Caribbean Tectonic plate

OBJECTIVES

• Describe the tectonics of the Caribbean;

• Identify the plate boundaries and relative location
to the Caribbean plate;

• Discuss the tectonic activities in the Caribbean.

 INTRODUCTION
• Most of the territories which make up the Caribbean are
located on the Caribbean Plate which is roughly rectangular
in shape.

• The Caribbean Plate is mostly an oceanic tectonic plate

underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the
north coast of South America.

• The Caribbean Plate is approximately 3.2 million km2 in area.

 Class Activity

• Using your textbook and your recent knowledge of plate tectonics, complete
the following activity.

As a well-known Geologist and with the recent geological happenings in the

Caribbean, present to a group of university students the following:

• History of the Caribbean Plate (approximate age, direction it is moving,

etc.);

• The boundaries and movement of the Caribbean plate;

• The consequences as a result of the borders at the Caribbean Plate.

 THE CARIBBEAN PLATE
• To the north of the Caribbean Plate lies the North American Plate and to the
south of it lies the South American Plate. To the south west lie the Nazca

Plate and Cocos Plate.

 boundaries and movement OF THE CARIBBEAN
PLATE

The Caribbean
plate slides in an
eastward
direction at
approximately 2
meters per year.
 TECTONIC ACTIVITIES IN THE
CARIBBEAN
• The Caribbean Plate borders are regions of intense unstable activities
such as: frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

• Occasional tsunamis may occur. According to UWI Seismic Research

Centre, there have been 10 confirmed generated tsunamis in the
Caribbean Basin. The kick-’em-Jenny erupted in 1965 and generated a
small tsunami.
 EARTHQUAKES IN THE CARIBBEAN

The northern edge of the plate is a

transform boundary that borders with
the North American Plate. This very
slow movement causes friction and
tension to build up, before the plates
slip thus, causing an earthquake. For
example, the 2010 Haitian
Earthquake- 7.0 magnitude
 VOLCANOES (volcanic arc) IN THE
CARIBBEAN
• At the western boundary, the Cocos Plate is subducting beneath the Caribbean
plate. Volcanoes and earthquakes in Central America are a result of this.
 VOLCANOES (volcanic arc) IN THE
CARIBBEAN
• The eastern boundary is an active convergent boundary between the Caribbean
plate and the South American plate. This is responsible for the formation of the
Caribbean volcanic arc in the eastern Caribbean.
 Caribbean volcanic arc

Most Recent Volcanoes

• La Soufriere Volcano, St.
Vincent and the
Grenadines (2021);
• Soufriere Hills Volcano,
Montserrat (1995);
 The Southern tectonic boundary
• The southern boundary is much more complex as it is part of a convergent
and transform boundary. However, mainly earthquakes occur here.
 RESOURCES

• https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/carribean.html
• https://geoforcxc.com/our-planet/plate-tectonics/
• https://uwiseismic.com/tsunamis/caribbean-tsunamis/#:~:text=T
he%20historical%20record%20suggests%20that,is%20more%20
susceptible%20to%20tsunamis
.