Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1923-04-28
Oil Shale in Nevada

A number of reports containing
information concerning the great OF
shale deposits in the Rocky Mountain
region have been issued by the De.
partment of the Interior through tht
Geological Survey: but the continued
demand for such information has ex.
hausted the supply of these reports
even though some of them were re
printed several times. In Bulletin
729 of the Geological Survey, just is
sued, Dean E. Winchester has incor-
porated the material contained in the
earlier reports and has added the re-
suits of later investigations made by
himself and others.
In his studies of oil shale Mr.. Win
chester found great need for a light
portable outfit for making quantitive
tests in the field. For this purpose
he devised a distilling apparatus, which
takes a charge of 8 and one half oun-
ces of crushed shale and in which the
yield of crude oil in gallons per short
tonis indicated directly by the num-
ber of cubic centimeters of condensed
oil in glass graduate. Rough es-
Inmates of the richness of the shale
may also be made with glass test
tube and a small alcohol torch. These
methods are briefly described in the
report.
The Green river formation (of Eo-
Gene age) contains by far. the rich
est and most extensive deposit of oil
shale in the Rocky Mountain region,
but carbonaceous matter from which
oil may be distilled is found in rocks
of nearly every geological period from
the Devonian to the Quaternary. The
Green river formation includes nearly
all the oil shale of Colorado, which
is found in four different areas in the
northwestern part of the state. Three
of these areas, the Piceance Creek Ba-
sin of Colorado and Utah. The shale
of these areas has been studied in
considerable detail, and the richness
and outcrop of several beds are fair
ly we'll known. The fourth area, an
extension of the southern Red De-
sert of southwestern Wyo-
ming, in general contains oil shale OF
lower grade than the other three. The
richest oil shales in Colorado are
those exposed in the Parachute Cliffs
towns on the main line Of the Denver
and Rio Crande Western Railroad
These shales are particularly waltz
able because of their thickness, rich
ness, flatness and proximity to rail
roads.
In Utah also the Green River for
nation contains the most extensive
deposits of oil shale, though under
formations ranging in age from Mis-
sippian to Eocene include rocks that
will yield some oil upon distillation.
Flat-lying Green River beds are pres
ent in the Uinta Basin, in north east
ern Utah, and in general the oil shales
are richest and thickest near the east
line of the State. The Green River
formation is we'll exposed in the Roam
Cliffs, along the southern margin OF
the Basin. Although the main line
of the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad skirts the Roam Cliffs on the
south, the oil shale beds are acces-
sible from the railroad only by round
about routes, except in the western
part of the fields.
In the vicinity of Elko, Nevada, on
the Southern Pacific Railroad. there
are several small deposits of oil shale
of Miocene age. These deposits
have been studied in considerable de-
tail, and a number Of beds of oil
shale ranging in thickness from two
to six feet or more and yielding from
50 to 20 gallons to the ton have been
recognized. These beds are not
only faulted and in places inclined
80 degrees from the horizontal. but
they also show great lateral variations
in richness. Oil shale from these
deposits is being mined and retorted,
and the product is being refined, but
as yet the plant is operating only on
an experimental basis.
The report includes many detailed
stratigraphic sections and results Of
distillation tests of oil sha1e from all
the important deposits in the Rocky
Mountain Region and from some OF
possible yield from the principal de-
posts: geologic notes on the origin
of oil shale: section on the regula
tions that govern leasing sof oil shalc
lands:a photography comprising more
than 1C0O references on oil shale
many illustrations and several maps
!, It may be obtained from the Director
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