Volcanic origin. They have a rocky surface. In general, the islands are flat and have a coral formation. Its total surface is 2 km2.Its territory comprises three main islands located 290 kilometers Northeast. In general the relief is very low. Almost the three quarters of the surface is covered by vegetation. There are no ocean currents but there are some lagoons. Of volcanic origin, they have a rocky relief. The island has important coral formations. They have a rainy tropical climate, influenced by the sea and by the trade winds. The medium temperature is 24 degrees centigrade between November and March. The annual rain is 1524 mm.The three islands are formed by two different formations of calcareous rock. La Pierre, the oldest limestone, called Limestone of the Hill, was formed in the Oligocene-Miocene period, abot 30 million years ago. Tis limestone forms the central base of each island.It is a dense Karst stone. A coastaI terrace by the name of ironshore, surrounds the bottom of this Limestone of the Hill. It was formed approximately 120,000 years ago in the Pleistocene period.The Pleistocene period was marked by a series of ice ages. After the last ice age, the sea level began raising slowly near 400 feet under the current sea level. The islands don’t have rivers, due to the porous nature of the rock and to the absence of hills and valleys. The islands are astonishing clear due to the lack of water outlets and to the sea sediment around them seeming as if the water were surroundin the islands at the same level.
The total area of the three islands is near 100 square miles. Grand Cayman has an extension of about 76 square miles, Cayman Brac, 14 miles and Little Cayman, 10 square miles. Grand Cayman has 22 miles long approximately and 8 miles at its widest point. Its highest elevation is about 60 feet over the sea level and the most important topographic characteristic is the “north sound”.Cayman Brac has about 90 miles northeast to the east of Grand Cayman. It has about 12 miles long and almost one mile wide. The Brac rocky outcrop raises as an exceptional characteristic, and can reach 140 feet in the east tip.Little Cayman is 5 miles away from the west tip of Cayman Brac and is 10 miles long and two miles in its widest point. It is the flattest of the three islands, and its highest elevation reaches 40 feet. To the west, a 7-mile channel separates Cayman Brac from Little Cayman. 259 km²
Cayman islands comprises three Islands: Grand Cayman , Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and are located in the Caribbean Sea.Grand Cayman is near 150 miles south of Cuba and 180 miles west of Jamaica. The three islands are the rising of the side of Cayman, a characteristic of the submarine mountains that widens Sierra Maestra southwest-west in the southwest point of Cuba towards Belize. Among the most important places are the well-known Cayman trench, located between Cuba and Jamaica, with almost 1.000 meters deep.
These islands have a dense vegetation and a greenness typical of the tropics. The birds and the exotic fruits are mixed with the palms and the typical fire tree.
The birds fly over the islands. The most important is the “Cayman parrot”. Swordfish, tuna fish and dolphins and the so-called wahoo, together with other species can be seen in their seas. The recently open Botanical Garden “Queen Elizabeth II” shows the typical species of the flora and fauna.
