Geological Observations on South AmericaDarwin, Charles
Science
Geological Observations on South America
Darwin, Charles
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Geology -- South America; Mollusks, Fossil -- South America; Paleontology
At ST. FE BAJADA, in Entre Rios, the cliffs, estimated at between sixty
and seventy feet in height, expose an interesting section: the lower
half consists of tertiary strata with marine shells, and the upper half
of the Pampean formation. The lowest bed is an obliquely laminated,
blackish, indurated mud, with distinct traces of vegetable remains. (M.
d’Orbigny “Voyage” Part. Geolog. page 37, has given a detailed
description of this section, but as he does not mention this lowest
bed, it may have been concealed when he was there by the river. There
is a considerable discrepancy between his description and mine, which I
can only account for by the beds themselves varying considerably in
short distances.) Above this there is a thick bed of yellowish sandy
clay, with much crystallised gypsum and many shells of Ostreae,
Pectens, and Arcae: above this there generally comes an arenaceous
crystalline limestone, but there is sometimes interposed a bed, about
twelve feet thick, of dark green, soapy clay, weathering into small
angular fragments. The limestone, where purest, is white, highly
crystalline, and full of cavities: it includes small pebbles of quartz,
broken shells, teeth of sharks, and sometimes, as I was informed, large
bones: it often contains so much sand as to pass into a calcareous
sandstone, and in such parts the great Ostrea Patagonica chiefly
abounds. (Captain Sulivan, R.N., has given me a specimen of this shell,
which he found in the cliffs at Point Cerrito, between twenty and
thirty miles above the Bajada.) In the upper part, the limestone
alternates with layers of fine white sand. The shells included in these
beds have been named for me by M. d’Orbigny: they consist of:—
1. Ostrea Patagonica, d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Part. Pal. 2. Ostrea
Alvarezii, d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Part. Pal. 3. Pecten Paranensis,
d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Part. Pal. 4. Pecten Darwinianus, d’Orbigny,
“Voyage” Part. Pal. 5. Venus Munsterii, d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Pal. 6.
Arca Bonplandiana, d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Pal. 7. Cardium Platense,
d’Orbigny, “Voyage” Pal. 8. Tellina, probably nov. species, but too
imperfect for description.
PHYTOLITHARIA.
Lithasteriscus tuberculatus. Lithodontium bursa. Lithodontium furcatum.
Lithodontium rostratum. Lithostylidium Amphiodon. Lithostylidium
Clepsammidium. Lithostylidium Hamus. Lithostylidium polyedrum.
Lithostylidium quadratum. Lithostylidium rude. Lithostylidium Serra.
Lithostylidium unidentatum. Spongolithis Fustis.
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