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Often appears with: matter, motion, and cause · the earth and its formation · strata, rocks, and the geological record · experiment, observation, and evidence · geography and the description of places · weather, storms, and the seasons · fate, destiny, and necessity · fossils and the record of past life · plague, famine, and mass death · the heavens and the stars · medicine, disease, and healing · history and the writing of history
Usually: argument (101) · curiosity (79) · skepticism (51) · narrative (45) · detachment (34) · reflection (20) · confronting death (19) · wonder (15) · description (14) · commentary or gloss (13)
“Earthquakes alone are sufficient to destroy the prosperity of any country.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“When the battery contact was first made, then an unmagnetised needle introduced into the small indicating helix... and lastly the battery contact broken, the needle was found magnetised to an equal degree apparently as before; but the poles were of the contrary kind.” Michael Faraday, Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 · observation
“Above ground, let walls be laid under the columns, thicker by one half than the columns are to be, so that the lower may be stronger than the higher.” Vitruvius Pollio, The Ten Books on Architecture · insight
“They were, however, of opinion, from the observations they were able to make, that much exaggeration pervades the accounts we have of the volcano, and especially the tale about Empedocles, that he leaped into the crater, and left as a vestige of his folly one of the brazen sandals which he wore.” Strabo, The Geography of Strabo, Volume 1 (of 3) · observation
“It is said indeed that some of the inhabitants of the Lipari Islands, at times when there has been so great a calm that no ship could sail out of port, have predicted what wind will blow, and have not been mistaken.” Strabo, The Geography of Strabo, Volume 1 (of 3) · observation
“Changes, therefore, of level analogous to those on which we have been led to speculate when endeavouring to solve the various problems presented by the glacial phenomena, are equally available to account for the nature and geological distribution of the loess.” Charles Lyell, Sir, The Antiquity of Man · insight
“Taking for granted then that the depression was more rapid in the more elevated region, the great rivers would lose century after century some portion of their velocity or carrying power, and would leave behind them on their alluvial plains more and more of the moraine-mud with which they were charged.” Charles Lyell, Sir, The Antiquity of Man · observation
“Hence we may be permitted to suspect that in some other regions, where we have no such means at our command for testing the exact date of certain movements, the time of their occurrence may be far more modern than we usually suppose.” Charles Lyell, Sir, The Antiquity of Man · insight
“Venus thus spoke. He opened his quiver, and, by the direction of his mother, set apart one out of his thousand arrows; but one, than which there is not any more sharp or less unerring, or which is more true to the bow.” Ovid, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII · vivid
“But let such a grain of barley fall on suitable soil under normal conditions; a complete individual change at once takes place in it under the influence of heat and moisture, it germinates.” Friedrich Engels, Landmarks of Scientific Socialism: "Anti-Duehring" · vivid
“nor is it reasonable to call the Deity capriciously upon the stage, and to make him work miracles for the sake of confirming our preconceived hypothesis.” --"I hold in utter abomination, most learned Academicians! those systems which are built with their foundations in the air, and cannot be propped up without a miracle; and I undertake, with the assistance of Moro, to explain to you how these marine animals were transported into the mountains by natural causes.” Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology · precept
“Is it possible that this waste should have continued for six thousand, and perhaps a greater number of years, and that the mountains should remain so great, unless their ruins have been repaired?” Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology · insight
Equiano describes visiting Brimstone-Hill in Montserrat, where boiling ponds of sulfurous waters turn metals black and can boil potatoes, showing the hill’s natural wonders and strange colors.
FOOTNOTES: [Footnote O: Thus was I sacrificed to the envy and resentment of this woman for knowing that the lady whom she had succeeded in my master's good graces designed to take me into her service; which, had I once got on shore, she would not have been able to prevent. She felt her pride alarmed at the superiority of her rival in being attended by a black servant: it was not less to prevent this than to be reven…
Darwin describes St. Jago geology, including a white shelly limestone band over volcanic rock, transformed by basalt flows, and then observes marine animals like Aplysia that emit purplish-red and stinging secretions.
thousandth of an inch square, mixed with finer matter. After this fact one need not be surprised at the diffusion of the far lighter and smaller sporules of cryptogamic plants. The geology of this island is the most interesting part of its natural history. On entering the harbour, a perfectly horizontal white band, in the face of the sea cliff, may be seen running for some miles along the coast, and at the height o…
Darwin shifts to geology and animals, describing “streams of stones” of quartz fragments, interpreting them as convulsion effects, and then gives observations on waterfowl and penguins.
expense of importing fresh horses from the Plata. At some future period the southern hemisphere probably will have its breed of Falkland ponies, as the northern has its Shetland breed. The cattle, instead of having degenerated like the horses seem, as before remarked, to have increased in size; and they are much more numerous than the horses. Capt. Sulivan informs me that they vary much less in the general form of t…
Darwin proposes glacier descent depends on a low snow-line near the coast, describes ice-filled valleys and glacier falls causing waves, and speculates on earthquakes triggering disruptive glacier mass movements.
an arborescent grass, very like a bamboo, in 40 degs.; and another closely allied kind, of great length, but not erect, flourishes even as far south as 45 degs. S. An equable climate, evidently due to the large area of sea compared with the land, seems to extend over the greater part of the southern hemisphere; and, as a consequence, the vegetation partakes of a semi-tropical character. Tree-ferns thrive luxuriantl…
Darwin recounts his sailing from Low's Harbour to San Carlos, Chiloe, while Osorno erupts and he notes simultaneous eruptions and earthquakes at Aconcagua and Coseguina.
CHILOE AND CONCEPCION: GREAT EARTHQUAKE San Carlos, Chiloe--Osorno in eruption, contemporaneously with Aconcagua and Coseguina--Ride to Cucao--Impenetrable Forests--Valdivia Indians--Earthquake--Concepcion--Great Earthquake--Rocks fissured--Appearance of the former Towns--The Sea Black and Boiling--Direction of the Vibrations--Stones twisted round--Great Wave--Permanent Elevation of the Land--Area of Volcanic Phenom…
After a major earthquake on March 20, Darwin enters Concepción and lands on Quiriquina, reporting collapsed buildings, destroyed villages, debris from Talcahuano, and rocks cast up from deep water.
much causeless alarm. In the course of the evening there were many weaker shocks, which seemed to produce in the harbour the most complicated currents, and some of great strength. March 4th.--We entered the harbour of Concepcion. While the ship was beating up to the anchorage, I landed on the island of Quiriquina. The mayor-domo of the estate quickly rode down to tell me the terrible news of the great earthquake o…
Darwin describes the next day’s visit to Talcahuano and Concepción, contrasting townwide ruin, counting numerous aftershocks, and recounting escape efforts alongside looting and fires.
convulsion has been more effectual in lessening the size of the island of Quiriquina, than the ordinary wear-and-tear of the sea and weather during the course of a whole century. The next day I landed at Talcahuano, and afterwards rode to Concepcion. Both towns presented the most awful yet interesting spectacle I ever beheld. To a person who had formerly known them, it possibly might have been still more impressive…
Darwin generalizes from the Chilean quake to warn that earthquakes can bankrupt countries, disable governments, and trigger famine and plague, then details the bay wave’s height and local drowning.
ruins. The thatched roofs fell over the fires, and flames burst forth in all parts. Hundreds knew themselves ruined, and few had the means of providing food for the day. Earthquakes alone are sufficient to destroy the prosperity of any country. If beneath England the now inert subterranean forces should exert those powers, which most assuredly in former geological ages they have exerted, how completely would the en…
He discusses eyewitness reports of sea ‘boiling’ and sulphureous smells, reports local witchcraft explanations involving Antuco, and analyzes how building orientations and wave directions affected damage in Concepción.
beneath some apple-trees. At first they were as merry as if it had been a picnic; but soon afterwards heavy rain caused much discomfort, for they were absolutely without shelter. In Captain Fitz Roy's excellent account of the earthquake, it is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and another like the blowing of a great whale, were seen in the bay. The water also appeared everywhere to be boiling; an…
Using the Cathedral and other structures, Darwin explains differential damage by wall and buttress orientation, describes twisting displacement of blocks, notes that arches often survived, and mentions a man crushed near a doorway.
island of S. Maria, situated in that quarter, was, during the general uplifting of the land, raised to nearly three times the height of any other part of the coast. The different resistance offered by the walls, according to their direction, was well exemplified in the case of the Cathedral. The side which fronted the N.E. presented a grand pile of ruins, in the midst of which door-cases and masses of timber stood …
Darwin reflects on the difficulty of conveying the scene’s mixed feelings, then compares earthquake water behavior—swelling retreat followed by powerful waves—and offers a causal model using deep-ocean wave generation.
a moment of time, which one was accustomed to attribute to a succession of ages. In my opinion, we have scarcely beheld, since leaving England, any sight so deeply interesting. In almost every severe earthquake, the neighbouring waters of the sea are said to have been greatly agitated. The disturbance seems generally, as in the case of Concepcion, to have been of two kinds: first, at the instant of the shock, the w…
He argues the earthquake’s most remarkable effect was permanent land uplift around the Bay of Concepción, cites raised tidal-shell evidence at S. Maria and Valparaiso, and suggests successive small uprisings.
it would also appear that the wave is larger or smaller, according to the extent of shoal water which has been agitated together with the bottom on which it rested. The most remarkable effect of this earthquake was the permanent elevation of the land, it would probably be far more correct to speak of it as the cause. There can be no doubt that the land round the Bay of Concepcion was upraised two or three feet; but…
Darwin links the main quake to far-flung disturbances and volcanic bursts at Juan Fernández, Chiloe, and others, then scales the event to Europe and concludes uplift and volcanism share a common physical cause.
such as that which accompanied or caused the earthquake of this year, and likewise by an insensibly slow rise, which is certainly in progress on some parts of this coast. The island of Juan Fernandez, 360 miles to the N.E., was, at the time of the great shock of the 20th, violently shaken, so that the trees beat against each other, and a volcano burst forth under water close to the shore: these facts are remarkable …
On March 20 the vegetation and animals thin as the expedition ascends toward the mines of San Pedro de Nolasko, and Darwin explains how laborers and cattle-drivers tend to discover ores in remote northern Chile.
mountains. In this south part of Chile, the men who drive cattle into the Cordillera, and who frequent every ravine where there is a little pasture, are the usual discoverers. 20th.--As we ascended the valley, the vegetation, with the exception of a few pretty alpine flowers, became exceedingly scanty, and of quadrupeds, birds, or insects, scarcely one could be seen. The lofty mountains, their summits marked with a…
Darwin investigates earthquake damage at old Callao (1746) and uses coastal terraces, shell beds, and embedded relics on San Lorenzo to infer recent sea-level and land-elevation changes.
advance made by them in the arts of civilization. The burial mounds, called Huacas, are really stupendous; although in some places they appear to be natural hills incased and modelled. There is also another and very different class of ruins, which possesses some interest, namely, those of old Callao, overwhelmed by the great earthquake of 1746, and its accompanying wave. The destruction must have been more complete…
Darwin summarizes his findings: the coast near Lima has risen by more than 85 feet within the “Indo-human” period, and he compares uplift timelines at Valparaíso and Patagonia after older maps.
Since our voyage, M. Tschudi has come to the conclusion, by the comparison of old and modern maps, that the coast both north and south of Lima has certainly subsided. On the island of San Lorenzo, there are very satisfactory proofs of elevation within the recent period; this of course is not opposed to the belief, of a small sinking of the ground having subsequently taken place. The side of this island fronting the…
At the Galápagos, Darwin characterizes the volcanic geography, thousands of craters, cool ocean-driven climate, and layered vegetation, then lands on Chatham Island to find lava, brushwood, craters, and giant tortoises.
of Fernando Noronha, placed in many respects under nearly similar conditions, is the only other country where I have seen a vegetation at all like this of the Galapagos Islands. The Beagle sailed round Chatham Island, and anchored in several bays. One night I slept on shore on a part of the island, where black truncated cones were extraordinarily numerous: from one small eminence I counted sixty of them, all surmoun…
Darwin describes Charles Island’s small exile colony, its inland settlement and lush upper region after ridge crossing, then reports on Albemarle and James Islands’ volcanic landscapes, salt-lakes, tortoise hunting, and extreme heat.
have taken away as many as seven hundred, and that the ship's company of a frigate some years since brought down in one day two hundred tortoises to the beach. September 29th.--We doubled the south-west extremity of Albemarle Island, and the next day were nearly becalmed between it and Narborough Island. Both are covered with immense deluges of black naked lava, which have flowed either over the rims of the great …
He extends the model: continued subsidence splits mountains into separate islands until the last pinnacle vanishes, instantly yielding a perfect atoll; he adds evidence from Keeling atoll, Vanikoro, the Society archipelago, and Maldiva changes tied to earthquakes.
[picture] one great reef--and finally, the last and highest pinnacle disappearing. The instant this takes place, a perfect atoll is formed: I have said, remove the high land from within an encircling barrier-reef, and an atoll is left, and the land has been removed. We can now perceive how it comes that atolls, having sprung from encircling barrier-reefs, resemble them in general size, form, in the manner in which…
Darwin argues that reef-fringed coasts must have been uplifted or stationary based on upraised organic remains, claims Quoy and Gaimard’s descriptions apply to fringing reefs, and explains how reef passages align with buried valley mouths.
the earthquakes recorded by the natives on some atolls, and in the great fissures observed on other atolls, plain evidence of changes and disturbances in progress in the subterranean regions. It is evident, on our theory, that coasts merely fringed by reefs cannot have subsided to any perceptible amount; and therefore they must, since the growth of their corals, either have remained stationary or have been upheaved.…
Darwin predicts that reefs should sometimes be dead and submerged in subsiding regions, describes leeward deterioration and Chagos’s partially dead atolls at 6–8 fathoms depth, and discusses how “half-drowned atolls” fit his coral-ring history.
studded, and its edge symmetrically bordered with oval basins of coral-rock just lipping the surface of the sea, sometimes clothed with vegetation, and each containing a lake of clear water! One more point in detail: as in the two neighbouring archipelagoes corals flourish in one and not in the other, and as so many conditions before enumerated must affect their existence, it would be an inexplicable fact if, during…
Using a “Coral Formations” map, Darwin links fringing reefs (uplift or stationary) versus atolls and barrier reefs (subsidence), argues continents generally rise while ocean centers sink, and correlates volcanic activity with uplifted regions rather than subsiding blue areas.
the history of these great rings of coral-rock, from their first origin through their normal changes, and through the occasional accidents of their existence, to their death and final obliteration. In my volume on "Coral Formations" I have published a map, in which I have coloured all the atolls dark-blue, the barrier-reefs pale-blue, and the fringing reefs red. These latter reefs have been formed whilst the land h…
He praises natural scenery, contrasts savage and civilized humanity, lists astronomical and geological marvels seen, and stresses how earthquakes reveal human insignificance.
beautiful, are very memorable. When looking down from the highest crest of the Cordillera, the mind, undisturbed by minute details, was filled with the stupendous dimensions of the surrounding masses. Of individual objects, perhaps nothing is more certain to create astonishment than the first sight in his native haunt of a barbarian--of man in his lowest and most savage state. One's mind hurries back over past centu…
He describes pozzolana near Baiae and Mt. Vesuvius as a fire-formed powder that hardens underwater, explains it via hot springs and latent heat, compares Tuscany vs Campania, and notes other sources like Aetna.
POZZOLANA 1. There is also a kind of powder which from natural causes produces astonishing results. It is found in the neighbourhood of Baiae and in the country belonging to the towns round about Mt. Vesuvius. This substance, when mixed with lime and rubble, not only lends strength to buildings of other kinds, but even when piers of it are constructed in the sea, they set hard under water. The reason for this seems …
He gives foundation engineering instructions: build on solid ground with stereobates, but if the site is loose earth or marsh, use dense piles of charred alder/olive/oak and fill between them before laying stylobates.
THE FOUNDATIONS AND SUBSTRUCTURES OF TEMPLES 1. The foundations of these works should be dug out of the solid ground, if it can be found, and carried down into solid ground as far as the magnitude of the work shall seem to require, and the whole substructure should be as solid as it can possibly be laid. Above ground, let walls be laid under the columns, thicker by one half than the columns are to be, so that the lo…
Vitruvius says large asphalt deposits occur near Jaffa in Syria and among Arab nomads, and he explains them with water seeping through asphalt and separating it after it emerges.
At Jaffa in Syria and among the Nomads in Arabia, are lakes of enormous size that yield very large masses of asphalt, which are carried off by the inhabitants thereabouts. 9. There is nothing marvellous in this, for quarries of hard asphalt are numerous there. So, when a quantity of water bursts its way through the asphaltic soil, it carries asphalt out with it, and after passing out of the ground, the water is sepa…
He describes how in Cappadocia reeds dipped into an asphaltic lake turn to stone, and at Hierapolis boiling springs harden into stone incrustations used to build field walls.
its proper flavours into the roots, feeds the stem, and, mounting along it to the top, imparts a flavour to the fruit which is peculiar to its situation and kind. 13. If soils were not different and unlike in their kinds of juices, Syria and Arabia would not be the only places in which the reeds, rushes, and all the plants are aromatic, and in which there are trees bearing frankincense or yielding pepper berries and…
Further commentary traces the Lu-kou bridge’s history in the Jin and later reconstructions, noting a major flood destruction and subsequent rebuilding with changed numbers of arches.
name implies, smooth, and navigable, and it is largely navigated by boats from the coal-mines of Fang-shan. The road crosses the latter about two leagues from Cho-chau. (See next chapter.) [The Rev. W. S. Ament (*M. Polo in Cambaluc*, p. 116–117) remarks regarding Yule’s quotation from Magaillans that “a glance at Chinese history would have explained to these gentlemen that there was no stone bridge over the L…
Temple discusses Narcondam’s volcano history and then provides ethnographic claims about the Andamanese, including their perceived intelligence, lack of agriculture, mental limits, and detailed character traits drawn from his 1901 writings.
NARCONDAM. Narcondam, an island I know well, has a separate bibliography of its own. It belongs to the Sunda group of volcanoes, but it has been so long extinct that there are no obvious signs now of its ever having been active. It has a species of hornbill which I have captured and shot that has differentiated itself from all others. I do not think, therefore, it can have been recognised as a volcano by mariners in…
Strabo describes Mount Ætna’s volcanic landscape and eruptions, gives recent eyewitness-style reports of a hot ash plain and cloud column, and rejects the story of Empedocles leaping into the crater.
the Leontini, which was possessed by the people of Naxos settled in Sicily, suffered much, for they always shared in the misfortunes of Syracuse, but not always in its prosperity.† 8. Near to Centoripa is the town we have a little before mentioned, Ætna, which serves as a place for travellers about to ascend Mount Ætna, to halt and refresh themselves for the expedition. For here commences the region in which is situ…
Strabo explains Sicily’s underground rivers, hot springs, and volcanic phenomena, linking them to analogous marvels elsewhere, and discusses supposed charms about crowns appearing in the Alpheus and other rivers.
the sea that washes Tyrrhenia and the Lipari Islands. By night a glowing light appears on its summit, but in the day-time it is enveloped with smoke and thick darkness. 9. The Nebrodes mountains[2334] take their rise opposite[2335] to Ætna; they are not so lofty as Ætna, but extend over a much greater surface. The whole island is hollow under ground, and full of rivers and fire like the bed of the Tyrrhenian Sea,[23…
Strabo turns to the Lipari Islands, describing Lipari’s origins, cult offerings to Delphi, and volcanic features, then explains how winds influence eruptions and cites Polybius on predicting winds by crater rumblings.
each crown will make its appearance in its respective river according to the charm. As for what we might add with reference to the Timao,[2352] it has already been particularized. 10. Phænomena, similar to these, and such as take place throughout Sicily,[2353] are witnessed in the Lipari Islands, and especially in Lipari itself.—These islands are seven in number, the chief of which is Lipari, a colony of the Cnidian…
Strabo summarizes the remaining Lipari islands, reports tales of fires and a sea “raised aloft” near Hiera and Euonymus, and says the Senate sent sacrifices after a volcanic formation appeared.
when he says that Æolus is the steward of the winds;[2363] however, we have formerly said enough as to this.[2364] We will now return to the point whence we digressed. 11. We have noticed the islands of Lipari and Thermessa. As for Strongyle,[2365] it takes its name from its form.[2366] Like the other two, it is subigneous, but is deficient in the force of the flames which are emitted, while their brightness is grea…
Continuing Faraday’s induction experiments, he shows brief galvanometer responses at contact and argues induced currents magnetise a steel needle, with opposite polarity for making versus breaking contact.
9. In these and many similar experiments no difference in action of any kind appeared between iron and other metals. 10. Two hundred and three feet of copper wire in one length were coiled round a large block of wood; other two hundred and three feet of similar wire were interposed as a spiral between the turns of the first coil, and metallic contact everywhere prevented by twine. One of these helices was connected …
Lyell describes Lazzaro Moro (1740) explaining Italian marine deposits by earthquakes using Strabo and Pliny, illustrated by a new island rising in the Santorin Gulf in 1707, then adapting the account to Mosaic creation.
Brenta and other districts were not without value, undertook to vindicate the truth of the deluge, as also to prove that Italy had been peopled by the descendants of Japhet.[74] *Moro*, 1740.--Lazzaro Moro, in his work (published in 1740) "On the Marine Bodies which are found in the Mountains,"[75] attempted to apply the theory of earthquakes, as expounded by Strabo, Pliny, and other ancient authors, with whom he wa…
Lyell summarizes Generelli’s 1749 defense of Moro, arguing that marine fossils in mountains record past earthquakes and that fossils, strata, and animals can’t be explained without natural causes and careful observation.
the other days of creation; but, upon the whole, it may be remarked, that few of the old cosmological theories had been conceived with so little violation of known analogies. *Generelli's illustrations of Moro*, 1749.--The style of Moro was extremely prolix, and, like Hutton, who, at a later period, advanced many of the same views, he stood in need of an illustrator. The Scotch geologist was hardly more fortunate in…
Lyell continues Generelli’s arguments for ongoing earthquake repair of mountains despite limited historical effects, and notes that the controversy then lacked strong ideas about extinction of animal species.
be propped up without a miracle; and I undertake, with the assistance of Moro, to explain to you how these marine animals were transported into the mountains by natural causes."[78] A brief abstract then follows of Moro's theory, by which, says Generelli, we may explain all the phenomena, as Vallisneri so ardently desired, "_without violence, without fictions, without hypothesis, without miracles_."[79] The Carmelit…
Lyell critiques Moro’s attempt to derive all stratified rocks from volcanic ejections, then reviews Marsilli’s and Donati’s Adriatic soundings showing structured marine deposits and living marine communities.
of which a great portion did actually exist in the Mediterranean; whereas the English collectors could obtain no recent species from such of their own strata as were then explored. The weakest point in Moro's system consisted in deriving *all* the stratified rocks from volcanic ejections; an absurdity which his opponents took care to expose, especially Vito Amici.[80] Moro seems to have been misled by his anxious de…
Lyell continues with Arduino’s tripartite rock distinctions and submarine volcanism in Padua-Vicenza-Verona, then Michell’s 1760 earthquake theory prompted by Lisbon 1755, and further debate over deluge explanations and stratigraphic ages.
for the retreat of the primeval ocean: his essay displays much erudition; and the opinions of preceding writers of Italy, Germany, and England, are commented upon with fairness and discrimination. *Arduino*, 1759.--In the year following, Arduino,[85] in his memoirs on the mountains of Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, deduced, from original observations, the distinction of rocks into primary, secondary, and tertiary, and …
Lyell reviews later 1760s–1790s writers, including Raspe’s compilation of earthquake accounts and Fuchsel’s ideas about gradual marine swallowing and multiple human origins, then continues with ongoing controversies.
of more recent origin. He pointed out that the strata of these two groups were *unconformable*, and must have been the deposits of different seas at distant periods of time. *Raspe*, 1763.--A history of the new islands, by Raspe, a Hanoverian, appeared in 1763, in Latin.[88] In this work, all the authentic accounts of earthquakes which had produced permanent changes on the solid parts of the earth were collected tog…
Lyell contrasts Werner’s Neptunist basalt theory with earlier and later evidence for igneous origins, recounting named scientists’ findings across Europe and arguing that Werner’s “retrograde” doctrine revived incorrect explanations.
at the same time, and independently, made the basis of an arrangement of the British strata by our countryman, William Smith, to whose work I shall refer in the sequel. *Controversy between the Vulcanists and Neptunists.*--In regard to basalt and other igneous rocks, Werner's theory was original, but it was also extremely erroneous. The basalts of Saxony and Hesse, to which his observations were chiefly confined, co…
Lyell describes Desmarest’s map and survey of Auvergne as uniquely accurate, notes Dolomieu and Montlosier’s supporting observations of submarine lavas and alternating strata, and emphasizes the factional bitterness between Neptunists and Vulcanists.
without any discernible craters or scoriae, and bearing the closest analogy to rocks in other parts of Europe, the igneous origin of which was denied by the school of Freyberg.[100] Desmarest's map of Auvergne was a work of uncommon merit. He first made a trigonometrical survey of the district, and delineated its physical geography with minute accuracy and admirable graphic power. He contrived, at the same time, to …
Lyell introduces Hutton and the English reception of the Wernerian errors, explaining that Hutton’s 1788 “Theory of the Earth” sought natural causes and rejected speculative origins, and he presents Hutton’s core ideas about an old, self-renewing Earth.
such a theory, kept aloof from the strife; and whenever a zealous Neptunist wished to draw the old man into an argument, he was satisfied with replying, "Go and see."[103] *Hutton*, 1788.--It would be contrary to all analogy, in matters of graver import, that a war should rage with such fury on the Continent, and that the inhabitants of our island should not mingle in the affray. Although in England the personal inf…
Lyell critiques Hutton and Playfair for incomplete explanations of valleys and alluvium, compares Hutton’s need for alternating disturbance and repose with Generelli’s synchronized elevation, and argues that disruption may shift across the whole Earth over time.
such infinite extent. Worlds are seen beyond worlds immeasurably distant from each other, and, beyond them all, innumerable other systems are faintly traced on the confines of the visible universe. The characteristic feature of the Huttonian theory was, as before hinted, the exclusion of all causes not supposed to belong to the present order of nature. But Hutton had made no step beyond Hooke, Moro, and Raspe, in po…
Lyell explains that undervaluing geological time leads to interpreting distant events as if they occurred in one year, producing supposed revolutions, false coincidences, and conclusions of preternatural causes.
most violent transitions from foreign or intestine war to periods of profound peace, and the works effected during the years of disorder or tranquillity would appear alike superhuman in magnitude. He who should study the monuments of the natural world under the influence of a similar infatuation, must draw a no less exaggerated picture of the energy and violence of causes, and must experience the same insurmountable…
Lyell explains “prejudices” from land-dwelling and invisibility of subterranean change, using analogies to quarrying and imagining alternative “amphibious” observers who might reason more accurately.
decomposition of rocks, and the transportation of matter by rivers to the sea, and then endeavors to picture to himself the new strata which Nature is building beneath the waters. *Prejudices arising from our not seeing subterranean changes.*--Nor is his position less unfavorable when, beholding a volcanic eruption, he tries to conceive what changes the column of lava has produced, in its passage upwards, on the int…
Lyell explains possible ice-freezing mechanisms for carcasses—drift snow forming glaciers or sudden stream freezing—and he illustrates with Huc’s 1846 account of animals incrusted in ice in Tibet.
cause the rivers flowing in their present direction to sweep down from south to north the bodies of drowned animals, and there bury them in drift ice and frozen mud. If it be true that the carcass of the mammoth was imbedded in pure ice, there are two ways in which it may have been frozen in. We may suppose the animal to have been overwhelmed by drift snow. I have been informed by Dr. Richardson, that, in the northe…
He claims refrigeration would quickly spread through global atmosphere and oceans via circulation, citing cloud and wind behavior and two eruptions (St. Vincent 1812; Sumbawa 1815) to argue for counter-currents.
vast height, rise up between North Greenland and the Orkney Islands. It seems difficult to exaggerate the amount to which the climate of the northern hemisphere would then be cooled.[186] But the refrigeration brought about at the same time in the southern hemisphere, would be nearly equal, and the difference of temperature between the arctic and equatorial latitudes would not be much greater than at present; for no…
Lyell discusses erratic boulders and argues deluges and ordinary rivers cannot explain them, instead proposing transportation by ice (with running water) and gradual sea-bed uplift converting sea to land.
own agency; but the amount of reproduction in the form of sedimentary strata must always afford a true measure of the minimum of denudation which the earth's surface has undergone. *Erratics.*--The next phenomenon to which the advocates of the excessive power of running water in times past have appealed, is the enormous size of the blocks called *erratic*, which lie scattered over the northern parts of Europe and No…
Lyell critiques deluge theories for causing floods and erratics, proposing instead specific mechanisms for extraordinary inundations (drained lake catastrophes and marine-current inflow into depressed regions), then gives Lake Superior and Caspian examples.
to speculate on the former existence of a climate more severe than that now prevailing in the western hemisphere, to explain the geographical distribution of most of the European erratics. *Deluges.*--As deluges have been often alluded to, I shall say something of the causes which may be supposed to give rise to these grand movements of water in addition to those already alluded to (p. 9). Geologists who believe tha…
In discussing supposed former volcanic intensity, Lyell claims igneous rocks formed throughout the geological record in repeated eruptions and injections, supporting gradual accumulation of effects rather than rare, violent, short episodes.
ON THE SUPPOSED FORMER INTENSITY OF THE IGNEOUS FORCES. Volcanic action at successive geological periods--Plutonic rocks of different ages--Gradual development of subterranean movements--Faults--Doctrine of the sudden upheaval of parallel mountain-chains--Objections to the proof of the suddenness of the upheaval, and the contemporaneousness of parallel chains--Trains of active volcanoes not paral…
Lyell summarizes Elie de Beaumont’s 1833/1852 theory that short paroxysmal revolutions suddenly raised many parallel mountain-chains, linked to changes in sedimentary formations and even global planetary cooling, while proposing a deluge tradition.
"2dly. At each of these periods of violence or 'revolution,' in the state of the earth's surface, a great number of mountain-chains have been formed suddenly. "3dly. The chains thrown up by a particular revolution have one uniform direction, being parallel to each other within a few degrees of the compass, even when situated in remote regions; whilst the chains thrown up at different periods have, for the most part,…
Lyell argues that strata would fold under repeated sideway thrust over long times, citing volcanic uplifts in Chile in 1822 and 1835 and recurring earthquakes along zones.
and volume of the Andes must be insignificant in comparison, even if we indulge the most moderate conjectures as to the thickness of the earth's crust above the volcanic foci. To assume that any set of strata with which we are acquainted are made up of such cohesive and unyielding materials, as to be able to resist a power of such stupendous energy, if its direction, instead of being vertical, happened to be oblique…
He shifts to crustal dynamics: some regions are earthquake-prone while others rise or subside slowly (e.g., Sweden, Greenland), and he infers repeated movements from unconformable strata rather than global catastrophe.
upheaval is proved by the occurrence in inland spots, several hundred feet high, of deposits filled with fossil shells of species now living either in the ocean or the Baltic. To detect proofs of slow and gradual subsidence must in general be more difficult; but the theory which accounts for the form of circular coral reefs and lagoon islands, and which will be explained in the last chapter of the third book, will s…
Lyell illustrates uniform, local disturbances through unconformities—Silurian vertical near Wales and Shropshire overlaid by horizontal carboniferous rocks, plus comparisons in Sweden, Russia, Yorkshire, the Pyrenees, and Somerset—showing changes without universal destruction.
sandstone supports on its curved and inclined beds the horizontal Chalk. The Chalk again is vertical on the flanks of the Pyrenees, and the tertiary strata repose unconformably upon it. *Consistency of local disturbances with general uniformity.*--As almost every country supplies illustrations of the same phenomena, they who advocate the doctrine of alternate periods of disorder and repose may appeal to the facts ab…
Lyell adds that earthquakes in 1811–12 altered Mississippi-basin levels, describing the Tennessee lakes like Reelfoot and Obion and the Missouri “sunk country” near New Madrid with submerged trees, rents, and sunk holes.
red for about fifteen feet from the ground; at which height a perfectly level line extends through the whole forest, marking the rise of the waters during the last flood.[363] But most probably the causes above assigned for the recent origin of these lakes are not the only ones. Subterranean movements have altered, so lately as the years 1811-12, the relative levels of various parts of the basin of the Mississippi, …
Lyell continues by describing how earthquakes, sea incursions, and yearly or daily variations in river discharge create stratification, with examples from the Mississippi and Rhone–Arve confluence where inclined laminae form.
Where this cause has not operated, as where sand, mud, and fragments of rock are conveyed by a glacier, a confused heap of rubbish devoid of all stratification is produced. Natural divisions are also occasioned in deltas, by the interval of time which separates annually the deposition of matter during the periodical rains, or melting of snow upon the mountains. The deposit of each year may acquire some degree of con…
Lyell describes the 24 December 1839 landslip between Lyme Regis and Axmouth, explaining how wet weather, springs, and undermining of lias led to collapse, fissures, a deep ravine, cliff forward-sliding, and an uplifted reef.
"Church Cliffs," as they are called, consisting of lias about one hundred feet in height, gradually fell away at the rate of one yard a year, from 1800 to 1829.[431] An extraordinary landslip occurred on the 24th of December, 1839, on the coast between Lyme Regis and Axmouth, which has been described by the Rev. W. D. Conybeare, to whose kindness I am indebted for the accompanying section, fig. 36. The tract of down…
Lyell continues with Holland’s historical inundations: parts of Walcheren, Beveland, and Kadzand were swept away (fourteenth–eighteenth centuries), Orisant was destroyed in 1658, and the 1421 Bies Bosch catastrophe overflowed 72 villages and drowned many permanently.
inhabitants, by the aid of embankments and the sand dunes of the coast, have succeeded, although not without frequent disasters, in defending the soil thus raised by the marine deposit.[444] *Inroads of the Sea in Holland.*--If we pass to the northward of the territory just alluded to, and cross the Scheldt, we find that between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries parts of the islands Walcheren and Beveland were…
Lyell expands Andes volcanic details, including types of lava, heights of volcanoes, and earthquake-linked lahars (moya), then links these to far-travelled ash from Coseguina to Truxillo and Kingston.
the very same day, 1678; or the eruptions of Coseguina in the year 1709 and 1809, which are the only two recorded of that volcano previous to that of 1835.[470] Of the permanent upheaval of land after earthquakes in Chili, I shall have occasion to speak in the next chapter, when it will also be seen that great shocks often coincide with eruptions, either submarine or from the cones of the Andes, showing the identity…