The Sea and Its Living Wonders: A Popular Account of the Marvels of the Deep and of the Progress of Martime Discovery from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeHartwig, G. (Georg)
History
The Sea and Its Living Wonders: A Popular Account of the Marvels of the Deep and of the Progress of Martime Discovery from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Hartwig, G. (Georg)
Animal behavior; Discoveries in geography; Discoveries in geography -- History; Marine animals; Marine plants; Ocean
On the coast of Sweden, it has been ascertained that iron rings fixed to
rocks which formerly served for the fastening of boats are at present
much too high. Flat cliffs on which, according to ancient documents,
seals used to be clubbed while enjoying the warm sunbeam, are now quite
out of the reach of these amphibious animals. In the years 1731, 1752,
and 1755, marks were hewn in some conspicuous rocks, which after the
lapse of half a century were found to have risen about two feet higher
above the level of the sea. This phenomenon is confined to part of the
coast, so that it is clearly the result of a local and slowly progressive
upheaving.
Whilst a great part of Scandinavia is thus slowly but steadily rising,
the shores of Chili have been found to rise convulsively under the
influence of mighty volcanic shocks. Thus after the great earthquake of
1822, the whole coast, for the length of a hundred miles, was found to
be three or four feet higher than before, and a further elevation was
observed after the earthquake of Feb. 21st, 1835.
While to the north of Wolstenholme Sound, Kane remarked signs of
elevation, a converse depression was observed as he proceeded southwards
along the coast of Greenland, Esquimaux huts being seen washed by the
sea. The axis of oscillation must be somewhere about 77° N. lat.
At Keeling Island, in the Indian Ocean, Mr. Darwin found evidence
of subsidence. On every side of the lagoon, in which the water is
as tranquil as in the most sheltered lake, old cocoa-nut trees were
undermined and falling. The foundation-posts of a store-house on the
beach, which the inhabitants had said stood seven years before just above
high-water mark, were now daily washed by the tide. Earthquakes had been
repeatedly remarked by the inhabitants, so that Darwin no longer doubted
concerning the cause which made the trees to fall, and the store-house to
be washed by the daily tide.
On the columns of the temple of Serapis, near Puzzuoli, the astonished
naturalist sees holes scooped out by Pholades and Lithodomas, twenty-four
feet above the present level of the sea. These animals are marine
testacea, that have the power of burying themselves in stone, and
cannot live beyond the reach of low-water. How then have they been able
to scoop out those hieroglyphic marks so far above the level of their
usual abodes? for surely marble originally defective was never used
for the construction of so proud an edifice. Alternate depressions and
elevations of the soil afford us the only key to the enigma. Earthquakes
and oscillations, so frequent in that volcanic region, must first
have lowered the temple into the sea, where it was acted upon by the
sacrilegious molluscs, and then again their upheaving powers must have
raised it to its present elevation. Thus, even the solid earth changes
its features, and reminds us of the mutability of all created things.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account