Providencia is the only example of subaerial volcanism on the Lower Nicaraguan Rise. In this volume, the authors examine this volcanism and the geological history of the western Caribbean and the Lower Nicaraguan Rise, whose origin and role in the development of the Caribbean plate has been described as enigmatic and poorly understood. While the Providencia alkaline suite is similar to others within the Western Caribbean Alkaline Province, its subalkaline suite is unique, having no equivalent within the province. In order to unravel its complex history and evolution, this volume presents new and previously published results for the geology, geochemistry, petrology, and isotopic ages from the Providencia island group.