The Nature of Cima Dome

In the Mojave Desert of southeasternmost California is a remarkably smooth, symmetrical rock-alluvial dome which takes its name from Cima on the Union Pacific Railroad. Lawson (1915, pp. 26, 33) cited Cima Dome as a prime example of a panfan, but Thompson (1929, p. 550) later showed that its upper part is bare rock. Davis (1933, pp. 240-243) considered it a fine example of a convex desert dome evolved from back-wearing of a fault block, but this concept is contradicted by the geological relations (Hewett, 1954), which throw more light on the nature and origin of Cima Dome than do geomorphological theories

Geomorphological processes on terrestrial planetary surfaces

This review deals with features and processes on planetary surfaces, first by examining the impact of photographic explorations of Moon, Mars, and Mercury on studies of surface processes on our own planet, and second by treating matters related to current deformation of Earth’s surface

Some Physiographic Aspects of Southern California

Southern California is a land of physiographic abundances, contrasts, and peculiarities. The wide range of geological materials and structures, the considerable differences in climatic environments, the host of geological processes at work, and the recency of diastrophic events are the principal factors responsible

Earth science field work: Role and status

This essay contends that the outstanding contributions currently being made to the earth sciences by theoretical and laboratory endeavors increase rather than decrease the need for sound field observations. The presentation is strongly prejudiced in favor of field studies and, accordingly, invites critical examination by skeptical minds

Glacier, Historian of the Weather

[no abstract

Physiographic Features of Faulting in Southern California

The abundance and variety of faults in southern California provide good opportunity for study of landforms created directly by faulting or indirectly by other processes acting upon faulted materials. High-angle gravity faults, high- and low-angle thrusts, and faults with large strike-slip displacement are present (see Chapter IV). Furthermore, all degrees and dates of activity are represented. Landforms created by faulting can be classed as primary and secondary, or as original and subsequent (Lahee, 1952, p. 248). Primary features are those formed by actual fault displacement. They are nearly always modified by erosion, but should be classed as primary until completely effaced. Secondary or fault-line features are those formed solely by other processes acting upon faulted materials. Further subdivision into initial and modified primary forms and into erosional and depositional secondary forms would be possible, but it is not urged

Incontinentia, Licentia et Libido: The Juxtaposition of Morality and Sexuality during the Roman Republic

Sex and sexuality are important elements of the human experience but are surrounded by various taboos. Roman sexuality has traditionally been viewed in a modern context as being licentious and obscene in nature, and seemingly incongruous with the elements of propriety that are expected in an honor-shame culture. What would be considered to be moral, immoral, or obscene in a modern context would not apply to the Romans as we would understand it in a modern context. This paper examines Roman sexuality during the Republic period (509 - 27 BCE) and how they can seemingly exist alongside what can be considered to be traditional Roman values and customs

The Incarceration Nation: Interpreting the United States Imprisonment Rate

This research paper begins by establishing the importance of studying the United States’ incarceration rate. Overall mass imprisonment and racial disparities in sentencing are two of the main concerns when discussing this issue. Previously published literature has indicated various contributory factors to the racial disparity in sentencing, such as judge’s discretion, educational attainment, and policy implementation. This paper tests five hypotheses that assess which factors influence the incarceration rate. The independent variables are overall minority population, public ideology, educational attainment, unemployment, and poverty. Each hypothesis predicts positive or negative relationships between the United States incarceration rate and the corresponding independent variable. Pearson correlations were performed to test for relationships. Also, an ordinary-least-squares regression was performed to determine which factors predict the imprisonment rate above all others. Results indicate that minority populations, unemployment, citizen ideology, and educational attainment positively and significantly predict the incarceration rate. Poverty levels were found to have weak correlations. Results of this project provide insight as to why the incarceration rate has been rapidly increasing

Principles of Structural Glaciology [Book Review]

The title of this volume, although appropriate, is not really indicative of its content. It becomes more than a book on structural glaciology through its detailed treatment of many facets of glaciology, which the author defines as the science of natural ice in all its aspects. People interested in ground ice, sea ice, lake ice, glaciers, and snow, among other topics, will find much of value in this book. Shumskii professes to have a primary interest in the petrology of ice rocks and the laws of their formation, but he carefully develops a foundation of basic information before treating the specific topics of structural glaciology

Mars: Fretted and chaotic terrains

Fretted and chaotic terrains are members of a larger family of lowland terrains on the Martian surface. They have formed in equatorial and midnorthern latitudes, within areas reasonably proximate to the extensive volcanic fields of that region. Both are relatively recent developments. Fretted terrain is characterized by extensive, smooth, lowland plains separated from the old cratered upland by an abrupt escarpment of highly irregular planimetric configuration. Chaotic terrain features jumbled assemblages of large, irregular blocks occupying lowlands or depressions within the old cratered upland. Fretted terrain is thought to evolve by recession of a steep bounding escarpment, leaving a smooth lowland floor at a remarkably uniform level. Escarpment recession is speculatively attributed to undermining by evaporation of ground ice exposed within an escarpment face, or, under a different environment, by ground water emerging at its foot. The uniform floor level may reflect the original depth of frozen ground. Removal of debris shed by the receding escarpments could be by eolian deflation, subsequent to weathering by unknown processes to produce material of uniformly small grain size, or by fluvial transport under a vastly different climatic environment. Chaotic terrain is attributed primarily to localized collapse of the cratered upland owing to removal of subsurface material, either ground ice or magma. The ground ice hypothesis suffers from possible quantitative inadequacies, but evacuation of magma seems feasible because of the extensive volcanism in the northern hemisphere. Following collapse, ground ice sapping could have been effective in causing slumps and in modifying the collapsed blocks. Eventually the floors of some areas of chaotic terrain may have been smoothed to the condition of fretted terrain, as suggested by their intimate association. These terrains reflect significant activity on the Martian surface and within the Martian interior during relatively recent times. If liquid water has been the prime agent involved in developing fretted terrain, then it is a fossil feature and carries an implication of an enduring Martian environment vastly different from the environment at present