Descobrint el vulcanisme quaternari de la Garrotxa: De les observacions precientífiques als primers estudis geològics (s. XVI-XIX)

Abstract

Discovery of the quaternary vulcanism in the Garrotxa region: from pre-scientific observations to early geological surveys (16th-i 9th centuries)

From a critical review of pre-1830 literature on the Garrotxa volcanic region, the discovery and early surveys on vulcanism in the area are discussed. In the 16th century, volcanic activity was assumed in relation to the 1427 earthquake; in the 17th century, several descriptions of volcanic rocks and bufadors (also called air volcanos) were published. Ancient vulcanism was identified a few years before 1775; early scientific surveys since 1796 were made by Pourret, a French botanist, and were continued by Francesc Bolos; these studies remained unpublished for years. In 1808 the geologist Maclure came to the region and published the first scientific paper in relation to the volcanos of the area. After the napoleonic wars, several Catalan scientists were interested in volcanic materials of Olot: Mirambell, a naturalist; Celles, an architect, and Carbonell i Bravo, a chemist who managed to publish the first monographic paper on this zone, signed by Bolos, in 1820. In France, in a book issued in 1823, Palassou included some of Pourret’s notes, following the botanist’s death. A new survey was made by geologists of the French Geological Map, from which a new monographic paper was written by Debilly (1828).