text:
RECORD: Gordon Chancellor and John van Wyhe eds. Coquimbo notebook. [English Heritage 88202336] (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Gordon Chancellor, transcription typed and checked against the microfilm by Kees Rookmaaker 4.2007, corrections by Chancellor 5.2007, editing by John van Wyhe 5.2007, corrected against colour photographs by van Wyhe 7-8.2007. Transcription revised and edited by van Wyhe 6-12.2008. RN5
The Beagle field notebooks have been published in:
Gordon Chancellor and John van Wyhe eds. with the assistance of Kees Rookmaaker. 2009. Charles Darwin's notebooks from the voyage of the Beagle. [Foreword by Richard Darwin Keynes]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
NOTE: This 12 x 10 cm notebook is bound in red leather with the border blind embossed: the brass clasp is intact. The front of the notebook has a label of cream-coloured paper (6.0 x 3.5 cm) with 'Valparaiso to Coquimbo. Coquimbo valley' written in ink. The paper is yellow edged. It has 136 pages between the covers. The text was written in one sequence (pp. 1-132); pp. 133-6 have been excised.
The notebook covers dates from 27 April to 26 May 1835.
Reproduced with the permission of English Heritage (Darwin Collection at Down House) and William Huxley Darwin.
General introduction to the Beagle Field Notebooks.
Chronological register to the notebooks
Introduction to the Coquimbo notebook
[inside front cover]
[Printed label:]
So prepared as effectually to secure the writing from erasure; — with a METALLIC PENCIL, the point of which is not liable to break.
The point of the pencil should be kept smoothly scraped flat & in writing it should be held in the manner of a common Pen.
Charles Darwin
H.M.S. Beagle
Oliva 2 [Penus]
Pecten [mien]
[Granitic] blocks
[Trigona] inclined strata
Bones no [petrel] drift pebbles high up.
NE — [lan] NW dip SW
14/ 179 / 14
27th — (Monday) [April 1835] Started from Valparaiso: farewell look — smokeless — (perfumed) red — bare hills — picturesque: passed through highly auriferous country to near Limache — supporting or the gold near all the streams a scattered people: Like Plazilla. but more earthy sandstones pebbles — certain layers appear auriferous — so that sort of mines are excavated: Country like the C. Verds so brown & bare: — in great want of rain: — I saw 2 paps very small of granite & syenite: —
28th — Tuesday [April 1835] — passed Limache & Umiri to south foot of Bell
found strata of
amn crystal; without distinct crystals of green rock with green patches, alternating with some of the regular purple PB & dipping South high ∠ covered by considerable mass of altered slate like summit chiefly pale without trace of crystal & part of which has a brecciated blended structure: skirts of very foot composed of harsh whitish, Euritic, but chiefly quartz rock (with large veins of do). gre resembling parts of Cuesta1 on road to St Jago; & certain aspect of being part of granitic formation although not seen in Cordill: I have no doubt the Por. Br. overlies the
1 Spanish for slope, escarpment.
gneiss — auriferous: what connection? Copper mines on SE slope of Bell:
Due South a considerable hill perhaps running E & W of Syenitic Granite with some Mica: in which has been a Silver mine — Mem:
Gold in Prado. Caldcleugh1 —
Loadstone & Quicksilver mine —
Lodged at Chacia — ugly people as most Chilenos — produce of garden & Chacia support Inhabitants a
great number of small
29th Wednesday [April 1835] — from beyond Umire — (quicksilver mine is at Caleo) to Quillota short day — passed over —
decomposing hills of granite— gneiss with trappean veins — which manifestly fringe
1 Caldcleugh 1825, 2: 43.
the foot of the West Bell: as beyond Umire — Corn much dearer than at Valparaiso — from the entire want of capital agree to sell their corn for so much before crop, to buy necessaries &c &c — first rain very light shower during last night. —
Thursday 30th [April 1835] — Passed Chilicauquen. perhaps most beautiful view I have seen in Chili — Cordilleras Winter covering — granitic platform of Valparaiso — Chilicupu E & W range — perhaps melted rocks — country to Plazilla ugly low, brown undulating —
nice village rested there — Shortly before decomposed granitic rock — Just beyond village form of Bay — immense quantities of broken shells — close to Catapilco again in very many places. hill tops thickly covered with layers of broken shells — many Donaxes;1 in road finely comminuted — very sandy soil. — not blown by wind because packed in layers — in many places I should think certainly 300 ft
1 Marine clams of the genus Donax.
sides of these hills — or valley — these layers could in quantities like Iniaquin
May 1st Friday [1835] — Catapilco to valley of Lingua — much granitic rock generally — decomposed — some — syenitic — much quartzose Granular fine rock with green spots Valley of Lingua fringed by exceedingly also obscure 2d plain levels plain of some height — form like Valdivia apparently composed of pebbles, extends (with broad flat, numerous Patagonian formed valleys) like well come to Longotomo Hence Valley of this little rivulet
grand broad, formed on South side by the [gravel] plain — yet bottom & North side could with immense quantities of comminuted shells — said by Guasso1 (in all parts of valley) to be "Diluvium" —
Here valley marine —
1 & ½ league from sea —
Barren ride dotted — trees scarcer replaced by the Bromelias moderately few small inhabited valleys — At (Tilla[ped].) Granitic hills apparently capped by stratified (P. Breccia ?
1 Chilean equivalent of Argentinean or Uruguayan gaucho.
Saturday 2d or 3? [May 1835] On the North Slope of valley of Longotomo to the height of I should think 200 ft —
plenty immense quantities of shells excepting in road not much broken, chiefly Donax; showing that even side ravines are formed by sea; after passing over some more granitic we come to green crystalline rock even in one case porphyritic with Feldspar: altered slate. we then come to true Blue
Slate — Beyond Guachen — on the Beach is seen to alternate with thin layers of sandstone & a pale rotten slate — some compact purple slate — auriferous quartz veins — dip to E by N about 40º — also a cross sort of cleavage dipping North.— The Slate is smoothed over into a low plain with pebbles which abuts against a less regular one — & behind round mountains — The Slate is continued whole way to
Quilimar, an irregular platform. studded over with curious abrupt cones & broken paps — These consist of that kind of Greywacke where fragments almost blend in each other — fragments occasionally of a large size very compact — other paps of a slate almost become a greenstone: All very hard rocks — origin of this structure common in granitic countries is explained by the equally numerous peaks
on coast surrounding by roaring Breakers — spaces between paps very level, like little Bays or coves — universal East dip — excepting in these massive paps: — Scenery rather curiously broken, with Bromelias — stems, dead like brooms, like Agave or Yucca — Shells in valley of Quilimar, but this is not above a mile from the sea — some of the Clay-Slate glossy — is connected with quartzose rocks
— Dyke N & S
Sunday 3d [May 1835] (1 Brecciated Slate — South foot of Bell of 2
(2 & 3) — altered green slates
3 4 Breccia like P.=B= (5) — do compact jaspery Quilimar to Conchalee. — On the road there was less true Clay-Slate the paps not quite so numerous. composed either altered crystalline green slate (now Trappean) (2 & 3) which I saw, in one place becoming truly Porphyritic — & many of a purple very compact. conch: fract., brecciated rock (4) structure same as what I have called green blending
Greywacke: fragments generally small &
some some rocks almost jaspery in nature of same purplish color (5). also one quartzose pap.
— Paps probably upheaved & rounded by Breakers on Beach — At a point of Conchalee, we find true granitic formation, but forming a most singular intricate mass of dykes & distinct masses (junctions violent) of different Granite 1s most common is a soft decomposing syenite — with much green mineral sometimes true [Quinca] & sometimes
Hornblende. — structure like Gneiss of Valparaiso but no cleavage: a white compact (Euritic) quartzose granite, smaller dykes & proceeding from masses. — & black almost pure Hornblendic rock inter[leaved] with thin granitic veins. — These rocks appear to have burst through a Porph greenstone Base like the altered Slates. —
In a point to the North we again have the Slate, such as (2 & 3). —
Hence altered Slates explained = The above
rocks are just like the Porph= Breccia & greenstone of Cordilleras excepting less Porph. —
At Close before Conchalee, two plains most distinct. lower one 50-80 ft above sea — also a lower one a little above sea. — The 50-80 one covered by immense quantities of large Concholepas = Venus & Donax — This puts question beyond doubt if there had been any: great sea in Chili. 1831 — much dryer
here than in Valparaiso — hardly expect any rain till end of May —
All think Beagle Smuggler — complained of want of confidence — features of country same. — No cattle.—
Monday 4th. [May 1835] Conchalee to Illapel. various Granitic & Syenitic in the lower ravines beautiful Granite, fine black scales of Mica: a miner described the mine of Las Vacas as occurring in this rock — Cuesta of Las Vacas lower parts chiefly Feldspar & Quartz, & much harsh rocks — Euritic & Quartzose, as in the Prado: higher up a small
crystallised Syenite (which also happens in the Prado
) Feldspar singularly apt to decompose.) = This Cuesta has a considerable elevation, probably 2000 ft runs about ENE & WSW. this seems rather a common direction there are some also N & S. — All irregular = on the N=Eastern slope many dykes of blackish-greenish close-grained crystalline rocks, just like Prado — all much decomposed. Hill certainly of a syenitic character: There was some little of the Porphyry with plates = crystals of Feldspar. But a whole road to Illapel, in bottom
of all the valleys. we have fine grand [masse] of well developed Syenite — & those white porphyries which we have seen associated in Andes — In C of Las Vacas copper mines. = Valleys of Chuapa B. of Illapel, with very high plains of gravel, on each side of rivers. = Crossed to day considerable stream of Chuapa — glimpse of Cordilleras = I believe trees like Chili — soil peak of Chuapa = Valley of Illapel, town pretty extraordinary contrast of the point — like green of Alfarfa fields & turnpike road hill on each side. a hedge separating the colors: Governor of Illapel formerly [days] extraordinary arbitrary character — honest people. honestly distributed in district
Tuesday 5th [May 1835] Ascended hills NW of Illapel All Syenitic, sometimes granitic accordingly as black mica preponderated over fine crystals of Hornblende with quartz — varying suddenly from coarse to very fine grained = feldspar white almost powdery in some cases — much Hornblende or Chlorite with Feldspar without quartz (6). Will such be called Syenite. — Generally little quartz in all the Syenites excepting in some parts of C. of Vacas = Dykes of close-grained dark greenstone = Metalliferous & grand copper vein running N by W & S by E; more than one parallel — containing much micaceous iron ore (7): — The syenite near vein differed suddenly in the degree of fineness — In some parts
of hills. Hornblende black & glossy — generally green = Staid at Illapel whole day rest animals — bivouaced at cottage making a screen with horse — rugs & purchasing fire wood & provisions. cloudy gloomy windy day — leaves falling. Winter — Oh the difference with England! —
Wednesday 6th [May 1835] Illapel to Los Hornos; we proceeded at first rather NEasterly & met a good deal of true Granite: after this very much Syenite, & those mixtures of white Feldspar & Hornblende; saw
many several Copper Mines. — We proceeded thus far some way till at last we came to a crystalline stratified greenish rock — [after] this purple
Porphyries, & then the Road ascending a hill we had true coarse Porph. Breccia in abundance. Saw some of the white rock brecciated soft rock. Such as in the Valley of Maypo = The stream in this part is highly auriferous. = The strata dipped to about NE at a small angle. — we therefore (Travelling N & S) crossing the line obliquely. — The green rocks were certainly the lowest. —
As the strata here in the
first escarpement were of a considerable thickness. the denudation from Syenite to west must have been very great: — After passing for some time through a broken (instead of as before rounded country) of the P. Breccia we came to an undulating open piece of ground where I found hillocks much water [worn] of a pale friable light porous earth, containing in layers of Silenite patches & mamillated
clay centres: thin layers of Calcareous tufa — metallic patches. —
Salitra patches.
Hence water bad. — thinly stratified reposing on, conformably & dipping ∠
30-20 to NE, apparently covered by P. Breccia —
immense thickness, which appears to vary — associated with siliceous sandstone &
purplish crystalline Limestone ?—
Appear to S traversing the mountains, which
are lofty we crossed this NW & SE band in a NNW & SSE direction. — Mine Earth — Cordilleras road — miners — front coloured base — small Scarlet cap — extraordinary wide trousers. — & officers broad parti-coloured belt — party all on horseback — four men carried body for about 200 yard as hard as they could run, four on horseback darted in front change in
min second, very quick travelling, uncouth shouts — such a funeral — remarkably brown
men — the miners — like Sailors in extravagance. =
The gypseous earth, full of pores, friable in the fingers. —
Thursday 7th [May 1835] — (7) White softish aluminous stone, which passes by every shade into (8) & (9) latter exceptionally abundant laminated — translucent like Uspallata (10) — still more altered (11) black siliceous rock (basis of Breccia Pitchstone) (12-13) other varieties of do (14. 15) Compact & laminated light green indurated & luminous rock, like Uspallata (16) fine grained brown siliceous rock—
(17) Extraneous particles quartz [formed] by white aluminous base
(18) do ferruginous base
(19) white, hard, (non cryst) earth Calcareous stone Tosca
(20) Green extran particles? crystalline structure
(21) Green Porphyry
(22) Syenite — like do — associated with latter
(23) silenite & copper ore
(24) Gold ore. —
Porph Breccia Mines Tertiary Porph Gypsum Gypsum High Hills NW by W Porph Breccia
Again examined junction of Gypseous formation & Porph-Breccia — find that they are decidedly conformable some where about dip 20º —
30 — The gypseous formation, or rather it — recognised by a broad band of whitish soft stone, is properly contained in a whitish white
aluminous stone, soft & easily decomposed into a friable pale earth — such as (7) — This generally in parts passes into a laminated rock such as (8 & 9) in every degree of softness: Such beds
bound join on to the P. Breccia.
This latter near junction is only a compact purple, or greenish sandstone, precisely like those at Incas bridge High up. — I believe from fragments there are some strata of coarse conglomerates. These are thinly stratified: they rest on such varieties as seen at Incas bridge of partially crystalline Sandstone & beneath [it] to the West we have the true Porph-Breccia of the Gypseous formation, amongst the lowest beds. I noticed some of the green rock (14) which
will be [mentioned] & some harsh hard siliceous grey rocks of same structure as a very common Rock one to be mentioned, mingled in
masses veins with calcareous tufa; but the main rock is this aluminous softish Slate. — The P. Breccia close to junction traversed by dyke — I should state that the Gypseous form crosses country NW by W & SE by E — When well within the Gypseous formation appearance has been described —
specimen (23) Is not Characteristic too compact — Copper ore probably from some metallic vein. —
All the waters just like those in Uspallata range —
I saw one place where this substance was traversed & curiously contorted by a [pap] of green base Porphyry white Feldspar crystals. — here all the Gypsum was white fine grained non transparant like in Cordilleras: many pure layers some inches thick — worked — (Mem in Cordilleras frequent association of Gypsum & Alumen) Is this an accident
or rather the effect of heat? I found in another place a small anticlinal line, produced by a white Feldspathic dyke on the North Boundary of Gypsum in the aluminous slate: — On the NE boundary we find the associated aluminous Slate or stone dipping still generally to NE by N, right beneath a mass of strata which I consider Tertiary or anyhow as same as Uspallata — The Gypseous district from soft [nature] now removed from great basin, but
to N & S is seen [conformably] in the high mountains of P Breccia — In the Gypseous form we see particularly in NW corner of it the effects of the Porph = injected Hills — & the Strata accordingly show much irregularities & opposite dips — but on a large scale especially in SE part the NE dip is the characteristic one: So return above the Aluminous Slate we have a great mass of thinly stratified rocks, which almost at first inspection
I recognised a not very easily explicable resemblance. —
These strata are most wonderfully torn with
Hills Paps of Porphyry & more so with a network of Metallic veins — All this occurs chiefly in NW corner where I most examined strata. — The rocks vary much — Next to the & are here much altered — Next to the hard Aluminous
Slates thinness of strata alternate — which even become such as (10) & remind one of Uspallata we have a jet black very siliceous rock such as (11)
This is thinly stratified & very common contains masses & traversed together with Alum slate with large veins of Crystall Carb of Lime, such as in Uspall. also some little agate (12 & 13 other specimens) — & quartz — I saw in one instance layers of calcareous tufa — partially like Tosca rock. Alternate with it — Is remarkably by in a few spots passing into Pitchstone & containing precisely as in Uspall brecciated Pitchstone (This first made me suspect similarity of origin) — identity complete: —
Also clear impression of short pieces of horizontal branches of trees:
— I doubt whether any part of the world can produce such immense quantities of silicified blackened, often metalliferous wood as here lies scattered, many of the pieces appear in form like the root = stumps — being many feet in diameter — All so very much altered as to require lens to recognise character — excepting when external shape is preserved. The specimen like necklace
structure was common. —
Mem. quantities of Silic = wood — unaltered near St Jago & Plazilla= patches of Sandstone — Excepting where igneous action has hardened Tertiary strata, they do not remain.
There is a good deal of a compact green rock, sometimes laminated, which reminded me of Uspallata (14-15)
(16) brown siliceous Sandstone — others where the distinct grains of quartz are very visible — (17 + 18) Extraneous Particles are cemented together by Aluminous & ferruginous particles
These are abundant — Some little (19) white calcareous earthy stone = other layers assumed a partially crystalline structure, but are really sedimentary (20) — The trees = Brecc Pitch = Green-stones — some of the Aluminous Slates — & those with Extraneous particles, but chiefly a general structure recalled Uspallata to my mind. — These beds (near to the injected Porph Hills) contain an infinite number of metallic veins chiefly Copper & a little Gold — both similar to
what occurs in Uspall. — The best veins run from N by W to NW. — They are equally worked (but I think in less number) in the injected Porph: The Copper ore is associated with immense quantities of most brilliant micaceous black Iron ore — ((used as flux) miners black as in coal) just like vein in Syenite of Illapel — This substance traverses all the lateral crevices & sides of veins — Thus we see here & in Uspallata, strata most
worked on the more patches which adhere to the injected rocks. I believe these strata do not alternate with Lava —
Specimen of Gold ore (24)
As may be seen in map, the NW end of band of Gypsum & Tertiary Strata is almost broken off by Hills of Porphyry, these strata sewing up more [area] between them, this also occurs to the NE or [point] dip — at this point apparently beyond the lines of Porphyry, there
come a [first] lofty escarpement of Porphy — Brec dipping to NE — The Porphyries are closely connected with Syenite, are greenish with white Cryst of Feldspar & green specks of Hornblende such as (21), & these pass into what I consider Syenite (22), Although Quartz does
not seem present — black angular fragments, plates of Epidote. — straight or largely conch — fracture — These rocks form paps & some dykes in all parts of the NW corner & cause the strata to dip in every direction; large masses
with an undulating outline having burst through the lower strata, lie & contort the black rock with trees. — Although the main dip is directly toward the line of hills to the NE, yet at their foot in places, an anticlinal (or NW) dip will be seen. — The strata being softer, valley are formed between paps of Porph = which are thus only fringed with Tertiary strata & in
such are richest mines — One of the best marked included line of Paps runs NNW to SSE. —
one pap Much of the Porphyry deviates from the character of specimen, which perfect sorts only occur in main larger paps I suspect from fragments, & form, Porph, Brecc caps parts of NE line of hills. Mr Caldcleugh remarked similarity of Gold ore of Uspallata & Coquimbo All the mines this side of Cueli de los Hornos called Los Hornos
To return to Porph: some of the paps — are composed of a purple Claystone Porph (like P. Brec & that near houses of Uspall) also a compact green base, with Epidote white & pink crystals of Feldspar, very pretty — this had a coarse brecciated structure, like some Lava — interstices chiefly filled up by Crystall Carb of Lime — Must nearly have burst out of Volcanos — if not actually so — These Porph paps indiscriminately have burst through
the Gypseous & Tertiary. — Some of the hillocks of Porph & Tertiary are drilled through & [every] direction by chiefly parallel mines — like bank with Rabbits The Gypseous & Aluminous soft slates of immense thickness seen to South I am certain of age of P. Breccia & of Tertiary — I am certain Gypseous is conformable (seen in range of transverse mountain to S of Basin) I feel little doubt Gypseous by degrees passes into lower beds
of Tertiary — I strongly suspect that Gypseous corresponds to highest beds of Andes — Consequence is evident — that here there has been no interruption in deposition — there then has been — It also proves what I suspected, posteriority (Mem: identity of Copper vein in Syenite) posteriority of outer lines of mountains) It is manifest that the NE dip, is the regular one — the other only depending on Paps &
the NE chain, over which has had no general effect — Staid whole day — interesting Geology dined in little Rancho mining hut — good dinner, pumpkin bean — [kian] pepper grease, onions — roasted Pumpkin — Remarkably brown color of the miners (& often curious expression of eyes?) — Very Hot the sun although now winter The black siliceous rock contains much Iron — It is certain that [Gap] is between the soft A Slates, that these alternate with Tertiary & overlie confor the red sandstones
These Tert-strata being without old pebbles — worthy of remark & easily explicable. —
Friday 8th [May 1835] — (25) White Aluminous stone various fractured cleavage (26). Variety abundant of the Syenite
(27) Almost jaspery, small brecciated rock — now porphyritic — (28). Sandstone or rather base of P.B purple with specks of almost Crystall Limestone I noticed that much of the white aluminous rocks such as (25) &c &c has a shattered fracture, & is exceedingly like some of the rock of Uspallata; especially where near a
Veta it is traversed by network of ferruginous threads, as well as micaceous iron ore. —
The arch (A.) of Tert formation runs along way up to the North, & full of mines, it is a mere strip, rises to some height up the Cuesta — in a similar manner as to the west another creek was yesterday seen on other side of group of Porph-Hills — I see the main Porph Pap (B) has on its top & East side a quantity of very Porph. Brecc, of a greenish color, patches stained green with Epidote, & purple with lines
of fragments parallel — It is probable that these have been carried up on the top of Porph — through Gypsum & Tertiary strata — In all this mineral — although many mines are worked in the Porphyries the greater number are in the Tertiary strata: — The Cuesta at head of last creek (of Hornos) is formed by (E & W) mass of the greenish Porphyries already described. The tops of which are in places capped with (as I supposed with Porph Breccia:
The road pursuing a North course passes through a grand long district of these Poprphyries & mountains & Syenite such as specimens — there is much white quartzose??? Syenite as (26) — We then
come see on Paps to P.B formation dipping NE. & afterwards, road bending a little Easterly enters same formation dipping Easterly; hence I imagine a North & South range of Syenite bends at
the Cuesta de los Hornos E & W & afterwards continues its course about NW & SE
Los Hornos Tertiary
The formation of Porph Breccia was very extensive of which we now entered — near Combarbala, the Red Sandstone
becomes thinly stratified & contains agate, much & cryst Carb of Lime: they are jaspery & very red: — Close South of the town, I examined strata. Found a
br red compact, conch: fract almost jaspery rock (27) with small [ n] brecciated structure & [Basis] of the Claystone Porphyry sonorous & brittle: above there came a very red sandstone with white specks (28) almost crystall of Lime, & white nodules of do; this rock had the appearance to an extraordinary degree of mass of ∠r & round pebbles
basis same as pebbles, at first looking like the common Porph: The angular pebbles & nodules of opake Limestone made me suspect it was not true Conglomerate — Above this came great mass of white often carious, opake cherty rock — (in some spots interlined with red sandstone): All these beds dipped to S a partial disturbance, apparently owing to a pap of the same greenish Porphyry, which
I found at base of escarpement: yet here there are no mines!! These beds come high in the series of P.B. formation. — Remarkable for their harshness hardness — redness & want of Porph-structure. — Is the East great Escarpement of stratified rocks under which these appeared to dip. & beyond them other Escarpement — (thus all face W) which by color &c appeared to contain much syenite
These varieties of P.B formation differ a little but not essentially from any I have seen. — Pebbles of red cellular rock & Black Basaltic, probably Volcanic Including the Escarpement W of the town, probably three coast-wards Mountainous, barren country, dog, describe method bivouacing, small & here always pretty looking town [
illeg] In the creek I found some of the strata dipping at an ∠º of about 60º —
Saturday 9th [May 1835] About half way to Punitague: in first part (we steered about NW, so forming a zigzag section) we found much hills of green porphyry with plates of white Feldspar (curious sort) which seem to have certainly been injected: passed the Jaspery & cherty rocks — occasional dykes of greenstone & Paps — In Cordilleras apparently granite beneath the P. Breccia. — dips various, none (in any part) high — dome-shaped strata:
In Paral, in P Brecc form Silver Mine —
metal ore in mixture of quartz & white decomposed Feldspar, Very like S. Pedro de Nolasko (29) The road for several miles P.B — nothing particular: till before near junction of the hills of Porphyry & Syenite, there were several small copper mines — Syenites, more truly Porphyry, generally darker coloured, but same structure: during day much little altered P. Breccia or rather Sandstone: Mem: our course NW explains:
the occurrence of syenite: — Stupid day — barren like turnpike road — wheatfields in valley — curiously stony: —
Sunday 10th [May 1835] — The Syenite district may be described as occurring a little to the East of Quillay — the road then continues amongst small rocks — till we come to a considerable line of mountains apparently running SW & NE & called Los Hornos — I have no doubt part of same mass as former so called hills. — Rock, true syenite
(& before) with also much black mica — much however without the Quartz. — The road during this time had much [Westing]. — at the Mineral de Puntaque of S side of valley innumerable Copper mines & some gold — much black micaceous Iron ore (used as [Liga]) they run as miners say, about NNW, some Gold — absolutely in the Syenite; one part of the circumscribed mass of metalliferous
rock rock
was grains of quartz & white Feldspar tending to decompose: On the N. side very many poor Quicksilver mines — I examined two, they were in soft white feldspar, few quartz grains — Scales of Talcaceous mica & decomposed spots of Hornblende — rock very soft: Quicksilver ore spoils in sun (30). affects the quartz (31), the specks seen often to occur in minute drusy cavities lined with quartz: This side of [
far] valley — the granitic
rock is capped, & succeeded, a little Westerly by a very black Hornblendic Porphyry (32): which I have not seen before —
I believe the Mercury mines are also worked in this: There are but very few Copper mines in same side with Mercury: — I believe these veins identical with Los Hornos — the Granite seems to stretch far to West — Much Quartz paps in one Part of Syenite. Cuesta — &
Trappean dykes: —
Beyond Punitaque, road turns to N — the Granites are succeeded by the abundant black Porphyry which is blended with very much of the plate [grey] Feld in pale green base — & other varieties; in no
other place clear stratified or brecciated structure, many [miles] broad this formation — one variety almost composed of large white Cryst of Feldspar just united together = The road lay through low hills bordering on, a great plain, like St Jago, these hills
islands &c &c — Coast lines of hills — Section at the river Tuqui or Ovalle two sets of plains seem to be composed of gravel — upper parts coarsest — Plains Traversia. = — In the above Porphyries, near Punitaque, some few scattered Copper mines. = In the Porphyries, there was a small ridge of the syenitic Porphyry. —
Monday 11th [May 1835] Rode over plain to Panuncillo before
ascending hills
in which mines are seated I believe the whole country is Porphyry From the mine to the West I saw an escarpement of Porph-Breccia which seems blended with unstratified hills. — Saw miners at work
— Apires1 light load-stone (8 arrotas — 3 pound) breath like fire; odd noises stream of perspiration of breast: only a custom they have of blowing: — no meat, no diseases — legs bent: 80 perpendicular yards — no right to breathe or halt for 200 yds — [Banelesos] 25 pound hammer laughed at Englishman — Apires carry load 12 times a day.
1 Chilean miners.
33: 34: +35 Varieties of cryst. granular. siliceous rocks in which mines are worked 36) do slaty less common —
37: 38 low down. in mountain NB 35 is too much crystall or carious for characters 39 — abundant with [false] Breccia — Calcareous? why [illeg]?? 40 — False Breccia — 41 piece of included Breccia 42 — Stratum immediately over Granite 43 44 Siliceous rocks in Gneiss [abounds] 45 specimen of what I call the carious Porphyry — base slatecoloured not much Feldspar & part of this glassy — which is not universal Copper mines of Panuncillo
chiefly Pyrites often associated with white Carb of Lime & Large
scales crystal of greenish mica, latter chiefly on sides of veins — the principal veins about NNW some transverse — lie in a ridge of varying chiefly quartzose rocks — very puzzling at first, principally varieties such as (35.)— but less & less coarsely crystallised of a grey color mixed with a great deal of white granular soft rock (39) (33 & 34) other varieties, these rocks are to certain degree laminated or stratified &
nearly vertical: low down in the hills there is much compact rock which perhaps is partly Feldspathic mingled with granular quartziferous rock (37 & 38) — The white granular & siliceous granular rock is very remarkable in much of its mass, by the weathered surface being entirely covered with apparently angular imbedded pieces: these in places form a fissured structure, appear to me to be concretionary origin. — Some few of these are more or less rounded (40): all the Breccia is of nearly same
nature such as (41) which came from a large fragment. — I have scarcely ever seen, excepting perhaps at Falklands such a substance. — In some other parts these fragments were arranged in [waving] lines parallel to the cleavage or stratification & were composed of Porphyritic stone, in which crystals of glassy feldspar were visible — there were few & quite ∠r their origin must remain
unknown. = The structure of these rocks remind me of white Brecciated soft rock of Chiloe: Beside the white & more or less compact arenaceous rocks, there was some [little] laminated siliceo clay slate (36). — These rocks are traversed by
dykes paps of different porphyries —
W (A) SSE E Z NNW (granite)
A consists of high hill of Porphyry base greenish or grey — compact sonorous — a spur bends
& forms part of ridge where mines are, at other extremity there is a pap of a blackish Porphyry round the (E) side of which the strata fold; in middle there is a small pap of close grained green rock absolutely beneath the above strata —
These strata completely puzzled me. = To the South of hill (A) judging from fragments
A or road, the whole country consists of unstratified Porphyries
(of which 45 is another specimen) to the NE of the mines, there are ranges of hills, which run about NW
to by NNW, & are composed of granitic or syenitic rocks, containing little quartz, much Hornblende & black mica: — (In then [these] hills few mines of Copper). — to the East of these in the distance are escarpement of Porph. Breccia. — I traversed found the granite also right North of
the Panuncillo mines, & following it westerly came in a line with the ridge, to a slaty rock which dipped SW about 60º & almost reposed on the granite, chiefly consisted of large crystals of Feldspar & Hornblende
planes L former crystals in planes, hence slaty structure
(42) a little further one we had a soft true gneiss — minute black scales of Mica, some associated with grey siliceo-araneceous
rocks such as 43-44 precisely like those in ridge, only containing patches of granitic nature with large crystals of Hornblende = Hence we have superposition of rocks explained = (NB not age) — the association of Porphyry [melted] hills seems particularly common South of this district to Punitaque; of which doubtless this is same granite in each
case to East tilting the Porph.-Breccia = one of the Copper veins is cut off by stone dyke — [Layers] of true Porphyry
Tuesday 12th [May 1835] staid all day at Panuncillo — young ½ Chilean & English — look as former & considered himself such
Wednesday 13th [May 1835] Noise of miners — expelling breath, articulating ay-y, ending, in fife whistle — revolting although voluntary = Anecdote of Don Joaquin1 — when a boy holiday to see Englishmen heresy. —
1 Joaquin Edwards, Major-domo of copper mines at Panuncillo. For this and the following anecdote see Beagle diary, p. 330.
& contamination sticking to him — Mr Caldcleugh old lady in Coquimbo — Passed today mines of Tambillos, 4 Englishmen, cast iron work — going to drain a large mine — on road from Panuncillo merely crystalline unstratified rocks. of varying character many Porphyries some purple & some little Quartzose, & granitic rocks —
mine of Tambillos — main vein — a very grand one, with oxides of copper (46) — runs E & W is in a soft decomposing granite, with little quartz neighbouring hills various. Porphyries passing XX into the nature of greenstones & some curious Porphyries —
Slept near Punta curious (a rock near this mine 47) [Porph] Point= Plain
xx — white Feldspathic cryst rock [something] [but] these crystals & some amorphous:—
with comminuted shells origin ??? —
Thursday 14th [May 1835] — Rode from the Punta to Herradura bay South of Coquimbo — the few rocks which I saw out of plain appeared to be altered slates & some greenstones & porphyries (48) I know not what name to give = This great flat valley expands into the plains
which I suppose extends to [Bañada], where we come to the Tertiary strata there appears shells on surface. These Tert. strata with marine shells (slight dip W) from a part of the flat valley — Friday 15th — [May 1835] 49 — 50 . . 51 52 Shells upper Tosca rock
(road to Herradura) 53 — Superior, stratified Stalactiform
Tosca, 54 — Friable Tosca — (55) resting on & blending with latter agglutinated sand & bits of shells — 56 — 57 —58 — Syenitic or Hornblendic rocks of point of Herradura Bay. — On the road from Panuncillo to the Port, passed over a ridge with slight dip westerly, the upper layer were hard cream-coloured stalactiform, with lines (53) & beneath which came an irregular
quantity of white hardish friable Tosca — or Lime (54): the whole [nearly] resembling Bahia Blanca of St. Jago Burnt for Lime. —
Beneath this came a great mass of coarse sand bits of shells vacuities. very poorly cemented together & worked as a Freestone (55). rock hard rather brittle: its upper parts contained several Murex1 Venuses,
[Odanton] &c &c 49-52. — Which I imagine are of a the "recent" date = Near to the beach we came to cliffs forming a
1 A genus of marine snail.
a little plain of white sand, containing infinite shells such as now are actually lying on the beach — chiefly circular Calyptrea: Turbo — Concholepas — a Venus, the [Quinter] Donax — Pecten — Abutted agaisnt older plain: young old yet this more modern, than Tosca rock. — Perhaps it is only that the species which now inhabit the Bay are
different: —
Herradura Bay, the line of coast formed by hills of Syenitic or rather Hornblendic rocks 56 — — 58 — abundant crystals of Hornblende — generally large & Feldspar. These hills must have formed a sort of Basin, where places are between them & interior hills: There is a double system of plains — I only examined the lower which however I feel nearly sure is part of these only lessened by degradation
consists of a fine grained, whitish sand, agglutinated into a very soft sandstone: this is [irregular] & much ferruginous, & with patches of yellow sandstone — few scattered pebbles, some as large as two fists of crystalline rocks,
many several horizontal layers of irregular formed, thin concretions, almost stratum of very hard brown, fine grained Sandstone (just as every where else) these contain
very many shells chiefly enormous Mytilus & great Ostrea! of Patagonia many Coccles & other shells. Turitella &c &c — Venuses &c &c an enormous quantity of partially silicified bones — I believe, all, certainly many of Cetaceous animals. — they occur with shells in the concretions: = The
plai upper plain is thickly coated by pebbles in some places cemented by Tosca — I found a layer, filled almost with large oysters. I do not think they were washed out of
other cliffs, if so existed in Tosca period. = The lower plain, was
in places generally covered by Tosca = gravel; the lower [illeg] calcareous matter [bedding] by vein like masses with the Sandstone, yet close above containing the common purple Trochus with tinge of its color Murex & other now living shells — I suspect this apparent gradual junction
in this lower plain [must] be accidental: (as gravel [at] St. Julian with white matter).
on the syenitic point of land, found patch of small comminuted shells — Concholepas &c &c, part of which were partially cemented with calcareous Tosca — so certainly not brought by man, at an elevation Upper station —
30.120 } Attached Th.
Lower do 63. —
30.376 242 ft Yet on sides of hills scarcely any shells — There occurred a flat patch: Turritella on the coast & high up: —
16th [May 1835] Took up my abode at Coquimbo.
Monday (18th). [May 1835] Examined plain behind town, side of valley extremely flat, composed of pebbles, apparently when seen, yet certainly forms part of plain of same height with the Tosca rock
[map showing the Coquimbo terraces, with ships anchored off the coast]1
1 See the sketch in the geological diary DAR 37.662A.
The main plain [it] is which runs all up the valleys on its very edge there would appear a small step it is on the step a mile or two South of the town where quarries are, (or still lower ones) & filled with shells & covered by some loose ones: in the mouth of valley besides this there is a
small narrow fringe of [ double] two plains (chiefly on north side) which sweep out to seaward & Coquimbo itself appears built on such entrance of town one step & further Easterly another — the bottom flat valley a 4th — To the South
about Herradura a strip of land which divides two ports, seem all a second plain — I do not know to which it corresponds: In the interior right behind Coquimbo Hills hills of very pale green feldspathic rock where crystals of white Feldspar are (102) not always just discernable & NB near the Puerta a hill of Porphyry where ingredients were of granite Syenite are imbedded in a do or Euritic reddish base. = I have described the Tosca well — Here beside the shells already seen are very many of a circular Calyptrae — Donax — Turritella
Venus — (Mactra?) Trochus with tinge of color — all of which show close alliance with shells on beach. there was only one Concholepas & no Pecten — & [not] the straited large Calyptrea. = So that species same, as now, but
arrangement grouping different from present beach, or sandy cliffs so that we have this arrangement
[section of cliffs]
on Beach shells B Loose recent Tosca recent Ancient A Tosca A Beach C Shells plain of course
Beach shells Tosca of A more modern, than Tosca (B) which
cover in succession the old oyster — & I think there will [be] be found Pecten more Concholepas & Trochus with color — Little sand plain (C) more modern than either & shells identical in proportion with present beach = I no where saw fragment of big oyster & grand [aureous] Mytilus — silicified bone or concretion: Above the Tosca there was some calcareous sand, which contained more perfect & more numerous shells of [some] sort, I carefully avoided picking up these: In the freestone there are in places a good many chiefly Porph pebbles, an
inch or two long & some small flat slaty ones —
fragme much entirely composed of bits of shells —
Hence we have upper plain decidedly marine — (How could B Hall1 fail to see the plains curling out to seaward?) (NB The Tertiary formation does not seem to extend far South of Herradura) at [
illeg] Before Pichidanque &c & we had plenty of proof of lower plains, thus formed — —
The mass of cemented pebbles, with band of broken great oysters
1 Hall 1824.
lying over old Tertiary form, I believe to be true deposition & properly would be covered by the Tosca rock. —
Dip of Tosca beds, to W doubtful whether too much for original deposition:
on the First light shower in Coquimbo night of May 14th — effect break ground 2d shower put in corn summer spring ripens, effect on
Mule hire for carrying ore. Some Apires can carry 300 lbs up mines — "Honest man — he is old Spaniard" — Coquimbo small very quiet
military, shops all shut. —
NB I hear of Petrified wood in plenty up by Illapel, & petrified Echinus of large oysters & cannon balls at Guasta
20th Wednesday [May 1835]
here B
|T 65º
|does not represent plain
|Up the valley
|Therm 70º
|29.917 station
|6 feet above plain represented
|29.944 (+ Hill)
|Therm 68º —
|plain represented
|30.308 of sea station
|6 feet above
[Coquimbo terraces] A (N) C D E F D (E) B (S) A here E is properly D
(B) not seen on north side: (C) just visible, to West more developed. D & E swallowed up to West in one plain, to East largely expanded
On South side (C not D) E not visible Measurement on South side
In my room 30.240 in Town.
The height of great plan 29.944
Slope of plain in about 2 miles 29.944
Easterly —.880 I am not certain whether plain E on South side of section corresponds to E or D. — The measurement in my room above sea, is the height of the lower plain, escarpement taken in middle —
perhaps 30 ft + a broard nearly level sandy space, which corresponds to plain of river: on this plain the principal part of city lies — the next escarpement of about equal height as last is chiefly subord we then have
Hill, which counting the broard sandy plain (with Chaerus) makes 4th plain (I suspect a little South there is an intermediate one) above which the 5th or grand plain — I believe quarries by Mr Lambert, the above intermediate. — In the section
taking both sides of valley & plain at bottom there are six plains — but many very obscure, some uniting — others [mainly] shown, by indistinct line of [knobs]. — observed on both sides where point & ravine entered; that three sets of plain were fan shaped, sections; hence great obscurity, but what would be expected at bottom of inland strait —
The difference at () Hill of plain A, B not to be trusted
Earthquake, screams of women great roar — little motion — called severe — appalled the men —
Thursday 21st [May 1835] I notice plain E corresponds to (D); after crossing the plains we come to low hills of the Syenitic greenstones & fragments of Granites, dark greenish & brown porphyritic greenstones & the syenitic Porphyry (red crystals small of Feldspar) mentioned near Coquimbo — These hills were [superceded] by hills of dull red color of the Porph-Breccia — remarkably plain the latter structure, lines &c, different coloured pebbles — very coarse & little blended & what is curious, the stratification very nearly horizontal afterwards bending up & dipping
small ∠ to SSE. — several dykes & paps of fine green Porphgreenstone, one grand broard dyke, running NNW, SSE of pale Porph rock (59) near which silver mine. — NB amongst the coarse Porph Brecc — Some of the fine crystalline rocks with acicular crystal of Feldspar (60). — Our course about ENE. — Reached a mountainous grand alpine country — young Chilean José Maria.1 —
1 José Maria Edwards, Anglo-Chilean, son of the owner of silver mines at Arqueros, with whom Darwin was travelling.
(22d) [May 1835] (61) S. Rosa mines; lowest fine grained red bed:
(62-63) the green beds. (64) in one locality were near red beds (65)
green bed with [Silver] near vein
(66) white Porphyry — minas Don Francisco de Aristoa
66 (67) Brecciated red rock 67 (68) Specimen of poor one Arqueros Mineral & Quillai
(69) The limestone with bits of Corall
(70) do part of Coral reef
(71) Upper blackish hard bed Conch: fracture. —
At the mines of S. Rosa, the rock is very bright green, generally crystalline, with no Brecci structure 62-63, in these is the main vein; this rest on a fine grained crystalline red Sandstone which passes into true Porph-Brecca — These green beds, not often stratified but clearly seen in some places: passes rarely into a slate coloured, true Porph with crystals of white Feldspar: the junction of the red & green, tolerably sudden; in other place rather gradual (64). All these beds certainly belong to P. Brecc
formation: At General Pintos, the grand rich vein lies in a fine grained, but true brecciated rock, little Porph. — In whole mineral silver, (in most rare instance little copper Pyrite) veins run NW & SE
— very highly inclined; silver generally pure in Sulph of Barytes; in this latter mine, vein suddenly becomes poor as soon as green bed is reached at S Rosa, as soon (or rather just before), coming to the red — Bed — generally if the red bed is cut through & other is
succeeded by green vein becomes again rich — these mines not a league apart. — At S. Rosa the green rock to the distance of half yard, in one spot contains much silver (65). Considered most rare instance:
— Country of Mineral high, undulating, not very uneven, stratification dipping in all ways, having broken up, I think, a general SW dip. — very many dykes (& masses) of a [closeish] grained, green-greenstone, these chiefly run NW & SW; hence
frequently cut veins. — evidently much troubled district. — To the South of S Rosa — a mile. Cerro Blanco, consists either of compact conch. fracture (66). or same as purple Porph: but white, partly stratified lower part of hill not so — Thin hard beneath purple Porph — may be seen far over country by strata nearly horizontal — at this point a N & S line of violence. has formed anticlinal band, which seems to have expanded, & caused
SW dip & country of innumerable mines. only discovered 9 — years = Leaving the mines (To the East innumerable alternation of red & white bed, all small dip to Cordilleras) We came to grand mass of lmpure Limestone, a good deal of which was formed of nearly parallel tubes like a Corall — the rest more or less pure contained immense quantities of large oysters & Gryphites; also some [corticiform] corall, & shell like Pecten. — Covered by thinly stratified blackish
compact — conch [fracture] — calcareous? beds. & there by immense thickness of a coarse conglom — Porph — I believe these beds rested also on Porphyry — penetrated by paps of curious plate. greenish Porph = This puts age of all these rocks (& Hornillos) out of question = such a striking similarity — I believe the white Porphy is inferior to Limestone but am not sure — impure Limestone grand formation — Clouds like plain — different climate here &
Coquimbo — quiet [mines] in desert busy day. — The strata at mines must be high in series: Near Cerro Blanca — in pale purple Porph — much agate & large nests of quartz crystals rare occurrence. =
Friday 22 Saturday 23d [May 1835] — From the Hacienda of the Marqueros travelling east, various much altered Porphyry — dip where visible to the West till we came to the anticlinal band remarkable for enormous faults, not seen in external form of hill, central parts nearly horizontal, on each side opposite dips, seen on both side of valley — These beds are brownish
x mine easterly
(z) still more beyond which true anticline East dip
all PB purple z x mere line 150 ft thick W repetition1
1 See the sketch in geological diary DAR 44.21.
(72-73-74) The [Horn] stones like altered clay-slates of Hornillos
75 — Red Sandstone from very high up 76-77 common Red Sandstone beds
(78) Vein with in above with Pitchstone (79). with bed of arenaceous Sandstone Limestone (80). Veins with Gypsum
80 81 — Hardened bright green — concent structure Clay bed (82) do with ribby fracture & pebbles —
(83) upper white [rubbly] bed (84) in parts fine hard compact white Feldspathic
(85) The upper conglomerate
(86) Green stratum of crust Feldspath rock
(87). Part of dyke — 88 Upper Lava
In the P.B. from pebble of diff coloured Porph cemented by white cryst beautiful Carb of Lime & [clay] cavities with Epidote
from decomposition consist of the Limestone with organic bits; well seen covered & reposing on the Brecc: Porph: on entering on the East dip on North side of valley turned up to the North at Puclaro — We rode obliquely through the Porph-Brecc. greens & purples, above the Limestone till we came to an open spot — with rounded coloured hills very like the Hornillos — the
Lowe [first] or lowest beds were nearly white or pale brown or greenish soft decomposing Porphyries; then some fine grained red crystalline Sandstone: then the first grand mass of Hornstone strata, more or less laminated more or less compact, conch fracture, more
or less black. some quite yellow 72—74 always decomposing externally into bright yellow earth. The Horn stones are generally marked dendritic manganese — many parts excessively like the yellower varieties of the laminated rock of the Hornos. = This grand main bed several hundred feet was covered by much of the red — Very little crystalline, none brecciated Sandstone 76-77 — I must except one spot there was Breccia but not Porph: This red sandstone contained some whitish & lilac bands. = was covered by other grand bed of the laminated Hornstones, much of the yellow earthly
sorts — all this formation — traversed by much dykes & paps of bright green cryst rock (87) which in places have white spots of earthy Feldspar: yet it is remarkable there appeared comformable beds of a green crystalline rock, such as (86). In this respect I was forcibly called to mind of the Gypsum of the Portillo — NB in Lower parts of these 3 grand beds, there is an extensive mine of Gypsum; mineralogical nature same as ever, did not visit it but such must have been its position: In the Intermediate Red
Sandstone, there was much black Agate, or rather quartz passing into Pitchstone, I found one small parallel vein (78). Some of the red sandstone — so compact as to become jaspery, others rubbly & soft: There was also a parallel bed of carious brown arenaceous Limestone
80 79 (NB in the Porph-Brecc saw a siliceous red Sandstone) near which were intricate veins of Carb of Lime with Gypsum ?? (80) (is the Pitchstone of the Tertiary formation. = An interval of beds were hidden we then had, a much stratified, bright green concretionary structure hardened clay. (81): This contained. — layer of very hard rock
of nearly same nature, with brecciated structure, above this we had a layer of two of red-sandstone, & the clayey Hornstones, & then much of the rubbly green-hardened clay, not so [pure], with partially brecciated structure, & remarkably for containing in upper parts
much several well rounded, pebbles of Porphyry. — This was covered by grand thickness of a fine grained very compact red sandstone (75), & this was banded with white Jaspery rock, which as at [Combarbala], showed on being wetted, an obscure minute
brecciated structure — (NB forgot injected paps of purplish Porphyry). — Above this red sandstone, we have some hundred feet of white, or occasionally slight greenish, rubbly soft Feldspathic rock (altered white beds) (83) which in part passes into hard, compact conch: fract do rock. (84). = This was covered by 300-400 ft thick of coarse conglomerate, pebbles almost all Porphy — base arenaceous. never Porph: pale brown as (85) or more general red, lower parts firmly cemented, upper pebbles can be picked out. — certainly altered gravel, just as in Portillo: The upper foot or two is arenaceous
capped by 200-150 ft of Lava — Slate coloured, or tinge of green, rather fewer plate crystals of Feldspar than in curious Porph — & some (88). Seems certainly to have come from lofty mountain to East. = is important in history of curious Poprhyry, to which this Lava certainly belongs. — Riding afterwards round the base of this hill this sort succeeded by Porph. greenstone. Feldspar partially earthy very abundant & this again passed into the syenitic greenstone with true fracture of granite: — All the above great beds dip about 20-30º to East & are all (Conglom & Lava) conformable to P. Breccia = Hills of strange colours, with dykes & paps of green rocks. —
I can feel no doubt, this upper red Sandstone; Hornstone laminated, green clay with pebbles & Conglomerate corresponds to Tertiary Formation. = These pebbles show that this outside chain subsequent to first upheaval —
Syenite P.B. Limestone P.B Gypsum Horn St R Sandstone Hornst [
illeg] Clay R.S. Feld White Conglom Lava Syenite1 Beds all dip — The thickness of the Beds above the much Porph: Breccia must be very many thousand feet: a horizontal section of at least 2 miles of 30º
1 See the fair copy of this sketch in DAR 44.21.
Sunday 24th [May 1835] — Stayed whole day at Hacienda of Gualliguaca — Signorita not 17, mere child mother of two children & will soon add another young one to the family of Salzeras. — very pretty — dressed like lady — Some second rate farm house. — Walked up the Valley first rate Chiliean scenery — like scenery of Alps in the Annuals.1 — Near the Hacienda there is a small chain, about N & S of Syenite-greenstone (88) good characteristic specimen which seems partly to have up-burst through the superior beds & to have formed another escarpement of P Breccia perhaps covered by the soft beds — These beds do not dip much
1 The Annuals were inexpensive publications introduced in the 1820s, illustrated with high quality steel engravings.
Monday 25th [May 1835] 89. Siliceous white sandstone rock beneath Limestone, (90) Layer of yellow, siliceous Limestone (91) superior fine grained red sandstone
(92) green dyke (93) Red Sandstone 6 ft from D (94) close to — (95) White Sandstone [distal] (96) do close: (97 (white quartz pebbels in)
(99) Red Porphyry low down (100) do — high up We came to another somewhere about N & S chain of granitic rock — real granite & Syenite G. & much dark slate coloured sonorous base with few crystals of Feldspar. Beyond this we again have much Porph Breccia
some much altered some less. — beds up to about NW by W, which seems owing not to the chain we have passed but to an irregular one which forms Southern W side of Valley of R. Claro. — A section of strata on North Side, well known for petrifications, was examined the strata dipped about North, owing to end of the above chain, exceedingly sheltered & contorted & [
illeg] traversed by Fault dykes, some of the planes inclined at about 70º or more. = (1) Beginning at bottom, we have the purple, hard sandstone of P. Brecc formation (2) white siliceo Sandstone (89) more or less hard, sometimes passing into the purple varieties
has layers of slaty Sandstone & some hard yellowish calcareous? Sandstone (90): This also contains very great quantities of small quite white quartz pebbles in the white sandstone (97): remarkable quantity, first time I ever saw such a thing, ground strewed with Beans — common Belief. Where did the quartz come from. — Above the white Sandstones, we have some strata 50-60 ft of dark perhaps semicalcareous rock, (with partially minuted Brecciated structure) almost composed of a large, Terebratula, many twice the size of specimens. — 2 other species, outline
of an ammonite, pieces of Gryphite & perhaps of large oyster: this rock contains a few, round quartz pebbles, is covered by very compact, hard red Sandstone (91). — (All the white Sandstone are brittle & clink) This gradually passes into a (N Red Sandstone) red conglomerate, pebbles both round & angular, several 100 ft thick, [many] of the white quartz, in lower parts, & porphyry, pale, chiefly purple & red & whiteish & the red-sandstone & Quartzose rock — in short just such as we know inferior beds to be —
These conformably = covered by another thick mass of similar conglomerate matrix without any porph-structure This is capped by thick bed of crystalline purple Porphyry, in some places traces of stratification in some not = the lower part is
not (99) — higher parts assume acicular cryst of Felds. (100) — Covers the Conglomerate, which appears rather altered at junction. — is capped by the curious Porphyry (in perfection) change sudden — & this again by pale green Porph with numerous cream colored Cryst of Fe & green specks
are these 3 beds Lavas? or altered rock
9 8 green Porph 7 curious porph 6 Porph? 5 Conglom 4 4 Conglom 3 Shells 2 sand
(9) is a hill composed of central grand mass of curious Porphyry, Syenite & dark slate Porphyry — The connection of the 3 porphy beds which dip towards this mountain, I do not know — upper parts of mountains appears stratified. — is the heat of central parts, altered the upper parts more than the lower; or are they not Lavas which have flowed, before upheaval = — The age of Limestone is certain. Disturbance consequent on upheavals, prevented gypsum, & formed green conglomerate. — But some similar rocks must have been upheaved to have given pebbles = The Porph having in one spot a stratified aspect is
most puzzling: — never before [me] with more crystalline beds above less ones — 6 & 7 certainly Lavas. — (NB the number of Terebratulae quite wonderful) — It is curious as showing a very early
upburst cessation of strata. = Either before Gypsum or latter not produced. = The Grand bed of Conglomerate (4) & near near the ravine is traversed by grand dyke of very green greenstone (92) 8 ft wide, high up [dimms] — passes through red sandstone with the pebbles at 6ft distance soft (94) (93) 2 or 3 inches almost white much harder (95) (94) for two or 3 inches tinged green with matter of dyke — from volatization: same [foot] in bed of white sandstone — 95 — 96. = (NB slight spherical structure in upper surface of Porph (6)) = The Redness of Sandstone does it show no heat in mass ?? =
[Rio Claro and Gualliquica] Gualliquica (Z) R Claro
The variation in P.B. forms remarkable
(Z) 3 chains form a part [distant] from it on all sides?
The question is whether is this gravel same age as Puclaro: Lava appears analogous nature of gravel do. = The gravel lower part with quartz pebble, as Limestone with Terebratulae Ammonites — Age nearly certain contemp with P. Brecc. formation. — I can hardly however imagine all the beds above gypsum so old as this. =
Tuesday 26th [May 1835] returned to Hacienda.
Wednesday 27th [May 1835] returned to Coquimbo: as in going to mines, hills of Syenite: I believe the Limestone occurs with P. Breccia
almost to mouth of valley above where the Granite & Porph hills occur: — About 10 miles up valley perfect plain sinks owing to valley rising (the subordinate plains still less) & gradually dies away on irregular sides — I could see nothing of the plain with water a lip
— above at 25 miles up no plains valley narrower about 3[0] miles from sea, steps best seen; where they have been measured: 3 most visible which correspond to highest & two on which town stands A:
Gualliguaica Puclaro Galliguanca
[illeg] Puclaro [Darguia]
Mem: Hypothesis of Salina depression
True Syenite behind Port Coquimbo
[Coquimbo terraces, the step terraces on the lower left appear not to be in Darwin's handwriting]
[page 130]
Petrified wood in valley of Elque: The terraces dip to centre of valley, as well as Seaward: I have been assured that some Apires have ascended deep mines with 300 Lbs on their back: Mem: silicified rings on the Terebratula of R-
Elqu Claro & on the 27th of May, rain having been 13 days before, patches of hills tinged green, thin scattered delicate grass. one inch long like hairs. — soil apparently dry: —
Douglass —
Corfield —
Alison petrified wood
Caldcleugh value of Hornillos & other mines —
Dn Eugenio Matta1 or Dn Diego Carballo — Copiapo. has petrified shells.
1 Eugenio Matta Spanish co-owner of the San Antonio mine.
The argentiferous lead mines are very rare, they appear to occur in same formation one I heard of very near the Granite.
There is silver mine in R. Claro
70 ½
owe C. Fitz Roy 2 dollars & Rial
7 ½
13 ½
R Capt 2 [Horses] 2 3 15
Spunge — Olla — < >[cho]— Blacking — Milton1 — Clothes
Washed — Shoes blacking Gertrudio = Griffin Lambert Chiffles
write Letters —
Gypsum — Valley of Coquimbo Ill Almaraz
Tongoy. mixture of white Feldspar & green Chloritic mineral; the Tertiary strata are found there with Bones: —
Tortoralillo dark Syenitic Greenstone
1 John Milton. As Darwin wrote in his Autobiography, p. 85, 'Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only a single small volume, I always chose Milton.'
[person] in Cordillera noise right beneath (5 more were felt up in the country same night Earthquake at Coquimbo 8 PM to 8.15
(20th) [May 1835] — Wednesday What money has been got out of Arkeross Arqueros Mar G1 is paid up to the 15th of May + 20 Rials in Quillota for spurs
— Quillay — [
paid] [ illeg]? 98 101
14 / 300 (22 28 20 14 .6
28 9
1 Mariano Gonzales.
Valparaiso to Coquimbo.
Coquimbo valley
Textual notes to the Coquimbo notebook
[FC] 50P 44] pencil.
[IFC] 1.16.] Down House number, not transcribed.
88202336] English Heritage number, not transcribed.
10] added by Nora Barlow, pencil, not transcribed.
[27] page written perpendicular to the spine.
[75] [Layer]...Porphyry] added in heavy pencil.
[96-9] pages written perpendicular to the spine.
[110] page written perpendicular to the spine. there is a watercolour stain on the page.
[129] Gualliguaica…[Darguia]] in FitzRoy's handwriting?
366..15] written upside down from other entries on page.
[130] Douglass...shells.] written upside down from other entries on page.
[131] 70...15] written upside down from other entries on page.
[132] Chiffles] ink.
[IBC] Arqueros] not in Darwin's handwriting.
Mar G…
Jose?] written perpendicular to the spine.
14... .6] ink.
Return to homepage
Citation: John van Wyhe, editor. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 22 August, 2012


text:
Mariska Hargitay Gets Support from Celeb Pals for Joyful Heart!
Mariska Hargitay poses with her pal Debra Messing on the red carpet at the Joyful Heart Foundation's Joyful Revolution Gala on Thursday evening (May 29) at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.
Also in attendance at the event were Penn Badgley, Harry Connick Jr., Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria, Girls' Jemima Kirke, Mariska's Law & Order: SVU co-stars Danny Pino and Kelli Giddish, and her husband Peter Hermann.
The mission of the Joyful Heart Foundation is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues.
FYI: Mariska is wearing a Lanvin dress and jewelry with Manolo Blahnik shoes. Debra is wearing a KaufmanFranco dress and Jimmy Choo heels.
45+ pictures inside of Mariska Hargitay and her celeb friends at her gala…

subset: commoncrawl


text:
GSA Advantage! Wins
Web Business 50/50 Award for Online Excellence
5, 2000
Eleni Martin (202) 501-1231
DC - GSA Advantage! has been named a 2000 Web Business 50/50 Award
winner. Sponsored by CIO magazine, this award program recognizes
innovative Web initiatives by organizations around the world.
The July 1 issue of CIO honors the top 50 Internet and top 50
intranet sites that demonstrate a keen ability to blend technology
and design of their Web site with the needs of their target audience.
According to Megan Santosus, CIO Senior Editor, "It is clear from
this year's winners the Internet is no longer an experiment. With
dedicated staff, financial resources and executive talent, winners
are sending a loud message: The Internet, as an important business
medium, is here to stay."
A panel of
nineteen CIO magazine editors, writers, art designers and Web
development experts reviewed more than 500 nominated Internet
sites. A panel of judges reviewed over 200 nominated intranet
sites using highly descriptive applications that detailed the
functional importance of the site. The judges evaluated hundreds
of sites,
recognizing the best in their medium and selecting sites that
achieved their stated goals.
GSA Advantage!
is the largest Federal government Internet based on-line shopping
site, operated by the General Services Administration's Federal
Supply Service. It allows government customers to quickly and
easily conduct procurement research and order product and services
to support their agency. This site, which is available at http://www.gsaadvantage.gov,
allows government personnel to use the government credit card
or their agency accounts to purchase products and services from
a database that contains more than one million products from more
than 2,000 vendors. Customers can also use their zip codes to
sign on and conduct procurement research using the GSA Advantage!
database of products and services.
Frank Pugliese,
Commissioner of GSA Federal Supply Service said: "I am proud to
receive the Web Business 50/50 Award on behalf of the GSA Federal
Supply Service. This award validates our strategic vision for
GSA Advantage! GSA Advantage!, which began in 1996, enables us
to use technology to provide value and efficiency for government
personnel and save the taxpayer's money."
and the Web are not only vital components of any organization's
success, they are also more important than ever in the new millennium.
As the Web becomes more advanced, a compelling online presence
is needed to remain competitive and to retain and attract users.
CIO honors the 100 sites that exemplify ground breaking business
models and set the benchmarks for others to take notice and follow.
Complete coverage of the 2000 Web Business 50/50 Awards is featured
in the July 1 issue of CIO magazine and at http://www.cio.com.


text:
Trilitech needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 50 designs submitted by 20 freelance designers.
This is a new site designed to provide customers an easy way to order al a carte writing services and know they'll be receiving professional results.
The functionality of the site will be similar to Psd2Html (except with writing services, not html markup). Customers can come and get an instant price by selecting what writing services/features they are looking for.
Self-employed individuals who make a living from operating websites and need professional writers they can count on to deliver quality content on a regular basis.
The logo should be clean and simple and contain a graphical element.
The design of the logo needs to help convey what the site is about.
We're going for a professional feel more so than a casual feel.
Any color scheme is ok.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team went down to Freesen Field and took care of business defeating MacMurray College 43-6 to remain unbeaten in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play on Saturday.
The Highlanders (0-5, 0-4 UMAC) got the ball first and moved all the way down to the Saints' 10-yard-line, but would proceed to miss a 27-yard field goal. On the next play and CSS's first offensive play from scrimmage, Thomas Fragale went 80 yards for the score to put the Saints up 7-0.
After the teams exchanged punts, MacMurray was able to drive into CSS's red zone again, but Zack Dubanoski and Keaton Rush would record a sack on fourth down at the CSS 18-yard-line and the Highlanders turned it over on downs.
The Saints then went down the field and Mike Theismann converted a 30-yard field goal to make the score 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Theismann was called on again on the Saints' next possession, making another 30-yard field goal to make it 13-0. That would be the score at the half.
After a 46-yard kick return by Sherome Milon to begin the second half, the Saints had a short field to work with and took advantage as Jake Jensen plunged in from a yard out to give the Saints a 20-0 lead.
It was a third Theismann field goal from 30 yards that put the Saints in front 23-0 with 2:39 left in the third quarter. That marked the first time in program history the Saints made three field goals in a game. After the Highlanders turned it over on downs again, Tyler Harper connected with Nick Thiry for 42-yard touchdown reception to make the score 30-0 at the end of the third quarter.
The CSS defense got a score in the fourth quarter with an Alec French 40-yard interception return for a touchdown. The last Saints score came on a Chris Gassert 69-yard touchdown run with six minutes left to make it 43-0.
A blocked punt ultimately led to MacMurray's lone score. The Highlanders scored with 32 seconds left on a Zach Mudd 15-yard touchdown reception to spoil the CSS defense shutout bid and make the final score 43-6. That was the first touchdown allowed by the Saints defense in 13 straight quarters.
St. Scholastica recorded 465 yards of total offense with 321 yards on the ground and 144 through the air. Jensen led the rushing attack with 119 yards on 23 carries. Harper was 10-of-21 passing for 135 yards. Thiry had three receptions for 62 yards.
The CSS defense held the Highlanders 245 yards of total offense with 211 passing yards and 34 rushing yards. Dubanoski led the Saints with eight tackles. Tyler Zurn added seven tackles, two pass breakups and a sack. MacMurray used three different quarterbacks in the contest.
The Saints (4-1, 4-0 UMAC) will be back at home next Saturday when they face Northwestern College in a conference clash at Ordean Field on the Duluth East High School campus. Both teams will come in unbeaten in conference play. The kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and everything can be seen live on Saints Sports Net.


text:
Four Lady Bisons finished in double figures in an 84-66 Atlantic Sun victory over Jacksonville Thursday night at Allen Arena.
In the first half the Lady Bisons shot a sizzling 66.7 percent from the floor, hitting 16-of-24 shots. They finished with 56.9 percent shooting from the field for the game, the highest total of the year.
"They kept playing hard and coming back at us," said Lipscomb coach Frank Bennett. "They are quicker than us on the perimeter. They put some pressure on. Whenever it would get close we would open it back open to a 20-point game."
The Lady Bisons held a 47-28 halftime lead.
The victory extended the Lady Bisons homecourt winning streak to 11 games. However, one streak ended as Courtney Boynton hit only one-of-two shots from the free throw line, ending her A-Sun consecutive free throw streak at 39 straight.
"We didn't expect that streak to last all year," Bennett said.
Boynton was six-of-10 from the field and two-of-three from the 3-point line. She tied with Penny Jones for the team scoring lead with 15 points. Lynn Roller was perfect from the field (three-of-three from the field, one-of-one from 3-point range and four-of-four from the free throw line to finish with 11 points. Dana Carrigan chipped in with 10.
"That many players scoring in double figures is something we haven't had a lot of this year," Bennett said. "We have had a lot of people with six, seven or eight. With teams keying on Courtney she has had good patience and taken good shots and kept a high shooting percentage."
Jacksonville also placed four players in double figures with Ashley Stinson scoring a game high 18 followed by Rebecca Montz with 13, Nakina Alford with 11 and Sheena Carpenter with 10.
The Lady Bisons held a 37-28 rebounding edge with Katie Beth Pate grabbing a team-leading eight and Jones chipping in with seven.
"We are not as consistent as we want to be," Bennett said. "We still have a lot of young players that are trying to learn reads. We have to get used to the feeds and the reads we need to make to make some shots for Courtney and our post players."
Lipscomb leads the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 7-1 record, 10-4 overall.
Jacksonville is 0-6 in the conference, 3-10 overall.


text:
Helena Bonham Carter Talks Bellatrix in New Interview
Jul 09, 2007
The AP has a new interview online with actress Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrage in the fifth Potter film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the article Miss Carter talks of the upcoming film, her role as Bellatrix and of her characters wardrobe and personality saying:
"At first they thought, `Oh, we'll just put her in a sack,'" Bonham Carter said. "But I said, `There's no way I'm going to wear a sack. I've got to be a sexy witch.'"
"I also wanted everything to be splitting at the seams and a bit of `Sunset Boulevard' disintegration to be going on, because she's been in prison for so long. She has a very posh, aristocratic carriage, because she's pureblooded, but at the same time she's completely divorced from reality."
Miss Carter goes on to mention an interesting tidbit regarding her characters role. She notes that when considering taking relatively small part as Bellatrix in OotP, she remembers a note from author J. K. Rowling saying, in her own words, "…she's going to be very significant in the last one."
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be in theaters July 11.


text:
Staten Island, NY – Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, commented today on the efforts of pro-abortion groups to keep CBS from broadcasting a Focus on the Family ad featuring quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother during the Super Bowl.
"Why should it bother people who call themselves pro-choice if women watch Pam Tebow and her son Tim on Super Bowl Sunday and freely decide to choose life? Would fewer abortions be a bad thing?" asks Fr. Pavone. "As for the argument that the ad should not be shown because it is divisive, since when do we broadcast only things on which the American people all agree? In that case, the Super Bowl itself could not be broadcast."
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.


text:
So I imagine many others are like me: I refuse to spend money on the game.
That instantly makes Blizz store and TCG pets unavailable.
But Battle Pets allow most of these to be caged and sold on the AH!
However, before Battle Pets you could filter the store by what you can use and have it auto-ignore all the pets you have, only showing the few (if any) you do not yet own.
Post Battle-Pets, this is not possible.
So I am wondering if there is an addon which returns this capability to the AH, or at least lets you sort by Max Quality Owned (placing none owned in a section below poor, and allowing an ascending sort by that column to quickly reveal new things, as well as making it easy to locate better quality upgrades)


text:
Fitness & Wellbeing Classes
Frontiers Media SA
Mindfulness and Meditation
The techniques you will learn have been refined and developed over many centuries. The intention of these techniques is to cultivate awareness and compassion so that we might better understand the mind, as well as our relationship with the world around us.
Some of the positive side-effects associated with regular meditation include:
- Stress relief and anxiety reduction
- Improved sleep
- Better relationships being closer and more accepting of one another
- Greater cognitive abilities like memory, creativity and problem solving.
What you will learn
Each session will be composed of guided meditations that will promote relaxation, awareness and perspective for what you are currently experiencing. In addition the classes will aim to achieve the following goals:
- Recognise and observe physical sensations.
- Recognise thoughts without becoming involved with them
- Recognise and experience an emotion
- Learn the mechanism of emotions (birth, development, and disappearance)
- Reduce the intensity with which you experience obsessive thoughts
- Learn to incorporate mindfulness into everyday life (walking, eating, cleaning)
- Improve the management of emotions
- Take some time out to be fully in the present moment
What you need to know
This class is suitable for all levels and no prior knowledge is required.
Available schedules
High-quality, convenient classes at a competitive price. When you want.
|With Who
Proposed class
Every week on Wednesday at 12:00.
|James Murray
Not yet confirmed.
(Learn about hosting)
Suggest a schedule
If you can't find the best schedule for you, suggest one. We will setup the class.


text:
Customer Reviews
All reviews are from people who have redeemed deals with this merchant.
What You'll Get
Choose Between Two Options
- $45 for three-month green kid starter pack subscription ($74.85 value)
- $89 for six-month green kid starter pack subscription ($149.70 value)
The Fine Print
Promotional value expires 90 days after purchase. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 2 additional as gifts. Limit 1 per order. Valid only for option purchased. Valid online only. Shipping not included; flat-rate fee of $4.50 per month will apply. Initial Discovery Box will be shipped within 3 weeks from time of redemption on merchant site; subsequent boxes will ship once a month thereafter. Valid only for new Green Kid Crafts subscribers (merchant agrees to honor all vouchers regardless); this pack includes "fan favorites" Discovery Boxes which existing subscribers have already received. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About Green Kid Crafts
Play is the work of childhood. It creates new synapses, builds problem-solving skills, and keeps kids from cutting open the couch like a TaunTaun. And with subscription boxes from Green Kid Crafts, it can even help protect the environment. Founded by an environmental scientist, the company creates boxes from 100% recycled materials, bundle everything in plant-based, compostable bags, and offset all the carbon dioxide they generate.
Best of all, they stoke a love for science, technology, art, and math with fun projects. Every box arrives full of materials and a set of experiment cards. Kids might build their own magnetic robot and teach it to navigate a maze, or learn about zoology by creating species cards with stencils and tracking animal migration. Along with sparking little imaginations and creativity, the boxes focus on STEAM fields to give kids a leg up at school.


text:
posted by Rahul on Fri 6th Mar 2009 08:37 UTC
Plymouth is a freedesktop.org project to create a flicker free graphical bootup system designed and developed by Red Hat and included in Fedora 10. Red Hat has been working on Xorg drivers and within the Linux kernel to improve and enhance the kernel mode support needed for Plymouth. Fedora 10 included support for many ATI cards and this is being developed further in Fedora 11 to cover Intel and Nvidia cards as well. Plymouth supports a flexible and powerful plug-in system which can be used to create Plymouth themes. Fedora includes several of them including a simple progress bar and the solar plugin. Now additional work is being done to improve many things and this will land up in Fedora 11 as well.


text:
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great topic, I must say; some really neat stories in here. for me personally, Pop I was too young for the AB shock. in fact I got on after ATYCLBI was still pretty new to the band at the time, i can't remember which albums I hadn't heard yet. I just remember practically dancing in my bed with my headphones on. and I was acquainted with the best of versions from Pop, I couldn't beleive my ears when I heard the original versions. "BOOM CHA! WHAT?"
Zooropa. The 2 minutes of white noise and eerie voices speaking during the intro to the title track. The lopping chimes of Babyface. The monotone mumbling of Numb. The falsetto disco of Lemon. The nearly industrial Daddy's Gonna Pay. The blistering guitar effect during the solo of Some Days. Johnny Cash showing up on The Wanderer. The album was so utterly bizarre, so ethereal, so unlike the other U2 albums I had listened to up to that point, it was jarring and alarming.
ATYCLB was a let-down on first listen.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or LoginATYCLB was a let-down on first listen.This. Then I got into it, especially around the time of the Elevation tour, and then I kind of lost interest.


text:
Ovary, in zoology, female reproductive organ in which sex cells (eggs, or ova) are produced. The usually paired ovaries of female vertebrates produce both the sex cells and the hormones necessary for reproduction. In some invertebrate groups, such as coelenterates (cnidarians), formation of ovaries is associated with the seasons. Many invertebrates have both ovaries and testes in one animal, and some species undergo sex reversal.
The ovaries of a nonpregnant young woman who is in good health go through cyclic changes each month. These changes centre about a follicle, or "egg sac." A new follicle develops after each menstrual period, casts off an egg (ovulation), and, after ovulation, forms…
Ovary function and anatomy
The primary function of the ovaries is to nurture and prepare oocytes (eggs) for the process of ovulation (rupture and release of the mature egg from the ovary). Once an egg is released, it migrates down a fallopian tube to the uterus. While in the fallopian tube, an egg may be penetrated and fertilized by a sperm. If an egg becomes fertilized, it will implant in the wall of the uterus. The processes of ovulation and fertilization are controlled largely by cells in the ovaries that produce and secrete hormones. These hormones also are essential for female sexual development and are necessary to sustain a pregnancy. In humans they also serve to regulate the menstrual cycle (periodic shedding of the uterine lining).
The ovaries of newborns and young girls are a mass of elongated tissue located in the pelvic girdle; as the female reaches adolescence, the ovaries gradually enlarge and change their shape. The adult ovaries are almond-shaped, and their surface is usually uneven and has areas of scar tissue. They are about 4 cm (1.6 inches) long, 2 cm (0.8 inch) wide, and 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) thick; the two ovaries weigh 4–8 grams (0.14–0.3 ounce). The ovaries are held in place by several ligaments (bands of fibrous connective tissue), including the broad ligament, the suspensory ligament, and the ovarian ligament. Each ovary consists of an outer cortex, which contains the follicles, oocytes, and some interstitial cells, and an inner medulla, which contains additional interstitial cells, fibrous tissue, blood vessels, lymphatic ducts, and nerves. (See also human reproductive system.)
Follicular development
The follicles, which are hollow balls of cells, contain immature eggs and are present in the ovaries at birth; there are usually 150,000 to 500,000 follicles at that time. By the beginning of a woman's reproductive life, the number of immature follicles has fallen to about 34,000, and this number continues to fall thereafter. As a woman ages, the follicles gradually diminish in number until, at menopause and the cessation of reproductive function, the few remaining follicles degenerate. During the active childbearing years, normally between ages 13 and 50, only 300 to 400 of the follicles undergo maturation. At the beginning of each menstrual cycle, known as the early follicular phase, several follicles enlarge and migrate from the cortex toward the outer surface of the ovary. The cells lining the follicle multiply to form a layer known as the zona granulosa, and a cavity forms within this zone. The stromal and interstitial cells that surround the follicle arrange themselves concentrically to form a theca (an enclosing sheath) around the zona granulosa. One or sometimes more of the follicles are selected for further growth and maturation. The mature follicles, known as Graafian follicles, may reach 30 mm (about 1.2 inches) in diameter before they rupture.
The interstitial cells, especially those in the theca, produce mainly the hormones known as androgens. Within the granulosa cells these androgens are converted to estrogens (estradiol and estrone), the major ovarian hormones. The fluid in the cavity bathing the oocyte contains high concentrations of estrogens and other steroid hormones (progesterone and androgens), as well as enzymes and bioactive proteins. This phase of the menstrual cycle, during which follicular development occurs, lasts about two weeks.
At the end of the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, one or occasionally two (or even more) mature follicles at the surface of the ovary rupture and release the egg. The egg then enters a fallopian tube to be carried to the uterus. After the follicle ruptures, the granulosa and theca cells fill the lumen of the follicle, forming the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum produces large amounts of progesterone for about two weeks. If at the end of that time the egg has not been fertilized, the corpus luteum involutes (becomes smaller) and becomes a whitish scar mass, known as a corpus albicans. As the corpus luteum disappears, progesterone levels fall, and the uterine lining is shed through the process of menstruation, thereby passing the unfertilized egg from the body. However, if fertilization occurs, the corpus luteum continues to produce large amounts of progesterone for several months and will remain in the ovary until the end of the pregnancy. Progesterone helps the fertilized egg to secure itself to the uterus and to develop into an embryo. The processes of follicular development, ovulation, and formation and function of the corpus luteum are controlled by gonadotropins known as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), both of which are secreted from the pituitary gland.
Regulation of ovarian function
The ovaries secrete both estrogen and progesterone into the bloodstream, and thus they are important endocrine glands. Before the onset of puberty the ovaries are quiescent, and the cortex of each ovary contains only immature follicles. Puberty begins with pulsatile nocturnal secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. Nocturnal pulses are initiated at least in part by increasing body size, which may cause an increase in the secretion of leptin (from the Greek leptos, meaning "thin"; a protein hormone important for regulation of reproduction, metabolism, and body weight), which in turn stimulates the secretion of GnRH. Pulsatile secretion of GnRH activates the gonadotroph cells of the anterior pituitary, resulting in pulses of secretion of moderate quantities of FSH and of significant quantities of LH. In time, pulsatile secretion of GnRH and pulsatile secretion of the gonadotropins occur continuously. Increasing secretion of gonadotropins leads to increasing production of estrogens by the ovaries. Estrogens stimulate the development of secondary sex characteristics and the maturation of ovarian follicles. Increased secretion of estrogens normally occurs between ages 8 and 14 in girls.
With continued maturation of the hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovaries, the cyclic hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian activity characteristic of adult women begins. During the first days of the menstrual cycle, secretion of FSH increases, causing the maturation of follicles as described above. As follicles mature, they secrete more estradiol (the most potent of the estrogens), which is paralleled by an increase in the secretion of LH. Increased secretion of LH stimulates the secretion of more estradiol and a small amount of progesterone that then trigger a transient surge in LH secretion and to a lesser extent FSH secretion, causing rupture of the mature Graafian follicle. The surge in LH secretion can be readily detected in the urine, providing a means whereby women can determine if they have ovulated and therefore are potentially fertile.
The follicular phase of the cycle ends at the time of ovulation. Serum LH, FSH, and estradiol concentrations then decrease considerably, and the corpus luteum begins to produce some estrogen and large quantities of progesterone. This is known as the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, which lasts until the corpus luteum degenerates (luteolysis) and estradiol and progesterone production decreases. The decreasing serum estrogen and progesterone concentrations result in constriction of uterine arteries, thus interrupting the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the endometrium. The endometrium is then sloughed off, causing the vaginal bleeding characteristic of menstruation. A new menstrual cycle then begins.
The normal menstrual cycle is typically divided into a follicular phase of about 14 days, during which the endometrium proliferates, and a luteal phase of about 14 days, which culminates with the endometrial lining being sloughed off. Thus, the two phases are separated by ovulation on the one hand and by menstruation on the other hand. The phases vary in length by several days in different women and sometimes in the same woman. Variations in cycle length are most common in the first years after menarche (the first menstrual cycle) and just before menopause (when menstruation ceases).
The changing serum estrogen and progesterone concentrations during the menstrual cycle have several other effects. Basal body temperature fluctuates little during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle but increases abruptly after ovulation. This increase parallels the postovulatory increase in serum progesterone concentrations and is caused by an effect of progesterone on the temperature-regulating centres in the brain. The decrease in serum estradiol and progesterone concentrations near the end of the cycle may be accompanied by changes in mood and activity and by an increase in fluid retention. The changes initiated by the decrease in secretion of estradiol and progesterone comprise the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, although the relationship between hormonal changes and these symptoms is unclear.
After menopause, the ovaries shrink in size and usually consist of old fibrous tissue. The production of estrogen drops considerably but does not totally cease.


text:
Deputies found the body of a Raceland man that they said earlier today was missing.
Deputies found the body of a Raceland man who was reported missing since Thursday.
Wayne Folse, 3138 La. 308, was found dead Friday, and his body has been turned over to the Coroner's Office, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office said.
No foul play is suspected, but the Sheriff's Office declined to release details.
Family members told police Folse left Raceland Paint and Body Shop on La. 1 about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. He was traveling to a hardware store and bank on La. 1 south of his shop, according to an earlier release. He never reached either destination, and family had not been able to reach him since.


text:
Lt. Col. Henry Blake of the 4077th
By: Linnea Crowther
5 years ago
In February 1996, two actors died just one day apart. But these two men were bound by more than just their dates of death, by more even than their shared profession. They both played the same well-loved character: Lt. Col. Henry Blake of M*A*S*H.
In 1970, Roger Bowen first brought to life the character created by Richard Hooker in his novel M*A*S*H: A Novel about Three Army Doctors. The movie's Col. Blake was a career Army man, serving as commanding officer of a hospital near the front lines of the Korean War. But this C.O. did more playing than commanding, making the 4077th a wild place to serve.
When M*A*S*H came to the small screen in 1972, McLean Stevenson took on the role of Lt. Col. Blake, playing him as a reservist called up for the war, leaving behind a family practice in central Illinois. TV's Blake had just as relaxed a commanding style as he did in the movie, drinking and carousing with the soldiers in his command.
Over the course of the movie and the TV show, Lt. Col. Blake captured the hearts of viewers everywhere. But Stevenson was not as happy with the role as his fans were. The first three seasons of the show saw the ensemble cast eclipsed by the star power of Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce. Characters like Blake, who were important in the book and movie, became secondary on the show. Unhappy with playing second fiddle, Stevenson left after the show's third season, as did Wayne Rogers, aka Trapper John, who also was unhappy with the downgrading of his role.
Stevenson's departure from the show was planned out, with his character receiving an honorable discharge and heading home to resume his medical practice. But the show's writers shocked both viewers and Stevenson's costars when they wrote in a surprise ending: on its way out of Korea, Blake's plane went down killing all of its passengers. The show's stars weren't told of the plot development until moments before they had to film the scene, and their genuine surprise made great TV.
Twenty years later, the two men with intersecting careers died. Occurring just one day apart, their deaths were eerily similar to each other. Stevenson was 68, Bowen 63. Both died of a heart attack. Indeed, when Bowen died, his family was concerned that the news would get mixed up with the reports of Stevenson's death the day before, so they waited a week to announce it.
Though they played the same role and died so similarly, Bowen and Stevenson deserve to be remembered as individuals — each of whom made us laugh with his portrayal of one of our favorite soldiers.