New-York tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1841-1842, 1842-03-25
Dir. Lyell'S Third Lecture en- Geology.
reported for The Tribune.

in both my previous lectures 10 alIudc 10 the TACT
that various Murine tosSilelhe fossil remains OF
animals thar oace lived IN the ocean-haye bee.
found entornbcd IN thc#roclis Of yarious districts
not that we find these remains OF Murine creatures
,uewed over sr.acc Of the Earth merely. as il
rh- Sea had ono. egeriowcd the land but we tl
them imbeaderi iii#tie midst OF mountains at oil
DEPTHS below The, uriacc, and entering int the
composition o. the mountain masses themselves,
making up theirvcrv materials, sometimes loi
two,or tFlret. miles thick, all having been gradu-
ally elaborated Under the water. tls furnishing the
most indispuablc proof that what is now dry land
Was once for ages under the water and formed the
bed Of the scaZIlcre the gcologist finds himself
reduced 70 lii, alternative OF ,npposing either that
The occa;r sas once higher than it now is, and that
il has been lowered; that the land. the solid
land itself has been raised up. The earlier gcolo-
gisfS preferred the notion OF Il sinking a general
sinking u the sea; for the ocean cannot be low
cred II one place without general subsistence
Throughout lis whole extent. But when the struc-
rlrc of the Earth came to be m-re aitentivelv
studied and more thoroughly examined biologists
gradually came round to the opposite opinion,
namely. that the land had been elevated and this
opinion was embraced for several reasons, but
principally because it would acccun, for all the
Observed phenomena, explain al the periods Of
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES in which the strata are dis
turbed and fractured as well as those in which they
are horizontal. For they were all upon level,
then the gong down Of the sea nigh, cxpainthcil
appearance; but as we find them curved, bent and
fractured the other theory is the only one which
viii expiain both appearances.
Another reason for embracing the hypothesis Of
an upheava of the Earth is tllis-that we find i'll
the crust of the Earth fresh water formations
you are now familiar with this lcrm)-beds formed
in lakes and ,Stu;trcs lying benealI the depositcs
which are evidently of marine origin. For exam
pie in some parts Of Europe you knd the white
chalk-a marine. cnIcamous matter, produced be-
meath the sea mainly by the decomposition OF
shells; beneath that YOU find another stl1ltum, evil
IDENTITY of fresh water origin. Now 10 explain how
:, marine stratum 800 feet thick could nave been
tlms deposited upon a fresh water formation. by
the theory of the rising and the lowering OFT the
ocean, YOU would have To maxi the ocean first re-
treat, in order that there might be dry land then
rise again TO dcposic the mass of coras and shells
which are found lhen. retire and again 90 d0w.a
10 explain the present dry land which now Exists
in that par. OF the En tn where his calcarcous
Ter is found. You would have Il vast number .!
successive reti,as upon that hypothesis and the
ocean must rise several miles and stand there toi
AGES to form the marine rocks of the Hilamelaya
and other mountain chains.
Put besides tina, this theory OF the movement OF
the land exslains all these geological phenomena
we have the experience Of history, which teaches
tha, the SOLID land, through extended districts
does sink down in some places and rise Slowy in
others; whereas there is no instance on record OF
General lowering of the whole ocean--tilerc has
been no general sinking of the throughout the
world | think shall be able 10 show IN this and
the next lecture, that there has been and Is now
going on a magnificent example OF tins. sometimes
of sudden and at others OF gradual and IN
sensible rising and sinking OF the earth. | will
here mention one example in Sweden because OIL
sinally disputed the accuracyot the statement,
until visited The locality and satisfied myself OF
its truth I found that the Northern part 0!
Scandinavia. OF Sweden and Norway. WAS rising
I'VE or ST.: feel III Il century, as is ascertained by
years Asvou 90 south to Grtie YOU find that the
rising has diminished To three feet, and at Stock
holm TO only Two or three inches in the hundred
years, wle sill farther saut there motion
at all ltis thus asst the whole land were Il lever.
which is stationary III point, rising more and
more as YOU go toward the end. In Greenland 1t
is certain that since the early Dunes colohlzed the
island built churches there aud settled the country
there has been a gradual sinking down OF the
wholecoasl tol several hundred miles tho churches
in some places have been submersed=and The
sreaerTart ot the lower stories and the payeuente
are now wholls under wa1erZli these movements
OF the earth arc sometimes accompanied by vol
came cruptiou$, though mol in Greenland and Swe-
den. bur in South America they are. In Ch'h.
for example, in 1888, that part 81 The coast near
Conception was raised some nine feet, and re-
manned permanently al tflat hight. The bed OF.
The sea WAS raised as were the Island ri Santa
Marie and great part ot the ncghboring coast;
AT the same moment the volcano al O>arno, IN the
Andes burst lcrtl, aud lava seen 10 flow from
It's crater y submarine volcano also burst iorth
400 miles ives, OF O>arno a, Bacalao, and the
island OF Juan Fernando WAS also violently
shaken. lhe>e facts show the vast extent OF the
snb,cr:ancan volcanic activity accompanying the
movemcn, OF the land The land has rcap>ed
in some DECREE. though not To lis former position.
In some places 1t maintains It's uphcaval.
But voI may see more Wmarkablc illustration
of this upward and downward movement III the
mmediats ncighborhood Of Naples: and mention
!, because evidence drawn partly from antiquarian
researches and partly belonging to geological proof
comes home rnor,, easily and moro convincingly 70
rhe minds a. those not accustomed TO purely geo
logical evidences. In nv neNt lecture when come
TO speak Of the coral reefs-I think say not too
much when say that shall show that these vast
areas OF the Ear,h'> understanding some
5000 miles from E;ss; 10 West, and 5000 or 4co''
from North 10 Soutt--are now undergoing IN some
sections SLOW upheaval, aud mothers an equally
gradual su!,sdence To-day shall conhne my
IL In inhhnrnnNN nt