The material in this record group was in no apparent order when processing began. Since the majority of the material concerns Hawaii and other Pacific islands it was decided to sort the material geographically. Some material was in labeled folders or envelopes. This material was kept together and the original label retained.

The first series concerns volcanoes and ground water studies of the Pacific islands and includes four printed articles by Stearns, typescripts or abstracts of other Stearns articles, numerous original drawings, including those used to illustrated four articles published in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, v. 56, 1945. There are also short articles by other authors and typed copies of letters dealing with a visit to the 1859 eruption of Mauna Loa.

The second series includes an article by Stearns on Yellowstone Park and the illustrations for an article on the Eagle Rock volcanic area in Idaho. Also included are articles on the Coeur d'Alene mining area, the Swan Valley reservoir, and a report on ground water in the Targhee National Forest.

Two areas outside the U.S. which are included in this series are Iceland, represented by a typed translation of a chapter on volcanoes in Iceland from a book by Th. Thoroddsen, and Mexico, represented by a Life magazine article on Paricutin.