Recent Studies of Reserves of Domestic Phosphate

INTEREST in the reserves of phosphate rock in the United States and their proper conservation has recently been aroused by hearings held in different parts of the country by the "Joint Committee to investigate the adequacy and use of phosphate resources of the United States." This committee was appointed within a few days after a Presidential message to Congress on the same subject, dated May 20, 1938, and began to function almost immediately. Hearings were held in Washington, D. C., Pocatello, Ida., Wilson Dam, Ala., Knoxville, Tenn., and Lake-land, Fla. The resulting testimony, when published, comprised a volume of 1182 pages.1 At the earlier hearings held in Washington and Idaho the seeming disparity between the great reserves of the West and the smaller reserves in the East led to some suggestions as to the desirability of curtailing or even prohibiting the exportation of phosphate rock so that eastern pro-ducers, becoming alarmed, cooperated in making available for the use of the committee information hitherto closely guarded. This informa-tion has provided an opportunity for new studies by official agencies, for a restatement of the reserves of Florida and Tennessee, and for some modification of figures for the Western States. The writer, representing the Federal Geological Survey, was given free access to the Florida material and has prepared for publication a report,2 some features of which are summarized in this paper. The Tennessee material was studied by Dr. G. I. Whitlatch,3 of the Tennessee Division of Geology. Prof. J. Stewart Williams,4 of the Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, has published a recent study of the phosphate resources of Utah and the writer has given some further study to reserves of western phosphate from the viewpoint of including material of lower grade than that hitherto considered.