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53-471: On or before 27 October 1867, a tropical storm developed east of the northern Lesser Antilles , and the mail steamer Principe Alfonso skillfully avoided the storm on that day. This tropical storm moved westward or west-southwestward, intensifying into a hurricane on or before 28 October 1867. Intensifying into a major hurricane on 29 October, this tempest hit Sombrero, Anguilla . The northeasterly or northerly wind intensified from 1 am through 6 am; after 8 am,

106-419: A magmatic arc ) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate , with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench , with the arc located further from the subducting plate than the trench. The oceanic plate is saturated with water, mostly in the form of hydrous minerals such as micas , amphiboles , and serpentines . As

159-451: A tectonic plate composed of relatively thin, dense oceanic lithosphere sinks into the Earth's mantle beneath a less dense overriding plate. The overriding plate may be either another oceanic plate or a continental plate. The subducting plate, or slab , sinks into the mantle at an angle, so that there is a wedge of mantle between the slab and the overriding plate. The boundary between

212-500: A barometric pressure of 28.65 inches of mercury (97.0 kPa) accompanied a half-hour of relative calm. The wind then shifted to a violent easterly until 11 am and then diminished through 1 pm. The hurricane reached its peak intensity of 110 knots (130 mph; 200 km/h) at 1200 UTC near the island. From 1:30 pm to 2:00 pm, its eye passed over Sankt Thomas, Danish West Indies . The hurricane weakened slightly before reaching Captaincy General of Puerto Rico later on 29 October,

265-747: A component of compression. Geologically, the Lesser Antilles island arc stretches from Grenada in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Virgin Islands and Sombrero Island are geologically part of the Greater Antilles, while Trinidad is part of South America and Tobago is the remainder of a separate island arc. The Leeward Antilles are also a separate island arc, which is accreting to South America. The Lesser Antilles are divided into eight independent nations and numerous dependent and non-sovereign states (which are politically associated with

318-440: A narrow arc some distance from the trench. The distance from the trench to the volcanic arc is greater for slabs subducting at a shallower angle, and this suggests that magma generation takes place when the slab reached a critical depth for the breakdown of an abundant hydrous mineral. This would produce an ascending "hydrous curtain" that accounts for focused volcanism along the volcanic arc. However, some models suggest that water

371-621: A shell be bent downwards by an angle of θ, without tearing or wrinkling, only on a circle whose radius is θ/2. This means that arcs where the subducting slab descends at a shallower angle will be more tightly curved. Prominent arcs whose slabs subduct at about 45 degrees, such as the Kuril Islands , the Aleutian Islands , and the Sunda Arc , have a radius of about 20 to 22 degrees. Volcanic arcs are divided into those in which

424-452: A subduction zone. The active front of a volcanic arc is the belt where volcanism develops at a given time. Active fronts may move over time (millions of years), changing their distance from the oceanic trench as well as their width. A volcanic arc is part of an arc-trench complex , which is the part of a subduction zone that is visible at the Earth's surface. A subduction zone is where

477-408: Is continuously released from the slab from shallow depths down to 70 to 300 kilometers (43 to 186 mi), and much of the water released at shallow depths produces serpentinization of the overlying mantle wedge. According to one model, only about 18 to 37 percent of the water content is released at sufficient depth to produce arc magmatism. The volcanic arc is then interpreted as the depth at which

530-431: Is formed. Arc volcanism takes place where the slab descends out from under the cool shallow corner, allowing magma to be generated and rise through warmer, less stiff mantle rock. Magma may be generated over a broad area but become focused into a narrow volcanic arc by a permeability barrier at the base of the overriding plate. Numerical simulations suggest that crystallization of rising magma creates this barrier, causing

583-440: Is just 400,000 years old, at the southeast end of the chain over the hotspot. Volcanic arcs do not generally exhibit such a simple age-pattern. There are two types of volcanic arcs: In some situations, a single subduction zone may show both aspects along its length, as part of a plate subducts beneath a continent and part beneath adjacent oceanic crust. The Aleutian Islands and adjoining Alaskan Peninsula are an example of such

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636-415: Is lost from the subducted plate when the temperature and pressure become sufficient to break down these minerals and release their water content. The water rises into the wedge of mantle overlying the slab and lowers the melting point of mantle rock to the point where magma is generated. While there is wide agreement on the general mechanism, research continues on the explanation for focused volcanism along

689-553: Is low in volcanic arc rocks. Because volcanic rock is easily weathered and eroded , older volcanic arcs are seen as plutonic rocks , the rocks that formed underneath the arc (e.g. the Sierra Nevada batholith ), or in the sedimentary record as lithic sandstones . Paired metamorphic belts , in which a belt of high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism is located parallel to a belt of low-temperature, high-pressure metamorphism, preserve an ancient arc-trench complex in which

742-615: Is particularly characteristic of volcanic arcs, though it sometimes also occurs in regions of crustal extension. In the rock record, volcanic arcs can be recognized from their thick sequences of volcaniclastic rock (formed by explosive volcanism) interbedded with greywackes and mudstones and by their calc-alkaline composition. In more ancient rocks that have experienced metamorphism and alteration of their composition ( metasomatism ), calc-alkaline rocks can be distinguished by their content of trace elements that are little affected by alteration, such as chromium or titanium , whose content

795-612: Is sparse, with sites in Tobago , Barbados , and Martinique yielding potential Archaic Age artifacts. Factors like local tectonic activity and hurricanes or other storms have likely distorted the archaeological evidence in these regions. Entire islands may now be submerged. Severe erosion, landslides, and volcanic eruptions are fairly common and may contribute to the preservation of archaeological sites. Three migration scenarios have been proposed. First, Archaic Age communities from South America reached Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados. Second,

848-710: The Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc which begins east of Puerto Rico at the archipelago of the Virgin Islands , swings southeast through the Leeward and Windward Islands towards South America , and turns westward through the Leeward Antilles along the Venezuelan coast . Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc between the Greater Antilles to

901-785: The Greater Antilles which was settled by the Taíno , the boundary set between them is known as the " poison arrow curtain" for the Kalinago's favoured weapon for fending off Europeans that came to conquer the islands in the 16th century. The earliest Archaic Age habitation is evidenced at sites like St. John and Banwari Trace in Trinidad , dating between 7700 and 6100 B.P. Artifacts from this period include stone and bone tools used for hunting and fishing. A total of 29 Archaic Age sites have been identified in Trinidad and Tobago, associated with

954-601: The Ortoiroid series, divided into the Banwarian (5000-2500 BC) and Ortoiran (1500-300 BC) subseries. During the Late Archaic Age, wild plant foods became more significant, with evidence of early plant management, including crops such as maize , sweet potatoes , achira, and chili peppers had been imported and cultivated from the continent. The archaeological record for the rest of the southern Lesser Antilles

1007-552: The United States Virgin Islands ) and 211 on Puerto Rico. On Tortola ( British Virgin Islands ), the storm reached its peak fury from noon to 2 pm and blew down one-third of the "miserable tenements." Deaths numbered 22 at Road Town , 2 on Peter Island , and 2 on Westland (now Soper's Hole). On Saint Thomas, the hurricane drove ashore or otherwise wrecked 80 ships including the RMS ; Rhone and

1060-459: The "Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique". Margarita Island in present-day Venezuela was discovered on 15 August 1498 during Columbus' third voyage. On that trip the Admiral would also discover the mainland, Venezuela. On that August day, Columbus spotted three islands, two of them small, low and arid (the present day Coche and Cubagua), The province of Trinidad was created in the 16th century by

1113-713: The ABC islands comprise the Dutch Caribbean , of which the BES islands are not direct Kingdom constituents but subsumed with the country of the Netherlands . Physiographically , these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically. Disputed territories administered by Guyana . Disputed territories administered by Colombia . Volcanic arc A volcanic arc (also known as

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1166-735: The Atlantic Plate under the Caribbean Plate in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone . This process is ongoing and is responsible not only for many of the islands, but also for volcanic and earthquake activity in the region. The islands along the South American coast are largely the result of the interaction of the South American Plate and the Caribbean Plate which is mainly strike-slip , but includes

1219-672: The Caribbean, who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Belain sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the island of St Christopher ( St Kitts ). In 1626 the French under Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc began to take an interest in Guadeloupe, driving out the Spanish colonists. Martinique was mapped by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in

1272-575: The Georgian-era capital of Montserrat, Plymouth. Between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee, mainly to the UK, leaving less than 1200 people on the island in 1997 (rising to almost 5000 by 2016). The two official French overseas departments are Guadeloupe and Martinique. St. Martin and St. Barthélemy, formerly part of the department of Guadeloupe, have had a separate status as overseas entities since 2007. The islands of

1325-664: The Lesser Antilles are divided into three groups: the Windward Islands in the south, the Leeward Islands in the north, and the Leeward Antilles in the west. The Windward Islands are so called because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds blow east to west. The trans-Atlantic currents and winds that provided

1378-730: The Spanish, and its capital was San José de Oruña. But during the Napoleonic Wars, in February 1797, a British force began occupying the territory. And in 1802 Spain recognized the British sovereignty. In 1917 the United States bought the Danish Virgin Islands . Most of the British colonies became independent states, the islands of the Lesser Antilles belonging to Venezuela were divided into 2 different entities

1431-815: The State of Nueva Esparta and the Federal Dependencies (1938). In 1986 Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles , officially becoming a country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . In 2010 the rest of the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved to form smaller entities. On July 18, 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano on the southern part of the island of Montserrat became active. The eruptions destroyed

1484-612: The United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and the United States). Over one third of the total area and population of the Lesser Antilles lies within Trinidad and Tobago , a sovereign nation comprising the two southernmost islands of the Windward Island chain. Several islands off the north coast of Venezuela and politically part of that country are also considered part of the Lesser Antilles. These are listed in

1537-462: The barometric pressure reached 28.50 inches of mercury (96.5 kPa) with winds of 74 miles per hour (119 km/h); about 600 people drowned. It caused 211 deaths in Puerto Rico, and the damages were calculated at 13 million Spanish escudos . The hurricane ruined agriculture of the island of Puerto Rico, causing a great economic crisis. The hurricane and various other factors contributed to

1590-540: The city of Fajardo , between 5 pm and 6 pm and later passed near Caguas . People sensed tremors in the towns of Humacao , Luquillo , and Peñuelas . The storm affected all of the towns in the island of Puerto Rico. San Narciso hit the island of Hispaniola on 30 October 1867. The storm probably dissipated that day over the high mountains of the island. The hurricane caused at least 811 deaths in total: 600 in Sankt Thomas ( Danish West Indies - now Saint Thomas,

1643-548: The consumption of marine species and variety of shell and coral tools. Each site showed diverse adaptations to locally available resources and/or activity patterns. Archaeological findings, including Huecoid and Saladoid pottery , provide radiocarbon dates for Early Ceramic Age sites, pointing to an initial sphere of interaction between coastal South America and the northern Lesser Antilles that started around 400–200 BC. The discovery of Saladoid pottery in Puerto Rico and

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1696-695: The crust and magmatic underplating contribute to thickening of the crust. Volcanic arcs are characterized by explosive eruption of calc-alkaline magma, though young arcs sometimes erupt tholeiitic magma and a few arcs erupt alkaline magma. Calc-alkaline magma can be distinguished from tholeiitic magma, typical of mid-ocean ridges , by its higher aluminium and lower iron content and by its high content of large-ion lithophile elements, such as potassium , rubidium , caesium , strontium , or barium , relative to high-field-strength elements, such as zirconium , niobium , hafnium , rare-earth elements (REE), thorium , uranium , or tantalum . Andesite

1749-402: The degree of melting becomes great enough to allow the magma to separate from its source rock. It is now known that the subducting slab may be located anywhere from 60 to 173 kilometers (37 to 107 mi) below the volcanic arc, rather than a single characteristic depth of around 120 kilometers (75 mi), which requires more elaborate models of arc magmatism. For example, water released from

1802-703: The discontent on the island that erupted into the Grito de Lares of 1868. It almost destroyed the city of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Dominican Republic , where 200 persons died on that day. Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea , forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean region of the Americas . They are distinguished from the larger islands of

1855-604: The fastest route across the ocean brought these ships to the rough dividing line between the Windward and Leeward Islands. The Leeward Antilles consist of the Dutch ABC islands just off the coast of Venezuela , plus a group of Venezuelan islands. The Lesser Antilles more or less coincide with the outer cliff of the Caribbean Plate . Many of the islands were formed as a result of the subduction of oceanic crust of

1908-497: The high-temperature, low-pressure belt corresponds to the volcanic arc. In a subduction zone , loss of water from the subducted slab induces partial melting of the overriding mantle and generates low-density, calc-alkaline magma that buoyantly rises to intrude and be extruded through the lithosphere of the overriding plate. Most of the water carried downwards by the slab is contained in hydrous (water-bearing) minerals, such as mica , amphibole , or serpentinite minerals. Water

1961-486: The land of the island they called Marigalante. They then anchored next to the island they called Guadeloupe. Later they visited Montserrat, Antigua and San Cristobal. They then crossed the archipelago of the Eleven Thousand Virgins. Over the next centuries, the Spanish, French, Dutch, Danish and English fought over several of the islands. Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French merchant and adventurer in

2014-482: The memorial of Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem ; following the Puerto Rican convention of naming hurricanes after the saint of the day on which a hurricane strikes the island, the storm acquired the name San Narciso . The hurricane made landfall in Puerto Rico , and its winds decreased further over the island. Despite its small size, it ranks among the most intense hurricanes recorded on the island. It passed near

2067-649: The most heavily populated during the Archaic Age. Notably, all known Archaic Age sites are in the northern islands, with no evidence in the Windward Islands south of Guadeloupe . Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados are exceptions, likely colonized separately from South America. Sites in the Lesser Antilles were established on small islands and in coastal seetings ; most habitations were temporary and small, suggesting annual mobility for resource procurement. Despite similarities, each site displayed differences in

2120-695: The north-west and the continent of South America. The islands of the Lesser Antilles form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea where it meets the Atlantic Ocean . Together, the Lesser Antilles and the Greater Antilles make up the Antilles . The Lesser and Greater Antilles, together with the Lucayan Archipelago , are collectively known as the Caribbean islands or West Indies . The islands were dominantly Kalinago compared to

2173-441: The northern Lesser Antilles is understood as a result of exploratory activities, cultural exchanges, and gradual migrations from the mainland during the Archaic Age. This process involved the interaction of local communities with established insular societies, creating a web of dynamic social relationships. However, debates and controversies has occurred over conflicting stratigraphic data, radiocarbon dates, and stylistic difference of

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2226-444: The oceanic plate is subducted, it is subjected to increasing pressure and temperature with increasing depth. The heat and pressure break down the hydrous minerals in the plate, releasing water into the overlying mantle. Volatiles such as water drastically lower the melting point of the mantle , causing some of the mantle to melt and form magma at depth under the overriding plate. The magma ascends to form an arc of volcanoes parallel to

2279-415: The overriding plate is continental (Andean-type arcs) and those in which the overriding plate is oceanic (intraoceanic or primitive arcs). The crust beneath the arc is up to twice as thick as average continental or oceanic crust: The crust under Andean-type arcs is up to 80 kilometers (50 mi) thick, while the crust under intraoceanic arcs is 20 to 35 kilometers (12 to 22 mi) thick. Both shortening of

2332-433: The overriding plate over the point where the subducting plate reaches a depth of roughly 120 kilometres (75 mi) and is a zone of volcanic activity between 50 and 200 kilometers (31 and 124 mi) in width. The shape of a volcanic arc is typically convex towards the subducting plate. This is a consequence of the spherical geometry of the Earth. The subducting plate behaves like a flexible thin spherical shell, and such

2385-478: The potteries. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive on the islands with the arrival of Christopher Columbus . In 1493, on his second voyage, Columbus reached the coast of the Caribbean Sea, where he sailed to discover several islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago. He called the first island he discovered on this trip the Deseada. The Spanish claimed the island of Dominica and took solemn possession on

2438-410: The released water lowers the melting point of the overlying mantle wedge enough for melting. The location of the volcanic arc may be determined by the presence of a cool shallow corner at the tip of the mantle wedge, where the mantle rock is cooled by both the overlying plate and the slab. Not only does the cool shallow corner suppress melting, but its high stiffness hinders the ascent of any magma that

2491-634: The remaining magma to pool in a narrow band at the apex of the barrier. This narrow band corresponds to the overlying volcanic arc. Two classic examples of oceanic island arcs are the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean and the Lesser Antilles in the western Atlantic Ocean. The Cascade Volcanic Arc in western North America and the Andes along the western edge of South America are examples of continental volcanic arcs. The best examples of volcanic arcs with both sets of characteristics are in

2544-521: The section below. The main Lesser Antilles are (from north to south to west): Islands north of the Venezuelan coast (from west to east): Physiographically , these are continental islands not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc. However, based on proximity, these islands are sometimes grouped with the Windward Islands culturally and politically. These three form the SSS islands that with

2597-412: The slab at moderate depths might react with amphibole minerals in the lower part of the mantle wedge to produce water-rich chlorite . This chlorite-rich mantle rock is then dragged downwards by the subducting slab, and eventually breaks down to become the source of arc magmatism. The location of the arc depends on the angle and rate of subduction, which determine where hydrous minerals break down and where

2650-693: The southern Lesser Antilles (Windward Islands) were bypassed by early settlers, with migration directly to the northern islands. Third, technological diffusion occurred without significant population movement from northeastern South America. Chronometric data divide the Archaic Age in the northern Lesser Antilles into three phases: Early Archaic Age (3300–2600 BC), Middle Archaic Age (2600–800 BC), and Late Archaic Age (800 BC–AD 100). Coastal areas were favored for settlement, particularly for their proximity to marine resources and flint quarries. Material culture showing reliance on seafood (fish and mollusks) and terrestrial animals. Antigua and St. Martin seem to be

2703-507: The subducting plate and the overriding plate coincides with a deep and narrow oceanic trench . This trench is created by the gravitational pull of the relatively dense subducting plate pulling the leading edge of the plate downward. Multiple earthquakes occur within the subducting slab with the seismic hypocenters located at increasing depth under the island arc: these quakes define the Wadati–Benioff zones . The volcanic arc forms on

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2756-406: The subduction zone. Volcanic arcs are distinct from volcanic chains formed over hotspots in the middle of a tectonic plate. Volcanoes often form one after another as the plate moves over the hotspot, and so the volcanoes progress in age from one end of the chain to the other. The Hawaiian Islands form a typical hotspot chain, with the older islands to the northwest and Hawaii Island itself, which

2809-542: The territory. Christopher Columbus landed on 15 June 1502 after 21 days of crossing with trade winds, his fastest oceanic journey. On 15 September 1635, Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, the French governor of the island of San Cristóbal, landed in the port of San Pedro with 80–150 French settlers after being expelled from San Cristóbal by the English. D'Esnambuc claimed Martinique for the French King Louis XIII and

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