American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-03-25
The Geysers of Nevada.

The recent remarkable discoveries of
ores and minerals of various kinds made
in the neighborhood of Steamboat
Springs are causing considerable
amount of speculation in regard to what
may underIie that region at no very
great depth. Some who have been ru
minating on the matter are of the opin
ion that under crust of two or three
hundred feet in thickness there exists a
large lake of boiling water, while 9TH
ers believe that at about tile same depth
below the surface all is fire and red-hot
and molten rocks. Those who advance
the aforementioned theory say that the
minerals contained in the water of the
boiling lake first formed crust around
the shores and that this grew as ice
grows upon pond in winter, till the
concretions covered the whole of the
water, except spout-holes here and there.
Through these spout-holes steam and
water were forced up and thus thick
ness was gradually added to the crust
covering the suhterranean lake. They
the greater part of the Truckee Mead
ows, as some years ago, on the occasion
of severe earthquake, all the land,
both in Steamboat Valley and Truckee
Meadows was rolled and tossed like the
waves of the ocean.
Those who believe that there is fire
somewhere far down in the bowels of
the earth say that beds of iron pyrites
are necessary to produce (by their de-
composition) the combustion and all
below must be solid; or at least that
there is no body of hot water of such
extent that it could be called lake.
They also say that there can be no lake,
because in certain places there rush up
strong blasts or columns of hot, dry air,
which must come from point where
there is fire or at least great heat, but
no water, as no steam is mingled with
the gases.
In places a mile or two to the west
ward of the present active springs,
where men are now engaged in pros
pecting for sulphur, it is found that at
the depth of three or four feet the rock
is quite hot and the sulphur in some of
the beds is so hot that it cannot be held
in the hand. This great heat at point
so far from the present active springs is
what has given the miners the idea that
lake of boiling water underlies the
whole region.
An experiment that many would like
to see tried would be the boring of a
hole somewhere in the neighborhood of
the present active springs. The rock is
somewhat like lava and would be pene
trated very rapidly with a diamond
drill or even with ordinary steel boring
apparatus. We are of the opinion that
depth of 200 feet would not be at
tanned before an underground assure or
chamber would be tapped that would
throw stream of water to the height
of from 100 to 200 feet, either constant
ly or at regular intervals. The present
proprietor could in no way so cheaply
add to the several attractions of the
place as by starting bore there, not for
oil, but for--well, that which is sup
posed to be not far away from that
place.
1t is sure thing that hole bored
into the red-hot bowels of Steamboat
Springs would develop something
worth seeing, and we hope the proprie-
tor will prospect the lower levels of his
property during the coming summer.
Deep in the earth there is pent up at
that place an immense force. In the
spring of 1860 there was a sort of well
toward the north end of the range of
springs that sent column of water
three feet in diameter to the height of at
least sixty feet at intervals of about
eight hours. This finally became
clogged up, and in 1862 stream of hot
water about three inches in diameter
was thrown up to the height of about
100 feet at intervals of half an hour.
The hole from which this stream was
thrown soon became clogged up, and
since then we have had no extraordina-
ny spouting of water at the springs, but
an artesian bore would doubtless start
a new geyser.-Vi Virginia (Nev.) Enter
prise.