OIL AND GAS IN THE CENTRAL BASIN. 13 



Whether or not deeper drilling would be advised in order to 

 get a supply of gas for household use would depend in each 

 case upon the location of the well. In some wells, doubtless 

 deeper drilling would result in an increased flow of gas, but in 

 no case would it be thought advisable to drill very deep. It is 

 the belief of the writer that such limited reservoirs of oil and 

 gas as occur in the Central Basin will be found in those rocks 

 that lie above the Knox dolomite. Possibly an appreciable 

 amount of these products would be found in the upper part of 

 that formation, but every foot of descent through it, decreases 

 the prospect of finding any. 



In the vicinity of Murf reesboro, where the arch stands high- 

 est, the Knox dolomite would be reached near the surface, and 

 would be deeper the greater the distance from that area. This 

 will be made plain by inspecting the figure on page 11. Its 

 greatest depth would be found next to the Highland Rim. 

 Where all the formations of the Basin occur above the Knox 

 dolomite, its depth from the surface would be the aggregate 

 thickness of those formations, which is approximately 800 feet. 



Conclusion. As the reader has gathered from the foregoing, 

 it is the writer's belief that oil will nowhere be found in utiliz- 

 able amount in the Central Basin, and that gas can not be ex- 

 pected in greater amount than a supply for private use. The 

 most likely localities for such supply are in the outer parts of 

 the area, and in the tops of the folds or wobbles that occur on 

 the sides of the main arch. 



OIL AND GAS WELLS. 



It should be remembered that this paper is confined to the 

 oil and gas conditions of the Central Basin. It does not include 

 the surrounding Highland Rim, in which the oil and gas con- 

 ditions are more or less different. 



Besides the numerous shallow wells of the Central Basin 

 that have produced a showing of oil and more or less gas, Mr. 

 M. J. Munn has reported several deep ones.* In order to get 

 the known facts of the area together, what Mr. Munn has to 



*Preliminary report upon the oil and gas developments in Tennessee. Bull. 

 2-E, Tennessee Geological Survey, pp. 29-31. 



