Washington — Submarine Eruptions of 1831 and 1891. 141 



the earthquakes on Fantelleria rapidly diminished and then 

 ceased. Columns of * s smoke," accompanied by deep rumblings, 

 were seen rising from the water about 4 kilometers west of the 

 town of Fantelleria, at the northwest end of the island. Those 

 who visited the spot found black, scoriaceous bombs, with much 

 steam, rising to the surface along a narrow line about 850- 

 1000 meters long, and directed northeast-southwest. Both 

 Ricco and Butler expressly state that no solid island was formed, 

 but that the erupted material was solely in the form of floating 

 bombs. According to Foerstner, on the other hand, by October 

 18, when the eruption seems to have been at its height, there 

 was formed an island about 1000 meters long, 200 meters wide, 

 and 10 meters high. The existence of a stable island may, 

 however, be doubted, in spite of these detailed figures, in view 

 of the explicit denial of Ricco and Butler. 



Continuing their description of the eruption, vast numbers 

 of subspherical bombs rose to the surface, the largest having a 

 diameter of more than one meter. Some were thrown to a 

 height of 20 meters, and many ran hissing over the water, * 

 discharging steam, and being kept afloat hy the gases con- 

 tained in their vesicles. The bombs were hot, some when 

 recovered sufficiently so to melt zinc (420° C), and a few were 

 red-hot in daylight. After floating for a time, most of the bombs 

 exploded, the explosions succeeding each other so rapidly as to 

 resemble the noise of a battle, and the fragments sank to the 

 bottom. An odor "as of gunpowder" was noted, and some 

 H 2 S and SO., seem to have been emitted. The eruption 

 ceased on October 25, and little change appears to have been 

 produced in the sea bottom (which, however, w T as not well 

 known previously), though the present charts show a small 

 area, of only about 30 fathoms, at the site of the eruption. 



The most striking feature of this eruption, the ejection of 

 the material in the form of ellipsoidal or spheroidal masses, 

 called " bombs," is of interest as bearing on the origin of the 

 so-called " pillow " lavas, which consist of aggregates of such 

 forms. A very complete bibliography of these up to 1899 is 

 given by J. Morgan Clements, f who compares the ellipsoids 

 of the Crystal Falls District with the block lavas of Giorgios 

 Ivaimeni at Santorini. Among later papers treating of the 

 subject may be mentioned those by I. C. Russell, J R. A. 

 Daly,§ and Reid and Dewey. || 



The origin of the structure is variously explained, a few 



*One is reminded of the behavior of a globule of metallic sodium on 

 water. 



fMon. U. S. Geol. Surv., xxxvi, p. 112, 1899. 

 t Bull. II. S. Geol. Surv., No. 199, p. 113, 1902. 

 £ Amer. Geol., vol. xxxii, p." 74, 1903. 

 || Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc, vol. lxiv, p. 267, 1908. 



