Polyphase Deformation and Strain Migration On The Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone in The Windward Passage, Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary

RESEARCH ARTICLE Polyphase Deformation and Strain Migration on the
10.1029/2021TC006802
Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone in the Windward
Key Points:
• T he present-day structure in the
Passage, Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary
Windward Passage implies a A. Oliveira de Sá1 , E. d’Acremont1 , S. Leroy1 , and S. Lafuerza1
polyphase evolution with at least
four stages of deformation 1
Sorbonne Université, CNRS-INSU, Institut des Sciences de la Terre Paris, Paris, France
• Motion on the Septentrional-Oriente
Fault in the Windward Passage
has generated an estimated ∼80 km

began in early Pliocene time and
Abstract Oblique collision between the Caribbean plate and the Bahama Banks has lead an eastward
offset migration of the northern Caribbean plate boundary by successive southward jumps of major strike-slip
• Onset of motion in the Windward faults. The Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone (SOFZ) defines the present-day northern Caribbean plate
Passage is key to revealing Neogene
structural evolution of the northern boundary accommodating most of the eastward escape of the Caribbean plate. Here, we reevaluate the
Caribbean plate complex history of the SOFZ along the Windward Passage area between the easternmost region of Cuba
and the northwest of Haiti. Based on seismic reflection and swath-bathymetric data set we interpret the
Correspondence to: structure and tectonic pattern of the Windward Passage. The tectono-sedimentary framework of this
A. Oliveira de Sá, large strait shows contrasting patterns of deformation linked to a complex polyphase tectonic history
alana.oliveira_de_sa@sorbonne- of dominantly strike-slip faulting. SOFZ segments offset the seismic units and yield key markers of
universite.fr
displacement along the fault system. Our study provides structural and stratigraphic insights into the
relative timing of deformation along the Windward Passage and presents new elements that constrain
Citation: the southeastward jump of the north Caribbean plate boundary to its present-day position. We propose
Oliveira de Sá, A., d’Acremont, E.,
dates for the identified seismic units based on the correlation of offshore deformation phases recorded in
Leroy, S., & Lafuerza, S. (2021).
Polyphase deformation and strain the Windward Passage sedimentary cover with major paleogeographic reorganization episodes described
seismic units, we demonstrate that at least ∼80 km of left-lateral motion has occurred on the SOFZ, and
migration on the Septentrional-Oriente onland (Late Eocene, Late Oligocene, Middle Miocene and Late Pliocene). By restoring the offset of the
Fault Zone in the Windward Passage,
northern Caribbean plate boundary.
Tectonics, 40, e2021TC006802. https:// that the SOFZ has been active since the Pliocene.
doi.org/10.1029/2021TC006802
Received 15 MAR 2021 1. Introduction

Accepted 19 JUL 2021
Relative plate motion at most convergent plate boundaries is oblique to the boundary itself (Philippon &
Corti, 2016). Oblique convergence settings display strain partitioning into boundary-normal and bounda-
ry-parallel components of the plate motion vector (DeMets, 1992; Chemenda et al., 2000; Jarrard, 1986; ten
Brink & Lin, 2004). In oblique convergence settings, the oblique component of motion is often accommo-
dated by strike-slip faults that dominate plate interactions (Chemenda et al., 2000; Teyssier et al., 1995). In
such cases, strike-slip faults may also form along the edge of the overriding plate to accommodate bound-
ary-parallel components (Fitch, 1972; Jarrard, 1986). This process is called slip partitioning and it has been
observed in oblique convergence contexts such as offshore Sumatra (Jarrard, 1986), the Philippine fault
et al., 2015). Along the Caribbean-North American plate boundary, the degree of obliquity varies from ∼50°
(Fitch, 1972), in Taiwan (Lallemand et al., 1999) and in the Lesser Antilles (Laurencin et al., 2019; Symithe
North of Cuba, ∼20° in the northern Hispaniola Island arc, to up to 72° in the northern Lesser Antilles
(Calais et al., 2016; Laurencin et al., 2019; Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020). To the north of Hispaniola, the
eastward motion of the Caribbean Plate is slowed by its collision with the Bahama Banks. Caribbean plate
motion is highly oblique to this portion of the plate boundary (Figure 1) (Calais et al., 2016; DeMets, 1992;
Mullins et al., 1992). This ongoing oblique collision result in a strong stress coupling between the plates
and slip partitioning along the northern edge of Hispaniola (Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020). North-verg-
ing fold propagation faults sub-parallel to the Caribbean plate displacement accommodates part of the
convergence in Hispanolia's northern coast (Calais et al., 2010). Oblique motion is also accommodated by
a large-scale, seismically active strike-slip fault system, known as the Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. (SOFZ), which forms the current northern Caribbean Plate boundary (Calais et al., 2016; Leroy et al., 2015)
All Rights Reserved. (Figure 1).
OLIVEIRA DE SÁ ET AL. 1 of 25
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Figure 1. Tectonic map of the northern Caribbean plate boundary. (a) Orange dots indicate the presumed epicenters of Mw > 7 historical earthquakes (from
Syed Tabrez et al., 2008). Velocities in mm. a−1 are reported from a block model incorporating the available GPS data, velocity vectors are relative to the
North American plate (Benford et al., 2012). The parts of the fault system studied in this paper are outlined in red. Red line with black dots represent the fault
strand identified by Rodríguez- Zurrunero et al. (2020) in the Windward Passage Sill (WPS). Faults in black are from previous studies (Calais & Mercier de
Lépinay, 1989, 1991; Corbeau et al., 2016; Leroy et al., 2015; Granja Bruña et al., 2014; Leroy et al., 1996; Mann et al., 1995, 1998; Mauffret & Leroy, 1997). Inset:
Geodynamic map. NOAM: North American plate; CAR: Caribbean plate; MB: Muertos Belt; MCSC: Mid-Cayman spreading center; CT: Cayman trough; D.R.:
Dominican Republic; OFZ: Oriente Fault Zone; EPGFZ: Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault Zone; WFZ: Walton Fault Zone; SDB: Santiago Deformed Belt; BB:
Bahamas platform; BR: Beata Ridge (modified from Leroy et al., 2015). (b) Bathymetric map of the Windward Passage area showing the active segments of the
Oriente-Septentrional Fault Zone (SOFZ) inferred from distinct geometric fault complexities. Active SOFZ Segments are outlined in red. Blue lines represent
the seismic sections collected during cruises HAITI-SIS 1–2 (Leroy, 2012; Leroy & Ellouz-Zimmermann, 2013; Leroy et al., 2015). Bold pink and blue lines
indicate positions of seismic sections in this paper (Figures 5 and 13). Boxe of detailed bathymetry (Figure 2). EPGFZ: Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden Fault Zone;
NHDB: Northern Hispaniola Deformation Belt; SOFZ: Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone, WPS: Windward Passage Sill, WPD: Windward Passage Deep.
The SOFZ trends almost E-W as it runs along the southern coast of Cuban, and straight across the Wind-
ward Passage until it steps onland in northern Hispaniola (Figure 1a). The geological setting of the region
has been strongly controlled by this large-scale strike-slip fault system (de Zoeten & Mann, 1991; Mann
et al., 1995; Rojas-Agramonte et al., 2008). Previous seismic reflection data has led to an initial description
of the SOFZ and its related structural framework (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1991; Dillon et al., 1992;
Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; Leroy et al., 2015). However, the initiation of SOFZ remains poorly con-
strained, as well as the understanding of how the various segments of the system may have functioned as
the convergent plate boundary evolved.
This paper documents the sedimentary and structural framework associated with the active segments of
the SOFZ in the Windward Passage. The study area is located at the contact zone between the North Amer-
ican Plate and the northern boundary of the Caribbean Plate. The Windward Passage may have recorded
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a wealth of information concerning tectonic events at the Caribbean-North American plate boundary. It is
thus a critical witness to the kinematic evolution of the Caribbean Plate.
The main goal of this study is to understand how the tectonic context of oblique collision with strain par-
framework. We present high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and ∼3,000 km of multi-channel seismic

titioning within the Windward Passage since the Eocene has led to the current sedimentary and structural
reflection profiles that image the Windward Passage domains, mapping the SOFZ fault trace and related
morphological features (Figure 2). Deformation events recorded in the sedimentary cover were time-cor-
related with major onland deformation events in southern Cuba and Northern Hispaniola. Our intent is
to (a) constrain the deformation styles in time through interpretation of the sedimentary record, (b) infer
the structural framework that existed prior to inception of the SOFZ, and (c) better understand the current
structures associated to this major fault system. We discuss the critical time markers for inferring the strati-
graphic interval that defines a timeframe for the initiation of left-lateral strike-slip motion on the SOFZ
within the Windward Passage and its subsequent migration. We accurately define the active tectonics of the
Northern Caribbean plate boundary, providing a better understanding of the regional tectonics.
2. Tectonic Settings
Since Paleocene times, the Caribbean-North American plate boundary has undergone progressive reor-
ganization in response to the diachronous collision between the Cuban-Hispaniola Arc and the Bahama
Banks (Gordon et al., 1997; Iturralde-Vinent & Macphee, 1999; Mann et al., 2002). This collision has caused
a change in the Caribbean-North American relative plate motion from NNE to E (Boschman et al., 2014;
Pindell et al., 2005). Along the Cuban Arc, strain partitioning and large-scale strike-slip faulting took place.
The northern Caribbean plate boundary underwent a series of jumps. During the initial stages of collision,
the boundary coincided with the eastern Yucatan transform margin. Accommodation of relative plate mo-
tion migrated progressively southward as each new fault systems developed and was subsequently replace
by a younger fault system starting with the development of the Pinar fault (Paleocene), followed by the La
Trocha fault (Early Eocene), and then the Cauto fault (middle Eocene) in Cuba (Figures 3a and 3b). As
the plate boundary shifted southward to the Oriente Fault Zone (OFZ) (early Oligocene), the Cuban block
became attached to the North American Plate resulting in the separation of Cuba and Hispaniola, which
until then had formed a single block (Figure 3c) (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1992; Leroy et al., 2000; Ro-
jas-Agramonte et al., 2008; Wessels, 2019). The OFZ transcurrent plate boundary must have been located
north of Hispaniola during the Miocene until Pliocene times (Figures 3d–3f) (Erikson et al., 1998). Howev-
er, as the system evolved the northern end of the OFZ gradually became inactive and the strike-slip motion
between Cuba and Hispaniola shifted southward (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995), extending into the
northwestern peninsula of Hispaniola to form the Septentrional fault (Late Pliocene) and establish the cur-
rent Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone (SOFZ) (Figures 1b, 3f and 3g) (Calais et al., 2016; Escuder-Viruete
& Pérez, 2020).
On the Island of Hispaniola, the SOFZ and the North Hispaniola fault (Deformation front) partition the
oblique convergence into boundary-parallel and boundary-normal components (Rodríguez-Zurrunero
et al., 2019, 2020). The SOFZ accommodates most of the left-lateral strain of the current Caribbean-North
American relative plate motion as a major transpressional fault system. Using GPS measurements and
12 ± 3 mm yr−1. While the North Hispaniola fault accommodates 2–6 mm/yr of ∼N-S shortening, and the
block modeling, Calais et al. (2010) estimate that the SOFZ currently accumulates elastic strain at a rate of
Trans-Haitian belt accommodates about 4 mm yr−1of ∼N-S shortening (Figure 1a).
The Windward Passage area is a large strait separating the eastern extremity of Cuba from the northwestern
peninsula of Hispaniola (Figure 1b) (Calais, 1990). The area consists of a submarine plateau, the Wind-
ward Passage Sill (WPS) (Goreau, 1989) and an adjacent sedimentary basin, the Windward Passage Deep
(WPD) (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995). A forward-propagating imbricated zone of contractional struc-
tures characterizes the WPS on its northern edge and delimits the deformation front (Figure 2) (Dillon
et al., 1992, 1996, Goreau, 1989; Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2019). There, sediments of the adjacent Hispan-
iola basin are tilted to the north and incorporated into the WPS structure. To the south, the WPS is bounded
by the WPD, an east-west trending elongated basin. The WPD is about 120 km long and 15 km wide with
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Figure 2. (a) Detailed bathymetric map of the Windward Passage Sill and Deep areas. (b) Bathymetric map with
structural interpretations. See Figure 1 for location of the map. In the Windward Passage Sill area, the activity of
wrench faults forms a relief about 350 m high structured by an antiform and a synform trending E-W and NW-SE.
The Septentrional Oriente Fault Zone (SOFZ) represented in bold red lines by the S1 to S4 fault segments, cross-cuts
the Windward Passage Deep area. Red arrows show the average plate convergence direction of the North American
plate with respect to the Caribbean (Calais et al., 2016). Multibeam bathymetry data from the HAITI-SIS cruises and
NORCARIBE (Granja-Bruna et al., 2014; Leroy, 2012; Leroy & Ellouz-Zimmermann, 2013; Leroy et al., 2015) completed
with the GEBCO Digital Atlas (https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_digital_atlas/).
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Figure 3. Tectonic setting of the northern boundary of the Caribbean plate from Early Eocene to Present-day times, modified from Leroy et al. (2000). See
text for discussion. B.R: Beata Ridge; C. Sept. CF: Cauto Fault; CFZ: Camú Fault Zone; EPGFZ: Enriquillo-Plantain-Garden Fault Zone; H: Hispaniola block; J:
Jamaica; NHDB: Northern Hispaniola Deformed Belt; NHFZ: Northern Hispaniola Fault Zone. OFZ: Oriente Fault Zone; SFZ: Septentrional Fault Zone; SOFZ:
Septentrional Oriente Fault Zone; WPD: Windward Passage Deep; WPS: Windward Passage Sill; YB: Yucatan Basin; TF: Trocha fault.
depths ranging from 1,100 to 3,780 m (Figure 2a). The evolution of the WPD is interwoven with SOFZ for-
mation, which crosses its entire length running from the southern Cuban margin eastward to the northern
Hispaniola margin (Figure 2b). Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995) correlate offshore seismic sequences
recognized in the WPD to successive tectonic and sedimentary events recorded onshore in Cuba and His-
paniola. These authors associate these correlated onshore-offshore events with the successive collisions of
the northern Caribbean mobile terranes against the Bahama Bank.
3. Data and Methods

Multichannel seismic reflection and multibeam bathymetric data were collected during cruises HAITI-SIS
1–2 (2012–2013) onboard the R/V L'Atalante from the Flotte Océanographique Française (Leroy, 2012;
Leroy & Ellouz-Zimmermann, 2013; Leroy et al., 2015, 2021). Multibeam bathymetric data collected dur-
ing NORCARIBE geophysical cruise in November-December 2013 aboard the Spanish R/V Sarmiento de
this paper, we focus on the Windward Passage area where ∼3,000 km of seismic profiles have been acquired
Gamboa is used to fill the gaps in our data coverage (Leroy et al., 2015; Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020). In
(Figure 1b). Seismic reflection data are recorded using a source comprising two GI air guns (2.46 L, 300 in3)
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Figure 4. Overview of interpreted seismic units through the WPD and the WPS areas from Eocene to Present-day. A time calibration is proposed. Units 1, 3
and 4 were first named in the work of Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995) as B, A’ and A, respectively. Unc.: unconformity.
and a streamer with 24 traces (600 m long) operated at c.a 9.7 knots (fast and light seismic system). The
multichannel seismic reflection data were processed using classical steps including CDP gathering (fold
6), binning at 25 m, detailed velocity analysis, stack and post-stack time migration. All the seismic reflec-
tion profiles presented are time migrated. Multibeam bathymetry data were acquired simultaneously along
seismic profiles and gridded with a spacing of 50 m. The gridded bathymetry data was augmented with
the GEBCO Digital Atlas (https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gebco_digital_atlas/) with an 800 m
resolution to provide an almost full coverage (Figure 1a). The processed seismic data are interpreted using
Kingdom IHS Suite© software. Maps are plotted with ArcGIS© software. We use the seismic reflection data
set to identify sedimentary units, deformation style and spatio-temporal evolution of the tectonic structures.
Morphological analysis of the seafloor based on swath-bathymetric data is carried out to identify the surface
signature of tectonic features (Figure 2). We identify faults by either sediment horizon offsets or by the fault
plane seismic reflection itself in the available seismic profiles.
4. Results
4.1. Seismic Stratigraphy
Seismic units are hereafter described by geographic sectors and ordered from the acoustic basement to the
most recent one (Unit 4). We summarize the corresponding facies in a table (Figure 4). For both areas, WPS
and WPD, the top of the acoustic basement corresponds to a rough surface on some profiles (Figures 5–7),
and it may outcrop in the structural highs of the study area (Figure 5, km 40–55). Acoustic energy is insuffi-
cient to image beneath the top of the observed acoustic basement (labeled unconformity Uc1). The presence
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Figure 5. Seismic profile covering the Windward Passage Deep (south) and part of the Windward Passage Sill (north). Unit 2 is perched and laterally
discontinuous southward. The WPS high active reverse faults propagate upwards reaching the seafloor. Faults in red are upward spreading strands of wrench
faults. Normal and thrust faults are, respectively, outline in violet and black colors. Inset 1: Location of the seismic line. Inset 2: Seismic line displayed with no
vertical exaggeration according to the seafloor.
of seabed multiples usually hampers the description of internal geometry of the acoustic basement. When
seismic reflections are observed within the acoustic basement, the reflectors are discontinuous to chaotic,
medium-high amplitudes that may terminate upward against the irregular and rugged unconformity Uc1
(Figures 4–6).
4.1.1. Windward Passage Sill
Within the Windward Passage Sill (WPS), we define three main seismic units above the acoustic basement
that correspond to seismic units previously defined by Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995). The lower
unit (Unit 1) is characterized by a thick series (>1 s TWT) with at least two internal angular unconformities
(Uc1a and Uc1b, Figures 6 and 7) that separate distinct sub-units of distinct facies and geometries (Units 1a,
1b and 1c; see Figure 4 for detailed reflections attributes).
At the base of Unit 1, the seismic facies is transparent (Unit 1a in Figures 4 and 7, km 65–85), then well-de-
fined by parallel high frequency reflections in its upper part (Unit 1c, Figure 4). Most of Unit 1, especially its
base, appears to have been folded and then eroded as indicated by unconformities Uc1a and Uc1b (Figure 7,
km 65–85). In the northern flank of the WPS high, Units 1a and 1b onlap the angular unconformity Uc1
(Figure 6, km 33–43) and Unit 2 is not present. The second seismic unit in the WPS (Unit 3) is separated
from the Unit 1 by an angular unconformity labeled Uc3 (Figures 4 and 6). Unit 3 layers are tilted and folded
and were deposited in the syncline depressions formed by the previous folding of Unit 1, with a succession
of onlap terminations in a well-layered sequence (Figure 6, km 25–40).
The angular unconformity Uc4 is observed at the top of Unit 3 and separates Unit 3 from the more horizon-
tally layered high-frequency reflectors of uppermost Unit 4 (Figures 4 and 6). Our seismic profiles through
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Figure 6. Seismic profile crossing the Windward Passage Deep (south) and Windward Passage Sill (north). In the Windward Passage Sill, sediments of unit 1
are deformed by older thrust faults. Black dashed lines are inferred faults based on the folded unconformities Uc1 and Uc3. Inset 1: Location of the seismic line.
the WPS illustrate the lateral thickness variation of Unit 4. The thickness of this unit increases from north
to south (Figure 6, km 40–20) and more clearly from west to east: increasing from 160 m in the western part
(conversion of 0.2 s TWT by using a P-wave velocity of 1,600 m/s for less consolidated sediments; Figure 7)
to up to 480 m in its eastern part near the Tortue Island (Figures 6 and 8d).
Toward the east, close to Tortue Island, the seismic profiles display an unconformity that truncates the
horizontally stratified, undisturbed reflectors of Unit 4 (unconformity Uc4a in Figures 8b and 8c). Unit 4
is therefore subdivided into two sub-units: Unit 4a that shows parallel high frequency reflectors and Unit
4b with parallel moderate frequency, low-amplitude reflectors interspersed with thin chaotic beds (see Fig-
ure 4). The thickness of Unit 4b varies from north to south (Figures 8a and 8b) and from west to east (Fig-
ures 8c and 8d). On the northern slope off Tortue Island its thickness reaches 0.6 s TWT (∼480 m thick)
(Figure 8d, km 25–30). Westward, this sub-unit is almost completely eroded (Figures 6 and 8c). Recent mass
wasting processes probably affected the shape of the slope in the WPS area, eroding the upmost part of Unit
4b.
4.1.2. Windward Passage Deep
Sedimentary units in the WPD area do not show clear correlations with those found in the WPS. Units 1
and 4 are common to both areas (Figures 4 and 6). However, in the WPD these units show some slightly
differences in their facies (Figure 4):
As observed in the WPS area, Unit 1 consists of parallel to sub-parallel high-amplitude and low-frequen-
cy reflections onlapping the basement in the WPD area (Figure 6). Punctually, its seismic facies become
transparent to chaotic and the unit displays lateral variations of thickness (Figure 4). Its bottom geometry
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Figure 7. Seismic profile crossing the Windward Passage Deep (south) and Windward Passage Sill (north). Wrench faults offset the Windward Passage Sill and
developed a positive flower structure. The WPS high buildup-structure bordered by reverse faults indicates uplift along the Windward Passage Sill. See inset and
Figure 2 for location of profile.
is barely visible on seismic data. In the WPD area the Unit 1 does not clearly display distinct sub-units as
described in the WPS area.
Unit 2 is a distinct sedimentary unit present only in the WPD area (Figures 6, 7 and 9). It overlies Unit 1
on the angular unconformity Uc2 (Figure 10). Its thickness and internal reflection pattern vary throughout
the basin. In the north wall of the WPD (southern flank of the WPS), Unit 2 is perched (Figure 5). Unit 2
is thus defined by parallel to sub-parallel continuous reflectors, which are onlapping the steeply dipping
Uc1 unconformity at its northern boundary (Figure 5, km 25–40). Its thickness is about 1.2 s TWT (∼960 m
thick; conversion of 1.2 s TWT by using a P-wave velocity of 1,600 m/s for less consolidated sediments), and
it thickens slightly northward (Figures 5 and 6). In the basin, the southern part of Unit 2 displays lateral
variations of thickness from east to west (Figures 7 and 9). Unit 2 reaches a thickness of almost 1.3 s TWT
(∼1040 m thick) in its eastern part (Figure 11). The internal reflection pattern changes gradually from
plane-parallel reflectors, low-amplitudes and low-frequency at its base to flat-lying, high amplitudes and
high-frequency at its top (Figure 4). Its seismic facies, thickness and deformation pattern changes laterally
within individual seismic lines. For example, the thickness can be about 0.6 s TWT (∼480 m thick) south-
ward and 1.2 s TWT northward (see Figure 10). The most recent upper parts of Unit 4 are characterized by
flat-lying strata that overlie Unit 2 strata in the deep basin (Figure 9).
4.2. Structural Analysis

4.2.1. Windward Passage Sill Structural Features
WPS area is characterized in seismic reflection profiles by a topographic high deformed by faults and series
of folds (Figure 7). Numerous imbricated thrusts, mainly synthetic to the deformation front to the north
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Figure 8. Seismic profiles in the Windward Passage Sill with interpreted seismic units and its relative unconformities. Inset map shows seismic lines location.
(Figure 6, km 40–60), affect the acoustic basement and progressively steepen its northern slope. On the
southern slope of the WPS, north dipping blind thrust faults are inferred from the geometry of the folded
and shifted acoustic basement. Presently, gravity-driven normal faults shift the seafloor on the southern
edge of the WPS as proposed by Rodriguez-Zurrunero et al. (2020).
A near-straight fault trace runs toward west along the north flank of the WPS (Figure 6, km 35–40, and Fig-
ure 7, km 70–80). The recent study carried out by Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al. (2020) revealed that this fault
strand seems to be aligned with the neotectonic SOFZ segment in the south flank of Septentrional Cordille-
ra (Figure 1a). Its westward termination coincides with a narrow deformation zone with sub-vertical faults
that displace the acoustic basement and the sediment layers in the central part of the WPS (wrench faults
in Figure 12a, km 60–65). The deformation can be followed eastward on parallel seismic lines (Figure 7,
km 70–77, and Figure 12b, km 48–53) and interpreted as a positive flower structure oriented NW-SE. The
overlying, parallel-bedded sediments appear to be tilted and displaced by the uplift of this positive flower
structure (Figures 7 and 12a). This uplift of the seabed by the wrench fault strands of the flower structure
created a wide synform located south of the wrench faults (Figures 2 and 12a). This synform is clearly ob-
servable in the seabed as an elongated east-west trending depression (Figure 2). In the westernmost part
of the WPS, this positive flower structure takes the form of an NNW-SSE trending antiform with relief of
about 350 m (Figure 2). The disturbance of the seafloor and shallow sediments indicate tectonic activity is
currently occurring along this structure (Figure 12).
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Figure 9. Seismic profile across the Windward Passage Deep. Sets of reverse faults are identified on either edge of the basin. See inset and Figure 2 for profile
location.
Confined between the WPS synform and the WPD, an isolated structural high characterizes the southwest-
ern part of the WPS, named the WPS high (Figures 2, 5 and 7). This structural high is bound by opposing
E-W with opposing ∼45° dips delimit the WPS E-W high. The highly benched slope of the WPS, may be
north- and south-dipping reverse faults (Figure 12a, km 35–50). These bounding reverse faults trending
the direct consequence of activity on these reverse faults. However, the stepped morphology of the slope
suggests that gravity-driven mechanisms may play an important role in its shape by promoting slope erosion
(Figure 6, km 20–25).
4.2.2. The Windward Passage Deep Structural Features
SOFZ activity has clearly left a morphologic imprint on the seafloor study area (Figure 2) and affected the
entire sedimentary record of the WPD area (Figures 5–11).
A network of reverse faults forms a small bulge and trough (1.5 km wide) (Figure 5, km 18–23). These faults
are sub-vertical and seem to merge at depth along a main fault strand that may be associated with the SOFZ
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Figure 10. Seismic profile across the Windward Passage Deep. The unit 2 are uplifted in its northern border. Faults in red highlight the typical expression of
the Septentrional-Oriente Fault Zone (SOFZ) in the Windward Passage Deep. Pre-existing northern border fault firstly with a normal component and secondly
with a reverse component is represented in violet. See inset and Figure 2 for location of profile.
(Figure 9). The internal structure, which displays faults with an opposing dips on either side of this bulge,
is typical of a positive flower structure (Figure 10, km 25–30). The main fault segments and several subordi-
nate strands of this flower structure are imaged on the seafloor mainly as the edges of antiforms (Figure 2).
Expression of the SOFZ on seafloor of the WPD allows us to identify five distinct segments according to az-
imuth changes. The western 83-km-long segment, Segment 1 (S1 in Figure 1), runs offshore Cuba through
the Punta Caleta high, from 74°50’W to 74°05’W and trends N82°E. A second 50-km-long segment (S2) runs
from 74°10’W to 73°35’W and trends N83°E. Segments S1 and S2 have been considered as individual seg-
ments based on two distinct traces on the seismic sections and bathymetric data (Figures 1 and 2), despite
to a contractional jog which forms a relatively small bulge (about ∼300 m high, Figures 2 and 7), associated
short interruptions of rupture traces on the seabed (Figure 2). The boundary between S1 and S2 corresponds
with a distinct change in azimuth of almost 1°. The boundary between Segments 2 and 3 is marked by a
change of slope oriented N015° and a sharp azimuth change of 7–8° (Figure 2). Segment 3 is 74-km-long
and trends N90°E. At its western end it runs along the rupture at 73°40’W. Eastward, over a distance of a
few kilometers, the fault trace is characterized by a large azimuth change of 10°, that marks the boundary
between S3 and S4. From 72°57’W, a Segment 4 trends N100°E to the south of the Tortue Island (Figure 1).
These active segments of the present-day SOFZ identified on the bathymetric map also appear at depth,
in the seismic reflection data (identified on the figures by segments S1 to S4). The width of deformation
associated with the SOFZ is narrower in the central part of the WPD (Figure 2, 73°40’W and 20°02’N) and
wider at its extremities (6 km wide). Deformation linked to the flower structure spreads out eastward and
the sedimentary cover is highly affected by its fault branches (Figures 6, 9 and 11). In this area, the most
recent sedimentary units (Units 2 and 4) and the unconformities Uc4 and Uc4a appear to have been folded
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Figure 11. Seismic profile across the Windward Passage Deep. Sets of reverse faults structural high on the southern edge of the basin. The unit 2 thickens
toward the fault highlighting a syntectonic wedge related to a normal faulting. See inset and Figure 2 for profile location.
and faulted (Figures 6 and 11). The present-day offset and roughness of the seafloor indicate ongoing fault-
ing in this area.
These E-W oriented SOFZ segments divides the WPD into a northern block, which we assume to be fixed,
and an eastward-moving southern block. Deformation seems to be concentrated in the northern block form-
ing a perched sedimentary block (∼10–20 km wide, Figure 7, km 30–45, and 5; km 20–40) characterized by
a thick sedimentary deposit (about 1.2 s TWT, Figure 5). Upwarping of Units 1 and 2 and the folding along
this perched sedimentary block, indicate that the WPD northern block is under a compressional stress field.
The perched block is bound to the north by a southward-dipping normal fault that offsets the Units 1 and 2
and the acoustic basement (Figures 5–7 and 9). Unit 2 thickens northwards toward the fault, highlighting a
syntectonic wedge related to an earlier stage of normal faulting (Figures 5 and 7).
At the southern boundary of the WPD, a set of reverse and thrust faults forms a ridge-like structural high
(Figures 2 and 11, km 25–35). This feature is characterized in the bathymetric data by a steep, uniform,
east-west trending scarp ridge. This ridge becomes higher eastward and seems to extend onshore. The scarp
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Figure 12. Two seismic profiles located in the Windward Passage Sill (see inset for location) with interpreted seismic units and its relative unconformities.
(a) A narrow wrench fault deformation zone shifts acoustic basement and the sediment layers in the WPS central part. (b) The deformed area can be followed
westward on parallel seismic lines. See inset and Figure 2 for profile location.
may correspond physiographically to the Môle de Saint-Nicolas area in the Northwestern Peninsula (Haiti)
(Figures 1 and 2).
In summary, the seismic reflection profiles allowed us to establish a precise structural map of the Windward
Passage Deep (Figures 2 and 13). The sedimentary and structural framework are much more complex than
found in previous studies. Seismic data demonstrate that the WPD sedimentary cover is deformed by the
multiple, near-vertical fault strands of the SOFZ, forming a large deformation corridor crossing the whole
length of the basin (Figure 13).
5. Discussion
Our results reveal distinct deformation styles across the Windward Passage with several phases (at least 3
stages of deformation discussed in Section 5.1). Thrust faults and folds in the deeper units of the WPS (Fig-
ure 6, km 25–45) are compatible with a predominantly contractional deformation phase, while the WPD
thick sedimentary cover suggests an extensional deformation phase overprinted by a current transpressive
deformation (e.g., Figure 6).
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Figure 13. Four cross-sections across the Windward Passage area showing our summary schematic interpretation from the tectonic framework, as discerned
from seismic images presented in this paper. Summary schematic interpretation of the tectonic framework across the Windward Passage, as discerned from
seismic images presented in this paper. Inset map shows seismic lines location.
Strike-slip systems usually create conditions that allow for the juxtaposition of normal and reverse faults
over a comparatively short distances and periods of time. The most likely hypothesis is a polyphase evolu-
tion with a compressive phase followed by a short extensional phase and then a recent transpressive phase.
In this scenario, the normal faults offset the WPS southern border are the primary mechanism for WPD
opening. Flower structures affecting the most recent WPD sedimentary record represent the current trans-
pressive deformational style in the area.
5.1. Deformation Events in the Windward Passage
Since the deformation patterns in the WPS and the WPD are quite different, we discuss them separately in
this section, before proposing correlations and time constrains for both areas in Section 5.2.
5.1.1. Windward Passage Sill
The folded Unit 1 records the first deformation event in the Windward Passage Sill domain (Figure 6). As
proposed by Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995), folding of Units 1a, 1b and 1c (Figure 6) suggests that
a contractional deformation pulse affected the WPS. The presence of minor unconformities within Unit 1
(unconformities Uc1a and Uc1b in Figures 6, 7 and 12) indicates intermittent episodes of erosion during
its deposition. Units 1a, 2b and 3b are broadly similar in style and orientation, which implies that their top
unconformities correspond to rapid episodes of erosion.
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The first episode of contractional deformation may have been active until the deposition of Unit 3, which
displays less folding than the underlying unconformable Unit 1. The gentler folding of Unit 3 may be due to
weaker contractional deformation, suggesting a second compressive pulse in the WPS.
Angular unconformity Uc4 separates the horizontally ponded strata of Unit 4 from the older folded layers of
Units 1 and 3, highlighting a sedimentation hiatus (Figures 4 and 6). Overlying horizontal layers of Unit 4
suggest that the contractional deformation is less pronounced than the earliest contractional stages (Calais
& Mercier de Lépinay, 1995). However, relatively flat reflectors do not mean a quiet period as proven by the
presence of active reverse faults affecting Unit 4 in the WPS (Figure 5, km 40–60). The southward thickening
of Unit 4 and tilting of unconformity Uc4 suggest ongoing contractional deformation (Figure 6). It implies a
southward tilt of the WPS, possibly related to a recent activity of the imbricated thrust zone shearing off the
WPS sedimentary strata on its northern slope (Figure 6, km 40–55). Such observations suggest an ongoing
compressional stress field in WPS, in particular on its northern limit (Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020).
The positive flower structure in the middle part of the WPS provides evidence of a current strike-slip com-
ponent in WPS area (Figure 12a, km 60–65, and Figure 12b, km 48–53) (Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020).
Such a fault pattern, suggests that lateral slip, together with thrusting, are the two major styles of deforma-
tion operating in the WPS. Both styles of deformation reflect a transpressional tectonic regime that is likely
a combined response of the large-scale present-day oblique collision between the Caribbean Plate and the
Bahama Banks.
5.1.2. Windward Passage Deep
In contrast to the folding observed in the WPS, the Units 1 and 2 in the WPD seem relatively less disturbed
by the early stages of compressional stress (Figure 6). At the northern edge of the WPD, the acoustic base-
ment is tilted southward and the presence of northward dipping syntectonic wedges through the Unit 2
(Figures 6 and 7) suggests an early N-S extensional tectonics in the WPD area. This extensional stage proba-
bly follows Unit 1 deposition, which implies that the onset of Unit 1 deposition precedes the opening of the
WPD area. A similar extensional stage affecting older folded sedimentary series is described by Calais and
Mercier de Lépinay (1991) in the Imias Basin, just to the south of the study (Figure 1).
This early extensional tectonic event was related to the opening of the WPD domain and appears to have
ceased after Unit 2 deposition. The normal fault identified at the northern boundary of the WPD seems
presently inactive since the most recent overlying sediments in the WPD show no evidence of lateral thick-
ening (Figures 5 and 6). The current morphology of WPD area seems to be controlled by transpressional
regime with block “ramps” upward along both sides of the basin (Figure 9).
The neotectonic strike-slip regional component in the Windward Passage is apparent in the major SOFZ
that crosses the entire length of the WPD (Figure 2). Sets of inward dipping faults that form part of this fault
system converge at depth with the main SOFZ segments forming a large positive flower-structure (Figures 5
and 7). The positive flower structure formed by transpressional shear reflects the current transpressional
tectonic setting in the area. Because positive flower structures allow only a small amount of shortening, the
dominant type of motion on a thoroughgoing fault characterized by this feature must be strike-slip with a
transpressive component (Biddle & Christie-Blick, 1985). Our structural observations lead us to infer that
the present-day WPD deformation pattern is currently ruled by significant transpression.
5.2. Tectonic Interpretation of Deformation Events and Onshore Correlations
Due to the lack of direct sampling, sedimentary units in the Windward Passage can only be time-correlat-
ed based on onshore observations. Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995) were the first to time-correlate
deformation events in the Windward Passage with four major paleogeographic periods in both southern
Cuba and northern Hispaniola domains. The late Eocene, Oligocene, Middle Miocene and Late Pliocene
paleogeographic stages are largely described onshore (Calais, 1990; Pindell & Draper, 1991; de Zoeten &
Mann, 1991; Calais et al., 2016; Mann et al., 2002). Each one of these periods corresponds to a drastic reor-
ganization of the Caribbean northern plate boundary geometry (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995). Based
on recent kinematic and advances in onshore field work in southern Cuba (Rojas-Agramonte et al., 2008)
and northern Hispaniola (Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020; Escuder-Viruete et al., 2015; Leroy et al., 2015),
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Figure 14. Sketches of the Windward Passage tectonic evolution in four main tectonic phases from Mid-late Eocene to
Late-Pliocene to Present-day. Not to scale.
we propose an alternative correlation of deformation stages in the Windward Passage with the four afore-
mentioned paleogeographic framework in the northern Caribbean Plate (Figure 14).
5.2.1. Eocene Deformation: Piggyback Basins Phase
The acoustic basement high observed at the southern boundary of the WPD (Figure 11, km 25–35) may
outcrop in the northwestern peninsula of Hispaniola. If this is the case, the acoustic basement sedimentary
series would be the equivalent to the detrital sedimentary rocks of Abuillot Formation of Early/Middle Eo-
cene (possibly Paleocene) age (Butterlin, 1960).
The Eocene is a period of intense contractional deformation with a broad overthrusting and progressive
superposition of geologic formations in Cuba and Hispaniola (Iturralde-Vinent, 1994; Iturralde-Vinent &
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Gahagan, 2002; Mann et al., 1991; Rojas-Agramonte et al., 2008). The Cuban-Hispaniolan arc-continent
collision with the Bahama Banks takes place in the Paleocene/middle Eocene (de Zoeten & Mann, 1991;
Draper et al., 1994). During this time, the exhumation of ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks occurred, as
well as the cessation of arc volcanism in Hispaniola (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2015). Structures in upper
Paleocene to middle Eocene sedimentary rocks are consistent with an evolution from a forearc basin into
piggy-back basins at the top of an advancing accretionary wedge (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2015). The folding
and thrust faulting of Eocene rocks that induced regional uplift and associated piggy-back basins resulted
from the convergence between the north-facing Hispaniola Island arc and the Bahama Banks (de Zoeten &
Mann, 1991; Escuder-Viruete et al., 2015). The deformation style of the acoustic basement which is charac-
terized by steep horizons, may reflect a complicated set of older stacked geological units inherited from this
middle Eocene paleogeographic framework (Figure 3a). Enhanced uplift during the arc-continent collision
may have resulted in subaerial exposure and formation of the basal angular unconformity Uc1 that cuts
through previously tilted strata (Figure 6).
In the late Eocene, the WPS was probably the northernmost continuation of the early piggyback basin
formed at the top of the accretionary wedge (Figures 14a and Pindell & Draper, 1991; Escuder-Viruete
et al., 2015). Its current structure would thus be inherited from this compressive scenario. However, accord-
ing to Escuder-Viruete et al. (2015), the progressive movement of the orogenic wedge toward the NE onto
the continental margin may have produced a short subsidence period. This brief subsidence episode that
took place in the Late Eocene must have created the space that accommodated deposition of Unit 1 above
Uc1 (Figure 2a). Unconformities Uc1a and Uc1b were probably formed by local episodes of erosion, as the
sub-units of Unit 1 are similar in both style and orientation (Figure 6). Outcrops of formations onshore
suggest that this subsidence period was followed by deposition of deep-marine sequences (Upper Eocene to
lower Miocene) in a relatively stable forearc basin.
5.2.2. Late-Oligocene: Extensional Phase
We interpret the extensional phase, that peaked during the earliest stages of development of the WPD, to
be late Oligocene in age (Figures 3c and 14b). Disruption of Hispaniola and Eastern Cuban blocks started
in Early Oligocene (Leroy et al., 2000). The eastern Cuban block becomes attached to the North American
plate as the plate boundary jumps to the Oriente fault (Figures 3c and Leroy et al., 2000; Rojas-Agramonte
et al., 2008; Wessels, 2019). Oligocene time is described as a tectonically stable period onshore without any
significant compressional event on Hispaniola (Pindell & Draper, 1991; de Zoeten & Mann, 1991). How-
ever, several authors propose an extensional event related to the northern Caribbean boundary stress re-
organization that occurred when the Oriente fault development during Oligocene (Calais & Mercier de
Lépinay, 1992; Iturralde-Vinent, 1998; Rojas-Agramonte et al., 2008). Onshore observations of Rojas-Agra-
monte et al. (2008) in the Sierra Maestra region suggest that contractional structures were overprinted by
widespread extensional structures, mainly southward dipping normal faults, in the late Oligocene to Mio-
cene (Figure 3c). Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1991) also relate a transtentional regime in the offshore
southern Cuban coast, which is accompanied significant subsidence of the Oriente deep. Normal faulting
on the northern edge of the WPD is probably related to this transtensive episode (Figure 14b). Unit 1 and
the acoustic basement are tilted toward the normal fault planes creating accommodation space for the syn-
tectonic deposition of Unit 2 above the unconformity Uc2, which is likely late Eocene-Early Oligocene in
age (Figures 3c and 14b). Syntectonic deposition of Unit 2 in the WPD may be coeval to the continuous Unit
1 deposition in the WPS area.
5.2.3. Middle Miocene Deformation: Compressional Phase
We interpret the compressive episode in which Units 1 and 2 undergo contraction to be middle Miocene
in age (Figures 3e and 14c). This event is mainly recorded in the WPS. According to Calais and Mercier de
Lépinay (1991), a similar event is observed in the Oriente deep area (Figure 1a), where the basin sedimen-
tary infill begins to undergo compression at this time. Extensional tectonic may have ceased in the early/
middle Miocene times, when the onshore Oligocene basins sedimentary infill begins to fold (de Zoeten &
Mann, 1999). From late Oligocene to early/middle Miocene time, the OFZ is the locus of large strike-slip
faults, with only minor vertical movement (Figure 3d; de Zoeten & Mann, 1991). de Zoeten and Mann (1991)
interpret the lack of angular unconformities during this interval as the lack of a significant contractional
component. This interpretation is consistent with the oceanic spreading history in the Cayman Through,
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along the western extension of the Oriente Fault Zone (de Zoeten & Mann, 1991; Leroy et al., 2000). Oceanic
magnetic anomalies in the Cayman Through suggest more than 200 km of left-lateral strike-slip displace-
ment since late Oligocene-early Miocene time (Leroy et al., 2000; Rosencrantz et al., 1988).
Late Eocene-Early Miocene formations on Hispaniola (Altamira, Las Lavas, and La Toca Formations, for
example, de Zoeten & Mann, 1991) are folded and faulted by a minor compressional episode during the
middle Miocene (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; de Zoeten & Mann, 1991; Erikson et al., 1998; Escu-
der-Viruete & Pérez, 2020; Pindell & Draper, 1991). This minor compressional event is associated with the
initial development of a restraining bend in northern Hispaniola (Figure 3e) (Erikson et al., 1998; de Zoeten
& Mann, 1991, 1999). As restraining bends do not efficiently accommodate the regional transcurrent shear
of the fault system (Cooke et al., 2013), the middle Miocene was probably a period of active fault evolution
including the abandonment and the development of new fault strands. Initiation of new fault strands in the
WPS (Figure 3e) and its subsequent migration into the WPD (Figure 3f) may have allowed the fault system
to more efficiency accommodate strike-slip stress. At this time, the whole of the Caribbean Plate to the
south also experiences an episode of compression (Mauffret & Leroy, 1997, 1999).
We propose that during this middle Miocene compressive episode, thrust faults formed in the WPS northern
slope. Ongoing compression in the WPS, folded Unit 1 and created space to accommodate Unit 3 deposi-
tion (Figure 14c). Simultaneously, the SFZ strand evolved to accommodate part of the ongoing strike-slip
stress (Figure 14c). Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995) propose an erosional episode during which Unit
1 may have been partially eroded and that the eroded material may have filled up the syncline depressions
formed by the previous folding of Unit 1, thus depositing Unit 3. Another possible interpretation is that
Unit 3 is the equivalent of the Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene carbonate platform (Villa Trina Fm, e.g.,
Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020) deposited during a transgressive cycle in the Lower Miocene to late-middle
Pliocene in northern Hispaniola (Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). In the Cordillera Septentrional (Figure 1),
the carbonate platform rocks are tilted, faulted and folded in synclines of the upper Eocene-middle Mio-
cene age (Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). In this case, the local angular unconformity separating upper
Eocene-middle Miocene rocks from less folded carbonate rocks onshore in the Cordillera Septentrional (de
Zoeten & Mann, 1999) could be the equivalent of unconformity Uc3 observed in the WPS.
5.2.4. Pliocene to Present Deformation: Transpressional Phase
We interpret the current transpressive component in the Windward Passage to have been initiated during
Pliocene time (Figures 3f, 3g and 14d). The Pliocene is described as a period of dramatic reorganization of
the northern Caribbean Plate boundary (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; Calais et al., 2016). It is marked
by the oblique collision of the northern Hispaniola block within the Bahama Banks (Figure 3f; Calais
et al., 2016; Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). Obliquity of the maximum horizontal stress has promoted the
development of a transpressional zone, with oblique motion between Hispaniola and Bahama Banks (Pin-
dell & Draper, 1991). This, in turn, caused activation of WNW- to W-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults
that accommodated and continue to accommodate part of the oblique convergence between the Caribbean
and North American Plates. This may also be the case for the Septentrional Fault Zone (SFZ) which formed
during the Pliocene as well (Figure 3g; Calais et al., 2016; Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020; Leroy et al., 2015).
Formation of the Septentrional-Orient Fault Zone (SOFZ) in the Windward Passage occurred when the
Oriente Fault Zone (OFZ) joined the Septentrional Fault Zone (SFZ) (Figure 3f). The SOFZ segments in the
WPD likely formed in the early Pliocene (Figure 14d). Transpressive deformation due to oblique collision
prompted the development of positive flower structures in the Windward Passage (Figures 5–7). In the
WPD area, the positive flower structure forms an antiformal corridor over the SOFZ trace. Units 2 and 3
were folded and uplifted (Figure 14d) and this uplift created a strong erosional surface over the whole area,
unconformity Uc4 (Figures 7 and 14d).
The Pliocene is also marked by the uplift of the Cordillera Septentrional (C. Sept. in Figures 3g and Cal-
ais et al., 2016; Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). The great regional uplift triggered the destruction of the
upper Miocene-lower Pliocene forearc carbonate platform (Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). The onset of
collision with the Bahama Banks during the mid-Pliocene in this area was followed by a regional sedimen-
tary hiatus that persists until late Pleistocene in the northern Cordillera Septentrional (Escuder-Viruete &
Pérez, 2020). We correlate the sedimentary hiatus highlighted by the overlying horizontal layers of Unit 4
above the folded Units 1 and 3 (unconformity Uc4 in Figures 4 and 6) to be the offshore equivalent of this
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regional sedimentary hiatus. If this is the case, Unit 4 would be middle-to late-Pleistocene in age. If so, the
onshore equivalent would be the Quaternary coral reef terraces of northern Hispaniola (Isabela Fm, e.g.,
Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020). This Quaternary formation that includes two main facies onshore, may
correspond to Units 2a and 2b in the Windward Passage (Figures 4 and 8).
The system of Quaternary coral reef terraces on along the northwest coast of Hispaniola and the southeast
coast of Cuban (Môle de St. Nicolas in Figure 1b; Sorel et al., 1991; Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1992) im-
plies a period of active compressional tectonic uplift (Escuder-Viruete et al., 2020). The onshore extensions
of the Western WPS high and of the Eastern WPD correspond to the uplifted areas of Guantánamo and
Môle de St. Nicolas respectively (Figure 1b). The WPS displays enhanced uplift at its both extremities. Sorel
et al. (1991) dates the most recent marine terrace at Môle de St. Nicolas as 80 Ka. In Cuba, Rojas-Agramonte
et al. (2008) relate a general uplift of the reefs and detrital limestones from late Miocene to Quaternary as
part of a system of marine terraces. The first Pleistocene terrace can be seen at several localities along the
Cuban coast, with up to 20 m in Guantanamo area (southeastern Cuba coast, Figures 1 and 3). Marine
terraces in Guantanamo are more elevated (up to 400 m, Muhs et al., 2017) than others described along
Cuban coast supporting the notion of strong and rapid uplift (Iturralde-Vinent, 2003). Rojas-Agramonte
et al. (2008) interpret this terrace to be related to active tectonic movements along the SOFZ.
Active reverse faults cutting the topmost layers of Unit 4 in the WPS high may be associated with the
current compressional pulse recorded in the Northern Hispaniola. The collision with the Bahama Banks
is also recorded by the formation of fold-thrust structures in the northwestern submarine accretionary
wedge, known as the Northern Hispaniola Deformation Belt (NHDB in Figure 1a) (Dillon et al., 1992, 1996;
Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2019). Southward tilting of Unit 4 could also be explained by this recent tectonic
pulse in the Caribbean-North American Plate boundary that activated thrust faults along the northern limit
of the WPS (Figure 5, km 40–60). Moreover, the narrow positive flower structure affecting the most recent
sedimentary layers in its middle part of the WPS indicates that the area is undergoing current transpres-
sional deformation (Figure 2).
The presence of current transpressive structures across the Windward Passage area confirms the influence
of the active transpressional strike-slip component in the area. An oblique-reverse focal mechanism located
in the WPD is evidence of transpression in this area (Corbeau et al., 2019). However, the regional approach
of Corbeau et al. (2019) shows the scarcity of this type of event in the northern Caribbean Plate in which
most focal mechanisms are thrust-fault related. The lack of focal mechanisms with left lateral strike-slip
component may suggest that the accommodation of the horizontal component of displacement may be
mostly aseismic (Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020) or that there are not enough seismometers to properly
record it. Current compressional deformation is mainly N-S to NNE-SSW as the result of the collision be-
tween the Bahama Banks and Hispaniola (Corbeau et al., 2019).
5.2.5. Timing Constraints for the SOFZ Propagation
The closely spaced seismic lines crossing the SOFZ main segments allowed us to infer critical time indica-
tors that bracket the interval in the stratigraphic section during which horizontal strike-slip motion began
in the WPD. As the Early Miocene locus of Caribbean North-American Plate displacement was north of the
Cordillera Septentrional (Figure 3d) (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; Erikson et al., 1998), the strike-slip
displacement may not have affected the early WPD sedimentary record at this time.
Geometry trends of Units 1 and 2 suggest that these two units predate initiation of horizontal movement
on the SOFZ in the WDP (Figures 5 and 10). Strike-slip motion of S1, S2, S3 and S4 segments appears
to have taken place after Units 1 and 2 were deposited (Figure 1b). The approximately E-W trending of
these segments divides the WPD into a southern block and a northern block moving past each other as
left-lateral strike-slip movement occurs on the fault system. Thickness changes in Unit 2 between the WPD
northern and southern blocks may be due to the left-lateral southern block displacement (Figures 5, 10
and 11). Bohannon (1975) describes a similar observation elaborated by the correlation of Oligocene and
Miocene rocks in southern California. In this region, these formations were originally deposited in contin-
uous nonmarine basin formed by extentional tectonics, but subsequent right-slip faults evolved and have
displaced these formations to their present positions. More examples are described in the Wecoma fault in
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Figure 15. Isopach map of the unit 2 showing the 80 km displacement of the Windward Passage Deep depocencer
though east. Note that the bold reverse branches of SOFZ (north to the S2 segment) delimits well the unit 2 depocenter.
These two fault strands probably accommodate part of the lateral relative motion during the left-lateral displacement of
this unit.
the Cascadia basin, in the offshore Oregon convergent margin (Goldfinger et al., 1996), and at strike-slip
Fault Zones in the offshore regions of Fukushima and Miyagi, Japan (Arato, 2017).
Unit 2 thickness and seismic facies are used to estimate the left-lateral strike-slip displacement since the
inception of the SOFZ segments. Basin configuration before strike-slip fault propagation should be identi-
fiable after restoration of left slip displacement (Goldfinger et al., 1996). The horizontal plane sections are
restored to estimate the onset of strike-slip motion. The southern block is translated right-laterally until
Unit 2 thickness and seismic facies match on the opposite side of the fault. Corresponding Unit 2 thickness
distance needed to restore the section is at least ∼80 km (Figure 15). However, as each fault strand accom-
and seismic facies are found on seismic lines separated by 80 km in Figures 11 and 5, thus the horizontal
modates part of the lateral relative motion, the left-lateral displacement of this unit must have taken place
5.4 ± 0.2 Ma for the onset of SOFZ segments in the WPD. Our estimate is based on the current ∼14–15 mm
over a much larger deformation zone rather than along a single fault segment (Figure 15). We infer an age of
yr−1of left-lateral motion predicted by Benford et al. (2012) for the Oriente Fault and our estimation of 80
km-net slip in the WPD. Time of fault propagation in the WPD is then coincident with the Pliocene pale-
ogeographic reorganization. This estimated fault age may include a large error as we consider a slip-rate
constant since the late Miocene time. Even though it is known that strike-slip fault systems change the
apportionment of fault slip rates as they evolve and some slip rate discrepancy may occur over time (Cooke
et al., 2020).
Timing relationship between Oriente and Septentrional fault segments (OFZ and SFZ respectively, e.g., Fig-
ure 3) is not clear. According to Calais and Mercier de Lépinay (1995) the plate boundary has been migrating
since Late Oligocene-Early Miocene time when the locus of Caribbean-North American Plate motion shift-
ed to the Oriente fault and splayed eastward (Figure 3f). The transcurrent plate boundary must have been
located north of Hispaniola during the Miocene until the Pliocene (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995).
However, Pliocene oblique collision of the Bahama Banks with northern Hispaniola (Escuder-Viruete &
Pérez, 2020) slowed down the Hispaniola's eastward motion with respect to the North American Plate (Cal-
ais et al., 1992). Obliquity of the collision transmitted far-field stress to the overriding plate and prompt-
ed activation of strike-slip and contractional components within Hispaniola. Partitioning of the external
stress field caused activation of the SFZ and uplift of the Cordillera Septentrional (Figures 3g and 3f, Calais
et al., 2016; Mann et al., 2002). Because of SFZ formation, the previously location of the major strike-slip
fault in the Hispaniola basin was abandoned (Calais & Mercier de Lépinay, 1995). The major strike-slip
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motion shifted south to the present-day trace of the plate boundary, transferring part of northern Hispaniola
(the present-day Cordillera Septentrional of the Dominican Republic) to the North-American plate (Calais
& Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; Calais et al., 2016; Erikson et al., 1998; Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020; Leroy
et al., 2015).
Our estimate of the age of the SOFZ segments in the WPD correlates well with ages inferred for onshore
strike-slip faults on Hispaniola (Draper et al., 1994; Erikson et al., 1998, Escuder-Viruete & Pérez, 2020).
Erikson et al. (1998) estimate a similar offset of 85 km for the Septentrional fault segment in Cibao basin in
zontal displacement of ∼88 km, which implies an average ∼25 mm. yr−1slip rate for the last 3.5 Ma. Draper
the Cibao Valley (northern Hispaniola, Figure 1). Escuder-Viruete and Pérez (2020) suggests a similar hori-
et al. (1994) related that the CFZ (subparallel to the onshore SFZ; Figure 3g) has accommodated at least
60 km of left-lateral strike-slip since the Eocene. During the Pliocene collision, the major strike-slip motion
probably shifted south to the SFZ present location (Calais et al., 2016) as the Oriente fault system splayed
eastward running across the WPD and into northern Hispaniola to form the SOFZ (Figure 3f; Calais &
Mercier de Lépinay, 1995; Leroy et al., 2015). Moreover, the estimate 16.5 km offset along the Septentrional
Fault Zone segment offshore does presume an onset of motion at 1.8 Ma (Leroy et al., 2015).
These discrepancies of displacements imply that until the uppermost Pliocene, the regional stress field is
accommodated mainly by the SFZ but that some local-field stress transferred to subparallel splays, such as
the Camú Fault Zone (Figure 1a) (Rodríguez-Zurrunero et al., 2020). However, in the uppermost Pliocene
the trace of the OFZ extends offshore parallel to the northern coast of Haiti until it connects with the SFZ
in northwestern Dominican Republic (Figures 3f and Leroy et al., 2015). The result of this last regional
paleogeographic reorganization formed the current plate boundary which is represented by the SOFZ pres-
ent-day trace (Figure 3g; Calais et al., 1992; Leroy et al., 2015; Calais et al., 2016). The uppermost Pliocene
is also the age inferred by Escuder-Viruete and Pérez (2020) for the oblique collision of the Bahama Banks
with the northern Hispaniola.
6. Conclusions
Tectono-sedimentary evolution in the Windward Passage provides critical constraints for the diachronous
evolution of the northern Caribbean Plate boundary over Neogene times. Four main seismic units were
identified above the acoustic basement in the Windward Passage. Sedimentation in the Windward Passage
Sill (WPS) and in the Windward Passage Deep (WPD) probably occurred in a common palegeographic
framework until the inception of the early Oriente Fault Zone (OFZ). Therefore, syntectonic deposition
of Unit 2, distinct to the WPD, marks the beginning of strike-slip stress field in the area. Discrepancies in
seismic facies and the deformation patterns present in the seismic units in both geographic areas probably
reflects the structural evolution of the earlier transcurrent plate boundary represented by the OFZ until the
initiation of the current SOFZ.
The Windward Passage has recorded at least 4 tectonic events related to the ongoing oblique collision be-
tween the Caribbean Plate and the Bahama Banks. In this context, the first tectonic event in the area may
correspond to the period of Cuban-Hispaniola Arc collision, in which the sedimentary cover of the ancient
forearc basin was gradually uplifted recording the formation of piggyback basins along a syn-collisional
margin. The second tectonic event records a period of transition between mainly contractional and trans-
current motions. This period is marked by an important paleogeographic reorganization that corresponds
to a brief transtentional event that resulted in the opening of the Windward Passage Deep during the OFZ
initiation and the consequent disruption of the Cuban and Hispaniola blocks. The last two events are char-
acterized by contractional and then the current transpressional deformation mainly reflects (a) the progres-
sive collision between the Bahama Banks and Hispaniola blocks and (b) the Caribbean Plate's eastward es-
cape relative to the North American plate. These last stages of deformation are particularly well recorded in
Through the Windward Passage Deep, the estimated ∼80 km offset of the sedimentary cover on either side
the Windward Passage sedimentary cover, which was folded and displaced left-laterally shifted by the SOFZ.
of the major fault suggests an early Pliocene inception for the SOFZ segments in this area. This result pro-
vides important time constraints on the SOFZ southeastward migration as well as additional information
on the time-related evolution of the northern Caribbean Plate boundary.
Tectonics 10.1029/2021TC006802
Data Availability Statement

The processed data are available at https://doi.org/10.17882/81671.
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RESEARCH ARTICLE Polyphase Deformation and Strain Migration on the

has generated an estimated ∼80 km

Received 15 MAR 2021 1. Introduction

framework. We present high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and ∼3,000 km of multi-channel seismic

Trans-Haitian belt accommodates about 4 mm yr−1of ∼N-S shortening (Figure 1a).

3. Data and Methods

4.2. Structural Analysis

5.1. Deformation Events in the Windward Passage

5.1.2. Windward Passage Deep

5.2. Tectonic Interpretation of Deformation Events and Onshore Correlations

5.2.1. Eocene Deformation: Piggyback Basins Phase

5.2.5. Timing Constraints for the SOFZ Propagation

Data Availability Statement

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