Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Geology -- South America; Volcanoes
suppose that a similar body of rock lies injected, beneath the ridge
connecting the Barn and Flagstaff, the structure there exhibited would
be explained.
TURK’S CAP AND PROSPEROUS BAYS.
(FIGURE 9. PROSPEROUS HILL AND THE BARN. (Section S.S.E. (left) to
N.N.W. (right) Prosperous Hill through Hold-fast-Tom and Flagstaff Hill
to The Barn.
The double lines represent the basaltic strata; the single, the basal
submarine strata; the dotted, the upper feldspathic strata.)
Prosperous Hill is a great, black, precipitous mountain, situated two
miles and a half south of the Barn, and composed, like it, of basaltic
strata. These rest, in one part, on the brown-coloured, porphyritic
beds of the basal series, and in another part, on a fissured mass of
highly scoriaceous and amygdaloidal rock, which seems to have formed a
small point of eruption beneath the sea, contemporaneously with the
basal series. Prosperous Hill, like the Barn, is traversed by many
dikes, of which the greater number range north and south, and its
strata dip, at an angle of about 20 degrees, rather obliquely from the
island towards the sea. The space between Prosperous Hill and the Barn,
as represented in Figure 9, consists of lofty cliffs, composed of the
lavas of the upper or feldspathic series, which rest, though
unconformably, on the basal submarine strata, as we have seen that they
do at Flagstaff Hill. Differently, however, from in that hill, these
upper strata are nearly horizontal, gently rising towards the interior
of the island; and they are composed of greenish-black, or more
commonly, pale brown, compact lavas, instead of softened and highly
coloured matter. These brown-coloured, compact lavas, consist almost
entirely of small glimmering scales, or of minute acicular crystals, of
feldspar, placed close by the side of each other, and abounding with
minute black specks, apparently of hornblende. The basaltic strata of
Prosperous Hill project only a little above the level of the
gently-sloping, feldspathic streams, which wind round and abut against
their upturned edges. The inclination of the basaltic strata seems to
be too great to have been caused by their having flowed down a slope,
and they must have been tilted into their present position before the
eruption of the feldspathic streams.
BASALTIC RING.
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