Out of these sweeping and rapid changes in the world movement of mineral

commodities there arose, partly as cause and partly as effect,

international agreements for the allocation of minerals, as a means of

insuring the proper proportions of supplies to the different countries

for the most effective prosecution of the war. Inter-Allied purchasing

committees in London and in Paris found it necessary to make an

inter-Allied allocation of the output of Chilean nitrate, because the

sum of the demands exceeded the total supply by a considerable fraction,

and to agree on the distribution and prices of the world's supplies of

tin, tungsten, and platinum. For many other commodities agreements of

various sorts were made. For instance, the United States entered into an

agreement with England and France for the purchase of iron ore and

molybdenum from Scandinavia to keep it out of Germany. The United States

and England agreed as to supplying Canada with ferromanganese. New

problems of world allocation came up almost daily.

Another war change in mineral conditions, of a more permanent nature,

was the liquidation of German ownership and control of minerals in

allied countries, and in some cases even in neutral countries.

POST-WAR CONDITION OF THE MINERAL TRADE

The mineral industry has by no means reverted to its pre-war condition.

The old movements have been only partially resumed, and new elements

have entered. Shipping is still disturbed. Governments have been

cooperating in various ways in the liquidation of government stocks of

minerals. The German commercial control of minerals outside of its

boundaries, as noted above, has been much weakened. The Reparations

Committee created by the Peace Treaty has enormous powers over the use

and distribution of the mineral resources of Germany, which directly and

indirectly affect the mineral supplies of Europe and all the world. The

terms of the Peace Treaty changed in fundamental ways the international

channels of mineral movement.

The mineral situation of Europe is in such a state of chaos that the

combined efforts of governments will be necessary for many years to

bring order. This will be accomplished partly through the Reparations

Committee, but may require other forms of cooperation. An international

coal commission has already been formed to look after the distribution

of coal through Europe. International cooperation in mineral

distribution is not merely a theoretical possibility for the future,--it

is now the outstanding fact with reference to the European situation.

The recognition of their dependence on neighbors for important mineral

resources has led to earnest efforts on the part of nations to supply

deficiencies. The great activity of the British government in acquiring

oil is one example. The falling off of gold production the world over,

together with the increased disparity between gold reserves and the

currency issued against them, is causing serious consideration of

government action to encourage the gold industry by financial measures

tending to increase the profit of the miners (see pp. 224-225).

Before and since the war most countries of the globe, outside of England

and the United States, have gone far in the exercise of the right of

eminent domain over mineral resources within their own boundaries. Even

in England the recent movement to nationalize the coal and oil resources

is an indication of the general tendency. In the United States the

movement has manifested itself thus far only in the increasing

reluctance on the part of the government to part with mineral resources

on the public domain,--as is clear from the terms of its new leasing law

to cover oil, coal, gas, potash, and phosphates on public lands.

Before the war only the German government was clearly identified with

private interests in international trade and in the acquirement of

mineral reserves. Since the war all governments except that of the

United States are taking an active part in these fields, both directly

and in cooperation with private capital. The British government has

taken a direct financial interest in certain companies, such for

instance as the Anglo-Persian and Shell Oil Companies, and in some cases

is actively interested in the acquirement of selling contracts. In

England there is a wider use of voting trusts in controlling private

companies, with the purpose of preventing the control from falling into

alien hands. Government control of shipping in certain countries is

involving various degrees of control of mineral movements. Also, through

loans and bonds, mineral resources in certain countries have been tied

up by the loaning governments. There has been wide extension of

government control of minerals in mandatory territories and elsewhere

through many new loans and regulations. These steps are in effect

closing important parts of the world to private initiative, and

particularly to nationals of other countries. Whether these activities

of governments are economically desirable or not, they are the actual

conditions, not theories.

If this situation continues, it raises the question whether our

government will not be forced, in protection of its own mineral

industries, also to take a direct part; for under present conditions,

our importers and exporters find themselves dealing single-handed with

governments or with private groups so closely identified with

governments as to have much the same power. In matters of shipping,

credits, exchange, tariffs, embargoes, and opportunity to acquire

foreign reserves, the actual and potential disadvantage to American

interests is obvious.

TENDENCIES TOWARD INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND POSSIBILITY OF

INTERNATIONAL CONTROL[59] OF MINERALS

Under the pre-war conditions, unrestricted competition in world trade by

private enterprise had led to a certain kind of internationalization of

mineral deposits based on natural conditions of availability. There is a

natural tendency to work back as quickly as possible to this condition,

but new elements have entered which seem to make it difficult for

governments to keep their hands off. The participation of governments in

world mineral trade, when not modified by international cooperation or

some other higher form of control, seems to be having a tendency in the

opposite direction--to be closing the doors of equal opportunity and

preventing the natural world use of the world's resources.

These new conditions, together with others outlined in the preceding

section, have made it necessary to pay more attention to the

possibilities of international cooperation than ever before,--not as a

restrictive measure, except temporarily in regard to the Central

European powers,--but as a means of insuring open channels of movement

for raw materials, and of insuring equal economic opportunities to all.

Many of our mineral industries have already appealed to our government

for cooperation and aid in their international dealings. Further,

mineral industries in private hands in the various Allied countries have

attempted to get together to arrange for private cooperation, and

appealed to the Peace Conference for authority to do so. In certain

cases the necessity for cooperative action became so apparent that

pressure was brought to bear on the Peace Conference for the forming of

some sort of international economic body which would make possible some

of these steps. These movements were all dictated by considerations of

self-interest, but self-interest broadened and educated by a knowledge

of the world's situation.

Just as the increasing size of the units engaged in the mineral trade

within national boundaries has led to discussion of the possibilities of

government control in the interest of the public, so the increasing size

of the units in the international mineral trade, the units in many cases

being governments, is leading to discussion of the possibility of some

international or supernational control in the interest of the world

good. Just as national interest is the lengthened shadow of individual

interest, so international interest may be regarded in some aspects as

the lengthened shadow of national interest.

The general purpose of the suggested control is to minimize

international friction; but more specifically it has been suggested that

some sort of international cooperation is necessary in order to insure

equality of opportunity among nations, both in supplies and in markets,

and thereby to prevent the crowding of the weaker by the stronger

nations. This is the gist of one of the famous fourteen points. The

purpose might be accomplished by direct allocation of supplies or by

control of tariffs and exchange.

One of the conditions which seems to require international cooperation

is the exploitation of mineral deposits in backward countries.

Unrestricted competition among nations in such exploitation has been an

important cause of international controversy. It was planned at Peace

Conference that the mineral resources in countries taken over by the

great powers under mandatories should be developed and used in the

interest of the group of nations, rather than for the special interest

of the nation taking the mandatory. One of the natural functions of any

international or supernational organization would be the adjustment and

settlement of difficulties arising from this provision.

This topic brings up the question as to the right of any nation or group

of nations to exert any force on weaker nations in the exploitation of

mineral resources. On the principal of self-determination and of the

complete freedom of action of nations, this procedure seems unjustified.

On the other hand, whether rightly or wrongly, civilization has created

great material demands which must be satisfied. The individuals,

companies, and governments which use force to exploit resources in

weaker countries are merely the agents in supplying the demand created

by all of us. While their methods are often indefensible, the exploiters

cannot be regarded merely as irresponsible buccaneers who are

projecting themselves unnecessarily into somebody else's business.

Whatever the sentimental and ethical aspects of the question, it seems

almost inevitable that the demands of civilization will continue to

require the exploitation of weaker countries; and in proportion as these

countries are backward in cooperating, they must feel the world

pressure. An agreement for international cooperation in such matters,

therefore, is not to be regarded as merely a cold-blooded attempt to rob

weaker nations,--but rather as a means of improving methods in

satisfying the actually existing material demands of civilization. For

illustration, the criticism of England's attempt to develop the oil

industry of Mesopotamia and Persia has to a large extent confused the

methods with the aim sought for. It is the writer's view that

development of these resources is inevitable, and that criticism should

not be directed toward nations and groups attempting to attain these

results, but rather to the methods applied. For the purposes of this

discussion, it is not necessary to go beyond the acceptance of the fact

of demand, nor to argue the question as to whether the material demands

of civilization should be curbed and progress restricted to matters of

mind and human happiness.

METHODS OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The first step in international consideration of minerals is obviously

one of fact-finding. This became painfully evident during the great war,

when the sudden cutting off of outside supplies and markets brought home

the fact that the mineral question is only in part a domestic one. The

average mining man had come to take the established marketing and

commercial conditions more or less for granted, and had not looked into

the underlying factors. There had been a tendency to assume that a kind

Providence was in some manner looking after these elements in the

situation. The nearest approach to Providence, as a matter of fact, was

a small group of importers and exporters, possessing special knowledge

of the international movements of certain commodities,--which knowledge

was of unsuspected importance to the mineral industry. War conditions

showed that neither the general public nor the mineral industry as a

whole, much less the government, had even an elementary grasp of the

important elements of the world mineral situation. The mobilizing of

this information under high pressure, through the cooperation of

government and private agencies, was an interesting and important

feature in the complex activities back of the firing line. It is vastly

to the credit of the men interested in the mineral industry in this

country, and presumably also in other countries, that almost without

exception they contributed their bits of knowledge to the common pool,

even though these bits had been in a sense their private capital.

Certain importers, who by their knowledge of international phases of the

mineral situation had been able to exercise a profound influence on

domestic markets, voluntarily sacrificed their own interest for the

common cause and pointed out ways in which reductions of imports could

be made.

The problems of the Peace Conference, and of other international

agreements now pending, have required a still further systematizing of

international information. One of the results has been the establishment

of organizations of an international fact-finding character in our own

and in certain other governments. In the chapters on the several

minerals in this book, are summarized some of the salient features of

the international situation developed by study of the kind indicated.

Knowledge of the physical facts of the world mineral situation is only a

first step. Their interpretation and correlation, the study of the

underlying principles, the formulation of the necessary international

agreements and regulations, constitute even more difficult problems,

which are far from solved.

There always has been some cooperation of governments in the mineral

trade through the ordinary diplomatic channels. The question is now

prominent whether, in view of the new conditions, it may not be

necessary to develop better machinery--in the form of some international

or supernational organization, possibly patterned on war procedure--in

order to expedite the negotiations and to minimize possibilities of

friction.

During the war, when the world demand exceeded the total world supply of

certain commodities, such as nitrate and tin, international commissions

were formed in order to make an equitable distribution of these minerals

and prevent favored strong nations from taking too large a proportion of

the total. This procedure presented no insurmountable difficulties. A

canvass of the total supplies available and of the demands of the

various countries ordinarily led to voluntary compromise in the

allocation of supplies. Most of the regulations of these commissions

were applied to mineral industries which were unable to meet the total

demand. They were not tried out in cases where there were excess

supplies; this process obviously would have been much more difficult,

though perhaps not impossible.

The general success of international attempts to allocate mineral

supplies during the war suggests the lines along which results might be

accomplished during peace. The process is essentially a matter of

getting at the facts, and then discussing the situation around a

table,--thus eliminating the long delays and misunderstandings arising

from the procedure through the older established diplomatic channels.

How far such a procedure might be possible without the compelling common

interest of war is debatable.

The great powers of the Reparations Committee, previously noted, and of

the recently formed European coal commission, already indicate the

general nature of the machinery for international control which might be

exercised through a league of nations. It is not our purpose to argue

for international control or for any specific plan of control, but

rather to outline the problem. The question is not an academic one.

Various kinds of international control are present facts, and the

problem relates to the possibilities of more effective organization of

existing agencies.

CONSERVATION IN ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The interests of conservation, considering both its physical and its

human energy phases (p. 362), seem to call for an international

understanding in the use of mineral resources which will result in the

minimum hindrance to their free movements along natural channels of

trade. The essential fact of the concentration of mineral supplies in

comparatively few world localities, and the fact that no nation is

supplied with enough of all varieties of minerals, mean that artificial

barriers to their distribution cannot but impose unnecessary handicaps

on certain localities, which may be anti-conservational from a world

standpoint. If the few countries possessing adequate supplies of

high-grade ferro-alloy minerals, for instance, were to restrict their

distribution by tariffs or other measures, the resulting cost to

civilization through the handicapping of the steel industry would be a

large one. Or if, for the general purpose of making the United States

entirely self-supporting in regard to mineral supplies, sufficiently

high import tariffs were imposed on these minerals to permit the use of

the low-grade deposits in the United States, earlier exhaustion of the

limited domestic supplies would follow, and in the meantime the cost to

the domestic steel industry would be serious. Cost may be taken to

represent the net result of human energy multiplied into raw material.

The movement would therefore be anti-conservational. If each state in

the United States were to start out to become entirely self-sustaining

in regard to minerals, and by various regulations were able to prohibit

the use of minerals brought in from without, or the export of its excess

of minerals, the waste in effort and materials would be obvious. Nature

has clearly marked out fields of specialization for different

localities, and the effective use of mineral supplies is just as much a

matter of specialization as the effective use of man's talents. If the

United States, because of its vast copper deposits, is in a position to

specialize in this line and to aid the world thereby, this should

involve recognition of the fact that other countries are better able to

specialize in other commodities,--thereby forming a basis for mutual

exchange, which is desirable and necessary for world development.

This conservational argument against artificial barriers does not

necessarily imply complete elimination of tariffs or other restricting

or fostering measures. Within limits these may be necessary or desirable

in order to maintain differences in the standard of living, or in order

to permit the growth of infant industries; but to carry these measures

to a point where they interfere with essential mineral movements

determined by nature is obviously anti-conservational.

For some mineral commodities, international cooperation may prevent

duplication in efforts and the development of excessive supplies in

advance of the capacity of the world to use them. Partly because of lack

of such cooperation, certain mineral commodities have been developed in

such large quantities in various parts of the world that it may be many

years before demand catches up with development. In the meantime, large

and unnecessary interest charges are piling up. This financial loss

measures the loss in effectiveness of collective human effort.

In the above discussion, little reference has been made to shortage of

total world supplies as an argument for international cooperation. This

is an argument often cited, and with some effectiveness during the war.

It is the writer's view that this phase of the problem has been much

exaggerated. Except for certain periods during the war, in considering

the world as a whole adequate supplies of all mineral commodities have

been available at all times. They have been developed as rapidly as

needed, in some cases more rapidly; and geological conditions seem to

indicate that this condition will continue for some time in the future,

through national and individual effort. Combined efforts of governments

seem hardly necessary as yet to accomplish this purpose. In fact, there

is rather more danger of over-development, without due regard to the

working of the interest rate, which might be prevented by international

cooperation. The main problem now is not one of total supplies, but of

their effective and equitable distribution.

EXPLORATION IN ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

When an explorer or prospector leaves his own country to discover and

acquire minerals in other countries, with a view to exportation, it is

reasonably obvious that he must first acquire a sound knowledge of at

least some of the elements of international trade in minerals,--such as

shipping facilities, rates, tariffs, attitude of the government toward

ownership, toward export, etc. For example, the prospector for oil in

foreign countries will not get very far without considering the recent

steps taken by foreign governments, and mentioned on pp. 131-132.

The necessity of study of the international situation in conducting

domestic exploration is not so generally recognized; and yet anyone

today who confines his attention solely to the local physical facts of

the situation, and who ignores international considerations, may find

himself in difficulties. The investigation of international questions is

not merely desirable from the standpoint of general information, but may

be vital to the business or professional success of the explorer. For

instance, he might take up the exploration and development in the United

States of fertilizers and ferro-alloy minerals which are ordinarily

imported; and without understanding the severe limitations imposed by

the foreign situation, he might find himself with a property, sound from

a physical standpoint, but financially a failure. It is comparatively

easy, by running over the long list of mineral commodities used in the

United States, to eliminate, on international grounds, a considerable

number from the field inviting financial success, and to concentrate on

others whose economic relations are sound. In the rapid changes during

and since the war, the necessity for consideration of world conditions

has been brought home at heavy expense to many business and professional

men engaged in the mineral industry.

VALUATION IN ITS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

For mineral commodities of limited supply and steady demand, market

conditions may be more or less taken for granted, and valuation may be

based on local considerations. For a large number of mineral resources,

however, the competitive market conditions are anything but stable,

because of foreign competition. It is necessary not only to know the

basis for this competition, but also to be able to follow intelligently

its various changes. The value of many of our mineral deposits in recent

years has varied widely with changes in the foreign situation.

RELATIVE POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES IN REGARD TO SUPPLIES OF MINERALS

The United States is more nearly self-sustaining in regard to mineral

commodities as a whole than any other country on the globe. The

following statement summarizes qualitatively our position:

1. Minerals of which our exportable surplus dominates the world

situation:

Copper.

Petroleum has belonged in this class until recently. In

the future imports will be required (see 5 following).

2. Minerals of which our exportable surplus constitutes an important but

not a dominant factor in the world trade:

Cement.

Coal.

Iron and steel.

Phosphates.

Silver.

Sulphur.

Uranium and radium.

3. Minerals of which our exportable surplus is not an important factor

in world trade. Small amounts of most of these minerals have been and

will doubtless continue to be imported because of special grades,

back-haul, or cheaper sources of foreign supply, but these imports are

for the most part not essential as a source of supply:

Aluminum and bauxite.

Arsenic.

Artificial abrasives and emery (except Naxos emery).

Asphalt and bitumen.

Barite.

Bismuth.

Borax.

Bromine.

Building stone (except Italian marble).

Cadmium.

Feldspar.

Fluorspar.

Fuller's earth.

Gold.

Gypsum.

Lead.

Lime.

Magnesite.

Mineral paints (except umber, sienna, and ocher from France and Spain).

Molybdenum.

Pyrite.

Salt (except special classes).

Talc.

Titanium.

Tripoli and diatomaceous earth.

Zinc.

4. Minerals for which the United States must depend almost entirely on

other countries:

Cobalt.

Nickel.

Platinum and metals of the platinum group.

Tin.

5. Minerals for which the United States will depend on foreign sources

for a considerable fraction of the supply:

Antimony.

Asbestos.

Ball clay and kaolin.

Chalk.

Chromite.

Corundum.

Diamond dust and bort.

Garnet.

Graphite.

Grinding pebbles.

Manganese.

Mercury.

Mica.

Monazite.

Naxos emery.

Nitrates.

Petroleum (see below).

Potash.

Precious stones.

Pumice.

Tungsten.

Vanadium.

Zirconium.

In the past the production of petroleum in the United States has

dominated the world petroleum situation; but domestic consumption has

now overtaken production, and unless discoveries of oil come along at a

rapid rate the domestic deficiency seems likely to increase, with

corresponding increase in our dependence on foreign sources (see pp.

128-132).

Some of the minerals of this last class, such as potash, manganese, and

chromite were developed under war conditions in the United States to

such an extent as to materially lessen the demand for importation; but

in normal times domestic sources can supply a considerable fraction of

the demand only at high cost and with the aid of a protective tariff.

No attempt will be made here to present the detailed figures on which

the above generalizations are based. In view of the present disturbed

conditions of production and consumption, any judgment as to future

demands or available surplus must take into account several factors

which cannot be accurately measured,--such as financial control in

foreign countries, possible tariffs, and foreign competition. For this

reason the above statement should be regarded as only tentative, though

it is the result of a rather exhaustive study of conditions in relation

to the world control of shipping. The classes named overlap to some

extent, and it is to be expected that some of the commodities placed in

one class may in the near future be transferred to another.

In terms of value, the United States has a potential export surplus of

minerals about twice as large as that of all the rest of the world put

together. Countries which were neutral during the war have the remaining

export surplus. Great Britain, France, and Italy have net import

requirements considerably in excess of their exports. Germany has almost

as large a deficit of minerals as the United States has a surplus.

From the above facts it is clear that, in any scheme of international

control or cooperation, the United States would have by far the heaviest

stake, and perhaps the most to lose by restriction. It seems equally

clear that the preponderance of exportable surplus of minerals over

necessary imports justifies the United States in taking a broad and

liberal view of the importation of needed minerals. The war-time

necessity of making our country as nearly self-sustaining as possible

does not seem to obtain in peace times. To carry that principle to an

extreme means not only the expensive use of low-grade domestic supplies,

but the elimination of the imports which are so necessary to balance our

export trade.

These facts also raise the question as to how far the United States is

justified in exploiting the rest of the world to add to its already

great preponderance of control,--as, for instance, in copper. Any

further aggrandizement of our position in regard to such minerals may be

directly at the expense of neighbors who are already far less well

supplied than ourselves, and is to be justified only on the basis of

adding to the world's supply for common use, and of lending our expert

assistance to neighbors to make them more nearly self-supporting. To

carry out our campaign in these cases without regard to the needs of

other countries will obviously not hasten the ideal of a democratic

world with equal opportunity for all. On the other hand, the great

freedom allowed by our laws in regard to foreign commercial control of

our minerals, as compared to the restriction on such control in other

countries, suggests the desirability of exerting our pressure for the

open door policy in all parts of the world, in the interest of desirable

reciprocal relations.

In this connection there has been a tendency to criticise England's

post-war activity in securing oil reserves for the future. Self-interest

has clearly dictated the necessity for improving England's weak position

in regard to this vital energy resource. The success of this movement

obviously means a lessening of the future preponderance of the United

States in the oil industry, and calls for increased activity on the part

of the United States in maintaining the desirable leading position it

has long held. From the writer's viewpoint, however, the fair success of

a rival does not call for criticism of motives. If there is any just

criticism, it applies to methods (see pp. 390-391).

Whatever action may be taken by the United States in regard to

international mineral questions, it is clear that the war has brought

this country into such world relations that it has become imperative for

us to study and understand the world mineral situation much more

comprehensively than before,--in the interest not only of intelligent

management of our own industries, but of far-sighted handling of

international relations. Under the stress of war the government,

especially through the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, and the

several war boards, found it necessary to use extraordinary efforts to

obtain even elementary information on the international features of

mineral trade. Much progress has been made, but only a start. The

geologist or engineer who fails to follow these investigations may be

caught napping in the economic phases of his work.

THE COAL AND IRON SITUATION OF WESTERN EUROPE UNDER THE TERMS OF THE

PEACE TREATY

A mineral problem of special international importance at the present

time relates to the disposition of the coal and iron resources of

Germany. Germany's coal and iron have been the basis for its commanding

position in industry and commerce. In fact, its development of these

resources has been probably the most vital element in the European

economic situation. The terms of the Peace Treaty in regard to these

commodities have far-reaching consequences, not only for Germany but for

all Europe, and indirectly, for the world.

Germany (Westphalia) outclasses all other European sources in grades of

metallurgical coal, in quantities produced, and in cheapness of

production. Both France and Belgium must continue to be dependent on

this source for important parts of the coking coal for metallurgical

purposes, notwithstanding France's acquisition of the Saar Basin, which

produces mainly non-coking coal, and the development of new reserves in

Belgium. Germany's command of coal is wrecked in several ways. The

French take over full and absolute possession of the coal of the Saar

Basin, though Germany has the right to repurchase it at the end of

fifteen years, in case this territory then elects for union with

Germany. The coal of Upper Silesia, with a production of about 23 per

cent of the total of all German hard coal, is to be ceded to Poland,

subject, however, to plebiscite. Germany undertakes to deliver to France

each year, for not to exceed ten years, an amount of coal equal to the

difference between the annual pre-war production of the French coal

mines destroyed as a result of the war, and the production of the mines

of the same area during the years in question,--such delivery not to

exceed 20,000,000 tons in any one year of the first five, nor 8,000,000

in any one year of the succeeding five years. In addition, Germany

agrees to deliver coal, or its equivalent in coke, as follows: to France

7,000,000 tons annually for ten years; to Belgium 8,000,000 tons

annually for ten years; to Italy an annual quantity rising by annual

increments from 4,500,000 tons in 1919-20 to 8,500,000 tons in each of

the six years 1923-24 to 1928-29; and to Luxemburg, if required, a

quantity of coal equal to the pre-war annual consumption of German coal

in Luxemburg.

The total pre-war coal production of Germany in 1913 was 191,500,000

tons. The diminution of production due to loss of territory in

Alsace-Lorraine, in the Saar Basin, and in Upper Silesia amounts to

about 61,000,000 tons. The further required annual distribution of coal

to France, Italy, Belgium, and Luxemburg amounts to about 40,000,000

tons. This leaves about 90,000,000 tons for Germany's domestic use, as

compared with a pre-war domestic use of 139,000,000 tons. Even then,

these calculations make no allowance for coal to be used in export trade

to neutrals or other countries, some part of which seems vital to

Germany's trade. They make no allowance for the deterioration of plant

and machinery in the mines, which will delay resumption of coal

production. They make no allowance for the diminution in working hours

and the lack of transportation. In short, unless there is a miraculous

recovery and development of Germany's coal industry, impossible

conditions have been imposed. Some recognition of this fact appears in

the great powers to adjust terms which have been vested in the

Reparations Committee. Successive revisions of requirements by the

Reparations Committee have already reduced the direct contributions of

coal from Germany nearly fifty per cent. The entire European coal

situation is in a state of chaos. It was found necessary in 1918 to

appoint a Coal Commission under international control, to attempt to

allocate and distribute supplies. It seems inevitable that the physical

facts of the situation will prevail, and that the control of the Allies

will resolve itself into efforts to distribute and coordinate supplies

so as to keep the European machinery going, more or less regardless of

the terms of the Peace Treaty.

One of the important outcomes of this situation has been the recent

rapid development of German lignite production, based on newly

worked-out methods of treatment and utilization.

By taking over Alsace-Lorraine, France acquires about 70 per cent of the

iron ore reserves and annual production of Germany. This production was

in minor part smelted locally,--the larger part moving down the Rhine to

the vicinity of the Ruhr coal fields, and Ruhr coal coming back for the

smelting in Lorraine. This great channel of balanced exchange of

commodities has been determined by nature, and is not likely to be

permanently affected by political changes. For the time being, however,

the drawing of a political boundary across this trade route hinders the

full resumption of the trade. Self-interest will require both Germany

and France to keep these routes open. France requires German coal to

supply the local smelters near the iron fields, and German markets for

the excess production of iron ore. On the other hand, Germany's great

smelting district in the Ruhr Basin is largely dependent on the

Lorraine iron ore, and the movement of this iron ore requires coal from

down the Rhine as a balance.

The intelligent handling of this great coal and iron problem is of

far-reaching consequence to the mineral industries of the world.

CONCLUSION

In the foregoing discussion it is not our purpose to argue for any

specific national or international plan or procedure, but rather to show

something of the nature of the problem,--and particularly to show that

intelligent and broadened self-interest requires a definite national

policy in regard to world mineral questions. Realization of this fact is

a long step toward the solution of the international problems. No

geologist, engineer, or business man is safe, in the normal conduct of

his affairs, without some attention to these matters.

It is our purpose further to bring home the fact that international

cooperation in the mineral field is not merely an academic possibility,

but that in many important ways it is actually in existence. The terms

of the Peace Treaty alone have far-reaching consequences to the explorer

or mining man in all parts of the world. The modifications of these

terms, which are inevitable in the future, will not be of less

consequence. It is necessary not only to know what these are, but to aid

in their intelligent formulation.

LITERATURE

A vast new literature on the subject of international mineral relations

has sprung into existence during and following the war, and anyone may

easily familiarize himself with the essentials of the situation. Some of

the international features are noted in the discussion of mineral

resources in this book. For fuller discussion, the reader is especially

referred to the following sources:

The reports of the United States Geological Survey. Note especially

_World Atlas of Commercial Geology_, 1921.

The reports of the United States Bureau of Mines.

_Political and commercial geology_, edited by J. E. Spurr, McGraw-Hill

Book Co., New York, 1920.

_Strategy of minerals_, edited by George Otis Smith, D. Appleton and

Co., New York, 1919.

_Coal, iron and war_, by E. C. Eckel, Henry Holt and Company, New York,

1920.

_The iron and associated industries of Lorraine, the Sarre district,

Luxemburg, and Belgium_, by Alfred H. Brooks and Morris F. LaCroix,

Bull. 703 U. S. Geological Survey, 1920.

_The Lorraine iron field and the war_, by Alfred H. Brooks, Eng. and

Min. Journ., vol. 109, 1920, pp. 1065-1069.

Munitions Resources Commission of Canada, final report, 1920.

FOOTNOTES:

[58] Umpleby, Joseph B., _Strategy of minerals--The position of the

United States among the nations_: D. Appleton and Co., New York, 1919,

p. 286.

[59] Control is here used in a very general sense to cover activities

ranging from regulation to management and ownership. The context will

indicate in most cases that the word is used in the sense of regulation

when referring to governmental relationships.

CHAPTER XIX

GEOLOGY AND WAR

GEOLOGY BEHIND THE FRONT

The experience of the great war disclosed many military applications of

geology. The acquirement and mobilization of mineral resources for

military purposes was a vital necessity. In view of the many references

to this application of geology in other parts of this volume, we shall

go into the subject in this chapter no further than to summarize some of

the larger results.

As a consequence of the war-time breakdown in international commercial

exchange, the actual and potential mineral reserves of nations were more

intensively studied and appraised than ever before, with the view of

making nations and belligerent groups self-sustaining. This work

involved a comprehensive investigation of the requirements and uses for

minerals, and thus led to a clearer understanding of the human relations

of mineral resources. It required also, almost for the first time, a

recognition of the nature and magnitude of international movements of

minerals, of the underlying reasons for such movements, and of the vital

inter-relation between domestic and foreign mineral production. The

domestic mineral industries learned that market requirements are based

on ascertainable factors and that they do not just happen. Large new

mineral reserves were developed. Metallurgical practices were adapted to

domestic supplies, thus adding to available resources. Better ways were

found to use the products. Some of these developments ceased at the end

of the war, but important advances had been made which were not lost.

One of the advances of permanent value was the increased attention to

better sampling and standardization of mineral products, as a means of

competition with standardized foreign products. For instance, the

organization of the Southern Graphite Association made it possible to

guarantee much more uniform supplies from this field, and thereby to

insure a broader and more stable market. Such movements allow the use

of heterogeneous mineral supplies in a manner which is distinctly

conservational, both in regard to mineral reserves and to the human

energy factors involved. In another war the possibilities and methods of

meeting requirements for war minerals will be better understood.

In these activities, geologists had a not inconsiderable part. The U. S.

Bureau of Mines, the U. S. Geological Survey, state geological surveys,

and many other technical organizations, public and private, turned their

attention to these questions. One of the special developments was the

organization by the Shipping Board of a geologic and engineering

committee whose duty it was to study and recommend changes in the

imports and exports of mineral commodities, with a view to releasing

much-needed ship tonnage. This committee was also officially connected

with the War Industries Board and the War Trade Board. It utilized the

existing government and state mineral organizations in collecting its

information. Over a million tons of mineral shipping not necessary for

war purposes were eliminated. This work involved also a close study of

the possibilities of domestic production to supply the deficiencies

caused by reduction of foreign imports.

Other special geological committees were created for a variety of war

purposes. In the early stages of the war a War Minerals Committee, made

up of representatives of government and state organizations and of the

American Institute of Mining Engineers, made an excellent preliminary

survey of mineral conditions. A Joint Mineral Information Board[60] was

created at Washington, composed of representatives of more than twenty

government departments which were in one way or another concerned with

minerals. It was surprising, even to those more or less familiar with

the situation, to find how widely mineral questions ramified through

government departments. For instance, the Department of Agriculture had

men specially engaged in relation to mineral fertilizers and arsenic.

Sulphur and other mineral supplies were occupying the attention of the

War Department. Mica and other minerals received special attention from

the Navy Department. The Tariff Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the

Commerce Department, even the Department of State, had men who were

specializing on certain mineral questions. All these departments had

delegates on the Joint Mineral Information Board, in which connection

they met weekly to exchange information for the purpose of getting

better coordination and less duplication.

The National Academy of Sciences established a geologic committee, with

representatives from the U. S. Geological Survey, the state geological

surveys, the Geological Society of America, and other organizations.

This committee did useful work in correlating geological activities,

mainly outside of Washington, and in cooperation with the War Department

kept in touch with the geologic work being done at the front.

While the activities of geologists for government, state, and private

organizations were for the most part in relation to mineral resource

questions, this was by no means the total contribution. The U. S.

Geological Survey and other organizations, in cooperation with the War

Department, did a large amount of topographic and geologic mapping of

the eastern areas for coast-defense purposes. This work involved

consideration of the topography for strategic purposes, as well as the

stock-taking of mineral resources--including road materials and water

supplies. The revision of Geological Survey folios, with these

requirements in mind, brought results which should be of practical use

in peace time. Studies were likewise made of cantonment areas, with

reference to water supplies and to surface and sub-surface conditions.

Many geologists were engaged in the military camps at home and abroad,

and in connection with the Student Army Training Corps at the

universities, in teaching the elements of map making, map

interpretation, water supply, rock and soil conditions in relation to

trenching, and other phases of geology in their relation to military

operations. The textbook on Military Geology,[61] prepared in

cooperation by a dozen or more geologists for use in the courses of the

Student Army Training Corps, is an admirable text on several phases of

applied geology. The name of the book is perhaps now unfortunate,

because most of it is quite as well adapted to peace conditions as to

those of war. There is no textbook of applied geology which covers

certain phases of the work in a more effective and modern way. The

topics treated in this book are rocks, rock weathering, streams, lakes

and swamps, water supply, land forms, map reading and map

interpretation, and economic relations and economic uses of minerals.

Another book,[62] on land forms in France, prepared from a physiographic

standpoint, was a highly useful general survey of topographic features

and was widely used by officers and others.

GEOLOGY AT THE FRONT[63]

Perhaps the most spectacular and the best known use of geology in the

war was at and near the front. This use reached its earliest and highest

development in the German army, but later was applied effectively by the

British and British Colonial armies, and by the American Expeditionary

Force.

One of the first intimations to the American public of the use of

geology at the front appeared in the publication of German censorship

rules in 1918,--when, among the prohibitions, there was one forbidding

public reference to the use of earth sciences in military operations. A

leading American paper noted this item and speculated at some length

editorially as to what it meant.

It was discovered that geologists to the number of perhaps a hundred and

fifty were used by the Germans to prepare and interpret maps of the

front for the use of officers. Features represented on these maps

included topography; the kinds of rocks and their distribution; their

usefulness as road and cement materials; their adaptability for trench

digging, and the kinds and shapes of trenches possible in the different

rocks; the manner in which material thrown out in trenching would lie

under weathering; the ground-water conditions, and particularly the

depth below the surface of the water table at different times of the

year and in different rocks and soils; the relation of the ground-water

to possibilities of trench digging; water supplies for drinking

purposes; the behavior of the rocks under explosives, and the resistance

of the ground to shell-penetration; the underground geological

conditions bearing on tunnelling and underground mines; and the

electrical conductivity of rocks of different types, presumably in

connection with sound-detection devices and groundings of electric

circuits. Some of the captured German maps were models of applied

geology. They contained condensed summaries of most of the features

above named, together with appropriate sketches and sections. During the

Argonne offensive by the American army the captured German lines

disclosed geologic stations at frequent intervals, each with a full

equipment of maps relating to that part of the front. From these

stations schools of instruction had been conducted for the officers in

the adjacent parts of the front.

The British efforts were along similar lines, although they came late in

the war, under the leadership of an Australian geologist. Their efforts

were especially useful in connection with the large amount of tunnelling

and mining done on the British front. Among the many unexpected and

special uses of geology might be cited the microscopical identification

of raw materials used in the German cement. It became necessary for

certain purposes to know where these came from. The microscope disclosed

a certain volcanic rock known to be found in only one locality. In the

Palestine campaign, the knowledge of sources of road material and water

supply based on geologic data was an important element in the advance

over this arid region. Wells were drilled and water pipes laid in

accordance with prearranged plans.

In spite of the fact that the usefulness of geology had been clearly

indicated by the experience of the German and British armies, the

American Expeditionary Force was slow to avail itself in large measure

of this tool; but after some delay a geologic service was started on

somewhat similar lines under the efficient leadership of

Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred H. Brooks, Director of the Division of Alaskan

Resources in the U. S. Geological Survey. The work was organized in

September, 1917, and during the succeeding ten months included only two

officers and one clerk. For the last two months preceding the armistice

there was an average of four geologic officers on the General Staff, in

addition to geologists attached to engineering units engaged in road

building and cement making, and plans had been approved for a

considerable enlargement of the geologic force. The work was devoted to

the collection and presentation of geologic data relating to (1) field

works; (2) water supply; and (3) road material. Of these the first two

received the most attention. Maps were prepared, based somewhat on the

German model, for the French defenses of the Vosges and Lorraine

sectors, and for the German defenses of the St. Mihiel, Pont-a-Mousson,

and Vosges sectors. Water supply reports covered nearly 15,000 square

kilometers. The following description of the formations, taken from the

legend of one of the geologic maps, shows the nature of the data

collected:

_Silt, clay and mud, with some limestone gravel_, usually more

or less saturated, except during dry season (June to

September), in many places subject to flooding. Surface

usually soft except during Summer. These deposits are 1/2 to 2

meters thick in the small valleys, and 2 to 3 meters in the

---- Valleys. Unfavorable to all field works on account of

ground-water and floods, and not thick enough for cave

shelters.

_Silts with some clay and fine sands and locally some fine

gravel and rock debris._ These deposits occur principally on

summits and slopes, and are probably from 1 to 2 meters thick.

Even during dry season (June to September) they retain

moisture and afford rather soft ground. In wet season the

formation is very soft and often muddy. In many places water

occurs along bottom of these deposits. Favorable for trenches,

but which require complete revetment, and ample provision for

drainage, not thick enough for cave shelters; cut and cover

most practical type of shelter.

_Clay at surface with clay shales below._ This deposit occurs

in flats and is usually saturated for a depth of 1 to 2-1/2

meters, during wet season, for most of the year the surface is

soft, but in part dries out in Summer. Deep trenches usually

impossible, and even shallow trenches likely to be filled with

water; defensive works will be principally parapets revetted

on both sides. Cave shelter construction usually

impracticable, unless means be provided for sinking through

saturated surface zone into the dry ground underneath. Cut and

cover usually the most practical type of shelter in this

formation.

_Clay at surface with calcareous clay shale and some thin

limestone layers below._ This formation occurs in low rounded

hills; surface saturated during wet weather, but terrain

permits of natural drainage, and dries out during Summer;

during wet season (October to May) the surface zone is more or

less saturated, and ground may be muddy to a depth of a meter

or more, ground-water level usually within two or three meters

of surface. Trench construction easy, but requires complete

revetment, and ample provision for surface drainage. Cave

shelters can be constructed in this formation where the slope

is sufficient to permit of drainage tunnels. The depth to

ground-water level should always be determined by test shafts

or bore holes in advance of dugout construction.

_Surface formation usually clay 1 to 2 meters in depth; below

this is soft clay shales or soft limestone._ Surface usually

fairly well drained, and fairly hard ground. In general,

favorable for trenches and locally favorable for cave

shelters. In some localities underground water prevents cave

shelter construction. The presence or absence of underground

water should always be determined by test shafts or bore holes

in advance of dugout construction.

_Surface formation consisting of weathered zone 1/2 to 1-1/2

meters thick, made up of clay with limestone fragments and

broken rock. Below is compact limestone formation._ The

surface of this formation is usually fairly hard, and well

drained except in wettest season. Trenches built in it require

little revetting; very favorable for cave shelters, but

requires hard rock excavation. Some thin beds of clay occur in

some of the limestone, and at these a water bearing horizon

will be found. Where a limestone formation rests on clay as

near ---- a line of springs or seepages is usually found. Such

localities should be avoided, or the field works placed above

the line of springs or seepages. This formation is best

developed in the plateau west of ----. Here it is covered by

only a thin layer of soil, hard rock being close to the

surface.

The limestones afford the only rock within the quadrangle

which can be used for road metal.

_Quarries_ (in part abandoned).

_Limestone gravel pits._

_Locus of springs and seepages._ These should be avoided as

far as possible in the location of field works, especially of

dugouts. Field works should be placed above the lines of

springs.

The water supply maps with accompanying engineer field notes are models

of concise description of water supply conditions, with specific

directions for procedure under different conditions. A few paragraphs

taken from these notes are as follows:

Ground overlying rock, such as limestone, compact sandstone,

granites, etc., which are usually fractured, is from the

standpoint of underground water, most favorable for siting of

field works. Clay shales and clay hold both surface and

underground water, and are, therefore, unfavorable for field

works. The contact between hard rocks resting on clay or clay

shales is almost invariably water bearing, and should be

avoided in locating field works.

At localities where impervious formations (clay, etc.) occur

at or near the surface, they hold the water and form a

superficial zone of saturation. This condition makes trench

construction and maintenance difficult, and cave shelters can

usually only be made by providing means of sinking through the

saturated zone. The surface saturated zone often dries out in

summer.

In pervious, or almost pervious rocks, the zone of saturation,

or ground-water level, lies at much lower depth, and may

permit of the construction of field works as well as cave

shelters above it.

Underground water bearing horizons and water bearing faults

should be avoided in locating field works.

Wherever there is any uncertainty about the underground water

conditions, test shafts or bore holes should always be made in

advance of the construction of extensive deep works.

EFFECT OF THE WAR ON THE SCIENCE OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

In general, the war required an intensive application of geology along

lines already pretty well established under peace conditions. Much was

done to make the application more direct and effective, and a vast

amount of geologic information was mobilized. The general result was a

quickened appreciation of the possibilities of the use of geology for

practical purposes. Perhaps the most important single result was a wider

recognition of the real relations of mineral resources to human

activities, and of the international phases of the problem. More

specifically, there was a most careful stock-taking of mineral resources

and a consideration of the "why" of their commercial use. Many new

resources were found, as well as new ways to utilize them.

FOOTNOTES:

[60] Now known as Economic Liaison Committee.

[61] _Military geology and topography_, Herbert E. Gregory, Editor.

Prepared and issued under the auspices of Division of Geology and

Geography, National Research Council, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1918.

[62] Davis, W. M., _Handbook of Northern France_, Harvard Univ. Press,

Cambridge, 1918.

[63] For more detailed description of this subject the reader is

referred to The use of geology on the Western Front, by Alfred H.

Brooks, _Prof. Paper 128-D_, _U. S. Geol. Survey_, 1920.

CHAPTER XX

GEOLOGY AND ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION

Economic applications of geology are by no means confined to mineral

resources (including water and soils). The earth is used by the human

race in many other ways. Human habitations and constructions rest on it

and penetrate it. It is the basis for transportation, both by land and

water. Its water powers are used. In these various relations the

applications of geology are too numerous to classify, much less to

describe. While only a few of these activities have in the past required

the participation of geologists, the growing size of the operations and

increasing efficiency in their planning and execution are multiplying

the calls for geologic advice. The nature of such applications of

geology may be briefly indicated.[64]

FOUNDATIONS

The foundations of modern structures such as heavy buildings, especially

in untried localities, require much more careful consideration of the

substrata than was necessary for lighter structures. In planning such

foundations, it is necessary to know the kinds of rocks to be excavated,

their supporting strength, their structures, the difficulties which are

likely to be caused by water, and other geologic features. Failure to

give proper attention to these factors has led to some disastrous

results.

The planning of foundations and abutments of bridges requires similar

geologic knowledge. In addition, there must be considered certain

physiographic factors affecting the nature and variation of stream flow

and the migration of shore lines.

SURFACE WATERS

Construction of great modern dams is preceded by a careful analysis of

sub-surface conditions, in regard to both the rocks and the water. It is

necessary to know the supporting strength of the rocks in relation to

the weight of the dam; to know whether the rocks will allow leakage

around or beneath the dam; and to know whether there are any zones of

weakness in the rocks which will allow shearing of foundations under the

weight of the dam in combination with the pressure of the ponded water.

It is necessary to know whether the valley is a rock valley or whether

it is partially filled with rock debris; if the latter, how deep this

debris is, and its behavior under load and in a saturated condition.

Here again physiographic factors are of vital importance, both in

relation to the history of development of the valley, and to questions

of stream flow and reservoir storage.[65]

Construction of dams is only an item in the long list of engineering

activities related to surface waters. River and harbor improvements of a

vast range likewise involve geologic factors. Problems of wave action,

shore currents, shifting of shores, erosion, and sedimentation, which

are of great importance in such operations, have long occupied the

attention of the geologist. They belong especially in the branch of the

science known as physiography.

Geology in relation to underground water supplies is discussed in

Chapter V.

TUNNELS

The digging of tunnels for transportation purposes, for aqueducts, and

for sewage disposal requires careful analysis of geologic conditions in

regard to both the rocks and the underground water. Knowledge of these

conditions is necessary in planning the work, in inviting bids, and in

making bids. It is necessary during the progress of the work. Too often

in the past disastrous consequences, both physical and financial, have

resulted from lack of consideration of elemental geologic conditions.

The building of the great New York aqueducts and subways through highly

complex crystalline rocks has been under the closest geological advice

and supervision. The detailed study of the geology of Manhattan Island

through a long series of years has resulted in an understanding of the

rocks and their structures which has been of great practical use. In the

aqueduct construction the kinds of rock to be encountered in the

different sections, their water content, their hardness, their joints

and faults, were all platted and planned for, and actual excavation

proved the accuracy of the forecasts. An interesting phase of this work

was the tunneling under the Hudson at points where the pre-glacial rock

channel was buried to a depth of nearly a thousand feet by glacial and

river deposits,--this work requiring a close study of the physiographic

history of the river.

SLIDES

Slides of earth and rock materials, both of the creeping and sudden

types, have often been regarded as acts of Providence,--but studies of

the geologic factors have in many cases disclosed preventable causes. A

considerable geologic literature has sprung up with reference to rock

slides, which is of practical use in excavation work of many kinds.

The cause of such movements is gravity. The softer, unconsolidated rock

materials yield of course more readily than the harder ones, but even

strong rocks are often unable to withstand the pull of gravity. The

relative weakness of rock masses on a large scale was graphically shown

by Chamberlin and Salisbury,[66] in a calculation indicating that a mass

of average hard rock a mile thick, domed to the curvature of the earth,

can support a layer of only about ten feet of its own material. The

structural geologist, through his study of folds, faults, and rock

flowage, comes to regard rocks essentially as failing structures.

Disturbances of equilibrium, resulting in rock movements under gravity,

may be caused by local loading, either natural or artificial. Natural

loading may be due to unusual rainfall, or raising of water level, or

increased barometric pressure. Artificial loading may come from

construction of heavy buildings or dams. Movement may also result from

excavation, which takes away lateral support--and such excavation again

may be caused by natural processes of erosion or by artificial processes

involved in construction. Movement may be caused by mere change in the

moisture content of rocks, or by alterations of their mineral and

chemical character, affecting their resistance to gravity. In still

other cases, earthquakes are the initiating cause of movement.

In unconsolidated rocks, a frequent cause of movement is the presence of

wet and slippery clay layers. The identification and draining of these

clay layers may eliminate this cause. In certain sands, on the other

hand, water may actually act as a cement and tend to increase the

strength of the rock. Planes of weakness in the rock, such as bedding,

joints, and cleavage, are also likely to localize movement.

Earth materials, and even fairly hard rocks, may creep under gravity at

an astonishingly low angle. The angle from the horizontal at which loose

material will stand on a horizontal base without sliding is called the

angle of rest or repose. It is often between 30 deg. and 35 deg., but there is

wide variation from this figure, depending on the shapes and sizes of

the particles and on other conditions. It has been suggested that even

the slight differences in elevation of continents and sea bottoms may,

during long geologic eras, have caused a creep of continental masses in

a seaward direction.

In problems relating to slides, the geologist is concerned in

determining the kinds of rocks, their space relations, their structures

and textures, their metamorphic changes, their water content and the

nature of the water movement, their strength, both under tension and

compression, and other factors.

In the digging of the Panama Canal, a geological staff was employed in

the study of the rock and earth formations to be met. However, had more

attention been paid to geologic questions in the planning stages, this

great undertaking, so thoroughly worked out from a purely engineering

standpoint, would have avoided certain mistakes due to lack of

understanding of the geological conditions. It is a curious fact that in

these early stages no strength tests of rocks were made, and that no

thorough detailed study was made of the geologic factors affecting

slides and their prevention. It was only after the slides had become

serious that the geological aspects of the subject were intensively

considered. The results of the geologic study, therefore, are useful

only for preventive measures for the future and for other undertakings.

One of the interesting features of this investigation was the discovery

that certain soft rock formations were rendered weaker rather than

stronger by the draining off of the water. It had been more or less

assumed that the water had acted as a lubricant rather than as a cement.

SUBSIDENCE

Not the least important application of geology to slides is in relation

to deep mining operations. While the mining geologist has been

principally engaged in exploration and development of ores, he is now

beginning to be called in to interpret the great earth movements caused

by the sinking of the ground over mining openings. For instance, the

long-wall method of coal mining has resulted in a slow progressive

subsidence of the overlying rock, affecting overlying mineral beds and

surface structures over great areas. Detailed studies have been made of

this movement, in order to ascertain its relation to the strength and

structure of the rocks, its relation to the nature of the excavation,

its speed of transmission, and the possible methods of prevention.

German scientists have perhaps gone further with this kind of study than

anyone else. In an elaborate investigation of subsidence over a coal

mine in Illinois,[67] unusually complete data were obtained as to the

nature, direction, and speed of the transmission of strains through

large rock masses, and as to their effect in producing secondary rock

structures.

RAILWAY BUILDING

In railway building, the planning and estimation of cuts and fills is

now receiving geologic consideration, in order to make sure that no

geologic condition has been overlooked which will affect costs, the

stability of the road, or the accurate formulation of contracts. The

location of best sources of supply for ballast is also a geologic

problem (see pp. 90-91).

The physiographic phases of geology also are finding important

applications to railroad building. The physiographer studies the surface

forms with a trained eye, which sees them not as lawless or

heterogeneous units but as parts of a topographic system, and he is able

to eliminate much unnecessary work in the location of trial routes.

Further study of some of the older railroads from this standpoint has

led to considerable improvements. Physiographic study has also been

applied to railway bridge construction, in the appraisal of the

difficulties in surmounting stream barriers. A still broader use of

physiography or geography, not popularly understood, is illustrated in

the case of certain transcontinental railroads, in the study of the

probable future development of the territory to be served--many features

of which can be predicted with some accuracy from a study of the rocks,

soils, topography, conditions of transportation, and natural conditions

favoring localization of cities. The location of new towns in some cases

has been based on this kind of preliminary study.

In locating an Alaskan railway close to the end of a momentarily

quiescent glacier, troubles were not long in appearing, due to the fact

that the glacier was really not as stable as it seemed to the layman. A

specialist on glaciers, knowing their behavior, their relations to

precipitation, their relations to earthquakes, the speed of their

movement, and the periodicity of their movement, was ultimately called

into consultation on the location of the railroad.

ROAD BUILDING

Road building in recent years has become a stupendous engineering

undertaking, which is requiring geologic aid to locate nearby sources of

supply for road materials. A considerable number of geologists are now

devoting their attention to this work. It relates not only to the

hard-rock geology but to the gravel and surface geology. Certain

northern states are using specialists in glacial geology to aid in

locating proper supplies of sand and gravel.

GEOLOGY IN ENGINEERING COURSES

Many engineering courses include elementary geologic studies, in

recognition of the close relationship between geology and engineering.

Men so trained, though not geologists, have been responsible for many

applications of geology to engineering. With the increasing size and

importance of operations, calling for more specialization, the

professional geologist is now being called in to a larger extent than

formerly. A logical trend also is the acquirement of more engineering

training on the part of the geologist, for the purpose of pursuing these

applications of his science.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] Excellent texts on this subject may be found in _Military Geology

and Topography_, Herbert E. Gregory, Editor, prepared and issued under

the auspices of Division of Geology and Geography, National Research

Council, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1918, and _Engineering Geology_,

by H. Ries and T. L. Watson, Wiley and Sons, New York, 2d ed., 1915.

[65] Atwood, W. W., Relation of landslides and glacial deposits to

reservoir sites in the San Juan mountains, Colorado: _Bull. 685_, _U. S.

Geol. Survey_, 1918.

[66] Chamberlin, T. C., and Salisbury, R. D., _Geology_, vol. 1, 1904,

pp. 555-556.

[67] Schultz, Robert S., Jr., _Bull. Am. Inst. Mining and Metallurgical

Engrs._ In preparation.

CHAPTER XXI

THE TRAINING, OPPORTUNITIES, AND ETHICS OF THE ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST

Economic geology is now an established and well-recognized profession,

but there is yet nothing approaching a standardized course of study

leading to a degree in economic geology. There are as many different

kinds of training as there are institutions in which geology is taught.

Within an institution, also, it is seldom that any two persons take

exactly the same groups of geologic studies. This situation allows wide

latitude of training to meet ever changing requirements, but in other

respects it is not so desirable.

PURE VERSUS APPLIED SCIENCE

In no institution are all the applied branches of geology taught. There

is constant pressure for the introduction of more applied courses; this

seems to be the tendency of the times. The economic geologist, fresh

from vivid experiences in his special field, is often insistent that a

new course be introduced to cover his particular specialty. Any attempt,

however, to put into a college course a considerable fraction of the

applied phases of geology would mean the crowding out of more essential

basic studies. To yield wholly to such pressure would in fact soon

develop an impossible situation; for, on the basis of time alone, it

would be quite impossible to give courses on all of the applied subjects

in a training period of reasonable length.

On the other hand, the failure to introduce a fair proportion of applied

geology, on the ground that the function of the college is to teach pure

science and that in some way economic applications are non-scientific,

seems to the writer an equally objectionable procedure,--because it does

not take into account the unavoidable human relations of the science,

which vivify and give point and direction to scientific work. The

development of science in economic directions does not necessarily mean

incursion into less scientific or non-scientific fields. It is true

that many of the economic applications of geology are so new and so

constantly changing that they are not yet fully organized on a

scientific basis; but this fact is merely an indication of the lag of

science, and not of the absence of possibilities of developing science

in such directions. There is today a considerable tendency among

geologists of an academic type, whose lives have been spent in purely

scientific investigation and teaching, to assume that anything different

from the field of their activities is in some manner non-scientific, and

therefore less worthy. Many economic geologists have been made to feel

this criticism, even though seldom expressed openly. For the good of

geologic science, this tendency seems to the writer extremely

unfortunate. The young man entering the field of economic geology should

be made to understand that his is the highest scientific opportunity;

and that if parts of his field are not yet fully organized, the greater

is his own opportunity to participate in the constructive work to be

done.

Under war requirements many geologists were called upon to extend their

efforts to bordering fields of endeavor. In some quarters these

activities were regarded as non-scientific, and as subtracting from

efficiency in purely geological work,--and yet out of this combined

effort came a wider comprehension of new scientific fields, between the

established sciences and between sciences and human needs. It is

inevitable that in the future these fields, now imperfectly charted,

will be occupied and developed, perhaps not by the men who are already

well established in their particular fields of endeavor, but by coming

scientists. In this light, it was a privilege for geologists to

participate in the discovery and charting activities of the war.

Still another attempt to discriminate between scientific and

non-scientific phases of geologic effort has been the assumption by

certain scientific organizations with reference to standards of

admission,--that work done for practical purposes may be regarded as

scientific only if it leads to advancement of the science through the

publication of the results. There is by no means any general agreement

as to the validity of this distinction. On this basis, some of the most

effective scientific work which is translated directly into use for the

benefit of civilization is ruled out as science, because it is

expressed on a typewritten rather than on a printed page.

While applied phases of the geologist's work may be truly scientific in

the broader sense, it is undoubtedly easy in this field to drift into

empirical methods, and to emphasize facility and skill at the expense of

original scientific thought. The practice of geology then becomes an art

rather than a science. This remark is pertinent also to much of

non-applied geologic work in recent years. A considerable proportion of

this empirical facility is desirable and necessary in the routine

collection of data and in their description; but where, as is often the

case, the geologist's absorption in such work minimizes the use of his

constructive faculties, it does not aid greatly in the advancement of

science.

Geology is by no means the only science in which there has been

controversy as to the relative merits of the so-called pure and applied

phases; but as one of the youngest sciences, which heretofore has been

pursued mainly from the standpoint of "pure science," it is now, perhaps

more than any other science, in the transition stage to a wider

viewpoint. In the past there was doubt about the extension of chemistry

toward the fields of physics and engineering, and of physics toward the

fields of chemistry and engineering, and of both physics and chemistry

toward purely economic applications; but out of these fields have grown

the great sciences of physical chemistry, chemical engineering, and

others,--and few would be rash enough to attempt to draw a line between

the pure and applied science, or between the scientific and

non-scientific phases of this work. This general tendency means a

broadening of science and not its deterioration.

COURSE OF STUDY SUGGESTED

There are almost as many opinions on desirable training for economic

geology as there are geologists, and the writer's view cannot be taken

as representing any widely accepted standard. On the basis of his own

experience, however, both in teaching and in field practice, he would

lay emphasis on the fundamental branches both of geology and of the

allied sciences,--general geology, stratigraphy, paleontology,

physiography, sedimentation, mineralogy, petrology, structural and

metamorphic geology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology.

After these are covered, as much attention should be given to economic

applications as time permits. The time allowance for training, at a

maximum, is not sufficient to cover both pure and applied science.

Subsequent experience will supply the deficiencies in applied knowledge,

but will not make up for lack of study of basic principles.

It is safe advice to a student wishing to prepare for economic geology

that there is no royal road to success; that his best chance lies in the

effort to make himself a scientist, even though he cover only a narrow

field; that if he is successful in this, opportunities for economic

applications will almost inevitably follow. To devote attention from the

start merely to practical and commercial features, rather than to

scientific principles, brings the student at once into competition with

mining engineers, business men, accountants, and others, who are often

able to handle the purely empirical features of an economic or practical

kind better than the geologist. In the long run the economic geologist

succeeds because he knows the fundamentals of his science, and not

because he has mere facility in the empirical economic phases of his

work. Of course there are exceptions to this statement,--there are men

with a highly developed business sense who are successful in spite of

inadequate scientific training, but such success should be regarded as a

business and not a professional success.

Geology is sometimes described as the application of other sciences to

the earth. This statement might be made even broader, and geology

described as the application of all knowledge to the earth. In the

writer's experience, the best results on the whole have been obtained

from students who, before entering geology, have had a broad general

education or have followed intensively some other line of study. Whether

this study has been the ancient languages, law, engineering, economics,

or other sciences, the results have usually been good if the early

training has been sound. To start in geology without some such

background, and without the resulting power of a well-trained mind, is

to start with a handicap in the long race to the highest professional

success. It follows, then, that intensive study of geology should in

most cases not begin until late in the undergraduate course, and

preferably not until the graduate years. Two or three years of graduate

work may then suffice to launch the geologist on his career, but so

great is the field, and so rapid the growth of knowledge within it, that

there is no termination to his study. It is not enough to settle back

comfortably on empirical practice based solely on previously acquired

knowledge. Each problem develops new scientific aspects. It is this ever

renewing interest which is one of the great charms of the science.

However, whether the student has a general training in geology, a

specialized knowledge of certain branches, or takes it up incidentally

in connection with engineering and other sciences, he will find

opportunities for economic applications. The frequent success of the

mining engineer in the geological phases of his work is an indication

that even a comparatively small amount of geological knowledge is

useful.

The writer is inclined to emphasize also the desirability of what might

be called the quantitative approach to the subject,--that is, of

training in mathematics and laboratory practice, which gives the student

facility in treating geologic problems concretely and in quantitative

terms. Geology is passing from the descriptive and qualitative stages to

a more precise basis. For this reason the combination of geology with

engineering often proves a desirable one. It is not uncommon for the

student trained solely in the humanities and other non-quantitative

subjects to have difficulty in acquiring habits of mind which lead to

sufficient precision in the application of his science. He may have a

good grasp of general principles and be able to express himself well,

but he is handicapped in securing definite results. This does not

necessarily mean that a large amount of time should be given to study of

quantitative methods; exact habit of mind is more important in the early

stages than expert facility with methods.

The teacher of economic geology finds his data so voluminous that it is

difficult to present all the essential facts and yet leave sufficient

time for discussion of general principles or for drill in their

constructive application. It is difficult to lay down any rule as a

guide to the proper division of effort; but from the writer's point of

view, it is a mistake to attempt to crowd into a course too many facts.

At best they cannot all be given; and in the attempt to do so, the

student is brought into a passive and receptive attitude, requiring

maximum use of his memory and minimum use of his reasoning power.

Presentation of a few fundamental facts, combined with vigorous

discussion tending to develop the student's ability to use these facts,

and particularly tending to develop a constructive habit of

investigation, seems to be the most profitable use of time during the

course of training. The acquirement of facts and details will come fast

enough in actual practice.

The variety, amount, and complexity of the data available in geology

tend in themselves toward generalizations in teaching--toward the

deductive rather than the inductive method. A certain amount of

generalization is desirable, but its over-emphasis develops bad habits

of mind on the part of the student, and requires radical readjustment of

his ideas in subsequent field investigations. To retain a proper

emphasis on inductive methods, it is necessary to limit the amount of

data presented. Good results have been obtained by using the "case

system," now common in the teaching of law--that is, by starting with a

specific fact or situation as a basis for developing principles.

Another advantage in the restriction of data is the opportunity thus

afforded for spending more time in the study of original reports rather

than of the short textbook summaries. The student thus learns where the

best primary sources of information are, how to find them, and how to

extract essentials from them.

FIELD WORK

Field work is an essential part of any course of geologic training. Not

only should it be taken at every opportunity during the regular school

year, but no summer should be allowed to pass without geologic practice

in the field. Opportunities for such work are offered in the summer

field courses given by various institutions. In recent years it has

usually been possible, also, for the student with elementary training to

take part in summer geological survey work for state, national, or

private organizations. In fact, after two or three years of geologic

training, it is comparatively easy for the student to earn at such

intervals during the year a fair fraction of his year's expenses.

The ideal arrangement, from the writer's viewpoint, would be about an

equal division of time between indoor and outdoor study. The

alternation from one to the other supplies a much needed corrective to

clear thinking. It is impossible to bring all the subject materials into

the classroom and laboratory; such study must inevitably be more or less

deductive and generalized. If the student at frequent intervals is not

able to acquire and renew a mental picture of field conditions, there is

likely to be a faulty perspective even in regard to principles, and a

considerable gap between the theoretical and applied phases of his

knowledge. It may be possible in the classroom, for instance, to discuss

faults in great detail with the aid of maps, diagrams, and pictures; and

yet it is extremely difficult to get a real three-dimensional conception

of the problems without actually standing on the ground.

SPECIALIZATION IN STUDIES

With the increasing size and efficiency of human operations has come an

inevitable tendency to specialization. Where, in the past, the necessary

geologic work might be passably done by the mining engineer, the local

superintendent or operator, it is now being intrusted to specialists.

Even within the more strictly engineering phases of the mining

engineer's work, there is the same tendency toward specialization; his

work is being divided up among the electrical engineers, the mechanical

engineers, the hydraulic engineers, and others. The opportunities for

geologic work, therefore, are distinctly in the direction of

specialization. The student in determining the field he shall enter

needs to take this fact into account and to prepare accordingly, but not

at the sacrifice of the broad basal training. Only a small part of the

specialization can be accomplished in college. The remainder will come

with experience.

In the future there is likely to be increasing specialization among the

different educational institutions in the phases of applied geology

which are taught. Geographic location has a good deal to do with this

tendency. Where an institution is located near a coal or oil field, it

is likely, as a matter of course, to specialize to some extent in the

application of geology to these resources. Or, the specialization may

arise from the fact that the teachers have had special training in

certain phases of applied geology, and such training naturally and

properly determines the emphasis to be placed. Courses in engineering

geology are finding a natural development in the leading engineering

colleges.

In view of the fact that it is impossible for any one institution to

cover all phases of applied geology, because of lack of time, and in

view of the fact that even if this were attempted the results would be

very unequal, because of the varied experience of teachers or because of

geographic location, it would seem wise definitely to recognize these

limitations and for each institution to play up the work it can do best.

With freedom of migration among universities, a student by moving from

place to place can thus secure any combination of specialized courses

which best fits his requirements.

A DEGREE OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

There has been some agitation in recent years for standardization of

courses in economic geology, and for the granting of a special degree in

evidence of the completion of such a course. The principal argument for

this procedure is that it would tend to insure a better average of

training and would draw a line between worthy geologists and a host of

ill-trained pseudo-geologists. The earth is so accessible, and its use

so varied, that geology is handicapped perhaps more than any other

science by persons who really have no valid claim to a scientific title.

The writer doubts whether a special degree in economic geology would go

far toward improving this situation. Even if the courses were the same

in different institutions, the manner of treatment and the ability of

the teachers would be so varied that in the future, as in the past,

anyone inquiring into the real standing of a geologist would be likely

to consider his individual training rather than the degree attached to

his name. There would be no guarantee that institutions not qualified to

give the degree might not do so. However, the principal objection in the

writer's mind to a degree of economic geology is the assumption that it

is possible for anybody, in the present stage of knowledge, to formulate

a standardized course adequate or best to meet the varied requirements.

Considering the breadth and the variety of the field, any such attempt

at standardization would have to be highly arbitrary. Once established,

it would be a hindrance to the natural development of new courses to

meet the ever changing requirements. When, if ever, the science of

economic geology becomes fully organized, a standardized course may be

possible. In the present stage of the science, more elasticity is

required than seems to be possible in any of the courses proposed.

One of the purposes of the introduction of a degree of economic geology,

to separate the sheep from the goats, may be accomplished in another

way,--namely, by the establishment and maintenance of high standards of

admission and high aims on the part of the various professional

societies having to do with geology and mining. If this is done,

membership in such societies may be regarded as evidence of sound

training and achievement. To some extent this procedure may relieve the

pressure on universities for uniformity of courses and degrees, leaving

them free to develop in such manner as seems best. Scientific

organizations, overlooking the entire field, are in a position to take

into account the greatest variety of factors of training and experience

in selecting their members. Failure of any university course to make men

eligible for such recognition will obviously react on the course in a

desirable way.

THE OPPORTUNITIES OF THE ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST

It has been the aim in this book to present a general view of the fields

of activity of the economic geologist; and the list of chapter headings

in itself summarizes the variety of his opportunities. The rapidly

increasing use of earth materials promises far greater calls for

geologic aid in the future than in the past. The profession is in its

infancy.

Opportunities for employment are ordinarily found in three main

directions--in educational institutions, in the federal and state

geological surveys, and in private organizations. Connection with the

United States Geological Survey excludes participation in private work,

and in recent years even in teaching. In the state surveys there is

ordinarily more latitude in this regard. In the educational

institutions, it is rather the common procedure for the instructor to

secure his field practice and experience through private agencies, or

through part time connection with state surveys,--an arrangement with

advantages to all concerned. The educational institution secures the

benefit of the field experience which it cannot afford to provide, and

is enabled to hold geologists at salaries far below their earning

capacity. The geologist gains by the opportunity to alternate between

office and field study, and to correct his perspective by the constant

checking of theory with field conditions. The combination tends to keep

the clearly scientific and the applied phases in a proper relative

proportion; it minimizes the danger of drifting into purely empirical

field methods on the one hand, and of losing touch with actualities on

the other. Geologists devoting their attention solely to field work

often complain that they do not have time to digest and correlate their

results, nor to keep up with what others are doing. On the other hand,

geologists without current field practice are likely to develop too

strongly along subjective, deductive, and theoretical lines. The teacher

gains in freshness and force in the presentation of his subject in the

classroom, and the very effort necessary for presentation requires

better analysis and coordination of his field observations. The private

or state organization gains in this combination by drawing on the

general and varied knowledge which has necessarily been accumulated for

teaching and investigative purposes.

Temperament and circumstances will determine in which of these

directions the student will turn. However, in view of the present

natural tendency to be attracted by the large financial rewards in the

commercial field, it may not be out of place to emphasize the fact that

these rewards are perhaps more likely to be gained through perfected

training and experience in state and national surveys and in educational

institutions, than through early concentration in the commercial field.

In any case, the financial side will take care of itself when sufficient

knowledge and proficiency have been attained in any branch of the

science.

The world is the geologist's laboratory; it is the only limit to his

activities. The frontiers are near at hand, both physically and

intellectually. There are few fields so attractive from the scientific

standpoint. There are few in which the successful prosecution of the

science can be of so much direct benefit to civilization and can yield

such large financial rewards. If, in addition, the opportunities for

travel and adventure are taken into account, what profession promises a

more interesting and useful life?

So far we have discussed geology as a profession. It has proved its

value also as a training for administrative and other public careers.

The profession contributes its full share of men to these activities.

The practice of geology deals with a wide variety of factors, and

requires the constant exercise of judgment in balancing, correlating,

and integrating these factors in order to reach sound conclusions. This

objective treatment of complex situations is valuable training for the

handling of human affairs.

ETHICS OF THE ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST

Ethical questions involved in the practice of economic geology have

called out much discussion, and, in some cases, marked differences of

opinion among men equally desirous of doing the right thing. In the

plain choice between right and wrong, there is of course no difference

of opinion. Unfortunately in many of the questions which arise the

alternatives are not so clearly labeled.

The lure of discovery and quick returns always has, and doubtless always

will, draw into the field large numbers of persons without sound ethical

anchorage or standards. Fortunately, these are not the persons in

control of the mineral industries; they are mere incidents in the great

and stable business built up by legitimate demands for raw materials.

The view is sometimes expressed that the geologist should hold himself

aloof from the business or applied phases of his profession, because of

the danger of being tainted with commercialism. This argument would

apply to the engineer as well as to the geologist. To carry such a

procedure through to its logical conclusion would mean substantially the

withdrawal of scientific aid from industry,--which, to the writer, is

hardly a debatable question. Circumstances are trending inevitably to

the larger use of geologic science in the commercial field. The problems

of ethics cannot be solved by staying out. The economic geologist is

rather called upon to do his part in raising the standards of ethics in

that part of the field in which he has influence. This he can do by

careful appraisal of all the conditions relating to a problem which he

is asked to take up, and by refusing to act where questionable ethical

standards are apparent or suspected. He must understand fully the

purposes for which his report is to be used; merely as a matter of

professional self-interest, there is no other course open to him. In a

field in which there is so much danger from loose ethical conceptions,

the premium on rigid honesty and nice appreciation of professional

ethics is proportionately higher. The extreme care taken in this matter

by acknowledged leaders in the profession of economic geology should be

carefully considered by the young man entering the profession. There is

a reason.

In other chapters reference is made to certain special ethical

questions, such as the use of geology in mining litigation (pp.

349-355), and the necessity of the geologist's recognizing his own

limitations (pp. 92-94), but no attempt has been made to cover the

variety of such questions that may come up. It is safe to assume that no

special ethical code can be made sufficiently comprehensive, detailed,

and elastic to cover all the contingencies which are likely to be met in

the practice of economic geology; nor is it likely that any such code,

if attempted, would be any improvement on the spirit of the Golden Rule.

Simple decency and common sense in their broader implications are

essential to the practice of the profession.

INDEX

Abrasives, 267-270, 397

Abyssinia, potash, 112

Adams, Frank D., 367

Adirondacks, New York, graphite, 282

iron ores, 160, 162, 163, 171

phosphate from magnetic ores, 105-106

use of magnetic surveys in tracing iron rocks, 317

Ad valorem method of valuation of mineral deposits, 331-335

Africa, bauxite, 242

coal, 116

cobalt, 255

copper, 197-198, 205

tin, 260

_See also_ South Africa; North Africa; East Africa; West Africa.

Alabama, bauxite, 243, 245

graphite, 281

iron, 52-53, 160, 162, 163, 166-167

Alaska, antimony, 248

copper, 36, 41, 47, 49, 199, 200-201

gold, 222, 224, 229

silver, 234

tin, 261, 262

Algeria, antimony, 247, 248

gypsum, 283

iron, 156, 160, 161, 194

petroleum, 128

phosphates, 104, 105, 106

_See also_ North Africa.

Almaden, Spain, mercury ores, 256-257, 259

Alsace, potash, 111-113

Alsace-Lorraine, coal and iron of, under Peace Treaty, 401-402

Aluminum Company of America, 243

Aluminum ores, 241-246, 397

_See also_ Bauxite.

Alunite, 39, 41-42, 112, 114, 230

Anaconda, Montana, arsenic production, 250

Anaconda Copper Mining Company, manufacture of phosphate, 105

use of geology in development and exploration, 326-327

Anamorphism, defined, 27, 57

Anamorphism of mineral deposits, 26, 57-58

Anhydrite, occurrence in gypsum deposits, 284-285

Anticlines, occurrence of oil in, 141-142, 147-148

Antimonial lead, 246

Antimony ores, 246-249, 398

Apex law, 349-350, 353

Aplites, 35

Appalachians, barite, 274

bauxite, 245

graphite, 282-283

petroleum, 132, 135

pitchblende, 266

pyrite, 108

tin, 262

_See also_ under individual states.

Argentina, borax, 275

mica, 286

petroleum, 128

tungsten, 183

Arizona, asbestos, 271, 272

copper, 33, 38, 41, 47, 48, 198-199, 203, 204-205, 208, 314, 316

gold, 222

manganese, 175

molybdenum, 186,187

silver, 234

tungsten, 183

turquoise, 293

Arkansas, bauxite, 96, 243, 244-245, 246

diamonds, 292

fuller's earth, 279

hones, oilstones and whetstones, 269

phosphates, 105

zinc, 215

Arnold, Ralph, 134, 136, 149-150

Arsenic ores, 249-251, 397

Artesian wells, 73

Asbestos, 270-272, 398

Asphalt and bitumen, 56, 151-153, 397

Atolia, California, tungsten ores, 185

Atwood, W. W., 414

Australasia, cement, 87

coal, 116

gold, 222

Australia, antimony, 247

arsenic, 250

asbestos, 271, 272

bauxite, 242

bismuth, 252

coal, 115

copper, 197-198

gold, 41, 222, 224

iron, 154, 164, 165

lead, 210-211, 212

molybdenum, 186

phosphates, 105

silver, 232

tin, 260

tungsten, 183

zinc, 214-215, 216

Australia, laws relating to ownership of mineral resources, 343, 345

Austria, cement, 87

graphite, 280

mercury, 256, 257

molybdenum, 186

talc, 299

uranium and radium, 264

zinc, 214

Austria-Hungary, barite, 272

coal, 115, 116

iron, 160, 161

magnesite, 191-193

manganese, 174

silver, 232

_See also_ Hungary.

Austria-Hungary, commercial and political control of various

minerals, 64

Ball clay, 85, 398

"Bar" theory of formation of thick salt beds, 297

Baraboo, Wisconsin, quartzites of, 82

Barite, 272-274, 397

Basalt, 17, 19, 82, 90

Bauxite, 9, 50, 96, 241-246, 397

Bavaria, graphite, 280

Bawdwin Mines, Burma, lead and zinc, 209, 214

Beaumont Field, Texas, occurrence of oil, 148

Belgian Congo, cobalt, 255

copper, 205

Belgium, barite, 272

cement, 87

coal, 115-117, 127, 401

flint linings, 269

iron, 160-161

lead, 54-55, 210

millstones and buhrstones, 269

phosphates, 104

zinc, 54-55, 214

Belgium, commercial and political control of various minerals, 64, 280

Belle Isle, Newfoundland, iron ores, 52-53, 160, 166

Bergholm, Carl, 319

Bergstrom, Gunnar, 319

Bessemer processes of steel making, 158, 161

Bilbao, Spain; iron ores, 160, 170

Billingsley, Paul, and Grimes, J. A., 44

Bingham, Utah, copper and lead ores, 37, 42, 47, 199, 203, 204, 207,

208, 212, 314

Birmingham, Alabama, iron ores, 160, 162, 163, 166-167

_See also_ Clinton iron ores.

Bisbee, Arizona, copper ores, 47, 198, 204, 314, 316

Bismuth ores, 252-253, 397

Bitumen and asphalt, 56, 151-153, 397

Black Hills, South Dakota, gold ores, 228, 229

tin ores, 262

"Blue ground," occurrence of diamonds in, 291

"Bluestone," 84

Bohemia, uranium and radium ores, 265

Boise Basin, Idaho, monazite deposits, 289

Boleo, Lower California, copper ores, 201

Bolivia, antimony, 247

bismuth, 252, 253

borax, 275

copper, 206

nitrates, 103

petroleum, 128

silver, 232

tin, 261, 262-263

tungsten, 183, 184

Bolivia, commercial and political control of various minerals, 64

Bonne Terre limestone, Missouri, zinc ores, 217

Boone formation, Missouri, zinc ores, 217

Borax, 274-277, 397

Borax Lake, California, borax deposits, 276

Borneo, diamond dust, 268

platinum, 238

Bort, 267, 268, 398

Boulder batholith, Montana, ore-deposits of, 44

Boulder County, Colorado, tungsten ores, 184

Braden copper ores, Chile, 199

Brazil, chromite, 179

coal, 116

diamonds and diamond dust, 268, 292

graphite, 280

iron, 52-53, 162, 165, 167, 313

manganese, 174-175, 176

mica, 286

monazite, 288, 289

oil shales, 151

zirconium, 189-190

Brazil, commercial and political control of various minerals, 64

Briey district, France, iron ores, 161, 163

vanadium, 187

Brinton, Virginia, arsenic ores, 251

British Coal Commission, 367

British Columbia, laws relating to mineral resources, 344

British Empire. _See_ Great Britain.

British Guiana, bauxite, 242, 243

British South Africa, coal, 116

Broken Hill, New South Wales, lead and zinc ores, 209, 212

Bromine, 277-278, 397

Brooks, Alfred H., 404, 408

Brooks, Alfred H., and LaCroix, Morris F., 404

Buhrstones, 269

Building stone, 80-84, 88-90, 397

Bureau of Mines, 403, 406

Burma, lead, 209, 210, 212

rubies, 289, 292

silver, 233

tungsten, 183, 185

zinc, 214, 216

Burrows, J. S., 367

Butler, B. S., Loughlin, G. F., and Heikes, V. C., 44, 55, 230

Butte, Montana, arsenic in copper ores, 251

copper ores, 40, 47, 49, 198-199, 201-203, 207, 208

manganese ores, 177, 314

silver ores, 234, 314

use of placers in locating ores, 316

zinc ores, 215-216

zonal arrangement of minerals, 42, 44

Cadmium ores, 253-254, 397

California, antimony, 248

asbestos, 271

asphalt and bitumen, 152

basalt, 82

borax, 275, 276-277

chromite, 179

copper, 199, 204

diatomaceous earth, 269

fuller's earth, 279

gold, 222, 224, 227, 229, 308, 316, 342

granite, 82

graphite, 281

grinding pebbles, 268

magnesite, 191-193

manganese, 175

mercury, 40, 256, 257, 259

natural gas, 151

petroleum, 132, 133, 135, 137

potash, 112, 113-114

pyrite, 108

serpentine, 83

silver, 234, 308

tourmaline, 293

tungsten, 183

Campbell, J. Morrow, 185

Campbell, M. R., 121, 122, 366

Campbell, M. R., and Parker, E. W., 367, 370-371

Canada, arsenic, 250

asbestos, 270-271, 272

cement, 87

chromite, 179

coal, 115, 116

cobalt, 255

copper, 197-198

corundum, 268, 270

feldspar, 86

fluorspar, 193, 194

gold, 222

graphite, 280-281

grindstones and pulpstones, 269

gypsum, 283-284

iron, 52-53, 155, 156, 160, 165

magnesite, 191-193

mica, 286, 287

molybdenum, 186

natural gas, 151

nickel, 180-182

petroleum, 128

phosphates, 105, 106

platinum, 238

pyrite, 107-108

salt, 294

silver, 232, 234-235

talc, 299, 300

titanium, 190

zinc, 214, 215

Canada, laws relating to ownership to mineral resources, 343

use of magnetic surveys in tracing iron rocks, 317

Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, copper ores, 203

Cannel coal, 125

Cape Colony, South Africa, asbestos, 272

Capillarity, effect on ground-water level, 70

effect on petroleum migration, 142-143

Capital value of mineral resources, 64, 328

"Capping," of copper ores, 47

Carbonado, 268

Carey Act, classification of public lands under, 310

Carmel, New York, arsenic ores, 251

Casing-head gasoline, 139, 151

Caucasus region, Russia, manganese ores, 174, 176

Cement, 86-88, 397

Cementation, mineral products resulting from, 24

Cementing materials, source of, 25