Geophysical Abstracts 165 April-June 1956 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1048-B Geophysical Abstracts 165 April-June 1956 By MARY C. RABBITT, DOROTHY B. VITALIANO, S. T. VESSELOWSKY, and others GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1048-B Abstracts of current literature pertaining to the physics of the solid earth and to geophysical exploration UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1956 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fred A. Seaton, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents (single copy). Subscription price: $1.00 a year; 35 cents additional for foreign mailing. The printing of this publication has been approved by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, March 5, 1956. CONTENTS Page Introduction,_______________*_____________________________________ 93 Extent of coverage______________________________________ 93 List of journals_____________________________________________ 93 Form of citation_____ T _______________________________ 94 Abstractors.. ______________________________________________ 94 Age determinations._______________________________________________ 95 Earthquakes and earthquake waves__________________________________ 99 Earth tides and related phenomena_____________________________ 110 Elasticity______________________________________ 112 Electrical exploration._______________________________________ 119 Electrical logging__________________________________________ 126 Electrical properties.____________________________________________ 128 Exploration summaries and statistics_________________________ 129 General geophysics._______________________________________________ 131 131 Geotectonics__ __ ____ __ ___ _____ ___ ___ ______ __ _ _____ 132 Glaciers _ ____ __ __ __ ___________ _______ _____ __ ___ ___- 133 Gravity.. ... __ _ _ _______ __ _ ___ _ _ ___ _____________ 134 Heat and heat flow. ___ _ _______ _________________________ _ _____ 144 Internal constitution. ___ _ 146 149 Isotope geology- ______ _ _. 150 Magnetic field of the earth _____ 153 156 162 166 166 Radioactivity logging and surve ying _ _ _ _ _ 172 176 185 185 185 189 in GEOPHYSICAL ABSTRACTS 165, APRIL-JUNE 1956 By MARY C. RABBITT, DOROTHY B. VITALIANO, S. T. VESSELOWSKY, and others INTRODUCTION EXTENT OF COVERAGE Geophysical Abstracts includes abstracts of technical papers and books on the physics of the solid earth, the application of physical methods and techniques to geologic problems^ and geophysical ex- ploration. The table of 3ontents, which is alphabetically arranged, shows the material covered. Abstracts are prepared only of material that is believed to be generally available. Ordinarily abstracts are not published of ma­ terial with limited circulation (such as dissertations, open-file reports, or memoranda) or of papers presented orally at meetings unless sum­ maries of substantial length are published. Abstracts of papers in Japanese and Chinese a e based on abstracts or summaries in a western language accompanying the paper. LIST OF JOURNALS The following list supplements the List of Journals published in Geophysical Abstracts 160 (January-March 1955, Bulletin 1033-A) and the supplements published in Geophysical Abstracts 161, 162, 163, and 164. Full titles and abbreviations of journals cited for the first time in this issue [with the sponsoring organization and its address where these do not form part of the title) are given. Akad. Nauk SSSR Lab. vi|lkanol. Trudy Trudy Laboratorii vulkanologii, Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskva. Arctic Arctic Institute of North America, Montreal, Canada. Ceskoslovenske Akad. Ved Geofys. Ustavu Pr£ce, Geofys. Sbornfk Prdce Geofysikalniho Ustavu Ceskoslovensk£ Akademie V§d Geofysikalnf Sbornfk. Praha. Colliery Guardian London. Dansk Geol. Foren. Medd. Meddelelser fra Dansk Geologisk Forening. K0ben- havn. Jour. Nuclear Energy Journal of Nuclear Energy. Pergamon Press, London. Mineria (Peru) Institute de Ingenieros de Minas del Peru. Lima. Nagoya Univ. Jour. Earth Sci. Journal of Earth Sciences Nagoya University. Japan. North Dakota Geol. Survey Rept. Inv. North Dakota Geological Survey, Report of Investigation. Grand Forks, N. Dak. 93 94 GEOPHYSICAL ABSTRACTS 165, APRIL-JTJNE 1956 Philippine Geologist Society of Philippine Geologists, Manila, P. I. Portugal Servigo de Fomento Mineiro Estudos, Notas e Trabalhos Estudos, Notas e Trabalhos do Servigo de Fomento Mineiro. Oporto. Quart. Jour. Seismology Quarterly Journal of Seismology. Central Meteoro­ logical Observatory, Tokyo. Tulsa Geol. Soc. Digest Tulsa Geological Society Digest. Tulsa, Okla. Wyoming Geol. Assoc. Guidebook Wyoming Geological Association, Laramie. Zeitschr. Gletscherkunde u. Glazialgeologie Zeitschrift fur Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie. Universitatsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck, Austria. FORM OF CITATION The abbreviations of journal titles used are those adopted by the U. S. Geological Survey and used in many geological journals. For papers in most languages other than English, the title is given in the original language as well as in translation. Slavic names and titles have been transliterated by the system used by the United States Board on Geographic Names. This system of transliteration for Russian was given in Geophysical Abstracts 148 (January-March 1952, Bulletin 991-A). Titles of papers in Japanese and Chinese are given in translation only. ABSTRACTORS Abstracts have been prepared by J. R. Balsley, P. E. Byerly, W. J. Dempsey, W. H. Diment, R. G. Henderson, George V. Keller, D. R. Mabey, Virginia S. Neuschel, L. C. Pakiser, and Isidore Zietz as well as by the principal authors. The notation "Author's abstract" followed by the initials of an abstractor indicates a translation of the author's abstract. AC DETERMINATIONS 165-1. Hahn, Otto. Radioactive methods for geological and biologic age de- terminations: Sci Monthly, v. 82, no. 5, p. 258-265, 1956. A review of methods of age determination, including the lead, helium, rubidium-strontium, potass; ium-ealcium, potassium-argon, carbon-14, and tritium methods. V. S. N. 165-2. Levi, Hilde. Bibliography of radiocarbon dating: Quaternaria, v. 2, p. 257-263, 1955. This bibliography of pa 3ers on the principles, methods and results of radio- carbon dating, compiled bj the K0benhavn laboratory, covers the years 1946-54. Annual supplements are planned. D. B. V. 165-3. McCallum, G. J. Evaluation of the accuracy of the New Zealand radiocarbon dating method: New Zealand Jour. Sci. Technology, sec. B, v. 37, no . 3, p. 370-381, 1955. The radiocarbon dating apparatus using the CO2-filled counter has been in operation for more than a year and has proved stable for that period. Limits of error are ± 1 standard deviation. Sources of error include variation in the half-life of C14 ; chemical exchange of C14 or physical intrusion of other carbon; isotopic fractionation; and the effect of industrial CO2 in the atmosphere. It is felt that consistency of results now justifies the use of two standard deviations (2<r), rather than four, as defining the maximum measureable age. Improve- ments now being planned include increase in sensitive volume, automatic correc- tion voltage, and a multi ihannel printometer. An appendix shows variations in the ratio of beta rays to alpha rays in the radon decay series. D. B. V. 165-4. Gill, Edmund D. Radiocarbon dates for Australian archaeological and geological samp js: Australian Jour. Sci., v. 18, no. 2, p. 49-52, 1955. The results of radiocarbon dating of 13 late Quaternary samples from Aus­ tralia, made at four different laboratories, are compiled chronologically in a table which includes description of each sample and its geologic, climatic, and biological history. After stressing the need for extreme care in collecting samples for dating, Gill in conclusion "regards this as, the fundamental point in using C14 dates to determine precisely what has been dated." D. B. V. 165-5. Schwarzbaeh, M., and Mtinnich, K. O. Zur Bestimmung des absoluten Alters der Gr£b6k -Vulkane (West-Island) [On the determination of the absolute age of Gr£b6k volcano (western Iceland)]: Naturw., Jahrg. 43, Heft 8, p. 177, 1956. Radiocarbon dating of thin peat layer in fresh-water sediments, definitely older than the lava from Grab6k, in western Iceland, sets an upper limit of 3,700 ±120 years for the age of the volcano. The lower limit is A. D. 870, the date of settlement of Iceland. The age is probably between 1,100 and 3,700 years, A weathered tuff direct! overlying the sediments probably corresponds to Hekla Ash H*, which has been dated as 3,830 ±120 years old. D. B. V. 95 96 GEOPHYSICAL ABSTRACTS 165, APRIL-JUNE 1956 165-6. Bradley, William G. Carbon-14 date for a marine terrace at Santa Cruz, California: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 67, no. 5, p. 675-677, 1956. Mollusk shells pitting the 100-foot wave-cut terrace on the California coast in the vicinity of Santa Cruz have been determined by radiocarbon analysis to be more than 39,000 years old. It is concluded that the emergence which led to the formation of this terrace began at some time prior to that time, which is in agreement with other recent work in southern California and Australia. D. B. V. 165-7. Ruhe, Robert V. Radiocarbon dates and Pleistocene chronological problems in the Mississippi Valley region: A discussion: and Leighton, Morris M. A reply: Jour. Geology, v. 64, no. 2, p. 191-194, 1956. A discussion of Horberg's paper "Radiocarbon dates and Pleistocene chrono­ logical problems in the