Ultrahigh-pressure to high-pressure eclogite in Cuban ophiolitic mélange reveals proto-Caribbean spreading ridge subduction

Abstract Proto-Caribbean oceanic crust produced during ocean-floor spreading between diverging North and South American plates was subsequently subducted beneath the Caribbean plate. However, the timing and spatial configuration of proto-Caribbean spreading ridge subduction remain subjects of debate. High-pressure (HP) basaltic metamorphic rocks, representing relics of the subducted proto-Caribbean oceanic crust, commonly occur in Cuban ophiolitic mélanges. In this study, an integrated set of petrological, geochemical, and geochronological data is presented for eclogite from the Las Villas mélange, central Cuba. The typical geochemical signature of mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB) indicates that the protolith of eclogite formed at the proto-Caribbean spreading ridge. Based on pressure-temperature (P-T) estimates obtained by pseudosection analysis as well as Zr-in-rutile and Ti-in-zircon thermometry, the following P-T paths for representative samples can be derived: a prograde path from 24–25 kbar and 510–520 °C to peak conditions of 29–31 kbar and 525–575 °C, and a complex retrograde path initially following almost isothermal exhumation to 25–27 kbar, followed by near-isobaric heating to 610–640 °C before final exhumation. This is the first documentation of prograde oceanic ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism in the northern Caribbean area. U-Pb dating of magmatic zircon with steep heavy rare earth element (HREE) patterns and negative Eu anomalies yielded a protolith age of 126.3 ± 0.7 Ma. In contrast, metamorphic zircon with flat HREE patterns and without an Eu anomaly yielded a weighted mean age of 118.6 ± 1.6 Ma. The short time interval of >8 m.y. between MORB magmatism and UHP metamorphism suggests that the oceanic crust was subducted to great depth (~100 km) shortly after generation in an oceanic ridge, which provides robust evidence for subduction of the proto-Caribbean spreading ridge. Furthermore, this work demonstrates high potential to trace ancient spreading ridge subduction by joint petrological, geochemical, and geochronological study of oceanic eclogite.