Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1983 Coastal Modification and Land Transformation in the San Juan Bay Area: Puerto Rico. Jose Seguinot-barbosa Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Seguinot-barbosa, Jose, "Coastal Modification and Land Transformation in the San Juan Bay Area: Puerto Rico." (1983). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3946. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3946 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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University Microfilms International Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8413735 Seguinot-Barbosa, Jose COASTAL MODIFICATION AND LAND TRANSFORMATION IN THE SAN JUAN BAY AREA: PUERTO RICO The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col.Ph.D. 1983 University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1984 by Seguinot-Barbosa, Jose All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. 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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COASTAL MODIFICATION AND LAND TRANSFORMATION IN THE SAN JUAN BAY AREA: PUERTO RICO A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Jose Seguinot-Barbosa B.A., University of Puerto Rico, 1975 M.A., Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1978 December, 1983 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1 9 8 4 JOSE SEGUINOT-BARBOSA All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my lifelong friends; to you I owe a great deal of what I am. To all people who seek social justice and peace among men. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A large number of people have been involved in the completion of this dissertation. On first instance, I will thank the following institutions at San Juan, Puerto Rico for the information and facilities they provided me: Marine Geology Division of United States Geological Survey, Inventory of Natural Resources Section of the Department of Natural Resources, Historical Archives of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican Collection at the University of Puerto Rico Library, San Juan Land Use Division of the Puerto Rican Planning Board, Division of Photogrammetry Department of Public Works, Corps of Engineers, and the Planning Division of the Municipality of San Juan. I want to thank the University of Puerto Rico's geography students (August to December 1982) for their help in gathering this information. Thanks also to all those who helped during my field work, especially to Jesus Chinea, Anibal Sepulveda and Ivette Perez. The University of Puerto Rico and the Center for Latin American Affairs at Louisiana State University were the partial supporters of this work; without them it would have never been fully realized. Special recognition is given to the graduate committee, Dr. Roland E. Chardon, Dr. William V. Davidson, Dr. Milton B. Newton, Jr., Dr. Robert A. Muller, Dr. Miles E. Richardson, and Dr. John T. Wells for their valuable advise and counseling while writing and revising the manuscript. The author wants to express his deep gratitude to all those who stood by him during the course of the work, and to those who inspired iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and motivated him. Sincere appreciation goes to German Santiago, Piany Barbosa, Bethany Kashani, Julia Conde, Waleska Matos, Georgina Calderon, Jorge Christian, Jose Molinelli, Olga Odiott and Jose Ramirez for their inappreciable help. Thanks to Janet Evans for typing the manuscript. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication........................................................ ii Acknowledgments .................................................. iii Table of Contents................................................. v List of Tables ................................................... vii List of F i g u r e s ................................................... ix Abstract .......................................................... xiii Chapter I. Introduction ............................................... 1 II. Origin and Formation of the San Juan Bay Area a. Introduction .................................. 22 b. The Tertiary Period .............................. 22 c. The Quaternary Period ............................ 31 d. Original Vegetation .............................. 37 III. The San Juan Bay Throughout the Indian Period a. Introduction...................................... 44 b. Indian Population and Economic Activities ....... 44 c. Ecological Impact of the Indian Society in the San Juan Bay A r e a ................................ 47 IV. The San Juan Bay Area During the Colonial Period a. The Town of Caparra (1508-1520) ................... 59 b. Land Use and Land Conversion (1520-1899) .......... 64 c. Military Structures ............................... 83 d. The Port of San J u a n .............................. 87 e. The Natural Landscape of the San Juan Bay Area ... 97 f. Hurricane Impact on Landscape Changes............. 109 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. g. Human Impact on Landscape Changes ................ Ill V. The Pre-Modern Period (1900-1939) a. Land Conversion..................................