This volume brings together 17 comprehensive, data-rich analyses to provide an updated perspective on the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, Florida and northern Caribbean. The papers span a broad range of scales and disciplines from plate tectonic evolution to sub-basin scale analysis. Papers are broadly categorised into three themes: 1) geological evolution of the basins of the southern Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, Bahamas and Florida and their hydrocarbon potential; 2) evolution of the region’s Late Cretaceous to Neogene orogens and subsequent denudation history; and 3) geological evolution of the basins and crustal elements of the northern Caribbean. This book and its extensive data sets are essential for all academic and exploration geoscientists working in this area. Two large wall maps are included as fold-outs.

The birth of the Caribbean Geological Conference in 1955 was a landmark in the search for geoscientific knowledge in the region. The proceedings of this conference continue to uncover many aspects of the Caribbean that remain virtually untouched and address questions that remain unanswered. This volume reports the most recent research on Caribbean geology, presented at the Fifteenth Caribbean Geological Conference held in 1998. The 24 research papers shed new light in the areas of plate tectonics, structural geology, metamorphic and igneous petrology, paleontology, biostratigraphy, economic geology, geochemistry, mineralogy, geologic hazards and geoscience education.

"This volume presents new and previously published results for the geology, geochemistry, petrology and isotopic ages from the Providencia island group to unravel its complex history and evolution"--