Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Coral reefs and islands; Geology -- South America; Islands; Volcanoes
The _pale blue colour_ [represented by (2)] represents barrier-reefs.
The most obvious character of reefs of this class is the broad and
deep-water moat within the reef: but this, like the lagoons of small
atolls, is liable to become filled up with detritus and with reefs of
delicately branched corals: when, therefore, a reef round the entire
circumference of an island extends very far into a profoundly deep sea,
so that it can hardly be confounded with a fringing-reef which must
rest on a foundation of rock within a small depth, it has been coloured
pale blue, although it does not include a deep-water moat: but this has
only been done rarely, and each case is distinctly mentioned in the
Appendix.
The _red colour_ (4) represents reefs fringing the land quite closely
where the sea is deep, and where the bottom is gently inclined
extending to a moderate distance from it, but not having a deep-water
moat or lagoon-like space parallel to the shore. It must be remembered
that fringing-reefs are frequently _breached_ in front of rivers and
valleys by deepish channels, where mud has been deposited. A space of
thirty miles in width has been coloured round or in front of the reefs
of each class, in order that the colours might be conspicuous on the
appended map, which is reduced to so small a scale.
The _vermillion spots_, and streaks (1) represent volcanoes now in
action, or historically known to have been so. They are chiefly laid
down from Von Buch’s work on the Canary Islands; and my reasons for
making a few alterations are given in the note below.[1]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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