IGCP Project short title: Caribbean Plate Tectonics Duration and ...

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of the Guaniguanico terrane, suggests that some Guaniguanico elements (or nonmetamorphosed
Escambray units) were located off Belize at least in the Lower Cretaceous
(see also Hutson et al., 1999).
The Pindell and Kennan Caribbean plate tectonic model. J.PindellandL.Kennan
presented a new unpublished version of the Pacific origin of the Caribbean plate style of
model, as two distinct papers. This model was also a subject of discussion during the first
IGCP-433 meeting in Río de Janeiro. Many new important issues are reviewed in this new
version, so it is much more comprehensive than previous ones, but several critical moments
of the model are going to be debated in future meetings.
WORKSHOP ON THE NORTHERN CARIBBEAN PLATE BOUNDARY, 4TH CUBAN
GEOLOGICAL AND MINING CONGRESS
Havana, March 22-27, 2001
Conveners: E. Lidiak and M. Iturralde-Vinent
A symposium and field workshop on the Northern Caribbean Boundary was held in
Havana, Cuba, as part of the 4th Cuban Geological and Mining Congress (March 19-27,
2001). The symposium, which included both oral and poster sessions and which was held on
March 22, focused mainly on issues concerning the complex northern margin of the
Caribbean plate in Cuba and its early geologic evolution. Among participants where
scientists from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, France, Great Britain, Italy,
Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and USA.
A field trip to Central Cuba was held immediately after the Congress, March 24 to
27, in order to visit critical areas in the vicinity of Camagüey, central Cuba, where the
northern Caribbean plate boundary is well exposed. This complex boundary near Camagüey
encompasses elements of the passive continental margin, ocean crust and sediments,
Cretaceous volcanic arc, as well as foreland and piggyback basins. The field excursion
provided the participants with an excellent opportunity to examine in the field the structures
and geologic relationships associated with this unique and critical tectonic boundary.
The purpose of the symposium was to focus on the characteristics of critical
geologic terranes in central and eastern Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico as they pertain to
the northern Caribbean plate boundary in Cuba and to evaluate the present status of
Caribbean plate tectonic models with respect to these field occurrences. Six special oral
papers and 5 posters were presented. Each speaker was given 30 minutes, so extensive
discussion followed each talk. These presentations were followed by a panel discussion
period of several hours duration in which aspects of the northern plate boundary and the
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