The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-08-30
PROF. HITCHCOCK
On the Geological Formation Of
The Hawaiian Group.
ISLANDS ARE But VAST NEEDLES
Sticking End Up in the Ocean and
Liable to Overthrow by
Earthquakes.
ISLANDS ARE But VAST NEEDLES

The High School auditorium was
the lecture by Professor Hitchcock of
Dartmouth College upon the geologi-
cal structure of the Hawaiian Islands.
Professor Hitchcock's researches in
determining the formation of the
group and the age of each island form
valuable contribution to Hawaiian
science. His theory that each island
is needle, so to speak, extending
thousands of feet below the surface of
the ocean, is novel one, and more so
when the Professor definitely states
that sufficient shaking of the earth
would overbalance them and the ISL
ands would become submerged. There
was small likelihood of such an event
occurring, but from scientific stand
point it is cOntended that his theory
has the earmarks of being probable.
I'VE find that there are some eight
or nine islands in the Hawaiian group
which include only the larger ones:
but these are only a part of a very
large archipelago numbering not less
than LOO miles in length, and in
reality the number of islands is not
less than twenty-four; this enables us
gin Of the group itself / make use in
this connection of the well-known the
ory of the origin of volcanic and coral
islands, for a number of these are vol
canic and number are coral. There
is a series of low islands which extend
but a very short distance above tide
water. The origin of the two kinds.
viz, the high and the low islands, is
very obvious; the high island is of
volcanic origin and the low islands are
made up Of coral animals. 1t is sup
posed that there is a high island un-
derneath the low, or submerged, ISL
and, but the original material of which
it was composed is out of sight. Now
from this statement it is easy to ex-
plain or, rather understand, the theory
for the age of the Hawaiian Islands
1t is said that the Island of Hawaii is
the newest of the group; that is be-
cause it has volcanoes, active; the 9TH
ers are of volcanic origin, because
they have had their volcanoes; and
therefore the one having volcanoes is
the newest; we find, however, this is
supplemented by the formation of cor
al islands.
"In this formation we find, first,
high island; then a coral reef extend
ing entirely around it close to the
of Darwin anad Dana, there is slight
sinking down of this high island, and
as it sinks down the coral island
comes up; there is a considerable
space between the reef of coral and
the island, so that you can see that
after a while the high island sinks
out of sight and the coral reef has been
growing all the time, and this finally
comes up into an island under the
name of an atoll. These islands in
the remoter part of rne archipelago |
were once high islands and have since |
their formation sunk down and the |
reefs come up. We have other argu-
nents which are very satisfactory, in
Iced, to show the difference in age be-
.ween the Islands of Kauai and Ha-
vaii; the point in question is the
plant system and their development,
and the animals found; in the first
place, such islands as these have no
original vegetation or animal life; all
he vegetation and the animals have
,een brought to the islands in some
way or another; the first islands
ormed are solitary in the ocean, COM
,osed of lava rock with nothing what
.ver upon it; well, the first thing ma
inc animals would come to it; then
ome kind of plant-life coming from
he sea would drift upon the shores,