Sinopsis de la Constitución Geológica de Cuba

A synthesis of the historical geology and constitution of Cuba is here presented. In this context, Cuba can be differentiated into the foldbelt and the neoautochthonous. In the foldbelt, Early-Middle Jurassic to Late Eocene rocks, as well as some minor Neoproterozoic elements, are distinctly deformed and metamorphosed. They represent fragments of structures detached from the western Caribbean and Pacific realms. These are passive margin-foreland sections detached from the Maya block (Yucatan peninsula), parts of the Strait of Florida block (Bahamas); fragments of antique oceanic crusts and island arc segments, both of Cretaceous and Paleocene-Middle Eocene age. The neoautochthonous represent a set of several sedimentary basins of latest Eocene to Recent, that like a carpet, rest unconformably above the foldbelt. These rocks are slightly deformed and represent the latest evolution of Cuban archipelago. The main differences between the foldbelt and the neoautochthonous lies in the fact that the foldbeld encompasses elements detached from several old tectonic plates (North American, Caribbean and, probably, Pacific), while the neoautochthonous evo l ved entirely on a passive segment of the North American plate margin, after the acretionary process that lead to the formation of the foldbelt. Two possible interpretations of the structure of the foldbelt are discussed, and according one of those models, it is presented a set of evolutionary maps and cross sections of the Caribbean