrepancies with the prediction that of Puerto Rico. This difference in velocity must be
of a rigid Caribbean plate model as seen in the global, North accommodated by east –west extension within the Hispa-
American (Figure 3a), and Caribbean reference frames niola-Puerto Rico area, either by diffuse deformation across
(Figure 3b). These sites have consistently more easterly the entire area, by localized deformation on active exten-
strikes and slower rates than the sites in Puerto Rico, the sional structures, or a combination of the two processes.
[55] Figure 7a shows a bathymetric, tectonic, and earth- [58] In summary, these significant rates of predicted
quake epicenter map of the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands area opening across the Mona Passage and the associated suite
based on marine geophysical mapping by Grindlay et al. of rift structures shown in Figure 7a are consistent with the
[1997] and van Gestel et al. [1998]. Faults in the Puerto Rico interpretation that the GPS velocities in central Hispaniola
trench area trend east – northeast and reflect the path of the (Figure 4a) may reflect slowing or impedance of a detached
subducted southeast extension of the Bahama Platform along Hispaniola microplate in response to the Bahama collision.
the northern edge the Caribbean forearc. These fault trends, The anomalous clockwise deviation of GPS velocities in
which include both strike-slip faults, such as the North and Hispaniola seen in Figure 3a is also consistent with this
South Puerto Rico Slope faults and low-angle thrusts like the interpretation.
Puerto Rico trench fault, parallel the present-day GPS
velocity of Puerto Rico relative to North America (Figure
7a). The end of the now-subducted Bahama Platform (Mona 4.4. Late Neogene Shortening of Hispaniola
block) coincides with the eastern edge of the Mona rift, a 25- [59] GPS velocities viewed in the framework of a fixed
km-wide full graben that has disrupted the Oligocene to Caribbean plate in Hispaniola (FRAN, MOCA, CONS,
early Pliocene carbonate platform. An incompletely mapped CAPO, SDOM, ROJO) indicate that Hispaniola moves in
zone of northwest striking normal and oblique-slip faults a southwestwardly direction (220) at a rate of 5– 20 mm/yr
extends to the south and southwest of the rift and deforms the (Figure 5a). The vector at ROJO on the southern coast of
carbonate platform in the central part of the Mona Passage. Hispaniola has a significantly slower rate than velocities to
The carbonate platform is also deformed into the Puerto the north and is close in rate and direction to velocities to
Rico-Virgin Islands arch whose structural crest parallels the the west in Puerto Rico (ISAB, PARA), St. Croix, (CRO1),
topographically highest land areas of the Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles (GUAD, MART) (Figure 3b). This
Puerto Rico and eastern Hispaniola (Figure 7a). similarity over a large region suggests that these velocities
[56] Our simplified interpretation of this complex pattern are part of the stable Caribbean plate, a conclusion reached
of deformation is shown schematically in Figure 7b. As the by DeMets et al. [2000] and Jansma et al. [2000]. Their
incoming Bahamas platform has obliquely subducted small velocities could reflect a systematic error or could be a
beneath the edge of the Caribbean plate, the subducting real expression of north – south convergence between the
platform has indented a linear belt or buttress of underlying North America and Caribbean plates as proposed by Dixon
Eocene island arc rocks on the Caribbean plate in Hispa- and Mao [1997].
niola and the western Mona Passage. Complex rifting in the [60] The southwestward directions of GPS velocities in
Mona Passage reflects rifting and rotation as the uncollided the Hispaniola area relative to the Caribbean plate is
area to the east rotates in a counterclockwise direction. consistent with abundant evidence for late Neogene geo-
Paleomagnetic studies of the Neogene carbonate platform in logic shortening across the island and in offshore areas.
Puerto Rico confirm 25 of counterclockwise (CCW) rota- These GPS velocities agree well with the geologically
tion of the island in late Miocene-Pliocene time [Reid et al, constrained direction of overthrusting which is known to
1991]. The collided or ‘‘impeded’’ area of the Caribbean be southwestward based on geologic and geophysical
plate to the west of the Mona Passage undergoes widespread studies described below and summarized in Figures 8a –
shortening while the uncollided area to the east of the Mona 8e. Because the main component of thrusting is south-
Passage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is charac- westward and subparallel to the convergence direction of
terized mainly by CCW rotation about a hinge point in the the Bahama Platform into the collision zone, the main
Mona Passage, broad arching of the Puerto Rico-Virgin locus of deformation is in the area facing the colliding
Islands arch, normal faulting related to separation from the Bahama Platform south and southwest of Hispaniola and
collided area, and strike-slip faulting. Available GPS data not in the area removed from the Bahama Platform in
has not confirmed the occurrence of active CCW rotation in Puerto Rico, St. Croix and the Muertos trench as shown
Puerto Rico [Jansma et al., 2000]. schematically in Figure 7b. This interpretation of the
[57] Seismic data across the Mona rift show that the important kinematic role played by the colliding Bahama
largest normal displacement of the Oligocene-early Pliocene Platform is consistent with the interpretation by Jansma et
carbonate platform has occurred along the eastern boundary al. [2000] that there is little or no differential movement in
fault (Figure 7c). van Gestel et al. [1998] estimated 5.35 km the areas removed from the collision (i.e., across the
of post-early Pliocene extension based on the seismic lines eastern Muertos trench and the Anegada fault between
shown in Figure 9b and 6.35 km of extension on a line to St. Croix and Puerto Rico).
the south that is not shown here. Assuming that the onset of [61] In the Hispaniola area, the lateral variation in GPS
extension in the Mona rift is post-early Pliocene (3.5 m.y.), velocities along the length of the island may be related to
this gives an average extension rate of about 2 mm/yr. differing basement thickness of oceanic plateau crust of the
However, if the normal faults are younger, than the opening Caribbean Sea (Figure 5a). An abrupt change in crustal
rate is significantly faster. Jansma et al. [2000] used GPS thickness from >20 km along the Beata Ridge to 5 –10 km
results from western Puerto Rico and Hispaniola to estimate in the Haiti subbasin of Mauffret and Leroy [1997, 1999]
an opening rate of 5 mm/yr. For the amount of observed may create a zone of right-lateral shear aligned along the
extension, this rate would indicate a minimum Pleistocene landward extension of the Beata Ridge as seen by the
age (1.2 m.y.) for the initiation of rifting. slower SDOM vector relative to the much faster GPS
Figure 7. (a) Bathymetric and tectonic map of the eastern Hispaniola-Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands area
modified from Grindlay et al. [1997] and van Gestel et al. [1998] showing faulting and earthquakes near
the eastern edge of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone. Motions of GPS sites at St. Croix (CRO1),
Parguera (PARG) and Isabella (ISAB) are indistinguishable from the larger Caribbean plate. Open circles
are earthquake epicenters from 1973 – 1999 occurring at depths <30 km. Stars represent large-magnitude
historic earthquakes. Key to numbered features: 1 = Puerto Rico trench; 2 = North Puerto Rico Slope
fault; 3 = Septentrional fault; 4 = South Puerto Rico Slope fault; 5 = area of normal faults bounding the
Mona rift; 6 = area of diffuse normal and oblique-slip faults in the Mona Passage; 7 = Puerto Rico-Virgin
Islands arch. (b) Schematic diagram illustrating regional effect of oblique Bahama collision on the
tectonics of the area of the Mona Passage and western Puerto Rico. Hispaniola has a post-middle
Miocene history of crustal convergence related to the Bahama collision while the same period in Puerto
Rico is dominated by extension probably related to a 25 CCW rotation that accompanied the collision
and indentation of the buttress of ancient arc rocks in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. (c) Approximately
east-west single-channel seismic line across the Mona rift showing its localized disruption of an
otherwise undeformed Oligocene-Pliocene carbonate cap.
velocities of central Hispaniola (Figure 3a). Driscoll and Thrusts in the Enriquillo basin dip northeastward and affect
Diebold [1998] discuss the role of the Beata Ridge as a clastic sedimentary rocks as young as Pleistocene [Mann et
major active transform fault between areas of differing al., 1999] (Figure 8c). Older Oligocene and Miocene
crustal thicknesses in the northern part of the Caribbean sedimentary units in the San Juan-Azua ramp basin show no
plate. The activity of the Beata Ridge in the central part of thinning to the north or south and therefore support the idea
the Caribbean plate cannot be fully tested with present GPS that the onset of deformation occurred in Mio-Pliocene time
data because there is only one GPS site in the stable area of [Nemec, 1980] (Figure 8d).
the western Caribbean (SANA, Figure 1b). 2. Late Miocene and younger reverse and oblique-slip
[62] The southwestward thrusting of Hispaniola as a faulting is responsible for the present pattern of morpho-
result of Bahama collision would be accommodated by tectonic units in central Hispaniola, including the
(1) oblique convergence on the North Hispaniola fault; (2) distribution of the three major ‘‘ramp,’’ or thrust-bound
strike-slip movement on the Enriquillo fault (estimated to basins: the Enriquillo, San Juan-Azua, and the Cibao
be 10 mm/yr in the preferred elastic model; Figure 6c and (Figure 8a). The steeper dipping flank of the San Juan-
Table 4); and (3) shortening of southern Hispaniola and Azua basin is its northern flank (Figure 8d) in accordance
western Muertos trench. We summarize a few of the salient with southwestward directed fault movement. The age of
geologic and structural characteristics of southern Hispa- subsidence of the Enriquillo ramp basin has been studied
niola that are consistent with the model for Bahama Plat- by backstripping sedimentary well data from the 5-km-
form collision. The structure of the Enriquillo fault is deep Charco Largo-1 well in the center of the basin
summarized by Mann et al. [1995] and is not repeated [Mann et al., 1999]. This study indicated that the main
here. pulse of basement subsidence related to northeastward
[63] Details and supporting references for key tectonic dipping thrusts seen on the seismic line in Figure 8c
features in Hispaniola and its offshore areas are summarized began about 5.5 m.y. ago and has continued to the present
in the cross section shown in Figure 8a and the accompany- day. Sedimentation recorded in the well rapidly changes
ing seismic reflection sections which are aligned roughly from deep marine late Miocene environments to shallow-
along the line of section shown in Figure 5b. The cross marine to subaerial evaporitic environments formed in the
section and accompanying seismic lines reveals several closed intermontane setting of the ramp basin. Prior to this
important features about the deformation in the area phase of late Miocene-Pliocene thrust related sedimenta-
between faster GPS velocities in the area of central Hispa- tion, the area was characterized by pelagic carbonate
niola and the much slower vector at ROJO that is thought to deposition.
move with the Caribbean plate (Figure 6a): 3. Unlike the apparently inactive Muertos fault south of
1. The most prominent folding and thrusting event in eastern Puerto Rico and St. Croix, a zone of low-angle
central Hispaniola is late Miocene and younger in age and thrust faulting, the South Haiti fault appears to separate
verges southward to southwestward in a direction subpar- Hispaniola from the Caribbean plate (Figure 8b). The
allel to the GPS velocities shown in Figure 5a. This similarity between GPS velocities at ROJO in southernmost
direction of motion may reflect the presence of thinner crust Hispaniola and stable sites in the Caribbean plate suggest
in the Haiti subbasin (5 – 10 km) that is easier to overthrust that the amount of motion on the South Haiti deformed belt
than the thicker block of the Beata Ridge (>20 km) (Figure is smaller than the 2– 3 mm/yr level of uncertainty in the
3b). South to southwest vergence of the central mountain velocity for ROJO.
range of Hispaniola is reflected in its slightly asymmetric [64] In summary, these geologic observations are consis-
topographic profile with straighter and steeper slopes along tent with the detachment of a Hispaniola microplate in the
its southwestern flank [Mann et al., 1991] (Figure 8a). zone of maximum Caribbean North America plate conver-
Figure 8. (opposite) (a) Regional, schematic cross section extending from the Caribbean Sea across the North America-
Caribbean plate boundary zone in Hispaniola to the Atlantic Ocean (line of section shown in Figure 5b; onland part of the
section modified from Mann et al. [1991]). Seismic sections shown below in B, C, D, and E are located in Figure 8b– e.
These lines were selected to show major crustal types and late Neogene structural features important to our interpretation of
GPS results. (b) Multichannel seismic reflection line across the South Haiti fault zone at base of island slope from Mauffret
and Leroy [1999]. Cretaceous oceanic plateau of the Haiti subbasin with crustal thickness of 8 km exhibits northward
dipping reflectors formed by Cretaceous plateau lava flows. (c) Multichannel seismic reflection line across the 4.3-km-
thick, late Miocene-recent Enriquillo basin from Mann et al. [1999]. Northeastward dipping thrust faults deform Miocene-
Pleistocene clastic rocks, underlying Miocene-Eocene carbonate rocks, and likely oceanic plateau basement similar to the
Haiti subbasin to the south. (d) Multichannel seismic reflection line across the San Juan basin modified from Nemec [1980].
Mio-Recent depocenter and synclinal basin structure is controlled by inward thrusting by adjacent mountain blocks as seen
on the cross section in A. Steeper dipping limb to the northeast and Mio-Recent depocenter indicate Miocene and younger
age of dominantly southwest directed thrust deformation. (e) Single-channel seismic reflection line across the North
Hispaniola fault zone from Dolan et al. [1998]. Miocene-Recent? oblique subduction of the south tilted Mouchoir
carbonate bank in the Bahamas is accompanied by formation of an accretionary wedge along the base of the island slope of
northern Hispaniola.
gence (Figure 1b) by a combination of late Miocene to is given by recent evidence for late Holocene faulting in
Recent thrusting, folding and strike-slip faulting along and Puerto Rico [Prentice et al., 2000] and in offshore areas
adjacent to the Enriquillo and Muertos faults of southern including the shelf areas of western and southern Puerto
Hispaniola. Motion along the Enriquillo-Muertos zone is Rico [Grindlay et al., 2000], the deepwater Anegada
assumed to be transferred to the extension in the Mona rift Passage [Jany et al., 1990] and areas of the Caribbean
area in order to explain the lack of activity in the eastern Sea south of Hispaniola [Mauffret and Leroy, 1999] (Figure
Muertos trench south of Puerto Rico inferred by marine 2a). Moreover, all of these areas have been affected by large
geophysical observations [Masson and Scanlon, 1991] and historical earthquakes and tsunamis [McCann and Sykes,
by GPS [Jansma et al., 2000]. Motion of southwestern 1984]. Longer GPS time series eventually may permit us to
Hispaniola and Jamaica and its possible relation to central address the question of whether slow motion of Puerto Rico
Hispaniola are being addressed by ongoing GPS studies by relative to the Caribbean plate in the manner depicted
this group. schematically in Figure 7b is the mechanism for late
Holocene faulting observed in Puerto Rico and its western
4.5. Rigidity of the Area of Puerto Rico, the Virgin and southern shelf areas [Grindlay et al., 2000; Prentice et
Islands, and the Lesser Antilles al., 2000].
[65] Unlike Hispaniola, GPS velocities in the Puerto
Rico, Virgin Islands and Lesser Antilles sites show that 4.6. Integrated Model for the Recent Tectonic Evolution
these areas are moving as part of the stable Caribbean plate, of the Northeastern Caribbean Plate
at least at the 2 – 3 mm/yr level (Figure 3). The conclusion [68] In Figures 9a – 9c, we reconstruct the Miocene to
that the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands block moved as part of recent history of convergence between the northeastern
the stable Caribbean plate was also established by Jansma et Caribbean plate and Bahama Platform to illustrate a possi-
al. [2000], who included 16 more campaign GPS sites from ble tectonic scenario to explain the present-day pattern of
Puerto Rico and three continuously recording ones. DeMets GPS velocities in the Hispaniola-Puerto Rico area (Figure
et al. [2000] showed that Aves Island (AVES) in the eastern 3). The four reconstructions present a simple two-plate
Caribbean moves with the stable Caribbean plate. Our model describing Caribbean-North America plate motion
results extend these conclusions to the entire Lesser Antilles from the earliest Miocene (A) to the present-day (D). The
volcanic arc and forearc area, at least in the area of Caribbean plate is held fixed while the North America plate
Barbados Island (Figure 3). is moved eastward by closing magnetic anomalies in the
[66] The behavior of the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands and Cayman trough [Leroy et al., 2000]. The fixed Caribbean
Lesser Antilles as a rigid block indicates very slow (<1.5 frame is consistent with recent global plate models by
mm/yr) or no motion on the eastern part of the Muertos fault Müller et al. [1999] suggesting that the Caribbean plate
south of Puerto Rico and the Anegada Passage fault has remained fixed in a mantle reference frame for much of
between Puerto Rico and St. Croix (Figure 2a). These the Cenozoic while the North and South America plates
results do not support tectonic models involving present- have moved to the west past it. The Euler pole at 3.4 Ma is
day rotation of the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands block about a the GPS-derived pole of DeMets et al. [2000] which is also
nearby vertical axis and/or eastward tectonic escape of a consistent with fault and magnetic anomaly data from the
Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands microplate [Jansma et al., 2000]. Cayman trough.
Indeed, rotation and tectonic escape models both predict (1) [69] We assume that the Mona block, which is high-
relative motion between the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands and lighted on the reconstructions in the area of the northern
Lesser Antilles; (2) relative motion between the Puerto Mona Passage, is the now subducted southeastern termi-
Rico-Virgin Islands and the Caribbean plate interior along nation of the Bahama banks as discussed by previous
the eastern Muertos fault; and (3) right-lateral strike slip workers including McCann and Sykes [1984] and Dolan
motion along the northern boundary of the Puerto Rico- et al. [1998]. In the Bahamas collisional model, areas to the
Virgin Islands block. west of the Mona block are potentially colliding with areas
[67] Given that the present uncertainties in the GPS of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, while areas to the east have
velocities we use, particularly in Puerto Rico, are approx- recently collided. We have few constraints on the nature of
imately ±2– 3 mm/yr, motion of the Puerto Rico-Virgin crust in the large recess of the southern Bahamas that is
Islands block at rates slower than this could be occurring. now opposite northern Hispaniola. However, subducted
Support for the idea of slow tectonic deformation of the area slabs beneath eastern Hispaniola shown in Figure 2b
Figure 9. (opposite) Plate reconstructions of the Hispaniola-Bahamas collision zone for four intervals done using the
UTIG PLATES software program. The Caribbean plate is held fixed and land area of Cuba (brown) and the Bahama
carbonate platform (high-standing banks are dark blue, deeper bank areas are light blue) are moved with North America. An
uncolored outline of the present-day land area of Cuba is shown on the North America plate for reference. Red dots are
magnetic anomaly picks in oceanic crust of the Atlantic Ocean and Cayman trough. (a) Earliest Miocene (23.7 Ma); (b)
Late Miocene (11.2 Ma); (c) Late Pliocene (3.4 Ma); and (d) Present. Key to numbered microplates in D: 1 = Hispaniola
microplate; 2 = Septentrional microplate; 3 = Gonave microplate. Red dots and arrows in D show GPS site velocities
relative to a fixed Caribbean plate. See text for discussion. See color version of this figure at back of this issue.
indicate at least 150– 200 km of late Neogene plate con- Scanlon, 1991; Jansma et al., 2000], because Bahama-
vergence. related deformational effects have largely subsided as the
oblique collisional contact zone between the southeastern
4.6.1. Early Collisional Effects in Puerto Rico Area Bahamas and the Caribbean plate has migrated westward
and Eastern Muertos Trench with time. The present-day juxtaposition of rifting in the
Mona Passage at the inferred edge of the collision zone is
[70] In earliest Miocene to late Miocene time the Mona consistent with the hypothesis that the collision has impeded
block area is moving from northeast to north of Puerto Rico the forward progress of the northeastern Caribbean plate
in a roughly east – west direction (Figures 9a and 9b). The and formed a microplate. The existence and exact bounda-
North Puerto Rico slope strike-slip fault, which parallels the ries of this microplate is a topic for future GPS studies in
present-day GPS North America-Caribbean plate direction western Hispaniola (Haiti) and (Jamaica) (Figure 2a).
(Figure 4a), appears to mark the surface trace of the Mona
block as it passes beneath the forearc of northern Puerto Rico
[Grindlay et al., 1997]. There are few structural effects 4.7. Comparison of Northeastern Caribbean
observed on the shelf of northern Puerto Rico during this to Tectonically Similar Areas
interval although age constraints on offshore seismic sequen- [74] The overall shape of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc
ces are imprecise [van Gestel et al., 1998]. Gill et al. [1999] in the eastern Caribbean (Figure 1a) is similar to other
note that the earliest rifting observed in St. Croix adjacent to volcanic arcs like the Marianas and Scotia (Figures 10b and
the Anegada Passage east of Puerto Rico began in the late 10c). These and other arcs are shaped like the letter ‘‘D’’
Middle Miocene. Tectonic erosion related to the oblique with a bulging curvature on the trenchward side and straight
subduction of the Mona block is a possible mechanism for margin on the side adjacent to the site of the older remnant
the widespread collapse of the northern Puerto Rico carbo- arc (Figures 10b and 10c). Vogt et al. [1976], Hsui and
nate shelf about 3.5 Ma. In the middle to early part of the late Youngquist [1985], and McCann and Habermann [1989]
Miocene, much of southern Hispaniola is covered by a have pointed out that this distinctive shape could result from
pelagic carbonate basin recording tectonic quiescence. the arc becoming ‘‘pinned’’ by ridges of thickened crust at
its ends. This situation results in the arc bulging through the
4.6.2. Later Collisional Effects in Hispaniola unimpeded gap by a combination of subduction at the front
and Western Muertos Trench of the arc and back arc spreading behind it as shown
[71] By the late Pliocene, the Mona block is northeast of schematically in Figure 10a.
Puerto Rico and the carbonate shelf has collapsed in its [75] The tectonic ‘‘pinning’’ process occurs because the
wake. During this time, rifting may have begun in the Mona extra buoyancy provided to the downgoing plate by its ridge
Passage (Figure 9c) and Hispaniola experienced major of thickened crust gives the subducting plate a greater
topographic uplift and southwestward directed folding and resistance to sinking than the adjacent, thinner oceanic
thrusting as summarized in Figures 8a – 8e. In northern crust. ‘‘Pinning points’’ are commonly ‘‘large igneous
Hispaniola, a late Miocene-early Pliocene carbonate bank provinces,’’ or anomalously thick areas of ocean crust, as
similar in age and lithology to the one in the Puerto Rico compiled by Vogt et al. [1976], McCann and Habermann
and Mona Passage area was uplifted and folded following [1989], and Coffin and Eldholm [1994]. Examples of large
its deposition as a tabular unit [Calais and Mercier de igneous provinces acting as pinning points include the
Lépinay, 1991; De Zoeten and Mann, 1991]. In the present, Ogasawara Plateau and Caroline Ridge in the Marianas
GPS data indicates active extension between Puerto Rico area (Figure 10b) and the Northeast Georgia Rise in the
and Hispaniola at rates as fast as 5 mm/yr that are consistent Scotia area (Figure 10c). It is unknown whether the Bahama
with late Neogene rift structures [Jansma et al., 2000]. In a carbonate platform adjacent to Hispaniola is underlain by
Caribbean frame, GPS velocities in Hispaniola show south- thinned continental crust, a large igneous province, or both.
westward directions and fast velocities consistent with the [76] The shapes of pinned arcs seen on gravity maps in
pattern of folding, thrusting, and strike-slip faulting in Figure 10 suggest that the arcs are in various stages of
southern Hispaniola (Figure 5a). tectonic evolution and invite comparison to the Hispaniola
[72] Crustal convergence across Hispaniola appears to area of the northeastern Caribbean. The Marianas arc
have been accompanied by the detachment of the slabs at appears to be in the juvenile stages of oblique collision
depth beneath central and eastern Hispaniola and the Mona for several reasons: (1) the reentrant in the plate boundary is
Passage (Figures 2a and 2b). Slab breakoff may have been a small (particularly in the case of the northern Marianas); (2)
response to the inability of thicker crust of the Bahama there are no elevated landmasses adjacent to the pinned
Platform to be subducted beneath Hispaniola as shown areas; (3) there is little evidence for convergent and strike-
schematically in Figure 8a. slip faulting; and (4) there is no evidence for a broken or
detached slab in the mantle [Stern and Smoot, 1998]. The
northeastern Scotia plate and the northeastern Caribbean
4.6.3. Present-Day Area of Rigid Caribbean Plate appear to be in a more advanced state of oblique collision
[73] The east to west passage of the southeastern end of than the Marianas area as indicated by the presence of major
the Bahama Platform may explain the present-day rigid area reentrants in the trend of the plate boundaries and the
of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and lack of active presence of anomalously elevated land areas adjacent to
subduction along the eastern Muertos trench [Masson and the pinning points (Northeast Georgia Rise and Bahama
Figure 10. (a) Conceptual model for deformation of an arc by pinning at thicker than normal ridges on
oceanic crust (red squares) (modified from Marshak [1988]). (b) Pinning of the Marianas arc at its
northern and southern ends by the Ogasawara Plateau and the Caroline Ridge. Base map is a satellite-
derived gravity map of the Caribbean compiled by Sandwell and Smith [1997]. Key to numbered
features: 1 = Marianas trench; 2 = Marianas volcanic arc; 3 = Marianas back arc basin. (c) Pinning of the
Scotia plate by oblique subduction of the Northeast Georgia Rise, a large igneous province on the
seafloor of the South Atlantic Ocean. Key to numbered features: 1 = South Sandwich trench; 2 = South
Sandwich arc; 3 = East Scotia back arc basin; 4 = possible backthrust southwest of South Georgia Island;
5 = South Georgia Island. See text for discussion. See color version of this figure at back of this issue.
Platform, respectively). Hispaniola has a maximum eleva- area is moving with the Caribbean plate but at significantly
tion of 3081 m on a 100 –250-km-wide, 76,000 km2 land- slower velocities. The boundary between the slower-moving
mass and is known to be elevated by active thrusting in the Hispaniola area and the faster-moving Puerto-Virgin Islands
Bahama-Hispaniola collision zone (Figure 8). South Geor- area relative to the North America plate is the Mona Passage,
gia Island has a maximum elevation of 2934 m on a 3500 where normal and oblique-slip faults deform the Oligocene-
km2, 50-km-wide landmass and is assumed to be under- early Pliocene carbonate platform.
going regional convergence related to the indentation of the 2. The GPS-derived velocity field in Hispaniola is
Scotia plate of the Northeast Georgia Rise. As in the case of compatible with a model of elastic strain accumulation
eastern Hispaniola, a prominent bathymetric trench and a along four major, roughly east – west striking fault zones
thrust earthquake southwest of South Georgia Island may be which are locked to a depth of 15 km (Figure 6c). From
forming as the result of backthrusting of the South Georgia north to south, these faults include the offshore North
area southwestward over the Scotia plate [Pelayo and Hispaniola fault, the onland Septentrional fault, the
Wiens, 1989] (Figure 10c). onland Enriquillo fault, and the offshore Muertos fault.
[77] Unlike the northeastern Caribbean, the Marianas GPS-derived velocities favor a strain-partitioning model
area does not exhibit any obvious rift boundaries separating with oblique slip on the North Hispaniola and Muertos
the impeded area of the plate adjacent to the pinning point faults and strike-slip on the Septentrional and Enriquillo
and the unimpeded area of the plate (Figure 10a). Vogt et al. faults assuming elastic deformation on locked faults only.
[1976] proposes that the East Scotia Sea back arc basin, Low-angle oblique slip on the offshore faults is supported
presently opening at spreading rates now known to be 65– by offshore seismic reflection studies and earthquake slip
75 mm/yr [Barker, 1995], began about 15 million years ago vectors of large 20th century earthquakes. The high-angle
as a result of initial oblique collision between the Northeast strike-slip character of the Septentrional and Enriquillo
Georgia Rise and the Scotia plate. If this is the case, there is faults is supported by field mapping along both
a similarity between this proposed oblique collision- structures.
induced mode of back arc rifting between the Scotia and 3. GPS-derived velocities also require significant (>10
South Sandwich plates and late Neogene rifting observed in mm/yr) convergence (>10 mm/yr) on the North Hispaniola
the Mona Passage between the collided plate area in fault. This observation is consistent with marine geophysi-
Hispaniola and the uncollided part of the plate in Puerto cal studies showing a zone of collisional deformation
Rico. However, it appears unlikely the Mona rifting will separating the Bahamas Platform from the Hispaniola island
eventually propagate and transversely split the entire plate slope. An oblique collisional model for Hispaniola
in the manner proposed by Vogt et al. [1976] for the Scotia neotectonics appears more consistent with both GPS and
and South Sandwich plates because the Mona rifting is geologic data sets than either a simple strike-slip bend
affecting a crustal block isolated above south and north model [Mann et al., 1984] or a model involving north –
dipping slabs of the North America and Caribbean plates, south convergence between the North and South American
respectively (Figures 2a and 2b). The Grenada back arc plates [Dixon and Mao, 1997].
basin is present to the west of the Lesser Antilles arc but 4. Plate reconstructions combined with geologic ob-
this basin formed in Paleogene time and is presently servations show that the Bahama-Hispaniola oblique
inactive. More geologic, geophysical, and GPS-based geo- collision could result in the detachment of a fragment of
detic studies are needed in the northeastern Caribbean and the Caribbean plate opposite the thickest area of the
in analogous areas like the Scotia and Marianas regions to Bahama Platform in Hispaniola (Figures 9a – 9d). Pliocene
clarify the active and ancient tectonic processes and evolu- and younger zones of normal faulting east of Hispaniola
tionary stages of arcs following their encounters with and zones of strike-slip, thrusts, and folds south of
pinning points of various sizes, compositions, and crustal Hispaniola are consistent with relatively slower GPS
thicknesses. velocities and the idea that Hispaniola is impeded against
the Bahamas collision zone. However, at the present time
we lack GPS constraints to effectively isolate elastic strain
5. Conclusions effects on faults that could contribute to the observed slip
[78] The major conclusions of this paper are as follows: deficit area of GPS velocities in central Hispaniola.
1. GPS velocities in the northeastern Caribbean show two Moreover, we lack critical GPS data from the western
areas of significantly different mechanical behavior (Figures edge of the microplate in Haiti and Jamaica to fully test the
3, 4, and 5). The Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands-Aves Island area microplate hypothesis.
is currently behaving as rigid block moving with the 5. Potential seismic hazards are distributed over a wide
Caribbean plate at the 2 – 3 mm/yr level. Its rigid behavior geographic area because of the length of fault boundaries in
indicates that these areas are far enough removed from the the Mona Passage, northern Hispaniola and southern
subduction front and its locked zone to minimize elastic Hispaniola. Potential earthquake sources would include all
strain associated with the subduction process. Rigid plate of the microplate boundaries including the Enriquillo fault
behavior including lack of elastic strain in the forearc is zone, the Mona rift and the North Hispaniola fault. The
consistent with the presence of a little deformed Oligocene- Enriquillo fault was spatially associated with a time-
early Pliocene carbonate platform over much of the area of transgressive, east-to-west series of large historical ruptures
eastern Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Hispaniola between 1751 and 1860. The Mona rift is the presumed site
of the 1918 earthquake affecting western Puerto Rico and evidence for backthrusting, and a possible active rift
the North Hispaniola fault is [was?] the site of the 1943 – boundary separating the collided and uncollided parts of
1953 earthquake series which are the largest recorded the plate (East Scotia back arc basin).
earthquakes in the northern Caribbean. GPS results indicate
that seismic hazard is much greater on Hispaniola where
rates of shortening are much higher than in the adjacent
uncollided area of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. [79] Acknowledgments. Funding for GPS-based tectonic studies in
Seismic risks are especially large because of the dense and the Greater Antilles, Bahamas, and Aves Island was provided by individual
NSF grants to R. Bilham (University of Colorado-Boulder), C. DeMets, P.
urbanized populations of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Jansma, G. Mattioli, and P. Mann. P. Jansma and G. Mattioli were also
Virgin Islands which have a combined population of about supported at the University of Puerto Rico by NSF-EPSCOR, NSF-CREST,
21 million people. NSF-MRCE, and NASA (grant NCCW-0088). Initial funding for the GPS
network was provided by NASA to T. Dixon. Funding to E. Calais was
6. Comparisons with tectonically similar areas indicate provided by a grant from INSU-CNRS ‘‘Tectoscope-Positionnement’’
that the northeastern Caribbean is in an intermediate state of program. We thank T. Dixon, B. Mercier de Lépinay, and C. Larroque
development adjacent to the ‘‘pinning point’’ of the Bahama for their assistance in all aspects of this study including data acquisition,
data processing, and discussions of tectonic interpretations. We thank A.
Platform. A juvenile state of oblique collision is exemplified Lopez, L. Peña, the Dirección General de Minerı́a, and the Instituto
by the northern and southern ends of the Marianas arc Cartográfico Militar for their continued support of GPS data acquisition
where there are no large landmasses and no evidence for in the Dominican Republic. Mann thanks the French Academy of Sciences
regional convergence or plate fragmentation. A similar state and the Elf-Aquitaine Company for a visiting fellowship at CNRS-Géo-
sciences Azur. We would like to thank U. ten Brink and R. Bennett for
of development to the northeastern Caribbean is the constructive reviews and C. Jones and B. Wernicke for their editorial
northeastern Scotia arc where there is an elevated landmass, efforts. UTIG contribution 1591.
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Figure 1. (a) Major plates of the Caribbean region and compilation of earthquake focal mechanisms
showing present-day plate kinematics. Base map is a satellite-derived gravity map of the Caribbean
compiled by Sandwell and Smith [1997]. Focal mechanisms shown in red are from earthquakes from 0 to
75 km in depth; blue mechanisms are from earthquakes 75 to 150 km in depth; and green mechanisms are
>150 km in depth. (b) Caribbean-North America velocity predictions of DeMets et al. [2000] (black
arrows) based on GPS velocities at four sites in the stable interior of the plate (red vectors) and two fault
strike measurements in the strike-slip segment of the North America-Caribbean boundary (open circles).
The predicted velocities are consistent with the along-strike transition in structural styles from
transtension in the northwestern corner of the plate to oblique collision between the Caribbean plate in the
Hispaniola (HISP) and Puerto Rico (PR) region and the Bahama Platform. One of the main objectives of
this paper is to use GPS-based geodesy to determine how this motion is partitioned into margin-parallel
strike-slip and margin-perpendicular thrust motions as shown in the inset diagram.
7-2
Figure 2. (a) Earthquake focal mechanisms along the northeastern margin of the Caribbean plate
compared to the Caribbean-North America convergence direction. Focal mechanisms are from
earthquakes from 0 to 50 km in depth: mechanisms in yellow are 1946-8 earthquake sequence [Dolan
and Wald, 1998]; red mechanisms are compiled from the CMT catalogue [Calais et al., 1992; Molnar and
Sykes, 1969]. Most earthquake focal planes indicate thrusting along low-angle fault planes perpendicular
to the DeMets et al. [2000] plate vector in the region of oceanic subduction east of the yellow, dashed line
parallel to 67W. West of this line, focal planes indicate strike-slip and oblique thrusting along variably
oriented fault planes suggestive of strain partitioning within the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone. (b)
Plots of earthquake hypocenters in the Bahama Platform-Hispaniola-Puerto Rico collisional zone
projected to planes passing through each of the compartments shown on the map in A (modified from
Dillon et al. [1994]). Inferred tectonic setting, slab geometry, and crustal deformational style of each
compartment is summarized in inset.
7-4
Figure 3. (a) Comparison of observed GPS velocities for Caribbean sites relative to North America.
Color code for velocities shown in inset. Abbreviations for GPS sites: BARB, Barbados; MART,
Martinique; GUAD, Guadeloupe; AVES, Aves Island; CRO1, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; TURK,
Turk Island, Bahamas. Abbreviations of tectonic features: BAP, Barbados accretionary prism; LA, Lesser
Antilles volcanic arc; AF, Anegada fault; PRT, Puerto Rico trench; MR, Mona rift (gray area); MF,
Muertos fault; MB, Mona block; NHF, North Hispaniola fault; EF, Enriquillo fault; SHF, South Haiti
fault. (b) Comparison of observed GPS velocities relative to the stable Caribbean plate as defined by
DeMets et al. [2000]. Velocities show a strong southwestward component consistent with southwestward
thrusting of late Miocene to recent age in Hispaniola. Variations in the crustal thickness of the Caribbean
oceanic plateau on the Caribbean plate as determined by Mauffret and Leroy [1997] are shown.
Abbreviations: NR, Nicaraguan Rise; HSB, Haiti subbasin; BR, Beata Ridge; VB, Venezuelan basin.
7-5
Figure 4. (opposite) (a) Crustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone in Hispaniola (HISP, includes
Dominican Republic and Haiti) compared with GPS velocities relative to the North America. Abbreviations for GPS sites:
PARG, Parguera, Puerto Rico; ISAB, La Isabela, P.R.; SDOM, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; ROJO, Cabo Rojo,
D.R.; COLO, Colorado, D.R.; CONS, Constanza, D.R.; CAPO, Capotillo, D.R.; MOCA, Moca, D.R.; FRAN, Cabo
Frances Viejo, D.R. The velocities straddle the boundary of the Hispaniola-Bahama collisional zone, whose eastern limit is
defined by the subducted carbonate high of the Bahama Platform, the Mona Block (MB), and the adjacent Mona rift (MR).
The now-subducted Mona block is collinear with presumably similar carbonate highs to the northwest: the Navidad (NB),
Silver (SB), and Mouchoir (MB) Banks. These banks grew to sea level on top of a broad, Mesozoic carbonate
‘‘megaplatform’’ now at an average depth of 4000 m. Active tectonic features of the overriding plate include thrust faults of
the North Hispaniola fault (NHF) and Puerto Rico trench (PRT), the North Puerto Rico Slope (NPRSF), the South Puerto
Rico Slope (SPRSF), the Septentrional (SF) and the Enriquillo (EF) left-lateral strike-slip faults, the Puerto Rico-Virgin
Islands (PRVI) arch, the Mona rift, and the Muertos fault (MF). (b) Subcrustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahamas
collision zone include three areas of the subducted North America slab reproduced from Dillon et al. [1994]: an area of a
continuous subducted slab in the east; an area of detached slab in the center; and an area to the west where no slab has been
mapped. The 1943– 1953 earthquakes (stars) and their magnitudes are in the general area of the continuous subducted slab
and probably represent increased coupling between the carbonate banks on the downgoing plate and the overriding
Caribbean plate in Hispaniola.
7-8
7-9
Figure 5. (a) Crustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone compared with GPS
velocities relative to the Caribbean plate reference frame. The velocities provide good across-strike
coverage of the fold-thrust belt structure of Hispaniola (HISP) which represents southwestward
backthrusting produced by the oblique collision of Hispaniola with the Bahama Platform. Stars represent
a time-space progression of large historical earthquakes spatially associated with the Enriquillo fault that
began in 1751 and extended westward to 1860. Abbreviations: SB, Silver Bank; NB, Navidad Bank;
NHF, North Hispaniola fault; SF, Septentrional fault; EF, Enriquillo fault; SHF, South Haiti fault; BR,
Beata Ridge; MT, Muertos fault; HP, Haiti Plateau; HSB, Haiti subbasin; GM, Gonave microplate. B.
Subcrustal tectonic features of the Hispaniola-Bahama collision zone include an area of subducted
Caribbean slab reproduced from Dillon et al. [1994]. The 1984 M6.7 thrust event occurred at a depth of
32 km and confirmed northward thrusting of the Caribbean plate beneath southeastern Hispaniola.
7 - 11
Figure 9. (opposite) Plate reconstructions of the Hispaniola-Bahamas collision zone for four intervals done using the
UTIG PLATES software program. The Caribbean plate is held fixed and land area of Cuba (brown) and the Bahama
carbonate platform (high-standing banks are dark blue, deeper bank areas are light blue) are moved with North America. An
uncolored outline of the present-day land area of Cuba is shown on the North America plate for reference. Red dots are
magnetic anomaly picks in oceanic crust of the Atlantic Ocean and Cayman trough. (a) Earliest Miocene (23.7 Ma); (b)
Late Miocene (11.2 Ma); (c) Late Pliocene (3.4 Ma); and (d) Present. Key to numbered microplates in D: 1 = Hispaniola
microplate; 2 = Septentrional microplate; 3 = Gonave microplate. Red dots and arrows in D show GPS site velocities
relative to a fixed Caribbean plate. See text for discussion.
7 - 20
7 - 21
Figure 10. (a) Conceptual model for deformation of an arc by pinning at thicker than normal ridges on
oceanic crust (red squares) (modified from Marshak [1988]). (b) Pinning of the Marianas arc at its
northern and southern ends by the Ogasawara Plateau and the Caroline Ridge. Base map is a satellite-
derived gravity map of the Caribbean compiled by Sandwell and Smith [1997]. Key to numbered
features: 1 = Marianas trench; 2 = Marianas volcanic arc; 3 = Marianas back arc basin. (c) Pinning of the
Scotia plate by oblique subduction of the Northeast Georgia Rise, a large igneous province on the
seafloor of the South Atlantic Ocean. Key to numbered features: 1 = South Sandwich trench; 2 = South
Sandwich arc; 3 = East Scotia back arc basin; 4 = possible backthrust southwest of South Georgia Island;
5 = South Georgia Island. See text for discussion.
7 - 23

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TECTONICS, VOL. 21, NO. 6, 1057, doi:10.

Oblique collision in the northeastern Caribbean from GPS

Site Lon. Lat. Ve Vn sve svn Corr. Ve Vn Ve Vn

NOAM/ITRF97 3.1 281.8 0.199 1.5 0.5 12 0.003

Locking Septentrional Enriquillo N. Hispaniola Puerto Rico Muertos

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