An experimental investigation into the flow of marble

Abstract

That rocks, under the conditions to which they are subjected in certain parts of the earth’s crust, become bent and twisted in the most complicated manner is a fact which was recognised by the earliest geologists, and it needs but a glance at any of the accurate sections of contorted regions of the earth’s crust which have been prepared in more recent years to show that there is often a transfer or “flow" of material from one place to another in the folds. The manner in which this contortion, with its concomitant “flowing,” has taken place is, however, a matter concerning which there has been much discussion, and a wide divergence of opinion. Some authorities have considered it to be a purely mechanical process, while others have looked upon solution and redeposition as playing a necessary role in all such movements, The problem is one on which it would appear that much light might be thrown by experimental investigation.