Eruptions

Charles Darwin Founda on Erup ons islands of fire Charles Darwin Founda on Erup ons islands of fire Charles Darwin Founda on Erup ons : islands of fire / Charles Darwin Founda on ; photographs by Godfrey Merlen ; selec on of texts and edi on by Edgardo Civallero .-- Santa Cruz, Galapagos : Charles Darwin Founda on, 2023. col. ill. ; 27 pages ; 30 x 21 cm. Memorias de la FCD : 7 ISBN: Pending Series "Memorias de la FCD" n° 7 © Charles Darwin Founda on © of this edi on: Charles Darwin Founda on, 2023 Edi on and design Edgardo Civallero This publica on is contribu on number 2511 of the Charles Darwin Founda on for the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin Founda on for the Galapagos Islands Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Charles Darwin Founda on Erup ons islands of fire Photographs by Godfrey Merlen Selec on of texts and edi on by Edgardo Civallero Series "Memorias de la FCD" n° 7 Charles Darwin Founda on Library, Archive and Museum Puerto Ayora - Santa Cruz Galapagos Islands - Ecuador - 2023 This document, dedicated to the volcanic erup ons of the Galapagos Islands, combines a series of photographs by the Bri sh researcher Godfrey Merlen, preserved as slides in the audiovisual collec on of the Library, Archive & Museum of the Charles Darwin Founda on, with a selec on of texts about the archipelago that are part of the "Historical Bibliography" of the Galapagueana digital project. Using both resources, and connec ng the visual works with fragments of narra ves and chronicles, a comprehensive approach to one of the most important Galapagos natural phenomena is sought. An approach that goes beyond mere scien fic knowledge and that places this phenomenom in a broad and comprehensive framework. The minimalist design reinforces the importance of the images, which are already part of the audiovisual heritage of the Galapagos. The texts included in these pages are quoted in their original version and language. At the end of the book, whenever necessary, a possible transla on of them is offered. Our thanks to Godfrey Merlen for the images, and to all the chroniclers, travelers and scholars who le , in their field notebooks, tes mony of the natural wonders they found on their way through "The Encantadas". Edgardo Civallero | Charles Darwin Founda on 1 "...pero en toda la isla no pienso que ay donde se pueda sembrar una hanega de mahiz, porque lo mas della está lleno de piedras muy grandes, que parece que en algun empo llovió Dios piedras." Tomás de Berlanga. Carta a Su Majestad de Fray Tomás de Berlanga, describiendo su viaje desde Panamá á Puerto Viejo, e los trabajos que padeció en la navegacion. Portoviejo, 1535. 3 "They [the Galapagos Islands] are of a good height, most of them flat and even on the top; 4 or 5 of the easternmost are rocky, barren, and hilly, producing neither tree, herb, nor grass." William Dampier. A New Voyage round the World. London: printed for James Knapton, 1697. 5 "They tell me the island is nothing but loose rocks, like cynders, very ro en and heavy, and the earth so parch'd, that it will not bear a man, but breaks into holes under his feet, which makes me suppose there has been a vulcano here." Woodes Rogers. A Cruising Voyage Round the World: First to the South-Seas, thence to the East-Indies, and Homewards by the Cape of Good Hope. London: A. Bell & B. Lintot, 1712. 7 "...the land is barren and rocky; in some parts, it has the appearance of being covered with cinders; and in others, with a kind of iron clinker, in flakes of several feet in circumference, and from one to three inches thick: in passing over them, they sound like plates of iron: the earth is also frequently rent in cracks, that run irregularly from east to west, and are many fathoms deep: there were also large caves, and on the tops of every hill, which we ascended, was the mouth of a pit, whose depth must be immense, from the length of me, during which, a stone, that was thrown into it, was heard." James Colne . A Voyage to the South Atlan c and around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean for the purpose of extending the Spermace c Whaling Fisheries... London: printed for the author by W. Benne , 1798. 9 "These islands are all evidently of volcanic produc on; every mountain and hill is the crater of an ex nguished volcano; and thousands of smaller fissures, which have burst from their sides, give them the most dreary, desolate, and inhospitable appearance imaginable. ... ...the whole island is a light and thirsty soil, composed en rely of volcanic ma er, and probably owes its origin to no distant period, for the volcanic cinders and other appearances lying on every part of the surface, as well as the innumerable craters, and hills composed of ashes and lava, all apparently fresh. ... We soon discovered that one of the numerous volcanoes had burst forth; but there were various opinions as to its situa on: some supposed it to be on Narborough, others to the east of Narborough, and on the Island of Albemarle." David Porter. Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean by Captain David Porter in the United States Frigate Essex in the Years 1812, 1813, And 1814. Philadelphia: published by Bradford and Inskeep, 1815. 11 "There are the craters of several old volcanoes, but I did not perceive the trace of any recent erup on." J. Shillibeer. A narra ve of the Briton's voyage, to Pitcairn's Island. Taunton: printed for the author by J. W. Marrio , 1817. 13 "I have seen places on this island [Albemarle] and also on James's, and Chatham Island for a mile square, which had the appearance of once being a solid rock; but had been heated by volcanos to such a degree as to cause it to melt and run off the sides of the hills, which resemble the waves of the sea; having the appearance in many places of the surf, as it rolls on shore on flat beaches, with one sea following on the back of another. ... As our boat was coming from the watering place ... between sunset and dark ... we saw a large black cloud gathering over the highest mountain of Albemarle, which was the same place where one of the men on board our ship had asserted that he had seen a volcano burning in 1799; soon a er the cloud gathered, it formed a spire ... it descended to the top of the mountain, with a body of fire following it..." Amasa Delano. A Narra ve of Voyages and Travels in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Comprising Three Voyages Round the World... Boston: printed by E. G. House, 1817. 15 "The mountain [in Abingdon] is studded on every side with craters, or mouths, from whence, at different periods, streams of lava have issued; and running far into the sea, have formed projec ng points, such as that on which we fixed our sta on." Basil Hall. Extracts from a Journal Wri en on the Coasts of Chile, Peru and Mexico in the years 1820, 1821, 1822. Volume II. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1825. 17 "In this excursion we trode, for the first me, on volcanic ground, and made our way, with difficulty, through the loose lava, which readily gave way under us, and reminded us of the slag and melted ma er in the vicinity of a smel ng furnace. Near this place we saw a large column of volcanic ma er, situated amidst a stream of lava; its surface was rough and uneven, and in many places deeply excavated ... During my excursion, I had not the good fortune to see any ves ges of a crater..." John Scouler. Account of a voyage to Madeira, Brazil, Juan Fernandez, and the Gallapagos Islands, performed in 1824 and 1825, with a view of examining their natural history, &c. The Edinburgh Journal of Science, 5 (11), October 1826, pp. 195-236. 19 "About half way down the steep south-east side of the island [Narborough], a volcano burns day and night; and near the beach, a crater was pouring forth streams of lava, which on reaching the sea caused it to bubble in an extraordinary manner." Lord Byron. Voyage of H. M. S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands in the Years 1824-1825. London: John Murray, 1826. 21 "Toute ce e par e [Chatham] est curieuse par la mul tude de pe ts cônes que l'on y voit, et qui, sans aucun doute, étaient jadis autant de cratères de volcans. ... L'île Narborough est tout-à-fait improduc ve; elle est très-élevée et composée d'une mul tude de volcans qui sont presque toujours en ac vité, ou qui, du moins, fument incessamment." Abel du Pe t-Thouars. Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate La Vénus pendant les anné 1836-1839 publié par ordre du Roi, sous les auspices du Ministre de la Marine. Tome II. Paris: Gide, éditeur, 1841. 23 "They [the Galapagos] are all formed of volcanic rocks ... Some of the craters, surmoun ng the largest islands, are of immense size, and they rise to a height of between three and four thousand feet. Their flanks are studded by innumerable smaller orifices. I scarcely hesitate to affirm, that there must be in the whole archipelago at least two thousand craters. These consist either of lava and scoriae, or of finely-stra fied, sandstone-like tuff." Charles Darwin. Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the countries visited during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the world, under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy. London: John Murray, 1860. 25 26 Transla ons "...but I don't think there is anywhere on the whole island where a bushel of corn can be planted, because most of it is full of very large stones, and it seems that at some me God rained stones." Tomás de Berlanga, p. 3. "The whole of this part [Chatham] is curious for the mul tude of small cones that one sees there, and which, no doubt, were formerly so many craters of volcanoes. ... Narborough Island is quite unproduc ve; it is very high and composed of a mul tude of volcanoes which are almost always in ac vity, or at least incessantly smoking." Abel du Pe t-Thouars, p. 23. 27