Rapid vertical motions and formation of volcanic arc gaps: Plateau collision recorded in the forearc geological evolution (Costa Rica margin)

Abstract The collision of bathymetric features with modern convergent margins has been investigated with the full range of tools used in geosciences. Hence, a comprehensive picture exists of the characteristic effects of collision events on the evolution of convergent margins. In contrast, much less studies documented past collisions of bathymetric features with convergent margins, as colliding features were generally lost to subduction. The arc‐trench system of southern Central America provides modern and past textbook examples of active margin interaction with incoming bathymetric reliefs. Here, we propose a synthesis which combines basin and terrane analysis of the forearc of northern Costa Rica and takes up the challenge of documenting past episodes of plateau accretion to the active margin. As illustrated in modern examples, our study shows that kilometric uplift of the overriding plate and termination of the volcanic arc activity are the most profound effects of colliding/accreting oceanic plateaus. Kilometric uplift of the forearc is documented by short‐lived (ca. 3 m.y.) occurrences of shallow‐water deposits in an overall deep‐water forearc record. These shallow deposits contain material reworked from underlying sedimentary and basement lithologies. The development of spatial gaps in arc volcanism is deduced from the transition from arc‐derived turbidites to pelagic sediments. Eventually, end of the collision event is evidenced by the subsidence of the whole forearc to deep‐water environments. Basin subsidence is accompanied or followed by renewed volcanic arc activity and coeval arc‐derived sedimentation, which may occur 1–7 m.y. after plateau collision. These past episodes of plateau accretion are archetypal for the following reasons: (a) they may be studied in outcrop, whereas most of the modern collisions of plateaus largely occur underwater; (b) no tectonic or metamorphic imprint has significantly complicated the forearc geological record; (c) the colliding feature and the sedimentary response to its collision are both preserved in the forearc geology; (d) they may be used as analogues for any setting where a bathymetric feature is suspected to have caused rapid forearc uplift and cessation of the volcanic arc activity.