Tithonian–Early Valanginian Evolution of Deposition Along the Proto-Caribbean Margin of North America Recorded in Guaniguanico Successions (Western Cuba)
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Journal of South American Earth Sciences 29 (2010) 225–253 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of South American Earth Sciences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsames Tithonian–Early Valanginian evolution of deposition along the proto-Caribbean margin of North America recorded in Guaniguanico successions (western Cuba) Andrzej Pszczółkowski *, Ryszard Myczyn´ ski 1 Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland article info abstract Article history: In the Guaniguanico Mountains of western Cuba, the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous limestones occur in Received 7 March 2008 three stratigraphic successions, which have accumulated along the proto-Caribbean margin of North Accepted 17 July 2009 America. The Late Jurassic subsidence and shallow-water carbonate deposition of the Guaniguanico suc- cessions have no counterpart on the northeastern Maya block, but some distant similarities with the southeastern Gulf of Mexico may exist. Four facies types have been distinguished in the Tithonian–Lower Keywords: Valanginian deposits of the Guaniguanico tectonic units. Drowning of the Late Jurassic carbonate bank of Cuba the Sierra de los Organos occurred at the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary. During this boundary inter- Guaniguanico successions val, sedimentation in the west Cuban area and southwestern margin of the Maya block (Mexico) has North America margin Maya block evolved in a similar way in response to a major second-order transgression. Tithonian The Lower Tithonian ammonite assemblages of the Guaniguanico successions indicate, in general, the Berriasian neritic zone. Presence of juvenile gastropods and lack of adult specimens suggest unfavorable environ- Lower Valanginian ment for these molluscs, probably related to low oxygenation levels. The Early Tithonian transgressive Deposition phase terminated about the lower boundary of the Chitinoidella Zone. The Late Tithonian ‘‘regressive” Ammonites phase is weakly marked, whereas the latest Tithonian–earliest Berriasian strata were deposited during Microfossils a deepening phase. The latter transgressive phase has ended in the Late Berriasian Oblonga Subzone. We correlate the bioturbated pelagic biomicrites of the Tumbitas Member of the Guasasa Formation with a significant fall of the sea level during the latest Berriasian–Early Valanginian. The average sedimenta- tion rate for the Tumbitas Member biomicrites was about three times faster than for the Berriasian Tum- badero Member limestones. Sedimentation rates for the Tumbitas Member and the Valanginian limestones at the DSDP Site 535 in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico were similar. In the Los Organos suc- cession, the Late Valanginian transgressive interval is associated with radiolarian limestones and black chert interbeds in the lower part of the Pons Formation. In the Southern Rosario succession, the pelagic limestones pass into the radiolarian cherts of the Santa Teresa Formation indicating a proximity of CCD during Late Valanginian–Hauterivian times. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction successions, and some earlier reports as well (e.g., Truitt and Brönnimann, 1956; Hatten, 1957, 1967; Herrera, 1961; Furrazo- The oceanic crust of the proto-Caribbean seaway (=Caribbean la-Bermúdez, 1965; Pardo, 1975; Pszczółkowski, 1978, 1994a; seuil of Dercourt et al., 1994) has been partly subducted during Myczyn´ ski, 1989; Myczyn´ ski and Pszczółkowski, 1990, 1994) the Late Cretaceous northward advance of the Caribbean Plate supplied data that provide a better understanding of the geolog- (Pindell and Barrett, 1990; Pindell and Kennan, 2001). However, ical history of the west Cuban segment of the proto-Caribbean the Jurassic–Paleogene successions that accumulated east of the basin from the rifting stage to the early Paleogene tectonic Maya (or Yucatán) block and southwest of the Florida–Bahamas deformation (Iturralde-Vinent, 1994; Pszczółkowski, 1994b, platform were incorporated in the nappe pile of western Cuba 1999a; Bralower and Iturralde-Vinent, 1997). The present paper (Pszczółkowski, 1977, 1994b, 1999a; Iturralde-Vinent, 1994). focuses on the deposition during the Tithonian–Early Valangin- Papers published on the stratigraphy of the Jurassic–Cretaceous ian. Our interpretations presented herein are based on new data and partly also on earlier results dispersed in various publica- tions and acquired during work on the geological map of Cuba * Corresponding author. (Puscharovski et al., 1988) and subsequent studies on stratigra- E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A. Pszczółkowski), [email protected] (R. Myczyn´ ski). phy and facies of the Guaniguanico successions in western 1 Present address: ul. Kołobrzeska 11, 02-923 Warszawa, Poland. Cuba. 0895-9811/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2009.07.004 226 A. Pszczółkowski, R. Myczyn´ski / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 29 (2010) 225–253 Fig. 1. A – Location in Cuba of the studied area shown in B by black rectangle. B – Location of sections of the Tithonian–Lower Valanginian deposits. Los Organos succession: HA – Hacienda el Americano, SI – Sierra del Infierno, SV – San Vicente, V – Sierra de Viñales (see Pszczółkowski, 1978), VA – Valle de Ancón (see Pszczółkowski, 1978); Southern Rosario succession: B – Los Bermejales, CA – La Catalina (see Myczyn´ ski, 1989), CP – Cinco Pesos, LF – Loma Ferretero (see Myczyn´ ski, 1989, 1994a), LR – Loma Redonda, PG – La Piedra de Genaro (see Myczyn´ ski and Pszczółkowski, 1994), SB – Sabanilla (see Pszczółkowski, 1978), T – El Toro (see Myczyn´ ski and Pszczółkowski, 1994), VS – Vargas; Northern Rosario succession: RM – Rancho Manete (see Myczyn´ ski and Pszczółkowski, 1994). Tectonic units (simplified): APS – Alturas de Pizarras del Sur, CB – Cangre metamorphic belt, MB – Mogote belt, SR – Southern Rosario, NR – Northern Rosario. C – Location of the Guaniguanico terrane in the Caribbean–Gulf of Mexico region: P – Pinar fault in western Cuba; Y–P Yucatán–Los Palacios trace of the the Yucatán (Belize) transform zone (after Rosencrantz, 1996); B–Y–C Belize–Yucatán–Cuba trace of the Yucatán (Belize) transform zone (eastern edge of the Yucatán borderland, after Rosencrantz, 1996); MF – Motagua fault in Guatemala; SGM - southeastern Gulf of Mexico; IC – Isla de Cozumel (Yucatán borderland); BEL. – Belize, MM – Maya Mountains; PG – Punta Gorda outcrops of the Lower Cretaceous proto-Caribbean pelagic limestones and breccias (after Schafhauser et al., 2003); EP – El Piedral quarry in Late Tithonian ammonite-bearing limestones of the Chinameca Formation in southern Mexico (after Cantú-Chapa, 2006); SL – San Lucas section (after Adatte et al., 2001); dotted lines – state boundaries. Location of the Tithonian Edzna Fm. subsurface occurrences (simplified) is shown after Angeles-Aquino and Cantú-Chapa (2001) and Cantú-Chapa and Ortuño-Maldonado (2003) (see above-mentioned references for further information). A. Pszczółkowski, R. Myczyn´ski / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 29 (2010) 225–253 227 2. Regional setting, stratigraphic successions and nappe pile formed mainly during the latest Paleocene–Early lithostratigraphic units Eocene. The nappes are composed of formations arranged in strati- graphical successions deposited east to northeast of the Maya 2.1. General remarks on the Guaniguanico megaunit block (Iturralde-Vinent, 1994, 1996; Pszczółkowski, 1999a). This is not obligatory, however, to follow a terrane concept in respect The term ‘‘Guaniguanico terrane” was introduced by Iturralde- to the whole nappe pile of the Guaniguanico Mountains (Cobiella- Vinent (1994) for the deformed Jurassic–Early Eocene rocks ex- Reguera, 2000; Alva-Valdivia et al., 2001). Recent paleotectonic posed in the Guaniguanico Mountains (cordillera de Guaniguanico) reconstructions of the Guanigianico nappes (Saura et al., 2008; of the Pinar del Río province in western Cuba (Fig. 1A and B). This Cobiella-Reguera, 2008) suggest an intermediate pre-late Paleo- ‘‘composite terrane” (Iturralde-Vinent, 1994) is a fault-bounded cene position of the Guaniguanico tectonic units between the Maya Guaniguanico Gradstein Ammonite Zones Microfossils et al., 2004 Tethys Western Cuba lithostratigraphy Geyssant (1997); (S. de los Organos Hoedemaeker and S. del Rosario, Calpionellids: Western Los Rosario Cuba successions et al. (2003); Pinar del Rio prov.) Remane et al. Organos (1986); Pop (1994) (this Age Gradstein et al. - R. Myczynski succession South- North- (Ma) Remane (1997) STAGES (2004) (this paper) paper) ern ern Substages T/R intervals Busnardoites campylotoxus major major Lower VALAN- GINIAN R 140 T. pertransiens Calpio- nellites darderi darderi Calpionellites T. otopeta Murgeanui P. murg. P o l i e r T. alpillen- oblonga Tumbitas Mbr sis F o r m a t i n B. picteti oblonga Upper M. parami- S. boissieri Not recognized simplex simplex mounum Calpionellopsis Calpionellopsis Subthurmannia elliptica occitanica Sumidero Member T elliptica Middle BERRIASIAN Berriasella alpina Tumbadero Member Calpionella jacobi Calpionella alpina 145 Lower Vin. - Protan. Cr. Cr. Jacobi* Crassi- Durangites Durangites, intermedia interm. Salinites collaria Remanei Crassicol. Rem. M. microcanthum and Proniceras Praetin. Upper Boneti Boneti A r t e m i s a F o n R G u a s F o r m t i n Ponti/Burck. Paralytohoplites Dobeni Dobeni Chitino- idella Admirandum/ carribeanus Chitinoidella Biruncinatum A r t e m i s a F o n R. richteri spp.- Fallauxi Pseudolissoceras