DOCSLIB.ORG

Geology of Isla Mona Puerto Rico, and Notes on Age of Mona Passage

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Geology of Isla Mona Puerto Rico, and Notes on Age of Mona Passage GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 317-C Prepared in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority', Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration, Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, and Puerto Rico Department of the Interior Geology of Isla Mona Puerto Rico, and Notes on Age of Mona Passage By CLIFFORD A. KAYE With a section on THE PETROGRAPHY OF THE PHOSPHORITES By ZALMAN S. ALTSCHULER COASTAL GEOLOGY OF PUERTO RICO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 317-C Prepared in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority', Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration^ Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority^ and Puerto Rico Department of the Interior UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1959 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRED A. SEATON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 65 cents (paper cover) CONTENTS Page Page Abstract ----_--__----_-______________ 141 Geology of Isla Mona Continued Geology of Isla Mona_________________ 142 Phosphorite deposits.____________________________ 156 Introduction _____________________ 142 History of mining________-_-_-__-_--.____- 156 Location and topographic description 142 Description of deposits._____________________ 156 Climate _________________________ 143 Petrography of the phosphorites, by Zalman S. Flora and fauna. _________________ 144 Altschuler_______________________________ 157 Faunal origin __ _________________ 145 Analytical data.__-_-----------_1------- 159 History. _ __-----__--__.________ 145 Petrography and origin-_____-___-_---__- 159 Rocks. __________________________ 146 Supplementary nptes on mineralogy of Isla Isla Mona limestone. _________ 146 Mona____________--_-_-_-__-__--________ 162 lirio limestone- -_---_-_--____ 147 Guano origin of the phosphorite deposits_____ 164 Reef limestone _______________ 148 Notes on History of Mona Passage and Isla Mona______ 167 Structure ________________________ 148 Topography of Mona Passage______-_---_____-___ 167 148 Insoluble residue of rocks of Isla Mona_ _-____,_-__ 169 Cemented red residuum. ________________________ 149 Geomorphology _ _._---______-___-___-_______ 150 Currents of Mona Passage.--,______.-_._____ 170 Plateau surface- __--___________--___.___-___ 150 Some historical notes on Isla Mona_______________ 172 Terraces, scarps, rims, and ramparts. _____ 150 Quaternary climatic changes_________________ 173 Reduction of limestone surfaces without Cemented red residuum.-___-_-_____-_-_ 173 dissection _ _________________________ 151 Cavern solution.__-_-__-_----__-_-_--.- 173 Caverns ___________________________________ 151 Guano accumulation.___________________ 173 Sea cliffs __ _---_-_--_----______.__..___-__- 153 Dripstone deposition.___________________ 174 Shoal-water features. _______________________ 155 Submarine terracing.. ___________________ 155 Historical climates.____.__-_-__-__-_.___ 174 Reefs. _.__ ______________________ 155 References cited..__________________________________ 175 Parallel grooves ________________________ 156 Index________________--__---_--__________.--__- 177 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 12. Geologic map of Isla Mona, Puerto Rico_______________-_--_,__________________-_---_------_---in pocfet 13. _4, Vertical sea cliffs, east coast of Isla Mona, showing angular unconformity between Lirio and Isla Mona liaa«- stones; B, Cemented red residuum in Lirio limestone, showing typical vermicular structure________.Facing 146 14. .4, Enlarged cavern mouths, Playa P&jaro; B, View to southwest from Punta Este, Isla Mona_-__-_______Faclng 147 FIGURE 1. Map of the Greater Antilles_-_---__--_____-___-___J_-_-__.------------------------------------------- IV 64. Chart of Isla Mona and Isla Monito.___________________-_____-_-----_------_--------------------_-_-._ 154 65. Diagrammatic sketch of phosphatic limestone._____-_________-__--_-_-_-_-.,---_-------------____------_- 158 66. Microscopic relations between calcite and hydroxylapatite in phosphatic limestone. ____----___________-_--__- 161 67. Microscopic relations between martinite and hydroxylapatite in nodular phosphorite.__-___-_-.________-_____ 162 68. Bathymetric map of Mona Passage.______________._____________-_____---_--__-___---_-_--______---_ 168 69. Prevailing surface currents of eastern Caribbean for month of August-_______-______________--_-_-___..--_-_ 171 TABLES Page TABLE 1. Analyses of samples of Isla Mona limestone--_-_______-_---__-_-_.-----------------_--------------------- 146 2. Percent IT, PjOs, N, and F in cave phosphorites and associated rocks from Isla Mona_________________________ 159 3. Percent concentration of minor elements in cave phosphorites and associated rocks from Isla Mona.______-_--__ 159 4. Threshold values of sensitivity to elements analyzed by semiquantitative spectrographic method __________ 159 5. Weight percent of insoluble residues from some limestones of Puerto Rico and Islft Mona_.__-._ __________--_-_ 169 in 65° '^mm?**^ :-.:-. - :.|p. MAP OF THE GREATER ANTILLES IV COASTAL GEOLOGY OF PUERTO RICO GEOLOGY OF ISLA MONA AND NOTES ON AGE OF MONA PASSAGE By CLEETOBD A. KATE common throughout the white limestones and probably rep­ resent soil washed into solution openings and later cemented by calcium carbonate. The cemented red residuum, as it is ABSTRACT called, contains tests of land snails that point to a probable* Isla Mona and the nearby rock of Monito are situated in Pleistocene age for the deposit. The plateau surface is e^ery- Mona Passage, about midway between Puerto Rico and the where etched into a microrelief of about 1 foot of sharj ser­ Dominican Republic. Isla Mona has an area of about 21 square rations, pits, and enlarged joints. The plateau surface is very miles and Monito less than a quarter of a square mile. Isla gently domed and is broken by several outward-facing low Mona is a limestone tableland, bounded by steep to vertical scarps, a few areas of large sinkholes, and low marginal lime­ cliffs and fringed about its southern perimeter by a narrow stone rims and ramparts. Both the residual s©U (cemented low-lying coastal terrace. The climate of the island is semi- and uncemented) and the rims and ramparts indicate tint a arid; its mean annual rainfall is 88.1 inches. The flora is considerable thickness (roughly estimated to have been f bout zerophytic and consists mostly of cactus, leguminous plants, 85 feet) of limestone has been dissolved from the surface of shrubs, and dwarfed trees. The density of the brush is surpris­ the plateau without having formed a pronounced relief. This ing considering the sparse nature of the soil, and most of the points to the importance of surface reduction without dissec­ larger plants seem to be rooted in narrow, soil-filled crevices in tion in at least the earlier stages of the geomorphic cycle in the limestone. The island was discovered by Columbus in 1494 horizontally bedded pure limestones. The plateau is bounded during his second voyage. In early colonial times the island by steep cliffs on the south and by vertical sea cliffs or the was a watering and provisioning station. At the present time north coast. These sea cliffs plunge to depths estimated to its only inhabitants are the lighthouse crew. In the late 19th be 16 to 22 fathoms. In the face of evidence of active cliff century the caverns with which the island abounds were exten­ recession, the plunging nature of these cliffs provides an in­ sively worked for their deposits of leached guano. teresting geomorphic problem. The hypothesis that seems most Except for the thin soil of the tableland, Isla Mona consists consistent is that the Isla Mona limestone Is actually very entirely of limestone and dolomite. The Isla Mona limestone friable, although It has a deceptive, casehardened shell where forms most of the mass of both islands and is probably early or exposed subaerially. Turbulent surf working on the fr*able middle Miocene in age. One sample of rock when tested in the rock below sea level is deeply undermining the sea cliffs to a laboratory proved to be dolomite. Unfortunately, it is not considerable depth, in consequence of which, cliff failure has known how much of the rock exposed in the vertical sea cliffs of not produced a platform at or close to present sea level. Hrdro- the north coast is dolomite nor whether the dolomite is con­ graphic charts suggest that submarine levels and terraces r>ark fined to specific beds or represents irregular-shaped alterations the bank surrounding Isla Mona. There is probably a level of the limestone. The Isla Mona limestone is essentially flat of 22 fathoms close to the island on the east side, and a ter-ace lying, although apparent dips up to 3%° are visible in the at 7 fathoms is indicated just outside the small barrier reef cliffs. No faults were noted. In places a relatively thin cav­ off the south coast. Behind the reef the lagoon is about 2 ernous limestone, the Lirio limestone, overlies the Isla Mona fathoms deep. The narrow barrier reef, which for the most limestone. At Punta Este the two formations are separated by part lies only a few hundred yards offshore, merges wi^h a a slight angular unconformity. Only one fossil, a coral was fringing reef along part of the shore. found in the Lirio limestone, and from it the formation appears Both the Isla Mona and the Lirio limestones are caverrous, to be either
Recommended publications
  • Coronado and Aesop Fable and Violence on the Sixteenth-Century Plains

    Coronado and Aesop Fable and Violence on the Sixteenth-Century Plains

    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 2009 Coronado and Aesop Fable and Violence on the Sixteenth-Century Plains Daryl W. Palmer Regis University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Palmer, Daryl W., "Coronado and Aesop Fable and Violence on the Sixteenth-Century Plains" (2009). Great Plains Quarterly. 1203. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1203 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. CORONADO AND AESOP FABLE AND VIOLENCE ON THE SIXTEENTH~CENTURY PLAINS DARYL W. PALMER In the spring of 1540, Francisco Vazquez de the killing of this guide for granted, the vio­ Coronado led an entrada from present-day lence was far from straightforward. Indeed, Mexico into the region we call New Mexico, the expeditionaries' actions were embedded where the expedition spent a violent winter in sixteenth-century Spanish culture, a milieu among pueblo peoples. The following year, that can still reward study by historians of the after a long march across the Great Plains, Great Plains. Working within this context, I Coronado led an elite group of his men north explore the ways in which Aesop, the classical into present-day Kansas where, among other master of the fable, may have informed the activities, they strangled their principal Indian Spaniards' actions on the Kansas plains.
  • Reef-Coral Fauna of Carrizo Creek, Imperial County, California, and Its Significance

    Reef-Coral Fauna of Carrizo Creek, Imperial County, California, and Its Significance

    THE REEF-CORAL FAUNA OF CARRIZO CREEK, IMPERIAL COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE . .By THOMAS WAYLAND VAUGHAN . INTRODUCTION. occur has been determined by Drs . Arnold and Dall to be lower Miocene . The following conclusions seem warranted : Knowledge of the existence of the unusually (1) There was water connection between the Atlantic and interesting coral fauna here discussed dates Pacific across Central America not much previous to the from the exploration of Coyote Mountain (also upper Oligocene or lower Miocene-that is, during the known as Carrizo Mountain) by H . W. Fair- upper Eocene or lower Oligocene . This conclusion is the same as that reached by Messrs. Hill and Dall, theirs, how- banks in the early nineties.' Dr. Fairbanks ever, being based upon a study of the fossil mollusks . (2) sent the specimens of corals he collected to During lower Miocene time the West Indian type of coral Prof. John C. Merriam, at the University of fauna extended westward into the Pacific, and it was sub- California, who in turn sent them to me . sequent to that time that the Pacific and Atlantic faunas There were in the collection representatives of have become so markedly differentiated . two species and one variety, which I described As it will be made evident on subsequent under the names Favia merriami, 2 Stephano- pages that this fauna is much younger than ctenia fairbanksi,3 and Stephanoccenia fair- lower Miocene, the inference as to the date of banksi var. columnaris .4 As the geologic hori- the interoceanic connection given in the fore- zon was not even approximately known at that going quotation must be modified .
  • Alternative Names of a Maritime Feature: the Case of the Caribbean Sea

    Alternative Names of a Maritime Feature: the Case of the Caribbean Sea

    Alternative names of a maritime feature: The case of the Caribbean Sea POKOLY Béla* 1) The Caribbean Sea has been known by this name in the English language for several centuries. It is the widely accepted name in international contacts, and is so recorded by the International Hydrographic Organization. Still in some languages it is alternatively referred to as the Sea of the Antilles, especially in French. It may reflect the age of explorations, when the feature had various names. In Hungarian cartography it is one of the few marine features shown by giving the alter- native name in brackets: Karib (Antilla)‐ tenger (English Caribbean Sea /Sea of the Antilles/). 1. Introduction A look at any map or encyclopaedia would confirm that the Caribbean Sea is one of the major bodies of water of the world. With an approximate area of 2,750,000 km² (1,050,000 square miles), only the five oceans and the Mediterranean Sea are larger by surface. The sea is deepest at the Cayman Trough (or Cayman Trench) which has a maximum depth of 7,686 metres, where the North American and Caribbean plates create a complex zone of spreading and transform faults. The area witnessed two major seismic catastrophes in the past centuries: the 1692 Jamaica earthquake, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. One associates the Caribbean, as a great sea with several features and facts. The three arguably most important facts coupled with the Caribbean: * Senior Advisor, Committee on Geographical Names, Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development, Hungary 23 POKOLY Béla Exploration Columbus’ voyages of discovery to the bordering archipelago.
  • Chronology of Major Caribbean Earthquakes by Dr

    Chronology of Major Caribbean Earthquakes by Dr

    Chronology of Major Caribbean Earthquakes By Dr. Frank J. Collazo February 4, 2010 Seismic Activity in the Caribbean Area The image above represents the earthquake activity for the past seven days in Puerto Rico (roughly Jan 8-15, 2010). As you can see there are quite a few recorded. In fact, the Puerto Rico Seismic Network has registered around 80 earthquake tremors in the first 15 days of 2010. Thankfully for Puerto Rico, these are usually on the lower end of the scale, but they are felt around the island. In fact, while being on the island, I actually felt two earthquakes, one of which was the 7.4 magnitude Martinique earthquake back in November 2007. The following is a chronology of the major earthquakes in the Caribbean basin: 1615: Earthquake in the Dominican Republic that caused damages in Puerto Rico. 1670: Damages in San Germán and San Juan (MJ). A strong earthquake, whose magnitude has not been determined, occurred in 1670, significantly affecting the area of San German District. 1692: Jamaica Fatalities 2,000. Level of damages is unknown. 1717: Church San Felipe in Arecibo and the parochial house in San Germán were destroyed (A). 1740: The Church of Guadalupe in Villa de Ponce was destroyed (A). Intensity VII, there is only information from Ponce that the earthquake was felt, absence of information of San Germán and the information of Yauco and Lajas suggest a superficial earthquake near to Ponce (G). 1787: Possibly the strongest earthquake that has affected Puerto Rico since the beginning of colonization. This was felt strongly throughout the Island and may have been as large as magnitude 8.0 on the Richter Scale.
  • Prince Henry the Navigator, Who Brought This Move Ment of European Expansion Within Sight of Its Greatest Successes

    Prince Henry the Navigator, Who Brought This Move Ment of European Expansion Within Sight of Its Greatest Successes

    This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com PrinceHenrytheNavigator CharlesRaymondBeazley 1 - 1 1 J fteroes of tbe TRattong EDITED BY Sveltn Bbbott, flD.B. FELLOW OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD PACTA DUOS VIVE NT, OPEROSAQUE OLMIA MHUM.— OVID, IN LI VI AM, f«». THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON FAME SHALL LIVE. PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR GATEWAY AT BELEM. WITH STATUE, BETWEEN THE DOORS, OF PRINCE HENRY IN ARMOUR. Frontispiece. 1 1 l i "5 ' - "Hi:- li: ;, i'O * .1 ' II* FV -- .1/ i-.'..*. »' ... •S-v, r . • . '**wW' PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR THE HERO OF PORTUGAL AND OF MODERN DISCOVERY I 394-1460 A.D. WITH AN ACCOUNr Of" GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS THROUGH OUT THE MIDDLE AGLi> AS THE PREPARATION FOR KIS WORlf' BY C. RAYMOND BEAZLEY, M.A., F.R.G.S. FELLOW OF MERTON 1 fr" ' RifrB | <lvFnwn ; GEOGRAPHICAL STUDEN^rf^fHB-SrraSR^tttpXFORD, 1894 ule. Seneca, Medea P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON Cbe Knicftetbocftet press 1911 fe'47708A . A' ;D ,'! ~.*"< " AND TILDl.N' POL ' 3 -P. i-X's I_ • •VV: : • • •••••• Copyright, 1894 BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Entered at Stationers' Hall, London Ube ftntcfeerbocfter press, Hew Iffotfc CONTENTS. PACK PREFACE Xvii INTRODUCTION. THE GREEK AND ARABIC IDEAS OF THE WORLD, AS THE CHIEF INHERITANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN MIDDLE AGES IN GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE . I CHAPTER I. EARLY CHRISTIAN PILGRIMS (CIRCA 333-867) . 29 CHAPTER II. VIKINGS OR NORTHMEN (CIRCA 787-1066) .
  • Predictability of Non-Phase-Locked Baroclinic Tides in the Caribbean Sea Edward D

    Predictability of Non-Phase-Locked Baroclinic Tides in the Caribbean Sea Edward D

    Predictability of Non-Phase-Locked Baroclinic Tides in the Caribbean Sea Edward D. Zaron1 1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA Correspondence: E. D. Zaron ([email protected]) Abstract. The predictability of the sea surface height expression of baroclinic tides is examined with 96 hr forecasts pro- duced by the AMSEAS operational forecast model during 2013–2014. The phase-locked tide, both barotropic and baroclinic, is identified by harmonic analysis of the 2 year record and found to agree well with observations from tide gauges and satellite altimetry within the Caribbean Sea. The non-phase-locked baroclinic tide, which is created by time-variable mesoscale strati- 5 fication and currents, may be identified from residual sea level anomalies (SLAs) near the tidal frequencies. The predictability of the non-phase-locked tide is assessed by measuring the difference between a forecast – centered at T + 36 hr, T + 60 hr, or T + 84 hr – and the model’s later verifying analysis for the same time. Within the Caribbean Sea, where a baroclinic tidal sea level range of ±5 cm is typical, the forecast error for the non-phase-locked tidal SLA is correlated with the forecast error for the sub-tidal (mesoscale) SLA. Root-mean-square values of the former range from 0.5 cm to 2 cm, while the latter ranges from 10 1 cm to 6 cm, for a typical 84 hr forecast. The spatial and temporal variability of the forecast error is related to the dynamical origins of the non-phase-locked tide and is briefly surveyed within the model.
  • UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Reimagining

    UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Reimagining

    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Reimagining Transatlantic Iberian Conquests in Postcolonial Narratives and Rewriting Spaces of Resistance A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish by Seher Rabia Rowther March 2020 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Benjamin Liu, Chairperson Dr. Covadonga Lamar-Prieto Dr. Freya Schiwy Copyright by Seher Rabia Rowther 2020 The Dissertation of Seher Rabia Rowther is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside DEDICATION The best stories unite us despite our various disparities and experiences in life. The worst event I experienced in graduate school was the hospitalization of my mother and my grandmother in the winter of 2016. It was the most challenging period in my life because my parents have given me a beautiful life of love, laughter, protection, and guidance. My family has been the best living example of strength and compassion. The summer after my grandmother passed, I went to Spain for the first time in my life. While traveling through Spain, I saw her in a dream. She was smiling as she passed me by—the same way she used to walk through our house with her walker. When I left Spain to return home, I started reading Radwa Ashour’s trilogy on the plane. When Radwa wrote about the families of Granada historically removed from their homes and forced to trek across the kingdoms of Castile, she did not just describe the multitude and their possessions in tow. She wrote about a grandson carrying his grandmother until her last breath and then having to bury her in a place he did not even recognize.

  • Oblique Collision in the Northeastern Caribbean from GPS Measurements and Geological Observations

    TECTONICS, VOL. 21, NO. 6, 1057, doi:10.1029/2001TC001304, 2002 Oblique collision in the northeastern Caribbean from GPS measurements and geological observations Paul Mann,1 Eric Calais,2 Jean-Claude Ruegg,3 Charles DeMets,4 Pamela E. Jansma,5 and Glen S. Mattioli6 Received 31 May 2001; revised 16 April 2002; accepted 10 June 2002; published 11 December 2002. [1] Previous Caribbean GPS studies have shown that Tectonophysics: Continental neotectonics; 8105 Tectonophysics: the rigid interior of the Caribbean plate is moving east- Continental margins and sedimentary basins; 3025 Marine Geology northeastward (070°) at a rate of 18–20 ± 3 mm/yr and Geophysics: Marine seismics (0935); 3040 Marine Geology relative to North America. This direction implies and Geophysics: Plate tectonics (8150, 8155, 8157, 8158); 7230 maximum oblique convergence between the island of Seismology: Seismicity and seismotectonics; KEYWORDS: GPS, neotectonics, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Bahama Platform, Hispaniola on the Caribbean plate and the 22–27-km- earthquakes. Citation: Mann, P., E. Calais, J.-C. Ruegg, C. thick crust of the Bahama carbonate platform on the DeMets, P. E. Jansma, and G. S. Mattioli, Oblique collision in the adjacent North America plate. We present a tectonic northeastern Caribbean from GPS measurements and geological interpretation of a 15-site GPS network which spans observations, Tectonics, 21(6), 1057, doi:10.1029/2001TC001304, the Hispaniola-Bahama oblique collision zone and 2002. includes stable plate interior sites on both the North America and Caribbean plates. Measurements span the time period of 1994–1999. In a North America 1. Introduction reference frame, GPS velocities in Puerto Rico, St.
  • Evolutionary Relationships and Historical Biogeography of Anolis

    Evolutionary Relationships and Historical Biogeography of Anolis

    Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr.) (2007) 34, 1546–1558 ORIGINAL Evolutionary relationships and historical ARTICLE biogeography of Anolis desechensis and Anolis monensis, two lizards endemic to small islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea Javier A. Rodrı´guez-Robles1*, Tereza Jezkova1 and Miguel A. Garcı´a2 1School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, ABSTRACT Las Vegas, NV 89154-4004, USA, 2Division of Aim We investigated the evolutionary relationships and historical biogeography Wildlife, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, PO Box 366147, San of two lizard species (Anolis desechensis and Anolis monensis) endemic to small Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-6147, USA oceanic islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea. Location Desecheo, Mona and Monito Islands, in the Mona Passage, and Puerto Rico, eastern Caribbean Sea. Methods We reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of A. desechensis and A. monensis from DNA sequences of two mitochondrial genes using maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference and maximum parsimony methods. The ingroup included species from Puerto Rico (Anolis cooki, Anolis cristatellus), the Bahamas (Anolis scriptus), and the British Virgin Islands (Anolis ernestwilliamsi). We also constructed a median-joining mutational network to visualize relationships among the haplotypes of A. cooki and A. monensis from Mona and Monito Islands. Results The three phylogenetic methods suggested the same pattern of relationships. Anolis desechensis nests within A. cristatellus, and is most closely related to A. cristatellus from south-western Puerto Rico. Our analyses also indicated that A. monensis is the sister species of A. cooki, an anole restricted to the south-western coast of Puerto Rico. Although they are closely related, the populations of A.
  • EXERCISE CARIBE WAVE 18 a Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Warning Exercise 15 March 2018 (Barbados, Colombia and Puerto Rico Scenarios)

    EXERCISE CARIBE WAVE 18 a Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Warning Exercise 15 March 2018 (Barbados, Colombia and Puerto Rico Scenarios)

    Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission technical series 136 EXERCISE CARIBE WAVE 18 A Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Warning Exercise 15 March 2018 (Barbados, Colombia and Puerto Rico Scenarios) Volume 1 Participant Handbook UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission technical series 136 EXERCISE CARIBE WAVE 18 A Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Warning Exercise 15 March 2018 (Barbados, Colombia and Puerto Rico Scenarios) Volume 1 Participant Handbook UNESCO 2017 UNESCO IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and the other Coastal Hazard Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions IOC Technical Series, 136 (volume 1) Paris, October 2017 English only The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariats of UNESCO and IOC concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of the frontiers of any country or territory. NOTE: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) pattern the contents of this handbook after the CARIBE WAVE 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 Exercises. Each of these exercises has a handbook published as IOC Technical Series. These CARIBE WAVE exercises followed the Pacific Wave exercises which commenced in 2008 with manual published by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (Exercise Pacific Wave 08: A Pacific-wide Tsunami Warning and Communication Exercise, 28-30 October 2008, IOC Technical Series, 82, Paris, UNESCO 2008). The UNESCO How to Plan, Conduct and Evaluate Tsunami Wave Exercises, IOC Manuals and Guides, 58 rev., Paris, UNESCO 2013 (English and Spanish) is another important reference.
  • 250.4 Batista Beccaria, 1434

    250.4 Batista Beccaria, 1434

    Batista Beccari #250.4 [untitled portolan chart of Europe, the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the coast of West Africa through the Canaries, and of undetermined islands in the Atlantic Ocean]. Attributed to Batista Beccari, Genoa(?), circa 1434. An illuminated manuscript on vellum, heightened in gold. Size of original: 66 x 117 cm. Beccari records the Atlantic islands in "blocks" with an outline encompassing an entire archipelago. He shows two pairs of blocks, each containing a large and a small group. This configuration is very similar to the earliest known chart to incorporate such islands, the 1424 chart of Zuane Pizzigano, except that Pizzigano orients them diagonally while Beccari shows them nearly straight north-south. Beccari has given names to each of the four blocks as a whole, rather than to individual islands; fading of the ink has made some difficult to discern. The least legible is the larger of the two northern groups, but by correlation to other surviving portolan charts (and specifically to another Batista Beccari chart) it would be Satanagio, the Genoese dialect equivalent to the Portuguese Satanazes (Satans). To the north lies an umbrella-shaped block named Tanmar, and the island blocks to the south are called Antillia and Royllo. Only a few portolan charts survive from this early period showing these Atlantic islands. Their identity has been the source of controversy that will doubtfully ever be resolved (see the monograph on Mythical Islands of the Atlantic on this website). The simplest explanation is that they are "false Azores," a cartographic fancy which helped inspire Henry the Navigator’s courage for western voyages.
  • Ancient Maps More Accurate Than Ours

    Ancient Maps More Accurate Than Ours

    Ancient Maps More Accurate Than Ours By JC RYAN “Every year new finds force the archeological community to rethink its standpoint. Perhaps the scientific world is on the verge of another discovery about the distant past.” - Charles Fort, author of The Unexplained. Throughout human history, knowledge have grown and declined like the ebb and flow of the sea. The knowledge that once existed gets lost in time, sometimes for centuries, even millennia before being rediscovered, and some of it is often lost forever. The Zeno Map 1390 The Zeno map was first published in 1558 by Nicolo Zeno. It is a map of the North Atlantic and was published along with a series of letters. Zeno claimed he came across them in a storeroom in his family's home in Venice and that the map and letters date back to 1400. It describes an expedition made by the Zeno brothers in the 1390s under the direction of a prince named Zichmni. Many historians however believe the map and letters are a hoax enacted by the younger Nicolo Zeno to make a backdated claim for Venice as having discovered the New World before Christopher Columbus. So, is it a hoax or not? 2 The map very accurately illustrates the coastlines of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Scotland, as well as the exact latitude and longitude of various islands. Now consider that the chronometer, the instrument used to determine longitude, was not invented until 1765. So, if this is a hoax how did Zeno manage to the longitudinal positions so accurate without a chronometer? Furthermore, the Zeno map shows Greenland free of glaciers as it was prior to the Ice Age.