This text accompanies a set of twelve 1:10,000 geological maps of Barbados, West Indies; four associated cross sections that transect the island; and a three-part appendix. Basement rocks on Barbados are assigned to two Paleogene tectonic complexes that formed within or above an active subduction complex. The nature and origin of these rocks were the subject of many publications by Robert C. Speed and his students and colleagues, and are briefly recapitulated in this Special Paper.

The basement rocks are overlain by Quaternary rocks and sediments, and Speed's studies of these younger materials are the focus of this volume. The island's marine terraces, modern shore zone, modern marine seacliffs, stream networks, and landslides are analyzed in detail. Uplift rates that were calculated at 71 sites, and dozens of ²³⁰Th dates of Pleistocene limestone are presented here for the first time. The accompanying CD-ROM has advanced drafts of two manuscripts—one relating emergence episodes and stratigraphy to tectonic and eustatic sea-level changes, and the other documenting the history of terrace development—as well as an appendix that supplements both of those manuscripts.

The materials in this contribution are components of a multidisciplinary, comprehensive analysis of the geology and geomorphology of Barbados by Robert Speed, who passed away in 2003 shortly before finalizing this work.