The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-03-07
DEEPEST WELL IN THE WORLD.
Well Drilling Near Clarksburg, w. Va.
Breaks Record.

The, deepest well in the world, alread,
1858 feet deep, is now being drilled OF
the Col farm, eight miles northeast o
Clarksburg, in northern West Virginia
Until Jan u the record for depth haC
been held by a boring nj Czuchow, II
Silesa, which had reached n depth o
I,3i0 feet but on that day DR.. l. {
White, the state geoloeist Of West Nr
Gas company had driven the bit TO a
depth of 1850 feet, Jae good American
foot in excess of the German record
Moreover, the drilling is still in progress
and as sufficient length of cable aud
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 consider
able margin.
Seven thousand three hundred and six
ty.three feet is a very little less than
one and third miles. The depth of this
well exceeds the height of Mount Wash
ington 1928 feet aud of Mount Mitch
| ell (6,7ll feet, the highest mountain in
! the eastern United States, and is greater
than the distance to which many OF the
Rocky mountains loom above the level
of the foothills or plateaus on which they
stand. IL 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 400
feet above sea level, is about 800 feet
higher above the sea than the surface Of
the ground at the Coil well. The we'll
goes nearly half mile farther down into
the earth than the deepest mines in
Michigan, Brazil, or Europe Several oil
wells in California, in the Southwest, in
West Virginia and in Pennsylvania have
exceeded 1000 feet in depth, and one
near Mcdonald, Pa, about IA miles west
of Pittsburg, reached depth of 7,24S
feet
The thickness and character of the
beds OF rock passed through in boring
the we'll are being studied under the di
rection of the state geologst. All the
beds are composed of materials that were .
once sediments, aud most of them we're
settings in sea water which has at va
rious times covered this part of West /
Virginia. Interesting and important OBJ
servations of the temperature of the
rocks at different depths in the well have
been made by the United states geology
cal survey, department of the interior,
in cooperation with the state geological
survey, with the object of determining
tha rate at which the temperature in
creases downward in the outer crust of
this part of the earth. . Il. Van Or
strand, of the survey, found that at a
= 4.
perature is l52 degrees Fahrenheit and
hat the rate of Increase at this depth
i about one degree in 81 feet of depth
This shows that the outer crust of the
Earth in this region is relatively cool. for
n many other regions the temperature
Increases much more rapidly with in
'rease in depth. Even at some places in
he United States, according TO uneon- I
irmed observations, the temperature in
reases at the rate OF ono degree in 1
critical distance as little as Is feet. and
hat within a few hundred feet of the {
urface. Nevertheless, Mr. Van Orstrand J
that the temperature of the
ocks beneath the Golf well will be found {
t the boiling point (2l2 degrees F. at y
depth somewhere around 10000 feet .
The Golf well is near the center of the c
ft1t tbdi jttiu DdSIll- VI Y
rough, and is being drilled in search of ,
eeper oil sands than have yet been
cached in this part of the basin. The t
and upon which most hope is based is I
he Clinton" sand, formation of Silu- h
ian age, which is prolific of gas and oil s
cross central Ohio from Cleveland near
7 to the Ohio river. From its outcrop
MS formation dips gently to the south
.ut hapooth
lations nearly if not all the way TO il
Ii the drill can reach the V,
linton sand beneath the Golf farm, W
hich is on an anticline or small up II
ard fold in the shalower strata, it may Ia
ossibly find gas or oil pent up under n,
pressure and ready To escape al
enormous volume. Hence. the test not el
NY excites the curiosity of the public II
I'd is of great scientific interest to geol- m
yists, but is also OF practical value to fr
lie oil men, by whom it is being closely OF
atched. If the well strikes valuable he
/ or gas pool in the Clinton sand in W
lis part of the basin it may lead to the
of new oil or gas reserves, tie
I'd if subsequent tests are successful ii nc
ay open new era in the history of the III
ppalachian oil and gas region. The ri
of discovering such oil and su
3 deposits, comprising new reserves
therto unknown, is the justification Of ar
e great cost and labor of drilling the ar
st well at Clarksburg, though the best We
i'll of the nation may be required to re- to
&c the cost OF drilling very deep wells gi'
a point at which such work will be
practicable. II this boring to
DIS in disappointment it is probable
at similar wildcat tests will be made ha
other districts until the oil men are int
tisfied that the quest is hopeless, but tn,
this deep .wildcatting meets success d.
, entire nation will welcome a most ais
nelly as well as valuable addition to its sh,
troleum resources, and the gasoline pa
lsumer may well rejoice at the pros th,
It of new, even if limited. supplies of gee
ii gasoline Appalachian oil. sol