Bivergent Thrust Wedges Surrounding Island Arcs: Insights from Observations

Thrust belts develop on both sides of island arcs at several localities around the world. In all cases, the overall vergence of the backarc thrust belt is opposite to that of the forearc thrust belt. For example, in the northeastern Caribbean, an inactive arc (Hispaniola and Puerto Rico) is bordered by a north-verging accretionary prism and the Puerto Rico trench on the north, and by the south-verging Muertos thrust belt and the Muertos trough on the south. There are three models to explain such bivergent thrusting: (1) Bivergent thrusting develops where a reversal of the polarity of subduction is underway and the backarc thrust system overlies an incipient subduction zone; (2) Compression of the backarc region due to trenchward traction, applied at the base of the overriding plate by the subduction process; and (3) The arc and both thrust systems constitute a bivergent thrust wedge, whose development is driven entirely by crustal-level forces applied at a single subduction zone. The third model implies that island arc bivergent thrusting is analogous to that which develops during continent-continent collisions. Observations of deformational features from the Muertos thrust belt together with inferences from regional geometry of island arcs and simple sandbox kinematic models, lead to the conclusion that such island arcs are best explained as crustal bivergent thrust wedges. Modeling suggests, in particular, that an imbricate thrust wedge in the backarc region develops only if the arc behaves as a relatively rigid block that can transmit compressive stresses to the backarc region. In such circumstances, the strike-slip component of oblique convergence is accommodated entirely in the forearc and arc, and the backarc is a frontal (dip-slip) thrust system. The rigid block behavior of the arc may be explained by its mafic composition.