Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Geology -- South America; Volcanoes
Under Signal Post Hill, the white stratum dips into the sea in a
remarkable manner. This hill is conical, 450 feet in height, and
retains some traces of having had a crateriform structure; it is
composed chiefly of matter erupted posteriorly to the elevation of the
great basaltic plain, but partly of lava of apparently submarine origin
and of considerable antiquity. The surrounding plain, as well as the
eastern flank of this hill, has been worn into steep precipices,
overhanging the sea. In these precipices, the white calcareous stratum
may be seen, at the height of about seventy feet above the beach,
running for some miles both northward and southward of the hill, in a
line appearing to be perfectly horizontal; but for a space of a quarter
of a mile directly under the hill, it dips into the sea and disappears.
On the south side the dip is gradual, on the north side it is more
abrupt, as is shown in Figure 2. As neither the calcareous stratum, nor
the superincumbent basaltic lava (as far as the latter can be
distinguished from the more modern ejections), appears to thicken as it
dips, I infer that these strata were not originally accumulated in a
trough, the centre of which afterwards became a point of eruption; but
that they have subsequently been disturbed and bent. We may suppose
either that Signal Post Hill subsided after its elevation with the
surrounding country, or that it never was uplifted to the same height
with it. This latter seems to me the most probable alternative, for
during the slow and equable elevation of this portion of the island,
the subterranean motive power, from expending part of its force in
repeatedly erupting volcanic matter from beneath this point, would, it
is likely, have less force to uplift it. Something of the same kind
seems to have occurred near Red Hill, for when tracing upwards the
naked streams of lava from near Porto Praya towards the interior of the
island, I was strongly induced to suspect, that since the lava had
flowed, the slope of the land had been slightly modified, either by a
small subsidence near Red Hill, or by that portion of the plain having
been uplifted to a less height during the elevation of the whole area.
THE BASALTIC LAVA, SUPERINCUMBENT ON THE CALCAREOUS DEPOSIT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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