Editing Bonaire (section)

=== Geology ===
{{Main articles|Geology of Bonaire}}
Geologists believe that Bonaire and the other ABC islands were formed about 90 million years ago.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Micallef |first=Joseph V. |title=The Surprising Story Of Bonaire's Salt Pyramids |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2019/04/18/the-surprising-story-of-bonaires-salt-pyramids/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> As the [[Caribbean Plate|Caribbean plate]] collided with the [[South America|South American]] [[Plate tectonics|plate]], it forced a large mass of rock to the ocean surface and created the [[Leeward Antilles Ridge]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Hippolyte |first1=Jean-Claude |last2=Mann |first2=Paul |date=2011-01-01 |title=Neogene–Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Leeward Antilles islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) from fault kinematic analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264817209001214 |journal=Marine and Petroleum Geology |series=Thematic Set on: Tectonics, basinal framework, and petroleum systems of eastern Venezuela, the Leeward Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, and offshore areas |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=259–277 |doi=10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.06.010 |bibcode=2011MarPG..28..259H |issn=0264-8172}}</ref> The islands of Bonaire, Aruba, and Curaçao were formed along this ridge.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lorscheid |first1=Thomas |last2=Felis |first2=Thomas |last3=Stocchi |first3=Paolo |last4=Obert |first4=J. Christina |last5=Scholz |first5=Denis |last6=Rovere |first6=Alessio |date=2017-11-24 |title=Tides in the Last Interglacial: insights from notch geometry and palaeo tidal models in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=16241 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-16285-6 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5701235 |pmid=29176722|bibcode=2017NatSR...716241L }}</ref> As such, Bonaire lies within the Caribbean–South America [[Plate tectonics|plate boundary zone]].<ref name=":0" /> Some geologists place Bonaire's location on the South American [[continental shelf]];<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lallemant |first1=Hans G. Avé |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjxEfjiu8-0C&q=bonaire |title=Caribbean-South American Plate Interactions, Venezuela |last2=Sisson |first2=Virginia Baker |date=2005-01-01 |publisher=Geological Society of America |isbn=978-0-8137-2394-5 |language=en}}</ref> while others place the island's location on or above the Caribbean plate.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2007 |title=Cenozoic Kinematics and Dynamics of Oblique Collision Between two Convergent Plate Margins: The Caribbean-South America Collision in Eastern Venezuela, Trinidad and Barbados |url=http://www.tectonicanalysis.com/site/downloads/Pindell07_SE_Caribbean.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Transactions of GCSSEPM 27th Annual Bob F. Perkins Research Conference |pages=458–553 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922004813/http://www.tectonicanalysis.com/site/downloads/Pindell07_SE_Caribbean.pdf |archive-date=2017-09-22 |access-date=2024-08-22 }}</ref>

The island is essentially coral that has been geologically pushed up and out of the sea.<ref name=":4" /> As the seabed rose upwards a vast [[coral reef]] grew on what is now dry land.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Alexander |first=Charles S. |date=1961 |title=The Marine Terraces of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, Netherlands Antilles |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2561371 |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=102–123 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1961.tb00370.x |jstor=2561371 |issn=0004-5608}}</ref> These corals were eventually exposed to air and perished, becoming surface [[Limestone|limestone deposits]] over the millennia.<ref name=":12" /> As a result, reef limestone covers a large part of the Bonarie today,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Caribbean Netherlands |url=https://www.geologischedienst.nl/en/about-gdn/caribbean-netherlands/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Geological Survey of the Netherlands |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as the natural [[fringing reef]] system, in which the coral formations start at the shoreline. Tidal variations are only about {{convert|1.8|-|2.0|ft|order=flip|round=5|cm}},{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} so the corals start at the [[Tidal range|low tide line]] and continue on, following the underwater [[topography]] of the island's base. Bonaire's [[Tide|tides]] are more affected by a combination of wind and low/high-[[Pressure system|pressure systems]] than by the moon.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Due to its history, the geology of Bonaire is dominated by gently dipping [[Carbonate rock|carbonate rocks]] ranging in age from [[Cretaceous]] (≈90-100 million years ago (Ma)) to [[Miocene]] (≈5 Ma), which lie unconformably on a [[Cretaceous|pre-Cretaceous]] [[Igneous basement Rock|igneous basement]]. Where the unconformity corresponds with [[Erosion and tectonics|sea-level erosion]], caves are common.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=July 19, 2019 |title=Bonaire Caves and Karst Nature Reserve Update |url=https://dcnanature.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/BioNews25-BonaireCaves.pdf |website=Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance |type=}}</ref>