The Caribbean Sea belongs to the basin. History and mix of cultures of the Caribbean region. Fauna and flora of the Caribbean

And located in the tropical zone of the Western Hemisphere. In the northwest, the reservoir borders the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) and connects to the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Strait between Yucatan and Cuba. To the north and east are the Greater and Lesser Antilles. In the south the sea washes north coast South America. To the west and southwest is the coast of Central America. Here Caribbean waters through the Panama Canal they are connected to the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Geography

The reservoir in question is one of the largest in the world. Its area is 2.754 thousand square meters. km. The volume of water is 6.860 thousand cubic meters. km. The maximum depth is 7686 meters. It is fixed in the so-called Cayman trough. It is located between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. This is an underwater trench between the North American and Caribbean plates. Average depth the reservoir is 2500 meters.

Countries

A huge sea washes many countries. In South America, these are Venezuela and Colombia. IN Central America: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. The last in this series is the Yucatan Peninsula. His northern part occupy 3 Mexican states, and to the south are lands belonging to Belize and Guatemala.

In the northern part of the Greater Antilles, there are states such as Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The territory of the Lesser Antilles is occupied by such countries as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.

Caribbean Sea on the map

Islands

For those who don't know, you need to know that Bahamas never belonged to the Caribbean. They are located north of Cuba and south of Florida. These are the waters of the Atlantic, and historically this area is called the West Indies. Here it covers both the Caribbean and the Bahamas. This term appeared after the discovery of America by Columbus.

In the reservoir under consideration are the Antilles, subdivided into Large and Small. The first includes 4 big islands: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. This also includes small islands, located near Cuba and forming the archipelagos of Los Canarreos and Jardines de la Reina.

The Lesser Antilles are much more numerous. They are influenced by the northwest trade wind and are subdivided into windward and leeward or southerly. In the first group, there are about 50 islands. The southern group stretches along the coast of South America and includes both individual islands and archipelagos.

closer to west coast There are several archipelagos in the reservoir. These are the Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac), Islas de la Bahia, belonging to Honduras, as well as the Miskitos and Turneff Islands. There are separate islands of San Andres and Providencia.

Rivers

Many rivers flow into the huge reservoir. The largest river in South America is the Magdalena. It flows through Colombia and has a length of 1550 km. Its annual flow is the largest and is approximately 230 cubic meters. km. The second Colombian river is called Atrato. Its length is 644 km. Some of the rivers flow into Lake Maracaibo (the largest in South America). With the Gulf of Venezuela caribbean it is connected by a shallow strait, the depth of which does not exceed 4 meters.

The reservoir is also fed by about 30 rivers of Central America. There are rivers and islands. For example, the Cauto River in Cuba. Its length is 343 km. Or the Artibonite River in Haiti with a length of 240 km. There are rivers in Jamaica. These are Milk River and Black River.

Climate

The climate is tropical. It is formed by the subtropical Caribbean Current, which is a continuation of the South Trade Wind Current. warm waters flow from the southeast to the northwest and through the Yucatan Strait go to the Gulf of Mexico, where the Gulf Stream is born. Therefore, the annual temperature is kept in the range from 21 to 29 degrees Celsius.

Trade winds dominate the reservoir. Their speed ranges from 16 to 30 km/h. Tropical hurricanes occur in the northern part of the reservoir. Their speed can reach up to 120 km/h. Such strong winds sometimes they carry a real tragedy: people die, houses collapse, crops die. For example, Hurricane Mitch, which formed in the western part of the sea in October 1998, brought a lot of grief. 11 thousand people died and the same number went missing. 2.7 million people were left without housing. They were mostly citizens of Nicaragua and Honduras.

Economy

The Caribbean Sea is inextricably linked with oil production. Approximately 170 million tons of oil per year are produced in its water area. In addition, the fishing industry is well developed. sea ​​waters produce up to 500 thousand tons of fish per year. However, human activity pollutes the environment. First of all, this negatively affects coral reefs, which are steadily bleaching, and their ecosystem is being destroyed.

In the near future, this may not affect the tourism industry in the best way. Up to 40 million tourists visit this area every year. Their net profit is about 30 billion dollars. Many tourists are attracted by diving and the beauty of coral reefs. Approximately 3 million local residents living on the islands are somehow connected with tourism business. So the issues related to ecology are quite acute.

Geological setting

The sea is located on the Caribbean lithospheric plate and, being one of largest seas transitional zone, separated from the ocean by several uneven-aged island arcs. The youngest of them passes through the Small Antilles from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to the island of Trinidad off the coast of Venezuela. This arc was formed during the collision of the Caribbean Plate with the South American Plate and includes the current and extinct volcanoes, such as Montagne Pele, Kiel and volcanoes national park Morne Trois Pitons. Large islands in the northern part of the sea (Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) lie on an older island arc, to the north of which the continental and subcontinental crust has already formed. The arc from the south of Cuba, expressed by the Sierra Maestra mountains, the underwater Cayman Range, and the trough of the same name, is also relatively young. The deepest known point in the Caribbean Sea is located in the Cayman Trench - 7686 m below sea level.

The surface of the Caribbean Plate is divided into five basins: Grenada (depth 4120 m), Venezuelan (5420 m or 5630 m), Colombian (4532 m or 4263 m), Caymanova (Bartlett, 7686 m) and Yucatan (5055 m). or 4352 m.). The depressions are separated by submarine ridges (probably former island arcs) Aves, Beata, and the Nicaraguan Rise.

The Yucatan Basin is separated from Gulf of Mexico The Yucatan Strait, which is located between the Yucatan Peninsula and the island of Cuba and has a depth of about 1600 m. To the south of the Yucatan Basin, the Cayman Basin stretches from west to east, partially separated from the Yucatan by the Cayman Range, which comes to the surface in several places, forming the Cayman Islands. The Nicaraguan uplift, which has the shape of a triangle and a depth of about 1200 m, extends from the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua to the island of Haiti. The island of Jamaica is located on this rise, and the border between the Cayman and Columbia Basins also passes through it. The Colombian basin, in turn, is partially separated from the Venezuelan by the Beata ridge, which rises to 2121 m below sea level. The Colombian and Venezuelan basins are connected by the Aruba rupture, the depth of which reaches 4,000 m. The Aves Ridge separates the small Grenada basin from the Venezuelan one, which is bounded from the east by the arc of the Lesser Antilles.

Coastline

The coastline of the sea is heavily indented, the shores are mountainous in places, low in places (Caribbean Lowland). In shallow water areas there are various coral deposits and numerous reef structures. On the continental coast (western and southern parts of the sea) there are several bays, the largest of which are: Honduras, Mosquitos, Darien and Venezuela. In the northern part are the bays of Batabano, Ana Maria and Guacanaybo ( South coast islands of Cuba), as well as the Gulf of Gonave ( West Side islands of Haiti).

On east coast Yucatan has several bays, including Asension, Espiritu Santo and Chetumal. The Gulf of Honduras ends in Amatiche Bay, located on the border of Belize and Guatemala. north coast Honduras is slightly indented, and several lagoons jut into the Mosquito Coast, including the lagoons of Caratasca, Bismuna, Perlas and Bluefields Bay. In the east of Panama, there is a large Chiriqui lagoon. Off the coast of South America, the Darien Gulf ends with the Uraba Gulf, and the Venezuelan Gulf, fenced off by the Guajira Peninsula, ends with Lake Maracaibo. To the west of the island of Trinidad lies the Gulf of Paria, which is considered part of Atlantic Ocean.

The Caribbean Sea is located in the tropical climate zone, which is influenced by the trade wind circulation. Average monthly air temperatures vary from 23 to 27 °C. Cloudiness is 4-5 points.

The average annual rainfall in the region varies from 250 mm on the island of Bonaire to 9000 mm in the windward parts of Dominica. The northeast trade winds prevail with average speeds of 16-32 km / h, however, in northern regions seas, tropical hurricanes occur, the speed of which can exceed 120 km / h. On average, 8-9 such hurricanes occur per year during the period from June to November, and in September - October they are most frequent. According to the US National Hurricane Center, 385 hurricanes passed over the Caribbean Sea from 1494 to 1900, and 235 such manifestations of the elements were recorded from 1900 to 1991. The Caribbean is less prone to hurricane damage than the Gulf of Mexico or the Western Pacific (where typhoons rage from May to November). Most of hurricanes form off the islands Green Cape and is sent by the trade winds to the shores of America.

Severe hurricanes cause loss of life, destruction and crop failures in the region. The great hurricane of 1780, which raged from October 10 to 16, 1780, caused enormous damage to the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and, possibly, the Florida peninsula, and also led to the death of 22 to 24 thousand people. Hurricane Mitch, which originated on October 22, 1998 off the coast of Colombia, passed through Central America, the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas, causing damage of 40 million US dollars and killing 11 - 18 thousand people.

- perhaps one of the most famous in the world, thanks to the writers who wrote novels about pirates and the directors who made films about them. But the Caribbean is interesting not only for legends about pirates, it is unique and unique in its own way. beautiful place on our planet.

• Cruises in the Caribbean (including)

This sea is comfortably nestled in a pool. It belongs to the so-called semi-enclosed seas. Central and South America are its borders from the south and west. Large and Small act as its borders in the north and east.

Through the man-made southwest Panama Canal it has a connection with Pacific Ocean. It also has a connection to the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Strait. Its volume is 6,860 thousand km³ with an area of ​​2,754,000 km². In depth, this sea reaches an average of 2500 m, greatest depth 7686 m

The bottom of the Caribbean Sea has a very interesting relief. It has many underwater ridges that share five basins:

• - The Grenada Basin has a depth of about 4120 m;
• - Venezuelan Basin - approximate depth 5630 m;
• - Columbia Basin in depth reaches 4532 m;
• - Cayman is the deepest of them, with a depth of 7686 m;
• - The Yucatan basin has a depth of 5055 m.

Speaking of coastline of this sea, its strong indentation can be noted. Part of the coast is mountainous, while in some places there are also lowlands. In shallow water, there are many reefs and coral deposits. Continental coast, located in the western and southern parts sea ​​has a number of bays. The largest of them include: Cariaco, Darien, Mosquitos, Venezuelan and Honduras.

On the island, located in the northern part of the sea, there are the bays of Guacanoyabo, Ana Maria and Batabano, and in the west of the island the Gulf of Gonave. There are also a number of bays on the east coast of the Yucatan, among them Chetumal, Espiritu Santo and Asension.

On average, the water temperature in the Caribbean Sea ranges from 25 ° C to 28 ° C, and the salinity of the water in it is about 36.0%, with a density of 1.0235-1.0240 kg / m³.

Fauna and flora of the Caribbean

This basin is quite rich in both its flora and fauna. In shallow water, they are mainly concentrated near coral reefs. In the lagoons, you can meet entire fields of sea grass if you enter from the lee side of the reef. There are seven types of algae in the Caribbean Sea.

The fauna is represented by more than 450 species of fish. Among which there are sharks (tiger, silk, Caribbean reef, bull shark). And also a number of others the most interesting species fish such as sea devils, angelfish, flying fish, butterfly eyefish, orange fin surgeonfish, goliath grouper, parrotfish, moray eels, tarpon and a host of others.

In addition, there are as many as 90 species of mammals here, including: dolphins, humpback whales, sperm whales. American manatees and seals can be found near the island.

It is also necessary to highlight the huge habitat of reptiles with more than 500 species settled there - these are saltwater crocodiles, a number of species of turtles and many other species of reptiles. Enough here and amphibians 170 species.

History and cultural mix of the Caribbean

Caribbean Sea, has rich history. If we consider it before the appearance of Europeans there, we can distinguish several powerful Indian cultures that existed here. With the beginning of colonization, an era well known to any schoolchild in history lessons and a lover of novels about pirates began. Initially, these territories were colonized by the Spaniards, starting with the expedition of Columbus, who actually discovered these islands.

Centuries later, others European countries also began to establish their colonies on islands in the local waters. Pirates Privateers, corsairs and buccaneers began to emerge here in the 17th century. The main centers of their collection were the city and the island of Tortuga. Many books are dedicated to the pirates who plied these waters. A large part of these characters were real historical figures. Many pirates did not work for themselves but served as privateers on the side of one or another power, such as the famous Francis Drake, who served in Great Britain and Henry Morgan. The most famous act of the first was the capture in 1572 of the Spanish Silver caravan in the port of Nombre de Dios. And the second campaign on in 1671. In time, he became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. Also famous here: Steed Bonnet, Charles Wayne, Black Bart, Jack Rackhamso (his girlfriends Mary, Reedy, Ann, Bonnie).

Each of these personalities has its own illustrious history, which has survived to a large extent thanks to the book " General history robberies and murders committed by the most famous pirates, ”written in 1724 by Charles Johnson. Later, the name of Roberto Cofresi, who piracy in these waters at the beginning of the 19th century, should also be noted. It should also be noted that the very history of discoveries, colonization and separation of the colonies is very fascinating and will be able to attract the attention of anyone who is interested in the history of the huge number of events and drunk that happened in this region.

The Caribbean Sea (Caribbean Sea) is located in the west of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator. Thanks to tropical climate, numerous sandy beaches, the purest water, famous resorts And picturesque places The Caribbean region is popular with tourists. The Caribbean area hosts cruise routes of famous travel companies. Rich undersea world attracts thousands of diving enthusiasts. Mostly Caribbean resorts are visited by residents of the USA, Canada, Brazil.

Caribbean Islands Antilles and Bahamas include several major islands: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico. Here are also Virgin Islands, Cayman islands.

The climate of the region is determined by the trade winds and the tropical region of the Atlantic Ocean. average temperature during the year they practically do not change and are +23 ... +28 degrees. The Caribbean region is less affected by tropical hurricanes than the Gulf of Mexico and East End Pacific Ocean

Flora and fauna Warm climate, Coral reefs And pure water created a rich underwater world of the sea. About 500 live here. various kinds fish, such as goliath fish, angel fish and parrot fish, moray eels and several types of sharks. There are whales, sperm whales and dolphins in the waters of the sea. The entire coastal area is covered tropical forests with lush vegetation and a riot of colors

The Caribbean Sea region is a favorite vacation spot for many oligarchs from different countries. They are not limited to cash and choose really deserving places for comfortable rest