The Point Pleasant register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) 1909-1939, 1909-10-13
Rock SAL.
Il Reveals to Us Place Where Once
a Sea Existed.

IL Reveals to Us Place Where Once
a Sea Existed.
Salt under ground! 1t seems a
strange thing at first to find salt
among the rocks deep down In the
earth. What does rock salt tell us?
IT reveals to US a place where once
a sea existed. The water has since
flowed away, leaving some salt be-
hind. We know that ordinary salt
exposed to the air soon gets damp
and then becomes quite fluid, but
rock salt away from air and sun
keeps firm for ages.
Rock salt is found in various lay
ers Of the earth's crust. Some Of
the spaces Of underground water
are called @seas," but, in fact, large
as they were, they often did not re-
semble the "seas" We have now, be-
cause they were much shallower. a
few we're fairly deep, however.
Then, again, these ancient seas
were sometimes so salty that no
animal could live in them ana only
a few plants.
Such seas, in fact, were mostly
@dead,n and this accounts for the
masses of salt deposited along their
bottoms. But we find also signs
of rough water in the numerous
pebbles of the layer where the salt
is found among hard red gravel and
brown quartz.
Germany once had tolerably
deep sea, not very salt, and the bot
tom surface of it shows coral reefs.
There are signs in it of great fishes
armed with strong teeth, enabling
them to crush the shellfsh upon
which they fed.
These swarmed below the see in
thousands. North England and the
pidlands have the Keuper beds,
where the Seas" were always shall
low and where We can trace the
marks of raindrop offerings and
sun cracks. The rock salt is often
in a layer 400 feet thick. 1t is sup
posed that one part of these seas
was separated from another part by
bar of sand, over which the waves
toppled only now and then.
In the cutoff sea evaporation
went on through the ages, and of
course deposit OF salt was formed,
while the occasional overflow from
outside replaced the water which
had evaporated. But really this is
not known for certain. It is only
clear rock salt that contains the
minerals W" find in our present sea
water-bromine. iodine and mag
! neSia.
Generally this salt is not mixed
with fragments of different sub
| stance, but is in columns of rough
crystals. Now and then there is
found a layer of rock salt, with one
of mari and shells under it, succeed
ed by rock salt again, showing that
for time change had taken
place.
Upon the land near these shallow
salt seas lived some singular ami
mails, unlike those of cur earth in
the later centuries of its history.
There were remarkable reptiles be-
longing to the frog or batrachian
family. One of the species was the
size of small OK, with peculiar
complicated teeth end feet which
left prints on the earth so exactly
like the impressions of the human
hand that biologists gave it Latin
name, meaning 'Ethe beast with the
hand" Another strange creature
was a sort Of lizard with a horny
bill and feet resembling those Of
the duck. It had somewhat the
appearance Of a turtle, it is sup
posed. Then there were some
warm blooded animals about the
size of a rat, which had pouches
in their cheeks and proved upon
small insects. : St. Louis Globe
Democrat.