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Caribbean Plate Relative Motions

  • Chapter
The Great American Biotic Interchange

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 4))

Abstract

Any reconstruction of the geological history of the Central America land bridge is dependent on conjectural motions of several lithospheric plates. The most important aspect of a timing sequence for a link between the North and South America land masses is apparently the creation of the Caribbean Plate. The geological record, however, which details a tectonic evolution of the Caribbean Plate and its margins is so enigmatic that many critical questions remain unresolved, and every developed model is couched in some incompatibilities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA

    Douglas L. Smith

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  1. Douglas L. Smith
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Francis G. Stehli

  2. The Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    S. David Webb

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© 1985 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Smith, D.L. (1985). Caribbean Plate Relative Motions. In: Stehli, F.G., Webb, S.D. (eds) The Great American Biotic Interchange. Topics in Geobiology, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9181-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-9181-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9183-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-9181-4

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