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Passive Margin Sedimentation On Costa Rica's North Caribbean Coastal Plain, Rio Colorado, Randall W. Parkinson, Jorge Cortés, Percy Denyer

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Geomorphic, sedimentologic, and stratigraphic data obtained from the north Caribbean region of Costa Rica suggests Rio Colorado is a wave-dominated delta which has formed along a passive continental margin. This coastal setting is significantly different from the south Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, which display geomorphic and lithologic features indicative of seismically active continental margins. The distinct aseismic history and passive margin geomorphology of the north Caribbean coastal plain appears to be controlled by the presence of tectonic features (i.e., East Nicoya Fracture Zone) which decouple the region from adjacent, tectonically active areas. Although the data collected during this pilot study, …