How did the Cayman Ridge form?

The Cayman Ridge is an undersea mountain range in the Caribbean Sea that originated as an island arc during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. As tectonic dynamics shifted, the region transitioned into a transform fault zone with a pull-apart basin, causing volcanism to dwindle. Today, the inactive volcanic ridge forms part of the northern margin of the Cayman Trough and includes the Cayman Islands.

What we know

• The Cayman Ridge extends about 1,500 kilometers from the Sierra Maestra in the east to the Misteriosa Bank and Rosario Bank in the west. [2]
• The ridge originally formed as an island arc when the Cayman Trough site acted as a subduction zone during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. [2, 4]
• As tectonic dynamics changed, the subduction zone became a transform fault zone with a pull-apart basin, and volcanism along the entire length of the arc dwindled. [2]
• The Cayman Ridge is currently an inactive volcanic zone. [2]

Still open

• Some researchers contend that the Caribbean Plate was subducted beneath a plate fragment dubbed the East Cuban Microplate during the Eocene, rather than strictly beneath the North American Plate.

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat features are found in the Cayman Trough?
• a case in pointHow are the Cayman Islands related to the ridge?
• how it workedWhat tectonic processes created the transform fault zone?
• whenWhat happened during the Eocene epoch in the Caribbean?
• compared withHow do oceanic troughs compare to trenches?
• an unexpected connectionHow do deep-sea vents relate to tectonic plates?The same tectonic setting that created the Cayman Ridge and Trough hosts some of the deepest and hottest hydrothermal black smoker vents ever discovered.

Sources

• [1]Cayman Ridge (Wikidata Q48817818) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Cayman Ridge · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Geology of the Cayman Islands · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Cayman Trough · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Trough (geology) · CC BY-SA 4.0