Abstract

The Monterrey sheet is located in the northwest of Costa Rica in the limit of the active volcanic arc and the San Carlos basin (SCB), associated with the sedimentation, the volcanism and the tectonic of the back-arc region of southern Central America. The objective and methods were to develop the geological mapping of the sedimentary and volcanic deposits, the tectonic and the sampling for radiometric dating, geochemistry and petrography of the different units. The older rocks are conformed by clastic sediments belonging to Venado Formation, deposited in a shelf and transitional continental environment of Middle-Upper Miocene age. U-Pb geochronology for the youngest group of detrital zircons in these sediments constrained to a maximum depositional age of 6,9 ± 0,2 Ma, suggesting a late Miocene to Pliocene age sedimentation of the basin in this region of the SCB, which is in agreement with previous microforaminiferal and palynological dating and one ⁴⁰K/⁴⁰Ar radiometric age of the overlying volcanism on this sediments. The Pliocene sedimentation corresponds to the sealing of the basin associated with the Central American isthmus closure, recognized by an angular discordance associated with the tectonic event registered at the end of the Miocene and the beginning of the Pliocene. The Upper Miocene volcanism is subalkaline of marked tholeiitic and calc-alkaline afinity and transition to both series, varying from basalts to dacites. The geochemical analysis suggest a strong differentiation of these magmas from OIB type source (calc-alkaline/alkaline rocks) to MORB type source (tholeiitic basalts) modified by the subduction processes. The Plio-Pleistocene pyroclastic volcanism is associated to ignimbrites of calc-alkaline dacitic-andesitic composition. Related to primary magmas, the analysis suggest greater or high degrades of partial melting with an input of fluids and carbonate pelagic sediments from the subducting slab to the mantle metasomatism. The primitive mantle normalization shows LILE enrichments and HFSE depletions associated with the input of marine fluids and sediments dehydration of the subducted slab to the mantle metasomatism, typical of arc volcanism with an alkaline component that may be more related to the back-arc rather than the intra-arc volcanism of northern Costa Rica. The Monteverde Formation of the lower Pleistocene, cover most of the area of about 78%, forming transitional and sedentary soils mainly of andesite composition, associated also to a pyroclastic and volcaniclastic volcanism in the southwest of the sheet area. The Buena Vista Formation conform the subsequent volcanism of Monteverde Formation and is constituted by volcaniclastic deposits (lahars) of very indurate volcanic breccia. The pyroclastic Holocene deposits of Arenal volcano (tephra) are calc-alkaline of andesitic-basaltic andesite composition and are distributed to the south of the sheet. The compressive tectonic of the Middle to Upper Miocene is registered in the area by the tectonic deformation of thrusting faults in the sediments of the Venado Formation and the transtensive tectonic of the Plio-Pleistocene by mainly strike-slip faults considered active. The Cenozoic and Mesozoic detrital zircon ages of the Venado Formation, they register the development and evolution of the southern Central America volcanic arc, meanwhile, the Proterozoic and Paleozoic detrital zircon ages a possible connection with northern Central America or southern Mexico, or a possible Gondwanic or Laurentian origin. However, it could also indicate the presence of hidden continental crust fragments underneath southern Central America. These ancient detrital zircons ages constitute a new contribution to the geochronological knowledge and evolution of these continental complexes and provide a paradigm for future studies about the geologic and geotectonic evolution of the Central America isthmus.

Keywords: geochemistry; geochronology; ⁴⁰K/⁴⁰Ar; ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar; ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb; structural geology; stratigraphy; detrital zircons