Figure 1. Six sequential plate reconstructions (A-F) of the Caribbean-Gulf of Mexico region, from Jurassic to Miocene time. Relative positions of North and South America plates (NA, SA) through time (from Pindell and Kennan, 2001, figs 1-18, which also show stretched vs unstretched crust). Open-headed arrows indicate NA relative motion direction. AF=Africa Plate. In the vector triangles, the Caribbean (CA)-NA vector was obtained by summing the two vectors: (1) CASA (eastward, then SE, then E again; see text); and (2) NA-SA (Müller et al., 1999, fig. 9). C=Cuba continental terranes (summary in Pindell et al., 2005), CH=Chortis block, GoM=Gulf of Mexico, H=Hispaniola, J=Jamaica, PR=Puerto Rico, YU=Yucatan block. The black star in frame (B) represents a speculative "Colombia mantle plume" (Higgs, 2008a,  Triassic-Recent development of northern South America).