proceedings: geological society 169 



lacldng for a comparison of the relation of iodide to chloride in sea water 

 with the same ratio in the plants. Houston discussed various points 

 brought out l\v the lecturer, and suggested that the bulkiness of the 

 kelp fertilizer is in some respects a desirable property; also that the 

 present state of the fertilizer industr}' is not such as to encourage invest- 

 ment in new fertilizer ventures, one principal trouble being overproduc- 

 tion of mineral fertilizers both in the United States and Germany. 



Robert B. Sosman, Secretary. 



THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



The 276th meeting was held at the Cosmos Club, December 10, 1913. 



Presidential address. The Tertiary orogeny of the N^orth American 

 Cordillera and its problem. Frederick L. Ransome. In extended 

 form this address will be published with other Silliman lectures for 1913 

 in a Dana memorial volume by Yale University. 



The 21st Annual Meeting was then held at which the following officers 

 were elected to serve for the ensuing j'ear: President, Arthur Keith; 

 Vice-presidents, T. Wayland Vj^ughan, Arthur C. Spencer; Treas- 

 urer, Sidney Paige; Secretaries, Frank L. Hess, Clarence N. Fen- 

 ner; Members-at-large of the Council, Ernest F. Burchard, Charles 

 W. GiLMORE, D. F. Hewett, Esper S. Larsen, G. C. Martin. Vice- ' 

 president, Washington Academy of Sciences, Frederick L. Ransome. 



The 277th meeting was held at the Cosmos Club, Januarj' 14, 1914, 

 Under the head of "Informal Communications" E. G. Woodruff 



described a well at DeBeque, Colorado, with periodic discharges of oil, 



gas, and water. 



Regular Program 



Comparison of the geologic history of the Florida Reef tract with that of 

 other reef areas (illustrated) : T. Wayland Vaughan. The paper is 

 published in Journ. Washington Acad. Sci. 4:26-34. 1914. 



Some ellipsoidal lavas on Prince William Sound, Alaska (illustrated): 

 S. R. Capps. Near Ellamar, Alaska, there is a series of several thousand 

 feet of diabasic and basaltic lava flows interbedded at frequent intervals 

 with water-laid sediments. Many of the flows show ellipsoidal, spheroidal, 

 or pillow-shaped forms. It is believed that the alternation of marine 

 sediments with lava flows, all being structurally comformable, gives 

 strong evidence that the flows were poured out under water, and that 

 in this area the ellipsoidal forms of the lavas are due to sub-aqueous 

 cooling. 



The original top of a flow, where overlain by sediments, is found to 

 have an uneven surface, the sediments filling in the irregularities. 

 The bottom of the sedimentary bed is thus uneven. The top of a sedi- 

 mentary bed has an even surface, and the lavas outpoured upon it have 

 themselves conformed to this surface, and the flow is therefore smooth 

 on the bottom. This distinction was of great value in deciphering the 

 structure in an area of considerable metamorphism and steeplj^ tilted 

 rocks. 



