The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1858-09-04
GOLD HUNTING AND eEoLoov.

never hear the last Of it, Bostcn Fosf. :
GOLD HUNTING AND GEOLOGY.
Within the last ten years, series Of az
citements, in relation to discoveries Of eold.
have occurred in Ohio, Indiana and iowa.
In nearly every instance, some gold was
found, but the locality soon became exhaust
ed and disappointment followed. None
were ever paid for their labor.
The question naturally arises, il some
gold has been found in the States named.
why may it not exist there in quantities. ss
well as in Carolina, Georgia and CALIFORNIA;
II may be we'll to answer this question, in the
light Of Geology. - = -
All gold and silver is derived from ve,ns
in fissures in the rocks, which have been
filed with these metals from the interior Of
the earth. These veins never exist exeept
IN regions where there has been much dis
turbance OF the earth's crust BY volcanic &C.
tion. The strati6ed rocks Of the Globe.
when undisturbed, lie in horizontal lavers
or beds. In such rocks mineral veins are
not to be found, such as gold, silver and
copper. But where the strata have beeo
thrown up into vertical, or inclined posi-
tion, there, metallic veins may be expected:
Silver and copper are usually found, in
their veins, in the form of ores, which arc
soluble in water; but gold, being insoluble,
Is always found in its pure state as metal.
AND time wears away the rocky strata in
cluding gold veins, this metal remaining
undecomposed, is strewed over the surface
IN the vicinity OF its veins, or carried away
by the rains, or streams Of water, or gla-
ciers, along with the sands, gravel. and
rocky fragments with which It becomes in
termingled. Being of greater specific gravi-
ty than the debries of rocks, the gold, in its
transportation, finds ito way to the bottom
OF the loose deposites, and is mostly found
resting there upon the undecomposed rocks.
Gold 10 found, then, in two conditions;
included in veins and strewed over the sur
face at the base Of drifted deposites. But
silver and copper occurring generally in tho
form OF ores, soluble in water, disappear
from the surface as the veins are worn down
and are not found in paying quantities, ex-
cept at depths beneath that at which thew
remain unaffected by atmospheric agencies.
Now, whenever surface gold is found in
region where the rocks are disturbed, the
Geologist infers that gold veins exist near
at hand; but if the rocks are undisturbed.
the finding of surface gold is no indication
that veins exist in its vicinity. 1t must have
been transported from distance, along with
the drifted deposites ut the base of which il
is found.
Throughout Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
Iowa, the rocks are all of the stratiied or
der, and remain nearly horizontal, having
never been broken up BY volcanic action and
the intrusion of metallic veins. The only
except ons are in the lead regions of Illinois
and Iowa, where disturbances have occur
red. According to geological science, no
gold reins can exis. in any Of these States
where the rocks remain horizontal. But
gold has been found in nil of them. How
is is this fs;t,sa fsst ,ta ke sEeJogy? ris sdhs ek-
In the States named, there is strewed over
the surface Of the country in irregular beds
OF various depths, what is called the Dilu-
rial formation. 1t is composed Of bould-
ers of Granite and Metamorphic rocks,
gravels, sands, clays and portions of the To-
cal rocks. No granite, syenite, gneiss, or
other primary rocks exist in place in any of
these States. The masses Of them strewed
oven the surface, and forming part of the
Diluvium, have, therefore, been transport
ed to their present resting places from a
distance. What little gold has been found,
Is included in this Diluvium, and has been
transported along with the boulders. All
the varieties Of rocks represented in the Di-
luvium, are to be found to the Northwest,
in the Lake Superior and Rocky Mountain
regions. Their transportation eastward is
supposed to have been effected BY the agen-
cy of icebergs, at q period when the CONT
nent was immersed in the waters of tho
ocean, or BY sudden inaowing of the sea
over the Continent from the Northwest
The particles Of gold, in the Diluvinm, could
only be derived from that source. It is no
more strange to see gold in this formation,
in Ohio, than to see blocks of gsanite in it
there. As granite must exist, in place, in
the Northwest, so also must gold ucins exist
there; but to what extent, and in what guam
titles, none can yet determine. = ',..
From all the examinations mad in tho
States under consideration, no encourage
ment is afforded to the gold hunter to dig
any longer in the Diluvium. 1t must be Ia
Dor lost. This will be apparent when. it is
considered that the veinsfrom which the gold
already found has been derived, must be
located ut q distance Northwestward of at
least five or six hundred miles; and he who
would find it, in paying quantities, must shift
his labors to that distant field of action.
1t has been said that the rocks of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois rni Iowa, are nearly hori-
zontal, except few points; and that they
have not been subjected to volcanic action
and the intrusion of metallic veins. This u
true, also Of the greater part of Kentucky.
A line drawn from Sandusky City to Knox
vile, Tennessee, presents the strata of the
rocks horizontal as far rs Cumberland
Mountain. Here they are thrown up into
an arch, or anti-clinical axis, dipping to tbs
North on the northern side. Beyond this
point the disturbance: continues for nearly
three hundred miles; and in this distance
starting, say fifty miles south Of Knoxville
all the veins Of copper and quarts bearing
gold, are found. Nearly everywhere along
this Inns after entering the margin Of the
mineral range, the rocks are highly inclined,
and in some places, the strata stand in .
vertical position. The same condition Of
the rocks exist in California, where beth
surface gold and vein gold are found. e~e,
Could the gold hunters Of Ohio, and tho
other States named, see tho vast difference
between the Geology Of true mineral re-
gion and that of the one thy have been ex-
ploring, the contrast would beso striking
as to make them desist at once from their
fruitless tolls. And did editors possess
little more:.knowledge Of Geology; it would
prevent them from often misleading their
readers 70 an injurious extent, by reporting
the discovery Of valuable mines whess that
science savs none can eYist % 7F t=