In Search of the Primeval Oceanic Crust: Biostratigraphic, Chronostratigraphic, Paleogeographic Studies Pertaining to the Origin and Age of the Antillean Island Arc System.......

在板块构造重建中，加勒比海板块（今天的加勒比海和西印度群岛地区）被认为起源于太平洋，事实上，在中生代是太平洋法拉龙板块的一部分。我们计划研究蛇绿岩块（海洋地壳的残余物），以确定加勒比板块的成因和年龄。通过检查西印度群岛蛇绿岩残留物中的燧石中的微化石（放射虫），可以找到加勒比板块起源和实际最古老年龄的线索。可以想象，在大西洋和墨西哥湾形成之前，存在着更古老的蛇绿岩复合体的残迹，其中含有具有独特古纬度印记的放射虫组合。

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.