In the main
island, the volcanic strata abut against the limestone mass of Mount St.
Elias in such a way as to lead to the inference that they were deposited in
a sea bottom in which the present mountain rose as a submarine mass of rock.
The people at Santorino assured us that subterranean noises are not
unfrequently heard, especially during calms and south winds, when they say
the water of parts of the bay becomes the color of sulphur. My own
impression is, that this group of islands, constitutes a crater of
elevation, of which the outer ones are the remains of the walls, while the
central group are of later origin, and consist partly of upheaved sea
bottoms and partly of erupted matter -- erupted, however, beneath the
surface of the water."] -- Tr.
It combines within itself
p 242
the history of all islands of elevation. For upward of 2000 years, as far
as history and tradition certify, it would appear as if nature were striving
to form a volcano in the midst of the crater of elevation."*
[footnote] *Leop. von Buch, 'Physik. Beschr. der Canar. Inseln', s.
356-358, and particularly the French translation of this excellent work, p.
402; and his memoir in Poggendorf's 'Annalen', bd. xxxviii., s. 183. A
submarine island has quite recently made its appearance within the crater of
Santorino.
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