EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

Southland Times, Issue 23306, 16 September 1937, Page 7

EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY INFORMATION FROM STUDY OF MARINE SEDIMENTS An outline of the geological history of the earth was given by Dr G. H. Uttley rector of the Southland Boys’ High School, in an address to the Southland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Public Administration last evening. Mr A. McCarthy, who presided over a good attendance of members, said that this was the first meeting they had held since they had affiliated with the body in Wellington. The object of their association was, if it could be, to improve the science of government. Dr Uttley said that geology was a subject of which everybody should know something. It was, he explained, the history of the earth. The earth, it seemed, had an intimate connection with other planets, and it was found that the chemical constituents were very similar to those of the earth. The earth, at the time of its birth, was a molten mass which cooled slowly, and in the cooling process an enormous strain was exerted on its crust. Alter explaining the process of denudation, reducing mountains to a common level, the rounding of boulders in rivers ana streams, and the movement of land piecemeal towards the sea—a process that had been going on for millions of years—Dr Uttley described the building up of sediments in the sea, all carrying fossils of extinct life, and explained the method of investigating these sediments by the investigation of limestone deposits in places which had been covered at one time by the sea. These sediments had been examined all over the world and were classified into a geological column characterized by the fossils they contained. EXISTENCE OF GOLD In Australia fossils were found in rocks that had contained gold, and the same type of fossils had been found in Preservation Inlet, which might be taken as an indication of the existence of gold. In these sediments the whole of the evolution of life would be worked out, and it was through these observations that Charles Darwin came to his wonderful generalization that revolutionized modern thinking. On the Grand Canyon of Colorado, which was over a mile deep, there were certain stratified rocks. One layer showed an animal about the size of a fox terrier, with certain features, and in later strata certain changes were found and the animal grew bigger, until in the last stratum the modern horse was recognizable. Similar series for the elephant and the rhinoceros could also be discovered. Sea fossils were even to be found in the Himalayas. Some of the oldest rocks contained radio-active minerals, such as uranium, and these elements were undergoing changes, the last change being lead. The process of evolution had a great bearing on thought, and there had been a gradual evolution from simple things to more complicated things. In America the discovery of certain types of fossils denoted the presence of oil, and he was glad to see that observations ot fossils were being made in New Zealand with a view to discovering oil deposits. The study of fossils had an interesting bearing on commercial affairs. , After answering a number of questions Dr Uttley was cordially thanked for his address.