On underground temperatures : with observations on the conductivity of rocks, on the thermal effects of saturation and imbibition, and on a special source of heat in mountain ranges / by Joseph Prestwich.

  • Joseph Prestwich
Date:
1886
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On underground temperatures : with observations on the conductivity of rocks, on the thermal effects of saturation and imbibition, and on a special source of heat in mountain ranges / by Joseph Prestwich. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    [F, -oni the PkOCEEDINGS OF THE ROTAL SOCIETY, No. 246, 1886.] “ On Under^^roimd Temperatures ; with Observations on the Conductivity of Rocks; on the Thermal Effects of Satura- tion and Imbibition; and on a Special Source of Heat in Mountain Ranges.” By Joseph Prestwich, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. Received January 24. Read February 12, 1885. Page 1. Introduction—Historical Review 1 2. Greneral Observations 6 3. On Observations in Coal Mines 9 4. On Observations in Mines other than Coal 25 5. On Observations in Artesian Wells and Bore-holes 35 6. On Observations in Mountain Tunnels, and on a Special Source of Heat in Mountain Ranges 43 7. On the Conductivity of Rocks : and on their Saturation and Imbibition .. 47 8. Conelusious 53 Page I. Table. General List 56 II. Table. Coal Mines 88 III. Table. Mines other than Coal 96 IV. Table. Artesian Wells and Bore-lioles .... 106 1. Introduction. The opinions of physicists and geologists as to what may be the probable thickness of the crust of the Earth differ very niateriallj. On the strength of its great rigidity and the absence of tides, physicists contend for a maximum thickness and the comparative solidity of the whole mass of the globe. On the evidence of volcanic action, the crumpling and folding of the strata in mountain ranges, its general flexibility down to the most recent geological times, and the rate of increase of temperature in descending beneath the sur- face, geologists contend for a crust of minimum thickness (although respecting the measure of this there is great difference of opinion) and a yielding substratum, as alone compatible with these phenomena. My intention here is not to enter upon the general question, but to lay before the Society the results of an inquiry on one section of it —namely, the rate of increase of temperature beneath the surface,—a subject equally affecting the argument on both sides. My attention was more specially directed to this subject in connexion with an inquiry on the cause of volcanic action, during which I found that the recorded observations gave so wide a choice in the selection of a mean rate for the increase of temperature, or as termed by Professor Everett, the “thermometric gradient,” that very different values might b