One of the most interesting geologically of the world's smaller islands, Barbados has become celebrated both for its uplifted deep-sea facies and for its uplifted Pleistocene coral reefs. The structure discloses an asymmetric uplift on the E and a flattening on the N and S.
The core of the island consists of the New Scotland Beds, at least 200 m thick, outcropping on the east coast; these are possibly Cretaceous to Eocene in age. The upper part contains Nummulites . The facies is bathyal to abyssal with mainly terrigenous material in turbidite relationships, showing much slumping and penecontemporaneous disturbance, in short, a flysch facies. It has been interpreted as a major olistostrome (gravity slide) by Daviess, S. N. Daviess (1971). In these sands and clays there are some asphaltic beds.
Overlying these beds unconformably follows the Oceanic series, particularly in the southwestern part of the island and on Mt. Hillaby, with 190 m of deep marine facies, in five formations: (1) Globigerina...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Beckmann, J. P., 1953. “Die Foraminiferen der Oceanic Formation (Eocaen–Oligocaen) von Barbados, Kleinen Antillen,” Eclog. Geol. Helv., 46(2), 301–412.
Broecker, W. S., Thurber, D. L., Ku, T. L., Matthews, R. K., and Mesollela, K. J., 1968. “Milankovitch hypothesis supported by precise dating of coral reefs and deep sea sediments,” Science, 159, 297–300.
Bronnimann, P., 1949. “Notes on the ecologic interpretation of fossil Globigerina from the West Indies,” Micropaleontologist, 3(2), 23–27.
Cizancourt, M. de, 1948. “Nummulites de I'ile de la Barbade,” Mém. Soc. Géol. France, Ser. 57, 27, 36p.
Daviess, S. N., 1971. “Barbados: a major submarine gravity slide,” Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 82, 2593–2602.
James, N. P., Mountjoy, E. W., and Omura, A., 1971. “An early Wisconsin reef terrace at Barbados, West Indies, and its climatic implications,” Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 82, 2011–2018.
Macintyre, I. G., 1967. “Submerged coral reefs, west coast of Barbados, West Indies,” Can. J. Earth Sci., 4(3), 461–474.
Macintyre, I. G., 1970. “Sediments off the west coast of Barbados: diversity of origins,” Marine Geol., 9(1), 5–23.
Mesolella, K. J., 1967. “Zonation of uplifted Pleistocene coral reefs on Barbados, West Indies,” Science, 156(3775), 638–640.
Mesolella, K. J., et al., 1969. “The astronomical theory of climatic change: Barbados data,” J. Geol., 77, 250–274.
Mesolella, K. J., et al., 1970. “Facies geometries within Pleistocene reefs of Barbados, West Indies,” Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geologists, 54, 1899–1917.
Senn, A., 1940. “Paleogene of Barbados and its bearing on history and structure of Antillean–Caribbean region,” Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geologists, 24(9), 1548–1610.
Senn, A., 1947. “Die Geologie der Insel Barbados (Kleine Antillen) und die Morphogenese der umliegende marine Gross formen,” Eclog. Geol. Helv., 40(2), 199–222.
Steinen, R. P., Harrison, R. S., and Matthews, R. K., 1973. “Eustatic low stand of sea level between 125,000 and 105,000 B.P.: evidence from the subsurface of Barbados, West Indies,” Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 84, 63–70.
Trechmann, C. T., 1925. “The Scotland Beds of Barbados,” Geol. Mag., 62, 481–504.
Trechmann, C. T., 1933. “The uplift of Barbados,” Geol. Mag., 69, 19–47.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Fairbridge, R.W. (1975). Barbados . In: World Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-0-4702-5145-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31081-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive