On the Origin of Planation Surfaces in the Cuban Archipelago

Kartashov, I. and Mayo, N.A. On the Origin of Planation Surfaces in the Cuban Archipelago. in Quaternary Studies, R. P. Suggate and M. M. Cresswell (Eds). The Royal Society of New Zealand, 1975, (pp 177-179).

Planation surfaces widely distributed in the Cuban Archipelago and ranging in altitude from 5 to 800 m have been previously regarded as "surfaces of continental erosion." There has been only one period of relative tectonic stability of Cuba during the late Cenozoic, and only highest and oldest planation surfaces may be relics of a peneplain of early Miocene age. The authors have found no traces of a retreat of steep slopes "parallel to themselves" in the Cuban territory. Evidently, there are no grounds to consider the planation surfaces as relics of pediplains of different ages. The geomorphological evidence of the marine abrasional origin of most, if not all, planation surfaces in the Cuban Archipelago has been confirmed geologically by findings of sedimentary marine clays, sands, and gravels of Quaternary age upon some of these surfaces (Kartashove and Mayo, 1975).

Comment

The authors give the present elevation of the early Miocene peneplain as 700-800 meters, implying uplift at an average rate of 0.03 mm per year, the same order of magnitude that I have estimated for peninsular Malaysia. The authors describe an example of the formation of thin deposits of clay and sand extending several kilometers at an elevation of 70 meters, arguing that these deposits, along with the geomorphological characteristics of the planation surface, suggest a marine origin. If I were to apply the analysis used for Peninsular Malaysia, my model would place the surface described in the Pliocene period.

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