Plate Tectonics
of the
Lesser Antilles
By
Justin Howard
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/2minsurface/1350/45N090W.jpg
Lesser Antilles

Location
• The chain of islands wrapped
around the eastern end of the
Caribbean Sea on the
boundary with the Atlantic
ocean.

Islands
• The US Virgin Islands, British
Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint
Kitts, Nevis, Antigua,
Barbuda, Saint Vincent,
Barbados, St. Lucia,
Dominica, Guadeloupe,
Montserrat, Grenadines,
Grenada, Trinidad, Tobago,
The Netherlands Antilles, the
island off the coast of
Venezuela, and Aruba.
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/309.htm
Tectonic Plates of Earth
http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/309.htm
•Tectonic Plate
• A piece of the Earth’s lithosphere, or crust.
• Plate Tectonics
• The theory developed to explain the phenomena of continental drift.
• The outermost part of the Earth’s interior is made up of two layers.
• The Asthenosphere
• The region located beneath the lithosphere between 100 and 700 Km
below the surface.
The Lithosphere
• The outermost solid shell of Earth between the uppermost layer of
mantle and the crust.
• Plate Boundaries
• Transform Boundaries
• The grinding of two plates along transform faults, where the rock fracture is
caused by lateral movement of two surfaces.
• Divergent Boundaries
• The sliding of plates past each other.
• Convergent Boundaries
• The sliding of two plates toward each other and one is forced under the other.
Plate Boundaries
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Image:Tectonic_plate_boundaries.png
Plate Tectonics of the Lesser Antilles

Consists of Convergent boundaries where
the Atlantic and Caribbean plates meet.

The rate of subduction is on average 1 inch
per year.

Seventeen volcanoes have been active in the
last 10,000 years, the Holocene, in the West
Indies.

Active Volcanoes include:


Kick-Em-Jenny
Soufriere Hills
http://www.mount-pelee.com/arcvolc.htm#

The chain of volcanoes present at the mid-oceanic ridge is a
result of the subducted Cocos Plate beneath the west edge of
the Caribbean Plate.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/west_indies.html
A Cross-Sectional View of the
Lesser Antilles’ Convergent Boundary
http://www.mount-pelee.com/arcvolc.htm#
Results of Tectonic Activity in the
British Virgin Islands: Virgin Gorda
Justin Howard
70 million years ago, during the Tertiary, magma accumulated on
the lava layers of the Caribbean seabed forming huge sections of
granite.
Justin Howard
It wasn’t until 15-25
million years ago that the
granite created under water
was exposed by faulting and
uplifting. That granite,
pictured here, has since been
weathered (largely by acid
rain). This explains the
rough, flaking surface.
Justin Howard
Justin Howard
Bibliography

Howard, Justin. Personal Photos, Virgin Gorda, BVI. 2004.

Press, Frank et al. Understanding the Earth. Freeman Press, New York, NY. 2004.

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/2minsurface/1350/45N090W.jpg

http://www.mount-pelee.com/arcvolc.htm#

http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/309.htm

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Image:Tectonic_plate_boundaries.png

http://www.thebathsbvi.com/map.htm

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/west_indies.html