Introduction -- Western Caribbean Tectonics -- Abstract.-Tectonic constraints -- Theoretical analysis of Western Caribbean tectonics -- Western Caribbean Plate corners -- Relative Plate motions -- Western Caribbean arc deformation style -- Review of Western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico tectonics -- Shortening at the Eastern Caribbean Plate boundary -- Extension conjugate to Eastern Caribbean shortening -- Displacements at the Western Caribbean Plate corners -- Western Caribbean microplates -- Discussion -- Consistency with known data -- Predictive Power -- A new, multi-mode model for Western Caribbean tectonics -- The Chortis Block controversy -- Neo-Caribbean tectonics -- Meeting of the Americas -- Age of Gulf of Mexico opening -- A geodynamic model for the Western Caribbean region -- Conclusions -- References -- Normalization analysis for possibly unstable triple junction zones -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Step 1: Define a doubly-tangent, moving Euclidean tectonic reference frame -- Step 2: Determine compatibility of major plate motions and plate boundary orientations -- Step 3: Determine the stability of the normalized, hypothetical triple junction -- Step 4: Identify end-member nonrigid solutions for an unstable triple junction -- References.