Geology of the Caribbean

The Venezuelan and Colombian basins are located on the Caribbean Plate whilst the Yucatan basin is on the North American Plate. The processes occurring at the boundaries between the Caribbean Plate and the adjacent North American, South American and Cocos Plates, and the resulting surface features and patterns of volcanic and earthquake activity are described. Most of the Caribbean area is floored by atypical oceanic crust and its most valuable main geologic resources identified so far are petroleum, together with sand and gravel. Geological research is being carried out with techniques for broad-range swath imaging of the seafloor, such as GLORIA, and for directly measuring the movement between plates. -J.G.Harvey