3 go The National Geographic Magazine 



has been made in some sections in de- 

 veloping well waters, there are vast 

 areas in which the present supplies are 

 inadequate, even for local domestic use. 

 The investigation has been in charge 



From N. H. Darton, U. S. Geological Survey 



Artesian Well at Lynch, Nebraska 



This well has a flow of 3,100 gallons a minute from an 8-inch 

 casing, with a pressure of 85 pounds to the square inch. A 

 first flow was found at 740 feet and a second at 875 feet 



of Mr N. H. Darton, who has recently 

 brought together the results of the work 

 in a handsome quarto volume of 400 

 pages published by the Survey, and en- 

 titled " Geology and Underground 



Water Resources of the Central Great 

 Plains. ' ' Mr Darton gives an excellent 

 geologic history of the region, describ- 

 ing not only those sections which con- 

 ceal water far down in the earth, but 



also those places which 



are dry below as well as 

 above. 



Smooth surfaces and 

 eastward - sloping rolling 

 plains are the character- 

 istic features of the region , 

 but in portions of the 

 province there are buttes, 

 extended escarpments, and 

 local areas of badlands. 



The report reproduces 

 more than one hundred 

 beautiful photographs by 

 Mr Darton of different 

 scenes in the Great Plains. 

 Several of these are given 

 here. The thick succes- 

 sion of sedimentary for- 

 mations underlying the 

 Great Plains includes por- 

 ous strata containing large 

 volumes of water. These 

 water - bearing deposits 

 comprise widespread 

 sheets of sandstones or 

 sand, from Cambrian to 

 Tertiary in age. The 

 sandstones of the older 

 formations are in sheets 

 often several hundred feet 

 thick, alternating with 

 bodies of relatively im- 

 permeable shales or lime- 

 stones, so that they pre- 

 sent favorable conditions 

 as water-bearers. To the 

 west they are upturned by 

 the great uplifts and out- 

 crop along the high moun- 

 tain slopes ; to the east most of them 

 rise gradually to the surface, while in 

 the central and northern regions they 

 lie at great depth under the heavy man- 

 tle of younger deposits. 



