Jamaica is an island which resides on the Caribbean plate, specifically in the northern region. This plate is located between the North American plate, Cocos plate, Nazca plate, as well as the South American plate.
(For instance the beautiful Blue Mountains)
(As well as Cockpit Country)
The Island was built by active volcanos, in what is known as an island arc, which is a chain of volcanic islands, formed in the overriding tectonic plates of subduction zones as the result of rising magma from the down moving plate. ( As illustrated below)
Jamaica contains a wide spectrum of rock. Primarily, Western Jamaica is made of Limestone, which is a biologic sedimentary rock, which consists of coral, shells, skeletons,etc. As well as various other sedimentary rocks, this is logical seeing that this island was formed from the ocean floor up. However, Eastern Jamaica is made up of primarily volcanic or igneous rock due to the location of volcanic activity, these processes come together and, thus Jamaica is born!!!
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=16256.0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Jamaica
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/island+arc
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~lsschlei/CoolGeologyLinks/Tectonics_Website/ScotiaArc.htm
You blog looks great- I have never been to Jamaica but it looks beautiful! I was wondering, since Jamaica is located on a rather small plate, surrounded by so many other plates, does it experience many earthquakes or tsunamis? Also, since the island was built from a volcano, is the volcano still active and is Jamaica possibly still growing? Would love to learn more. Thanks for the lesson.
ReplyDeleteVery informative! I am also doing a blog on a Caribbean nation, the British Virgin Islands (B.V.I.’s), and many of the forms and processes that you presented in your blog are similar to how the B.V.I’s were formed. Your explanations and illustrations of the subduction and convergent zones that formed Jamaica were clearly presented and easy to understand. Looking at the geological map of Jamaica, I found it interesting to know that Jamaica is composed almost entirely of limestone and not volcanic rock. I am assuming that the Blue Mountains are located on the eastern portion of the island where most of the volcanic activity took place. Are these mountains the highest points on the island? Jamaica is a country I have always wanted to visit and I am looking forward to discovering more about this beautiful country through your blog.
ReplyDeleteGarrett Hall