SUMMER 2003GEOHAZARDS COURSE AT UWI, MONA - page 017
Prepared and compiled by
Rafi Ahmad,
Unit for Disaster Studies,
Department of Geography and Geology,
University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica
2.2 Physical Environment
Jamaica, area 11,264 km2, has a population density of 225 persons/m2, 18,197 km of roads with a density of 1.6 km of road/km2, about 10 vehicles/km of road, and 293 km of railway (National Atlas of Jamaica, 1971, World Resources 1990-91).
The major economic activity in the island is agriculture that utilizes some 47% of the total land surface. About 18% of the land is under forest and woodland and the remaining 35% is classified as ruinate land. The total coastline measures some 1,002 km.
The significance and magnitude of various natural earth processes, geological constraints on the land use and the inter-relationship of various factors that contribute to the overall geohazard vulnerability and risk in Jamaica can be appreciated through a comparative study of a series of maps displayed in :
bedrock geology and structure
physiography: JAM-left---JAM-right
surface drainage and major watersheds (to follow)
soils
mean annual rainfall
population distribution
natural vegetation
landslide inventory
landslide hazard zonation and zones of accelerated soil erosion (to follow).
In Table 2, a synthesis of the data is presented. It is clear from the above figures and Table 2 that the most frequent geohazards are landslides, flooding and accelerated soil erosion, and these are intimately related.
The bedrock geology and structure profoundly influence the landforms on the island which may be described with respect to three morphotectonic units characterized by overall similar climatic conditions. However, there are local variations. These units are:
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