Selected American history

CHAPTER XX.

The Active Volcanoes of the Earth.

It is not by any means an easy task to frame an estimate of the number of volcanoes in the world. Volcanoes vary greatly in their dimensions, from vast mountain masses, rising to a height of nearly 25,000 feet above sea-level, to mere molehills. They likewise exhibit every possible stage of development and decay: while some are in a state of chronic active eruption, others are reduced to the condition of solfataras, or vents emitting acid vapors, and others again have fallen into a more or less complete state of ruin through the action of denuding forces.

Even if we confine our attention to the larger volcanoes, which merit the name of mountains, and such of these as we have reason to believe to be in a still active condition, our difficulties will be diminished, but not by any means removed. Volcanoes may sink into a dormant condition that at times endures for hundreds or even thousands of years, and then burst forth into a state of renewed activity; and it is quite impossible, in many cases, to distinguish between the conditions of dormancy and extinction.

We shall, however, probably be within the limits of truth in stating that the number of great habitual volcanic vents upon the globe which we have reason to believe are still in active condition, is somewhere between 300 and 350. Most of these are marked by more or less considerable mountains, composed of the materials ejected from them. But if we include mountains which exhibit the external conical form, crater-like hollows, and other features of volcanoes, yet concerning the activity of which we have no record or tradition, the number will fall little, if anything, short of 1,000.

The mountains composed of volcanic materials, but which have lost through denudation the external form of volcanoes, are still more numerous, and the smaller temporary openings which are usually subordinate to the habitual vents that have been active during the periods covered by history and tradition, must be numbered by thousands. There are still feebler manifestations of the volcanic forces—such as steam-jets, geysers, thermal and mineral waters, spouting saline and muddy springs, and mud volcanoes—that may be reckoned by millions. It is not improbable that these less powerful manifestations of the volcanic forces to a great extent make up in number what they want in individual energy; and the relief which they afford to the imprisoned activities within the earth's crust may be almost equal to that which results from the occasional outbursts at the great habitual volcanic vents.

In taking a general survey of the volcanic phenomena of the globe, no facts come out more strikingly than that of the very unequal distribution, both of the great volcanoes, and of the minor exhibitions of subterranean energy.

Thus, on the whole of the continent of Europe, there is but one habitual volcanic vent—that of Vesuvius—and this is situated upon the shores of the Mediterranean. In the islands of that sea, however there are no less than six volcanoes: namely, Stromboli, and Vulcano, in the Lipari Islands; Etna, in Sicily; Graham's Isle, a submarine volcano, off the Sicilian coast; and Santorin and Nisyros, in the Aegean Sea.

The African continent is at present known to contain about ten active volcanoes—four on the west coast, and six on the east coast, while about ten other active volcanoes occur on islands close to the African coasts. On the continent of Asia, more than twenty active volcanoes are known or believed to exist, but no less than twelve of these are situated in the peninsula of Kamchatka. No volcanoes are known to exist in the Australian continent.

The American continent contains a greater number of volcanoes than the continents of the Old World. There are twenty in North America, twenty-five in Central America, and thirty-seven in South America. Thus, taken altogether, there are about one hundred and seventeen volcanoes situated on the great continental lands of the globe, while nearly twice as many occur upon the islands scattered over the various oceans.

Upon examining further into the distribution of the continental volcanoes, another very interesting fact presents itself. The volcanoes are in almost every instance situated either close to the coasts of the continent, or at no great distance from them. There are, indeed, only two exceptions to this rule. In the great and almost wholly unexplored table-land lying between Siberia and Tibet four volcanoes are said to exist, and in the Chinese province of Manchuria several others. More reliable information is, however, needed concerning these volcanoes.

It is a remarkable circumstance that all the oceanic islands which are not coral-reefs are composed of volcanic rocks; and many of these oceanic islands, as well as others lying near the shores of the continents, contain active volcanoes.

Through the midst of the Atlantic Ocean runs a ridge, which, by the soundings of the various exploring vessels sent out in recent years, has been shown to divide the ocean longitudinally into two basins. Upon this great ridge, and the spurs proceeding from it, rise numerous mountainous masses, which constitute the well-known Atlantic islands and groups of islands. All of these are of volcanic origin, and among them are numerous active volcanoes. The Island of Jan Mayen contains an active volcano, and Iceland contains thirteen, and not improbably more; the Azores have six active volcanoes, the Canaries three; while about eight volcanoes lie off the west coast of Africa. In the West Indies there are six active volcanoes; and three submarine volcanoes have been recorded within the limits of the Atlantic Ocean. Altogether, no less than forty active volcanoes are situated upon the great submarine ridges which traverse the Atlantic longitudinally.

But along the same line the number of extinct volcanoes is far greater, and there are not wanting proofs that the volcanoes which are still active are approaching the condition of extinction.

If the great medial chain of the Atlantic presents us with an example of a chain of volcanic mountains verging on extinction, we have in the line of islands separating the Pacific and Indian Oceans an example of a similar range of volcanic vents which are in a condition of the greatest activity. In the peninsula of Kamchatka there are twelve active volcanoes, in the Aleutian Islands thirty-one, and in the peninsula of Alaska three. The chain of the Kuriles contains at least ten active volcanoes; the Japanese Islands and the islands to the south of Japan twenty-five. The great group of islands lying to the south-east of the Asiatic continent is at the present time the grandest focus of volcanic activity upon the globe. No less than fifty active volcanoes occur here.

Farther south, the same chain is probably continued by the four active volcanoes of New Guinea, one or more submarine volcanoes, and several vents in New Britain, the Solomon Isles, and the New Hebrides, the three active volcanoes of New Zealand, and possibly by Mount Erebus and Mount Terror in the Antarctic region. Altogether, no less than 150 active volcanoes exist in the chain of islands which stretch from Behring's Straits down to the Antarctic circle; and if we include the volcanoes on Indian and Pacific Islands which appear to be situated on lines branching from this particular band, we shall not be wrong in the assertion that this great system of volcanic mountains includes at least one half of the habitually active vents of the globe. In addition to the active vents, there are here several hundred very perfect volcanic cones, many of which appear to have recently become extinct, though some of them may be merely dormant, biding their time.

A third series of volcanoes starts from the neighborhood of Behring's Straits, and stretches along the whole western coast of the American continent. This is much less continuous, but nevertheless very important, and contains, with its branches, nearly a hundred active volcanoes. On the north this great band is almost united with the one we have already described by the chain of the Aleutian and Alaska volcanoes. In British Columbia about the parallel of 60 degrees N. there exist a number of volcanic mountains, one of which, Mount St. Elias, is believed to be 18,000 feet in height. Farther south, in the territory of the United States, a number of grand volcanic mountains exist, some of which are probably still active, for geysers and other manifestations of volcanic activity abound. From the southern extremity of the peninsula of California an almost continuous chain of volcanoes stretches through Mexico and Guatemala, and from this part of the volcanic band a branch is given off which passes through the West Indies, and contains the volcanoes which have so recently given evidence of their vital activity.

In South America the line is continued by the active volcanoes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, but at many intermediate points in the chain of the Andes extinct volcanoes occur, which to a great extent fill up the gaps in the series. A small offshoot to the westward passes through the Galapagos Islands. The great band of volcanoes which stretches through the American continent is second only in importance, and in the activity of its vents, to the band which divides the Pacific from the Indian Ocean.

The third volcanic band of the globe is that, already spoken of, which traverses the Atlantic Ocean from north to south. This series of volcanic mountains is much more broken and interrupted than the other two, and a greater proportion of its vents are extinct. It attained its condition of maximum activity during the distant period of the Miocene, and now appears to be passing into a state of gradual extinction.

Beginning in the north with the volcanic rocks of Greenland and Bear Island, we pass southwards, by way of Jan Mayen, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, to the Hebrides and the north of Ireland. Thence, by way of the Azores, the Canaries and the Cape de Verde Islands, with some active vents, we pass to the ruined volcanoes of St. Paul, Fernando de Noronha, Ascension, St. Helena, Trinidad and Tristan da Cunha. From this great Atlantic band two branches proceed to the eastward, one through Central Europe, where all the vents are now extinct, and the other through the Mediterranean to Asia Minor, the great majority of the volcanoes along the latter line being now extinct, though a few are still active. The volcanoes on the eastern coast of Africa may be regarded as situated on another branch from this Atlantic volcanic band. The number of active volcanoes on this Atlantic band and its branches, exclusive of those in the West Indies, does not exceed fifty.

From what has been said, it will be seen that the volcanoes of the globe not only usually assume a linear arrangement, but nearly the whole of them can be shown to be thrown up along three well-marked bands and the branches proceeding from them. The first and most important of these bands is nearly 10,000 miles in length, and with its branches contains more than 150 active volcanoes; the second is 8,000 miles in length, and includes about 100 active volcanoes; the third is much more broken and interrupted, extends to a length of nearly 1,000 miles, and contains about 50 active vents. The volcanoes of the eastern coast of Africa, with Mauritius, Bourbon, Rodriguez, and the vents along the line of the Red Sea, may be regarded as forming a fourth and subordinate band.

Thus we see that the surface of the globe is covered by a network of volcanic bands, all of which traverse it in sinuous lines with a general north-and-south direction, giving off branches which often run for hundreds of miles, and sometimes appear to form a connection between the great bands.

To this rule of the linear arrangement of the volcanic vents of the globe, and their accumulation along certain well-marked bands, there are two very striking exceptions, which we must now proceed to notice.

In the very centre of the continent formed by Europe and Asia, the largest unbroken land-mass of the globe, there rises from the great central plateau the remarkable volcanoes of the Thian Shan Range. The existence of these volcanoes, of which only obscure traditional accounts had reached Europe before the year 1858, appears to be completely established by the researches of recent Russian and Swedish travelers. Three volcanic vents appear to exist in this region, and other volcanic phenomena have been stated to occur in the great plateau of Central Asia, but the existence of the latter appears to rest on very doubtful evidence. The only accounts which we have of the eruptions of these Thian Shan volcanoes are contained in Chinese histories and treatises on geography.

The second exceptionally situated volcanic group is that of the Hawaiian Islands. While the Thian Shan volcanoes rise in the centre of the largest unbroken land-mass, and stand on the edge of the loftiest and greatest plateau in the world, the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands rise in the northern centre of the largest ocean and from almost the greatest depths in that ocean. All round the Hawaiian Islands the sea has a depth of from 2,000 to 3,000 fathoms, and the island-group culminates in several volcanic cones, which rise to the height of nearly 14,000 feet above the sea-level. The volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands are unsurpassed in height and bulk by those of any other part of the globe.

With the exception of the two isolated groups of the Thian Shan and the Hawaiian Islands, nearly all the active volcanoes of the globe are situated near the limits which separate the great land-and-water-masses of the globe—that is to say, they occur either on the parts of continents not far removed from their coast-lines, or on islands in the ocean not very far distant from the shores. The fact of the general proximity of volcanoes to the sea is one which has frequently been pointed out by geographers, and may now be regarded as being thoroughly established.

Many of the grandest mountain-chains have bands of volcanoes lying parallel to them. This is strikingly exhibited by the great mountain-masses which lie on the western side of the American continent. The Rocky Mountains and the Andes consist of folded and crumpled masses of altered strata which, by the action of denuding forces, have been carved into series of ridges and summits. At many points, however, along the sides of these great chains we find that fissures have been opened and lines of volcanoes formed, from which enormous quantities of lava have flowed and covered great tracts of country.

This is especially marked in the Snake River plain of Idaho, in the western United States. In this, and the adjoining regions of Oregon and Washington, an enormous tract of country has been overflowed by lava in a late geological period, the surface covered being estimated to have a larger area than France and Great Britain combined. The Snake River cuts through it in a series of picturesque gorges and rapids, enabling us to estimate its thickness, which is considered to average 4000 feet. Looked at from any point on its surface, one of these lava-plains appears as a vast level surface, like that of a lake bottom. This uniformity has been produced either by the lava rolling over a plain or lake bottom, or by the complete effacement of an original, undulating contour of the ground under hundreds or thousands of feet of lava in successive sheets. The lava, rolling up to the base of the mountains, has followed the sinuosities of their margin, as the waters of a lake follow its promontories and bays. Similar conditions exist along the Sierra Nevada range of California, and to some extent placer mining has gone on under immense beds of lava, by a process of tunneling beneath the volcanic rock.

In some localities the volcanoes are of such height and dimensions as to overlook and dwarf the mountain-ranges by the side of which they lie. Some of the volcanoes lying parallel to the great American axis appear to be quite extinct, while others are in full activity. In the Eastern continent we find still more striking examples of parallelism between great mountain-chains and the lands along which volcanic activity is exhibited—volcanoes, active or extinct, following the line of the great east and west chains which extend through southern Europe and Asia. There are some other volcanic bands which exhibit a similar parallelism with mountain chains; but, on the other hand, there are volcanoes between which and the nearest mountain-axis no such connection can be traced.

There is one other fact concerning the mode of distribution of volcanoes upon the surface of the globe, to which we must allude. By a study of the evidences presented by coral-reefs, raised beaches, submerged forests, and other phenomena of a similar kind, it can be shown that certain wide areas of the land and of the ocean-floor are at the present time in a state of subsidence, while other equally large areas are being upheaved. And the observations of the geologist prove that similar upward and downward movements of portions of the earth's crust have been going on through all geological times.

Now, as Mr. Darwin has so well shown in his work on "Coral Reefs," if we trace upon a map the areas of the earth's surface which are undergoing upheaval and subsidence respectively, we shall find that nearly all the active volcanoes of the globe are situated upon rising areas and that volcanic phenomena are conspicuously absent from those parts of the earth's crust which can be proved at the present day to be undergoing depression.

The remarkable linear arrangement of volcanic vents has a significance that is well worthy of fuller consideration. There are facts known which point to the cause of this state of affairs. It is not uncommon for small cones of scoriae to be seen following lines on the flanks or at the base of a great volcanic mountain. These are undoubtedly lines of fissure, caused by the subterranean forces. In fact, such fissures have been seen opening on the sides of Mount Etna, in whose bottom could be seen the glowing lava. Along these fissures, in a few days, scoriae cones appeared; on one occasion no less than thirty-six in number.

It is believed by geologists that the linear systems of volcanoes are ranged along similar lines of fissure in the earth's crust—enormous breaks, extending for thousands of miles, and the result of internal energies acting through vast periods of time. Along these immense fissures in the earth's rock-crust there appear, in place of small scoriae cones, great volcanoes, built up through the ages by a series of powerful eruptions, and only ceasing to spout fire themselves when the portion of the great crack upon which they lie is closed. The greatest of these fissures is that along the vast sinuous band of volcanoes extending from near the Arctic circle at Behring's Straits to the Antarctic circle at South Victoria Land, not far from half round the earth. It doubtless marks the line of mighty forces which have been active for millions of years.