Morphology off northern Honduras, northwestern Carribean Sea

Abstract

Over 5500 km of sounding lines were used to construct a detailed bathymetric chart of the sea floor between Honduras and the southern Cayman Trough. The submarine morphology is related clearly to the tectonic setting. Complex transform faulting has ruptured the crust seaward of the Honduras continental margin into a series of deep grabens separated by irregular submarine ridges. Because of the proximity of the Cayman Trough, the western continental margin is a faulted platform characterized by an irregular shelf as narrow as 10 km and a steeply dipping slope; both shelf and slope have been modified substantially by the growth of thick reef masses. Further east, tectonism is reduced as a result of the divergent trends of the Cayman Trough and the Honduras continental margin. Consequently, the eastern margin sector is a depositional platform consisting mostly of a broad, smooth shelf and gentle slopes. Submarine erosion and local slumping have steepened the slope throughout the area.