476  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1904.         [bull.  200. 
sunk  a  boring  at  a  point  in  the  lake  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  shore  to  «i  depth  of  130  feet  through  a  mixture  of  asphaltum 
and  detrital  lake  deposits.  The  writer  is  further  informed  by 
Mr.  J.  J.  Driver,  president  of  the  Utah  Oil  and  Liquid  Asphalt 
Company,  which  controls  this  property,  that  "five  wells  have  been 
sunk  "  on  one  of  the  islets,  "  two  of  which  are  about  140  feet  deep, 
the  others  from  80  to  100  feet."  He  also  states  that  an  experiment 
in  facilitating  the  flow  of  the  viscous  asphalt  was  made  by  running 
a  si  earn  coil  down  one  of  the  wells  for  about  100  feet  and  forcing 
the  steam  thence  into  the  asphalt  bed.  As  a  result  it  is  reported  that 
the  viscous  asphalt  was  partially  liquefied  and  flowed  up  more 
readily  for  a  few  hours,  when  it  was  cut  off  by  apparent  caving  of 
the  walls  about  the  bottom  orifice  of  the  casing.  At  the  rate  of  flow 
which  was  maintained  during  those  few  hours,  the  operators  esti- 
mated that  about  12  to  15  barrels  (of  52  gallons  capacity)  could  be 
obtained  in  a  day.  The  aggregate  thickness  of  beds  of  asphalt  cut 
in  the  course  of  this  development  is  estimated  by  Mr.  Driver  to  be 
about  30  to  35  feet.  The  areal  extent  of  these  beds  has  not  been  even 
roughly  determined.  One  writer  states  that  the  deposits  occur! 
throughout  a  tract  of  several  acres.  Another  has  estimated  that  thej 
extend  for  10  miles  along  the  shore  and  for  3  or  4  miles  in  a  direc- 
tion transverse  to  the  shore.  The  actual  dimensions,  however,  would 
probably  be  found,  on  proving  the  ground,  to  fall  considerably  below, 
this  estimate.  As  yet  development  work  is  insufficient  to  prove 
either  the  extent  of  the  asphalt  deposits  in  depth  or  areally,  or  their' 
form. 
Commercially  the  property  is  to  be  regarded  as  in  the  prospect 
stage,  practically  the  entire  output  being  20  barrels,  shipped  tc 
Ogden  for  use  as  paving.  In  the  event  that  sufficient  quantity  is 
found  to  render  its  regular  operation  commercially  desirable,  its  i 
economical  extraction  would  prove  a  serious  problem.  In  brief 
the  future  of  this  property  as  an  asphalt  producer  will  depend  upor 
the  result  of  future  development  and  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  extraction. 
As  a  possible  indication  of  oil,  this  occurrence  of  asphalt  pos 
sesses  an  additional  interest,  for  an  intimate  relationship  has  been 
recognized  by.  students  of  the  subject,"  and  some  hold  that  "  tin 
origin  of  the  hydrocarbons  as  such  and  in  the  bituminous  com 
pounds  *  *  *  may  be  traced  *  *  *  to  petroleum," b  Thu 
Eldridge   has   found   that   "  in   the   geological    investigation    of   th 
0  Eldridge,  G.  II.,  Asphalt  and  bituminous  rock  deposits  of  the  United  States:  Twentj 
second  Ann.  Kept.  TT.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  1,  pp.  231-232.  Hayes,  C.  W.,  and  Kennedj 
William,  Oil  fields  of  Texas-Louisiana  Gulf  coastal  plain  :  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  N< 
I'll',  p.  139. 
b  Eldridge,  G.  H.,  idem,  p.  231. 
