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Upper Triassic to Cretaceous radiolaria from Nicaragua and Northern Costa

Rica - The Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane

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Ofioliti, 2008, 33 (1), 1-19 1

UPPER TRIASSIC TO CRETACEOUS RADIOLARIA FROM NICARAGUA

AND NORTHERN COSTA RICA - THE MESQUITO COMPOSITE
OCEANIC TERRANE

Peter O. Baumgartner*,* , Kennet Flores*, Alexandre N. Bandini*, France Girault*,° and Daniel Cruz**
* Institut de Géologie et Paléontologie, Anthropole, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.
** CIGEO, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua.
° Present address: Geologisches Institut, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
* Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]

Keywords: Radiolaria, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Caribbean Plate, Chortis Block, Mesquito Composite Oceanic Ter-
rane, Nicoya, oceanic rocks, serpentinite, radiolarite, chert. Nicaragua, Costa Rica.

ABSTRACT

We propose a new terrane subdivision of Nicaragua and Northern Costa Rica, based on Upper Triassic to Upper Cretaceous radiolarian biochronology of
ribbon radiolarites, the newly studied Siuna Serpentinite Mélange, and published 40Ar/39Ar dating and geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock
units of the area.
The new Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane (MCOT) comprises the southern half of the Chortis Block, that was assumed to be a continental fragment
of N-America. The MCOT is defined by 4 corner localities characterized by ultramafic and mafic oceanic rocks and radiolarites of Late Triassic, Jurassic and
Early Cretaceous age: 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange (NE-Nicaragua), 2. The El Castillo Mélange (Nicaragua/Costa Rica border), 3.The Santa Elena Ul-
tramafics (N-Costa Rica) and, 4. DSDP Legs 67/84.
1. The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange contains, high pressure metamorphic mafics and Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian) radiolarites in original, sedimenta-
ry contact with arc-metandesites. The Siuna Mélange also contains Upper Jurassic black detrital chert formed in a marginal (fore-arc?) basin shortly before
subduction. A phengite 40Ar/39Ar -cooling age dates the exhumation of the high pressure rocks as 139 Ma (earliest Cretaceous).
2. The El Castillo Mélange comprises a radiolarite block tectonically embedded in serpentinite that yielded a diverse Rhaetian (latest Triassic) radiolarian as-
semblage, the oldest fossils recovered so far from S-Central America.
3. The Santa Elena Ultramafics of N-Costa Rica together with the serpentinite outcrops near El Castillo (2) in Southern Nicaragua, are the southernmost out-
crops of the MCOT. The Santa Elena Unit (3) itself is still undated, but it is thrust onto the middle Cretaceous Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC),
that contains Lower to Upper Jurassic, highly deformed radiolarite blocks, probably reworked from the MCOT, which was the upper plate with respect to
the SRAC.
4. Serpentinites, metagabbros and basalts have long been known from DSDP Leg 67/84 (3), drilled off Guatemala in the Nicaragua-Guatemala forearc base-
ment. They have been restudied and reveal 40Ar/39Ar dated Upper Triassic to middle Cretaceous enriched Ocean Island Basalts and Jurassic to Lower Cre-
taceous depleted Island arc rocks of probable Pacific origin.
The area between localities 1-4 is largely covered by Tertiary to Recent arcs, but we suspect that its basement is made of oceanic/accreted terranes. Earth-
quake seismic studies indicate an ill-defined, shallow Moho in this area. The MCOT covers most of Nicaragua and could extend to Guatemala to the W and
form the Lower (southern) Nicaragua Rise to the NE. Some basement complexes of Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico may also belong to the MCOT.
The Nicoya Complex s. str. has been regarded as an example of Caribbean crust and the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP). However, 40Ar/39Ar -
dates on basalts and intrusives indicate ages as old as Early Cretaceous. Highly deformed Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous radiolarites occur as blocks within
younger intrusives and basalts. Our interpretation is that radiolarites became first accreted to the MCOT, then became reworked into the Nicoya Plateau in
Late Cretaceous times. This implies that the Nicoya Plateau formed along the Pacific edge of the MCOT, independent form the CLIP and most probably unre-
lated with he Galapagos hotspot.
No Jurassic radiolarite, no older sediment age than Coniacian-Santonian, and no older 40Ar/39Ar age than 95 Ma is known from S-Central America be-
tween SE of Nicoya and Colombia. For us this area represents the trailing edge of the CLIP s. str.

INTRODUCTION Azéma et al., 1985). More recently, these outcrops were still
interpreted as MOR - remnants of an inter-American proto-
General scope
caribbean oceanisation (Giunta et al., 2006). A review of the
Classically, the southern limit of the (supposedly conti- history of hypotheses concerning the Nicoya Complex is
nental) Chortis Block (Dengo, 1969; 1985) has been placed given in Denyer and Baumgartner (2006).
at a hypothetical fault line connecting the E-W trending Modern geochemistry (Hauff et al., 1997; 2000a;
main fault in the Santa Elena Peninsula with the Hess Es- 2000b; Sinton et al., 1997; 1998; Beccaluva et al., 1999),
carpment (Case and Holcombe, 1980; Escalante, 1990; and 40Ar/ 39Ar dating (Sinton et al., 1997; Hauff et al.,
Krawinkel and Seyfried, 1994.) For some authors this sup- 2000a; Hoernle et al., 2004) and radiolarian dating ex-
posed fault is thought to have a still active major strike slip posed in detail in this paper allow for a better distinction
component (Beccaluva et al., 1996; Giunta et al., 2006). between four major units in this area: 1. The Nicoya Com-
Mafic and ultramafic basement rocks south of this line have plex s. str. (NC, Denyer and Baumgartner, 2006), a com-
been associated with the Chorotega Block (Dengo, 1962; posite plateau of Pacific origin, that shares geochemical
1969; 1985). The ultramafics of the Santa Elena Peninsula characteristics and its youngest ages with the Caribbean
together with the Nicoya Complex were originally consid- Large Igneous Province (CLIP), but incorporates 40Ar/39Ar
ered as an ophiolitic suite (Dengo, 1962; Kuijpers, 1980; dated igneous rocks as old as 139 Ma (Hoernle et al.,
2

2004). We will discuss further its relationship with the likely different from the CLIP. 2. The Siuna Serpentine
CLIP in this paper. 2. The Islas Murcielagos are made of Mélange (SSM, Fig. 1, NW-Nicaragua) first described as
massive and pillowed basalt flows with IAT-affinity and serpentinite unit (Sapper, 1937; Venable, 1994), currently
40
Ar/39Ar -dated as 109 Ma (Hauff et al., 2000a). 3. The under study by us (Baumgartner et al., 2004; Flores et al.,
Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC, Baumgartner 2006; 2007a; 2007b; 2007c); 3. Serpentinite outcrops of the
and Denyer, 2006), of middle Cretaceous age, contains El Castillo area (Fig. 1, S-Nicaragua, N-Costa Rica, Garayer
both enriched alkaline OIB-type volcanics and depleted in- and Viramonte, 1973; Astorga, 1992; Vargas and Alfaro,
trusives with evolved island arc affinities (Nancite layered 1992; Tournon et al., 1995; Flores et al., 2007c); 4. Serpen-
gabbros, Hauff et al., 2000a; Arias, 2002). It contains tinites and cherts of the Tonjibe well (Fig. 1, Pizarro, 1993)
blocks of highly deformed radiolarites of Jurassic age. 4. and, 5. Basalts, cherts and basaltic lavas interbedded with
The Santa Elena Ultramafics, made of MOR-like, depleted siliceous limestones of the unpublished wells Ostional-1 and
mantle peridiotites that are largely serpentinized. This lat- Rivas-1 (Fig. 1) drilled on the Sandino Basin, Nicaragua
ter unit forms the Santa Elena Nappe, a regional SW-verg- (INE, 1995, Ranero et al., 2000). The Santa Elena, El Castil-
ing overthrust over the Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex lo, and Tonjibe peridotite occurrences have been interpreted
(Tournon and Azéma, 1980; Tournon, 1994). Although the as a 150 km long E-W trending ultramafic suture zone
units 2, 3 and 4 share some geochemical characteristics, (Tournon et al., 1995), which was thought to be the bound-
their relationships are clearly structural (3 with the other) ary between the Chortis s. str. and the Chorotega blocks,
or unknown (2 with the other). These units may have an seen in alignment with the Hess Escarpment (Dengo, 1985).
independent geodynamic history. However, considering the rocks recovered by Legs
At first hand, we can state that The Nicoya Complex s. 67/84, the outcrops of the Siuna area, and the other, bore
str. represents the northernmost occurrence of CLIP-like hole information cited above, we are dealing with a polygon
plateaus and the Santa Elena Ultramafics represent the that extends over nearly 1000 km in E-W and 300 km in N-
southernmost outcrop of several occurrences of ultramafic S directions and covers most of the territory of Nicaragua
and mafic rocks further discussed in this paper (Fig. 1): 1. (Fig. 1). At present, there is no evidence of any pre-Tertiary
Rocks drilled by DSDP Legs 67 and 84 were previously continental basement between these corner localities charac-
considered as accreted CLIP (Nicaragua forearc basement terized by ultramafic/mafic rocks of presumed Pacific ori-
of Hauff et al., 2000b; Hoernle et al., 2004). They have been gin. We therefore suspect that this area, largely covered by
restudied by Geldmacher et al. (2006, submitted), who rec- Tertiary to Recent arc volcanism, is underlain by a variety
ognize ultramafic and mafic rocks of Pacific origin most of accreted Pacific terranes for which we introduce here the

Fig. 1 - New Terrane map of Southern Cen-

tral America with the general plate tectonic
setting of the Caribbean Plate in inset (upper
right). The Chortis Block s. str., characterized
by Palaeozoic continental basement, is re-
stricted to N-Nicaragua, Honduras and SE-
Guatemala. Most of the basement of
Nicaragua and northernmost Costa Rica is
supposed to be made of the newly defined
Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane
(MCOT), sampled by DSDP Legs 67 and 84
and cropping out in Siuna, El Castillo and
Santa Elena, localities discussed in this paper.
The Nicaragua Rise shows a twofold bathym-
etry on GeoMap that is supposed to represent
a twofold basement: shallow = continental to
the N, deeper and irregular = oceanic to the S.
The Caribbean Large Igneous Province
(CLIP) to us is restricted to Upper Cretaceous
terranes located SW of Nicoya and in Pana-
ma, a composite of plateaus. The Nicoya
Complex s. str. and other terranes in NW-
Costa Rica expose Pacific, pre- CLIP
Plateaus formed in contact with the MCOT
(see text).
 3

name “Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane” (MCOT). from Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) to Santonian (Late Creta-
This composite terrane must extend at least from the forearc ceous) in the Nicoya Complex s. str. and illustrate some
area off El Salvador to the Santa Elena Peninsula in North- specimens. North of the area studied here, adjacent to the
ern Costa Rica. To the NE it must be present in the lower Montagua Suture Zone between the Chortis and the Maya
Nicaragua Rise and may extend into “basement” units of Ja- Blocks, Chiari et al. (2006) present poorly preserved, but dis-
maica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Chortis Block s. tinctive radiolarians, that date the basalts of the El Tambor
str., itself also possibly composed of several terranes of con- Group (southern Motagua Mélange) as Late Jurassic.
tinental origin (Rogers, 2003; Rogers et al., 2007a; Ortega- One of the reasons for the lack of radiolarian illustrations
Gutierrez et al., 2007), is largely restricted to Honduras and is the fact that most occurrences of Radiolaria in Costa Rica
easternmost Guatemala (Fig. 1). The topography of the and Nicaragua are restricted to highly deformed siliceous
Nicaragua Rise is clearly twofold (e.g. James, 2006): The sediments that occur in accreted terranes or as xenoliths in
upper (northern) Rise has a continental basement, while the younger igneous units, such as the Nicoya Complex (Deny-
lower (southern) Rise has a deeper, more irregular topogra- er and Baumgartner, 2006). Preservation is, in general, poor
phy that we associate with the MCOT. The Southern to moderate and the diversity of determinable radiolarians is
Nicaragua Rise has been correlated with the “Siuna Ter- low. However, the examination of multiple HF-residues of
rane” by Venable (1994) and Rogers et al. (2007a), which each sample, careful picking and SEM-observation allow
we include with the MCOT. for precise dating even in high grade metamorphic rocks.
The purpose of this first paper on South Central Ameri-
can terranes is to present new radiolarian data that provide Radiolarian biochronology used for dating
both biochronologic age dates that are independent from
isotopic ages in igneous rocks, and furnish strong arguments Upper Triassic (Rhaetian) radiolarian assemblages are
for a Pacific origin of the Mesquito Composite Oceanic Ter- now very well known and clearly differentiated form Lower
rane (MCOT). We present here the so far oldest fossils from Jurassic ones through the work of Carter et al. (1989);
Southern Central America: upper Rhaetian (approx. 200 Carter (1990; 1993; 2007), Tekin (1999) and many other
Ma, Gradstein et al., 2004) Radiolaria from El Castillo area, studies summarised in Carter (2007).
Southern Nicaragua. This radiolarian assemblage has strong Middle Jurassic to middle Cretaceous radiolarian bio-
affinities with faunas described from Pacific N-America zonations have become broadly based and are now reliable
and, above all, it cannot come from a hypothetical inter- and precise to the substage level (O’Dogherty, 1994; Baum-
American ocean, because it predates Pangea break-up. In gartner et al., 1995b). Middle and Upper Jurassic samples
addition, we intend to clarify the origin, tectonic history and were compiled sensu Baumgartner et al. (1995b), using the
juxtaposition of terranes in Northern Costa Rica based on UAZ95 zonation. Some ranges have since been revised by
radiolarian biochronology and isotope ages as well as on the Prela et al. (2000), Dumitrica and Dumitrica-Jud (2005),
recently published igneous geochemical data. and Chiari et al. (2007). We used the zonation by

Previous work, Radiolaria

Mesozoic radiolarian biochronology has made great
progress in the last 20 years and the dating of siliceous pelag-
ic rocks has been essential to the understanding of complex
terranes such as the Franciscan and many terranes in Japan
(Baumgartner et al., 1995a; Baumgartner, 2006). Despite the
widespread occurrence of radiolarites in the oceanic terranes
of Southern Central America, comparatively little work has
been published to date the radiolarian-bearing Mesozoic sedi-
ments related with basalts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Gal-
li-Olivier (1977) was the first to collect a radiolarian sample
from NW-Nicoya that was analysed by E.A. Pessagno and
tentatively dated as Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous (Galli-
Olivier, 1977). Schmidt-Effing (1979) states the same age
and illustrates some radiolarian specimens from NW-Nicoya.
Schmidt-Effing (1980) illustrates and describes a well-pre-
served Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) radiolarian assem-
blage from the Santa Elena Peninsula; Kuijpers (1979; 1980)
uses radiolarian data by Baumgartner to define units in the
Nicoya Complex of the NW-Nicoya Peninsula. Baumgartner
(1984b) gives the first range chart for radiolarian species
found in NW-Nicoya and extends the age range of samples
down to the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian/Callovian). These
ages are later revised, based on the new biochronology in
Baumgartner et al. (1995b) as Bajocian. DeWever et al.
(1985) report radiolarian assemblages of late Early - early
Middle Jurassic, Late Jurassic and middle Cretaceous ages
from the sequences underlying the Santa Elena Ultramafic Fig. 2 - Geologic map of the Siuna area, showing the Siuna Serpentinite
Nappe, unfortunately without illustrations. Denyer and Mélange and its tectono-stratigraphic context. The two radiolarian sample
Baumgartner (2006) establish radiolarian ages that range localities are indicated. Geology partially after Venable (1994).
4

O’Dogherty (1994) for the middle Cretaceous assemblages. 1. The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange (SSM, Flores et al.,
Additional information was derived from the zonation of 2006; 2007a; 2007b; 2007c), further discussed below, forms
Sanfilippo and Riedel (1985) for species that are not repre- a N-S trending outcrop of 30 x 5 km size located S of Siuna
sented in the former zonations. To obtain the age range of (Fig. 2). This basement unit (identified as part of the Mes-
the Upper Cretaceous samples we have principally used the quito Composite Oceanic Terrane, MCOT) crops out in an
zonations by Foreman (1975), Pessagno (1976), Taketani erosional window that formed in a generally low relief area
(1982), Sanfilippo and Riedel (1985) and O’Dogherty due to reverse faults that have brought it to high levels. 2.
(1994). Thin-bedded calcareous hemipelagites yielding Aptian/Al-
bian planktonic Foraminifera rest unconformably on the
SSM. Distal volcaniclastic turbitites are interbedded. The
NEW MESOZOIC RADIOLARIAN AND THEIR sequence shallows upsection into thick-bedded limestones,
TECTONOSTRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT in which andesitic flows may be intercalated. We interpret
this succession as a passage from a distal forearc basin into
The Siuna Serpentinite Mélange
an island arc situation. 3- Upper Cretaceous andesitic to
(MCOT, NE Nicaragua): Middle and Late Jurassic
dacitic tuffs, pyroclastics and lava flows are intruded and
overprinted by large diorite and granodiorite intrusions of
Geologic setting
latest Cretaceous-Paleocene age (Venable, 1994).
In the area S and NE of Siuna (Fig. 2), we mapped three In the SSM tectonized serpentinite is by far the most
distinct tectono-stratigraphic units that have been globally abundant lithology (Fig. 2). It consists of metamorphosed,
called Siuna Terrane (Venable, 1994; Rogers et al., 2007a): Ca-depleted ultramafic rocks with relict peridotite textures

Fig. 3 - Outcrop illustrations of radiolarian-bearing rocks in the Siuna Serpentinite Mélange (NE-Nicaragua). a) Middle Jurassic red ribbon-bedded radiolar-
ites (hammer = 40 cm, sample location UTM 1505.605N, 0738.383E). b) Contact between greenschist-grade metamorphic greenstones and Middle Jurassic
red chert. The contact is interpreted as sedimentary as shown by its irregularity and greenstone boulders reworked in chert (white scale = 22 cm, N 13° 36.73’,
W 084° 47.71’). c) Alternation of red radiolarite and black Mn-rich chert of probable oceanic hydrothermal origin. Yet undated blocks near the Middle Juras-
sic radiolarian occurrences (N13° 36. 84`, W 084° 48.84’). d) Upper Jurassic black chert and siliceous mudstones that occur in scattered outcrops (hammer =
40 cm, N 13° 40.14’, W 084° 48.81’).
 5

in some places. Relict Cr-rich spinel (Cr# 0.57-0.79) in ser- Ocean palaeo-environments. In the Franciscan and the
pentinites and chromite pods indicates a high degree of Japanese Mino Terrane black radiolarites are restricted to
melting. Serpentinite forms a tectonic matrix for a variety of the major Oceanic Anoxic Events recognised worldwide
mappable blocks grouped into the following categories: (e.g. late Toarcian, Hori, 2001). We therefore speculate that
Gabbros and metagabbros, ophicarbonates, metaturbidites, this slightly detrital and organic-rich lithology was deposit-
metacherts, metasandstones, quartzites, greenschists, meta- ed in an E-Pacific marginal palaeo-environment, when its
mafics displaying a variety of metamorphic conditions, mi- area of deposition was approaching subduction.
caschists, greenstones and ribbon-bedded radiolarian cherts,
Mn-radiolarites and black cherts, bearing Middle and Upper
Biochronology
Jurassic Radiolaria reported here. The mineral assemblages
in the metamafic blocks reveal metamorphic conditions that The Middle Jurassic sample (05-01-21-03, Plate 1, 1-7),
range from typical greenschist and amphibolite facies to though poorly preserved yielded some species characteristic
high pressure barroisite-bearing greenschists. Possible of Unitary Association Zones (UAZ) 4-6 of Baumgartner et
blueschist to eclogite facies conditions are indicated by al. (1995b), which corresponds to a late Bajocian-middle
blocks containing garnet with inclusions of aegirine/om- Bathonian age (approximately 168-163 Ma according to
phacite and blocks of micaschists bearing silica-rich phen- Palfy et al., 2000; 169-165 Ma according to Gradstein et al.,
gites. We obtained 40 Ar/ 39 Ar phengite cooling age of 2004). The age is principally constrained by the total range
139.2±0.4 Ma (Flores et al., 2007b; 2007c). In some blocks, of Williriedellum sp. S (= Tricolocapsa sp. S) sensu Baum-
greenstones (mainly altered metabasalts and metandesites gartner et al. (1995a). Williriedellum marcucciae Cortese
locally reworked as meta-volcarenites) are associated with has the same first appearance but may range up to the mid-
ribbon-bedded radiolarites and siliceous shales suggesting dle Callovian - early Oxfordian. Linaresia sp. cf. L.
an original sedimentary contact of sediments on an oceanic chrafatensis (El Kadiri) is a poorly preserved specimen, but
crust (Fig. 3). The geochemistry of the metamorphic blocks this form is restricted to the Middle Jurassic. Despite of a
clearly indicates that the protoliths originated in an intrao- poor preservation and diversity, this assemblage resembles
ceanic arc setting (Flores et al., in preparation). The SSM central Pacific, low fertility assemblages of the Franciscan,
resembles (though it is more polymict) the subduction ODP-Site 801, and the Mino Terrane, rich in forms associat-
mélanges of the Franciscan (Blake and Jones, 1981; Jones et ed with the radiolarian family Williriedelidae (Murchey,
al., 1983) and indicates that it is part of the Mesquito Com- 1984; Matsuoka, 1995).
posite Oceanic Terrane, as defined here. The Upper Jurassic sample (05-01-16-02, Plate 1, 8-13,
Plate 2) is slightly better preserved and more diverse that the
Radiolarian occurrences
Red ribbon-bedded radiolarites (Fig. 3a) occur in scat-
tered outcrops that represent large blocks embedded in the
serpentinite matrix (Fig. 2, “Middle Jurassic radiolarite”).
Radiolaria are abundant in most outcrops, but metamor-
phism destroyed most of the fine textures of the rocks: Radi-
olarian ghosts appear in thin section usually as flattened
quartz spherules without any morphologic features left. In
one case it was, however, possible to extract the Middle
Jurassic assemblage presented here (sample 05-01-21-03,
located at 1505.400N, 738.254E UTM, Plate 1). In some
blocks of the same small (1 x 1 km) area the red radiolarites
are associated with greenstones (Fig. 3b), which are, in gen-
eral, metandesites and associated minor basaltic metasand-
stones. Irregular contacts between the two lithologies and
greenstone boulders that seem embedded in the radiolarite
suggest original sedimentary contacts between ocean floor
basalt/andesite and oceanic sediment. Many blocks of the
same area show interlayering at dm-scale of dark brown to
bluish-black Mn-Fe-rich chert with pink to brick red radio-
larian-bearing chert (Fig. 3c). This, so far undated lithology
could represent ocean floor hydrothermal fall-out interbed-
ded with radiolaritic deposits.
In another area about 7 km to the N (Fig. 2 “Upper Juras-
sic black chert”) we found outcrops scattered over an entire
hill of dm-bedded black radiolarian-rich chert, minor shales
and siliceous mudstones (Fig. 3d). At present, we favour the
hypothesis, that these outcrops represent a large block em-
bedded in the SSM. It cannot be excluded that this lithology
forms a separate small tectonic unit. In one place we could
extract a reasonably preserved Upper Jurassic radiolarian
Fig. 4 - Geologic map of the El Castillo area (Nicaragua/Costa Rica bor-
assemblage (sample 05-01-16-02 located at der, Rio San Juan) showing serpentinite occurrences and the location of the
1511.727N/736.628E UTM, Plates 1, 2). The black, organ- Rhaetian radiolarian sample. Modified after Rivier (1968), Martinez
ic-rich lithology is unusual in Upper Jurassic Pacific open (1972) and Tournon and Alvarado (1997).
6

Middle Jurassic one. The concurrent range of the observed built on by settlers. We found, however, serpentinite debris
species is UAZ 9-11 of Baumgartner et al. (1995b), which dug out of a water hole just south of the radiolarites. We
corresponds to a middle Oxfordian to late therefore suspect that the radiolarite is not an extended unit,
Kimmeridgian/early Tithonian time span (156-149/145 Ma but represents a block in a tectonic mélange similar to
according to Channell et al., 1995; 159 - 151/148 Ma ac- blocks that occur in the SSM. So far, one out of several
cording to Gradstein et al., 2004). This age is constrained in treated samples (Plate 3, sample 06-04-19-01 location
the first place by the total range of Zhamoidellum ovum Du- 1229.397N/0782.818E UTM) has yielded a moderately pre-
mitrica. In addition, several other species do not range high- served, diverse radiolarian assemblage presented here.
er that UAZ 11 (see Plate 2), and one form that compares to
Sethocapsa uterculus with a range of UAZ 11-22 could pos-
Biochronology and palaeobiogeography
sibly restrict the age of the sample to UAZ 11, i.e. late Kim-
meridgian/early Tithonian. However, poor preservation and The Rhaetian sample (06-04-19-01, Plate 3) contains sev-
diversity of this sample does not allow further precision of eral tens of species of which many are undescribed in litera-
the age. This assemblage resembles both Pacific and ture. For this preliminary report we have compared our mate-
Tethyan assemblages of the same age span. rial with taxa formally and informally described by Carter
(1990; 1993), Tekin (1999), and other authors. Carter (1993)
published a detailed biochronology using Unitary Associa-
tions of Rhaetian Radiolaria, based on data from continuous
El Castillo Mélange (MCOT, Nicaragua/Costa Rica
Upper Triassic - Lower Jurassic sections studied in the
border): Rhaetian (Late Triassic)
Queen Charlotte Islands (Sandilands Formation, British Co-
lumbia, Canada). Our assemblage has many species in com-
Geologic setting
mon with assemblage 3 of Carter (1993) defined as the
In the El Castillo area, straddling the border between Globolaxtorum tozeri Zone. In fact, our species association
Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Fig. 4), we observed three fits exactly with Unitary Association (UA) 26, the second
tectono-stratigraphic units: 1. A Mesozoic oceanic terrane last in Carters zonation. A number of species range through
largely composed of serpentinite that we associate with the most of the Rhaetian but disappear in UA 26, before the end
MCOT, 2. A Tertiary turbiditic sequences overlain by in- of the Rhaetian, such as: Ferresium triquetrum Carter (UA
terbedded (redeposited?) shallow water limestones, sandy 3-26), Risella tledoensis Carter (UA 15-26), Laxtorum capi-
limestones and volcaniclastic sandstones and, 3. A Neogene taneum Carter (UA 21-26), On the other hand, Globolaxto-
volcanic arc-derived cover sequence. rum? sp. A sensu Carter 1993 (UA 26-27) and other forms
The serpentinite unit was first described by Astorga are restricted to the latest Rhaetian. The concurrent range of
(1992), Vargas and Alfaro (1992), and from the Tonjibe the species determined is UA 26. We can therefore state that
drill hole by Pizarro (1993). The unit appears in small out- our sample is late (probably latest) Rhaetian in age (201-
crops in road cuts and quarries mined for road gravel on the 199.6 Ma according to Gradstein et al., 2004).
Nicaraguan side, and as blocks on a small hill in the Costa Carter (2007) reviews the global distribution of Rhaet-
Rican area (Fig. 4). It was further recovered from the Ton- ian Radiolaria. Among the 16 radiolarian localities com-
jibe well 25 km SW of the study area (Fig. 1), in which pared by Carter, the faunal association of our sample re-
Pizarro (1993) reports the perforation of 193 m of serpenti- sembles most the one of the Queen Charlotte Islands,
nite containing some chert. Tournon et al. (1995) called the which can be considered as a low-middle palaeolatitude
El Castillo Mélange “San Juan peridotites”. We prefer the Pacific margin assemblage. While the Sandilands Forma-
name “El Castillo” because it refers more precisely to the tion of the Queen Charlotte Islands shows a clear forearc
outcrop area. So far no other serpentinite localities have influence (Carter, 1993) our red ribbon radiolarites must
been found along the 150 km course of the San Juan River. represent an open ocean abyssal paleoenvironment, such as
Tournon et al. (1995) compared geochemical data based on the Mino Terrane in Japan (Hori, 2001). The faunal resem-
Cr-rich spinels and concluded on a very similar origin of the blance underlines the cosmopolitan nature of the recovered
“San Juan” (= El Castillo) peridotites and the Santa Elena upper Rhaetian assemblage that preceded the global radio-
Ultramafic Unit (see next paragraph). larian turnover at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary observed
worldwide (Carter and Hori, 2005). The fact that these
Rhaethian radiolarian faunas correlate throughout Pantha-
Radiolarian occurrence
lassa is essential to the interpretation of the MCOT. At
So far, one outcrop of radiolarite, located at Las Brenes least this part of the oceanic terranes cannot be originated
(Fig. 4 “Rhaetian Radiolarite”) has been found. Astorga in a hypothetical inter-American seaway, because its radi-
(1992) and Tournon et al. (1995) describe 4-5 m of red rib- olarites predate Pangea breakup in this area and the radio-
bon-bedded radiolarite that crop out on the south end of the larians are typical for Panthalassa.
Las Brenes quarry and apparently dip 45° northwards, be-
neath the highly tectonised serpentinites of the quarry. Al-
Santa Elena Peninsula (MCOT, N-Costa Rica):
though no actual contact is described, the authors suspect a
Middle Cretaceous and reworked Early to Late Jurassic
tectonic superposition of the two lithologies recalling the
Santa Elena overthrust over radiolarites of the Santa Rosa
Geologic setting
Accretionary Prism (Tournon et al., 1995). Our own obser-
vations in 2006 and 2007 do not confirm this interpretation: The Santa Elena Peninsula and the Islas Murcielagos
Unfortunately, the radiolarite outcrop is now completely south of it (Fig. 5) have been the subject of two recent pa-
quarried. Only a small (1 m high) elevation with radiolarites pers by us: 1. Baumgartner and Denyer (2006) describe the
in place still exists (N 11° 06’ 42.6”, W 064° 24’ 37.7”) be- Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC) cropping out
sides a large flattened area of radiolarite debris, that is being along the South coast of the peninsula beneath the Santa
 7

Fig. 5 - a) Geologic map of NW-Costa Rica indicating the major geologic units, and the location of radiolarian and radioisotopic ages discussed in this paper
(modified after Denyer and Baumgartner, 2006). b) detailed geologic map of the NW-Nicoya Peninsula showing geologic relationships between Middle Juras-
sic to Upper Cretaceous radiolarites and Cretaceous basalts and intrusives (after Denyer and Baumgartner, 2006). Radiolarian ages after Baumgartner (1984a)
and Denyer and Baumgartner (2006). 40Ar/39Ar ages after Sinton et al. (1997), Hauff et al. (2000a) and Hoernle et al. (2004).

Elena overthrust. 2. Gazel et al. (2006) summarize and inter- ly deformed radiolarite in breccias yield Jurassic ages
pret the geochemistry known from that area. The principal (see below). The Nancite Complex has been erroneously
features, relevant to the interpretation of this area as the pre- included with the Santa Elena Ultramafics by Gazel et al.
sent day southernmost outcrops of the MCOT and its differ- (2006). According to Arias (2002) and our own field ex-
ences with the Nicoya Complex and the CLIP are summa- amination in 2007, the Nancite Complex is clearly ex-
rized here. For further detail, the reader is referred to the posed in a tectonic window beneath the main overthrust
above papers. of the Santa Elena Nappe. Geochemical affinities be-
We distinguish from bottom to top 3 tectonic units in the tween these two units can, therefore, not be regarded as
area of the Santa Elena Peninsula: evidence for a common geodynamic origin. Low TiO2
1. The Islas Murciélagos pillow and massive basalts show contents and high LREE depletion suggests a primitive
no clear structural relationship with the following 2 units. island arc origin for the Nancite Complex (Arias, 2002).
Their geochemistry suggests a primitive island arc origin Hauff et al. (2000a) report a 40Ar/39Ar date of 124.0±4.0
similar to the dolerites of the Santa Elena Nappe. A pil- Ma from the layered gabbros. Both the Nancite Complex
low basalt from Islas Murciélagos yields an 40Ar/39Ar and the Islas Murcielagos basalts have an age range that
date of 109.0±2.0 Ma (Hauff et al., 2000a). No fossil- makes them approximately contemporaneous with the
bearing sediments are known from this unit. formation of the SRAC, suggesting a genetic relationship
2. The relative autochthonous of the Santa Elena Nappe is between these units. Underway geochemical analyses of
composed of the Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex arc-derived clasts sampled from breccias of the SRAC
(SRAC) and the Nancite layered gabbros, plagiogranites will elucidate this hypothesis.
and associated basaltic dykes. Baumgartner and Denyer 3. The Santa Elena Ultramafics, form a regional SW-ver-
(2006) describe the SRAC as a tectonic pile of sedimen- gent overthrust, the Santa Elena Nappe, over the units
tary and volcanic packages. Polarity indicators in all sed- discussed before. They consist of depleted (MORB-like)
imentary packages show youngling to the East. Sedimen- serpentinized mantle peridotites, with very low TiO2 and
tary environments within individual stratigraphic pack- high Ni and Cr contents. Cross-cutting doleritic dykes
ages range from oceanic (radiolarites with alcaline basalt represent a later phase with a geochemistry that suggests
sills) to trench fill (arc-derived turbidites and collapse a primitive island arc origin (Gazel et al., 2006). Again,
megabreccias). Bedded radiolarites yield middle Creta- these dykes show geochemical similarities (Gazel et al.,
ceous ages throughout, whereas reworked blocks of high- 2006) with the basaltic dykes cutting through the Nancite
8

layered gabbros located in the relative autochthonous be- manian (Schmidt-Effing, 1980). According to the ranges
neath the Santa Elena Nappe, but this does not warrant by O’Dogherty (1994) this sample should be early Ceno-
for a genetic relationship between the two units. More- manian in age.
over, the Santa Elena Ultramafics and the cross-cutting Late Aptian-Albian to Cenomanian time represents most
dolerites are, so far, undated. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic ra- likely the time of formation of the radiolarite succes-
tios of the Santa Elena Nappe and the Santa Elena Accre- sions, their intrusion by alkaline sills, as well as their par-
tionary Complex samples do not correspond to the Gala- tial reworking in the polymictic breccias that occurred
pagos Mantle array, and suggest different mantle reser- soon after in a near-trench environment.
voirs and geochemical characteristics than the CLIP and 2. Radiolarite clasts and blocks. Late Early Jurassic
the Nicoya Complex. Of the above units, only the SRAC (Pliensbachian-Toarcian. The radiolarite assemblage
contains radiolarian-bearing sedimentary sequences fur- dated by DeWever et al. (1985) as late Early or early
ther discussed below. Middle Jurassic has been identified in a breccia com-
posed of a green volcanoclastic boulders with several
meter-sized, basalt and radiolarite blocks (Unit 4 of
Radiolarian occurrences
Baumgartner and Denyer, 2006) The sample SE85 of
The Santa Rosa Accretionary Complex (SRAC) has DeWever et al. (1985) was collected in a 10 x 10 x 20 m
yielded many, in part well-preserved radiolarian assem- sized block that shows dm-scale isoclinal folding of cm-
blages that come from: 1. Intact stratigraphic sedimentary thick radiolarite ribbon beds. This block does not date
sequences (late Early to early Late Cretaceous) that form in- the breccia, but implies reworking of an older, previous-
dividual tectonic units of the SRAC. 2. From radiolarite ly deformed rock. In relation to its age, several species
clasts and blocks (Early, Middle, and Late Jurassic) incorpo- listed by DeWever et al. (1985) are now considered as
rated into debris flows and collapse megabreccias associated restricted to the late Early Jurassic. Based on the current
with gravitational and/or tectonic reworking in a near-trench information, an age range of Pliensbachian to Toarcian
environment (Baumgartner and Denyer, 2006). is probable. Thus, this age dates the oldest sediments
1. Individual stratigraphic sequences are composed of mul- found so far in Costa Rica.
tiple alkaline basaltic flows that exhibit massive to ex- 3. Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Callovian). The co-occur-
tremely vesicular pillow basalts with clear ocean island rence of two forms of Bernoullius in sample SE138 of
basalt affinities (Hauff et al., 2000b). Brick-red, ribbon- DeWever et al. (1985) from the Santa Rosa Accretionary
bebbed radiolarites are interbedded with the basalt flows, Complex cropping out in the Potrero Grande tectonic
or form up to 300 m thick sequences intruded by multiple window clearly indicates a Middle Jurassic age (Bajo-
sills of alkaline basalts, which are chemically similar to cian-Callovian). Again, this corresponds to the age of a
the flows. Some units (e.g. Unit 7 of Baumgartner and reworked block, since in the same area Cenomanian Ra-
Denyer, 2006) contain a stratigraphic sequence in which diolaria were described (Schmidt-Effing, 1980, see
the oldest rocks are ribbon-bedded radiolarites that grad- above).
ually give way up-section to tuffaceous mudstones, arc-
derived volcanic turbidites, debris flows and finally dis-
Nicoya Complex (s. str., composite Pacific plateau,
organized megabreccias. This sequence is interpreted as
NW Nicoya Peninsula): Middle Jurassic
(1) formed on an ocean floor (or seamount) approaching
to Late Cretaceous
the trench, (2) received trench fill sedimentation includ-
ing material resulting from gravitational prism collapse
and, (3) detached from its substrate and accreted in the Geologic setting
SRAC. In a recent paper (Denyer and Baumgartner, 2006) we
2. Several tectonic units of the SRAC contain sequences of synthesized the existing 40Ar/39Ar dates, the igneous petrol-
debris flows and megabreccias that include clasts and ogy and the field relationships between the igneous rocks
blocks of highly deformed radiolarites. Many of these and Jurassic-Cretaceous radiolarites in the Nicoya Complex
blocks show also differences in lithology with respect to s. str. (NC) of the NW-Nicoya Peninsula (Fig. 5). At the
the bedded radiolarites. same time, we presented new radiolarian biochronologic da-
ta that confirm and enhance our earlier reports of Middle
Biochronology Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous Radiolaria in that area (Baum-
gartner, 1984a; 1984b; Baumgartner et al., 1995b) The pur-
The radiolarian biochronology was established by DeW- pose of this chapter is to review these data in the light of the
ever et al. (1985) and Schmidt-Effing (1980) and reinter- position of the NC between the (today) NW-edge of the
preted by Baumgartner and Denyer (2006). We have resam- CLIP and the SE-margin of the MCOT (Fig. 1). In addition,
pled all the localities and are in the process of producing a we illustrate more radiolarian specimens from Middle Juras-
detailed biochronology of the SRAC in comparison with sic (Plate 4) and Upper Cretaceous (Plate 5) radiolarian as-
Radiolaria from other localities form Central America and semblages of the NW-Nicoya Peninsula.
the Caribbean (Bandini et al., in progress).
1. Intact stratigraphic sequences. Middle Cretaceous radio- Overall, the NC can be regarded as a composite set of
larian assemblages have been recognized in the succes- Cretaceous plateaus that formed, according to 40Ar/39Ar
sions of the SRAC from all localities. They come from ages, between 139 and 83 Ma (Valanginian - Santonian),
samples collected in stratified radiolarites, as well as with the most abundant ages between 92 an 83 Ma (Turon-
from some clasts of disorganized polymictic breccias ian - Santonian, Fig. 6). Intrusives, dolerites and basalts of
(Tournon, 1994). In the Potrero Grande tectonic window, the NC enclose kilometric blocks of radiolarite that show
a well-preserved Upper Cretaceous radiolarian assem- leached and baked contacts with the igneous rocks. Radio-
blage was first attributed to the late Albian to early Ceno- larite lithologies allow for the distinction of two major
 9

groups: 1. The Mn-radiolarites, which have yielded radio- occur only in the NW- corner of the Nicoya Peninsula. Else-
larian assemblages of Middle Jurassic (Plate 4) to middle where in the Peninsula, radiolarite occurrences are Conia-
Cretaceous age. Most of these occurrences are clearly older cian-Santonian in age. However, Lower Cretaceous portions
than the encasing igneous rocks (Figs. 5b, 6), a fact that is of the plateau extend throughout the Nicoya Peninsula as in-
confirmed by its chilled margins and hydrothermal radiolar- dicated by 40Ar/39Ar ages of 118-119 Ma along its SW-coast
ite leaching. 2. The Fe-radiolarites have yielded radiolarian (Fig. 5a), and by the siliceous organic-rich claystones of the
assemblages restricted to a Coniacian-Santonian age (Plate Loma Chumico Formation (sensu Flores et al., 2003) dated
5). They are contemporary with the latest stages of the ig- as late Albian by ammonites (Azéma et al., 1979) that rest
neous plateau activity (Fig. 6). It must be noted that radio- apparently on the same basement in the W and SW-Nicoya
larite blocks dated older than Coniacian (Late Cretaceous) Peninsula (Flores et al., 2003).

Fig. 6 - Synopsis of bio- and

geochronologic ages determined
in boreholes and outcrops of the
Mesquito Composite Oceanic
Terrane and the Nicoya Com-
plex s. str. (the latter after Deny-
er and Baumgartner, 2006). Hor-
izontally lined fields represent
biochronologic age ranges of ra-
diolarian samples, oblique upper
and lower ends of fields indicate
age uncertainties. Connected
fields (e.g. Punta Conchal) indi-
cate stratigraphic sections with
ages of the lowest and the high-
est sample indicated, lightly
shaded fields indicate poorly de-
fined ages, due to poor preserva-
tion. Age range of igneous rock
is given in black/grey, the num-
bers are Ar39/Ar40 ages (Sinton et
al., 1997; Hauff et al., 2000a;
Hoernle et al., 2004; Geldmach-
er et al., 2006; submitted). Time
scale based on Channell et al.
(1995), Gradstein et al. (2004)
and Palfy et al. (2000).
10

Radiolarian occurrences, biochronology The youngest determined age is the Albian, indicated by
and palaeobiogeography the presence of Pseudodictyomitra pseudomacrocephala
and other characteristic species. No younger assemblages
Radiolarian occurrences can be grouped into 2 major were found in the Mn-bearing radiolarites suggesting that
groups (see above): The 1. Mn-radiolarites occur as highly magmatic activity of the Nicoya Plateau could have started
deformed and geothemally affected blocks that have yielded as early as Albian (110 Ma), a fact that is confirmed by
poorly to moderately preserved Middle Jurassic to Albian Middle Cretaceous 40Ar/39Ar ages of the Nicoya Plateau
Radiolaria. 2. The Fe-radiolarites, are contemporaneous (Hoernle et al., 2004).
with the latest plateau extrusions, are much less deformed
and yielded well-preserved radiolarian assemblages. Several 2. Fe-Radiolarites. Small outcrops of limonite-hematite-
new taxa illustrated here for the first time with open nomen- bearing, bright red-orange, thin-bedded chert are wide-
clature will be described in a forthcoming paper. spread in the NW, central and southern part of the Nicoya
1. Mn-Radiolarites (Bajocian-Albian). Several Middle Peninsula. This suggests a high position in, or on top of
Jurassic radiolarian assemblages (Plate 4, Denyer and the mid Cretaceous plateau. The radiolarian assemblages
Baumgartner, 2006, Fig. 6) were recovered from inland of these outcrops are very homogeneous and contain all
outcrops of heavily deformed, ribbon-bedded radiolarites. very similar assemblages (Plate 5), which can be tenta-
In Baumgartner (1984a; 1987) these faunas were assigned tively assigned to a Coniacian-Santonian age by the pres-
to a Bathonian-Callovian age by using the Baumgartner ence of the following, biostratigraphically important
(1984b) zonation. More recent revisions of ammonites re- species: Alievium praegallowayi Pessagno, (Coniacian -
sulted in an older calibration of the same radiolarian as- early Santonian); Hemicryptocapsa polyedra Dumitrica,
semblages. The oldest assemblage of the NW-Nicoya (Santonian and older), Alievium gallowayi (White), (Co-
Peninsula, from a radiolarite quarry near Oratorio de niacian to Maastrichian); Praeconocaryomma californi-
Cartagena, 1 km S of Cartagena (261.900/353.250), now aensis Pessagno, (Turonian - Santonian), Theocampe ur-
correlates with Unitary Association Zones (UAZ) 4 of na Foreman (late Coniacian - middle Campanian).
Baumgartner et al. (1995b) dated as late Bajocian (Plate The co-occurrence of these species suggests a tentative late
4), based on the presence Unuma typicus Yao, Protunuma Coniacian - Santonian age (Fig. 6) according to their ranges
fusiformis (Yao), Protunuma turbo Matsuoka, Cyrtocapsa listed above. It should be noted, that these ranges are not com-
mastoidea Yao, and Transhsuum maxwelli (Pessagno). pletely known and more detailed biochronologic work has to
Another sample, (2-18-1-79) from lower part of Quebrada be done to better constrain the age of these assemblages.
Triste, near Guatemala, 2.75 km E of Santa Rosa
(255.200/340.340.600), correlates with UAZ 5, late Bajo-
INTERPRETATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
cian-early Bathonian (Plate 4), based on the concurrent
ranges of Guexella nudata (Kocher), Mirifusus guadalu- The SRAC - A witness for mid-Cretaceous reworking
pensis Pessagno, and Hexasaturnalis suboblongus (Yao). of Jurassic MCOT
The Middle Jurassic assemblages of Nicoya compare
Jurassic, highly deformed radiolarite blocks are incorpo-
faunistically with North American assemblages from the
rated into debris flows and megabreccias that form the
Marin Headlands, the Yolla Bolly or other Franciscan ter-
stratigraphic tops of individual accreted slices of the SRAC
ranes (Murchey, 1984), rather than with Tethyan assem-
(Baumgartner and Denyer, 2006, Fig. 4). These very proxi-
blages. Ristola turpicula Pessagno is a typical “Pacific”
mal breccias contain, besides radiolarite blocks, abundant
species in these assemblages.
basaltic and arc-derived volcanic clasts. We conclude that
No middle Bathonian-lower Oxfordian assemblages
the SRAC became accreted during the middle Cretaceous
could be identified in Nicoya. This suggests the presence of
against a backstop formed of Jurassic MCOT, which be-
a stratigraphic gap spanning at least this interval (Fig. 6).
came eroded. It supplied the prism with mafic clasts and
Stratigraphic gaps are common to other Pacific oceanic sec-
Jurassic radiolarite blocks. We are currently working on the
tions such as the Marin Headlands (Murchey, 1984) and
detailed geochemistry of igneous clasts in the SRAC to
ODP-Site 801 in the Western Pacific (Matsuoka, 1995). The
strengthen this hypothesis.
only clearly Upper Jurassic assemblages in this data set
were recovered north of Sardinal (Fig. 6) but further work
may reveal more samples of this age range. Schmidt-Effing The Nicoya Complex s. str. - a witness of Pacific plateau
(1979) cites Eucyrtidiellum ptyctum from the Playa Real or formation facing the MCOT
Punta Conchal. Since this species (and even the genus) is re-
stricted to the Late Jurassic, this could indicate latest Juras- The Nicoya complex s. str. (NC) has been considered as
sic maximum ages at these localities, whereas our data con- the type locality for the Caribbean crust or the CLIP by
tains only Lower Cretaceous radiolarians (see below). many authors (Dengo, 1962; 1985; Kuijpers, 1980; Sinton et
By far most localities yielded Lower Cretaceous assem- al., 1997; Hauff et al., 1997). However, the presence of
blages that range in age from late Valanginian (determined by radiolarite blocks of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
the presence of Cecrops septemporatus) to Aptian for most age and 40Ar/39Ar ages significantly older than the “normal”
localities (such as Playa Real, Punta Conchal, etc.) and in the 92-80 Ma CLIP make the NC quite unique and different
case of El Frances to Albian (Fig. 6). Several mid-Cretaceous from all other basaltic basements cropping out between SE
assemblages are dominated by Pantanellium spp. and other of Nicoya and Colombia (Fig. 1).
Pantanellids, such as Protovalupus sp. The dominance of this The geochemical similarities between the NC and Upper
group can even be recognised in thin section. We interpret Cretaceous CLIP occurrences have been the main argument
this monophyletic abundance as blooms of opportunistic for speculations on a very long history of the Galapagos
species in a tropical upwelling zone. A similar setting has hotspot (e.g. Hoernle et al., 2004). This is, however, not the
been suggested for the Valupinae by Matsuoka (1995). only possible interpretation of the NC. Its long, complicated
 11

geologic history leads us to argue for the formation of the The Mesquito Composite Oceanic Terrane, Mesozoic
Nicoya Plateau in the Pacific facing the MCOT, indepen- Franciscan-type mafic and ultramafic terranes
dent form the CLIP and most probably unrelated with the of paleo-Pacific and arc origin
Galapagos hotspot. Similar plateaus with ages as old as 130-
A number of observations and arguments, partly exposed
140 Ma have been reported from Colombia and Ecuador
in this paper, have allowed us to establish the hypothesis of
(e.g. Kerr et al., 1997). On the other hand, no older sediment
a collage of Pacific oceanic terranes that form the southern
age than Coniacian-Santonian and no older 40Ar/39Ar age
half of the classically defined Chortis Block, i.e., a major
than 90 Ma is known from S-Central America between SE
part of the Nicaragua basement. We call this collage of
of Nicoya and Colombia. For us this area represents the
tectonostratigraphic terranes the “Mesquito Composite
trailing edge of the CLIP s. str. (Fig 1).
Oceanic Terrane”, in honour of the Mesquito (or Mezquito)
The concentration of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous ra-
Indians who are the original inhabitants of most of the area.
diolarite blocks in the NW - Nicoya Peninsula, closest to the
Today, we ignore the exact extension of this terrane, but it is
MCOT, are to us a clear indication, that this area exposes
likely to extend from the Guatemala - Nicaragua forearc
the deepest portions of the Nicoya Plateau, where Middle
basement (von Huene, 1989; Hauff et al., 2000b; Hoernle et
Jurassic to middle Cretaceous radiolarites became exhumed
al., 2004, and Geldmacher et al., 2006; submitted) in the
from a substrate and reworked into the younger plateau.
West, to the lower Nicaragua Rise and possibly into “base-
Denyer and Baumgartner (2006) assumed the substrate to be
ment” complexes of Jamaica, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico in
a hypothetical oceanic crust with a radiolarite sedimentary
the East. Here, we have only discussed its contact with the
cover typical for any Jurassic Pacific Plate, such as the Far-
Nicoya Plateau and the CLIP, likely to be a paleo-strike slip
allon Plate. However, the problem with this hypothesis is
fault that ceased its activity by the latest Cretaceous. The
the high degree of tectonic deformation commonly observed
contacts with the continental Chortis Block s. str. remain to
in the radiolarites, but not in the surrounding igneous rocks.
be studied (Flores et al., in progress).
This deformation predates their reworking into the igneous
The MCOT is defined by the following observations.
rocks, because the baked and leached margins of the blocks
do not show the folds observed in the radiolarite blocks.
If we look for a different origin of the radiolarite blocks, Biochronology and facies of radiolarite blocks
then the MCOT is a good candidate. In this paper we have The biochronology of radiolarians allows to date radio-
reported the presence of very deformed Jurassic (and Upper larites of the MCOT for now as Late Triassic to Late Juras-
Triassic) radiolarite blocks from the Siuna and El Castillo sic. The Rhaetian radiolarian faunas correlate throughout
mélanges, that became probably reworked into the Santa Panthalassa and indicate that at least part of the MCOT must
Rosa Accretionary Prism (Santa Elena, see above) from a be Pacific in origin, because its radiolarites predate Pangea
hypothetical MCOT back-stop that probably also was the breakup and the radiolarians are typical for Panthalassa. Al-
substrate of the Nicoya Plateau. The Jurassic radiolarites so Lower and Middle Jurassic ribbon-radiolarites are char-
must have originated indeed on an (Upper Triassic-) Jurassic acteristic of Circum-Pacific regions. This facies is unknown
Pacific Plate. They became first accreted into the MCOT, de- from the Jurassic passive margins and the ocean floors of
formed and partly subducted, and then became exhumed and the Central Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, where Middle
incorporated into the base of the Nicoya Plateau. and Upper Jurassic facies are either claystones (beneath
A variety of processes can be imagined for the exhumation CCD) or siliceous limestones (Cat Gap Fm) above the CCD.
and emplacement of the radiolarites. Chert blocks are more The occurrence of ribbon-radiolarites on the Caribbean
resistant to weathering and magmatic reworking than mafic Plate is in itself characteristic of their Pacific origin. These
and ultramafic rocks. One can imagine the weathering-out of facies occur in the MCOT, in the Nicoya Plateau, in the
the blocks in submarine exposures along fault scarps and their Motagua Suture Zone (Chiari et al., 2006) and in the An-
gravitational emplacement onto the adjacent plateau ocean tilles (Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and La Désirade, Mont-
floor, where they became covered and hydrothemally affected gomery et al., 1994a; 1994b). They are absent from the
by succeeding flows. Or, one can speculate on magmatic re- CLIP. The terranes containing Jurassic ribbon radiolarites
working of the radiolarites by successive flows that penetrat- were first accreted along the Pacific convergent margins of
ed the substrate as illustrated by Denyer and Baumgartner N-American blocks and then smeared out westwards by the
(2006). This process can be demonstrated in the Central emplacement of a Pacific Plate that later hosted the CLIP
Cordillera of the Dominican Republic (demonstration by (Pindell et al., 2006).
Javier Escuder Viruete, field work 2008). The Upper Jurassic
Aguacate Chert normally rests with a stratigraphic contact on
the Loma La Moncha MOR-type basalts (Escuder Viruete et Presence of ultramafic rocks
al., 2007). In some places doleritic dikes and flows of the in- Ultramafic rocks are typical of major suture zones of the
truding and overlying Lower Cretaceous Duarte Complex re- world. Mantle-derived serpentinites have not been reported
sult in detachment and incorporation of mappable radiolarite from the CLIP area. They are one of the characteristic
bodies into the lower Duarte Complex. In any case, the pres- lithologies of the MCOT.
ence of Jurassic radiolarites incorporated into the Cretaceous
Nicoya Plateau is a witness for its ancient contact with the 40
MCOT. We can imagine that this contact was a strike slip pa- Ar/39Ar ages and geochemistry of mafic igneous rocks
leo-fault. It must, however, have ceased its activity by Cam- Preliminary 40Ar/39Ar ages of mafic rocks confirm the ra-
panian times, when compression between the MCOT and the diolarian biochronologic ages of the MCOT. Geldmacher et
CLIP locally caused the Santa Elena overthrust, uplift and al. (2006; submitted) indicate the presence of accreted
emergence of all terranes in between, and the overlap of up- seamounts as old as 219 Ma and arc rocks as old as 143 Ma
per Campanian shallow water limestones (Fig. 6, Azéma et in the MCOT. The first age largely predates Pangea
al., 1985; Denyer and Baumgartner, 2006). breakup. The geochemistry of both enriched “OIB” and de-
12

pleted “arc” mafic rocks is different from that of the CLIP ried out in the framework of two research projects of the
(Gazel et al., 2006; Geldmacher et al., 2006; submitted). Swiss National Science Foundation (#00021-105845 and
Other, circumstantial evidence supports the existence of 200021-105845).
the MCOT.

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ics, biochronology. Mém. Géol., Lausanne, 23: 1-1143
Baumgartner P.O., Bartolini A.C., Carter E.S., Conti M., Cortese
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Gorican S., Guex J., Hull D.M., Kito N., Marcucci M., Matsuo-
Walther et al. (2000) noted the presence of high velocity ka A., Murchey B., O’Dogherty L., Savary J., Vishnevskaya V.,
mantle material in an upper crustal position in the area of W Widz D. and Yao A., 1995b. Middle Jurassic to Early Creta-
Nicaragua. The MOHO is ill-defined or absent in a transect ceous Radiolarian biochronology of Tethys based on Unitary
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agreement with a largely ultramafic composition of the atics, biochronology. Mém. Géol., Lausanne, 23: 1013-1048.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ocean remnants in the Siuna area (NE-Nicaragua). 2nd Swiss
Geosci. Meeting, Lausanne, p. 1.
The authors are very grateful for the help received from Beccaluva L., Coltorti M., Giunta G., Iturralde-Vinent M., Navarro
the CIGEO-UNAM especially from Msc. Dionisio Ro- E., Siena F. and Urbani F., 1996. Cross sections through the
drigues (Head of Institute) and Marvin Valle who provided ophiolitic units of the Southern and Northern Margins of the
the logistics for the field work in Nicaragua. We thank Per- Caribbean Plate, in Venezuela (Northern Cordilleras) and Cen-
cy Denyer for great help in the field and stimulating discus- tral Cuba. Ofioliti, 21 (2): 85-103.
sions. Beth Carter and Marco Chiari have kindly accepted to Beccaluva L., Chinchilla-Chaves A.L., Coltorti G., Siena F. and
review the radiolarian part of this work, cordial thanks to Vaccaro C., 1999. Petrological and structural significance of
them. We greatly acknowledge an anonymous reviewer and the Santa Elena-Nicoya ophiolitic complex in Costa Rica and
the careful revisions by Valerio Bortolotti. geodynamic implications. Eur. J. Mineral. 11: 1091-1107.
Blake M.C.Jr. and Jones D.L., 1981. The Franciscan Assemblage
The initial field work for this study was made possible
and related rocks in the northern California: A reinterpretation.
thanks to funds of the Fondation Herbette (University of In: W.G. Ernst (Ed.), The geotectonic development of Califor-
Lausanne) Field and laboratory work for this study was car- nia. Prentice-Hall. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 307-328.
 13

Carter E.S., 1990. New biostratigraphic elements for dating Upper Flores K., Baumgartner P.O., Skora S., Baumgartner L., Müntener
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Received, September 7, 2007

Accepted, May 27, 2008
 15

Plate 1 - Middle and Upper Jurassic Radiolaria from the Siuna serpentinite mélange (NE Nicaragua) scale bar = 100µm for all figures. 1-7) Sample 05-
01-21-03, Middle Jurassic (UAZ 4-6) red radiolarite associated with greenstones. 8-13) Sample 05-01-16-02, Upper Jurassic (UAZ 9-11) black chert.
1, 2- Williriedellum marcucciae Cortese, UAZ 4-8; 3- Williriedellum sp. S (= Tricolocapsa sp. S, sensu Baumgartner et al., 1995a), UAZ 4-5 (4-6 af-
ter Prela et al., 2000); 4- Williriedellum sp. cf. W. sp. S (= Tricolocapsa sp. S, sensu Baumgartner et al., 1995a); 5- Linaresia sp. cf. L. chrafatensis
(El Kadiri); 6, 7- Zhamoidellum sp.; 8, 9- Xitus spp.; 10- Pseudodictyomitra primitiva Matsuoka and Yao, UAZ 7-12; 11- Archaeodictyomitra
(Mizutani), UAZ 9-12; 12- Mirifusus dianae s. l. (Karrer), UAZ 9-20; 13- Sethocapsa sp. cf. S. dorysphaeroides Neviani, sensu Schaaf.
16

Plate 2 - Upper Jurassic Radiolaria from the Siuna serpentinite mélange (NE Nicaragua) scale bar = 100µm for all figures. Sample 05-01-16-02,
Upper Jurassic (UAZ 9-11) black chert. 1, 2- Zhamoidellum ovum Dumitrica, UAZ 9-11; 3, 4- Williriedellum carpathicum Dumitrica, UAZ 7-11;
5- Zhamoidellum sp. 2 sensu O’Dogherty et al. (2006); 6- Zhamoidellum ventricosum Dumitrica, UAZ 8 -11, (6-11 after Marcucci et al., 1998); 7-
Williriedellum sp.; 8-10- Zhamoidellum spp.; 11- Protunuma japonicus Matsuoka and Yao, UAZ 7-12; 12- Tricolocapsa sp. or Zhamoidellum sp.;
13- Stichomitra (?) sp. cf. S. (?) acuta (Hull); 14- Sethocapsa sp. cf. S. zweilii Jud; 15- Zhamoidellum sp. cf. Z. calamin O’Dogherty, Gorican and
Dumitrica; 16-17- Sethocapsa spp.; 18- Sethocapsa sp. cf. S. uterculus (Parona) sensu Foreman; 19- Triactoma sp. Base of the broken off spines
suggests T. jonesi (Pessagno) group, UAZ 2-13; 20- Acaeniotyle (?) sp.; 21- Hiscocapsa (?) sp.
 17

Plate 3 - Uppermost Triassic (upper Rhaetian) Radiolaria from an abandoned radiolarite quarry N of Sabalos, near El Castillo, Southern
Nicaragua. Scale bar = 100 µm for all illustrations. Sample06-04-19-01.
1- Ferresium triquetrum Carter.; 2, 3- Ferresium (?) sp.; 4- Risella tledoensis Carter; 5- Paricrioma cistella (Carter); 6- Betraccium sp.; 7-
Livarella densiporata Kozur and Mostler; 8- Tetraporobracchia sp. C sensu Carter 1993; 9- Spumellaria gen. et sp. indet. A; 10- Spumellar-
ia gen, et sp. indet. B sensu Tekin 1999; 11- Spumellaria gen, et sp. indet. B sensu Carter 1993; 12- Veghycyclia austrica Kozur and
Mostler; 13- Orbiculiformella multibrachiata (Carter); 14- Kungalaria newcombi Dumitrica and Carter; 15- Praecitriduma mostleri Kozur
1984; 16- Canoptum sp. aff. C. unicum Pessagno and Whalen, sensu Carter 1993; 17- Praeparvicingula (?) sp.; 18- Canoptum triassicum
Yao; 19- Laxtorum capitaneum Carter. 20, 21- Globolaxtorum (?) sp. A sensu Carter 1993; 22- Globolaxtorum sp. B (?) sensu Tekin 1999;
23- Nassellaria gen. et sp. indet. A; 24- Proparvicingula sp.; 25, 26- Globolaxtorum spp.; 27- Canutus (?) beehivensis Carter.
18

Plate 4 - Middle Jurassic radiolarians from the NW Nicoya Peninsula.

1-6: Sample from a radiolarite quarry near Oratorio de Cartagena, 1 km S of Cartagena (261.900/353.250). Age: UAZ 4, late Bajocian.
7-19: Sample 2-18-1-79 (collected by E. Kuijpers in 1979), Lower part of Quebrada Triste, near Guatemala, 2.75 km E of Santa Rosa
(255.200/340.340.600). Age: UAZ 5, Upper Bajocian-early Bathonian. Scale bar for all specimens = 200 µm.
1- Protunuma fusiformis Matsuoka. UAZ 3-5; 2, 3- Protunuma turbo Yao. UAZ 4-7; 4- Unuma typicus Ichikawa and Yao. UAZ 3-4; 5-
Transhsuum maxwelli (Pessagno) group. UAZ 3-10; 6- Cyrtocapsa mastoidea Yao. UAZ 3-4; 7- Guexella nudata (Kocher). UAZ 5-8;
8- Podobursa helvetica (Rüst). UAZ 3-10; 9- Tethysetta dhimenaensis ssp. A (Baumgartner). UAZ 3-8; 10- Theocapsommella sp. aff. T.
medvednicensis (Gorican); 11- Helvetocapsa (?) sp. aff. H. (?) lemanensis O’Dogherty, Gorican and Dumitrica; 12- Theocapsommella
sp. aff. T. bicornis Baumgartner; 13- Transhsuum sp. aff. T. maxwelli (Pessagno) group; 14- Leugeo hexacubicus (Baumgartner) group.
UAZ 4-8; 15- Ristola (?) turpicula Pessagno and Whalen. UAZ 5-6; 16- Stichocapsa convexa Yao. UAZ 1-11; 17- Hexasaturnalis sub-
oblongus (Yao). UAZ 3-5 (after Dumitrica and Dumitrica-Jud, 2005; Chiari et al., 2007); 18- Striatojaponocapsa synconexa O’Dogher-
ty, Gorican and Dumitrica. UAZ 4-5 (4-6 after Prela et al., 2000); 19- Mirifusus guadalupensis Pessagno. UAZ 5-11.
 19

Plate 5 - Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) radiolarians from sample M.A. (except 8 and 13), near Playa Matapalo 4 km SE of
Punta Gorda: 278.500/344.150.
8: sample Belen and 13: Cuesta de Matambu. All samples collected by E. Kuijpers in 1977-78. Scale bar = 200 µm.
1, 2- Alievium praegallowayi Pessagno. Range: Coniacian - early Santonian; 3- Alievium gallowayi (White). Coniacian - Maastrichian;
4, 5- Alievium murphyi Pessagno. Coniacian - Maastrichtian; 6- Patellula sp. aff. P. verteroensis Pessagno; 7- fragment of
Pseudoaulophacus lenticulatus (White). Turonian - early Maastrichtian; 8- Patellula sp.; 9- Praeconocaryomma californiaensis Pessag-
no. Turonian - Santonian; 10- Hemicryptocapsa polyedra Dumitrica. Santonian and older; 11- (?) Rhopalosyringium sp.; 12- Theocampe
urna Foreman. Upper Coniacian - middle Campanian; 13- Stichomitra communis Squinabol. Coniacian - Santonian; 14- Theocampe sp.;
15- Dictyomitra sp. aff. D. montisserei (Squinabol); 16- Dictyomitra formosa (Squinabol). Albian - early Maastrichtian; 17- Pseudodic-
tyomitra nakasekoi Taketani. Turonian - Coniacian-Santonian?; 18- Amphipyndax sp. in: Taketani, 1982. Coniacian - early Santonian?;
19- Crolanium sp. aff. C. pulchrum Squinabol sensu O’Dogherty (1994).
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