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"All the forces," said Dr. Heim, "which have waved, lifted, folded, crumpled, thrust and faulted the earth's crust . . . seem to be regarded as the result of the earth's energetic reserve. If so, each crustal movement should mean a lessening of the total reserve of earth's energy, so that succeeding . . . movements should be smaller than earlier ones. . . . This does not seem to be borne out by the facts."
Some" cosmic impulse of mysterious origin, said Dr. Heim, must be imagined to explain not only the crustal movements, but also fitful accelerations in the rate of earth's rotation and displacements in the position of its axis. Thus he pictured an earth not growing more & more inert, like a snake in the cold, as it consumed its legacy of energy from the sun, but an earth constantly stirred by fresh cosmic im pulses—"although," he added, "the Newton to explain them has not yet come."
Petrofabrics. Whether terrestrial or cosmic, the forces that built the Alps tied them into complicated kinks. Bruno Sander, a native of the Austrian Tyrol and professor at the University of Innsbruck, described his method of studying the kinks. Specimens of crystalline rock were ground to paper thinness, peered at under the microscope where the force lines spring to view. By plotting hundreds of force lines from different parts of a mountain, he deduces the slidings and thrustings that formed the mountain. He calls his method petrofabrics, thinks it may prove useful in locating ore veins.
Rock Chart. Toward the close of the Congress, Chief Geologist Dr. Timothy William Stanton of the U. S. Geological Survey proudly exhibited a variegated rectangle 87x51 in.—an elaborate chart of all U. S. rocks, in 23 colors arranged in 160 units. It summarized the Survey's work since 1879. filled a long-felt need of schools. Said Dr. Stanton: "In 1911 we had a map, but it was far less complete and detailed. Also for more than 15 years past it has been out of print."
U. S. S. R, Recognized. While the U. S. was still officially incognizant of the existence of Soviet Russia last week, the I. G. C. Council pondered in friendly spirit a Soviet Government offer to be host to the 17th I. G. C. The offer was accepted. The 17th Congress will be held in Russia in 1936 or 1937.
*But no one explained how Africa slid up to straddle the Equator.