The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-07
\ DHEP Wmhs AT CHARLESTON.
Preabistoric. Oysters and Maxine Or
 ganisms Brought to Surface.


 A wen was recently dri18ed at Charleston, s. C.. to a depth of nearly 2, 900 feet below sea level and at that depth struck Water-bearfng sand which yielded a natural flow of over half a million gallons a day of ex- tremeiy soft water, suitable for boiler supply. T.. N. Knapp, Of Philadelphia, who was the engineer in charge of the drilling operations, realizing the opportunity afforded by a deep boring Of this kind to add to the sum of hu- man knowledge, carefully saved complete set of samples of the ma terials penetrated by the dEan and sent them to the office of the United States Geological Survey at Washing ton. The findings of the specialists deemed of sufficient importance to warrant the publication of g. 28-page report which was issued as Profes- sion Paper 90-Hs
 One Of the interesting results of these studies was the finding of the shells of oysters and other marine organisms even even down to the very bottom of the well, all of which, except those found within 75 or 80 feet of the surface. belong to species which lived during past ages and are now extinct. The shell of one species belonging to tffe oyster family and known to scientists as Exogyra upatoriensfs Stephenson was floated out from the bottom of the well by the natural flow of water. The story which this shell tells in an interesting one to students of earth history.
 When the oyster was alive the Att 1antic ocean covered tf1O@13resent site of Charleston and probably extended for nearly a hundred miles farther in land but the bottom of the sea. on which it lived was probably not more than 50 or 100 fathoms deep. The : rivers from the land carried sand and mud into the sea and gradually filled it, but as the filling progressed the sea bottom slowly sank Some times there was a pause in the sink ing, and at other times there were even upward movements which tenn porariIy lifted the sea floor entirely out of water; but in the main the movements were downward until a relatively recent prehistoric time, when an upward movement caused the sand line to retreat to it's present position.
 In the sands and cIays which filled this downward-sinking ocean basin. salty ocean waters were entrapped and buried and these waters, now more or less mixed with Iand-derived waters. were encountered at various depths in the Charleston we'll; they are referred to in the report as 'fos- siI waters" because they have been for so long locked in the earth and prevented from circulating. Although practically motionIess these fossil waters are under heavy hydraulic pressure due to the weight of the waters which have percolated from the landward direction down through the saaward-dipping sand layers When the sands containing the fossil waters are tapped by wells the hy- draulic pressure forces the water ur through the. drill hole to the surface thus producing flowing artesian wells The water from the 2,o0O-foot level al ] Charleston shows only slight indica- ton of having been mixed with ses T water. but the waters from some O. the higher levels contain enough O. the ancient seq. water to give them distinctly salty taste.
 It is commonly known fact tha. the temperature of the earth in creases from the surface downward and this fact is well illustrated b. the conditions existing in the Charles ton well. The temperature of tn, water from the 2.0O0-foot level as I flows uot from the mouth of the wei is 99 S-4l F.. being from 35 to 40 de grses warmer than the waters ob tafned from the wells less than 1oi