“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe around us, the less taste we will have for destruction.” – Rachel Carson
Approximately 100 million years ago, the denser and
faster-moving North American plate shifted under the Caribbean plate, forming a
chain of underwater volcanoes. These volcanoes, fueled by intense heat from the
continued friction of plate movement, and combined with the lift of the plate
edge eventually formed the Greater Antilles island chain. Thus, St. John Island
was born.
Geographically speaking, St. John Island is a small peak on
the Puerto Rican Bank, a mostly underwater mountain plateau that is located on
the eastern end of the Greater Antilles island chain in the Caribbean Sea. The
Puerto Rican Bank encompasses the islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and
the United States and British Virgin Islands. Politically speaking, St. John is
one of four islands making up the United States Virgin Islands. The other three
islands being St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Water Island. Formerly known as the
Danish West Indies, the United States government purchased these four islands,
and their surrounding rocks and cays, from Denmark in 1917.