The San Francisco calamity by earthquake and fire Part 38

Elsewhere in the region of the northern seas there are other instances of the influence of the submarine forces in raising up and lowering land. The coast of Alaska is a region of intense volcanic action. In 1795, during a period of volcanic activity in the craters of Makus.h.i.+na, on Unalaska, and in others on Umnak Island, a volume of smoke was seen to rise out of the sea about 42 miles to the north of Unalaska, and the next year it was followed by a heap of cindery material, from which arose flame and volcanic matter, the glow being visible over a radius of ten miles. In four years the island grew into a large cone, 3000 feet above the sea-level, and two or three miles in circ.u.mference. Two years later it was still so hot that when some hunters landed on it they found the soil too warm for walking. It was named Ionna Bogoslova (St. John the Theologian), by the Russians, Agas.h.a.gok by the Aleuts, and is now known to the whites of that region as Bogosloff. Mr. Dall believes that it occupies the site of some rocks that existed there as long as tradition extends.

There were additions to the cone up to the year 1823, when it became so quiescent as to be the favorite haunt of seals and sea-fowls, and, when the weather was favorable, was visited by native egg-hunters from Unalaska. During the summer of 1883 Bogosloff was again seen in eruption, as it was thought. However, on closely examining the neighborhood, it was found that the old island was undisturbed, but that there had been a fresh eruption, which had resulted in the extension of Bogosloff by the appearance of a cone and crater (Hague Volcano), 357 feet high, connected with the parent island by a low sand-spit, and situated in a spot where, the year before, the lead showed 800 fathoms of water. At the same time Augustin and two other previously quiet islands on the peninsula of Alaska began simultaneously to emit smoke, dust and ashes, while a reef running westward and formerly submerged became elevated to the sea surface. Other islands, of origin exactly similar to Bogosloff and those mentioned, are to be found in this region, notably Koniugi and Kasatochi, in the western Aleutians, and Pinnacle Island, near St. Matthew Island. Indeed, the volcano of Kliutchevsk, which rises to a height of over 15,000 feet, is really a volcanic island.

A permanent addition was made to the Aleutian group of Islands by the action of a submarine volcano in 1806. This new island has the form of a volcanic peak, with several subsidiary cones. It is four geographical miles in circ.u.mference. In 1814 another arose out of the sea in the same archipelago, the cone of which attained a height of 3,000 feet; but at the end of a year it lost a portion of this elevation.

In 1856, in the sea in the same neighborhood, Captain Newell, of the whaling bark Alice Fraser, witnessed a submarine eruption, which was also seen by the crews of several other vessels. There was no island formed on this occasion, but large jets of water were thrown up, and the sea was greatly agitated all around. Then followed volcanic smoke, and quant.i.ties of stones, ashes, and pumice; the two latter being scattered over the surface of the sea to a great distance. Loud thundering reports accompanied this eruption, and all the s.h.i.+ps in the neighborhood felt concussions like those produced by an earthquake. These phenomena seem to have ended in the formation of some great submarine chasm, into which the waters rushed with extreme violence and a terrific roar.

Occurrences similar to this last have been several times observed in a tract of open sea in the Atlantic, about half a degree south of the equator, and between 20 and 22 degrees of west longitude. Although quant.i.ties of volcanic dross have been from time to time thrown up to the surface in this region, no island has yet made its appearance above water.

The events here described repeat on a far smaller scale similar ones which have occurred in remote ages in many parts of the ocean and left great island ma.s.ses as the permanent effects of their work. We may instance the Hawaiian group, which is wholly of volcanic origin, with the exception of its minor coral additions, and represents a stupendous activity of underground agencies beneath the domain of Father Neptune.

In part, as we have said elsewhere in this work, all oceanic islands, remote from those in the shoal bordering waters of the continents, have been of volcanic or coral formation, or more often a combination of the two. No sooner does an island ma.s.s appear above or near the surface of tropical waters than the minute coral animals--effective only by their myriads--begin their labors, building fringes of coral rock around the cindery heaps lifted from the ocean floor. The atolls of the Pacific--circular or oval rings of coral with lagunes of sea-water within--have long been thought to be built on the rims of submarine volcanoes, rising to within a few hundred feet of the surface, much as coral reefs around actual islands. If the volcanic ma.s.s should subsequently subside, as it is likely to do, the minute ocean builders will continue their work--unless the subsidence be too rapid for their powers of production--and in this way ring-like islands of coral may in time rise from great depths of sea, their basis being the volcanic island which has sunk from near the surface far toward old ocean's primal floor.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

Mud Volcanoes, Geysers, and Hot Springs.

Our usual impression of a volcano is indicated in the t.i.tle of "burning mountain," so often employed, a great fire-spouting cone of volcanic debris, from which steam, lava, rock-ma.s.ses, cinder-like fragments, and dust, often of extreme fineness, are flung high into the air or flow in river-like torrents of molten rock. This, no doubt, applies in the majority of cases, but the volcanic forces do not confine themselves to these magnificent displays of energy, nor are their products limited to those above specified. We have seen that mud is a not uncommon product, due to the mingling of water with volcanic dust, while water alone is occasionally emitted, of which we have a marked instance in the Volcan de Agua, of Guatemala, already mentioned. As regards mud flows, we may specially instance the first outflow from Mont Pelee, that by which the Guerin sugar works were overwhelmed.

The imprisoned forces of the earth have still other modes of manifestation. A very frequent one of these, and the most destructive to human life of them all, is the earthquake.

Minor manifestations of volcanic action may be seen in the geyser and the hot spring, the latter the most widely disseminated of all the resultant effects of the heated condition of the earth's interior. It is these displays of subterranean energy, differing from those usually termed volcanic, yet due to the same general causes, that we have next to consider. And it may be premised that their manifestations, while, except in the case of the earthquake, less violent, are no less interesting, especially as the minor displays are free from that peril to human life which renders the major ones so terrible.

While the largest volcanoes at times pour out rivers of liquid mud, there are volcanoes from which nothing is ever ejected but mud and water, the latter being generally salt. From this circ.u.mstance they are sometimes called salses, but they are more generally termed mud-volcanoes. Some varieties of them throw out little else than gases of different sorts, and these are called air-volcanoes.

THE GREAT MUD VOLCANO OF SICILY

One of the best known mud-volcanoes is at Macaluba, near Girgenti, in Sicily. It consists of several conical mounds, varying from time to time in their form and height, which ranges from eight to thirty feet. From orifices on the tops of these mounds there are thrown out sometimes jets of warmish water and mud mixed with bitumen, sometimes bubbles of gas, chiefly carbonic acid and carburetted hydrogen, occasionally pure nitrogen. The mud ejected has often a strong sulphurous smell. The jets in general ascend only to a moderate height; but occasionally they are thrown up with great violence, attaining a height of about 200 feet.

In 1777 there was ejected an immense column, consisting of mud strongly impregnated with sulphur and mixed with naphtha and stones, accompanied also by quant.i.ties of sulphurous vapors. This mud-volcano is known to have been in action for fifteen centuries.

Very recently a small mud-volcano has been formed on the flanks of Mount Etna. It began with the throwing up of jets of boiling water, mixed with petroleum and mud, great quant.i.ties of gas bubbling up at the same time.

In several of the valleys of Iceland there are similar phenomena, the boiling water and mud being thrown up in jets to the height of fifteen feet and upwards, the mud acc.u.mulating around the orifices whence the jets arise.

A mud-volcano named Korabetoff, in the Crimea, presents phenomena more akin to those of the igneous volcanoes of South America. There was an eruption from this mountain on the 6th of August, 1853. It began by throwing up from the summit a column of fire and smoke, which ascended to a great height. This continued for five or six minutes, and was followed at short intervals by two similar eruptions. There was then ejected with a hissing noise a quant.i.ty of black fetid mud, which was so hot as to scorch the gra.s.s on the edges of the stream. The mud continued to pour out for three hours, covering a wide s.p.a.ce at the mountain's base. The mud-volcanoes on the coast of Beloochistan are very numerous, and extend over an area of nearly a thousand square miles. Their action resembles that at Macaluba.

THE MUD VOLCANO OF JAVA

There is a mud volcano in Java which is of interest as somewhat resembling the geyser in its mode of operation and apparently due to similar agencies. It is thus described by Dr. Horsfield:--

"On approaching it from a distance, it is first discovered by a large volume of smoke, rising and disappearing at intervals of a few seconds, resembling the vapors rising from a violent surf. A loud noise is heard, like that of distant thunder. Having advanced so near that the vision was no longer impeded by the smoke, a large hemispherical ma.s.s was observed, consisting of black earth mixed with water, about sixteen feet in diameter, rising to the height of twenty or thirty feet in a perfectly regular manner, and as if it were pushed up by a force beneath, which suddenly exploded with a loud noise, and scattered about a volume of black mud in every direction. After an interval of two or three, or sometimes four or five seconds, the hemispherical body of mud rose and exploded again. In the manner stated this volcanic ebullition goes on without interruption, throwing up a globular body of mud, and dispersing it with violence through the neighboring plain. The spot where the ebullition occurs is nearly circular, and perfectly level. It is covered only with the earthy particles, impregnated with salt water, which are thrown up from below. The circ.u.mference may be estimated at about half an English mile. In order to conduct the salt water to the circ.u.mference, small pa.s.sages or gutters are made in the loose muddy earth, which lead to the borders, where it is collected in holes dug in the ground for the purpose of evaporation."

The mud has a strong, pungent, sulphurous smell, resembling that of mineral oil, and is hotter than the surrounding atmosphere. During the rainy season the explosions increase in violence.

There are submarine mud volcanoes as well as those of igneous kind. In 1814 one of this character broke out in the Sea of Azof, beginning with flame and black smoke, accompanied by earth and stones, which were flung to a great height. Ten of these explosions occurred, and, after a period of rest, others were heard during the night. The next morning there was visible above the water an island of mud some ten feet high. A very similar occurrence took place in 1827, near Baku, in the Caspian sea.

This began with a flaming display and the ejection of great fragments of rock. An eruption of mud succeeded. A set of small volcanoes discovered by Humboldt in Turbaco, in South America, confined their emissions almost wholly to gases, chiefly nitrogen.

There is a close connection in character between mud volcanoes and those intermittent boiling springs named geysers. A good many of the mud volcanoes throw out jets of boiling water along with the mud; but in the case of the geysers, the boiling water is ejected alone, without any visible impregnation, though some mineral in solution, as silica, carbonate of lime, or sulphur, is usually present.

THE GEYSER IS A WATER VOLCANO

The phenomenon of the geyser serves in a measure to support the theory that steam is an important agent in volcanic action. A geyser, in fact, may be designated as a water volcano, since it throws up water only. It comprises a cone or mound, usually only a few feet high. In the middle of this is a crater-like opening with a pa.s.sage leading down into the earth. As in the case of the volcano, the geyser cone is built up by its own action. In the boiling water which is ejected there is dissolved a certain amount of silica. As the water falls and cools this mineral is deposited, gradually building up a cup-like elevation. The basin of the geyser is generally full of clear water, with a little steam rising from its surface; but at intervals an eruption takes place, sometimes at regular periods, but more often at irregular intervals.

Among the largest and best known geysers in the world are those of Iceland, chief among them being the Great Geyser. Silica is the mineral with which the waters of this fountain are impregnated, and the substance which they deposit, as they slowly evaporate, is named siliceous sinter. Of this material is composed the mound, six or seven feet high, on which the spring is situated. On the top of the mound is a large oval basin, about three feet in depth, measuring in its larger diameter about fifty-six, and in its shorter about forty-six feet. The centre of this basin is occupied by a circular well about ten feet in diameter, and between seventy and eighty feet deep.

Out of the central well springs a jet of boiling water, at intervals of six or seven hours. When the fountain is at rest, both the basin and the well appear quite empty, and no steam is seen. But on the approach of the moment for action, the water rises in the well, till it flows over into the basin. Then loud subterranean explosions are heard, and the ground all round is violently shaken.

Instantly, and with immense force, a steaming jet of boiling water, of the full width of the well, springs up and ascends to a great height in the air. The top of this large column of water is enveloped in vast clouds of steam, which diffuse themselves through the air, rendering it misty. These jets succeed each other with great rapidity to the number of sixteen or eighteen, the period of action of the fountain being about five minutes. The last of the jets generally ascends to the greatest height, usually to about 100, but sometimes to 150 feet; on one occasion it rose to the great height of 212 feet. Having ejected this great column of water, the action ceases, and the water that had filled the basin sinks down into the well. There it remains till the time for the next eruption, when the same phenomena are repeated. It has been found that, by throwing large stones into the well, the period of the eruption may be hastened, while the loudness of the explosions and the violence of the fountain effect are increased, the stones being at the same time ejected with great force.

ERUPTION CAN BE INDUCED BY ARTIFICIAL MEANS

Geysers are found all over the island, presenting various peculiarities.

In the case of one of the smaller ones, which is called Strokr, or the Churn, an eruption can be induced by artificial means. A barrow-load of sods is thrown into the crater of the geyser, with the effect of causing an eruption. The sensitiveness of Strokr is due to its peculiar form.

An observer states that, "The bore is eight feet in diameter at the top, and forty-four feet deep. Below twenty-seven feet it contracts to nineteen inches, so that the turf thrown in completely chokes it. Steam collects below; a foaming sc.u.m covers the surface of the water, and in a quarter of an hour it surges up the pipe. The fountain then begins playing, sending its bundles of jets rather higher than those of the Great Geyser, flinging up the clods of turf which have been its obstruction like a number of rockets. This magnificent display continues for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes. The erupted water flows back into the pipe from the curved sides of the bowl. This occasions a succession of bursts, the last expiring effort, very generally, being the most magnificent. Strokr gives no warning thumps, like the Great Geyser, and there is not the same roaring of steam accompanying the outbreak of the water."

The same author thus describes an eruption of the Great Geyser, which occurred about two o'clock in the morning: "A violent concussion of the ground brought me and my companions to our feet. We rushed out of the tent in every condition of dishabille and were in time to see Geyser put forth his full strength. Five strokes underground were the signal, then an overflow, wetting every side of the mound. Presently a dome of water rose in the centre of the basin and fell again, immediately to be followed by a fresh bell, which sprang into the air fully forty feet high, accompanied by a roaring burst of steam. Instantly the fountain began to play with the utmost violence, a column rus.h.i.+ng up to the height of ninety or one hundred feet against the gray night sky, with mighty volumes of white steam cloud rolling after it and swept off by the breeze to fall in torrents of hot rain. Jets and lines of water tore their way through the clouds, or leaped high above its domed ma.s.s. The earth trembled and throbbed during the explosion, then the column sank, started up again, dropped once more, and seemed to be sucked back into the earth. We ran to the basin, which was left dry, and looked down the bore at the water, which was bubbling at the depth of six feet."

In the case of Strokr, the cause of this eruption is not difficult to understand. The narrow part of the channel is choked up by the turf and the steam, and prevented from escaping. Finally it gains such force as to drive out the obstacle with a violent explosion, just as a bottle of fermenting liquor may blow out the cork and discharge some of its contents.

Geysers are somewhat abundant phenomena, existing in many parts of the earth, while striking examples of them are found in the widely separated regions of Iceland, New Zealand, j.a.pan and the western United States.

In the volcanic region of New Zealand geysers and their a.s.sociated hot springs are abundant. It was to their action that we owed the famous white and pink terraces and the warm lake of Rotomahana which were ruined by the destructive eruption of Mount Tarawera, already described.

GEYSERS OF THE UNITED STATES

The United States is abundantly supplied with hot springs, but geysers, outside of the Yellowstone region, are found only in California and Nevada. Those of California exist chiefly in Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, in a canon or defile. Their waters are impregnated not with silica, but with sulphur, and they thus approach more nearly in their character to mud-volcanoes, whose ejections are, in like manner, much impregnated with that substance. They are also, like them, collected in groups, there being no less than one hundred openings within a s.p.a.ce of flat ground a mile square. Owing to their number and proximity, their individual energy is nothing like so violent as that of the geysers of Iceland. Their jets seldom rise higher than 20 or 30 feet; but so great a number playing within so confined a s.p.a.ce produces an imposing effect.

The jets of boiling water issue with a loud noise from little conical mounds, around which the ground is merely a crust of sulphur. When this crust is penetrated, the boiling water may be seen underneath. The rocks in the neighborhood of these fountains are all corroded by the action of the sulphurous vapors. Nevertheless, within a distance of not more than 50 feet from them, trees grow without injury to their health.

Few of these fountains, however, are regular geysers, most of them discharging only steam. From the Steamboat Geyser this ascends to a height of from 50 to 100 feet, with a roar like that of the escape from a steamboat boiler. a.s.sociated with the geysers are numerous hot springs, some clear, some turbid, and variously impregnated with iron, sulphur or alum. In Nevada the Steamboat Springs, as they are designated, exist in Washoe Valley, east of the Virginian range. They come nearer in character to the Yellowstone geysers, their waters depositing true geyserite, or silicious concretions. The Volcano Springs, in Lauder County, are also true geysers, though of small importance. The ground here is so thickly perforated by holes from which steam escapes that it looks like a cullender.

THE YELLOWSTONE GEYSERS

The most remarkable geyser country in the world, alike for the size and the number of its spouting fountains, is the Yellowstone region in the northwest part of the Territory of Wyoming, in the United States, which, by a special act of Congress, has been reserved as the Yellowstone National Park, exempt from settlement, purchase or preemption. Here nearly every form of geyser and unintermittent hot spring occurs, with deposits of various kinds, silicious, calcareous, etc. Of the hot springs, Dr. Peale enumerates 2,195, and considers that within the limits of the park--which is about 54 miles by 62 miles, and includes 3,312 square miles--as many as 3,000 actually exist. The same geologist notes the existence of 71 geysers in the area mentioned, though some of the number are only inferred to be spouting springs from the form of their basins and the character of the surrounding deposits. Of this vast collection of still and eruptive springs, between which there seems every gradation, those which do not send water into the air are, owing to the magnificent cascades which they form, often quite as remarkable as those which take the shape of geysers. The more striking of the latter may, however, be briefly mentioned.

In the Gibbon Basin is a geyser of late origin. In 1878 this consisted of two steam holes, roaring on the side of a hill, that looked as if they had recently burst through the surface; and the gully leading towards the ravine was at that date filled with sand, which appeared to have been poured out during an eruption. Dead trees stood on the line of this sand floor, and others, with their bark still remaining, and even with their foliage not lost, were uprooted hard by, everything indicating that the "steamboat vent," as it was called, was of recent formation. In 1875 it had no existence, but in 1879 the spouting spring--which first opened, it is believed, on the 11th of August in the preceding year--had "settled down to business as a very powerful flowing geyser," with a double period; one eruption occurring every half hour, and projecting water to the height of 30 feet; the main eruption occurring every six or seven days, with long continued action, and a column of nearly 100 feet.