REPORT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON GEOPHYSICS 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



I. Introductory Statement 26 



(a) The Need for Laboratories of Geophysics 27 



{b) The Province of Laboratories of Geophysics .... 28 



{c) Some of the Problems to be Investigated 29 



{d) Some now Urgent Specific Problems 33 



II. Laboratory of Geophysics in Washmgton 35 



{a) Construction 36 



(d) Administration 39 



{c) Expense Involved 42 



Appendix i. Project for a Geophysical Laboratory ; by G. F Becker 44 



Part I. Outline of Geophysical Research 44 



Part II. Plant required 53 



Appendix 2. Communications from Distinguished Scientists relative to a 



Geophysical Laboratory 5& 



I, Introductory Statement. 



To the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institution. 



Gentlemen : Your Advisory Committee to whom were referred 

 the several questions relative to researches in geophysics, have had 

 the same under very careful and prolonged deliberation, and submit 

 herewith their conclusions. The Committee on Physics and Geology 

 have jointly considered all matters relative to geophysical researches, 

 while the Committee on Geology has considered questions essentially 

 geological, and the deliberations of the Committee on Phj^sics have 

 been wholly independent. The joint deliberations of the committees 

 on the actual problems presented have developed the fact that many 

 of the geological and geophysical problems blend into each other so 

 intimately as to oflfer no good cleavage line for practical separation, 

 while the researches in pure physics are definitely separable from 

 geopIi)'sics. Our final conclusion is that the researches in geo- 

 physics should be intimately associated with those in geology in 

 administration, while those in physics should be administered inde- 

 pendently. 



The attention of the committee was largely occupied in consid- 

 ering the most advantageous method of providing for the experi- 

 mentation which is indispensable to the progress of the profounder 

 studies of earth problems. 



(26) 



