Coral Reefs; Volcanic Islands; South American Geology — CompleteDarwin, Charles
Science
Coral Reefs; Volcanic Islands; South American Geology — Complete
Darwin, Charles
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Coral reefs and islands; Geology -- South America; Islands; Volcanoes
[8] Professor Miller has been so kind as to examine this mineral. He
obtained two good cleavages of 86° 30′ and 86° 50′. The mean of
several, which I made, was 86° 30′. Professor Miller states that these
crystals, when reduced to a fine powder, are soluble in hydrochloric
acid, leaving some undissolved silex behind; the addition of oxalate
of ammonia gives a copious precipitate of lime. He further remarks,
that according to Von Kobell, anorthite (a mineral occurring in the
ejected fragments at Mount Somma) is always white and transparent, so
that if this be the case, these crystals from Ascension must be
considered as Labrador feldspar. Professor Miller adds, that he has
seen an account, in Erdmann’s “Journal für tecnische Chemie,” of a
mineral ejected from a volcano which had the external characters of
Labrador feldspar, but differed in the analysis from that given by
mineralogists of this mineral: the author attributed this difference
to an error in the analysis of Labrador feldspar, which is very old.
[9] Daubeny, in his work on Volcanoes (p. 386), remarks that this is
the case; and Humboldt, in his “Personal Narrative,” vol. i, p. 236,
says “In general, the masses of known primitive rocks, I mean those
which perfectly resemble our granites, gneiss, and mica-slate, are
very rare in lavas: the substances we generally denote by the name of
granite, thrown out by Vesuvius, are mixtures of nepheline, mica, and
pyroxene.”
_Trachytic series of rocks._—Those occupy the more elevated and
central, and likewise the south-eastern, parts of the island. The
trachyte is generally of a pale brown colour, stained with small darker
patches; it contains broken and bent crystals of glassy feldspar,
grains of specular iron, and black microscopical points, which latter,
from being easily fused, and then becoming magnetic, I presume are
hornblende. The greater number of the hills, however, are composed of a
quite white, friable stone, appearing like a trachytic tuff. Obsidian,
hornstone, and several kinds of laminated feldspathic rocks, are
associated with the trachyte. There is no distinct stratification; nor
could I distinguish a crateriform structure in any of the hills of this
series. Considerable dislocations have taken place; and many fissures
in these rocks are yet left open, or are only partially filled with
loose fragments. Within the space,[10] mainly formed of trachyte, some
basaltic streams have burst forth; and not far from the summit of Green
Mountain, there is one stream of quite black, vesicular basalt,
containing minute crystals of glassy feldspar, which have a rounded
appearance.
[10] This space is nearly included by a line sweeping round Green
Mountain, and joining the hills, called the Weather Port Signal,
Holyhead, and that denominated (improperly in a geological sense) “the
Crater of an old volcano.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account