EMODnet Geology Caribbean Sea working group at Santa Marta (Colombia)
©Teresa Medialdea (IGME-CSIC)
From 13 to 18 April, the EMODnet Geology-Caribbean Workshop took place in the cities of Santa Marta and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, organised by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME, CSIC), the Association of Ibero-American Geological and Mining Services (ASGMI) and the Geological Service of Colombia. Representatives of eight geological services attended the workshop, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Dominican Republic, and ASGMI.
As part of the series of meetings developed by the EMODnet Geology Caribbean Group and coordinated by the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (Geological Survey of Spain), the workshop aimed to produce marine thematic maps in compliance with EMODnet methodology and standards.
At the end of September 2025, several new harmonised full-coverage marine geological datasets, covering approximately 3.3 million km² of the Caribbean Sea region, were published on the EMODnet Portal. These datasets included seabed substrates, seafloor geology, geomorphology, geological events and marine minerals.
The EMODnet Geology-Caribbean Group aimed for this workshop to focus on the development of new datasets on coastal behavior (i.e., coastal migration and vulnerability) and submerged landscapes in shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea. These datasets are particularly important given that around 70% of the population in the Caribbean region is concentrated on islands and mainland coastal areas, which are exposed to various natural hazards. Maritime Spatial Planning, the sustainable management of marine resources, and the protection of the coastline and marine environment all require the production of geological maps of the coastline and seabed.