The Geology Of Haiti

Author : Richard Wessels
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (114 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Tectonic Evolution, Fault Architecture, and Paleo-fluid Circulation in Transpressive Systems - Southern Haiti written by Richard Wessels and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Haiti is located on the western part of the island of Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic in the east. Haiti is situated within the northern Caribbean plate boundary region where relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates is accommodated by a complex system of fault-bounded microplates and tectonic blocks. Two seismogenic strike-slip faults related to this system are found in Haiti; the Enriquillo - Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EGPFZ) onshore southern Haiti, and the Septentrional Fault Zone (SFZ) offshore northern Haiti, with the southwest-verging, forward-propagating Haitian Fold-and-Thrust Belt situated in between them. The geology and geodynamic setting of Haiti became the focus of increased scientific interest following the January 12th 2010 Mw 7.0 Leogâne earthquake, which struck southern Haiti close to its capital Port-au-Prince. This study, which is a collaboration between Sorbonne Université, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEn), Université d'Etat d'Haïti (UEH), URGéo, and Bureau des Mines et de l'Energie d'Haïti (BME), is dedicated to increase our knowledge of the onshore geology of southern Haiti. There are three main objectives to this study; 1) identify the number and timing of deformation phases on the Southern Peninsula of Haiti, their regional impact, and the associated structural style of deformation and paleo-stress evolution, 2) constrain the deformation history of the southernmost onshore part of the Haitian Fold-and-Thrust Belt (the Chaîne des Matheux), the structural style of deformation and the associated paleo-stress evolution, and 3) characterize the interaction between fluids and deformation by examining the paleo-fluid circulation related to deformation in both regions. To fulfill these objectives this study integrates geological data and observations onshore Haiti from field campaigns in 2015 and 2017. Stratigraphic and structural data are combined with satellite imagery and digital elevation models to create four small-scale (~1:50.000) geological maps and associated cross sections. These are used to better understand and constraining the style of deformation in the region. Samples of host rocks and veins from fault zones and fractures are analyzed using a suite of analytical techniques, which include optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy, fluid inclusion microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy on fluid inclusions, x-ray diffraction, stable oxygen and carbon isotope geochemistry, and whole-rock geochemistry, all of which are integrated to constrain the paleofluid circulation. The results of this study indicate that 1) the Southern Peninsula evolved by basement-involved inversion, thrusting, and strike-slip, while 2) the style of deformation in the Chaîne des Matheux is predominantly thin-skinned controlled by shallow dipping decollement levels, although a component of thick-skinned basement-involved deformation is probable. The polyphase deformation history of the Southern Peninsula is characterized by three major tectonic events; 1) Deformation and uplift during the Maastrichtian and early Paleocene, 2) early Miocene compression and uplift that mainly affected the southwestern part of the Southern Peninsula, and 3) transpressive deformation from the late Miocene to recent. This last phase is characterized by a progressive focus of strike-slip activity along the EPGFZ, which accommodated a maximum of 15 km of left-lateral displacement since the late Messinian [...].