Volcanoes: Past and Present Part 16

The reply, therefore, to the question with which we set out is very plain; and is to the effect that the present epoch is one of comparatively low volcanic activity. The further question suggests itself, whether the volcanic phenomena of the middle Tertiary period bear any comparison with those of past geological times. This, though a question of great interest, is one which is far too large to be discussed here; and it is doubtful if we have materials available upon which to base a conclusion. But it may be stated with some confidence, in general terms, that the history of the earth appears to show that, throughout all geological time, our world has been the theatre of intermittent geological activity, periods of rest succeeding those of action; and if we are to draw a conclusion regarding the present and future, it would be that, owing to the lower rate of secular cooling of the crust, volcanic action ought to become less powerful as the world grows older.

[1] Admirably ill.u.s.trated in Prof. J. Milne's recently published work, _The Great Earthquake of j.a.pan, 1891_.

APPENDIX.

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PRINc.i.p.aL VARIETIES OF VOLCANIC ROCKS.

The text-books on this subject are so numerous and accessible, that a very brief account of the volcanic rocks is all that need be given here for the purposes of reference by readers not familiar with petrological details.

Let it be observed, in the first place, that there is no hard and fast line between the varieties of igneous and volcanic rocks. In this as in other parts of creation--_natura nil facit per saltum_; there are gradations from one variety to the other. At the same time a systematic arrangement is not only desirable, but necessary; and the most important basis of arrangement is that founded on the proportion of _silica_ (or quartz) in the various rocks, as first demonstrated by Durocher and Bunsen, who showed that silica plays the same part in the inorganic kingdom that carbon does in the organic. Upon this hypothesis, which is a very useful one to work with, these authors separated all igneous and volcanic rocks into two cla.s.ses, viz., the Basic and the Acid; the former containing from 45-58 per cent., the latter 62-78 per cent. of that mineral. But there are a few intermediate varieties which serve to bridge over the s.p.a.ce between the Basic and Acid Groups. The following is a generalised arrangement of the most important rocks under the above heads:--

_Tabular View of Chief Igneous and Volcanic Rocks._

BASIC GROUP.

1. Basalt and Dolerite.

2. Gabbro.

3. Diorite.

4. Diabase and Melaphyre.

5. Porphyrite.

INTERMEDIATE GROUP.

6. Syenite.

7. Mica-trap, or Lampophyre.

8. Andesite.

ACID GROUP.

9. Trachyte, Domite, and Phonolite.

10. Rhyolite and Obsidian.

11. Granophyre.

12. Granite.

In the above grouping, and in the following definitions, I have not been able to follow any special authority. But the most serviceable text-books are those of Mr. Frank Rutley, _Study of Rocks_, and Dr.

Hatch, _Petrology_; also H. Rosenbusch, _Mikroskopische Physiographie der Mineralien_, and F. Zirkel's _Untersuchungen uber mikroskopische Structur der Basaltgesteine_. We shall consider these in the order above indicated:--

1. BASALT.--The most extensively distributed of all volcanic rocks. It is a dense, dark rock of high specific gravity (2.4-2.8), consisting of plagioclase felspar (Labradorite or anorthite), augite, and t.i.tano-ferrite (t.i.taniferous magnet.i.te). Olivine is often present; and when abundant the rock is called "olivine-basalt." In the older rocks, basalt has often undergone decomposition into melaphyre; and amongst the metamorphic rocks it has been changed into diorite or hornblende rock; the augite having been converted into hornblende.

When leucite or nepheline replaces plagioclase, the rock becomes a leucite-basalt,[1] or nepheline-basalt. Some basalts have a gla.s.s paste, or "ground-ma.s.s," in which the minerals are enclosed.

The lava of Vesuvius may be regarded as a variety of basalt in which leucite replaces plagioclase, although this latter mineral is also present. Zirkel calls it "Sanidin-leucitgestein," as both the macroscopic and microscopic structure reveal the presence of leucite, sanidine, plagioclase, nephiline, augite, mica, olivine, apat.i.te, and magnet.i.te.[2]

_Dolerite_ does not differ essentially from basalt in composition or structure, but is a largely crystalline-granular variety, occurring more abundantly than basalt amongst the more ancient rocks, and the different minerals are distinctly visible to the naked eye.

A remarkable variety of this rock occurs at Slieve Gullion in Ireland, in which mica is so abundant as to const.i.tute the rock a "micaceous dolerite."

2. GABBRO.--A rather wide group of volcanic rocks with variable composition. Essentially it is a crystalline-granular compound of plagioclase, generally Labradorite and diallage. Sometimes the pyroxenic mineral becomes hypersthene, giving rise to _hypersthene-gabbro_; or when hornblende is present, to _hornblende-gabbro_; when olivine, to _olivine-gabbro_. Magnet.i.te is always present.

These rocks occur in the Carlingford district in Ireland, in the Lizard district of Cornwall, the Inner Hebrides (Mull, Skye, etc.) of Scotland, and in Saxony.

3. DIORITE.--A crystalline-granular compound of plagioclase and hornblende with magnet.i.te. When quartz is present it becomes (according to the usual British acceptation) a _syenite_; but this view is gradually giving place to the German definition of syenite, which is a compound of orthoclase and hornblende; and it may be better to denominate the variety as _quartz-diorite_. The diorites are abundant as sheets and d.y.k.es amongst the older palaeozoic and metamorphic rocks, and are sometimes exceedingly rich in magnet.i.te. Mica, epidote, and chlorite are also present as accessories.

The rock occurs in North Wales, Charnwood Forest, Wicklow, Galway, and Donegal, and the Highlands of Scotland. There can be little doubt that amongst the metamorphic rocks of Galway, Mayo, and Donegal the great beds of (often columnar) diorite were originally augitic lavas, which have since undergone transformation.

4. DIABASE.--It is very doubtful if "Diabase" ought to be regarded as a distinct species of igneous rock, as it seems to be simply an altered variety of basalt or dolerite, in which chlorite, a secondary alteration-product, has been developed by the decomposition of the pyroxene or olivine of the original rock. It is a convenient name for use in the field when doubt occurs as to the real nature of an igneous rock. Melaphyre is a name given to the very dark varieties of altered augitic lavas, rich in magnet.i.te and chlorite.

5. PORPHYRITE (or quartzless porphyry).--A basic variety of felstone-porphyry, consisting of a felspathic base with distinct crystals of felspar, with which there may be others of hornblende, mica, or augite. The colour is generally red or purple, and it weathers into red clay, in contrast to the highly acid or silicated felsites which weather into whitish sand.

6. SYENITE.--As stated above, this name has been variously applied. Its derivation is from Syene (a.s.souan) in Egypt, and the granitic rocks of that district were called "syenites," under the supposition (now known to be erroneous) that they differ from ordinary granites in that they were supposed to be composed of quartz, felspar, and hornblende, instead of quartz, felspar, and mica. From this it arose that syenite was regarded as a variety of granite in which the mica is replaced by hornblende, and this has generally been the British view of the question. But the German definition is applied to an entirely different rock, belonging to the felstone family; and according to this cla.s.sification syenite consists of a crystalline-granular compound of orthoclase and hornblende, in which quartz may or may not be present.

From this it will be seen that, according to Zirkel, syenite is essentially distinct from diorite in the species of its felspar.[3] It seems desirable to adopt the German view; and as regards diorites containing quartz as an accessory, to apply to them the name of _quartz-diorite_, as stated above, the name syenite as used by British geologists having arisen from a misconception.

7. MICA-TRAP (LAMPOPHYRE).--A rock, allied to the felstone family, in which mica is an abundant and essential const.i.tuent, thus consisting of plagioclase and mica, with a little magnet.i.te. Quartz may be an accessory. This rock occurs amongst the Lower Silurian strata of Ireland, c.u.mberland, and the South of Scotland; it is not volcanic in the ordinary acceptation of that term. The term _lampophyre_ was introduced by Gumbel in describing the mica-traps of Fichtelgebirge.

8. ANDESITE.--This is a dark-coloured, compact or vesicular, semi-vitreous group of volcanic rocks, composed essentially of a gla.s.sy plagioclase felspar, and a ferro-magnesian const.i.tuent enclosed in a gla.s.sy base. According to the nature of the ferro-magnesian const.i.tuent, the group may be divided into _hornblende-andesite_, _biot.i.te-andesite_, and _augite-andesite_. Quartz is sometimes present, and when this mineral becomes an essential it gives rise to a variety called _quartz-andesite_ or _dacite_.

These rocks are the princ.i.p.al const.i.tuents of the lavas of the Andes, and the name was first applied to them by Leopold von Buch; but their representatives also occur in the British Isles, Germany, and elsewhere.

Dacite is the lava of Krakatoa and some of the volcanoes of j.a.pan.

9, 10. TRACHYTE and DOMITE, etc.--These names include very numerous varieties of highly silicated volcanic rock, and in their general form consist of a white felsitic paste with distinct crystals of sanidine, together with plagioclase, augite, biot.i.te, hornblende, and accessories.

When crystalline grains or blebs of quartz occur, we have a quartz-trachyte; when tridymite is abundant, as in the trachyte of Co.

Antrim, we have "tridymite-trachyte."

The trachytes occupy a position between the pitchstone lavas on the one hand, and the andesites and granophyres on the other.

(_b._) _Domite_ is the name applied to the trachytic rocks of the Auvergne district and the Puy de Dome particularly. They do not contain free quartz, though they are highly acid rocks, containing sometimes as much as 68 per cent. of silica.

(_c._) _Phonolite (Clinkstone)_ is a trachytic rock, composed essentially of sanidine, nepheline, and augite or hornblende. It is usually of a greenish colour, hard and compact, so as to ring under the hammer; hence the name. The Wolf Rock is composed of phonolite, and it occurs largely in Auvergne.

(_d._) _Rhyolites_ are closely connected with the _quartz-trachytes_, but present a marked fluidal, spherulitic, or perlitic structure. They consist of a trachytic ground-ma.s.s in which grains or crystals of quartz and sanidine, with other accessory minerals, are imbedded. They occur amongst the volcanic rocks of the British Isles, Hungary, and the Lipari Islands, from which the name _Liparite_ has been derived.

(_e._) _Obsidian (Pitchstone)._--This is a vitreous, highly acid rock, which has become a volcanic gla.s.s in consequence of rapid cooling, distinct minerals not having had time to form. It has a conchoidal fracture, various shades of colour from grey to black; and under the microscope is seen to contain crystallites or microliths, often beautifully arranged in stellate or feathery groups. Spherulitic structure is not infrequent; and occasionally a few crystals of sanidine, augite, or hornblende are to be seen imbedded in the gla.s.sy ground-ma.s.s. The rock occurs in d.y.k.es and veins in the Western Isles of Scotland, in Antrim, and on the borders of the Mourne Mountains, near Newry, in Ireland.

11. GRANOPHYRE.--This term, according to Geikie, embraces the greater portion of the acid volcanic rocks of the Inner Hebrides. They are closely allied to the quartz-porphyries, and vary in texture from a fine felsitic or crystalline-granular quartz-porphyry, in the ground-ma.s.s of which porphyritic turbid felspar and quartz may generally be detected, to a granitoid rock of medium grain, in which the component dull felspar and clear quartz can be readily distinguished by the naked eye.

Throughout all the varieties of texture there is a strong tendency to the development of minute irregularly-shaped cavities, inside of which quartz or felspar has crystallised out--a feature characteristic of the granites of Arran and of the Mourne Mountains.

12. GRANITE.--A true granite consists of a crystalline-granular rock consisting of quartz, felspar (orthoclase), and mica; the quartz is the paste or ground-ma.s.s in which the felspar and mica crystals are enclosed. This is the essential distinction between a granite and a quartz-porphyry or a granophyre. Owing to the presence of highly-heated steam under pressure in the body of the ma.s.s when in a molten condition, the quartz has been the last of the minerals to crystallise out, and hence does not itself occur with the crystalline form.

True granite is not a volcanic rock, and its representatives amongst volcanic ejecta are to be found in the granophyres, quartz-porphyries, felsites, trachytes, and rhyolites so abundant in most volcanic countries, and to one or other of these the so-called granites of the Mourne Mountains, of Arran Island, and of Skye are to be referred.

Granite is a rock which has been intruded in a molten condition amongst the deep-seated parts of the crust, and has consolidated under great pressure in presence of aqueous vapour and with extreme slowness, resulting in the formation of a rock which is largely crystalline-granular. Its presence at the surface is due to denudation of the ma.s.ses by which it was originally overspread.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate I.]