BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 

 Vol. 23, pp. 93-124 March 21, 1912 



RELATION OF GEOGRAPHY TO GEOLOGY ' 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, W. M. DAVIS 



(Read before the Society December 29, 1911) 



CONTENTS 



Page 



iDtroduction 03 



Part I. The use of explanatory geological matter as a means to a geo- 

 graphical end 94 



An explanatory description of the Colorado Front Range 94 



Geological elements in geographical descriptions J)5 



Classification of the sciences 97 



Geographical pertinence of explanatory phrases 99 



The expansion of condensed phrases into their fnll meaning 10<) 



Implicit explanations in geographical terms 102 



Technical explanatory treatment of land forms 103 



Part II. The necessity of explanatory ti-eatnient in modern geography... 104 



Empirical and explanatorj- geographical descriptions 104 



Advantages of explanatory treatment 105 



Grounds of choice between empirical and explanatory methods 10(5 



Trend of modern geography toward explanatory treatment 108 



Limitation of geological elements in geographical descriptions 109 



The geological nature of certain geographical studies Ill 



Part III. The diminution of apparently geological matter in geographical 



descriptions 112 



The advantage of terms over phrases 112 



An experiment in the invention of a term II5 



Morvans of different kinds II7 



The Colorado Front Range is a morvan 118 



Concealed geological meaning in various geographical terms 119 



Part IV. The relation of geography to geology 12o 



Geography is the geology of today 12o 



Reasons for maintaining each as a separate science 122 



Introduction 



Nearly a year ago I had occasion to speak at a meeting of the Geo- 

 logical Society of Washington on the subject "Geographical Descriptions 

 in Geological Publications," with special reference to an explanatory 



1 Read before the Society December 29, 1911. 

 Manuscript received by the Secretary of the Society January 18, 1912. 



(«3) 



