The impossible Galapagos connection: geometric constraints for a near-American origin of the Caribbean plate

Abstract

Geometric constraints derived from the present plate configuration and from plate motion vectors of the Caribbean as well as the North and South American plates within a hotspot reference frame indicate that the thickened Caribbean oceanic crust was formed in a near-American position rather, than at the Galapagos hotspot. A lateral displacement of more than 1000 km between the Caribbean plate and the North and South American plates is related to differences in plate motion velocities during the Cenozoic era. The differential motion between the Caribbean and the American plates results from trench-parallel mantle flow as a response to the westward motion of the American plates.