The Underground Supply of Water

ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. NOTES CONTRIBUTED FOR THE ' 'IMPROVEMENT ERA" BY THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, ' AND EDITED BY DR. JOHN A. WIDTSOE. The

Underground Supply of Water. In the arid west, it is hoped much good will result from the development of underground waters. Artesian wells and pumping plants have, in fact, already done much towards reclaiming large areas of desert land. The miner, also, has an interest in the amount of subterranean water, for frequently, as a mine is opened* great difficulty is encountered and large expense occasioned by the occurrence of underground bodies of water. It is commonly believed that water may be found anywhere beneath the earth's surface, providing the well is deep enough. This belief is not wholly unjustifiable, for men of science, at one time, estimated the water in the earth's crust to be sufficient to form a sheet surrounding the earth, 7,500 feet in thickness. This is an enormous volume of water, equivalent to one-half the volume of the ocean. Recent researches have modified the absurdly large estimates formerly made. The most recent word on the subject is uttered by Prof. Myron L. Fuller, of the U. S. Geological Survey. He declares that rocks do not hold any very large quantities of water. Sandstones contain on an average six per cent of water; shales, 1.5 per cent; limestones, about two per cent; and crystalline rocks, such as granite, only one-tenth of one per cent. The total amount of water found in the crust of the earth, if spread over the earth's surface, would form a sheet about ninety-six feet in thickness. In other words, the total volume of the subterranean