Tectonic Dynamics of the Caribbean Plate

The Caribbean Plate is a relatively small oceanic microplate bounded to the north by a major transform margin linking the Cayman Trough with the Hispaniola and Puerto Rico faults, to the east by the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, and to the south by complex convergent and transcurrent boundaries adjacent to South America. Subduction of the Atlantic oceanic lithosphere beneath the Lesser Antilles generates a volcanic arc and drives back-arc spreading in the Grenada Basin. To the west, the Cocos–Caribbean–North American triple junction and the Panama–Chocó oblique convergence give rise to a network of sinistral and dextral faults, microplate rotations and crustal block interactions. These interactions have produced episodic arc migration, alternating phases of back-arc extension and transpressional shortening, and variable patterns of seismicity and volcanism. Dehydration of the subducting slab releases fluids into the mantle wedge, influencing magma generation and seismic coupling. In the upper plate, normal, thrust and strike-slip fault systems accommodate strain, with submarine mass-wasting events reshaping bathymetry and posing tsunami risk. Understanding these processes is critical for regional hazard assessment and for illuminating fundamental controls on plate‐boundary dynamics worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have mapped, for the first time, a detailed seafloor rupture from a 2004 Mw 6.3 normal‐fault earthquake beneath the Lesser Antilles. High‐resolution bathymetric and sub‐bottom data reveal pronounced rupture asymmetry, vertical displacements approaching a metre, and extensive footwall debris deposits. Observations demonstrate that ground accelerations of 0.1–0.2 g can induce submarine mass‐wasting along over-steepened scarps, highlighting a feedback between seismic rupture and submarine slope failure.

Seismic tomography has shed new light on multi-stage dehydration of slow-spread oceanic lithosphere beneath the Lesser Antilles. Imaging of a low‐velocity crustal layer disappearing at 60–100 km depth pinpoints the onset of eclogitization, while clustering of seismicity at 120–160 km suggests deeper slab‐mantle dehydration. Lateral variations in seismic properties imply that serpentinized peridotite channels water heterogeneously to sub-arc depths, modulating arc magmatism and seismic coupling in the mantle wedge.

Tectonic Dynamics of the Caribbean Plate publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in tectonic dynamics of the caribbean plate across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Subduction zone: A convergent plate boundary where one lithospheric plate descends beneath another into the mantle.

Transform fault: A strike-slip plate boundary accommodating lateral displacement between plates.

Back-arc spreading: Extension and seafloor formation in the region behind a volcanic arc, typically above a subducting slab.

Slab rollback: The retreat of a subducting plate hinge, often driving back-arc extension.

Dehydration metamorphism: Mineralogical transformation releasing water from a subducting slab at depth.

Mass wasting: Gravity-driven movement of sediment or rock down a slope, including submarine landslides.

Kinematic rupture: The detailed description of fault slip history during an earthquake, including slip distribution and rupture velocity.

References

1. Seafloor earthquake ruptures and mass wasting from the 2004 Mw 6.3 Les Saintes submarine earthquake. Communications Earth & Environment (2023).
2. Dehydration of subducting slow-spread oceanic lithosphere in the Lesser Antilles. Nature Communications (2017).
3. Forearc crustal faults as tsunami sources in the upper plate of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone: the case study of the Morne Piton fault system. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science (2024).
4. Kinematic Rupture Process and Its Implication of a Thrust and Strike-Slip Multi-Fault during the 2021 Haiti Earthquake. Remote Sensing (2023).
5. The role of arc migration in the development of the Lesser Antilles: A new tectonic model for the Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Caribbean. Geology (2019).