Caribbean Plate

E14783

lithospheric plate tectonic plate

The Caribbean Plate is a major tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea, whose interactions with surrounding plates shape the region’s earthquakes, volcanoes, and deep ocean trenches.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
Caribbean Plate at Central America	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	lithospheric plate ⓘ tectonic plate ⓘ
associatedWithFeature	Cayman Trough ⓘ Central American Volcanic Arc ⓘ surface form: Central American volcanic arc Lesser Antilles ⓘ surface form: Lesser Antilles volcanic arc Middle America Trench ⓘ Puerto Rico Trench ⓘ
associatedWithHazard	earthquakes ⓘ tsunamis ⓘ volcanic eruptions ⓘ
boundedToEastBy	subduction of Atlantic oceanic lithosphere beneath Caribbean Plate ⓘ
boundedToNorthBy	transform faults and subduction zones with North American Plate ⓘ
boundedToSouthBy	complex convergent boundary with South American Plate ⓘ
boundedToWestBy	subduction of Cocos Plate beneath Caribbean Plate ⓘ
containsContinentalCrust	Greater Antilles ⓘ surface form: Greater Antilles islands parts of Central America ⓘ
hasApproximateArea	3.2 million square kilometers ⓘ
hasBoundaryType	convergent boundary ⓘ divergent boundary ⓘ subduction zone ⓘ transform boundary ⓘ
hasBoundaryWith	Cocos Plate ⓘ Nazca Plate ⓘ North American Plate ⓘ Pacific Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ
hasSeismicZone	Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone ⓘ Septentrional-Oriente fault zone ⓘ
hasVolcanicArc	Central American Volcanic Arc ⓘ surface form: Central America volcanic front Lesser Antilles ⓘ surface form: Lesser Antilles arc
influencesCountry	Costa Rica ⓘ Dominican Republic ⓘ Guatemala ⓘ Haiti ⓘ Jamaica ⓘ Nicaragua ⓘ Panama ⓘ Puerto Rico ⓘ
influencesRegion	Central America ⓘ Greater Antilles ⓘ Lesser Antilles ⓘ
isMostlyOceanic	true ⓘ
isOverriddenBy	North American Plate ⓘ
locatedIn	Caribbean Sea ⓘ surface form: Caribbean Sea region Central America ⓘ surface form: Central America region
motionRelativeToNorthAmericanPlate	westward ⓘ
motionRelativeToSouthAmericanPlate	northwestward ⓘ
overrides	Cocos Plate ⓘ Nazca Plate ⓘ
partOf	Earth lithosphere ⓘ

Referenced by (31)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Septentrional-Oriente fault zone → accommodatesMotionBetween → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Middle America Trench → beneath → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cocos Plate → borders → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

South American Plate → borders → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Nazca Plate → bordersPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

African Plate → boundedBy → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Antilles → geologicalContext → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

North American Plate → hasBoundaryWith → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Caribbean Sea → hasPart → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

North American plate boundary system → interactsWith → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Gulf of Cazones → locatedOn → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Poás → locatedOn → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Isthmus of Panama → locatedOnTectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Lesser Antilles → locatedOnTectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Momotombo → locatedOnTectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cocos Plate → movesRelativeTo → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cocos Plate → overriddenBy → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

this entity surface form: Caribbean Plate at Central America

Central American Volcanic Arc → overridingPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Venezuelan Basin → partOf → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone → separates → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Puerto Rico Trench → separates → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Farallon Plate → subductedBeneath → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cocos Plate → subductsBeneath → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cocos Ridge → subductsBeneath → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Brownson Deep → tectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Fuego → tectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Turrialba → tectonicPlate → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Cayman Ridge → tectonicSetting → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Yucatán Basin → tectonicSetting → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Colombian Basin → underlainBy → Caribbean Plate ⓘ

Farallon Plate → wasAdjacentTo → Caribbean Plate ⓘ