Caribbean dresge haul compilation: Summary and implications

Abstract

The locations of 400 dredge hauls from the Caribbean have been compiled from published and unpublished sources. The following information on them is listed: location, depth, rock types recovered and age, and a literature reference or institution to contact for further information. The rocks recovered provide information about the Caribbean crust along the northern border of the Caribbean from Central America to Guadeloupe; and under the Beata and Aves Ridges. They also provide evidence for extensive vertical motion (up to several thousand meters) in the Neogene throughout the northern and eastern Caribbean. Many of the dredge hauls already collected have been examined in a selective fashion only. We could significantly increase our knowledge of the Caribbean crust and Neotectonics through more systematic team investigations. There are no dredge hauls from the southern and southwestern Caribbean margins. Suggestions for five localities are made.