A HYDROGEOLOGIC MODEL OF SAMANA-CAY, BAHAMAS, AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE COLUMBUS LANDFALL QUESTION

Samana Cay, Bahamas, is a leading candidate among the sites proposed a s the first landfall of Columbus in the New World. One main point of c ontention against this identification is that Samana lacks a feature m atching the laguna observed by Columbus in the middle of his landfall island. However, this argument has failed to consider the paleogeograp hic aspects of the problem. A hydrogeologic computer model suggests th e existence of a sizable surface-water feature in the medial interior of Samana Cay under conditions theorized to have been present when Col umbus arrived in the Bahamas. This feature may correspond to the lagun a described by Columbus.