42 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE GEOLOGIC SURVEY OF ALASKA 1 



By ALFRED H. BROOKS 



C. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



A DECADE 2 ago the United States Geological Survey began its 

 -*--*" work in Alaska by sending a party of only three men to the 

 territory, whereas in the past summer twelve parties, with an aggregate 

 membership of fifty odd men, were there engaged in geologic surveys. 

 Even this rapid expansion is hardly commensurate with the size of the 

 territory and the importance of the mineral resources, the development 

 of which the geologic investigations aim to aid. Alaska's 600,000 

 square miles are much spread out, stretching to a width of 2,400 3 miles 

 and to a north and south length of 1,100 miles. Were this vast area, 

 which is equal to two and a half times that of Texas, the cold, barren 

 waste so often pictured it would be of small practical import as to 

 when it should be surveyed. But Alaska has large and constantly 

 growing mining interests, and it is the demand of these which has 

 influenced congress to increase the appropriation for geologic surveys 

 from $5,000 in 1895 to $80,000 in 1905. 



Even the present appropriation is less than one per cent, of the 

 annual gold production, which has increased from $1,866,645 in 1895 

 to $9,300,000 in 1904, and is far from having reached its maximum. 

 Nor does the gold production tell the whole story; the value of the 

 copper and silver annually mined now exceeds half a million dollars, 

 and the output of the former is rapidly increasing. There is in Alaska 

 also some coal mining, though this industry has not yet attained its 

 rightful importance. The territory contains some very valuable bitu- 

 minous coal fields. Prospective mineral wealth also lies in Alaska's 

 tin ores, oil fields and gypsum beds, which have all been sufficiently 

 exploited to indicate their probable commercial importance. The time 

 will come when iron and zinc ores are mined in Alaska, and its immense 

 granite areas will yield building stone to the Pacific coast. 



Applied geology touches the activities of mankind at many places, 

 but primarily, of course, in the vocation of mining. It is on the basis 

 of geologic knowledge that soils must be classified, and this, in turn, 

 together with the topography, determines the distribution of animal 

 and vegetable life. In the Alaskan work of the geological survey, 



1 Published by permission of the Director U. S. Geological Survey. 



2 It will be shown below that members of the Geological Survey were sent 

 to Alaska before 1895, but ' these were either detailed to other government 

 bureaus, or were attached to private expeditions. 



3 This is about the distance from Savannah to Los Angeles. 



