THE IMPOSSIBLE GALAPAGOS CONNECTION - GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS FOR A NEAR-AMERICAN ORIGIN OF THE CARIBBEAN PLATE

Geometric constraints derived from the present plate configuration and from plate motion vectors of the Caribbean as well as the North and S outh American plates within a hotspot reference frame indicate that th e thickened Caribbean oceanic crust was formed in a near-American posi tion rather, than at the Galapagos hotspot. A lateral displacement of more than 1000 km between the Caribbean plate and the North and South American plates is related to differences in plate motion velocities d uring the Cenozoic era. The differential motion between the Caribbean and the American plates results from trench-parallel mantle flow as a response to the westward motion of the American plates.