The Mena weekly star., 1916-11-30

ticline. Today m certain localities it is fast becoming one of the mosi popular words in the language.
 To many people who use the word, however, the word anticline does not convey any very definite mean ing. Somehow, and in some fashion if is associated with oil and gas for those who have heard the word anticline, have heard it in connec- ton with an oil or gas field. That is to say, they have heard that there was an anticine at Cushing and at Blackwell. and that oil and gas oc- cur in and under the anticline.
 But just what an anticline is, and what 1t looks like, and what are its size, fashion and form--these are questions about which most people have hay notions. We are not sure, many of us, that we would be able to recognize an enticline if we met one in the road.
 Tn order to attempt to make the matter plain, may l try to answer a few very simple and elementary questions about anticlines?
 What Is an Anticline?
 An anticline is an arch or high place in the rocks, blister on the earth's surface, turtle rock, if you please, place where some great force has showed up the rocks and raised them above the level of the surrounding rocks. The intervening lowplace, or trough, is called a syn cline.
 What causes anticIines and syn rlincs?
 Usually the shrinking and con- traction of the earth's crust, altho it may be any one of a number of a series of stresses and strains set up by the earth movements.
 How large is an anticline2
 This is like asking how large is a farm or how large is a house. Some anticlines are only a few feet across, others are many miles i'll diameter and hundreds of miles long, as for instance, some of the Oklahoma anticlines situated in the McAlester country. The one at Augusta. kas., is about eight miles long, the Healdon anticline is six 10 eight miles long, the Gushing field consists of series of anticlines, each four to seven miles long, ar ranged end to end. The longest single antieline of which I know, in Kansas, has been traced for a dis tance of thirty-five miles.
 What is the shape Of an antieline? :? The shape varies as much as the size. In general they are oval shaped, with the length from two to four times the width. Sometimes they are circular, like an inverted saucer The Newkirk anticline is shaped like an inverted spoon. with the handle stretching southwest to- ward ponca City. The long anti cline of which just spoke is shaped more like snake that winds it's way for thirty-flve miles across the Flint hills.
 Occur How Frequently?
 There is no general rule In some regions all the country consists of a series of antielines with intervening synelines. This is true of the Me Alester- Muskogee- Fort Smith coun- try i'll eastern Oklahoma and west ern Arkansas. Iii eastern Kansas and much of eastern Oklahoma the structure is monoclinical, with low but regular dips to the west and northwest away from the Ozark up- lift. There may be but single an- ticline in country, or there may be a dozen such antielines.
 Is hill an anticline2
 Not necessarily so. An anticline may or may not be hill In fact many hills are in synclines with the intervening valleys anticlines. The location and shape of the hills and valleys are caused largely by eros ion, and usually have no relation to structure. In most cases the an ticline passes across the country without any relation whatever to the hills and valleys
 How can one find an anticline?
 The ordinary individ nal could not. This is a matter that requires spe- cial training and experience. The ordinary layman would probably be as successful in locating an anti cline as he would be in conducting an operation for appendicitis, repair ing an automobile or examining a land title. Even the trained geolo- glst with years of experience may have difficulty in locating an anti eline, and it is not to be expected that the inexperienced would be successful,
 How They Are Found.
 How do geologists determine the location of antielines in Kansas and oklahoma2
 By hunting for eastward-dipping rocks. In a region like this where the normal dip of the rocks is to the west, the geologist searches for rocks dipping in any direction op- posite to the general dip If he can find such place, where the rocks dip in two different directions from given line, like the comb of a roof, he knows that there he has found an anticline, and there he can recommend drilling.
 Why are oil and gas found under an anticline?
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