Report of the Board of Regents Volume 16 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862 edition. Excerpt: ...to throw light on the subject with which we are occupied; of this we shall see the proof further on. 4. Mechanical dislocations of Mie crust of the earth. The formation of mountain ranges presents in its history phases not less singular than that of eruptive rocks. Memoires de l'Academie, 1768. f " It was in conformity with the observations of Desmarets that a volcanic origin was for a long time attributed to all the basalts, rocks very similar to certain lavas. It appears, however, that the formations which resemble lavas do not all have the same origin. Such are the rocks called wacks, which cover great tracts in certain parts of Germany; they are there perfectly horizontal, have no elevation that could be regarded as a crater, and rest upon very combustible coal, which they have not altered. They are not therefore volcanic. Werner had perfectly Jproved these facts, and as a result of his observations a multitude of formations lost the origin attributed to them The opinion of Hutton and James Hall that they were melted in situ at the time of a general and violent heating of the globe will hardly hold good." Edition in 8vo., pp. 171 and 172. Desmerete was a witness to all this long discussion and of the report which thus condemned his conclusions, for he died in 1815. Descartes had given a new proof of his admirable penetration of mind in attributing the dislocations of the terrestrial arch to the cooling and contraction of the internal mass. Stenon, relying on the precise observations which he made in Tuscany, thought, as early as 1669, that he had grounds for concluding that the stratified formations had lost their first horizontality, probably from the influence of subterraneous vapors, t He published his work after...