The Caribbean Plate Evolution: Trying to Resolve a Very Complicated Tectonic Puzzle

The Caribbean Plate is an independent lithospheric element of more than 4 Mkm2, characterized today by the un-deformed or less deformed Cretaceous oceanic plateau of Colombia and Venezuela Basins (almost 1 Mkm2), and the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Chortis continental block (about 700,000 km2), both bounded by deformed marginal belts (about 2,3 Mkm2), resulting from the Mesozoic to Present interactions with the adjacent Nazca, Cocos, and Americas Plates (Fig.1).