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
This great deluge of lava is worthy, in its dimensions, of the great
continent to which it belongs. The aggregate streams have flowed from
the Cordillera to a distance (unparalleled, I believe, in any case yet
known) of about one hundred geographical miles. Near their furthest
extremity their total thickness is 130 feet, which increase thirty-five
miles farther inland, as we have just seen, to 322 feet. The least
inclination given by M. E. de Beaumont of the upper surface of a
lava-stream, namely 0 degrees 30 minutes, is that of the great
subaerial eruption in 1783 from Skaptar Jukul in Iceland; and M. E. de
Beaumont shows that it must have flowed down a mean inclination of less
than 0 degrees 20 minutes. (“Memoires pour servir” etc. pages 178 and
217.) But we now see that under the pressure of the sea, successive
streams have flowed over a smooth bottom with a mean inclination of not
more than 0 degrees 7 minutes 52 seconds; and that the upper surface of
the terminal portion (over a space of fourteen and a half miles) has an
inclination of not more than 0 degrees 7 minutes 20 seconds. If the
elevation of Patagonia has been greater nearer the Cordillera than near
the Atlantic (as is probable), then these angles are now all too large.
I must repeat, that although the foregoing measurements, which were all
carefully taken with the barometer, may not be absolutely correct, they
cannot be widely erroneous.
Southward of the S. Cruz, the cliffs of the 840 feet plain extend to
Coy Inlet, and owing to the naked patches of the white sediment, they
are said on the charts to be “like the coast of Kent.” At Coy Inlet the
high plain trends inland, leaving flat-topped outliers. At Port
Gallegos (latitude 51 degrees 35 minutes, and ninety miles south of S.
Cruz), I am informed by Captain Sulivan, R.N., that there is a
gravel-capped plain from two to three hundred feet in height, formed of
numerous strata, some fine-grained and pale-coloured, like the upper
beds at the mouth of the S. Cruz, others rather dark and coarser, so as
to resemble gritstones or tuffs; these latter include rather large
fragments of apparently decomposed volcanic rocks; there are, also,
included layers of gravel. This formation is highly remarkable, from
abounding with mammiferous remains, which have not as yet been examined
by Professor Owen, but which include some large, but mostly small,
species of Pachydermata, Edentata, and Rodentia. From the appearance of
the pale-coloured, fine-grained beds, I was inclined to believe that
they corresponded with the upper beds of the S. Cruz; but Professor
Ehrenberg, who has examined some of the specimens, informs me that the
included microscopical organisms are wholly different, being fresh and
brackish-water forms. Hence the two to three hundred feet plain at Port
Gallegos is of unknown age, but probably of subsequent origin to the
great Patagonian tertiary formation.
EASTERN TIERRA DEL FUEGO.
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