Abstract
WRITING in 1843, Dr. Abel determined the main structure of the island to be of basaltic trap, granite, siliceous and schistose rock. Mr. Kingsmill in 1865, in his excellent papers on the Geology of the Kwangtung Province, was the first to notice the trachytic porphyry of Victoria Peak (1823), the summit of which overlooks the town. This trachytic rock has been apparently forced upwards through the granite after the overflowing and partial hardening of the trap on the west side of the island. It was Mr. Kingsmill also who explained the nature and formation of the pseudo-boulders, with which the island is so plentifully covered. Towards the extreme south-east, near Cape d'Aguilar, these pseudo-boulders assume very large dimensions, and their weatherbeaten aspect proves that the chemical action of water and plants, which forced them from the parent rock, occurred a long time ago. Indeed the island must have undergone great changes in course of time; the bill beyond Shekko, for instance, must have been originally nearly or quite as high as Victoria Peak, whereas its present elevation is not more than 500 feet. The rapid action of the heavy rains and rich vegetation is nowhere more apparent than in the high hill (directly back of the peak from which the colony takes its name) known as the Hog's Back, or High West. Its eastern slope is literally covered with pseudo-boulders, rendering the ascent from that side not a little dangerous, and in the rainy season large masses of rock are borne down into the valley beneath.
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EASTLAKE, F. NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF HONGKONG . Nature 27, 177 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/027177a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/027177a0