Caribbean Sea and Caribbean Basin

Caribbean Sea and Caribbean Basin

The Caribbean Sea is a body of water and a suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies and adjacent coasts are collectively a region that is known as "The Caribbean."

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a body of water and a suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, located in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is an oceanic sea primarily situated on the Caribbean Plate.

It is bordered by Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Atlantic Ocean water enters the Caribbean through the Anegada Passage between the Lesser Antilles and the Virgin Islands and the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti. In addition, the Yucatán Channel, located between Mexico and Cuba, links the Gulf of Mexico with the Caribbean Sea.

The Caribbean Region

The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies and adjacent coasts are collectively a region that is known as "The Caribbean." The Caribbean Sea covers an area of approximately 2,754,000 sq km (1,063,000 sq mi).

The Caribbean region is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the north coast of South America.

See more: The Natural Landscape of the Caribbean

See more: The Cultural Landscape of the Caribbean

Climate

The climate of the Caribbean is driven by the low latitude and tropical ocean currents that run through it. The primary ocean current is the North Equatorial Current, which enters the region from the tropical Atlantic.

The area's climate is tropical, varying from tropical rainforest in some areas to tropical savanna in others. Some locations have arid climates.

Map of the Caribbean by the CIA World Factbook

Map of the Caribbean Region

Caribbean Basin

Geographically, the Caribbean Basin is generally defined as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf coast, then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America.

Geology

The Caribbean Sea is a semi-enclosed sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between Central America and the Antilles. It is an oceanic sea, primarily situated on the Caribbean Plate and separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages.

The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to the northeast of Trinidad and Tobago off the coast of Venezuela. This arc was formed by the collision of the South American Plate with the Caribbean Plate and includes active and extinct volcanoes.

The Caribbean Sea is divided into five submarine basins, each roughly elliptical, which are separated from one another by submerged ridges and mountain ranges (rises):

  • Yucatán Basin

  • Cayman Basin

  • Colombian Basin

  • Venezuelan Basin

  • Grenada Basin

The deepest sea points lie in the Cayman Trough, with depths reaching approximately 7,686 m (25,220 ft). The seafloor is also home to two oceanic trenches: the Cayman Trench and the Puerto Rico Trench.

Biology

Because of its physical-chemical conditions, the Caribbean Sea has large areas of coral reef and seagrass pasture. In addition, the sea has the world's second-biggest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs approximately 1,000 km (620 mi) along Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras coasts.

The region has a high level of biodiversity, and many species are endemic to the Caribbean. The region's vegetation is primarily tropical, but differences in topography, soil and climatic conditions increase species diversity.

In shallow water, flora and fauna are concentrated around coral reefs with slight variations in water temperature, purity and salinity. The leeward side of lagoons provides areas of growth for seagrasses.

There are 90 species of mammals in the Caribbean, including sperm whales, humpback whales and dolphins. In addition, there are 500 species of reptiles (94% of which are endemic).

All 170 amphibians living in the region are endemic. In addition, approximately 600 species of birds have been recorded, of which 163 are endemic.

Topographic map of the Caribbean Basin

Topographic map of the Caribbean Basin.