The Caribbean plate subducts beneath northwest South America at a shallow angle due to a large igneous province that added up to 12 km of buoyant crust. The overriding plate lacks volcanism and exhibits Laramide‐style uplifts over 500 km from the trench. Here, we illuminate the subduction structures through finite frequency teleseismic P‐wave tomography and connect those structures to the Laramide‐style deformation on the overriding plate. We use a new data set collected from the Caribbean‐Mérida Andes seismic experiment comprised of 65 temporary broadband stations integrated with permanent stations from the Colombian and Venezuelan national networks. We identify three segments of subducting Caribbean plate with one segment completely detached from the surface. The timing of the detachment aligns with other regional events, including the uplift of the Mérida Andes, about 10 Ma. Slab buoyancy post‐detachment likely resulted in recoupling with the overriding plate, reactivation of Jurassic‐aged rift structures and subsequent uplift of the Mérida Andes. Mantle counterflow over the broken segment induced by rollback of the attached slab likely contributed to the uplift of the Mérida Andes. We conclude that the northern limit of subduction lies south of the Oca‐Ancón fault, though the fault itself may be the surface expression of the boundary. The southern limit of subduction lies south of our study area.

中文翻译：

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通过3D有限频率远震P波层析成像揭示了南美洲西北部下方的加勒比板块分割

加勒比板块在南美洲西北部下方以浅角度俯冲，这是由于一个大的火成岩省形成了长达12 km的浮力壳。上覆板块缺乏火山作用，并在距海沟500公里以上的地方表现出Laramide样式的隆升。在这里，我们通过有限频率远震P波层析成像来阐明俯冲结构，并将这些结构与上覆板上的拉拉米德式变形联系起来。我们使用从加勒比-梅里达-安第斯山脉地震实验中收集的新数据集，该实验数据集包含65个临时宽带站以及哥伦比亚和委内瑞拉国家网络的永久站。我们确定了俯冲加勒比板块的三段，其中一段完全脱离了地表。支队的时间与其他地区性事件保持一致，包括安达斯山脉（MéridaAndes）隆升，大约10 Ma。分离后的平板浮力可能导致与上覆板块的重新耦合，侏罗纪时代裂谷结构的重新激活以及随后的安第斯山脉的隆升。由附着的板块的回滚引起的破裂段上的地幔逆流可能导致安第斯山脉上升。我们得出的结论是，俯冲的北限位于Oca-Ancón断层以南，尽管断层本身可能是边界的表面表达。俯冲的南部极限位于我们研究区域的南部。由附着的板块的回滚引起的破裂段上的地幔逆流可能导致安第斯山脉上升。我们得出的结论是，俯冲的北限位于Oca-Ancón断层以南，尽管断层本身可能是边界的表面表达。俯冲的南部极限位于我们研究区域的南部。由附着的板块的回滚引起的破裂段上的地幔逆流可能导致安第斯山脉上升。我们得出的结论是，俯冲的北限位于Oca-Ancón断层以南，尽管断层本身可能是边界的表面表达。俯冲的南部极限位于我们研究区域的南部。