Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1896-07-19
BNGLAND's VOLCANOES.
Traces Of the Old Belchers Seen in Many
Places.

Places.
Sir Archibald Geike, F. r. s.. In a
lecture be,ore The Glasgow Geological
Society on The Lales, Volcanoes IN the
| British Isles" says that the subject vas
one which had occupied him closely Tor
| the Jas. 90. and more especially he last
! seven years These Islands o. ours we're
| specially fortunate in the wonderfully
! complete record which they had with
! in their borders Of The history Of vol
canic action. He supposed there was
TO area of equal dimensions on the race
of the earth where the story Of volcanic
action had been recorded so completely
and with such wonderfully voiumlIous
details.
From the earliest geological times
| they had an almost continuous record
Of volcanic eruption along the western
! border OF the European Continent
There were once active volcanoes along
great valley between the cutter HeDrl-
des on the west and the main lanG OF
| Scotland on the east, and they extend
ed from the south of Antrim through
the line of the inner Hebrides far north
into the Farce Isles, and beyond them
into Iceland. The present lcelandic
volcanoes were the lineal descendants
| Of those which were in action IN Lhls
country in older tertiary times
The story Of volcanoes in this coun-
try was to be found by the side of vol
canoes in Iceland, and one of the most
prominent features of the modern vol
canoes in that country was that they
did not form mountains like Etna OF
Vesuvius. Their dominant feature was
the production Of great rectillnear rs
sures. but there were also cones. Ev-
cry one who had sailed along the shores
OF the Clyde was familiar with the GikeS
that rose up sometimes with singular
prominence along the shores OF Aran.
Butte and the Cumbraes-great wall IKE
masses of black rock through the sand
stone. These bikes marked some OF the
assures produced during the time OF the
early tertiary volcanic eruptiOns. The
eruptions appeared to have begun with
the formation CT these assures. They
had them in Antrim, Null, Reum, Can
ma. Sunday, and Skye. The lnnner He
brides were merely fragments OF what
may have been originally a volcanic
plateau extending from Antrim in the
south TO the north o. Skye. The success
sive OutfoWs of basalt could ne traced
in LAYERS in ORD river channels, and these
LAYERS had been repeated at least four
times in THE history Of the plateau, as
shown in the sland OF Cana and San
day.
From the beginning of the story to
the end, the production Of assures seem
cd to have been the fundamental fact.
There was great difficulty IN fixing the
age, but within the last few months, in
the course of their work in the GeolOg-
ical Survey. they had come across the
evidence which would enable them 10
spell their way amCng The dlkeS OF the
whole Western Highlands. The vol
canoes. however. belong to a very recent
EUiOd-,to a time actually younger than
the SOLE cay on which London is built.
That clay was there before the volca
noes began TO blaze forth. In closing,
Sir Archibald referred to the subject OF
denuGation or waste, which he described
as enc OF the most fascinating depart
men1s of geology, and one which gave
them valuable aid in grabbing them to
determine the age of different strata;
and there was. he said. no place where
the biologist could study that subject
with more profit TO himself and benefit
to science than along the north shores
o. the Farce Isles, wh5re they were the
fines. sea cliffs in Europe. some OF them
1000 feet in height-EdInbu gh ScU,s
man.