Structural Map of the Caribbean

The realization of a Structural Map of the Caribbean was launched at the CGMW General Assembly in 2004 (résol. 65) – following a feasibility meeting held in Caribbean’s Guadeloupe island (18 and 19 november 2004) – to bridge the gap of CGMW maps between the South American and North American continents and in order to highlight the main geological elements of the plates interacting with the Caribbean plate. A relevant representation was designed using a dual approach for the land and from the offshore. A compilation of the geological data from national maps and academic papers was carefully performed in large regions (see the overlapping boxes as insert) of the map keeping its specificity. The sketched synthetic representation of the chronology of formations of each large region, represented as columns arranged according to stratigraphic scale, supports the legend. The offshore region having been explored unevenly, the approach was different and was mainly based on geophysical data onto which the geological features deduced from seismic or bathymetry were added. The geophysical data (marine magnetic anomalies) were recompiled and entirely reprocessed (García-Reyes, 2018; 2021). We interpreted the crustal nature of the Caribbean plate and the Gulf of Mexico from the recompiled marine magnetic anomalies and the vertical gradient of gravity (Sandwell et al., 2014). Our integrated interpretation provides a homogenous representation of the seafloor texture. A crustal map offshore was then defined using these data, which serves as background for all the structures displayed. A correlation between offshore and onshore data was attempted.

With the contribution of:
Geological Survey of Colombia: Jorge Gómez Tapias, Nohora Montes Ramírez
Universidad Central de Venezuela/FUNVISIS: Franco Urbani, Ali R. Gómez, Walter Reátegui
Florida State University: David Farris
Servicio Geológico Mexicano: Enrique Espinosa Aramburu
Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba: Manuel Iturralde Vinent
United States Geological Survey: Michael Machette, Jean Weaver, Peter Lyttle
CGMW: Clara Cardenas, Philippe Rossi, Camille François, Benjamin Sautter