August 22, 1918] 



NATURE 



499 



are than that it is impossible to tell until further 

 observations have been made. 



Collections of the gases from the volcanoes were 

 made for study by the Geophysical Laboratory of the 

 Carnegie Institution. The conditions of emission are 

 such that the valley offers a unique opportunity for 



Pliiyto] [R. F. Griggs 



Fig. 3. — Novarupta Volcano. The column of dust and vapour from this great volcano, which has 



burst up through the sandstone floor of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, often obscures 



the sky for miles around. 



the collection. of volcanic gases without danger of con- 

 tamination with the atmosphere. Samples from repre- 

 sentative vents were taken, both in vacuum tubes and 

 by pumping the gases through tubes filled with barium 

 hydroxide. Observations on the ground were suffi- 

 cient to indicate the presence of a considerable variety 

 of gases. The vents likewise pro- , 

 duce a great variety of. solid de- 

 posits. These are of all colours of 

 the rainbowj and represent a con- 

 siderable diversity of chemical com- 

 position. Their study is likewise 

 being prosecuted by the Geophysical 

 Laboiatory. 



It is not possible, in advance of 

 the completion of the analyses now 

 under way, to give a definite state- 

 ment concerning the chemistry of the 

 vents. But the field observations on 

 the volcanoes, on the temperatures of 

 the vents, and on the character of 

 their emanations and sublimations 

 make it manifest that the Valley 

 of Ten Thousj.nd Smokes is not a 

 superficial phenomenon due to the 

 cooling off of a hot body of ejecta 

 or some such circumstance. It is 

 clear, rather, that its fumaroles are 

 truly volcanic vents furnishing 

 iivenues of escape for an immense 

 body of magma lying somewhere 

 beneath the surface. What the 

 relations of this mass of magma 

 may be to the explosion of Katmai and to the geology 

 of the country round about are problems which must 

 await further study. 



But while the phenomena of this district present 

 a unique opportunity for the study of some features 

 of volcanism not hitherto revealed, its remarkable 



character is destined to appeal to a wider circle than 

 that comprised by scientific vulcanologists. 



As a spectacle of the action of the grandest of all 

 the forces of Nature, the Valley of Ten Thousand 

 Smokes is so far beyond anything else known to us 

 on the globe as to make it quite certain that it will 

 rank as the first wonder of the world 

 when once its remarkable features 

 are understood by the public. For 

 here, continually rising quietly from 

 the ground without explosive action 

 of any sort, is more vapour than is 

 given' off by all the rest of the 

 world's volcanoes put together 

 (except during a period of dan- 

 gerous eruption). The majesty 

 of the sight presented by its 

 mvriads of steam columns, grace- 

 fully circling up from the ground 

 to mingle with the common cloud 

 which habitually hangs over the 

 valley, is a matchless and awe- 

 inspiring spectacle. No pictures or 

 descriptions, interesting as^ they 

 may be, can convey the slightest 

 conception of the beauty and 

 magnitude of this .wonder of 

 wonders. 



At the present time this Valley of 

 Ten Thousand Smokes is so diffi- 

 cult of access that the only human 

 beings who have ever set foot in it 

 are the members of the National 

 Geographic Society's expeditions. 

 But this difficulty is due not so much to its remote- 

 ness from ordinary- means of travel as to the generally 

 primitive and unsettled condition of the part of the 

 world in which it lies. Were means of transportation 

 provided, it would be quite possible to land from an 

 ocean liner in the morning and cover the whole of 



Photo] 

 Fk;. 4.- 



[R. F. Gri/cgs 



One of the Ten Thousand Smokes. The man seen standing silhoaetted against the cloud 

 near the vent gives an idea of the magnitude of the vent. 



the district in a single day by automobile. It would, 

 of course, require a longer period to see its mani- 

 fold wonders, and the readers of Nature will, I am 

 sure, be glad to know that the first steps towards 

 making it accessible are now being taken. 



Robert F. Griggs. 



NO. 2547, VOL. lOl] 



