Experimental petrology; a laboratory approach to geology

Abstract

The geologist, as a student of the earth, is surrounded by his work. While fishing in a mountain stream, he realizes that the sheltered pool into which he is casting exists only because the large, rounded boulders damming back the water have been piled there by rushing water flowing down the hillside. This recalls the vast quantities of soil and rock which are transported by water. Much of this debris is deposited in the sea. At the beach one may see the waves shaping the shoreline as each breaker shifts the grains of sand while, just down the coast, the waves in a more ferocious mood hammer away at the base of the rocky cliffs they have carved. After a season or two of drought, when wells go dry and water becomes a topic for newspaper editorials, one may remember that whereas much water flows clown to the ocean, other water percolates below the surface and becomes distributed in a manner which is controlled by the attitude and properties of the rocks as well as by the surface relief. Whether traveling by car or railroad, one passes through artificial valleys cut by engineers, which expose the rock beneath the layer of surface soil. As a geologist one is aware of the differing properties of rocks in different places. Some rocks are tough and uniform, appearing as high walls alongside the road or track; others are soft and easily fragmented, and the slopes of these are more gentle lest the rocks slide down and cause damage.

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