The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-09-04

ceptlonal economic ana Sclenllllc I'M
portance. Although the wells drilled
by the Hope Natural Gas company
and the Peoples Natural Gas COM
pany have not yet reached the goal
sought depth of 5000 feet-they
have, nevertheless, come within AL
feet Of the goal, and incidentally they
have established the fact that no val
liable deposits of oil exist in the i'm
mediate vicinity Of the wells at depths
somewhat greater than 1000 feet.
What's in the Interior Of the Earth.
The materials and the conditions in
the interior of the earth have long
been favorite subject Of speculation
among scientific Een. According to
the modern mathematical theory of
the propagation of earthquake waves
through the earth the outer rocky
shell of the earth, which is about
two and one-half times as heavy as
water extends to depth of less than
1000 miles Inside of this shell is
some mtaerial. probably metallic,
which Is more than five times as
heavy as water Estimates of the
temperature at the@center of this nu-
cleus range from 5000 degrees to $780,
900 degrees F., but these figures have
little or no value. for mathematician
have not yet found the law of the
distribution Of temperature from the
surface to the center Of the earth. The
temperature evidently increases with
the depth, fact again confirmed by
temperature made In each of the
| three deep wells, the Geary, the Golf,
and the Lake, by C. e. Van OGstrand
Of the United States geological sur
vey, department of the interior. In
each of these wells the temperature
at depth of 100 feet is about SIS de-
grees F., and gradually rises with in
crease in depth, reaching 142 degrees
F. in the Geary we'll at depth of
6102 feet, 159 degrees F. in the Golf
well at a depth of 1910 feet and 1886
degrees F. in the Lake we'll at a depth
of 1900 feet. The observation at a
depth Of 1900 feet in the Lake wei!
was made at the deepest point yet
reached by any observer.
The source of the enormous guam
tity of heat stored in the interior of
the earth is not known. Some writ
ers think this heat is due to the dis
indignation of radium in the rocks
others think that the earth is a cool
| ing globe. radiating heat developed
during condensation from the orig
inal nebula, and others think that it
is due to various causes, such as ra-
dioactivity, chemical reactions, i'm
pacts from meteorites, or condensa-
ton from nebulous material.
Some Interesting Results of Deep
Drilling.
The strata of lime, slate and sand
penetrated by these deep wells were
originally sediments deposited from
ocean water was actually found in
the GeaGy we'll at depth of $3.50
of West Virginia, with whom the
United States geological survey is
cooperating in these Investigations, Is
of the opinion that this water is
fossil ocean, imprisoned since mid
Palezoic time. Interesting evidence
in regard to the geologic history of
the formations was obtained I. by
Charles Butts, of the United States
geological survey, who identified
numbeg of fossils from depths of
1887 to 1855 feet in the Golf we'll The
material from the Lake well has not
yet been fully examined. 1t may be
possible by examining the fossils to
determine the geologic ages and hor-
lions Of the beds penetrated and so
to estimate the depth at which the
Clinton sand should lie beneath the
bottom of this we'll. The we'll prob
ably does not pass through more than
one-half the total thickness Of sedi-