The World Before the Deluge Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 6.--Basalt in prismatic columns.]

BASALTIC FORMATIONS.

Basaltic eruptions seem to have occurred during the Secondary and Tertiary periods. Basalt, according to Dr. Daubeny,[20] in its more strict sense, "is composed of an intimate mixture of augite with a zeolitic mineral, which appears to have been formed out of labradorite (felspar of Labrador), by the addition of water--the presence of water being in all _zeolites_ the cause of that bubbling-up under the blow-pipe to which they owe their appellation." M. Delesse and other mineralogists are of opinion that the idea of augite being the prevailing mineral in basalt, must be abandoned; and that although its presence gives the rock its distinctive character, as compared with trachytic and most other trap rocks, still the princ.i.p.al element in their composition is felspar. Basalt, a lava consisting essentially of augite, labradorite (or nepheline) and magnetic iron-ore is the rock which predominates in this formation. It contains a smaller quant.i.ty of silica than the trachyte, and a larger proportion of lime and magnesia.

Hence, independent of the iron in its composition, it is heavier in proportion, as it contains more or less silica. Some varieties of basalt contain very large quant.i.ties of olivine, a mineral of an olive-green colour, with a chemical composition differing but slightly from serpentine. Both basalts and trachyte contain more soda and less silica in their composition than granites; some of the basalts are highly fusible, the alkaline matter and lime in their composition acting as a flux to the silica. There are examples of basalt existing in well-defined flows, which still adhere to craters visible at the present day, and with regard to the igneous origin of which there can be no doubt. One of the most striking examples of a basaltic cone is furnished by the mountain or crater of La Coupe d'Ayzac, in the Vivarais, in the south of France. PLATE II., on the opposite page, gives an accurate representation of this curious basaltic flow. The remnants of the stream of liquefied basalt which once flowed down the flank of the hill may still be seen adhering in vast ma.s.ses to the granite rocks on both sides of a narrow valley where the river Volant has cut across the lava and left a pavement or causeway, forming an a.s.semblage of upright prismatic columns, fitted together with geometrical symmetry; the whole resting on a base of gneiss. Basaltic eruptions sometimes form a plateau, as represented in Fig. 5, where the process of formation is shown theoretically and in a manner which renders further explanation unnecessary. Many of these basaltic table-lands form plateaux of very considerable extent and thickness; others form fragments of the same, more or less dislocated; others, again, present themselves in isolated knolls, far removed from similar formations. In short, basaltic rocks present themselves in veins or d.y.k.es, more or less, in most countries, of which Central France and the banks of the Rhine offer many striking examples. These veins present very evident proofs that the matter has been introduced from below, and in a manner which could only result from injection from the interior to the exterior of the earth. Such are the proofs presented by the basaltic veins of Villeneuve-de-Berg, which terminate in slender filaments, sometimes bifurcated, which gradually lose themselves in the rock which they traverse. In several parts of the north of Ireland, chalk-formations with flints are traversed by basaltic d.y.k.es, the chalk being converted into granular marble near the basalt, the change sometimes extending eight or ten feet from the wall of the d.y.k.e, and being greatest near the surface of contact. In the Island of Rathlin, the walls of basalt traverse the chalk in three veins or d.y.k.es; the central one a foot thick, that on the right twenty feet, and on the left thirty-three feet thick, and all, according to Buckland and Conybeare, within the breadth of ninety feet.

[20] "Volcanoes," 2nd ed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7.--Basaltic Causeway, on the banks of the river Volant, in the Ardeche.]

One of the most striking characteristics of basalt is the prismatic and columnar structure which it often a.s.sumes; the lava being h.o.m.ogeneous and of very fine grain, the laws which determine the direction of the fissures or divisional planes consolidated from a molten to a solid state, become here very manifest--these are always at right angles to the surfaces of the rock through which the heat of the fused ma.s.s escaped. The basaltic rocks have been at all times remarkable for this picturesque arrangement of their parts. They usually present columns of regular prisms, having generally six, often five, and sometimes four, seven, or even three sides, whose disposition is always perpendicular to the cooling surfaces. These are often divided transversely, as in Fig.

6, at nearly equal distances, like the joints of a wall, composed of regularly arranged, equal-sided pieces adhering together, and frequently extending over a more or less considerable s.p.a.ce. The name of Giant's Causeway has been given, from time immemorial, to these curious columnar structures of basalt. In France, in the Vivarais and in the Velay, there are many such basaltic causeways. That of which Fig. 7 is a sketch lies on the banks of the river Volant, where it flows into the Ardeche.

Ireland has always been celebrated for its Giant's Causeway, which extends over the whole of the northern part of Antrim, covering all the pre-existing strata of Chalk, Greensand, and Permian formations; the prismatic columns extend for miles along the cliffs, projecting into the sea at the point specially designated the Giant's Causeway.

These columnar formations vary considerably in length and diameter.

McCulloch mentions some in Skye, which "are about four hundred feet high; others in Morven not exceeding an inch (vol. ii. p. 137). In diameter those of Ailsa Craig measure nine feet, and those of Morven an inch or less." Fingal's Cave, in the Isle of Staffa, is renowned among basaltic rocks, although it was scarcely known on the mainland a century ago, when Sir Joseph Banks heard of it accidentally, and was the first to visit and describe it. Fingal's Cave has been hollowed out, by the sea, through a gallery of immense prismatic columns of trap, which are continually beaten by the waves. The columns are usually upright, but sometimes they are curved and slightly inclined. Fig. 8 is a view of the basaltic grotto of Staffa.

Grottoes are sometimes formed by basaltic eruptions on land, followed by their separation into regular columns. The Grotto of Cheeses, at Bertrich-Baden, between Treves and Coblentz, is a remarkable example of this kind, being so called because its columns are formed of round, and usually flattened, stones placed one above the other in such a manner as to resemble a pile of cheeses.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8.--Basaltic cavern of Staffa--exterior.]

If we consider that in basalt-flows the lower part is compact, and often divided into prismatic columns, while the upper part is porous, cellular, scoriaceous, and irregularly divided--that the points of separation on which they rest are small beds presenting fragments of the porous stony concretions known under the name of _Lapilli_--that the lower portions of these ma.s.ses present a mult.i.tude of points which penetrate the rocks on which they repose, thereby denoting that some fluid matter had moulded itself into its crevices--that the neighbouring rocks are often calcined to a considerable thickness, and the included vegetable remains carbonised--no doubt can exist as to the igneous origin of basaltic rocks. When it reached the surface through certain openings, the fluid basalt spread itself, flowing, as it were, over the horizontal surface of the ground; for if it had flowed upon inclined surfaces it could not have preserved the uniform surface and constant thickness which it generally exhibits.

[Ill.u.s.tration: III.--Extinct volcanoes forming the Puy-de-Dome Chain.]

VOLCANIC OR LAVA FORMATIONS.

The _lava_ formations comprehend both extinct and active volcanoes. "The term," says Lyell, "has a somewhat vague signification, having been applied to all melted matter observed to flow in streams from volcanic vents. When this matter consolidates in the open air, the upper part is usually scoriaceous, and the ma.s.s becomes more and more stony as we descend, or in proportion as it has consolidated more slowly and under greater pressure."[21]

[21] "Elements of Geology," p. 596.

The formation of extinct volcanoes is represented in France by the volcanoes situated in the ancient provinces of Auvergne, Velay, and the Vivarais, but princ.i.p.ally by nearly seventy volcanic cones of various sizes and of the height of from 500 to 1,000 feet, composed of loose scoriae, lava, and pozzuolana, arranged upon a granitic table-land, about twelve miles wide, which overlooks the town of Clermont-Ferrand, and which seem to have been produced along a longitudinal fracture in the earth's crust, running in a direction from north to south. It is a range of volcanic hills, the "chain of _Puys_" nearly twenty miles in length, by two in breadth. By its cellular and porous structure, which is also granular and crystalline, the felspathic or pyroxenic lava which flowed from these volcanoes is readily distinguishable from the a.n.a.logous lavas which belong to the basaltic or trachytic formations. Their surface is irregular, and bristles with asperities, formed by heaped-up angular blocks.

The volcanoes of the chain of _Puys_, represented on opposite page (PL.

III.) are so perfectly preserved, their lava is so frequently superposed on sheets of basalt, and presents a composition and texture so distinct, that there is no difficulty in establishing the fact that they are posterior to the basaltic formation, and of very recent age.

Nevertheless, they do not appear to belong to the historic ages, for no tradition attests their eruption. Lyell places these eruptions in the Lower Miocene period, and their greatest activity in the Upper Miocene and Pliocene eras. "Extinct quadrupeds of those eras," he says, "belonging to the genera mastodon, rhinoceros, and others, were buried in ashes and beds of alluvial sand and gravel, which owe their preservation to overspreading sheets of lava."[22]

[22] Ibid, p. 677.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 9.--Section of a volcano in action.]

All volcanic phenomena can be explained by the theory we have already indicated, of fractures in the solid crust of the globe resulting from its cooling. The various phenomena which existing volcanoes present to us are, as Humboldt has said, "the result of every action exercised by the interior of a planet on its external crust."[23] We designate as volcanoes all conduits which establish a permanent communication between the interior of the earth and its surface--a conduit which gives pa.s.sage at intervals to eruptions of _lava_, and in Fig. 9 we have represented, in an ideal section, the geological mode of action of volcanic eruptions. The volcanoes on the surface of the globe, known to be in an occasional state of activity, number about three hundred, and these may be divided into two cla.s.ses: the _isolated_ or _central_, and the _linear_ or those volcanoes which belong to a _series_.[24]

[23] "Cosmos," vol. i., p. 25. Bohn.

[24] "Cosmos," vol. i., p. 237.

The first are active volcanoes, around which there may be established many secondary active mouths of eruption, always in connection with some princ.i.p.al crater. The second are disposed like the chimneys of furnaces, along fissures extending over considerable distances. Twenty, thirty, and even a greater number of volcanic cones may rise above one such rent in the earth's crust, the direction of which will be indicated by their linear course. The Peak of Teneriffe is an instance of a central volcano; the long rampart-like chain of the Andes, presents, from the south of Chili to the north-west coast of America, one of the grandest instances of a continental volcanic chain; the remarkable range of volcanoes in the province of Quito belong to the latter cla.s.s. Darwin relates that on the 19th of March, 1835, the attention of a sentry was called to something like a large star which gradually increased in size till about three o'clock, when it presented a very magnificent spectacle. "By the aid of a gla.s.s, dark objects, in constant succession, were seen in the midst of a great glare of red light, to be thrown up and to fall down. The light was sufficient to cast on the water a long bright reflection--it was the volcano of Osorno in action." Mr. Darwin was afterwards a.s.sured that Aconcagua, in Chili, 480 miles to the north, was in action on the same night, and that the great eruption of Coseguina (2,700 miles north of Aconcagua), accompanied by an earthquake felt over 1,000 miles, also occurred within six hours of this same time; and yet Coseguina had been dormant for six-and-twenty years, and Aconcagua most rarely shows any signs of action.[25] It is also stated by Professor Dove that in the year 1835 the ashes discharged from the mountain of Coseguina were carried 700 miles, and that the roaring noise of the eruption was heard at San Salvador, a distance of 1,000 miles.

[25] Darwin's "Journal," p. 291, 2nd edition.

In the sea the _series_ of volcanoes show themselves in groups of islands disposed in longitudinal series.

Among these may be ranged the volcanic series of Sunda, which, according to the accounts of the matter ejected and the violence of the eruptions, seem to be among the most remarkable on the globe; the series of the Moluccas and of the Philippines; those of j.a.pan; of the Marianne Islands; of Chili; of the double series of volcanic summits near Quito, those of the Antilles, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Among the central, or isolated volcanoes, we may cla.s.s those of the Lipari Islands, which have _Stromboli_, in permanent activity, for their centre; _Etna_, _Vesuvius_, the volcanoes of the _Azores_, of the _Canaries_, of the _Cape de Verde_, of the _Galapagos_ Islands, the _Sandwich_ Islands, the _Marquesas_, the _Society_ Islands, the _Friendly_ Islands, _Bourbon_, and, finally, _Ararat_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 10.--Existing crater of Vesuvius.]

The mouths of volcanic chimneys are, almost always, situated near the summit of a more or less isolated conical mountain; they usually consist of an opening in the form of a funnel, which is called the _crater_, and which descends into the interior of the volcanic chimney. But in the course of ages the crater becomes extended and enlarged, until, in some of the older volcanoes, it has attained almost incredible dimensions. In 1822 the crater of Vesuvius was 2,000 feet deep, and of a very considerable circ.u.mference. The crater of Kilauea, in the Sandwich Islands group, is an immense chasm 1,000 feet deep, with an outer circle no less than from two to three miles in diameter, in which lava is usually seen, Mr. Dana tells us, to boil up at the bottom of a lake, the level of which varies continually according to the active or quiescent state of the volcano. The cone which supports these craters, and which is designated the _cone of ejection_, is composed for the most part of lava or _scoriae_, the products of eruption. Many volcanoes consist only of a _cone of scoriae_. Such is that of Barren Isle, in the Bay of Bengal. Others, on the contrary, present a very small cone, notwithstanding the considerable height of the volcanic chain. As an example we may mention the new crater of Vesuvius, which was produced in 1829 within the former crater (Fig. 10).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 11.--Fissures near Locarno.]

The frequency and intensity of the eruptions bear no relation to the dimensions of the volcanic mountain. The eruption of a volcano is usually announced by a subterranean noise, accompanied by shocks, quivering of the ground, and sometimes by actual earthquakes. The noise, which usually proceeds from a great depth, makes itself heard, sometimes over a great extent of country, and resembles a well-sustained fire of artillery, accompanied by the rattle of musketry. Sometimes it is like the heavy rolling of subterranean thunder. Fissures are frequently produced during the eruptions, extending over a considerable radius, as represented in the woodcut on page 57 of the fissures of Locarno (Fig.

11), where they present a singular appearance; the clefts radiating from a centre in all directions, not unlike the starred fracture in a cracked pane of gla.s.s. The eruption begins with a strong shock, which shakes the whole interior of the mountain; ma.s.ses of heated vapour and fluids begin to ascend, revealing themselves in some cases by the melting of the snow upon the flanks of the cone of ejection; while simultaneously with the final shock, which overcomes the last resistance opposed by the solid crust of the ground, a considerable body of gas, and more especially of steam, escapes from the mouth of the crater.

The steam, it is important to remark, is essentially the cause of the terrible mechanical effects which accompany volcanic eruptions.

Granitic, porphyritic, trachytic, and sometimes even basaltic matters, have reached the surface without producing any of those violent explosions or ejections of rocks and stones which accompany modern volcanic eruptions; the older granites, porphyries, trachytes, and basalts were discharged without violence, because steam did not accompany those melted rocks--a sufficient proof of the comparative calm which attended the ancient as compared with modern eruptions. Well established by scientific observations, this is a fact which enables us to explain the cause of the tremendous mechanical effects attending modern volcanic eruptions, contrasted with the more tranquil eruptions of earlier times.

During the first moments of a volcanic eruption, the acc.u.mulated ma.s.ses of stones and ashes, which fill the crater, are shot up into the sky by the suddenly and powerfully developed elasticity of the steam. This steam, which has been disengaged by the heat of the fluid lava, a.s.sumes the form of great rounded bubbles, which are evolved into the air to a great height above the crater, where they expand as they rise, in clouds of dazzling whiteness, a.s.suming that appearance which Pliny the Younger compared to a stone pine rising over Vesuvius. The ma.s.ses of clouds finally condense and follow the direction of the wind.

These volcanic clouds are grey or black, according to the quant.i.ty of _ashes_, that is, of pulverulent matter or dust, mixed with watery vapour, which they convey. In some eruptions it has been observed that these clouds, on descending to the surface of the soil, spread around an odour of hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, and traces of both these acids are found in the rain which proceeds from the condensation of these clouds.

The fleecy clouds of vapour which issue from the volcanoes are streaked with lightning, followed by continuous peals of thunder; in condensing, they discharge disastrous showers, which sweep the sides of the mountain. Many eruptions, known as _mud volcanoes_, and _watery volcanoes_, are nothing more than these heavy rains, carrying down with them showers of ashes, stones, and scoriae, more or less mixed with water.

Pa.s.sing on to the phenomena of which the crater is the scene at the time of an eruption, it is stated that at first there is an incessant rise and fall of the lava which fills the interior of the crater. This double movement is often interrupted by violent explosions of gas. The crater of Kilauea, in the Island of Hawaii, contains a lake of molten matter 1,600 feet broad, which is subject to such a double movement of elevation and depression. Each of the vaporous bubbles as it issues from the crater presses the molten lava upwards, till it rises and bursts with great force at the surface. A portion of the lava, half-cooled and reduced to scoriae, is thus projected upwards, and the several fragments are hurled violently in all directions, like those of a sh.e.l.l at the moment when it bursts.

The greater number of the fragments being thrown vertically into the air, fall back into the crater again. Many acc.u.mulating on the edge of the opening add more and more to the height of the cone of eruption. The lighter and smaller fragments, as well as the fine ashes, are drawn upwards by the spiral vapours, and sometimes transported by the winds over almost incredible distances.

In 1794 the ashes from Vesuvius were carried as far as the extremity of Calabria. In 1812 the volcanic ashes of Saint Vincent, in the Antilles, were carried eastward as far as Barbadoes, spreading such obscurity over the island, that, in open day, pa.s.sengers could not see their way.

Finally, some of the ma.s.ses of molten lava are shot singly into the air during an eruption with a rapid rotatory motion, which causes them to a.s.sume the rounded shape in which they are known by the name of _volcanic bombs_.

We have already remarked that the lava, which in a fluid state fills the crater and the internal vent or chimney of the volcano, is forced upwards by gaseous fluids, and by the steam which has been generated from the water, entangled with the lava. In some cases the mechanical force of this vapour is so great as to drive the lava over the edge of the crater, when it forms a fiery torrent, spreading over the sides of the mountain. This only happens in the case of volcanoes of inconsiderable height; in lofty volcanoes it is not unusual for the lava thus to force an outlet for itself near the base of the mountain, through which the fiery stream discharges itself over the surrounding country. In such circ.u.mstances the lava cools somewhat rapidly; it becomes hard and presents a scoriaceous crust on the surface, while the vapour escapes in jets of steam through the interstices. But under this superficial crust the lava retains its fluid state, cooling slowly in the interior of the ma.s.s, while the thickening stream moves sluggishly along, impeded in its progress by the fragments of rock which this burning river drives before it.

The rate at which a current of lava moves along depends upon its ma.s.s, upon its degree of fluidity, and upon the inclination of the ground. It has been stated that certain streams of lava have traversed more than 3,000 yards in an hour; but the rate at which they travel is usually much less, a man on foot being often able to outstrip them. These streams, also, vary greatly in dimensions. The most considerable stream of lava from Etna had, in some parts, a thickness of nearly 120 feet, with a breadth of a geographical mile and a half. The largest lava-stream which has been recorded issued from the Skaptar Jokul, in Iceland, in 1783. It formed two currents, whose extremities were twenty leagues apart, and which from time to time presented a breadth of from seven to fifteen miles and a thickness of 650 feet.

A peculiar effect, and which only simulates volcanic activity, is observable in localities where _mud volcanoes_ exist. Volcanoes of this cla.s.s are for the most part conical hills of low elevation, with a hollow or depression at the centre, from which they discharge the mud which is forced upwards by gas and steam. The temperature of the ejected matter is only slightly elevated. The mud, generally of a greyish colour, with the odour of petroleum, is subject to the same alternating movements which have been already ascribed to the fluid lava of volcanoes, properly so called. The gases which force out this liquid mud, mixed with salts, gypsum, naphtha, sulphur, sometimes even of ammonia, are usually carburetted hydrogen and carbonic acid. Everything leads to the conclusion that these compounds proceed, at least in great part, from the reaction produced between the various elements of the subsoil under the influence of infiltrating water between bituminous marls, complex carbonates, and probably carbonic acid, derived from acidulated springs. M. Fournet saw in Languedoc, near Roujan, traces of some of these formations; and not far from that neighbourhood is the bituminous spring of Gabian.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IV.--Mud volcano at Turbaco, South America.]

Mud volcanoes, or _salses_, exist in rather numerous localities. Several are found in the neighbourhood of Modena. There are some in Sicily, between Aragona and Girgenti. Pallas observed them in the Crimea--in the peninsula of Kertch, and in the Isle of Taman. Von Humboldt has described and figured a group of them in the province of Cartagena, in South America. Finally, they have been observed in the Island of Trinidad and in Hindostan. In 1797 an eruption of mud ejected from Tunguragua, in Quito, filled a valley 1,000 feet wide to a depth of 600 feet. On the opposite page is represented the mud volcano of Turbaco, in the province of Cartagena (PLATE IV.), which is described and figured by Von Humboldt in his "Voyage to the Equatorial Regions of America."

In certain countries we find small hillocks of argillaceous formation, resulting from ancient discharges of mud volcanoes, from which all disengagement of gas, water, and mud has long ceased. Sometimes, however, the phenomenon returns and resumes its interrupted course with great violence. Slight shocks of earthquakes are then felt; blocks of dried earth are projected from the ancient crater, and new waves of mud flow over its edge, and spread over the neighbouring ground.

To return to ordinary volcanoes, that is to say, those which eject lava.

At the end of a lava-flow, when the violence of the volcanic action begins to subside, the discharge from the crater is confined to the disengagement of vaporous gases, mixed with steam, which make their escape in more or less abundance through a mult.i.tude of fissures in the ground.