350 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1962 



tional terrain feature such as a river bank seen under conditions of 

 poor visibility, or perhaps it was simply an invention. 



CHANGES IN LAND LEVEL 



Some bona fide changes of land level occurred. The western side 

 of the Arauco Peninsula seems to have been uplifted li/^ meters, ex- 

 posing a new beach at Lebu [9]. The uplift at Lebu appears to have 

 decreased slightly with the passage of time (pi. 5, fig. 2). When 

 visited in October, the uplift was between I/2 and 1 m. Fitzroy [10, 11] 

 in 1835 reported similar behavior of Isla Santa Maria, a few tens of 

 kilometers to the north. A flight over Santa Maria revealed that no 

 change had resulted from this earthquake. Isla Mocha has risen 

 about 2^ m. above its former level. Rocks, formerly buried, are 

 now exposed, and places where people had to dive to collect sea 

 urchins are now washed by the surf. The waves now break on a 

 wave-cut platform, the old beach is high and dry, and the intervening 

 space is covered with dead shell fish. The foundation of the dock 

 is currently out of water, as may be seen in plate 6, figure 1. Some 

 small islets to the south of Isla Mocha are now united and are sur- 

 rounded with skirts of wave-cut rock (pi. 6, fig. 2). There seems 

 to have been no change in elevation in the months following the 

 earthquake, and the uplift seems to be permanent. Evidence of pre- 

 vious changes is abundant on the uplifted terrace forming the flanks 

 of Isla Mocha. Andrade [1] reports that Isla Guafo also rose a like 

 amount and that Isla Guafito is now connected to Isla Guafa by dry 

 land. 



In general, however, the coast southward of the Arauco Peninsula 

 dropped between 1 and 2 m. This was first noticed when the mare- 

 moto failed to recede after its last oscillation. In Puerto Saavedra, 

 the streets remained covered with water for several days, but 5 days 

 later they had almost completely dried off. The sea, however, re- 

 mains higher than it was in many places, and large areas of land near 

 Maullin and on Isla Chiloe (fig. 3) are still covered with water and 

 will probably remain thus. The beach, Playa de Llagua, is now 

 covered, and the Peninsula La Isla (fig. 4) is now, indeed, an island. 

 Lebu, Isla Santa Maria, Isla Mocha, the Arauco Peninsula, and the 

 Puerto Saavedra may be located on the map in figure 1. 



On Isla Chiloe, the Rio Pudeto and Rio Huillinco (fig. 4) now cover 

 parts of the railroad and highway (pi. 8, fig. 1) several kilometers 

 from their former shores. Evidence of submersion may be seen all 

 along the western side of Isla Chiloe. 



FLOODING 



Not only was there considerable flooding caused by the subsidence 

 of whole blocks of the continent on a tectonic scale, but there was 

 also flooding produced by the rivers. The soil along the river banks 



