Category Archives: Publications

Jadeitite Jade and Related Rocks from the Sierra del Convento Subduction Mélange (Eastern Cuba) Abstract The geological and gemological term “Jade” includes two different types of (quasi-) monomineralic rocks. One is amphibole jade, termed nephrite, a tremolite-actinolite rock with a felted, microcrystalline habit. The other is, pyroxene jade, termed jadeitite, a jadeite rock which varies…

Pristine slab melts crystallized at depth in the subduction environment: End-members of adakites (Eastern Cuba Mélanges) Abstract In the subduction zones, several conditions can be attached and instigate the melting of the slab or the overlying mantle wedge. Under normal subduction zones the geothermal conditions of the slab may not attain P–T conditions for melting…

To Cite this article: Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., García-Casco, A. (2011):"Compendio de Geología de Cuba y del Caribe" [only some chapters], DVD-ROM, Manuel A. Iturralde-Vinent (editor). Published by CITMATEL, Cuba. Avaliable here

U/Pb detrital zircon provenance from Late Cretaceous metamorphic units of the Guajira Peninsula, Colombia: tectonic implications on the collision between the Caribbean arc and the South American margin Abstract Mesozoic metamorphic units exposed along the northern margin of the South American plate record the different stages of subduction evolution or arc-continent collision between the margins…

Tectonomagmatic setting and provenance of the Santa Marta schists, northern Colombia: insights on the growth and approach of Cretaceous Caribbean oceanic terranes to the South American continent Abstract Metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary rocks accreted to the northern South American continental margin are major vestiges of the Caribbean oceanic plate evolution and its interactions with the continent. Selected…

Jadeitite jade occurrence from the Sierra del Convento mélange (eastern Cuba) Abstract A new jadeitite jade locality has been discovered in the serpentinite–matrix subduction mélange of the Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) in a context associated with tectonic blocks of garnet–epidote amphibolite, tonalitic–trondhjemitic epidote gneiss and blueschist. The jade outcrops occur as blocks surrounded by…

Zoning of laurite (RuS2)-erlichmanite(OsS2): implications for the genesis of PGM in ophiolite chromitites Abstract We have investigated several chromite deposits in the Mayarí-Baracoa Ophiolite Belt (eastern Cuba) and in the Dobromirtsi metamorphosed ultramafic (ophiolitic) massif (SE Bulgaria) with regard to zoning in platinum-group minerals (PGM) of the laurite (RuS2)-erlichmanite (OsS2) solid solution series. We found…

Ni-sepiolite-falcondoite in garnierite mineralization from Falcondo Ni-laterite deposit, Dominican Republic Abstract New chemical and structural data on sepiolite-falcondoite in garnierite veins from the Falcondo Ni-laterite deposits, central Dominican Republic, are reported. Samples of Ni-sepiolite-falcondoite vary in colour from whitish green to green depending on the NiO content (wt.%) and the amount of silica present. The…

The Loma Peguera ophiolitic chromitite (Central Dominican Republic): a source of new platinum group minerals (PGM) species Abstract Platinum group element (PGE) rich ophiolitic chromitites associated with the Loma Peguera harzburgitic mantle have been investigated for Platinum group minerals (PGM) using electric pulse disaggregation (EPD) and hydroseparation (HS) techniques. Combination of these two techniques allows…

Structure of the accretionary prism, and the evolution of the Paleogene northern Caribbean subduction zone in the region of Camagüey, Cuba Abstract The deformation history of sedimentary units incorporated in the North Cuban fold and thrust belt in the Paleocene to middle–late Eocene was associated with major shortening between the Caribbean and North American plates.…

A new jadeitite jade locality (Sierra del Convento, Cuba): First report and some petrological and archaeological implications. Abstract A new jadeitite jade locality has been discovered in the serpentinite-matrix subduction mélange of the Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) in a context associated with tectonic blocks of garnet-epidote amphibolite, tonalitic–trondhjemitic epidote gneiss, and blueschist. The mineral…

Fifty-five-million-year history of oceanic subduction and exhumation in the northern edge of the Caribbean plate (Sierra del Convento mélange, Cuba) Abstract Petrological and geochronological data of six representative samples of exotic blocks of amphibolite and associated tonalite-trondhjemite from the serpentinitic mélange of the Sierra del Convento (eastern Cuba) indicate counterclockwise P–T paths typical of material…

Textural Relations and Minerals Compositions of Garnierite Ores Using X-Ray Images Abstract “Garnierites” are significant ore minerals in the saprolitic horizons of Falcondo nickel laterite deposits in the Dominican Republic. The garnierite mineralization mainly occurs as millimetric to centimetric-thick veins. Other occurrences include tension fracturefillings, anastomizing veins, boxwork fabric, coatings on joints, often displaying slickensides…

To Cite this article: García-Casco, A., Iturralde-Vinent, M.A., Bernal, L. (2009): "Field trip to the subduction and arc complexes of central Cuba". IGCP 546 Subduction Zones of the Caribbean. Field trip Guidebook, 38 p. http://www.ugr.es/~agcasco/igcp546/Cuba09/FieldtripGuide_Cuba09.pdf

Metamorfismo de los esquistos verdes y anfibolitas pertenecientes a los Esquistos de Santa Marta, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia): ¿Registro de la colisión entre el arco Caribe y la margen Suramericana? Abstract Los Esquistos de Santa Marta localizados en el segmento NW de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, en el Caribe Colombiano, corresponden…

Geology, fluid inclusions and sulphur isotope composition of the El Cobre VHMS deposit, Southern Cuba Abstract The El Cobre deposit is located in eastern Cuba within the volcanosedimentary sequence of the Sierra Maestra Paleogene arc. The deposit is hosted by tholeiitic basalts, andesites and tuffs and comprises thick stratiform barite and anhydrite bodies, three stratabound…

Paleogene Foredeep Basin Deposits of North-Central Cuba: A Record of Arc-Continent Collision between the Caribbean and North American Plates Abstract Paleogene deposits of north-central Cuba have been identified as a deformed foredeep basin, whose stratigraphy recorded very well the collision of the Bahamas—Proto-Caribbean realm (North American plate) with the Caribbean plate, a process that occurred…

Latest Cretaceous collision/accretion between the Caribbean Plate and Caribeana: Origin of metamorphic terranes in the Greater Antilles Abstract Metasedimentary complexes dispersed all along the northwestern branch of the Caribbean orogenic belt between Yucatan and the Virgin Islands provide evidence for a major tectonic event of latest Cretaceous (Late Campanian-Early Paleocene) age that played a key…

Detrital zircon geochronology of Jurassic sandstones of western Cuba (San Cayetano Formation): Implications for the Jurassic paleogeography of the NW Proto-Caribbean Abstract Clastic sediments of the early (?) to late Jurassic (Oxfordian) San Cayetano Formation of western Cuba are interpreted to reflect syn-rift sedimentation coeval with the breakup of Pangaea. This sedimentary unit is the…

Geochemical and Sr-Nd isotope signatures of pristine slab melts and their residues (Sierra del Convento mélange, eastern Cuba) Abstract Major and trace element geochemical signatures and Sr–Nd isotope data of MORB-like amphibolite blocks and associated leucocratic low-K trondhjemitic rocks from the Sierra del Convento mélange (Cuba) indicate that oceanic crust underwent partial melting processes during…