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
(DIAGRAM 5. SECTION OF PLAINS AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIO SANTA CRUZ.
From East (sea level) to West (high): Terrace 1. (sloping) 355 Ba. M.
Shells on surface. 463 Ba. M. Terrace 2. 710 An. M. Terrace 3. 840 An.
M.)
On the southern side of the mouth of the Santa Cruz we have Diagram 5,
which I am able to give with more detail than in the foregoing cases.
The plain marked 355 feet (as ascertained by the barometer and by
angular measurement) is a continuation of the above-mentioned 330 feet
plain: it extends in a N.W. direction along the southern shores of the
estuary. It is capped by gravel, which in most parts is covered by a
thin bed of sandy earth, and is scooped out by many flat-bottomed
valleys. It appears to the eye quite level, but in proceeding in a
S.S.W. course, towards an escarpment distant about six miles, and
likewise ranging across the country in a N.W. line, it was found to
rise at first insensibly, and then for the last half-mile, sensibly,
close up to the base of the escarpment: at this point it was 463 feet
in height, showing a rise of 108 feet in the six miles. On this 355-463
feet plain, I found several shells of Mytilus Magellanicus and of a
Mytilus, which Mr. Sowerby informs me is yet unnamed, though well-known
as recent on this coast; Patella deaurita; Fusus, I believe,
Magellanicus, but the specimen has been lost; and at the distance of
four miles from the coast, at the height of about four hundred feet,
there were fragments of the same Patella and of a Voluta (apparently V.
ancilla) partially embedded in the superficial sandy earth. All these
shells had the same ancient appearance with those from the foregoing
localities. As the tides along this part of the coast rise at the
Syzygal period forty feet, and therefore form a well-marked beach-line,
I particularly looked out for ridges in crossing this plain, which, as
we have seen, rises 108 feet in about six miles, but I could not see
any traces of such. The next highest plain is 710 feet above the sea;
it is very narrow, but level, and is capped with gravel; it abuts to
the foot of the 840 feet plain. This summit-plain extends as far as the
eye can range, both inland along the southern side of the valley of the
Santa Cruz, and southward along the Atlantic.
THE VALLEY OF THE R. SANTA CRUZ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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