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
Tacna, including recent shells and bones of Cetacea, and reaching up to
a height of 300 feet above the sea. (“Voyage” etc. page 101.)
Lieutenant Freyer has given some more precise facts: he states (In a
letter to Mr. Lyell “Geological Proceedings” volume 2 page 179.) that
the Morro of Arica is about four hundred feet high; it is worn into
obscure terraces, on the bare rock of which he found Balini and
Milleporae adhering. At the height of between twenty and thirty feet
the shells and corals were in a quite fresh state, but at fifty feet
they were much abraded; there were, however, traces of organic remains
at greater heights. On the road from Tacna to Arequipa, between
Loquimbo and Moquegua, Mr. M. Hamilton found numerous recent sea shells
in sand, at a considerable distance from the sea. (“Edinburgh New
Philosophical Journal” volume 30 page 155.)
LIMA.
Northward of Arica, I know nothing of the coast for about a space of
five degrees of latitude; but near Callao, the port of Lima, there is
abundant and very curious evidence of the elevation of the land. The
island of San Lorenzo is upwards of one thousand feet high; the basset
edges of the strata composing the lower part are worn into three
obscure, narrow, sloping steps or ledges, which can be seen only when
standing on them: they probably resemble those described by Lieutenant
Freyer at Arica. The surface of the lower ledge, which extends from a
low cliff overhanging the sea to the foot of the next upper escarpment,
is covered by an enormous accumulation of recent shells. (M. Chevalier,
in the “Voyage of the ‘Bonite’” observed these shells; but his
specimens were lost.—“L’Institut” 1838 page 151.) The bed is level, and
in some parts more than two feet in thickness; I traced it over a space
of one mile in length, and heard of it in other places: the uppermost
part is eighty-five feet by the barometer above high-water mark. The
shells are packed together, but not stratified: they are mingled with
earth and stones, and are generally covered by a few inches of
detritus; they rest on a mass of nearly angular fragments of the
underlying sandstone, sometimes cemented together by common salt. I
collected eighteen species of shells of all ages and sizes. Several of
the univalves had evidently long lain dead at the bottom of the sea,
for their INSIDES were incrusted with Balani and Serpulae. All,
according to Mr. G.B. Sowerby, are recent species: they consist of:—
1. Mytilus Magellanicus: same as that found at Valparaiso, and there
stated to be probably distinct from the true M. Magellanicus of the
east coast.
2. Venus costellata, Sowerby “Zoological Proceedings.”
3. Pecten purpuratus, Lam.
4. Chama, probably echinulata, Brod.
5. Calyptraea Byronensis, Gray.
6. Calyptraea radians (Trochus, Lam.)
7. Fissurella affinis, Gray.
8. Fissurella biradiata, Trembly.
9. Purpura chocolatta, Duclos.
10. Purpura Peruviana, Gray.
11. Purpura labiata, Gray.
12. Purpura buxea (Murex, Brod.).
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