Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Geology -- South America; Volcanoes
calcareous spar, produced by a single thin sheet of lava (as at Quail
Island) rolling over similar earthy lime and the debris of organic
remains, at the bottom of a shallow sea.
SIGNAL POST HILL.
This hill has already been several times mentioned, especially with
reference to the remarkable manner in which the white calcareous
stratum, in other parts so horizontal (Figure 2), dips under it into
the sea. It has a broad summit, with obscure traces of a crateriform
structure, and is composed of basaltic rocks (Of these, one common
variety is remarkable for being full of small fragments of a dark
jasper-red earthy mineral, which, when examined carefully, shows an
indistinct cleavage; the little fragments are elongated in form, are
soft, are magnetic before and after being heated, and fuse with
difficulty into a dull enamel. This mineral is evidently closely
related to the oxides of iron, but I cannot ascertain what it exactly
is. The rock containing this mineral is crenulated with small angular
cavities, which are lined and filled with yellowish crystals of
carbonate of lime.), some compact, others highly cellular with inclined
beds of loose scoriae, of which some are associated with earthy lime.
Like Red Hill, it has been the source of eruptions, subsequently to the
elevation of the surrounding basaltic plain; but unlike that hill, it
has undergone considerable denudation, and has been the seat of
volcanic action at a remote period, when beneath the sea. I judge of
this latter circumstance from finding on its inland flank the last
remains of three small points of eruption. These points are composed of
glossy scoriae, cemented by crystalline calcareous spar, exactly like
the great submarine calcareous deposit, where the heated lava has
rolled over it: their demolished state can, I think, be explained only
by the denuding action of the waves of the sea. I was guided to the
first orifice by observing a sheet of lava, about two hundred yards
square, with steepish sides, superimposed on the basaltic plain with no
adjoining hillock, whence it could have been erupted; and the only
trace of a crater which I was able to discover, consisted of some
inclined beds of scoriae at one of its corners. At the distance of
fifty yards from a second level-topped patch of lava, but of much
smaller size, I found an irregular circular group of masses of
cemented, scoriaceous breccia, about six feet in height, which
doubtless had once formed the point of eruption. The third orifice is
now marked only by an irregular circle of cemented scoriae, about four
yards in diameter, and rising in its highest point scarcely three feet
above the level of the plain, the surface of which, close all round,
exhibits its usual appearance: here we have a horizontal basal section
of a volcanic spiracle, which, together with all its ejected matter,
has been almost totally obliterated.
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