Carib Studies Location of the Caribbean

7/28/2019 Carib Studies Location of the Caribbean

1/6

CARIBBEAN STUDIES

LOCATION OF THE CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean Region is a large area and because of this there is much

diversity from main land territories to islands and archipelagoes. Thisdiversity is often masked by people from both inside and outside the region.

Studying the location of the Caribbean helps us to better appreciate the

diversity that co-exists with, and must underline, common Caribbean

experiences.

There is no one way to define the Caribbean. It is generally believed that the

Caribbean is a melting pot. This concept refers to the combination of a

variety cultures, people and experiences all coming together to form one

unique culture. In light of this, we can safely say that Jamaicas motto Out of

many, one people, aptly describes the make up of the Caribbean region.

There are three ways by which we can define the Caribbean. These are:

i. The Geographical Caribbean this describes the area washed by

the Caribbean Sea and is often described as the Caribbean Basin. It

would therefore include most of the islands of the Lesser and

Greater Antilles as well as the mainland territories of Central

America and Northern South America such as Venezuela and

Columbia.

NB: Notice that the territories in red all have one common feature, they are

all washed by the Caribbean Sea, even though they may speak

different languages.

ii. The Geological Caribbean this is not as well-used as the other

ways by which we define the Caribbean region. However, it shows

that there are deep-seated structural features of Caribbean geology

which also identifies commonalities. It id the area that is defined by

[1]

Fig. 1


2/6

the Caribbean Plate and which expresses similar tectonic, seismic

and volcanic features and processes.

NB: The Caribbean is situated in a geologic feature known as the CaribbeanPlate which has boundaries or margins with other plates nearby. Aplate is a large piece of crust (on which there may be both land andocean) and it moves in relation to other plates. On the whole the earthis made up of six or seven plates and many smaller ones. TheCaribbean Plate is a small plate. Other geological features of the regioninclude the fact that:(a)the entire Caribbean region is in an earthquake zone(b)the Lesser Antilles is made up of volcanoes, several of which are

active

iii. The Historical Caribbean this describe the area that saw theimpact of European colonization, slavery, indentureship and theplantation system. This refers to all the territories, so that onemeans by which we can define the Caribbean is by identifying thosecountries that experienced the rule of specific European countries,namely the English, French, Dutch and the Spanish. The commonfeature in this definition is that they share the same historical orcultural experiences.

[2]

The Caribbean PlateFig. 2


3/6

Fig. 3

NB:

The legend indicates the territories that were under the control of thevarious European powers. It should be noted that Guyana (which was firstunder Dutch control, then English), Surinam (which was under Dutch control)

and French Guiana (which is STILL under French control) are not representedin Fig. 3. They are apart of the Caribbean because they share the samehistorical/cultural experiences as all those which are represented in fig. 3

iv. The Political Caribbean the Caribbean has three main governmentsystems, namely(a) Independent States these are former colonies which are now self-

governing. These are islands which have chosen a method ofgovernance that is different from that of their colonial masters, namelydemocracy or communism;

(b) Associated States these are territories which are not independent butenjoy all the rights and privileges of the country that governs it;

(c) Colonial Dependencies these ate territories which are directlygoverned by other countries but do not enjoy the rights and privilegesthats enjoyed by inhabitants in an Associated State.

Fig. 4

[3]

LEGEND

ENGLISH

SPANISH

FRENCH

LEGEND

Independent

States

Associated

State


4/6

Problems in defining the Caribbean

The definition of the Caribbean discussed above contains anomalies(problems or error) that are identified in the table below. Make sure you areacquainted with them.

Geographical Historical Geological1. Guyana and the

Bahamas do nothave coastlines onthe Caribbean Sea.Yet both countriesare commonly

accepted as part ofthe Caribbean

The problem withdefining theCaribbean accordingto linguistic or Europeanheritage, is that, thattends to ignore the

commonalities ofCaribbean experience atthe hands of thesecolonial powers.

The western edge of theCaribbean Plate islocated in the Pacificand includes Honduras,Costa Rica, Nicaraguaand Panama in the

Caribbean.

2. This definitionincludes countriesnot normallyassociated with theCaribbean Panama, Columbiaand the othercountries of CentralAmerica.

This definition wouldinclude Guyana and theBahamas. It should alsoinclude the French,Dutch and Spanishspeaking countries ofthe Caribbean andCentral America.

The northern edge ofthe Caribbean Platedefines much of Belize,Cuba and the Bahamasas extra-regional.Similarly Guyana in theSouth.

THE THEORY OF PLATE TECTONIC

The Theory of plate tectonic is an explanation of how plates move in relationto each other, thereby creating certain tectonic activities at their margins. Itis generally believed that plates meet each other at three kinds of margin,each with distinctive characteristics. These margins are described below:

1. The divergent (or constructive margin) where magma upwells fromthe mantle on to the crustal surface. The plates move away from each

other being pushed by this upwelling and diverging movement frombelow. This results in gentle volcanic eruptions and some earthquakeactivity, but on the whole such margins are not associated with severeenvironmental hazards. The Hawaiian Islands are situated on such amargin. In the Caribbean a very small divergent margin may be

developing west of Jamaica (Sealey, 1992).

[4]


5/6

2. The transform margin (sometimes referred to as a fault) whereplates slide pass each other, generating earthquakes as the rocksmove to release the stress of the movement and friction with the otherplate.

The San Andreas Fault, along the west coast of North America, passingthrough SanFrancisco is such a margin. In the Caribbeantwo major transform margins delineate thenorthern and the southern boundaries ofthe Caribbean Plate. A majority of epicentresare associated with these transform margins.An epicenter is the point on the earthssurface where an earthquake is felt mostintensely. This is because it is directlyabove the deep-seated origin of the earthquake, the focus.

Earthquakes then pose an environmental hazard to Caribbeancountries along the transform margins.

3. The convergent (or destructive margin) this is where plates collidewith each other forcing one back down into the mantle. This marginposes two kinds of environmental hazards, namely volcanic andseismic. For our purpose, we will emphasize the eastern edge of theCaribbean Plate, a convergent margin along the line of the LesserAntilles. The eastern edge of the Caribbean Plate lies in the PacificOcean and affects Central America in a similar fashion. See diagrambelow.

Terms to learn and remember

1. Geography: field of study which emphasizes therelationship between

human society and the physical environment.

2. Human ecology: refers to the interrelationships that areforged between a

people and their environment.

3. Environmental Hazard: refers to a natural event having thepotential to threaten

mans life and property.

4. Hazard: refers to the threat or the risk of damage to life

andproperty.

[5]


6/6

5. Environmental Disaster: refers to the realization of such a disaster(#4).

6. Geomorphology: is the scientific study oflandforms and the

processes that shape them. Geomorphologists seek to understand whylandscapes

look the way they do: to understand landformhistory and

dynamics, and predict future changes through acombination of

field observation, physical experiment, andnumerical modeling.

[6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landformshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_modelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landformshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_model

Documents

Carib Studies Location of the Caribbean