376 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. 15 



the relative importance of secondary processes has not yet been fully deter- 

 mined. R. W. Stone. 



GUOLOGY .—Potash resources of Nebraska. W. B. Hicks. U. S. Geol. 

 Survey Bull. 715-1. Pp. 15(125-39). 1921. 

 Describes the location, area, and probable potash content of the alkali 

 lakes in the sand-hill region of Nebraska, and discusses the composition of 

 the brine and origin of the potash. R. W. Stone. 



GEOLOGY.- — Mineral resources of the Goodnews Bay region, Alaska. George 

 L. Harrington. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 714-E. Pp. 22(207-28). 

 1921. 



The Goodnews Bay region as here considered embraces the territory lying 

 south of Arolic River and draining into Kuskokwim Bay, Alaska. In 

 many respects this region is one of the most inaccessible in Alaska for a 

 small expedition. For a number of years it has been necessary to come 

 overland from the Yukon either by the portage or by way of Iditarod, or 

 to travel in a kayak or canoe, or by small schooner or sailing boat from 

 Togiak. 



The sedimentary rocks comprise limestone, argillite, sandstone, and con- 

 glomerate, and the metamorphosed equivalents of most of these. A con- 

 siderable variety of igneous rocks is also found, including basalt flows, 

 dikes that were taken in the field to be andesites, and intrusive granites, 

 with some massive intrusives that are probably intermediate in composition 

 between the granite and the basalt. A large part of the region is covered 

 by unconsolidated deposits of alluvial, glacio-fluviatile, and marine origin. 



Gold placer mining is the principal interest. The original deposition 

 of the gold in fissures associated with quartz was probably genetically re- 

 lated to the intrusion of the late Mesozoic granites into the sedimentary 

 and earlier igenous rocks, which range from Paleozoic to probably late Meso- 

 zoic in age. From the original deposits the gold has been eroded by streams 

 and other agencies, not including glaciation, and has been concentrated in 

 placers by some streams, mainly those in the vicinity of the granites. Glacial 

 erosion has removed most of the gold-placer deposits and has scattered the 

 gold widely over a considerable area in amounts not suitable for profitable 

 mining. 



Postglacial concentration has been effected by some streams in connection 

 with the erosion of the rocks containing auriferous veins. R. W. Stone. 



GEOLOGY.^ — Potash deposits in Spain. H. S. Gale. U. S. Geol. Survey 

 Bull. 715-A. Pp. 16, pis. 3, figs. 3. 1920. 



Potash was discovered in Spain in 1912, during an attempt to open a salt 

 mine near Suria, Province of Barcelona. Evidence gained in a shaft and 

 several borings convinced local engineers that the deposits contain 200,000,000 

 tons of piure potash (K2O), and in 1918 a mine shaft and a refining plant were 

 begun. The shaft is located near the axis of an anticline, in a zone of intense 

 folding, and the potash and associated salt beds are probably much con- 

 torted; such contortions are seen in the beds in the crest of the anticline at 

 Cardona, 8 miles distant, where salt is extensively mined. The evidence 

 of the existence of potash in the Cardona deposits, however, is not very 

 definite, and information as to the occurrence in the surrounding region is 

 meager. Many concessions for prospecting and exploitation in an area 

 of 400 square miles have already been granted, and the Government has re- 



