SUMMARY 275 



ward islands in late geologic time in order to give the least support to 

 the continental theory with its mysterious drowned ridges.' No evidence 

 of such an extensive subsidence would have been found in the submarine 

 topography. 



Considering all the lands and bottoms within the 1,000-fathom con- 

 tour, it is impossible to find any evidence of former existence of a united 

 body of land which has been dissected into fragments, as has been sug- 

 gested. 



All the evidence concerning the Anegada channel, one of these alleged 

 rivers which separates the Windward Island group from the Virgins by 

 the 500, 1,000, and 2,500 fathom contours, from Porto Rico and the Vir- 

 gins, is that it is one of the orogenic troughs of the Antillean system. 



The Saint Lucia and Martinique channels, on the other hand, occur- 

 ring between great extrusive volcanic piles instead of being drowned 

 rivers, are constructional valleys of coalescence between slopes of adja- 

 cent volcanoes. It is impossible to find any evidence that a subsidence 

 of 6,000 feet, which would have been necessary to dismember the alleged 

 Antillean continent, has taken place or that the sea bottoms ever stood 

 6,000 feet higher than now, as they must have stood to make these im- 

 aginary connections. 



The narrowing, steep, leeward submerged profiles of the volcanic 

 Caribbees south of Guadeloupe are constructional piles exactly similar 

 to those of their continuation above the water and not those of old con- 

 tinental river valleys, while the banks extending to the windward are 

 clearly the work of marine planation proceeding in the past as it is today. 



The elaborate tectonic theory maintaining a structural connection 

 between the Venezuelan, Antillean, and Windward ridges falls before an 

 analysis of geological facts. It is impossible to connect the east and 

 west Antillean and Venezuelan folds and faults with the main Caribbee 

 ridge, and all the evidence shows positively that they did not connect. 

 The only hypothetical connection which could be established between 

 the Venezuelan, Antillean, and Windward groups would be via the Bar- 

 badian ridge, and such a task would require a most imaginative mind 

 and entire disregard of facts. 



Proofs of great rock folds postulated by Milne and Anderson as a part 

 of his " macroseismic " theory are also absolutely lacking. Instead, the 

 Caribbee volcanic ridge apparently rises from a trough between two more 

 ancient ridges. There is no evidence of folded structure at all except the 

 easternmost of these, the Barbadian. It is utterly impossible to connect 

 the volcanoes with crustal movements resulting from any sedimentary 

 loads. 



XXXVII— Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 16, 1904 



