The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-03-07
DEEPEST WELL IN WORLD
IS IN West virginia
NEARLY MILE AND HALF DEEP
IN SEARCH OF STRATUM
OF OIL SANDS.


been held by boring at Czuchow, In
Silesia, which had reached depth OF
7349 feet, but on that day Dr. |. C.
White, the state geologist of West Vlr
GINA, announced that the Hope Nat
ural Gas company had driven the bit
to depth Of 1850 feet one good Am
erican foot in excess of the German
record. Moreover, the drilling Is stu
in progress and as sufficient length of
cable and adequate power and tools
are at hand the prospects are good
for driving still farther down into the
crust of the earth and winning the
pennant by considerable margin.
Comparisons.
Seven thousand three hundred and
sixty three feet is a very little less
than one and third miles, The depth
of this we'll exceeds the height of
Mount Washington (6293 feeD and of
Mount Mitchell (6711 feeD, the high
est mountain in the eastern United
States and is greater than the dis
lance to which many of the Rocky
mountains loom above the level of the
foothills or plateaus on which they
stand. 1t Is over half a mile deeper
than the grand canyon of the Colorado
in Arizona. In fact, the bottom of the
grand canyon at the foot of the Bright
Angel trail, which is approximately
2400 feet above sea level is about 1900
feet higher above the sea than the
surface Of the ground at the Golf well.
The well goes nearly half mile far
Their down into the earth than the
deepest mines in Michigan, Brazil or
Europe. Several oil wells in Calfor-
MIA, in the southwest in West Vir-
ginia, and in PENNSYLVANIA have ex-
ceeded 1000 feet in depth, and one near
Mcdonald, Pa, about IA miles west of
Pittsburg reached a depth of 724S feet.
Geological Study.
The thickness and character of the
beds of rock passed through in boring
the well are being studied under the
direction of the state geologist. All the
beds are composed of materials that
we're once sediments and most of then
were settings in sea water which has
at various times covered this part OF
West Virginia. Interesting aud i'm
portant observations of the tempera-
ture of the rocks at different depths In
the we'll have been made by the Unit
aA States geological survey depart
ment Of the interior, in cooperation
with the state geological survey, with
the object of determining the rate al
which the temperature increases
downward in the outer crust of this
part of the earth. C, e. Van Orstrand
of the survey found that at depth OF
1000 feet in the well the temperature
Is 1852 degrees f., and that the rate OF
INCREASE at this depth is about l de-
gree in 81 feet of depth. This shows
that the outer crust of the earth in this
region is relatively cool. for in many
other regions the temperature in
creases much more rapidly with in
crease in depth. Even at some places
confirmed observations, the tempera-
ture increases at the rate of l degree
In vertical distance as little as %
feet, and that within a few hundred
feet of the surface. Nevertheless, Mr.
Van Orstrand estimates that the tenn
perature of the rocks beneath the Goft
well will be found at the boiling point
(212 degrees F. at depth somewhere
around 10000 feet.
Gas and Oil.
The Golf well is near the center OF
the great Appalachian coal field basin
or trough and is being drilled in
search of deeper oil sands than have
yet been reached in this part of the
basin. The sand upon which most
hope is based is the clinton" sand, a
formation of Siluran age, which is
prolific of gas and oil across central
Ohio from Cleveland nearly to the
Ohio river. From its outcrop this for
nation dips gently to the southeast
beneath successfully younger forma
ions nearly IL not all the way "
Clarksburg. If the drill can reach the
Clinton sand beneath the Golf farm
which is on an anticline or small up
ward fold in the shallower strata, II
may possibly find gas or oil pent VI
under tremendous pressure and ready
to escape in enormous volume. Hence
the test not only exctes the curiosity
Of the public and is of great scientific
interest to biologists, but is also OF
practical value to the oil men, by
whom IL is being closely watched. II
the we'll strikes valuable oil or gas
pool in the Clinton sand in this part OF
the basin il may lead to the develop
ment of new oil or gas reserves. and
il subsequent tests are successful II
may open q new era in the history OF
the Appalachian oil and gas region
The possibility of discovering such oil
and gas deposits, comprising new re-
serves hitherto unknown, Is the justi-
fication of the great cost and labor OF
drilling the test well at Clarksburg,
though the best skill of the nation may
be required to reduce the cost of drill
ing very deep wells to point at which
such work will be economically prac-