Editing Caribbean Sea (section)

==Geology==
The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea on the [[Caribbean Plate]]. The Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several [[island arc]]s of various ages. The youngest stretches from the [[Lesser Antilles]] to the [[Virgin Islands]] to north of [[Trinidad and Tobago]], which is in the Atlantic. This arc was formed by a collision of the [[South American Plate]] with the [[Caribbean Plate]]. It included active and extinct [[volcanoes]] such as [[Mount Pelee]], [[the Quill (volcano)|the Quill]] on [[Sint Eustatius]] in the [[Caribbean Netherlands]], [[La Soufrière (volcano)|La Soufrière]] in [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]] and [[Morne Trois Pitons]] on [[Dominica]]. The larger islands in the northern part of the sea [[Cuba]], [[Hispaniola]], [[Jamaica]] and [[Puerto Rico]] lie on an older island arc.

[[File:Caribbean Sea Gulf of Mexico shaded relief bathymetry land map.png|thumb|upright=1.4|The [[Terrain cartography|shaded relief]] map of the Caribbean Sea and the [[Gulf of Mexico]] area<ref name="GLOBE" /><ref name="ETOPO1" />]]

The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated to be 160 million to 180&nbsp;million years and was formed by a horizontal fracture called [[Pangaea]] that split the [[supercontinent]] in the [[Mesozoic Era]].<ref>Iturralde-Vinent, Manuel (2004), The first inhabitants of the Caribbean, Cuban Science Network. URL accessed on 28/07/2007</ref> It is assumed the proto-Caribbean basin existed in the [[Devonian]] period and, in the early [[Carboniferous]] movement of [[Gondwana]] to the north and its convergence with the [[Euramerica]] basin, decreased in size. The next stage of the Caribbean Sea's formation began in the [[Triassic]]. Powerful [[rifting]] led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern [[Newfoundland]] to the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf of Mexico's]] west coast, forming [[siliciclastic]] [[sedimentary rock]]s. In the early [[Jurassic]] due to powerful [[marine transgression]], water broke into the current area of the [[Gulf of Mexico]], creating a vast shallow pool. Deep basins emerged in the Caribbean during the [[Middle Jurassic]] [[rifting]]. The emergence of the basins marked the beginning of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and contributed to the destruction of [[Pangaea]] at the end of the late [[Jurassic]]. During the [[Cretaceous]], the Caribbean acquired a shape close to today's. In the early [[Paleogene]], due to [[marine regression]], the Caribbean became separated from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]] by the lands of [[Cuba]] and [[Haiti]]. The Caribbean remained like this for most of the [[Cenozoic]] until the [[Holocene]], when rising water levels of the oceans restored communication with the Atlantic Ocean.

The Caribbean's floor is composed of suboceanic [[sediments]] of [[deep red clay]] in the deep basins and troughs. On continental slopes and ridges, [[calcareous]] [[silt]]s are found. [[Clay minerals]] have likely been deposited by the mainland river [[Orinoco]] and the [[Magdalena River]]. Deposits on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico have thicknesses of about {{cvt|1|km}}. Upper sedimentary layers relate to the period from the [[Mesozoic]] to the [[Cenozoic]] (250 million years ago) and the lower layers from the [[Paleozoic]] to the [[Mesozoic]].

[[File:Caribbean plate tectonics-en.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Caribbean plate tectonics]]

The Caribbean [[Seabed|seafloor]] is divided into five [[Oceanic basin|basins]] separated from one another by underwater ridges and mountain ranges. Atlantic Ocean water enters the Caribbean through the ''Anegada Passage'' between the [[Lesser Antilles]] and the [[Virgin Islands]] and the ''Windward Passage'' between [[Cuba]] and [[Haiti]]. The [[Yucatán Channel]] between Mexico and Cuba links the [[Gulf of Mexico]] with the Caribbean. The deepest points of the sea lie in [[Cayman Trough]], with depths reaching approximately {{cvt|7686|m|-1}}. Despite that, the Caribbean Sea is considered a relatively shallow sea compared with other bodies of water. The pressure of the [[South American Plate]] to the east of the Caribbean causes the region of the [[Lesser Antilles]] to have high volcanic activity, and a very serious eruption of [[Mount Pelée]] in 1902 caused many casualties.

The Caribbean seafloor is also the home of two [[oceanic trench]]es: the [[Cayman Trench]] and the [[Puerto Rico Trench]], which put the area at a high risk of [[earthquake]]s. Underwater earthquakes pose a threat of generating [[tsunami]]s, which could have devastating effects on the Caribbean islands. Scientific data reveals that during the past 500 years, the area has seen a dozen earthquakes above 7.5 magnitude.<ref>{{cite web | last = Dawicki | first = Shelley | url = http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=3964 | title = Tsunamis in the Caribbean? It's possible. | publisher = Oceanus | access-date = April 30, 2006 | archive-date = November 16, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111116155320/http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewArticle.do?id=3964 | url-status = live }}</ref> Most recently, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, on January 12, 2010.
* [[List of islands in the Caribbean]]