How was the Bahamas formed?

The Bahamas was formed like most of the world volcanically. So, The Bahamas crust is made primarily by igneous sedimentary rocks (i.e. limestone).

The Island of the Bahamas is the highest point of underwater banks. (Photo credited by Ronda Cox

Some of the Bahamas island land is made up of the remains of coral reefs (Attrill, 2000). The word Bahamas actually means shallows seas. In the Bahamas one could be swimming or sailing in 20 feet of water and in a flash it can quickly become only 6 feet of water. The Bahamas is land that was once under sea and was pushed up during Plate tectonics and Shallow water. The Island of the Bahamas used to be part of the west coast of Africa, but moved away due to Plate Tectonics approximately 300 million years ago.

(Photo credited by Geology.com)

Works Cited

Attrill, R. (2000, ). Rod Atrill's Bahama Wildlife. Retrieved April 22, 2011, from Rod Atrill's Bahama Wildlife: http://www.motygido.co.uk/bahamas_birthplace.htm

The Bahamas

The Bahamas consist of 700 islands with only 29 of the islands inhabited. The Bahamas is located in the North Atlantic Ocean about 45 miles southeast of Florida and is considered part of the Caribbean. The Longitude and Latitude of Nassau is 25°05'N and 77°20'W. The Bahamas has a total land area of about 5,358 square miles. From northeast to southwest is has a distance of 760 miles. The Bahamas has a land area that is just a bit smaller than Connecticut, but the total area is larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

The highest point of the Bahamas is 63 meters (206ft) above sea level, which is Mount Alvernia on Cat Island. The lowest point is at sea level. For the most part the island is long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills. It has over 50 different types of trees and approximately 40 varieties of fruit trees. The Bahamas have some of the clearest waters on earth with visibility of over 200 feet (61 meters), because the Bahamas is made entirely of calcium carbonate, which is mainly produced or precipitated by the organisms of coral reefs.

Work Cited:

Embassy of the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2011, from Embassy of the United States : http://nassau.usembassy.gov/resources.html

Encyclopedia of the Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2011, from NationsEncyclopedia: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/The-Bahamas-LOCATION-SIZE-AND-EXTENT.html

Pinder, S. (2008, 10 17). shanepinder. Retrieved 3 18, 2011, from shanepinder.com: http://shanepinder.com/blog/2008/10/17/the-hermitage-mt-alvernia-cat-island-bahamas/

Works Cited

index mundi. (2010, 03 11). Retrieved 03 17, 2011, from index mundi: http://www.indexmundi.com/the_bahamas/elevation_extremes.html

TheBahamasGuide. (2008). Retrieved 03 17, 2011, from TheBahamasGuide.com: www.thebahamasguide.com