34 



Indiana University Studies 



right angles. Wagner, who described them as occurring along frac- 

 tures, stresses this point when he says that, whereas under the pressure 

 theory the sutures must follow the planes of stratification, in the solu- 

 tion theory they may intersect the stone in any direction. 



Conclusions. Altho the various theories of the origin of 

 stylolites have had a scattered following among scientists in 

 the past, no one theory has received definite acceptance be- 

 cause of insufficient proof. Conclusive evidence in support 

 of the solution theory was revealed by the writer's field in- 

 vestigation of stylolites. Not only were the obsei^vations and 

 conclusions of Fuchs, Reis, and Wagner corroborated, for the 

 most part, but an abundance of new and further convincing 

 evidence was obtained. The writer presents an explanation 

 of stylolites by the solution theory, and the complete evi- 

 dence in support of it, in the following chapter (see p. 46). 



