Review of Geochronologic and Geochemical Data of the Greater Antilles Volcanic Arc and Implications for the Evolution of Oceanic Arcs

The Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica plus the Virgin Islands host fragments fossil convergent margin that records Cretaceous subduction (operated for about 90 m.y.) American plates beneath Caribbean plate ensuing arc-continent collision in Late Cretaceous-Eocene time. “soft” between Arc (GAA) Bahamas platform (and Maya Block western Cuba) preserved much margin. This geosystem represents an excellent natural laboratory studying formation evolution intra-oceanic We compiled geochronologic (664 ages) geochemical data (more than 1,500 analyses) GAA igneous metamorphic rocks. was classified with a simple fourfold subdivision: fore-arc mélange, ophiolite, magmatic arc, retro-arc to inspect through its entire lifespan. onset recorded by units, together oldest arc sequence shows started Early time ceased Paleogene locally affected (retro-arc region Hispaniola) Large Igneous Province (CLIP) strongly Despite multiple biases database presented here, this work is intended help overcome some obstacles motivate systematic study GAA. Our results encourage exploration offshore regions, especially east where forearc submerged. Offshore explorations are also encouraged south, investigate relations CLIP.