Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
WEST INDIES, THE
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: WAT-WIL
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:WEST INDIES, THE , sometimes called the See also:Antilles (q.v.), an See also:archipelago stretching in the shape of a See also:rude arc or See also:parabola from See also:Florida in See also:North See also:America and See also:Yucatan in Central America to See also:Venezuela in See also:South America, and enclosing the Caribbean See also:Sea (615,000 sq. m.) and the Gulf of See also:Mexico (750,000 sq. m. in See also:area). The See also:land area of all the islands is nearly 100,000 sq. m., with an estimated See also:population of about 62 millions; that of the See also:British islands about 12,000 sq. m. The islands differ widely one from another in area, population, See also:geographical position, and See also:physical characteristics. They are divided into the See also:Bahamas, the Greater Antilles (See also:Cuba, See also:Jamaica, See also:Haiti and See also:Porto Rico), and the Lesser Antilles (comprising the See also:remainder). The Lesser Antilles are again divided into the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands. Geographically, the Leeward Islands are those to the north of St See also:Lucia, and the Windward, St Lucia and those to the south of it; but for administrative purposes the British islands in the Lesser Antilles are grouped as is shown in the table given later. See also:Geology.—The West Indies are the summits of a submerged See also:mountain See also:chain, the continuation of which towards the west must be sought in the mountains of See also:Honduras. In Haiti the chain divides, one See also:branch passing through Jamaica and the other through Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Misteriosa See also:Bank. In Das Antlztz der Erde, E. See also:Suess divides the Antilles into three zones: (I) The first or interior See also:zone, which is confined to the Lesser Antilles, is entirely of volcanic origin and contains many See also:recent volcanic cones. It forms the inner See also:string of islands which extends from Saba and St Kitts to See also:Grenada and the See also:Grenadines. The western See also:part of the deep-cleft See also:island See also:Guadeloupe belongs to this zone. (2) The second zone consists chiefly of Cretaceous and See also:early See also:Tertiary rocks. In the west it is broad, including the whole of the Greater Antilles, but in the See also:east it is restricted to a narrow See also:belt which comprises the Virgin Islands (except Anegada), See also:Anguilla, St See also:Bartholomew, See also:Antigua, the eastern part of Guadeloupe and part of See also:Barbados. (3) The third and outermost zone is formed of See also:Miocene and later beds, and the islands which compose it are See also:flat and See also:low. Like the second zone it is broad in the west and narrow in the east. It includes the Bahamas, Anegada, See also:Sombrero, See also:Barbuda and part of Barbados. Geologically, Florida and the See also:plain of Yucatan may be looked upon as belonging to this zone. Neither See also:Trinidad nor the islands off the Venezuelan See also:coast can be said to belong to any of these three zones. Geologically they are a part of the mainland itself. They consist of gneisses and See also:schists, supposed to be Archaean, eruptive rocks, Cretaceous, Tertiary and See also:Quaternary deposits; and the strike of the older rocks varies from about W.S.W. to S.W. Geologically, in fact, these islands are much more nearly allied to the Greater Antilles and to Central America than they are to the Lesser Antilles; and there is accordingly some See also:reason to believe that the arc formed by the West See also:Indian Islands is really composite in origin. Although the three zones recognized by Suess are fairly clearly defined, the See also:geological See also:history of the Greater Antilles, with which must be included the Virgin Islands, differs considerably from that of the Lesser. In Cuba and Haiti there are schists which are probably of pre-Cretaceous. See also:age, and have, indeed, been referred to the Archaean; but the See also:oldest rocks which have yet been certainly identified in the West Indies belong to the Cretaceous See also:period. Throughout the Greater Antilles the geological See also:succession begins as a See also:rule with volcanic tuffs and conglomerates of See also:hornblende-See also:andesite, &c., in the midst of which are intercalated occasional beds of See also:limestone with Rudistes and other Cretaceous fossils. These are overlaid by sediments of See also:terrigenous origin, and the whole See also:series was folded before the deposition of the next succeeding strata. The nature of these Cretaceous deposits clearly indicates the neighbourhood of an extensive area of land;
but during the succeeding See also:Eocene period and the early part of the Oligocene, a profound subsidence led to the deposition of the See also:Globigerina chalks and See also: J. W. See also:Spencer, for example, places the greatest elevation of the Antilles in the See also:Pliocene and See also:Pleistocene periods. Moreover, chiefly on the evidence of submerged valleys, he concludes that practically the whole of the Caribbean Sea was land and that a See also:complete connexion existed, by way of the West Indian See also:bridge, between North and South America.' ' The See also:mineral See also:wealth of the islands is not remarkable. See also:Gold, See also:silver, See also:iron, See also:copper, See also:tin, See also:platinum, See also:lead, See also:coal of a poor quality, See also:cobalt, See also:mercury, See also:arsenic, See also:antimony, See also:manganese, and See also:rock See also:salt either have been or are worked. See also:Asphalt is worked to considerable See also:advantage among the See also:pitch lakes of Trinidad. See also:Opal and See also:chalcedony are the See also:principal See also:precious stones. See also:Climate.-As in most tropical countries where considerable heights are met with-and here over 15,500 sq. m. See also:lie at an elevation of more than 1500 ft. above sea-level-the climate of the West Indies (in so far at least as See also:heat and See also:cold are concerned) varies at different altitudes, and on the higher parts of many of the islands a marked degree of coolness may generally be found. With the exception of part of the Bahamas, all the islands lie between the isotherms of 77° and 82° F. The extreme heat, however, is greatly tempered by the sea breezes, and by See also:long, cool, refreshing nights. See also:Frost is occasionally formed in the cold See also:season when See also:hail falls, but See also:snow is unknown. The seasons may be divided as follows. The See also:short wet season, or See also:spring, begins in See also:April and lasts from two to six See also:weeks, and is succeeded by the short dry season, when the thermometer remains almost stationary at about 8o° F. In See also:July the heat increases to an extent well nigh unbearable. No See also:change occurs till after a period varying from the end of July to the beginning of See also:October, when the great rainfall of the See also:year begins, accompanied by tremendous and destructive hurricanes. This season is locally known as the " See also:hurricane months." The See also:annual rainfall averages 63 in. These storms arise in the See also:Atlantic and towards the east. For a day or two they follow a See also:westerly course, inclining, at the same time, one or two points towards the north, the polar tendency becoming gradually more marked as the distance from the See also:equator increases. When the hurricanes reach See also:latitude 25° N., they See also:curve to the north-east, and almost invariably See also:wheel See also:round on arriving at the See also:northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico, after which they follow the coast See also:line of North America. Their See also:rate of See also:speed varies considerably, but may be said to See also:average 300 M. per day among the islands. The usual signs of the approach of the cyclones are an ugly and threatening See also:appearance of the See also:weather, See also:sharp and frequent puffs of See also:wind, increasing in force with each blast, accompanied with a long heavy swell and confused choppy sea, coming from the direction of the approaching See also:storm. See also:December marks the beginning of the long dry season, which, accompanied by fresh winds and occasional hail showers, lasts till April. The average temperature of the See also:air at Barbados, which may be taken as a favourable average, is, throughout the year, 8o° F. in the forenoon, and about 82° in the afternoon. The maximum is 87°, and the minimum 75° See also:Flora.-The flora of the islands is of great variety and richness, as See also:plants have been introduced from most parts of the globe, and flourish either in a See also:wild See also:state or under cultivation; See also:grain, vegetables, and fruits, generally See also:common in cool climates, may be seen growing in luxuriance within a short distance of like plants which only attain perfection under the See also:influence of extreme heat, nothing being here required for the successful See also:propagation of both but a difference in the height of the lands upon which they grow. The forests, which 'See E. Suess, Das Antlitz der Erde (Wien, 18d5; Eng. trans., See also:Oxford, 1904) ; J. W. Spencer, " Reconstruction of the Antillean See also:Continent," See also:Bull. Geol. See also:Soc. Amer., vol. vi. (1895), p. 103 (Abstract in Geol. Mag., 1894, pp. 448-451): see also a series of papers by J. W. Spencer in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vols. lxvii., lxviii. (1901, 1902); R. T. Hill, " The Geology and Physical See also:Geography of Jamaica," Bull. See also:Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, vol. xxxiv. (1899). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] WEST HOBOKEN |
[next] WEST ORANGE |