$10,000. The two types of work indicated will be described for convenience as the work on mineral resources and the leasing work. WORK ON MINERAL RESOURCES PRINCIPAL RESULTS OF THE YEAR The principal products of the work of the Geological Survey in Alaska are reports and maps based on original surveys or investigations. During the year eight reports have been issued, as follows: The Skwentna region, by S. R. Capps (Bulletin 797-B). Preliminary report on the Sheenjek River district, by J. B. Mertie, jr. (Bulletin 797-C). Surveys in northwestern Alaska in 1926, by Philip S. Smith (Bulletin 797-D). Aerial photographic surveys in southeastern Alaska, by R. H. Sargent and F. H. Moffit (Bulletin 797-E). Geology and mineral resources of the Aniakchak district, by R. S. Knappen (Bulletin 797–F). Mineral industry of Alaska in 1927, by Philip S. Smith (Bulletin 810-A). Administrative report, 1927-28, by Philip S. Smith (Bulletin 810-A). Geology of Hyder and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, with a reconnaissance of Chickamin River, by A. F. Buddington (Bulletin 807). Five reports have been completed by their authors and approved for editing or printing, as follows: Notes on the upper Nizina River, by F. H. Moffit (Bulletin 810-D). The Upper Cretaceous floras of Alaska, by Arthur Hollick, with a description of the Upper Cretaceous plant-bearing beds by G. C. Martin (Professional Paper 159). Geology and mineral deposits of southeastern Alaska, by A. F. Buddington and Theodore Chapin (Bulletin 800). The Chandalar-Sheenjek region, by J. B. Mertie, jr. (Bulletin 810-B). Geography and geology of northwestern Alaska, by Philip S. Smith and J. B. Mertie, jr. (Bulletin 815). Geology of the Eagle-Circle district, by J. B. Mertie, jr. (Bulletin 816). Six other reports are in preparation but have not approached near enough to completion to warrant any definite statement as to the time of publication. Practically all the completed reports are accompanied by maps, the base of which has been made principally from surveys conducted by the topographers of the Alaskan branch. The following maps have been published: Drainage map of part of the Hyder-Ketchikan region, southeastern Alaska, compiled under direction of R. H. Sargent; mainly from aerial photographs made by the Navy Department at the request of the Geological Survey; scale, 1:250,000. Published in Bulletin 797-E. Topographic map of the Hyder district (new ed.), by R. M. Wilson; scale, 1:62,500. Published in Bulletin 807. Topographic map of the Pavlof region, Alaska Peninsula; scale, 1:250,000; by C. P. McKinley, for the National Geographic Society's Pavlof Volcano Expedition. Issued in a free preliminary photolithographic edition. The maps listed below were completed during the year under the direction of R. H. Sargent and submitted for publication: Topographic map of Valdez and vicinity, by J. W. Bagley and C. E. Giffin; scale, 1:62,500. To be published as a sale map. The base of this map is largely the Port Valdez map, now out of print, but it covers a somewhat larger area, has been revised and brought up to date, and includes the results of hitherto unpublished surveys. Topographic map of Revillagigedo Island, southeastern Alaska, by R. H. Sargent; scale, 1:125,000. The topography of this map is from surveys made in 1928 by the usual ground methods, but the drainage features are taken from the Hyder-Ketchikan map, which was compiled from aerial photographs. To be issued as a free preliminary photolithographic edition. Progress was also made in the compilation of a topographic map of the Mount Spurr region, scale, 1:250,000, from recent surveys. The base map of Alaska on a scale of 1: 5,000,000 was brought up to date, and considerable work was done toward the revision of the map on a scale of 1: 2,500,000. Besides the official reports, several articles were prepared by the scientific and technical members of the Alaskan branch for publication in outside journals, and 10 or more public lectures were given regarding the general work of the branch or some of its special features. Most of these were prepared unofficially but represent excellent by-products of the regular work and serve to reach special audiences not readily reached by the regular official publications. Among these articles may be mentioned the following: Gold reserves of Alaska, by Philip S. Smith, for presentation at the International Geological Congress in South Africa, 1929. Geology and geography of Alaska, by Philip S. Smith, for publication in "Geology of North America," included in " 'Geologie der Erde" in process of compilation. The pre-Cambrian of interior Alaska, by J. B. Mertie, jr., delivered before the Geological Society of Washington. Notes on geographic features of Alaska, by R. H. Sargent, delivered at the meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York. Field work of the Geological Survey in 1928, by F. H. Moffit, for publication in Alaska newspapers. Our northern frontier territory, by Philip S. Smith, delivered before the Service Club of the Signal Corps, U. S. A. PROJECTS IN PROGRESS DURING THE SEASON OF 1928 Some of the results that the Geological Survey has accomplished in its Alaska work may be expressed in terms of the area covered. The areas reported in the following table are based on the field season and not on the fiscal year, and therefore no account is taken of the work that was started during the field season of 1929 but remained uncompleted at the end of the fiscal year. This procedure has been adopted in part because most of the parties at work during the field season of 1929 are out of communication and so can not yet report the extent of the work they have accomplished, but in part it has been adopted because the field season is a more practicable unit of measurement. 74196-293 Areas surveyed by Geological Survey in Alaska, 1898–1928, in square miles • Includes 2.000 square miles mapped by National Geographic Society Pavlof Expedition on Geological Survey standards. 450 square miles surveyed prior to 1928 deducted because of resurvey during 1928. In this table only the net areas surveyed are listed in the appropriate column, though of course most of the areas that have been surveyed geologically have also been surveyed topographically. It is by no means unusual that areas surveyed hastily are resurveyed later with more precision. If the areas thus revised were not excluded from the totals the same area would be counted twice. It is for this reason that an area of 450 square miles which was reexamined geologically in 1928 has been deducted from the total in the column of reconnaissance geologic surveys. The necessity for resurveying some areas in more detail is generally due to the need of covering a large tract rapidly at first. As development takes place in certain parts of that large tract more accurate and detailed work may be required to furnish the desirable information. This policy is well illustrated by the procedure adopted in surveying the Seward Peninsula placer camps. Within two or three months after the return of the Federal geologist from this field during the height of the first stampede to Nome a rough exploratory map and a report on the environs of Nome were published by the Geological Survey. During the next field season reconnaissance surveys of the entire region within 100 miles of Nome were made, and later these were succeeded by detailed mapping and reports of the smaller tracts in the vicinity of the richest camps. The scale most commonly adopted for Alaska surveys is 1:250,000, in which 4 miles on the ground is represented by an inch on the map, with a contour interval of 200 feet. This scale is adequate for most general purposes, and the surveys can be made expeditiously and cheaply. It is obvious, however, that such a scale can not effectively show detailed features of topography or geology, and yet many of these are of prime importance in their relations to the mineral resources of the region. Therefore, although more than two-fifths of the Territory has been mapped on reconnaissance or exploratory standards, there is constant demand for more detailed work, and this demand will become more and more insistent as the Territory develops. Even for the reconnaissance type of mapping there still remains about 200,000 square miles of unsurveyed territory that holds promise of containing mineral deposits of value. At the present rate it will be many decades before even the reconnaissance mapping of the prospective mineral areas can be completed, and the requisite detailed mapping of the most promising tracts must be postponed far into the future or must supplant the equally pressing reconnaissance work unless more funds are made available. The surveys in 1928 tabulated above were made in the Ketchikan and Juneau districts of southeastern Alaska, the Chitina-Nizina district of the Copper River region, the vicinity of Mount Spurr in the Alaska Range, and a tract lying north of the Tanana River and west of the international boundary. The work in the Ketchikan district was reconnaissance topographic mapping conducted by R. H. Sargent. Ores of various metals have long been known to occur here, and some of them have been worked more or less successfully. Owing to the easy accessibility of most parts of the district to ocean transportation, many of the costs of development will probably be low, and the general geologic conditions are such as to encourage search for deposits of commercial extent. Although the principal object of this mapping was to furnish a topographic base that would serve for the mineral investigations, it has met an immediate need of those concerned with the development of the timber, pulp, and water-power resources of this district. This project is of special technical interest because the topographer made use of the first of the drainage maps compiled from the aerial photographs taken for the Geological Survey by the Navy Department in 1926. The use of these aerial pictures proved highly advantageous in facilitating the work of the topographer in this region of high relief and almost impenetrable timber cover. As the photographs taken by the naval expedition cover nearly 10,000 square miles of southeastern Alaska, this project is the forerunner of similar surveys that will be carried on in this region as rapidly as funds and personnel permit. The surveys in the Juneau region were made by R. K. Lynt, a topographer of the Geological Survey, who was temporarily assigned to duty with a party of the Forest Service. This work was especially desired by the Forest Service in connection with its activities in developing the paper-pulp industry in southeastern Alaska, and although the Geological Survey would doubtless have mapped that area in the course of its regular mineral investigations, the immediate needs of the Forest Service were so urgent that that organization bore the entire cost, and the resulting map was turned over to it. The work has not been included in the table of areas surveyed, nor in the table of expenditures. It covered a small tract on the west coast of Admiralty Island and was done with the accuracy required for publication on a scale of 1: 62,500. The tract is exceedingly difficult to survey, and the map covered an area of only a few score square miles. The work in the Nizina district of the Copper River region consisted principally of the revision of earlier geologic surveys and the critical study of some of the places where different interpretations that have been advanced could be tested. This work was done by F. H. Moffit, who with a small pack train and camp assistant traversed much of the known copper-bearing region north of the Chitina River and greatly refined the broad determinations of the geology resulting from earlier more hurried expeditions. The more precise knowledge of the stratigraphy and geologic history thus obtained is essential in directing the search for valuable deposits in this important mineralized region. Mr. Moffit also spent some time at the large copper mines near Kennecott and at the placer gold camps on Dan and Chititu Creeks and visited most of the places in the district where prospecting has recently been in progress. In the vicinity of Mount Spurr, in the Alaska Range west of Anchorage, a combined geologic and topographic party in charge of S. R. Capps, geologist, with Gerald FitzGerald as topographer, carried on extensive surveys by means of a pack-train expedition. The geologist, topographer, and recorder were carried by airplane to the point where the surveys were to be started, and the trip from Anchorage consumed one hour and twenty minutes, whereas the pack train that was sent overland from the west shore of Cook Inlet took over 20 days to make the trip. It is evident that in a region like the Alaska Range, where the working season is limited to less than 100 days, this great saving in time is of paramount importance. Moreover, the saving in food and salaries almost, if not quite, makes this means of transportation cheaper than tramping on foot across the country. The geologic and geographic results of this work are of great interest and significance. The party traversed with pack train a pass across the Alaska Range leading on the west side to streams flowing into the Stony River, one of the large southern tributaries of the Kuskokwim River, and mapped a tract of 1,000 square miles that has hithereto remained a blank on all authoritative maps of the Territory. A triangular area in the vicinity of the international boundary north of the Tanana River and extending more than 100 miles to the west, south of the gold placer camps of the Fortymile district, had been covered by a reconnaissance topographic map some years ago, but until the season of 1928 it had not been possible to map the area geologically. In that season J. B. Mertie, jr., with a small pack train and two camp assistants, left Eagle to carry on reconnaissance geologic surveys. A serious injury to one of the camp assistants before reaching the field necessitated the return of the party to Eagle to get medical attention. The loss of the assistant still further hampered the party, which had been undermanned even before the accident, but in spite of this Mr. Mertie pushed ahead with only one camp hand and was successful in mapping the major geologic features of an area of nearly 4,000 square miles. The geologic features observed seem to indicate that at a number of places the conditions are favorable for the occurrence of gold lodes, and that where concentration has been effective placer deposits may be sought with considerable assurance of success. The only other field work that was done during the season of 1928 by a member of the staff having headquarters in Washington was the customary broad survey of recent developments in the mining industry as a whole, with special visits to some of the more active mining camps or those that had not been recently visited by members of the Geological Survey. This work was done by the chief Alaskan geologist and included visits to the Ketchikan, Juneau, Kennecott, Fairbanks, Tenderfoot, Hot Springs, and other districts. A general familiarity with the mining industry such as may be gained by a rapid survey of this type is regarded as essential in keeping track of recent developments and in laying out plans for future work so that they will fit the needs of the mining industry. The Geological Survey maintains in Alaska two district offices, one at Juneau and one at Anchorage. The main duties of the personnel attached to these offices relate to mineral leasing, but about two-fifths of the time of B. D. Stewart, who is in direct charge of the local offices, was allotted to general investigations of mineral resources, including both office duties and visits to various parts of the Territory as conditions warrant. Mr. Stewart's long familiarity with mining matters throughout the Territory and his availability for consultation at Juneau have made his advice much sought by many of the Federal and Territorial agencies in Alaska, including the Alaska Railroad, the Forest Service, the governor, and members of the Territorial legislature, as well as by many of the individual operators and prospectors. The Alaska offices also act as local distributing points for publications of the Geological Survey and assist in furnishing the main office at Washington with information on many phases of the mineral industry in the Territory. A field project that strictly does not properly belong to the work of this branch, as it was financed by a non-Federal organization and was performed by members of the Geological Survey who belong to other branches, was the National Geographic Society's Pavlof Expedition to the Alaska Peninsula, which was in charge of T. A. Jaggar, jr., volcanologist, with C. P. McKinley as topographer. Through the courtesy of the National Geographic Society the excellent topographic field sheets that resulted from this survey were made available without expense to the Geological Survey, which has issued the resulting map in a preliminary edition that is in every respect comparable to the standards used for its own maps. The area covered by this map has been included in the table on page 32. This adds one more to the already long list of notable contributions which the National Geographic Society has made to Alaskan exploration. In addition to these distinctly field projects the Alaskan branch each year compiles and issues statements regarding the production of mineral commodities in the Territory. Each of the field projects involves considerable office work in examining and testing the specimens collected, preparing the illustrations and maps, and writing the reports. In all the office work on the technical reports the members of the Alaskan branch have received much assistance and valuable advice from their associates in other branches of the Geological Survey. T. W. Stanton, G. H. Girty, J. B. Reeside, jr., Edwin Kirk, David White, and E. W. Berry, paleontologists, have examined and reported on the fossils collected in the field surveys. The map editors have been especially helpful in critically scrutinizing |