Volcanic Islands by Charles Robert Darwin (reading books for 6 year olds TXT) 📖

effects of this great denuding power. Judging from the worn condition of many of these craters, it is probable that some have been entirely washed away. As there is no reason to suppose, that the craters formed of scoriae and lava were erupted whilst standing in the sea, we can see why the rule does not apply to them. At Ascension, it was shown that the mouths of the craters, which are there all of terrestrial origin, have been affected by the trade-wind; and this same power might here, also, aid in making the windward and exposed sides of some of the craters originally the lowest.


MINERALOGICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ROCKS.
In the northern islands, the basaltic lavas seem generally to contain more albite than they do in the southern half of the Archipelago; but almost all the streams contain some. The albite is not unfrequently associated with olivine. I did not observe in any specimen distinguishable crystals of hornblende or augite; I except the fused grains in the ejected fragments, and in the pinnacle of the little crater, above described. I did not meet with a single specimen of true trachyte; though some of the paler lavas, when abounding with large crystals of the harsh and glassy albite, resemble in some degree this rock; but in every case the basis fuses into a black enamel. Beds of ashes and far-ejected scoriae, as previously stated, are almost absent; nor did I see a fragment of obsidian or of pumice. Von Buch believes that the absence of pumice on Mount Etna is consequent on the feldspar being of the Labrador variety ("Description des Isles Canaries" page 328.); if the presence of pumice depends on the constitution of the feldspar, it is remarkable, that it should be absent in this archipelago, and abundant in the Cordillera of South America, in both of which regions the feldspar is of the albitic variety. Owing to the absence of ashes, and the general indecomposable character of the lava in this Archipelago, the islands are slowly clothed with a poor vegetation, and the scenery has a desolate and frightful aspect.


ELEVATION OF THE LAND.
Proofs of the rising of the land are scanty and imperfect. At Chatham Island, I noticed some great blocks of lava, cemented by calcareous matter, containing recent shells; but they occurred at the height of only a few feet above high-water mark. One of the officers gave me some fragments of shells, which he found embedded several hundred feet above the sea, in the tuff of two craters, distant from each other. It is possible, that these fragments may have been carried up to their present height in an eruption of mud; but as, in one instance, they were associated with broken oyster- shells, almost forming a layer, it is more probable that the tuff was uplifted with the shells in mass. The specimens are so imperfect that they can be recognised only as belonging to recent marine genera. On Charles Island, I observed a line of great rounded blocks, piled on the summit of a vertical cliff, at the height of fifteen feet above the line, where the sea now acts during the heaviest gales. This appeared, at first, good evidence in favour of the elevation of the land; but it was quite deceptive, for I afterwards saw on an adjoining part of this same coast, and heard from eye- witnesses, that wherever a recent stream of lava forms a smooth inclined plane, entering the sea, the waves during gales have the power of ROLLING UP ROUNDED blocks to a great height, above the line of their ordinary action. As the little cliff in the foregoing case is formed by a stream of lava, which, before being worn back, must have entered the sea with a gently sloping surface, it is possible or rather it is probable, that the rounded boulders, now lying on its summit, are merely the remnants of those which had been ROLLED UP during storms to their present height.


DIRECTION OF THE FISSURES OF ERUPTION.
The volcanic orifices in this group cannot be considered as indiscriminately scattered. Three great craters on Albermarle Island form a well-marked line, extending N.W. by N. and S.E. by S. Narborough Island, and the great crater on the rectangular projection of Albemarle Island, form a second parallel line. To the east, Hood's Island, and the islands and rocks between it and James Island, form another nearly parallel line, which, when prolonged, includes Culpepper and Wenman Islands, lying seventy miles to the north. The other islands lying further eastward, form a less regular fourth line. Several of these islands, and the vents on Albemarle Island, are so placed, that they likewise fall on a set of rudely parallel lines, intersecting the former lines at right angles; so that the principal craters appear to lie on the points where two sets of fissures cross each other. The islands themselves, with the exception of Albemarle Island, are not elongated in the same direction with the lines on which they stand. The direction of these islands is nearly the same with that which prevails in so remarkable a manner in the numerous archipelagoes of the great Pacific Ocean. Finally, I may remark, that amongst the Galapagos Islands there is no one dominant vent much higher than all the others, as may be observed in many volcanic archipelagoes: the highest is the great mound on the south- western extremity of Albemarle Island, which exceeds by barely a thousand feet several other neighbouring craters.


CHAPTER VI.--TRACHYTE AND BASALT.--DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANIC ISLES.
The sinking of crystals in fluid lava. Specific gravity of the constituent parts of trachyte and of basalt, and their consequent separation. Obsidian. Apparent non-separation of the elements of plutonic rocks. Origin of trap-dikes in the plutonic series. Distribution of volcanic islands; their prevalence in the great oceans. They are generally arranged in lines. The central volcanoes of Von Buch doubtful. Volcanic islands bordering continents. Antiquity of volcanic islands, and their elevation in mass. Eruptions on parallel lines of fissure within the same geological period.

ON THE SEPARATION OF THE CONSTITUENT MINERALS OF LAVA, ACCORDING TO THEIR SPECIFIC GRAVITIES.
One side of Fresh-water Bay, in James Island, is formed by the wreck of a large crater, mentioned in the last chapter, of which the interior has been filled up by a pool of basalt, about two hundred feet in thickness. This basalt is of a grey colour, and contains many crystals of glassy albite, which become much more numerous in the lower, scoriaceous part. This is contrary to what might have been expected, for if the crystals had been originally disseminated in equal numbers, the greater intumescence of this lower scoriaceous part would have made them appear fewer in number. Von Buch has described a stream of obsidian on the Peak of Teneriffe, in which the crystals of feldspar become more and more numerous, as the depth or thickness increases, so that near the lower surface of the stream the lava even resembles a primary rock. ("Description des Isles Canaries" pages 190 and 191.) Von Buch further states, that M. Dree, in his experiments in melting lava, found that the crystals of feldspar always tended to precipitate themselves to the bottom of the crucible. In these cases, I presume there can be no doubt that the crystals sink from their weight. (In a mass of molten iron, it is found ("Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal" volume 24 page 66) that the substances, which have a closer affinity for oxygen than iron has, rise from the interior of the mass to the surface. But a similar cause can hardly apply to the separation of the crystals of these lava-streams. The cooling of the surface of lava seems, in some cases, to have affected its composition; for Dufrenoy ("Mem. pour servir" tome 4 page 271) found that the interior parts of a stream near Naples contained two-thirds of a mineral which was acted on by acids, whilst the surface consisted chiefly of a mineral unattackable by acids.) The specific gravity of feldspar varies from 2.4 to 2.58, whilst obsidian seems commonly to be from 2.3 to 2.4; and in a fluidified state its specific gravity would probably be less, which would facilitate the sinking of the crystals of feldspar. (I have taken the specific gravities of the simple minerals from Von Kobell, one of the latest and best authorities, and of the rocks from various authorities. Obsidian, according to Phillips, is 2.35; and Jameson says it never exceeds 2.4; but a specimen from Ascension, weighed by myself, was 2.42.) At James Island, the crystals of albite, though no doubt of less weight than the grey basalt, in the parts where compact, might easily be of greater specific gravity than the scoriaceous mass, formed of melted lava and bubbles of heated gas.
The sinking of crystals through a viscid substance like molten rock, as is unequivocally shown to have been the case in the experiments of M. Dree, is worthy of further consideration, as throwing light on the separation of the trachytic and basaltic series of lavas. Mr. P. Scrope has speculated on this subject; but he does not seem to have been aware of any positive facts, such as those above given; and he has overlooked one very necessary element, as it appears to me, in the phenomenon--namely, the existence of either the lighter or heavier mineral in globules or in crystals. In a substance of imperfect fluidity, like molten rock, it is hardly credible, that the separate, infinitely small atoms, whether of feldspar, augite, or of any other mineral, would have power from their slightly different gravities to overcome the friction caused by their movement; but if the atoms of any one of these minerals became, whilst the others remained fluid, united into crystals or granules, it is easy to perceive that from the lessened friction, their sinking or floating power would be greatly increased. On the other hand, if all the minerals became granulated at the same time, it is scarcely possible, from their mutual resistance, that any separation could take place. A valuable, practical discovery, illustrating the effect of the granulation of one element in a fluid mass, in aiding its separation, has lately been made: when lead containing a small proportion of silver, is constantly stirred whilst cooling, it becomes granulated, and the grains of imperfect crystals of nearly pure lead sink to the bottom, leaving a residue of melted metal much richer in silver; whereas if the mixture be left undisturbed, although kept fluid for a length of time, the two metals show no signs of separating. (A full and interesting account of this discovery, by Mr. Pattinson, was read before the British Association in September 1838. In some alloys, according to Turner "Chemistry" page 210, the heaviest metal sinks, and it appears that this takes place whilst both metals are fluid. Where there is a considerable difference in gravity, as between iron and the slag formed during the fusion of the ore, we need not be surprised at the atoms separating, without either substance being granulated.) The sole use of the stirring seems to be, the formation of detached granules. The specific gravity of silver is 10.4, and of lead 11.35: the granulated lead, which sinks, is never absolutely pure, and the residual fluid metal contains, when richest, only 1/119 part of silver. As the difference in specific gravity, caused by the different proportions of the two metals, is so exceedingly small, the separation is probably aided in a great degree by the difference in gravity between the lead, when granular though still hot, and when fluid.
In a body of liquified volcanic rock, left for some time without any violent disturbance, we might expect, in accordance with the above facts, that if one of the constituent minerals became aggregated into crystals or granules, or