Turks and Caicos Islands: Difference between revisions
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==Land== | ==Land== | ||
The territory includes about 40 islands, including East Caicos, Grand Caicos, Grand Turks, North Caicos, South Caicos and West Caicos. The Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands are separated by the Turks Island Passage. The territory has a land area of 948 square miles. | The territory includes about 40 islands, including East Caicos, Grand Caicos, Grand Turks, North Caicos, South Caicos and West Caicos. The Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands are separated by the Turks Island Passage. The territory has a land area of 948 square miles. | ||
Like the rest of the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands are low lying. The highest point of land in the Turks and Caicos Islands is only 49 meters above sea level.<ref>CIA</ref> The low-lying parts of land are marine [[limestone]], high parts of the vast submerged marine limestone platforms that have (geologically) recently been raised above sea level. The limestone is at least 6,100 meters (20,000 feet) thick, all of which has accumulated in the past 200 million years. The higher elevations on some islands were produced as sand dunes, the older of which have cemented into a type of limestone locally called 'plate rock' or 'flint rock'.<ref>Albury. pp. 6-7<br>Craton. p.11<br>William F. Keegan. ''The People Who Discovered Columbus: The Prehistory of the Bahamas''. p. 20</ref> | |||
The Turks and Caicos Islands have a marine tropical climate. All of the territory is affected by [[trade wind]]s, blowing primarily out of the northeast to southeast, with few calm days. The islands are also affected by [[hurricane]]s, although less frequently than the rest of the Bahamas. Annual average rainfall is less than 800 mm.<ref>Keegan. p. 27</ref> | |||
The aboriginal vegetation on the Turks and Caicos Islands was [[very dry tropical forest]]. Most of the tropical [[hardwood]] trees of the aboriginal forest have been logged off for the [[lumber]] and [[dyewood]] trades. The remaining forests have low canopies (two to three meters) and fewer species at any given location. Introduced coconut palms (''Cocos nucifera'') and Australian pines (''Casuarina litorea'') are common.<ref>Keegan. pp. 28-32</ref> | |||
==Notes== | |||
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==References== | |||
Revision as of 16:39, 19 October 2009
The Turks and Caicos Islands is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. It is at the southeastern end of the Bahamas archipelago and north of the nation of Haiti.
Land
The territory includes about 40 islands, including East Caicos, Grand Caicos, Grand Turks, North Caicos, South Caicos and West Caicos. The Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands are separated by the Turks Island Passage. The territory has a land area of 948 square miles.
Like the rest of the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands are low lying. The highest point of land in the Turks and Caicos Islands is only 49 meters above sea level.[1] The low-lying parts of land are marine limestone, high parts of the vast submerged marine limestone platforms that have (geologically) recently been raised above sea level. The limestone is at least 6,100 meters (20,000 feet) thick, all of which has accumulated in the past 200 million years. The higher elevations on some islands were produced as sand dunes, the older of which have cemented into a type of limestone locally called 'plate rock' or 'flint rock'.[2]
The Turks and Caicos Islands have a marine tropical climate. All of the territory is affected by trade winds, blowing primarily out of the northeast to southeast, with few calm days. The islands are also affected by hurricanes, although less frequently than the rest of the Bahamas. Annual average rainfall is less than 800 mm.[3]
The aboriginal vegetation on the Turks and Caicos Islands was very dry tropical forest. Most of the tropical hardwood trees of the aboriginal forest have been logged off for the lumber and dyewood trades. The remaining forests have low canopies (two to three meters) and fewer species at any given location. Introduced coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) and Australian pines (Casuarina litorea) are common.[4]