Stockdale: Stylolites 



31 



stylolites. The fact that there occur fossils which have been 

 partially dissolved away, or entirely cut thru by stylolite col- 

 umns, without any evidence pointing to their having been 

 mechanically disturbed from their original positions, is suf- 

 ficient proof of this. 



2. Horizontal and oblique stylolites possess the same 

 marked characteristics as the common vertical ones; namely 

 the presence of clay caps, and striations on the sides. 



3. The clay cap, formed as a residue and coming to rest 

 at the end of the undissolved portion, would serve as a fur- 

 ther protection to the unattacked part. This clay cap is 

 always present and should be considered a part of the stylo- 

 lite. Fossils, which crovni the columns as a result of having 

 been more resistant to solution than the opposite rock, often 

 determine the shape of the stylolites. 



The work of Reis is considered difficult to understand 

 because of the unusual amount of detail. It is given a partial 

 review by Wagner (1913, pp. 110-111). 



Investigations of Wagner. The work of Wagner (1913, 

 pp. 101-128) on ''Stylolithen und Drucksuturen" is the most 

 exhaustive and conclusive that has been done on the origin 

 of stylolitic phenomena. Wagner's investigations were made, 

 for the most part, in the Muschelkalk. He described and dis- 

 cussed, in detail, numerous complexities of structure; such as 

 horizontal and oblique stylolites; curved stylolites; stylolite- 

 bands crossing one another, even at right angles ; and parallel 

 stylolite-bands intersecting, or "boring" into one another. His 

 paper is accompanied by several plates and figures. 



After reviewing some of the theories of the origin of 

 stylolites, Wagner took up a critical discussion of the differ- 

 ences between "Drucksuturen" and ''Stylolithen" and arrived 

 at the conclusion that the primary distinction between the 

 phenomena is only a matter of size and form; that no sharp 

 distinction can be made between the two, since all sorts of 

 transition forms are found; that typically jagged lines of the 

 ''Drucksuturen" variety grade into typical stylolite-seams. 

 Various transition forms have been described by Freiesleben. 

 Kloden, Quenstedt, Hall, Suess, Fuchs, Reis, and Bittner. 

 Rothpletz described only the extreme forms and thus arrived 

 at his conclusion that they were of different origin. 



In support of the solution theory, Wagner corroborated 



