VOLUME XXIX NUMBER 8 
THE 
JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY 
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1921 
DIASTROPHISM AND THE FORMATIVE PROCESSES 
XV. THE SELF-COMPRESSION OF THE EARTH AS A 
PROBLEM OF ENERGY 
T. C. CHAMBERLIN 
The University of Chicago 
The discoveries of the last three decades have led to new views 
of the constitution of matter, new evaluations of cosmic energy, 
new estimates of evolutionary rates, and new concepts of the time 
factor generally. Nearly all the fundamental concepts of geology 
need some degree of revision in the light of these radical advances. 
Among the rest there is need to rectify the concept of the earth’s 
compression. 
THE CONCEPT OF COMPRESSION IN THE LIGHT OF NEW 
CONCEPTS OF MATTER 
So long as matter was supposed to be formed of minute irre- 
ducible atoms, it was logical to assume that when these atoms 
were pressed into contact there was an end of compression. It 
was also quite natural to build upon this mechanical concept a 
merely mechanical notion of the process of compression. The 
new discoveries, however, lead to the view that the atom is a 
highly dynamic organization, a complex revolutional system, 
carrying within itself prodigious stores of energy and a structure 
as open as a planetary system. The materialistic factors—if 
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