166 W. CEOS? GEOLOGY IX THE WORLD AVAR AXD AFTER 



The magnitude and extent of the struggle made the mineral resources 

 of the TTorld a critical factor in many directions. We have been told at 

 this meeting of the ways in which the training of the economic geologist 

 has fitted him to promote the production of war minerals, or to show the 

 relations of mineral resources to various phases of war administration. 



It seems appropriate at the close of this meeting of the Geological 

 Society to consider the ways in which the special knowledge of the geol- 

 ogist has been utilized at the battle front, much of it for the first time in 

 the history of war. The opportunity to learn of this use of geology has 

 come to me largely as the representative of the Society in the Xational 

 Research Council, and hence it appears desirable to review the war-time 

 work of the Division of Geology and Geography in the Eesearch Council. 

 A part of this address will be devoted to such a review. 



Fiaally. it is important to consider the influence of war conditions on 

 our science and to emphasize problems of the immediate future to which 

 we must address ourselves. 



War Geology 

 the role of geology ix earlier wars 



War has developed from a contest of brute force and primitive weapons, 

 between barbaric tribes, to a world conflict in which all the resources of 

 science have been called into play by the specially trained minds of what 

 we have perhaps mistakenly thought of as the most civilized nations. An 

 aggressive war implies invasion of the enemies' country, and strategic 

 control of campaign requires a choice of the avenues of attack, while a 

 plan of defense implies resistance at the most favorable points. 



The routes of approach and the positions for defense have been and 

 must always be determined primarily by topographic and geographic con- 

 ditions. The defenders have fortified the positions indicated by surface 

 features as most favorable for blocking the advance of the intruder. 

 Cities, harbors, and other important localities must be defended by forti- 

 fications within a limited space. Geology has, of course, entered into the 

 selection of many positions for fortifications, whether this factor has been 

 realized or not by those making the selections. To one understanding the 

 physiographic development of a region, its recent geological history, the 

 reasons for the noted strength of certain positions is clear. 



It is impossible at this time to relate in detail the story of the use of 

 geology in developing the science of fortification warfare from the time 

 when precipitous walls, natural or artificial, made a fortress invincible, 

 to the days of 1914. which witnessed the triumph of modem artillery and 



