| → we may fairly conclude 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| OMIT 1869 1872 |
|
| → have no reason 1866 1869 1872 |
| any right 1859 1860 1861 |
|
| → the beginning of the world. 1866 1869 |
| eternity? 1859 |
| the beginning of this world? 1860 1861 |
| the beginning of the world. Our continents seem to have been formed by a preponderance, during many oscillations of level, of the force of elevation; but may not the areas of preponderant movement have changed in the lapse of ages? 1872 |
|
| → sedimentary formations in a recognisable condition 1866 1869 1872 |
| formations 1859 1860 1861 |
|
|
formation. Hence we may perhaps infer, that during the palæozoic and secondary periods, neither continents nor continental islands existed where our oceans now extend; for had they
palæozoic and secondary formations would in all probability have been accumulated from sediment derived from their wear and tear; and
have been at least partially upheaved by the oscillations of level, which
→we may fairly conclude
must have intervened during these enormously long periods. If then we may infer anything from these facts, we may infer
where our oceans now extend, oceans have extended from the remotest period of which we have any record; and on the other hand, that where continents now exist, large tracts of land have existed, subjected no doubt to great oscillations of level, since the
period. The
map appended to my volume on Coral Reefs, led me to conclude that the great oceans are still mainly areas of subsidence, the great archipelagoes still areas of oscillations of level, and the continents areas of elevation. But
we
→have no reason
to assume that things have thus
from
→the beginning of the world. Our continents seem to have been formed by a preponderance, during many oscillations of level, of the force of elevation; but may not the areas of preponderant movement have changed in the lapse of ages? At a period
antecedent to the
epoch, continents may have existed where oceans are now spread out; and clear and open oceans may have existed where our continents now stand. Nor should we be justified in assuming that if, for instance, the bed of the Pacific Ocean were now converted into a continent, we should there find
→sedimentary formations in a recognisable condition
older than the
strata, supposing
|
