In plate tectonic reconstructions the Caribbean Plate (area of present-day Caribbean Sea and West Indies) is assumed to have originated in the Pacific and was, in fact, a part of the Pacific Farallon Plate during Mesozoic times. We plan to examine ophiolite masses (remnants of oceanic crust) to determine the genesis and age of the Caribbean Plate. Clues to the origin and actual oldest age of the Caribbean Plate can be found by examining microfossils (Radiolaria) occurring in cherts within ophiolite remnants in the West Indies. It is conceivable that remnants of older ophiolite complexes are present that pre-date the formation of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico and that contain a radiolarian assemblage having a unique paleolatitudinal imprint.
