The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 1 (of 2)Geikie, Archibald
History
The Ancient Volcanoes of Great Britain, Volume 1 (of 2)
Geikie, Archibald
Volcanoes -- Great Britain
Where only non-volcanic materials fill up a vent we may reasonably
infer that the eruptions were comparatively feeble, never advancing
beyond the initial stage when elastic vapours made their escape with
explosive violence, but did not lead to the outflow of lava or the
discharge of ashes. In the great majority of necks, however, traces of
the earliest eruptions have been destroyed by subsequent explosions,
and the uprise of thoroughly volcanic fragments. Yet even among these
fragments, occasional blocks may be detected which have been detached
from the rocks forming the walls of the funnel.
The general name of Agglomerate, as already stated, is given to all
accumulations of coarse, usually unstratified, detritus in volcanic
funnels, irrespective of the lithological nature of the materials.
For further and more precise designation, when an agglomerate is
mainly made up of fragments of one particular rock, the name of that
rock may be prefixed as sandstone-agglomerate, granite-agglomerate,
basalt-agglomerate, trachyte-agglomerate. Volcanic agglomerate is a
useful general term that may include all the coarser detritus ejected
by volcanic action.
Where volcanic explosions have been of sufficient violence or long
continuance, the upper part of the funnel may be left empty, and on the
cessation of volcanic activity, may be filled with water and become a
lake. The ejected detritus left round the edge of the orifice sometimes
hardly forms any wall, the crater-bottom being but little below the
level of the surrounding ground. Explosion-lakes are not infrequent in
Central France and the Eifel (Maare). A more gigantic illustration is
afforded by the perfectly circular crater of Coon Butte in Arizona,
about 4000 feet in diameter and 600 feet deep. It has been blown out in
limestone, the debris of which forms a rampart 200 feet high around it.
Examples will afterwards be cited from the Tertiary volcanic plateaux
of North-Western Europe. Vents may also be formed by an engulphment
or subsidence of the material, like that which has taken place at the
great lava cauldron of Hawaii, still an active volcano. The picturesque
Crater Lake of Oregon is an admirable instance of this structure.
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