Caribbean Plate

E14783

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.

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated

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

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (58)

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

Fuego Volcano onTectonicPlate Caribbean Plate
Cordillera de Apaneca tectonicPlate Caribbean Plate
Telica tectonicPlate Caribbean Plate
Plantain Garden fault associatedWith Caribbean Plate
Gonâve Microplate boundedBy Caribbean Plate
Gonâve Microplate relativeMotionTo Caribbean Plate