Caribbean Plate
geology
Learn about this topic in these articles:
North American geologic history
- In North America: 120 to 30 million years ago
…Cuba, was sheared off the Caribbean Plate and became fixed to the North American Plate. An east-dipping subduction zone was reestablished beneath Central America, detaching the Caribbean Plate from the Pacific. Continued subduction of the central Atlantic lithosphere beneath the eastern part of the Caribbean Plate gave rise to the…
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plate tectonics
- In mountain: The Caribbean chains
…of the Caribbean Sea—namely, the Caribbean Plate. This plate has moved east relative to both North and South America at a rate of 10 to 20 millimetres per year for tens of millions of years. This displacement and the consequent overthrusting of the seafloor to the east are responsible for…
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