Jamaican Landscape and Geology

Jamaica lies on the northern edge of the Caribbean plate, which lies next to the North American plate. That's the reason for many earthquakes in the country. Two-thirds of the western and middle country are covered by chalkstone, lots of the mountains up to 900 metres height are based of it. The chalkstone is the reason, why in Jamaica aren't many lakes. In the coast of Jamaica lies one of the deepest ocean deeps, the Cayman Trough with 7680 metres depth. Bauxite is the most important natural resource, it's the basis for aluminium. Other important recources are cast and marble. Jamaica's highest mountain is the Blue Mountain Peak, it's 2256 metres high and lies in the mountain range Blue Mountains in the east of the country. Many short rivers characterize the countryside of Jamaica, the most of the rivers flow to the north ot the south. Probably the longest river in Jamaica is the Rio Minho, it's 92,5 kilometres long. Other important rivers are the Black River (53,4 kilometres), the Cabaritta River (39,7 kilometres) and the Rio Cobre, which is important for the farming and the electricity of Spanish Town, a big city.

© Maurizio