![The Caribbean Sea.[Credits : Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/09/6009-003-70B14FC5.gif)
![Typical landscape in the Caribbean region.[Credits : © Getty Images]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/62/78162-003-AAD701DA.gif)
suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, lying between latitudes 9° and 22° N and longitudes 89° and 60° W. It is approximately 1,063,000 square miles (2,753,000 square km) in extent. To the south it is bounded by the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico; to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and to the east by the Lesser Antilles chain, consisting of the island arc that extends from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to Trinidad, off the Venezuelan coast, in the southeast. Within the boundaries of the Caribbean itself, Jamaica, to the south of Cuba, is the largest of a number of islands.
![Port Antonio, on the northeast coast of Jamaica.[Credits : J. Allen Cash/EB Inc.]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/53/38053-003-76A2AB1A.gif)
Together with the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea has been erroneously termed the American Mediterranean, owing to the fact that, like the Mediterranean Sea, it is located between two continental landmasses. In neither hydrology nor climate, however, does the Caribbean resemble the Mediterranean. The preferred oceanographic term for the Caribbean is the Antillean-Caribbean Sea, which, together with the Gulf of Mexico, forms the Central American Sea. The Caribbean’s greatest known depth is Cayman Trench (Bartlett Deep) between Cuba and Jamaica, approximately 25,216 feet (7,686 metres) below sea level.
The geologic age of the Caribbean is not known with certainty. As part of the Central American Sea, it is presumed to have been connected with the Mediterranean during Paleozoic times (i.e., about 540 to 250 million years ago) and then gradually to have separated from it as the Atlantic Ocean was formed. The ancient sediments overlying the seafloor of the Caribbean, as well as of the Gulf of Mexico, are about a half mile (about one kilometre) in thickness, with the upper strata representing sediments from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (i.e., from about 250 million years ago to the present) and the lower strata presumably representing sediments of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. Three phases of sedimentation have been identified. During the first and second phases the basin was free of deformation. The Central American Sea apparently became separated from the Atlantic before the end of the first phase. Near the end of the second phase, gentle warping and faulting occurred, forming the Aves and Beata ridges. Forces producing the Panamanian isthmus and the Antillean arc were vertical, resulting in no ultimate horizontal movement. The sediment beds tend to arch in the middle of the basins and to dip as landmasses are approached. The younger Cenozoic beds (formed during the last 65 million years) are generally horizontal, having been laid down after the deformations occurred. Connections were established with the Pacific Ocean during the Cretaceous Period (from about 144 to 65 million years ago) but were broken when the land bridges that permitted mammals to cross between North and South America were formed in the Miocene and Pliocene epochs (about 25 to 1.8 million years ago).
The existing sediment cover of the seabed consists of red clay in the deep basins and trenches, globigerina ooze (a calcareous marine deposit) on the rises, and pteropod ooze on the ridges and continental slopes. Clay minerals appear to have been washed down by the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, as well as by the Magdalena River in Colombia. Coral reefs fringe most of the islands.
The-Caribbean-SeaThe Caribbean Sea.[Credits : Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]
Typical-landscape-in-the-Caribbean-regionTypical landscape in the Caribbean region.[Credits : © Getty Images]
Port-Antonio-on-the-northeast-coast-of-JamaicaPort Antonio, on the northeast coast of Jamaica.[Credits : J. Allen Cash/EB Inc.]
Infrared-satellite-image-of-Hurricane-Charley-approaching-Cuba-AugInfrared satellite image of Hurricane Charley (right) approaching Cuba, Aug. 11, 2004.[Credits : AP]
Tropical-vegetation-on-the-hills-overlooking-Marigot-Bay-Saint-LuciaTropical vegetation on the hills overlooking Marigot Bay, Saint Lucia.[Credits : © Philip Coblentz—Digital Vision/Getty Images]
Mangroves-along-the-northeastern-Caribbean-coast-of-BelizeMangroves along the northeastern Caribbean coast of Belize.[Credits : © Digital Vision/Getty Images]
Caribbean-manateeCaribbean manatee (Trichecus manatus).[Credits : Stuart Westmorland—Stone/Getty Images]
Fishing-boat-docked-near-San-Pedro-DomFishing boat docked near San Pedro, Dom.Rep.[Credits : Richard During—Stone/Getty Images]
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