The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-13

secondary results VI eno
Possibly escaping steam may nave
been the chief agent in their forms
ton. the lime and phosphate when
thev all contain in rather large pro
portions being derived from the de-
composition of the gravel on the
SPOT. Such deposits must have a
bearing on the fertility OF the SOIL,
considering how deficient our SOILS
are in general in lime.
In the gravel bed near the Luna
lilo Home there Is a singular relation |
of such a caIcareous and phosphate
deposit TO the gravel, which here
evidently lies just where Madame
Pele placed it. The lower stratum OF |
the gravel appears whltened IN
places as though it had imblbed
from below water impregnated with !
mineral. The line of demarcation be-
tween the black and the wh1tened
material is sharply defined-not per
fectly horizontal, In some places
showing in section a straight line, IN
others the whitened material exhibit
ING numerous conical (mamm1llarV
projections upward. The sand IS not
cemented, or is very slightly cementr
ed by the intruding material, which
consists of carbonate and phosphate
of lime.
Clean black sand, several feet IN
thickness overlies this formation,
conpeIling one to believe that the
lime has been drawn up from be-
meath, unless it penetrated from
above on the side whence the sand
has been removed In the upper
strata of the sand deposit there are
numerous specimens OF what appear
| like fossil tree trunks and branches
| On examination these are found 20
consist of sand similar to that IN
which they are embedded cemented
together by whitlsh, yelloWlsn or
rust colored material which proves TO
be not lime but silica. Sometimes
/ these lie horizontally, confined to q
single layer of the sand. and are
crowded together as closely as the
fieshy roots of the cassava plant. In
other instances their position IS YER
tical or nearly so, and they traverse
several layers of the gravel. Often
thew are crooked, not unfrequently
branching; in diameter they range
from one inch or less to six inches or
even a foot or more. Familiar as
these objects are in the various
gravel pits about Honolulu, L confess
that / have not satisfactorily unrav-
elled the mystery of their formation.
In the same gravel pit, there Is an
interesting bit of history preserved
The gravel had damned up the
stream which drains Punchbowl era
ter when there is rain storm A
new channel was cut directly
through the gravel of this pit, but
this in time became choked with
fragments of Purchbowl tufa, wash
|, ed down from the ridge near the
Cemetery, and the water found a
channel elsewhere That the tufa is
. really older than the gravel is shown
not far away, where the undisturbed
, gravel rests on a tufa foundation
The great explosive eruptions from
the Makiki group of vents gave to a
large part of Honolulu, as we have
, seen. a deep fertile soil. Southeast
E of this area, stretching from Molliili
IN Waialae and Diamond Head there
ia q region which has been flooded
i probably at a somewhat earlier date,
: with liquid lava, which has conse
/ quently as yet only scantyI soil, be-
d tween the bare lava blocks Ihe
f source of this lava was the crater OF
I Telegraph Hill.
D On the other hand portions OF Ho
t nolulu owe their soil to dlslntegra
! tion of the tufa of Punchbowl which
e weathers easily, and yields nne
= grained red soil. In some parts OF the
!. city, the reef rock mas scarcely any
b covering of soil, while In the extreme
! western part, the surface con
Y sists of the ancient lava lorna
: ton which seems to have re
b sisted pertinaciously the tooth O
g time. 1t has only scanty soil con
@ sisting of disintegrated lava.
o In the valley region and about tn
: estuaries of streams there IS o
course a good deal OF alluvIal de
Il posit. but even the valley, as ia
% north at least as the cemetery, re
4, ceived its fiery baptism OF sand fror
IS the Maklki craters.
d Microscopical examination OF tn
1t gravelIy soil of Honolulu, shows tia
4. It contains in astonishingly larg
.r numbers perfectly formed crystals
Of divine scarcely at all water worI
X but often partly or wholly cruste
a with oxide of iron. These crystal
Or are commonly studded with minut
r. black octahedra of magnetic, an
e multitudes OF these latter crysta
m also exist in the soil, their presenc
" revealed whenever q streamlet
ID water runs down the street after
of rain, the crystals being thus segr'
!e, gated as fine sparkling black mag
rs netic sand.
Even the soils formed by the 70
Ist ting down of lavas contain general
10, the same crystals, although ofte
a with rounded angles. One may by tn
M. means distinguish our volcanic so
re from that from almost any continen
nd which will contain almost inevitabl
W. rounded grains of older and mo-