The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-10-06
The Frozen Well in Vermont.
PROF. H1TcHcoCK's REPORT.

Professor Hitchcock, of Amherst, read
paper before the Scientific Association, on
the 4th ult, upon the the frozen well at
Brandon, Vermont. He said it was a part
Of his report upon the geology Of the State,
bat be had received permission from the
Governor to present it at this meeting The
well had been examined by himself and his
assistants, A. D. Eagsr, and c. H. Hitch
cock. We copy the following extracts FROM
Prof Hitchcock papers: ..........
"The well is situated about one mile south
west of Brandon village. from an eighth to a
quarter of a mile east of the creek. The sur
face is not raised very much above the river,
and is composed of sand and gravel, with one
Of the varieties of the lower silurian lime
stone, showing Itself occasionally in vcsses
and low ridges breaking through the ground,
and doubtless underlying the whole superb.
cial deposite at no great depth. II is just
such region Of sand and gravel as may be
seen many places along the western side of
the Green Mountains, and indeed all over
New England. 1t is what is called modified
drift, and lies above genuine drift, having
been the result Of aqueous agency, subse-
quently to the drift period
'"The well was dug in November, 1855
For about ten feet it passed through soil and
gravel, then four feet of clay. Below this
lay deposite from twelve to fifteen feet
thick of frozen gravel, with quite large boul-
ders in,ermixed. Continuing tte excavs.
ton two feet farther in the same material.
water was reached. The whole depth is not
far from thirty.fve feet. The frozen part
passed through appeared precisely like the
same material frozen at the surface in win
ter.
"Immediately west of the well rises hill
Of gravel and sand which may be thirty leet
above the well, and is at its south end some
fifty to seventy feet high This ridge is an
eight of a mile long, and runs northeast and
southwest. Near its northern end it is
crossed by road which has been excavated
to depth of sixty-two feet At the top of
the ridge bed of clay and the layers of sand
and gravel are nearly horizontal but lower
down they dip easterly fifteen>or twenty de-
grees. At the foot of the hill they take
horizontal position. The pebbles in the stra.
ia were about three inches in diameter, and
remarkably free from sand and gravel.
"The dip of these beds o. gravel, sand and
clay makes it almost certain that this ridge
of drift was formed by currert from the
north. east
THE well was stoned up late in the au-
tumn, and during the winter ice formed upon
the water in one night two inches thick. 1t
continued to freeze till April, since which
time no ice has formed on the surface, but
When visited, June 25th, the stones of the
well, for some four or five feet above the
water, were mostly loaded with ice and the
temperature Of the water was only one de-
gree above freezing. July 4th there was ice
in the well. The water at that time was
twenty-five inches deep. About one hun
dred rods distant is another well, the tenn
perature of which, on the 25th of June, was
htty-one. Another well, twelve feet deep.
sixty rods distant, had temperature of forty
five"
In stating the various theories in regard to
this interesting matter, Professor Hitchcock
said:
upon the whole, though it is possible that
the Brandon deposite is a remnant of a gla-
cial period, he looked with more favor upon
the supposition that it was the result of op-
erations now going on, produced by currents
of air through the porous deposite.''
An interesting discussion followed--more
to elucidate facts than to refute the theories
presented. -...
Professor Dawson. of Montreal, stated that
he had met with similar phenomena in Nova
Scotia, and accepted the views presented by
Professor Hitchcock.
Mr.. Hager, of Proctorville, Vermont, said
that from the first he considered it as owing
to the present causes He had visited some
abandoned iron mines in Essex, and had
found ice in the summer at the depth of 1875
feet. . ... ......-