The National geographic magazine . Again, much of the materialwhich we now call tuffs exposed in thesame places are old mud flows or banksor layers of ashes (lapilli) which havebeen partially consolidated by the per-colating moisture. There is no evidence in the southernand eastern portions of the island of anyvolcanic activity within historic from further consideration theolder southeastern divisions, the north-western peninsula alone further con-cerns the present story. The Pitons of Carbet and Pelee arethe nipples of a pair of twin volcanicmountains which rise from 9,000 to10
The National geographic magazine . Again, much of the materialwhich we now call tuffs exposed in thesame places are old mud flows or banksor layers of ashes (lapilli) which havebeen partially consolidated by the per-colating moisture. There is no evidence in the southernand eastern portions of the island of anyvolcanic activity within historic from further consideration theolder southeastern divisions, the north-western peninsula alone further con-cerns the present story. The Pitons of Carbet and Pelee arethe nipples of a pair of twin volcanicmountains which rise from 9,000 to10,000 feet above their subterraneanbase. The 4,000 or 5,000 feet of thesemountains exposed above the sea areeverywhere composed of exactly thesame mineral material ejected duringtheir long volcanic history, but varyingsomewhat in form. At places in theneighborhood of Fort de France and StPierre up to a height of 2,000 feetsome of the rocks are massive crystal-lines, which undoubtedly were origi- 240 The National Geographic Magazine. Photo by Robert T. Hill The Beach shows the Force of the Return Wave {page 26/) nally either erupted as lava or representthe cooled stocks within the necks offormer craters which have been exposedby erosion. The greater mass of thematerial, however, is in the form of vol-canic tuffs and conglomerates represent-ing the old crater-thrown debris, inmany cases worked over by the streamsof the successive eruptions. This isbeautifully exposed in the numerousbluffs, from 50 to 200 feet in height,which everywhere mark the truncatedline of the northwestern peninsula. GEOLOGICAL HISTORY The configuration and sequence offormations indicate the following im-portant events in the history of theisland : 1. That it originally consisted of vol- canic piles rising from the sea bottomin the area along the eastern shore. 2. That Montagne Carbet and Pelee,constituting the northwestern promon-tory, are successively newer and latervolcanoes, which have grown parasiticto t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
