204 ARTESIAN WELLS IN t)ORSET ANt> ELSEWHERE. 



There are also natural outlets for this pent-up water, which is 

 largely under the influence of beds of Cretaceous age though 

 not of the nature of Chalk. 



In 1882, the Government Geologist concluded from the 

 geological structure of Queensland that a supply of artesian 

 water might occur in the West of that State. A bore was com- 

 pleted in 1888, a water-bearing layer having been reached at a 

 depth of 1,645 feet, when water rose to the surface and 

 discharged nearly 300,000 gallons per day. Since then numerous 

 artesian wells have been sunk in all the three States, the deepest 

 being 5,046 feet below the surface. Some of this water is hot 

 and much of it highly saline. In Queensland alone by the end 

 of June, 1904, no less than 973 wells had been sunk (by 

 boring), amounting to a total depth bored of 225 miles, at a cost 

 of ij million pounds, and giving a total flow of nearly 400 

 million gallons per day. In some cases the flow of water is so 

 great as to have been used for power-purposes. 



The general structure of this immense basin appears to be a 

 monocline sloping to the west, and the waters are to a great extent 

 supplied by the rainfall on the western slopes of the Eastern 

 Highlands. Such waters, when tapped by the boring rod, are 

 " artesian " in the strict sense of the word ; but in addition to 

 those are waters thought to be raised up by gas-pressure and 

 other causes, and to which the term " artesian " is scarcely applic- 

 able. The question of over-boring and consequent possible 

 exhaustion is just now attracting public attention in Australia. 



Comparative Analysis of the Bovington and Wimlorne Water* 

 Bearing in mind that both these waters come out of the Chalk, 

 there is a considerable difference in the nature of their mineral 

 contents, i.e., in the character of dissolved solid matter, 

 though both of them are eminently suitable for drinking 

 purposes. Stated simply, the Wimborne water is harder than 



* Under the head of Wimborne water are included the Wimborne Water- 

 works, the "Bournemouth" Waterworks, and the South- Western Mineral 

 Company's Waterworks. 



