TEE STRENGTH OF THE EARTH'S CRUST 165 



capacity of the crust under the United States to carry over areas of 

 from 5 to 10 or 15 square degrees, and exceptionally over even larger 

 areas, departures from equilibrium greater than the mean. This 

 agrees in order of areal magnitude with the Nile and Niger deltas. 

 However, the influence of irregularity in the distribution of com- 

 pensation with depth, and the magnitude of stress per unit area 

 remain to be investigated. 



[To be continued] 



