The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-08-29
FOSSIL OCEANS
OF GREAT ACE
ARE DISCOVERED


Among the many unsofyed myster-
Fnes ooncerning sthe interior of Mother
Earth few are more fascinating than
those brought to light by certain sur
Neutrality-suspicious. Of drillers of deep
walls Although many people are not
aware OF the fact, q large proportion
OF the weeks sunk to depths below L.
600 feet encounter large bodies of
salt waxsr, the now of which may be
Fhe has struck sthe Gulf OF Mexico or
some other Immense body Of salt wa
ktar. The salt water may even flow
mp ont OF the mouth OF the we'll, but
txnnre commonly II rises In the well to
Ia height OF several hundred feet
above the bottom, and its supply is
"a greax that only pump of enor-
NOUS capacity can keep the well emp
tx Where does this salt water come
xxbnz 1t IL often assumed that 1t fills
aome Immense cavity or system OF
crevices, but In fact 1t is generally
coutsinsd In some bed of unusually
lporos rock. like sandstone, in whichc
the pores, though minute, have an ag-
gregzte volume or capacity Of MIL
tlions or cubic Feet.
4 But one question lis no sooner an
swered than another one, more diff
cult. axlses. and the question now Is,
E1zpw DID tfzszsa1t water get into the
kporoEW rock? Has rain water soaked
< tar down In the-.earfh and found some
bed Of rock alt which 1t dissolved
and thereby become salty; or had the
Ba1t water some source far within
u the earth. FROM which it has arisen
toward me sur<aoes or Is It the water
LOT some ancsenf ocean that filled the
pores OF ti1s sand and mud OF it's bed.
- n
K under sznd and mud that graduaiEy
Accommodated on the ocean bottom ?
The shells of sea animals found in
k1imestones and other hard rocks al
the heart. OF the continent show clear
k1y THAT the ocean. In some one or sew
s@raz remote ages, covered large part
lof the country, and 1t appears ex-
trenefy probable that the salt water
found In the deep well is really fossil,
sea water entombed In the sands and
muds OF former cons and now brought
Ito the surface by the drill, which IL
linnunnsrabae places in this and Other
tcountrfes- is being sunk to depths Of
1.-TWO, three and four thousand feet
and even down to depths of nearly
1850 feet. "a depth reached by a yer,
Edeep wen which lis Still being drilled
Eat a pzAce.a little west of Pittsburgh
This sadt water seems to be foun6
kespeciad1y In Oil fields. but 1t has beer
kstruck by the drill at many othel
Ep3aces, as for example, near Leaven
worth, Kans., where enormous guam
Titles OF ealt water are found at vari
k0ns depths below the surface. AL
Though no valuable pools of oil or ga
khaye been found in that region, nu
kmerous beds of coal aggregating owe
is fest In thickness and nurnerou
fIiinner beds having an additional to
tak thickness of 9 feet were found. Il
that region al5D many outcroppin.
layers OF rock contain remains of ma
1fne shellB, and the entire region wa
no doubt once covered by the sea- In
deed, The geologist has been able t,
idecfpher in the rocks numerous de
tTadfB OF the record of the advance an,
kretreat OF the sea, and has been abb
Ito establish the fact that the region
Ewas submerged at several differen
times These and other geologic fea
furee OF the region near Leavenwortt
fKans-, and east of It, in Missouri, in
fcluding IT'S mineral resources, are des
Ecr1bed I'm a folio Of the Geologic At
k1as OF the United States just issued b
1.-THE United States Geological Depart
Imenf OF the Interior. This folio, tn
Hleavenworth-Smithv folio (Ne
I206-, which was prepared In coop
,eration with the Missouri Bureau Q
sGeoaogy' and Mines, contains also gee
logic maps and numerous other i1Ius
ltratfons- It may be obtained by send
ting 25 cents to the Director of tn
fGurVHY. -.