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Ophiolites are common throughout the Caribbean and extend from the Motagua fault zone, between the Maya and Chortis block, to [[Puerto Rico]]. They also form the floor of the Cayman Trench. These rocks are also common along the northern coast of South America from [[Tobago]] to the Guajira Peninsula, although they are not as intensely [http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry45.html serpentinized] as in the northern Caribbean. Cuba's outcrops of [https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?gID=00000000012 ultrabasic] rocks are the most extensive in the region.

Ophiolites are common throughout the Caribbean and extend from the Motagua fault zone, between the Maya and Chortis block, to [[Puerto Rico]]. They also form the floor of the Cayman Trench. These rocks are also common along the northern coast of South America from [[Tobago]] to the Guajira Peninsula, although they are not as intensely [http://jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry45.html serpentinized] as in the northern Caribbean. Cuba's outcrops of [https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?gID=00000000012 ultrabasic] rocks are the most extensive in the region.

Similarities exist between the Caribbean and the Cuban Upper Cretaceous volcanic and associated intrusive rocks. The Cuban Upper Cretaceous granodioritic intrusion has counterparts outcropping in Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico in the north (where the intrusive's ages range into the [[Paleogene]]) and in [[Aruba]], the [[Venezuelan Antilles]], and the [[Aves Ridge]] in the south. Volcanics containing a characteristic fauna of ''Acteonella'', large rudists (''Hippurites''), and orbitoids are present in Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the [[Dutch West Indies]], and northern Venezuela, suggesting a connection between the various parts of the volcanic province.

Similarities exist between the Caribbean and the Cuban Upper Cretaceous volcanic and associated intrusive rocks. The Cuban Upper Cretaceous [https://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/earthscienceandengineering/rocklibrary/viewglossrecord.php?gID=00000000073 granodioritic] intrusion has counterparts outcropping in Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico in the north (where the intrusive's ages range into the [[Paleogene]]) and in [[Aruba]], the [[Venezuelan Antilles]], and the [[Aves Ridge]] in the south. Volcanics containing a characteristic fauna of ''Acteonella'', large rudists (''Hippurites''), and orbitoids are present in Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the [[Dutch West Indies]], and northern Venezuela, suggesting a connection between the various parts of the volcanic province.

Other than the Yucatan Basin, Cuba is probably the only place in the Caribbean with complete sections representative of the early Caribean region after the separation of North and South America and before the formation of the present Caribbean plate in the Paleogene.

Other than the Yucatan Basin, Cuba is probably the only place in the Caribbean with complete sections representative of the early Caribean region after the separation of North and South America and before the formation of the present Caribbean plate in the Paleogene.