Ch. 27] THE FUTURE OF THE FIELD 501 



(1) the problems and methods of sedimentary mining geology are so 

 diverse that, though they do not oppose specialization in one field or 

 another, they require intimate knowledge of several branches of geol- 

 ogy; and (2) the principles of sedimentation are little used in the pro- 

 duction of sedimentary materials, and such principles as are used are 

 elementary in nature. The first of these observations will be as true in 

 the future as it is now, but the second will not be true because the 

 demand for application of geological science will increase markedly 

 in the future for a variety of reasons. (1) New discoveries will be 

 required to offset depletion of known deposits, and to satisfy increased 

 demands created by new uses for many materials (for example, tita- 

 nium and zirconium) and by expanding markets for others (for ex- 

 ample, fertilizers, construction materials, and chemicals). Such dis- 

 coveries will be increasingly difficult to make by traditional methods. 



(2) The non-metallic industry is becoming highly competitive and will 

 soon place a higher premium on techniques that will improve the 

 product or lower the cost of mining and transportation. (3) Sedimen- 

 tary rocks are potential sources of many elements, such as vanadium, 

 nickel, zinc, uranium, and fluorine, now currently mined from deposits 

 of other types. Though sedimentary deposits of these elements do 

 not compare in tenor with other ores and are more expensive to treat, 

 they are cheaper to explore, develop, and mine. They have been little 

 investigated in the past but may be expected to receive an increasing 

 amount of attention in the near future. 



That organizations mining and searching for sedimentary mineral 

 deposits have not already called on sedimentation, and geology in 

 general, for more assistance is not wholly because they have not re- 

 quired help, or because they have been unaware of the existence of 

 these sciences. The truth is that the principles of sedimentation are 

 not yet understood or developed thoroughly enough to enable them to 

 be used widely in the exacting prediction required in ore finding and 

 mining. An ample market already exists for the services of geologists 

 who can demonstrate a sufficient knowledge of the principles of sedi- 

 menation to find, for example, a gold placer or a high-grade manganese 

 deposit, but few if any geologists are so engaged in making their for- 

 tunes. In short, the extent to which geology is used in the mining in- 

 dustry today is at least an approximate measure of its present useful- 

 ness. 



Admittedly, much more knowledge will be required to place the 

 search for sedimentary mineral deposits on a wholly scientific footing, 

 but considerable progress in that direction could be achieved by use 

 of information already at hand. To what extent have the principles 



