The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-14
SINkHoLEs IN KANSAS.

New York Sun.

New YORK Sun.
An interesting phenomenon in western
Kansas is described and pictured in recent
report of the United States Geological Sur
vey- One of the natural curiosities of the
great plains region is known as the Meade
salt well, in southwestern Kansas. Ii made
its appearance very suddenly in 1889
On March in that year the famous Jones
and Plummer cattle trail extended right
over the spot where this depression was
soon to appear A wagon passed along the
trail over the level ground. 1t is not known
that this spot was seen again until twenty
three days later, when it was found that
the ground for a considerable area had
sunk into the earth and the hole was partly
filled with water from an underground
source.
The cavity was circular and the tracks
of wagon and cattle on the trail were still
plainly seen on either side of the hole. A
considerable area around the hole had been
depressed TO smaller extent.
The sink hole remains to-day, ana on
either side of it are still to be seen the road
ruts and cattle trails along which foT years
scores OF thousands of ranch cattle were
driven from northern Texas into Kansas.
There were very few routes of travel across
this wide plain. But the accident to the
surface occurred on the most important of
them.
Those who studied this depression were
surprised to find that the water in it was
very salt, although the ground water in
the neighboring wells contained not trace
or salt. II was also found that this saline
water had at times a high temperature.
The biologists as yet have not been able
to explain either the sadness or the high
temperature of the water. 1t was also
found that there were two distinct layers
of water, the upper layer, three feet thick,
being much less salt than the lower layer,
which was six feet in depth.
To-day the depression measures 260 feet
across the top and 40 feet across the sur
face of the pond, which is nine feet deep;
the distance from the bottom of the water
to the level of the plain is forty feet A
gOOd-siZed house might be hid aWay in the
depression.
The biologists say that the Meade salt
well is only the most striking of the Kan
sas sink holes, for there are many other
depressions of similar nature in the State.
Large sections of the high plains which
stretch across the western part of Kansas
are fairly pitted with large small
saucerlike depressions, sometimes so near
together that a stone may be thrown from
one to another.
Many of these sinks are shallow but 9TH
ers are deep, like the salt we'll here de-
Scribed The depressions are so numerous
that farmers are talking of utilizing them
Tor the storage of the spring rains, and thus
conserving the water that falls into them
for irrigation purposes. 1t may be worth
while to make them serviceable in this
way for irrigation is all that the great re-
gion needs TO make 1t wonderfully fertile.
We have long known of the countless
sink holes in the great cave regions of this
country which are formed by water per-
colating through the limestone rocks, dis
solving their mineral particles and thus car
rying the rock away in solution. No such
explanation however. can be given of the
sink holes of western Kansas. They are
still constantly forming and are gradually
lowering the surface over large areas, but
how they are formed is not yet fully deter
mined.
The study that has recently been made
of them by the Geological Survey seems to
show that the settling Is due in the smaller
cases to the gradual compacting of the soil
particles by the percolation of water which
collects from rain i'm particular spots and
by the chemical solution and washing away
OF the more soluble particles which COM
pose the ground.
In the larger sinks which appear sudden
ly, like the Meade salt well, there seems
however, to have been a caving In Of the
underlying rock bed. which is thin in places
and has probably been decomposed and car
ried away by the underground waters.