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
The pile of strata here described attains a great thickness; and above
the last-mentioned volcanic stratum, there were several other great
tufaceous beds alternating with submarine lavas, which I had not time
to examine; but a corresponding series, several thousand feet in
thickness, is well exhibited on the crest and western flank of the
range. Most of the lava- streams on the western side are of a jet-black
colour and basaltic nature; they are either compact and fine-grained,
including minute crystals of augite and feldspar, or they are
coarse-grained and abound with rather large coppery-brown crystals of
an augitic mineral. (Very easily fusible into a jet-black bead,
attracted by the magnet: the crystals are too much tarnished to be
measured by the goniometer.) Another variety was of a dull- red colour,
having a claystone brecciated basis, including specks of oxide of iron
and of calcareous spar, and amygdaloidal with green earth: there were
apparently several other varieties. These submarine lavas often exhibit
a spheroidal, and sometimes an imperfect columnar structure: their
upper junctions are much more clearly defined than their lower
junctions; but the latter are not so much blended into the underlying
sedimentary beds as is the case in the eastern flank. On the crest and
western flank of the range, the streams, viewed as a whole, are mostly
basaltic; whilst those on the eastern side, which stand lower in the
series, are, as we have seen, mostly feldspathic.
The sedimentary strata alternating with the lavas on the crest and
western side, are of an almost infinitely varying nature; but a large
proportion of them closely resemble those already described on the
eastern flank: there are white and brown, indurated, easily fusible
tuffs,—some passing into pale blue and green semi-porcellanic
rocks,—others into brownish and purplish sandstones and gritstones,
often including grains of quartz,— others into mudstone containing
broken crystals and particles of rock, and occasionally single large
pebbles. There was one stratum of a bright red, coarse, volcanic
gritstone; another of conglomerate; another of a black, indurated,
carbonaceous shale marked with imperfect vegetable impressions; this
latter bed, which was thin, rested on a submarine lava, and followed
all the considerable inequalities of its upper surface. Mr. Miers
states that coal has been found in this range. Lastly, there was a bed
(like No. 10 on the eastern flank) evidently of sedimentary origin, and
remarkable from closely approaching in character to an imperfect
pitchstone, and from including extremely thin layers of perfect
pitchstone, as well as nodules and irregular fragments (but not
resembling extraneous fragments) of this same rock arranged in
horizontal lines: I conceive that this bed, which is only a few feet in
thickness, must have assumed its present state through metamorphic and
concretionary action. Most of these sedimentary strata are much
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