The climate is hot and humid. The Cayman Islands are subject to hurricanes and tropical storms during May to November. The remainder of the year is generally dry.
The Cayman Islands consist entirely of limestone bedrock. Each island is a fault block of white limestone of Tertiary age. A fringe of younger limestone of Pleistocene age surrounds each island (Richards, 1975). These limestone blocks rest on an ancient submarine ridge. The islands are generally flat lying with the highest point being 42 meters. Coastal cliffs where reefs do not fully protect the shoreline and are unlikely to exceed a few meters in this area of subdued topography.
There is no reported landslide activity for the Cayman Islands. Occasional falls of limestone blocks at low sea cliffs is possible. Cayman Islands seem unaffected by landslides and likely incur no economic or social impacts from this process.
Rand McNally, 1988. World atlas of nations. New York: Rand McNally
Richards, H.G., 1975. Cayman Islands. In R.W. Fairbridge (ed.), The Encyclopedia of World Regional Geology, Part 1: Western Hemisphere, p. 226-227. Stroudburg, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross.
(Taken from: DeGraff, J.V., Bryce, R., Jibson, R.W., Mora, S., and Rogers, C.T. 1989. Landslides: Their extent and significance in the Caribbean. In E.E. Brabb and B.L. Harrod (eds), Landslides: Extent and Economic Significance. p. 51-80. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema.)
"Transcribed by Nicholas DeGraff, University of California, Santa Cruz"
publications on:
Caribbean Landslides
| first version: 19990825, maxrafi |
Home Page
|