BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS 
VOL. 18, NO. 1 (JANUARY, 1934), PP. 13-38, 14 FIGS. 
SOME POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF GEOTHERMICS 
TO GEOLOGY! 
C. E. VAN ORSTRAND? 
Washington, D. C. 
ABSTRACT 
The generation and dissipation of heat are important factors in earth history. The 
present distribution of temperature down to the level of isostatic compensation can 
probably be determined with more accuracy than has heretofore been obtained by 
making use of the observations of temperatures in tunnels or across mountain ranges. 
Recent geothermal surveys show that relatively high temperatures are generally 
associated with faults, salt domes, sand lenses, and anticlinal structures of both large 
and small closure. 
Radioactivity and thermal conduction through oil-bearing strata are shown to be 
possible sources of temperature variations. Generation of heat by the oxidation of 
petroleum appears to be of minor importance as a heat source. The most potent source 
of heat is to be found in the hot rocks immediately beneath uplifts. 
Ceothermal prospecting is a possibility, but as developed at present, it is much less 
efficient than other methods of geophysical prospecting. 
COSMOGONY 
Astrophysics (1)? teaches that the life history of the countless 
millions of stars distributed throughout celestial space is dependent 
largely on a single phenomenon—the generation and dissipation of 
heat. During the period of condensation of the nebula, heat is gener- 
ated, until, in the interior of the resulting star, such as our sun, mat- 
ter exists chiefly in the forms of electrons and protons, which may 
ultimately, as the temperature continues to rise, neutralize each other, 
leaving in their stead an electro-magnetic wave which carries off the 
enormous quantity of energy released by the merging together of the 
positive and negative charges of electricity. Such an hypothesis seems 
necessary to account for the long life of the stars. None of the known 
radioactive transformations liberates sufficient energy to maintain the 
sun’s heat. As the loss of mass and generation of heat proceeds, a point 
is ultimately reached, depending on the size of the star, where its 
internal energy is radiated more rapidly than it is generated. Our sun 
has long ago passed the point of maximum temperature and is now 
1 Published with the permission of the director, United States Geological Survey. 
Read before the Association at the Houston meeting, March 24, 1933. Manuscript 
received, August 7, 1933. 
2 Geophysicist, United States Geological Survey. 
3 This and the following references are in the Bibliography at the end of this article. 
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