Energy and Mineral Potential of the Central American-Caribbean Region

This volume is a collection of 61 papers by leading scientists who have been actively involved in geoscience and resource programs in the Central-Caribbean Region. This book will be of special interest to geoscientists and organizations concerned with resource exploration and appraisal in that region.

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Energy and Mineral Potential of the Central American-Caribbean Region is a compilation of the latest results in this area. It covers topics such as petroleum resources, coal resources, geothermal resources, metallic minerals, industrial minerals, hydrology and environmental problems, and geologic hazards. The volume is of special interest to scientists working in this region and to those who would like to obtain an overview of the resource potential.

Contenu
Overview.- The role of national institutions and international cooperation in the development of the geological sciences in the Central American-Caribbean region.- The known and potential resource base for economic development in the Central American-Caribbean region.- Geodynamic map of Costa Rica.- Central America and the north Caribbean: Resource implications inferred from paleomagnetic data and plate tectonic history.- The status of mineral production in the Caribbean Basin countries.- Circum-Caribbean sedimentary basin development and timing of hydrocarbon maturation as a function of Caribbean Plate tectonic evolution.- The human and economic losses of selected natural disasters in Latin America, 19701987.- Central American resource studies.- Petroleum Resources.- Caribbean region: Perspectives on petroleum.- Sedimentary basins of Costa Rica: Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution and hydrocarbon potential.- An integrated geological and geophysical interpretation of the San Carlos basin, Costa Rica.- Preliminary tectonic outline of northern Guatemala.- The Cobán Formation in the Petén basin, Guatemala.- The petroleum potential of the Netherlands Antilles.- Sedimentary basins and petroleum potential of Puerto Rico.- An oil and gas assessment of the U. S. continental slope in the Gulf of Mexico.- The perpetual mystery of petroleum migration.- Summary of working group session on petroleum resources.- Coal and Peat Resources.- Coal in the Central American-Caribbean region.- Exploration, development, and utilization of coal in Costa Rica.- Coal resources of the Baja Talamanca area of Costa Rica.- A mining design project for the Zent coal, Limon, Costa Rica.- Utilizing coal in the cement industry in Costa Rica.- Coal districts of Venezuela.- Status of coal exploration inthe Atlantic coast of Colombia.- Opportunities for collaborating in utilization of clean coal technologies.- Peat deposits of Central America and the Caribbean region.- Deposits of peat in Costa Rica.- Economics of selected energy applications of peat in Panama and Costa Rica.- Recommendations of the working group on coal and peat.- Geothermal Resources.- Status and geologic setting of geothermal fields in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.- Seismological studies at the Miravalles geothermal project.- Geophysical exploration of Las Pailas geothermal field, Rincón de la Vieja, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.- Momotombo geothermal field.- Current status of geothermal activities in Guatemala.- Geothermal prefeasibility studies in Honduras.- Prefeasibility geothermal assessment of Platanares, Department of Copán, Honduras.- An economic prefeasibility study of geothermal energy development at Platanares, Honduras.- Application of geothermal energy to mineral processing: Cyanide heap-leaching of low-grade gold ore.- Environmental impacts associated with geothermal exploration, development, and power generation.- Summary and recommendations of the working group on geothermal resources.- Industrial Minerals and Metallic Mineral Resources.- The outlook for volcanic-hosted gold deposits in the Republic of Costa Rica.- Origin of gold from the Golfo Dulce placer province, southern Costa Rica.- Nickel potential of the Caribbean Plate and adjacent regions.- The Jamaican bauxite industry: Glimpses into its past, present, and future.- Mineral-energy resources in the Dominican Republic.- Selected precious-metal occurrences in the Lesser Antilles.- Biogeochemistry for future mineral resource exploration programs in the Central American-Caribbean region.- IndustrialmineralsKey to economic development.- The occurrence, production, and trade of non-metallic industrial minerals in Costa Rica.- A provisional study of Costa Rican diatomites as raw materials for filter-aids.- Summary and recommendations of the minerals working group.- Water Resources.- The distinctive hydrology of tropical islands.- A Quaternary volcanic aquifer system in Central America: Key factors in groundwater potential and protection.- Structure and depositional patterns and their influence on the hydraulic conductivity of fan-deltas in southern Puerto Rico.- Karst localities in Costa Rica and their geologic background.- Summary statement for hydrology session working group.- Geologic Hazards.- Landslides on the Panama Canal.- Geologic hazards in Honduras.- Extent and social-economic significance of slope instability in the island of Hispaniola.- Use of seismic refraction techniques for investigating recent landslides in a tropical rain forest in Puerto Rico.- Report of the working group on natural hazards.