Western United Research Articles

IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND POLICY FAILURE: THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1982

We examine the role of environmental assessments in the siting process mandated under the ambitious Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. We analyze the effect of these assessments in both the western and eastern United States using the original documents, critiques of the methodology of the assessments, and public comments on the siting process, including a content analysis of hearings in Wisconsin and Maine. We conclude that the major effect of the assessments on the policy process was to stimulate public and state opposition to the Department of Energy's efforts to implement NWPA, leading to what could be called policy failure and a significant redirection of the act by Congress in late 1987. The paper represents an early report of a more comprehensive and ongoing study of the politics of nuclear waste disposal.

Early proterozoic continental accretion in the canadian shield: Evidence from U-Pb geochronology of reactivated Archean crust in the labrador trough and Thompson Belt

The Glenelg-Attadale Inlier of the northwest Highlands of Scotland comprises a Western Unit (WU) containing Trondhjemite-Tonalite-Granodiorite (TTG) gneisses and subordinate mafic bodies and an Eastern Unit (EU) containing abundant mafic rocks (eclogite), minor ultrabasic bodies and manganiferous metasedimentary rocks and marbles intercalated with intermediate to acid gneiss. The boundary between these two units is an amphibolite facies ductile shear zone, which contains kinematic criteria indicating a top-to-the-west (contractional) sense of shear. The EU was exhumed from eclogite facies to amphibolite facies conditions of the mid-crust at ca. 1000 Ma via amphibolite facies ductile shearing. A series of shear zones with identical metamorphic grade and kinematics occur at the contacts of the EU with the WU and the surrounding Moine Supergroup.In this study, an attempt is made to directly date the shear zone between the EU and WU, which also contains Moine Supergroup metasediments. A U–Pb titanite age of 669 ± 31 Ma, from syn-kinematic titanite within a mylonite, indicates a minimum age for movement on this shear zone, demonstrating that it must be Late-Proterozoic in age, and not Caledonian as previously supposed. If the shear zone is Grenvillian (ca. 1000 Ma) in age, this would then require that the Moine be deposited before ca. 1000 Ma in order to undergo burial to the mid-crust at this time. However, the youngest detrital zircons in the Moine indicate a maximum deposition age of 1000 Ma and, therefore, preclude this possibility. An alternative possibility is that movement along this shear zone was punctuated, with an initial phase involving uplift of eclogites to the mid-crust at ca. 1000 Ma, followed by a further period of top-to-the-west shearing, coupling of the Moine Supergroup and EU in the mid-crust during a putative Neoproterozoic “Knoydartian” orogenic event. However, since there are now three contractional “orogenic” events affecting the Moine, ca. 820, 740 and 670 Ma, it is suggested here that the term “Knoydartian” is no longer well-defined and requires re-appraisal.A later phase of extensional ductile shearing and large-scale folding, during a period of lower amphibolite facies metamorphism, is shown to be broadly Caledonian, based on a 437 ± 6 Ma U–Pb titanite age from a pegmatite, that is deformed during this event, and prior to movement along the Moine Thrust Zone. This further suggests an Ordovician “Grampian” orogenic event within the Northwest Highlands of Scotland.

Similarity of anomalous sea level pressure fields during the July 1986 and September 1987 southern California Quakes—Accidental or Indicative?

Moderate size earthquakes in Southern California in July 1986 and October 1987 were associated with similar antecedent monthly mean anomaly patterns of sea level pressure over the far western contiguous United States and eastern North Pacific. This apparent relationship and a long time series of such patterns in past Julys and Octobers suggest that further research of this nature might be of value in earthquake prediction.

Geophysical surveys on the Lizard Complex, Cornwall

Bouguer gravity anomalies over the Lizard have been interpreted in terms of a lower tectonic sheet of hornblende schists and metasediments, structurally overlain by a sheet of peridotite and gabbro. The upper tectonic unit shows a lateral variation from harzburgite peridotite, gabbro and a dyke complex in the east to lherzolite peridotite and cumulate complex in the west. This might indicate structural separation into eastern and western units, or primary igneous variation. At Lizard point, the minimum thickness of the lower Landewednack hornblende schists, on the basis of residual gravity anomalies, is about 700 m, while in the eastern ophiolite unit the minimum thickness of the gabbro and hornblende schists is about 1.5 km. The western lherzolite peridotite is generally less than 400 m thick, whereas the eastern harzburgite peridotite is possibly 600 m thick. A strong aeromagnetic anomaly, with a maximum over the peridotite SW of Coverack, extends both offshore and to the NW, across the mapped contact of the Crousa gabbro and western peridotite, and over the Traboe cumulate complex. At ground level, this anomaly appears to be discontinuous. Although the maximum surface magnetic anomalies occur over thin horizons in the Traboe cumulate complex, a zone of discontinuous, high frequency, high amplitude anomalies extends across the mapped Crousa gabbro and indicates a zone of varied gabbroic and associated rocks which mark the real southern boundary of the Crousa gabbro.

Plant-determined variation in cardenolide content and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies,Danaus plexippus reared on milkweed plants in California

Variation in gross cardenolide concentration of the mature leaves of 85Asclepias californica plants collected in four different areas of California is a positively skewed distribution ranging from 9 to 199 μg of cardenolide per 0.1 g dry weight with a mean of 66 μg/0.1 g. Butterflies reared individually on these plants in their native habitats contained a normal distribution of cardenolide ranging from 59 to 410 μg of cardenolide per 0.1 g dry weight with a mean of 234 μg. Cardenolide uptake by the butterflies was a logarithmic function of plant concentration. Total cardenolide per butterfly ranged from 143 to 823 μg with a mean of 441 μg and also was normally distributed. Populational variation of plant cardenolide concentrations occurs within subspecies, but the northern subspeciesA. c. greenei does not differ significantly from the southernA. c. californica. Generally higher concentrations occur in butterflies from northern populations and in females. No evidence was adduced that cardenolides in the plants adversely affected the butterflies. Low cardenolide concentrations in the leaves and the absence of cardenolides in the latex characterize bothA. californica andA. speciosa, but notA. eriocarpa. Thin-layer chromatography in two solvent systems isolated 24 cardenolide spots in the plants, of which 18 are stored by the butterflies. There was a minor difference in the cardenolide spot patterns due to geographic origin of the plants, but as in our previous studies, none in the sexes of the butterflies. UnlikeA. eriocarpa andA. speciosa, A. californica plants lack cardenolides withRf values greater than digitoxigenin. Overall, the cardenolides of bothA. californica andA. speciosa are more polar than those inA. eriocarpa. A. californica plants contain cardenolides of the calotropagenin series including calotropin, calactin, and uscharidin, and the latter is metabolically transformed by monarch larvae to calactin and calotropin. Cardenolides of this series also occur inA. vestita, andA. cordifolia from California, the neotropicalA. curassavica, and the AfricanCalotropis procera, Gomphocarpus spp., andPergularia extenso; they therefore cross established taxonomic lines.A. californica is the predominant early season milkweed in California and may be important in providing chemical protection to the spring generation of monarchs in the western United States.A. speciosa, A. eriocarpa, andA. californica each imparts distinctive cardenolide fingerprints to the butterflies, so that ecological predictions are amenable to testing.

Relation of Unconformities, Tectonics, and Sea Level Changes, Cretaceous of Western Interior, United States and Canada: ABSTRACT

Intrabasin tectonics have influenced patterns of deposition and geographic distribution of major unconformities within the Cretaceous of the Western Interior. Eight major regional to subregional unconformities have been identified. Five of these have been related by previous workers to sea level changes and to well-documented regressive-transgressive cycles. New studies of recurrent movement on basement-controlled fault blocks suggest a synchronous relation among fault block movement, sea level changes, and unconformities. Which fault blocks moved on the basin floor, and when, can be explained by stress fields generated by direction and rates of plate motion. Unconformities associated with north-northwest fault trends are caused by more westerly movement, and those associated with east-northeast trends by more northerly plate motion. Expansion of the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean during these plate motions may account for associated sea level changes. The 81 to 82 m.y. unconformity and shoreline regression in the Western Interior and synchronous volcanic events on the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico illustr te the relations. Uncertainty exists in dating many of the unconformities. However, by use of the time scale of Obradovich and Cobban, the approximate dates for unconformities are estimated as follows: (1) late Neocomian to early Aptain, >100 m.y.; (2) late Aptian-early Albian, 100 m.y. ±; (3) Albian, 96 to 97 m.y.; (4) early Cenomanian, 93 m.y. ±; (5) Turonian to early Coniacian, 87 to 88 m.y.; (6) late Coniacian-early Santonian, 81 to 82 m.y.; (7) late Campanian 71 to 74 m.y.; and (8) late Maestrichtian, 64 to 69 m.y. Several billion barrels of oil have been found in sandstones associated with unconformities in the Cretaceous. Future stratigraphic trap exploration will be guided by a knowledge of tectonic influence on sedimentation during sea level changes and how these factors controlled distribution of source rock, migration patterns, reservoir rock, and seal. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1006------------

Geology of the Kjølhaugan area, eastern Trøndelag, central Scandinavian Caledonides

Abstract The bedrock of the Kjolhaugan area is subdivided into the Seve-Koli Nappe Complex overlain by the Trondheim Nappe. The former comprises mica schists and amphibolites (Seve) overlain by garbenschiefer (Koli). The upper (western) unit is a segment of the Trondheim Nappe Complex. It overlies the Seve-Koli Nappe Complex in the western limb of the Sylarna-Riksgransen Antiform and is composed of metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The upper units of the succession have been investigated in detail in the vicinity of Mount Kjolhaugan and a new stratigraphy has been established based on re-interpretation of the structure. Graptolite-bearing black phyllites (Llandoverian age) of the Slagan Group occur in the vertical to overturned (60°W) limb of the Liafjellet Syncline, and are overlain to the east by the turbidites of the Liafjellet Group. The Slagan Group passes westwards, downwards into the inverted stratigraphy of the Kjolhaugan Group, which in turn passes down into the Sulamo Group with the ...

Outline of the geology and mineralization of the nubian shield east of the Nile Valley, Sudan

Abstract The Red Sea Hills physiographic province and the interior plains to the Nile in the west are made up of basement complex rocks in which four major stratigraphic-metamorphic units have been recognized. The oldest, western unit is a quartzo-feldspathic grey gneiss group, overlain by amphibolite grade metasedimentary quartzofeldspathic psammites, limestones and pelites with amphibolite sheets. In Sudan these rocks are called Kashebib Group, in Egypt Mitiq gneisses, and in Saudi Arabia they probably correspond to the Hali Group. The older rocks are overlain and interfolded with a predominantly andesitic volcanic group referred to as the Greenschist Assemblage, in which serpentines occur, especially in the Eastern Desert. The rocks correspond to the Nafirdeib Group sequences in Sudan, the Shadli and other volcanics in Egypt, and probably the Bahah, Jiddah * and Halaban Groups of the Arabian Shield. All these units are intruded by the “batholithic granite„ granodiorite-adamellite-diorite, and by “younger granite„ granite-syenite-gabbro plutons of ring-complex type, with which are associated extrusive phases incorporating the unmetamorphosed Awat, Asoteriba and Homagar volcanics of Sudan, the Dokhan of Egypt, and the Sfiammar volcanics of Arabia. Known mineralization of economic potential is restricted in Sudan to auriferous quartz veins and hydrothermal iron ores in the Greenschist Assemblage, and tin-tungsten in younger granite complexes and chromite in the ultrabasics. The regional tectonic structure is one of reactivated Pan-African granitic crust extending across most of both Nubian and Arabian Shields, overlain near the central axis, along the Red Sea, by andesitic assemblages with serpentine bodies of possible ophiolite origin. This suggests interplate sutures of Precambrian origin, and consequently the mineralization might be arranged into appropriate marginal zones.

Karyotypic Variation in Peromyscus Boylii (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from Mexico and Corresponding Taxonomic Implications

Schmidly, David J., and Gilbert L. Schroeter (Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Department of Biology, Texas AM the principal differences are in the numbers of large and medium-sized biarmed autosomes which range from 2-10. Three chromosome races are recognizable in P. boylii; they are distributed parapatrically with respect to one another, and present evidence suggests that limited gene exchange occurs among them. The karyotype for topotypes of P. b. simulus from Nayarit, Mexico, is markedly different from all other forms of P. boylii, suggesting that this taxon is a distinct species. Chromosomal polymorphism of a non-Robertsonian type is seen in certain populations of P. boylii and may be the result of intergradation between the different chromosome races. The polymorphism involves a variable number of large biarmed autosomes with certain individuals in a population possessing a heteromorphic pair of autosomes. The karyotypes of P. oaxacensis and P. evides, both members of the boylii species group, are also described for the first time. [Karotypic variation; Peromyscus boylii.] The brush mouse, Peromyscus boylii, is distributed from Honduras northward to Oregon and Utah and eastward to Texas and New Mexico. This species has the largest geographic distribution of any in the boylii species group (Hooper, 1968) and is among the most common of Mexican mice. Currently, 15 subspecies are recognized with the greatest differentiation occurring on the highlands of Mexico. Chromosomal data from 80 specimens of P. boylii, mostly from the western and southwestern United States, revealed significant geographic variation in the karyotypes of these populations (Lee, Schmidly, and Huheey, 1972). However, only 14 specimens of boylii were examined from western Mexico (Durango, Sonora, and Michoacan) and none was examined from northeastern Mexico. Moreover, all populations sampled by Lee et al. (1972) were monomorphic with regard to their chromosomal complement; for that reason, they suggested that P. boylii is chromosomally conservative. However, since different populations of P. boylii display such karyotypic diversity, it might be expected that populations do exist which are chromosomally polymorphic. Our subsequent data reveal the existence of an extensive intrapopulational chromosomal polymorphism of a non-Robertsonian type in Mexican populations of P. boylii. The polymorphism has been found in populations of the subspecies P. b. levipes, P. b. beatae, and P. b. spicilegus from the Mexican states of Queretaro, Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Durango. Furthermore, certain populations of P. boylii from Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, and Nayarit possess karyotypes distinct from other populations of this species. Chromosomal variation in P. boylii is herein reviewed in light of certain taxonomic problems in this

Great Basin Silurian to Lower Lower Devonian--a Biostratigraphic Case History: GEOLOGIC NOTES

Biostratigraphic work in the Silurian and Devonian of the Great Basin has proved that less than half of the thickest combined sections of Roberts Mountains-Lone Mountain rocks are Silurian in age. The upper part of these combined formations is of Early Devonian age and much younger than any beds in the Laketown Dolomite. Eastern equivalents of the Roberts Mountains-Lone Mountain rocks are early Silurian in age and therefore considerably older than the western units.

Structure of Franciscan Terrane of the Occidental-Guerneville Area, California

Ed. Note. This article was submitted by Eldridge Moores and Loren A. Raymond (University of California, Davis) for the author who was a student in the Department of Geology, University of California, Davis, at the time of his death in September 1969. Franciscan rocks exposed in the Occidental-Guerneville area comprise three northwest-trending, northeast-dipping, fault-bounded units. The western unit contains semicontinuous, boudinaged, and sheared layers of graywacke sandstone, shale, chert, metachert, volcanic rock, metavolcanic rock, and glaucophane and related schists. Disrupted bedding generally dips northeastward. The middle unit forms a 400- to 4,000-m-thick zone of pervasively sheared shale containing masses of graywacke and metagraywacke sandstone, ultramafic rock, basic volcanic and metavolcanic rock, minor quartz diorite, tuffaceous siltstone and sandstone, chert, glaucophane and related schists, and Jurassic Knoxville-like shale. The eastern unit contains complexly deformed, unmetamorphosed, massive to thin-bedded graywacke sandstone, siltstone, shale, and rare chert. Sandstone from these three units differs in average, range and cumulative frequency of K-feldspar, as well as in mean quartz, plagioclase, matrix, and chert-lithic fragment content.

Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n. (Cestoda: Caryophyllaeidae) from the Lake Chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede)

A caryophyllaeid cestode, Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n., is described from the lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede). A low number of testes occurring in one dorsal and one ventral row separates I. agminis from others of the genus. A table comparing the species of Isoglaridacris is presented. Four species of Isoglaridacris are known (Table I). All of these have been described from the western and northern United States. The following is the first description of a species of Isoglaridacris from the southeastern United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS Host fish were collected with 10and 50-ft seines, backpack shocker, monofilament gill nets, and trammel nets. They were held alive until all were examined within 24 hr of capture. Cestodes were fixed in hot 5% formalin. Paraffin sections of 12 ,u thickness were prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin; whole mounts were stained with Semichon's carmine or Semichon's carmine with a fast-green counterstain. Sections and whole specimens were mounted in Permount. Measurements were based on relaxed, unflattened specimens. Measurements of testes and of vitellaria follow Mackiewicz (1963). Ten eggs were measured from the uterus of each specimen. Measurements are in microns unless otherwise indicated, with range in parentheses. Drawings were made with the aid of a Bausch and Lomb Trisymplex microprojector and a camera lucida. Comparative material (all USNM Helm. Coll.) consisted of a paralectotype of I. hexacotyle Mackiewicz (4793), the holotype of I. longus Frederickson and Ulmer (60302), and paratypes of I. bulbocirrus Mackiewicz (39288) and I. folius Frederickson and Ulmer (60301). Isoglaridacris agminis sp. n. (Figs. 1-5) Host and locality: Lake chubsucker, Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede), Uphapee Creek, 4 miles northeast of Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama. Habitat: Intestine, loosely attached. Specimens studied: 22 (10 measured). Type specimens: Holotype and two paratypes, Received for publication 14 March 1972. * Supported by the Southeastern Cooperative Fish Disease Project (in part by Sport Fish Restoration funds and Rockefeller Project RF65061). USNM Helm. Coll. Nos. 72235, 72236; paratypes in authors' collections. Description Gravid adults 5.518 mm (3.770 to 7.730) in length by 575 (470 to 780) in greatest width. Outer longitudinal muscles poorly developed. Wedge-shaped scolex with 3 pairs of shallow loculi. Neck of moderate length. Length from tip of scolex to vitellaria 1.968 mm (1.390 to 2.910). Testes, numbering 28 to 40, located in 1 dorsal and 1 ventral layer. Testes 166 (101 to 221) by 134 (91 to 188), beginning 1.994 mm (1.420 to 2.930) from tip of scolex and extending to cirrus pouch; not extending to anterior limit of preovarian vitellaria. Genital aperture 901 (680 to 1,290) from posterior. Cirrus unarmed, eversible pouch, oblong, 138 (120 to 162) by 118 (85 to 138). External seminal vesicle 144 (137 to 147) in length by 75 (73 to 77) in maximum width. Ovary elongated, inverted, A-shaped with open apex, arms 580 (420 to 840) in length. Vagina lacking seminal receptacle. Vitellaria 54 (34 to 66) by 34 (32 to 43), beginning 1.160 (630 to 2.230) from scolex and extending to ovary; postovarian vitellaria present, not continuous with preovarian vitellaria. Eight pairs of osmoregulatory canals in testicular portion of body. Eggs operculate, shell smooth, 45 (34 to 66) by 34 (32 to 43).

Redescription of Elaeophora schneideri Wehr and Dikmans, 1935 (Nematoda: Filarioidea)

Elaeophora schneideri Wehr and Dikmans, 1935, is redescribed on the basis of specimens obtained from Odocoileus hemionus, Odocoileus virginianus, Ovis aries, and Cervls canadensis. Recently Adcock, Hibler, Abdelbaki, and Davis (1965) reported that Elaeophora schneideri Wehr and Dikmans, 1935, caused blindness in North American elk (Cervus canadensis). This nematode is a common parasite of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and domestic sheep (Ovis aries) in the mountainous regions of the western and southwestern United States, but has not been previously reported from elk. Specimens obtained from elk thus far are somewhat smaller than those found in sheep and deer, otherwise they are morphologically identical; moreover, except for the size of the specimens from elk, those from all three hosts are morphologically identical to the type specimens used by Wehr and Dikmans (1935). However an examination of the type specimens, and the specimens collected in the present study, has revealed several discrepancies in the original description. MATERIALS AND METHODS Redescription of E. schneideri is based on specimens obtained from deer, sheep, and elk. Some of those from mule deer were collected in Colorado by the late Dr. Lee Seghetti. The remainder were collected by one of us (C. P. H.) from mule deer and white-tailed deer (Odocoiletus virginianus) in Arizona, and mule deer in New Mexico. Specimens from sheep were collected in Colorado by Jensen and Seghetti (1955), and by one of us (C. P. H.) from sheep originating in the same general area. Specimens from elk were collected by the authors from animals in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Measurements of adults are based on five males and five females from each host, and are given in microns unless otherwise indicated, the average listed first, the range in parentheses. Illustrations Received for publication 13 May 1968. * This investigation was supported by research grant 5-R01-NB06199-02 from the NIH, Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, and by the Arizona Came and Fish Commission. are based on specimens from the mule deer. Drawings were made with the aid of a camera lucida. Microfilariae were obtained by macerating skin in physiological salt solution. They were fixed in 70% alcohol, cleared in glycerin, and studied with the aid of a phase contrast microscope. Measurements are based on 25 specimens from the skin of mule deer. Redescription of Elaeophora schneideri Wehr and Dikmans, 1935 (Table I, Figs. 1-13)

P-wave station anomalies and the structure of the upper mantle

Regional differences in seismic travel times at teleseismic distances have been estimated by various authors, and the agreement between them is sufficient to establish that the effects are real. Many data exist about these teleseismic anomalies and the corresponding Pn anomalies in the United States. Comparison of these values with model studies of the variation of P station anomalies with distance indicates that the major source of the anomalies is in the upper mantle. Furthermore, the variation in the anomalies between the western and eastern United States can be explained satisfactorily by a change in the thickness of the upper mantle low-velocity layer. The possibility that the temperature changes associated with the development of a thicker low-velocity layer were responsible for vertical movements of the crust is discussed.

Sur la tectonique tertiaire du massif paleozoique de la Sierra de la Demanda (Espagne) et de sa couverture mesozoique et cenozoique

Abstract A sketch map of the tectonics of the Sierra de la Demanda Paleozoic massif and its Mesozoic and Cenozoic cover is presented. Two major units can be distinguished: a western unit in which the cover is closely associated with vertical movements of the basement complex, and an eastern unit in which large vertical and tangential movements of the basement are expressed in large cover folds. Two orogenic phases are--one prior to the upper Oligocene that folded the cover and the other post-Miocene which reactivated the basement faults and steepened the cover folds.

Vertical Motion Calculations and Satellite Cloud Observations over the Western and Central United States

Abstract Vertical motions over the western and central United States during 19–21 August 1961 were computed by several methods. The resulting angles applicable, at 700 mb or 10,000 ft (600 mb for the Joint Numerical Weather Prediction vertical motion fields) were compared both subjectively and objectively to each other, to the corresponding standard type cloud and weather observations, and to approximately synoptic TIROS nephanalyses. The results of the comparisons showed only moderate agreement among the various methods and between the vertical motion analyses and the TIROS information. The component method, based on observed winds, appeared to give the best agreement with the satellite picture indications of vertical motion, though it seemed little better than some of the other methods. The use of satellite data shows definite promise as a means of evaluating computed vertical motion fields and should eventually contribute to the improvement of the procedures used to compute motions. A lag, or “trailing...

Leucocytozoon sp. from Turkeys in California

Recently, while examining .some blood smears made from turkeys from Tehama County, California, a species of Leucocytozoon was discovered. These smears were made during June, 1938, on four ranches during a field investigation of outbreaks of hexamitiasis. The smears were turned over at the time to a WPA worker who stained and filed them without examination, and without reporting them as unexamined to the writers. Smears from all four ranches showed heavy infections of Leucocytozoon sp., and from two of the ranches, the parasites were found in smears made from both poults and adults. No smears from adults were examined from the other two ranches. This is believed to be the first report of Leucocytozoon in turkeys in Western United States.The infected ranches are all located in the vicinity of the Thomas River in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley, and within a radius of 25 miles. The .

Upper Cretaceous of Rocky Mountain Area

The Upper Cretaceous series is the most widespread and the thickest in the Rocky Mountain area and more work has been done on it and more published than on any other series, but the literature is full of conflicting local names and is very confusing. The Upper Cretaceous sediments were eroded from a western land mass and deposited in a vast marine basin. Thick sandstones on the west side grade eastward into shales and finally even into limestones. In the west five main sandstone units can be differentiated with four intervening shale bodies and these have been given different names in different places. In the eastern area the series is largely shale and has been subdivided by paleontologic methods and by using the few limestones, but the two sets of subdivisions do not ma ch. It is suggested that the entire problem be reviewed, group names given the main western sandstone and shale units for use through the Rocky Mountains, and many names eliminated. A conference of those in authority and those most interested and best informed might well be held to arrange such a simplification of the Upper Cretaceous nomenclature.

A New Station for Scott's Spleenwort

A. Aerial stems evergreen, sometimes freezing down to the ground in severe winters, rough to a greater or less degree: cones tipped with a rigid point. B. Stems bright green; sheaths cylindrical, not dilated upward, usually with two black bands, sometimes entirely black; stems rough, tuberculate; not American. 1. EQUISETUM HYEMALE L.~ B. Stems yellowish green; sheaths elongated, dilated upward, with a narrow black band at the top and frequently with a second irregular one below; stems smoothish, only slightly tuberculate; widely distributed in America. 2. EQUISETUM LAEVIGATUM A. Br.6 A. Aerial stems annual, smooth; cones without a point; stems usually unbranched, except when broken; sheaths elongated, dilated upward, with a narrow black band at the top, rarely with a faint second one below; western and southern United States. 3. EQUISETUM KANSANUM Schaffner' COURTNEY, MO,.