Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • All collections
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member type access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Submit
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of the Geological Society
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Journal of the Geological Society

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Journal home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Issue in progress
    • All issues
    • All collections
    • Thematic Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • GSL Fellows access
    • Other member type access
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
    • Metrics
  • Alert sign up
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
  • Submit

On the Petroleum-springs in North America

Abraham Gesner
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 18, 3-4, 1 February 1862, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1862.018.01-02.09
Abraham Gesner
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Search for this author on this site
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

The ample information on this subject already published renders it desirable to make use only of the subjoined portion of Dr. Gesner's communication.

The petroleum is obtained by borings, to a depth of from 150 to 500 feet. No reliable record of these borings, or the strata through which they pass, has yet been kept. As a general rule the sections may, however, be represented as—1st. Soil, ferruginous clay, and boulders; 2nd. Sandstone and conglomerates; 3rd. Shale; 4th, Bituminous shale ; and 5th. Oil, underlaid by an oil-bearing stratum

of fire-clay, containing fragments of Stigmaria and other coal-plants. In the deeper sinkings, sandstones and bituminous shales are brought up by the borers; but in every instance the petroleum appears to be underlaid with a tight stratum of fire-clay. As soon as the oilbearing stratum is reached, there is usually an escape of carburetted hydrogen gas, and it is discharged with such force that the boring-rods are often blown into the air, as ff they had been discharged from a piece of ordnance. The gas is followed by a mixture of oil and gas, and finally by the oil itself, which is thrown in a jet upwards, sometimes to the height of 100 feet. The bore of the well is usually about 4 inches in diameter, being an iron tube let down as the boring proceeds. When the oil appears, the workmen, as soon as they can approach the spot, drive a wooden plug into the iron pipe, and thus prevent the flow of oil, until they are prepared to receive it. Finally, when the natural flow ceases, a pump is applied, and the raising of the petroleum proceeds. Some wells at the outset have produced no less than 4000 gallons of oil in twenty-four hours. At some sites the shallow wells have run out or been exhausted; but by sinking them deeper still greater supplies have been obtained, and which at present appear to be inexhaustible. It seems very certain, therefore, that the reservoirs of oil are fissures penetrating certain oil-bearing strata and the intervening deposits.

The specific gravity of the petroleums varies from ·795 to ·881. In general they are of a dark-brown colour. A few wells have produced oils qaite clear and transparent; and simple distillation renders them quite pure and suitable for lamps. The inflammability of the vapour of the mineral oil has given rise to accidents. In one case an off, tapped by a bore at 330 feet, rose in a fountain 100 feet high, was soon afterwards ignited, and burned for two months before the workmen could plug the iron tube.

After some observations on the antiquity of the use of mineral oil in North America and elsewhere, and on the present condition of the oil- and gas-springs and the associated sulphur- and brine-springs in the United States, the author stated that 50,000 gallons of mineral oil are daily raised for home use and for exportation. The oil-region comprises parts of Lower and Upper Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and California. It reaches from the 65th to the 128th degree of longitude west of Greenwich; and there are outlying tracts besides.

The oil is said to be derived from Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous rocks. In some cases the oil may have originated during the slow and gradual passage of wood into coal, and in its final transformation into anthracite and graphite,—the hydrogen and some carbon and oxygen being disengaged, probably forming hydrocarbons including the oils. In other cases, animal matter may have been the source of the hydrocarbons.

Other native asphalts and petroleums were referred to by the author, who concluded by observing that these products were most probably being continually produced by slow chemical changes in fossiliferous rocks.

Please note that if you are logged into the Lyell Collection and attempt to access content that is outside of your subscription entitlement you will be presented with a new login screen. You have the option to pay to view this content if you choose. Please see the relevant links below for further assistance.

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article for 24 hours and download the PDF within the access period. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one. To download the PDF, click the 'Purchased Content' link in the receipt email.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email [email protected]

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact [email protected]

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society: 18 (1-2)
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
Volume 18, Issue 1-2
February 1862
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

On the Petroleum-springs in North America

Abraham Gesner
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 18, 3-4, 1 February 1862, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1862.018.01-02.09
Abraham Gesner
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

On the Petroleum-springs in North America

Abraham Gesner
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 18, 3-4, 1 February 1862, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.JGS.1862.018.01-02.09
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Journal of the Geological Society article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
On the Petroleum-springs in North America
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of the Geological Society
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of the Geological Society.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Bookmark this article
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Errata Corrigenda et Addenda
  • Appendix to Mr. Maw's Paper on the Geology of Morocco, being a Description of a New Genus of Fossil Scutelloid Echinoderm from Saffe, N. Africa
  • On Prognathodus Güntheri, Egerton, a new Genus of Fossil Fish from the Lias of Lyme Regis
Show more: Proceedings of the Geological Society
  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • Virtual outcrop-based analysis of channel and crevasse splay sandstone body architecture in the Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group, Yorkshire, NE England
  • The naming of the Permian System
  • The Eocene−Oligocene transition in Nanggulan, Java: lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and foraminiferal stable isotopes
  • The Ediacaran origin of Ecdysozoa: integrating fossil and phylogenomic data
  • False biosignatures on Mars: anticipating ambiguity
More...

Journal of the Geological Society

  • About the journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Submit a manuscript
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0016-7649
Online ISSN 
2041-479X

Copyright © 2022 Geological Society of London