The Caribbean Sea(; ; ; ; ; ) is a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba to Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles to the east from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago, South America to the south from the Venezuelan coastline to the Colombian coastline, and Central America and the Yucatán Peninsula to the west from Panama to Mexico. The geopolitical region around the Caribbean Sea, including the numerous islands of the West Indies and adjacent coastal areas in the mainland of the Americas, is known as the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas on Earth, with an area of about .The Caribbean Sea All The Sea. URL last accessed May 7, 2006 The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, the Gulf of Venezuela, the Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, the Gulf of Paria and the Gulf of Honduras.
The Caribbean Sea has the world's second-largest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs along the Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras coasts.
History
The name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the region's dominant native people at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. After Christopher Columbus landed in The Bahamas in 1492 and later discovered some of the islands in the Caribbean, the Spanish term Antillas applied to the lands; stemming from this, the Sea of the Antilles became a common alternative name for the "Caribbean Sea" in various European languages. Spanish dominance in the region remained undisputed during the first century of European colonization.
From the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region distinguished the "South Sea" (the Pacific Ocean south of the isthmus of Panama) from the "North Sea" (the Caribbean Sea north of the same isthmus).
The Caribbean Sea was unknown to the populations of Eurasia until after 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed into Caribbean waters in search of a sea route to Asia. At that time, the Americas were generally unknown to most Europeans, although they had been visited in the 10th century by the Vikings. After Columbus discovered the islands, the area was quickly colonized by several Western cultures (initially Spain, then later England, the Dutch Republic, France, Courland and Denmark). After the colonization of the Caribbean islands, the Caribbean Sea became a busy area for European-based maritime trade and transport. The commerce eventually attracted pirates such as Samuel Bellamy and Blackbeard. As of 2015, the area is home to 22 island territories and borders 12 continental countries.
Extent
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows:
On the North: In the Windward Channel – a line joining Caleta Point (74°15′W) in Cuba and Pearl Point (19°40′N) in Haiti. In the Mona Passage – a line joining Cape Engaño and the extreme of Agujereada () in Puerto Rico.
Eastern limits: From Point San Diego (Puerto Rico) northward along the meridian thereof (65°39′W) to the 100-fathom line, thence eastward and southward, in such a manner that all islands, shoals, and narrow waters of the Lesser Antilles are included in the Caribbean Sea as far as but not including Trinidad. From before Trinidad to Baja Point () in Venezuela.
Although Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are on the same continental shelf, they are considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than in the Caribbean Sea.
Geology
The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea on the Caribbean Plate. The Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to north of Trinidad and Tobago, which is in the Atlantic. This arc was formed by a collision of the South American Plate with the Caribbean Plate. It included active and extinct volcanoes such as Mount Pelee, the Quill on Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean Netherlands, La Soufrière in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Morne Trois Pitons on Dominica. The larger islands in the northern part of the sea, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc.
The Caribbean Sea is estimated to be 160 million to 180 million years old and formed when a horizontal fracture in Pangaea split the supercontinent during the Mesozoic Era.Iturralde-Vinent, Manuel (2004), The first inhabitants of the Caribbean, Cuban Science Network. URL accessed on 28/07/2007 It is assumed the proto-Caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period and, in the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin, decreased in size. The next stage in the formation of the Caribbean Sea began in the Triassic. Powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs stretching from modern Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico's west coast, which deposited siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. In the early Jurassic, due to a powerful marine transgression, water broke into the current area of the Gulf of Mexico, creating a vast shallow pool. Deep basins emerged in the Caribbean during the Middle Jurassic rifting. The emergence of the basins marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean and contributed to the destruction of Pangaea at the end of the late Jurassic. During the Cretaceous, the Caribbean acquired a shape close to today's. In the early Paleogene, due to marine regression, the Caribbean became separated from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean by the lands of Cuba and Haiti. The Caribbean remained like this for most of the Cenozoic until the Holocene, when rising ocean levels restored communication with the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean's floor is composed of suboceanic sediments of deep red clay in the deep basins and troughs. On continental slopes and ridges, calcareous silts are found. Clay minerals have likely been deposited by the mainland river Orinoco and the Magdalena River. Deposits on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico have thicknesses of about . Upper sedimentary layers date to the Mesozoic to Cenozoic (250 million years ago), and the lower layers to the Paleozoic to Mesozoic.
The Caribbean seafloor is divided into five basins (the Yucatan, Cayman, Colombian, Venezuelan, and Grenada Basins) separated from one another by underwater ridges and mountain ranges (the Cayman Ridge, the Nicaraguan Rise, the Beata Ridge, and the Aves Ridge). 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.
The Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba links the Gulf of Mexico with the Caribbean. The deepest points of the sea lie in Cayman Trough, with depths reaching approximately . Despite that, the Caribbean Sea is considered relatively shallow compared to other bodies of water. The pressure of the South American Plate to the east of the Caribbean causes the Lesser Antilles to have high volcanic activity, and a severe eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902 resulted in many casualties.
The Caribbean seafloor is also the home of two oceanic trenches: the Cayman Trench and the Puerto Rico Trench, which put the area at a high risk of earthquakes. Underwater earthquakes pose a threat of generating tsunamis, which could have devastating effects on the Caribbean islands. Scientific data reveal that over the past 500 years, the area has experienced a dozen earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or higher. Most recently, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, on January 12, 2010. List of islands in the Caribbean
Oceanography
The hydrology of the sea is highly homogeneous. Annual variations in monthly average water temperatures at the surface do not exceed . In the past 50 years, the Caribbean has gone through three stages: cooling until 1974, a cold phase with peaks during 1974–1976 and 1984–1986, and, finally, a warming phase with an increase in temperature of per year. Virtually all temperature extremes were associated with the phenomena of El Niño and La Niña. The salinity of the seawater is about 3.6%, and its density is . The surface water color is blue-green to green.
The Caribbean's depth in its wider basins and deepwater temperatures are similar to those of the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic deepwater is thought to spill into the Caribbean and contribute to the general deepwater of the Caribbean Sea.Pernetta, John. (2004). Guide to the Oceans. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, Inc., p. 178. . The surface water (30 m; 100 ft) acts as an extension of the northern Atlantic as the Guiana Current and part of the North Equatorial Current enter the sea on the east. On the western side of the sea, the trade winds influence a northerly current, which causes an upwelling and a rich fishery near Yucatán.Pernetta, John. (2004). Guide to the Oceans. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, Inc. pp. 177–178. .
Ecology The Caribbean is the home of about 9% of the world's coral reefs, covering about , most of which are located off the Caribbean islands and the Central American coast.Status of coral reefs in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean World Resource Institute. URL accessed on April 29, 2006. Among them, the Belize Barrier Reef stands out, with an area of , which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It forms part of the Great Mayan Reef (also known as the MBRS) and, being more than in length, is the world's second longest. It runs along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.
Since 2005, unusually warm Caribbean waters have been increasingly threatening the coral reefs. Coral reefs support some of the most diverse marine habitats in the world, but they are fragile ecosystems. When tropical waters become unusually warm for extended periods of time, microscopic plants called zooxanthellae, which are symbiotic partners living within the coral polyp tissues, die off. These plants provide food for the corals and give them their color. The death and dispersal of these tiny plants is called coral bleaching and can devastate large areas of reef. More than 42% of corals are completely bleached, and 95% are experiencing some whitening. Inter Press Service News Agency – Mesoamerican Coral Reef on the way to becoming a Marine Desert Historically, the Caribbean is thought to contain 14% of the world's coral reefs.Elder, Danny and Pernetta, John. (1991). The Random House Atlas of the Oceans. New York : Random House. p. 124. .
The habitats supported by the reefs are critical to activities such as fishing and scuba diving, and they provide an annual economic value to Caribbean nations of US$3.1–4.6 billion. Continued reef destruction could severely damage the region's economy.Alarm sounded for Caribbean coral . BBC News. URL accessed on April 29, 2006. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region came into effect in 1986 to protect the various endangered marine life of the Caribbean by forbidding human activities that would advance the continued destruction of such marine life in various areas. Currently, the convention has been ratified by 15 countries.Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (SPAW) NOAA Fisheries: Office of Protected Resources. URL accessed on April 30, 2006. Several charitable organizations have formed to preserve Caribbean marine life, such as Sea Turtle Conservancy, which seeks to study and protect sea turtles while educating about them.Caribbean Conservation Corporation Orion Online. URL last accessed May 1, 2006.