They may change, and gradually assume the nature of
each other, so far as concerns the materials of which they are formed;
but there cannot be any sudden change, fracture, or displacement,
naturally in the body of a stratum. But, if these strata are cemented by
the heat of fusion, and erected with an expansive power acting below,
we may expect to find every species of fracture, dislocation, and
contortion, in those bodies, and every degree of departure from a
horizontal towards a vertical position.
The strata of the globe are actually found in every possible position:
For, from horizontal, they are frequently found vertical; from
continuous, they are broken and separated in every possible direction;
and, from a plane, they are bent and doubled. It is impossible that they
could have originally been formed, by the known laws of nature, in their
present state and position; and the power that has been necessarily
required for their change, has not been inferior to that which might
have been required for their elevation from the place in which they had
been formed.
In this cafe, natural appearances are not anomalous.
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