NATURE OF THE STRATIFIED ROCKS.
The present constituents of the earth which are accessible for direct
study are divisible into three parts. The inner portion, consisting of
_rocks_, is known as the _lithosphere_; outside this, with portions of
the lithosphere projecting through into the outermost part, is the
_hydrosphere_, comprising the ocean, lakes, rivers, and all masses of
water which rest upon the lithosphere in a liquid condition. The
outermost envelope, which is continuous and unbroken is the
_atmosphere_, in a gaseous condition. It is well known that some of
the constituents of any one of these parts may be abstracted from it,
and become a component of either of the others; thus the atmosphere
abstracts aqueous vapour from the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere
takes up water from the hydrosphere, and carbonic anhydride from the
atmosphere.
The nebular hypothesis of Kant and Laplace necessitates the former
existence of the present solid portions of the lithosphere in a molten
condition, and accordingly the first formed solid covering of the
lithosphere, if this hypothesis be true, must have been formed from
molten material, or in the language of Geology, it was an _igneous
rock_. Consequently, the earliest _sedimentary rock_ was necessarily
derived directly from an igneous rock, with possible addition of
material from the early hydrosphere and atmosphere, and all
subsequently formed sedimentary rocks have therefore been derived from
igneous rocks (with the additions above stated) either directly, or
indirectly through the breaking up of other sedimentary rocks which
were themselves derived directly or indirectly from igneous rocks. The
observations of geologists show that this supposition that the
materials of sediments have been directly or indirectly obtained for
the most part from once-molten rocks is in accordance with the
observed facts, and so far their observations testify to the truth of
the nebular hypothesis. This being the case, the study of the
petrology of the igneous rocks is necessary, in order to arrive at a
true understanding of the composition of the sedimentary ones. The
igneous rocks are largely composed of four groups of minerals,
viz.--quartz, felspars, ferro-magnesian minerals, and ores. Of these
the quartz (composed of silica) yields particles of silica for the
formation of sedimentary rocks; the felspars, which are double
silicates of alumina and an alkali or alkaline earth, being prone to
decomposition furnish silicate of alumina and compounds of soda,
potash, lime, &c. The ferro-magnesian minerals (such as augite,
hornblende and mica) may undergo a certain amount of decomposition,
and yield compounds of iron, lime, &c. We may also have fragments of
any of these minerals, and of the ore group in an unaltered condition.
The composition of a sedimentary rock which has undergone no
alteration after its formation will therefore depend upon the
character of the rock from which it was derived, the chemical changes
which take place in the materials which compose it, before they enter
into its mass, and the mechanical sorting which they undergo prior to
their deposition.
In the above passage the terms igneous rock and sedimentary rock have
been used, and it is necessary to give some account of the sense in
which they were used.
An _igneous_ rock is one which has been _consolidated_ from a state of
_fusion_. It is not necessary to discuss here the exact significance
of the word fusion, and whether certain rocks which are included in
the igneous division were formed rather from solution at high
temperature than from actual fusion. This point is of importance to
the petrologist, but to the student of stratigraphical geology the
term igneous rock may be used in its most comprehensive sense. These
igneous rocks were consolidated either upon the surface of the
lithosphere or in its interior.
The other great group of rocks is one to which it is difficult to
apply a satisfactory name. They have been termed by different writers,
_sedimentary_, _stratified_, _derivative_, _aqueous_, and _clastic_,
but no one of these terms is strictly accurate. The term _sedimentary_
implies that they have settled down, at the bottom of a sheet of water
for instance. It can hardly be maintained that limestones formed by
organic agency, like the limestones of coral reefs, are sedimentary in
the strict sense of the term, and an accumulation like surface-soil
can only be called a sediment by straining the term. _Stratified_
rocks are those which are formed in strata or layers, but many of the
rocks which we are considering do not show layers on a small scale,
and igneous rocks (such as lava-flows) are also found in layers,
though such layers are not true strata in the sense in which the term
is used by geologists; the term _stratified_ is perhaps the least open
to objection of any of those named above. _Derivative_ implies that
the fragments have been derived from some pre-existing rock, but as
there are many ways in which fragments of one rock may be derived from
another, the term is too comprehensive. _Aqueous_ rocks should be
formed in water, and most of the class of rocks which we are
considering have been so formed, but others such as sand-dunes and
surface-soil have not. (The term Aerial or Æolian has been suggested
to include these rocks which are thus separated from the Aqueous rocks
proper; the objection to this is that the origin of these rocks is
closely connected with that of the true Aqueous rocks, and moreover
the group is too small to be raised to the dignity of a separate
subdivision.) Lastly, the name _clastic_ has been given, because the
rocks so called are formed by the _breaking up_ of pre-existing rocks.
There are two objections to this name. In the first place, some rocks
included under the head clastic are formed by solution of material and
its consolidation from a state of solution by chemical or organic
agency, though we may perhaps speak of rocks being broken up by
chemical as well as by mechanical action. The most important objection
is that many clastic rocks are formed by the breaking up of rocks
subsequently to their formation, and it has been proposed that rocks
of this nature should be termed _cataclastic_, while those which are
formed by the breaking up of pre-existing rocks upon the earth's
surface should be termed _epiclastic_; another group formed of
materials broken up within the earth, and accumulated upon its surface
as the result of ejection of fragmental material from volcanic vents
being termed _pyroclastic_. This classification is scientific, and
under special circumstances is extremely useful, but the older terms
have been used so generally, and with this explanation their use is so
unobjectionable, that they may be retained, and the term _stratified_
will be generally used to indicate all rocks which are not of igneous
origin or formed as mineral veins in the earth's interior.
The division of rocks into _three_ great groups, the Igneous,
Stratified and Metamorphic (the latter name being applied to those
rocks which have undergone considerable alteration since their
formation), is objectionable, since we have metamorphic igneous rocks
as well as metamorphic stratified ones. The most convenient
classification is as follows:--
A. Igneous 1. { Unaltered.
2. { Metamorphic.
B. Stratified 1. { Unaltered.
2. { Metamorphic.
It must be distinctly understood that all geological phenomena must be
taken into account by the stratigraphical geologist. The upheaval of
strata, the production of jointing and cleavage in them, their
intrusion by igneous material, their metamorphism, give indications of
former physical conditions equally with the lithological characters of
the strata, and their fossil contents. Nevertheless it is not proposed
to give a full account of the various phenomena displayed by rocks;
the student is referred to Text-books of General Geology for this
information. It will be as well here, however, to point out in a few
words the exact significance of the existence of strata in the
lithosphere.
The formation of strata and their subsequent destruction to supply
material for fresh strata are due to three great classes of changes.
Beginning with a portion of lithosphere composed of rock, it is found
that rock is broken up by agents of denudation, as wind, rain, frost,
rivers and sea. These agents perform their function mainly upon the
portion of the lithosphere which projects through the hydrosphere to
form _land_, and the land is the main area of denudation. The
materials furnished by denudation are carried away, and owing to
gravitation, naturally proceed from a higher to a lower level, often
resting on the way, but if nothing else occurs, ultimately finding
their way to the _sea_, where they are deposited as strata. The sea is
the principal area for the reception of this material, and it is there
accordingly that the bulk of stratified rock is formed. If nothing
else occurred, in time the whole of the land would be destroyed, and
the wreckage of the land deposited beneath the sea as stratified rock.
As it is there is a third class of change, underground change, causing
movements of the earth's crust (to use a term which can hardly be
defined in few words but which is generally understood), and as the
result of the relative uplift of portions of the earth's crust, the
stratified rocks formed beneath the oceans are raised above its level,
giving rise to new masses of land, which are once more ready for
destruction by the agents of denudation. This cycle of change (all
parts of which are ever proceeding simultaneously) is one of the
utmost importance to the stratigraphical geologist.
_Stratification_ is the rock-structure of prime importance in
stratigraphical geology, and a few words must here be devoted to its
consideration, leaving further details to be dealt with hereafter. The
surface of the ocean-floor is, when viewed on a large scale, so level,
that it may be considered practically horizontal, and accordingly in
most places the materials which are laid down on the ocean-floor give
rise to accumulations which at all times have a general horizontal
surface (when the ocean-slopes depart markedly from horizontality the
deposits tend to abut against these slopes rather than to lie with
their upper surfaces parallel to their original angle). A practically
horizontal surface of this character may give rise to a _plane of
stratification_ (or _bedding-plane_) in more than one way. A pause may
occur during which there is a cessation of the supply of material, so
that the material which has already been accumulated has sufficient
time to become partially consolidated before the deposition of fresh
material upon it. In this way a want of coherence between the two
masses is produced, along the plane of junction, which after
consolidation of the deposits causes an actual divisional plane along
which the two deposits may be separated. This is a plane of
stratification. The pause may be produced in various ways, sometimes
between successive high tides, at others as the result of physical
changes which may have taken ages to happen. Again, after material of
one kind has been deposited, say sand, some other substance such as
clay may be accumulated on its upper surface, giving rise to a plane
of stratification between two deposits of different lithological
characters. If this occurs alone, there may be actual coherence
between the two strata, so that it is erroneous to speak of a plane of
stratification as if it were always one along which one deposit could
be readily split from the other, though as a general though by no
means universal rule, change from one kind of deposit to another is
also marked by want of coherence between the two. The material between
two planes of stratification forms a _stratum_ or _bed_, though if the
deposit be very thin it is known as a _lamina_, and the planes are
spoken of as _planes of lamination_ (no hard and fast line can be
drawn between strata and laminæ; several of the latter usually occur
in the space of an inch).
A _stratum_ will have its upper and lower surface apparently parallel,
though not really so, for no stratum extends universally round the
earth, and many of them disappear at no great distance when traced in
any direction. Parts of one stratum may be composed of different
materials from other parts when traced laterally, thus one stratum may
be found composed essentially of sand in one place, of mud in another,
and of a mixture of the two in an intervening locality. Whatever be
the composition of a stratum it dies out eventually, owing to the
coming together of the upper and lower bounding planes of
stratification. The stratum is thickest at some spot, from that spot
it becomes thinner in all directions, until it disappears at last by
the coalescence of the bounding-planes. This is spoken of as
_thinning-out_. Strata, then, consist of lenticular masses of rock,
separated from the underlying and overlying strata by planes of
stratification. The shape of the lenticle may vary immensely, the
thickness bearing no definite relationship to the horizontal extent.
Some strata, many feet in thickness, may thin out and disappear
completely in the course of a few yards, whilst others an inch or two
in thickness may be traced horizontally for many miles. We often find
thin strata of coal and limestone, extending for great distances,
strata of mud thinning out more rapidly, and sandstones still more
rapidly, but no universal rule connecting rapidity of thinning-out
with composition of the strata can be laid down.
Having seen what a stratum is, it now remains to speak of the
composition of the stratified rocks. They have been classified
according to their composition, and according to their origin.
According to composition they have been divided into:
_Arenaceous_ rocks, composed essentially of grains of sand.
_Argillaceous_ rocks, composed essentially of particles of
mud.
_Calcareous_ rocks, composed essentially of particles of
carbonate of lime.
_Carbonaceous_ rocks, composed largely of hydrocarbon
compounds.
_Siliceous rocks_, composed essentially of silica not in the
form of grains;
whilst according to their origin they have been separated into:--
_Mechanically-formed_ rocks, composed of fragments derived
from other rocks by mechanical fracture.
_Chemically-formed_ rocks, composed of particles which have
been chemically deposited from a state of solution.
_Organically-formed_ rocks, composed of materials which have
been derived from a state of solution or from the gaseous
condition by the agency of organisms.
Whichever classification be adopted (and each is useful for special
purposes), it must be noted that no hard and fast line can be drawn
between one division and another. A rock may be partly arenaceous and
partly calcareous, composed of a mixture of sand and lime, and the
same rock may similarly be partly mechanically and partly organically
formed, the sand being due to mechanical fracture, and the lime to the
agency of organisms, and so with the other divisions.
As many of the changes which have occurred in past times have been
concerned in destruction and obliteration, whilst deposition is the
cause of preservation, the study of deposits is peculiarly adapted for
testing the truth of the grand principle of geology that the changes
which have taken place in past times are generally speaking similar in
kind and in intensity of action to those which are in progress at the
present day, and a study of the modern deposits is specially important
as throwing light upon the characters of those which have been formed
in past times. It will be abundantly shown in the sequel that the
deposits of the strata are in general comparable in all essential
respects with those which are being formed at present, and accordingly
they give most valuable indications as to the nature of the physical
and other conditions under which they were laid down. The desert sand,
the precipitate of the inland sea, the reef-limestone and many another
deposit can thus be detected by an examination of their lithological
characters, combined with consideration of other kinds of evidence.
The petrology of the sedimentary rocks is still in its infancy, though
much has already been done, but it offers a wide field of inquiry to
the field-geologist and worker with the microscope[8].
[Footnote 8: The student will do well to consult _The Challenger
Report_ by Messrs Murray and Renard (1891), for information concerning
many modern sediments, and Harker's _Petrology for Students_ Section
D, for general information on the Petrology of the Stratified Rocks.]