368 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



GEOLOGY. 



Chamberlin, T. C, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Study of funda- 

 mental problems of geology. (For previous reports see Year Books Nos, 

 2-13.) 



The larger part of the year was given to a continuance of the inquiry'- 

 into the derivation of the earth's primary features from the mode of 

 its growth and from its adjustment to the stresses that arose during 

 its formative stages. The ultimate purpose of this inquiry is to deduce, 

 if possible, the secular status and the dynamic conditions of the interior 

 as well as the exterior of the earth which were thus transmitted to its 

 later history and became its chief controlhng factors. July and August 

 were spent at Mount Wilson Observatory at the invitation of its 

 Director in the preparation of a system of tentative working interpre- 

 tations of nebula3 based essentially on dynamic considerations, with a 

 view to serviceabihty in systematic researches on the nature and his- 

 tory of nebulae and their evolutionary place in the stellar system. 



Vaughan, T. Wayland, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, District of 

 Columbia. Study of the stratigraphic geology and of the fossil corals and 

 associated organisms in several of the smaller West Indian Islands. (For 

 previous report see Year Book No. 13.) 



An account of the expedition to the northern Leeward and Virgin 

 Islands in January to March 1914, with a statement of its objects, 

 was given in the Year Book of the Institution for 1914, pp. 358-360. 

 It was also stated that the collections of fossils had received the neces- 

 sary preparatory work, had been sorted and segregated according to 

 the respective groups represented, and had been distributed among 

 speciahsts for study. As the manuscripts on the collections are now 

 either complete or nearing completion, a report on their present status, 

 according to the groups represented, is here rendered. Before making 

 the statement it should be said that the standards for the geologic 

 correlations are derived from the Coastal Plain of the southeastern 

 United States and from Panama, where the stratigraphic succession 

 is accurately known. An attempt is being made biologically to char- 

 acterize each of the geologic formations in each of these regions, and 

 reports covering the paleobotany and the invertebrate paleontology 

 for the entire succession for both regions are rapidly nearing comple- 

 tion. Many volumes have already been published or submitted for 

 publication by the U. S. Geological Survey and U. S. National Museum, 

 besides those issued by other institutions. The specialists studying 

 the West Indian collections are those making the regional studies for 

 the southeastern United States and Panama, thereby having a proper 

 basis for comparing floras or faunas throughout the areas bounding 

 the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. 



