Late Eocene Lu–Hf ages on Carayaca (Puerto Cabello) eclogites: reconstructing the history of the Cordillera de la Costa Central, northern Venezuela

We present the first Lu–Hf dating on HP/UHP mineral assemblages in eclogitic rocks from Puerto Cabello, northern central Venezuela. The rocks characterize the Carayaca terrane of the Cordillera de la Costa (CdlC) along the coast and faults bounding the valley of Caracas City. The new late Eocene peak metamorphic ages (38–36 Ma) pertain to Eocene subduction of Proto-Caribbean crust to 80–100 km depth beneath the Caribbean forearc as the latter collided with Venezuela. The ages break the formerly assumed correlation with Margarita Island eclogites and Villa de Cura blueschists of southern CdlC. The distinct histories of these HP/LT metamorphic suites and the Etpana terrane in Guajira, Colombia, constrain depth geometries in regional evolutionary models. By integrating our results with an updated view of synorogenic sedimentation in the Piemontine belt, southern CdlC, we propose crustal scale present and evolutionary cross sections and maps for the development and exhumation history of the Carayaca terrane and the greater CdlC. In addition, this synthesis concludes that Caribbean collision was preceded by Palaeocene incipient subduction and rift fault inversion along Venezuela’s Proto-Caribbean margin, exposing Caucagua–El Tinaco belt basement to erosion as recorded in Los Cajones Formation flysch of the Piemontine belt.