Continental Units Research Articles

Clay Minerals in Selected Argentine Triassic Units: ABSTRACT

Three Upper Triassic (Rhaetian) formations which crop out in the Hoyada de Ischigualasto, San Juan Province, Argentina, have been analyzed partly for clay-mineral content. These continental units are conformable. From oldest to youngest, they are known as Estratos de los Rastros, Estratos de Ischigualasto, and Estratos de los Colorados. More than 80 samples representing observable changes in lithologic characteristics were taken at irregular intervals from 30 meters below to 30 meters above the two interformational boundaries. In the section studied, the boundary between the two lower formations is not well defined, either on lithologic or paleontologic characteristics, and that between the upper two formations is transitional in nature (through about 30 meters). The Estratos de los Colorados (redbeds with abundant gypsum) have illite as their principal, and in most cases only, clay mineral component. The two underlying formations contain an assemblage of kaolinite, montmorillonite, and illite. It is probable that the clay mineralogy reflects the environment in which it developed. The Estratos de los Colorados are thought to represent a desert environment in which alkaline conditions and the presence of potassium would be propitious for the formation of illite. The two underlying units, however, are dominantly composed of lacustrine deposits, commonly carbonaceous or bearing thin coal seams, and represent an environment different from that of the Estratos de los Colorados, i.e., a humid, reducing environment in which cations could be leached a ay and kaolinite would develop. The clay mineralogy may be useful for locating more exactly the interformational boundary between the Estratos de los Colorados and the Estratos de Ischigualasto. However, there does not appear to be any significant difference in the clay mineralogy of the Estratos de Ischigualasto and the Estratos de los Rastros which would indicate the presence of an interformational boundary. End_of_Article - Last_Page 481------------

Russia's Proposed New World Order of Socialism

A distinguishing characteristic of the debate centering around American foreign policy is its concern over what kind of post-war world may be expected to emerge from the present conflict. On one point there seems to be fairly general agreement; namely, that it is neither possible nor desirable to restore the status quo of 1939; that there must, and will, be some sort of international reorganization, tending toward economic and political integration; that some new world order is bound to come. What are the alternative new world orders with which we are confronted? What would be their relative contribution to a just and durable peace for mankind in general, and for the Western Hemisphere and America in particular? Most frequent proposals for a new world order are those associated with the Axis or the British-American belligerents, or with the one major power which has remained neutral in this conflict, the Soviet Union.* The Axis powers have formally proclaimed their intention to redivide the world into several continental units, each ruled by a specified master race. Similarly, although more vaguely and with