Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Geology -- South America; Volcanoes
may have been formed either within the crater, or from ashes deposited
on its upper parts, and afterwards washed down by torrents of rain. The
former method, in most of the cases, appears the more probable one; at
James Island, however, some beds of the friable kind of tuff extend so
continuously over an uneven surface, that probably they were formed by
the falling of showers of ashes.
Within this same crater, strata of coarse tuff, chiefly composed of
fragments of lava, abut, like a consolidated talus, against the inside
walls. They rise to a height of between one hundred and one hundred and
fifty feet above the surface of the internal brine-lake; they dip
inwards, and are inclined at an angle varying from thirty to thirty-six
degrees. They appear to have been formed beneath water, probably at a
period when the sea occupied the hollow of the crater. I was surprised
to observe that beds having this great inclination did not, as far as
they could be followed, thicken towards their lower extremities.
BANKS’ COVE.
(FIGURE 13. A SECTIONAL SKETCH OF THE HEADLANDS FORMING BANKS’ COVE,
showing the diverging crateriform strata, and the converging stratified
talus. The highest point of these hills is 817 feet above the sea.)
This harbour occupies part of the interior of a shattered crater of
tuff larger than that last described. All the tuff is compact, and
includes numerous fragments of lava; it appears like a subaqueous
deposit. The most remarkable feature in this crater is the great
development of strata converging inwards, as in the last case, at a
considerable inclination, and often deposited in irregular curved
layers. These interior converging beds, as well as the proper,
diverging crateriform strata, are represented in Figure 13, a rude,
sectional sketch of the headlands, forming this Cove. The internal and
external strata differ little in composition, and the former have
evidently resulted from the wear and tear, and redeposition of the
matter forming the external crateriform strata. From the great
development of these inner beds, a person walking round the rim of this
crater might fancy himself on a circular anticlinal ridge of stratified
sandstone and conglomerate. The sea is wearing away the inner and outer
strata, and especially the latter; so that the inwardly converging
strata will, perhaps, in some future age, be left standing alone—a case
which might at first perplex a geologist. (I believe that this case
actually occurs in the Azores, where Dr. Webster “Description” page
185, has described a basin-formed, little island, composed of STRATA OF
TUFF, dipping inwards and bounded externally by steep sea-worn cliffs.
Dr. Daubeny supposes “Volcanoes” page 266, that this cavity must have
been formed by a circular subsidence. It appears to me far more
probable, that we here have strata which were originally deposited
within the hollow of a crater, of which the exterior walls have since
been removed by the sea.)
JAMES ISLAND.
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