290 . NATURAL GAS IN THE EAS'l'ERN PENINSULA.

NATURAL GAS EXPLORATIONS IN THE EAS1ERN

ONTARIO PENINSULA.* Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021

BY CHARLES ALBERT ASHBURNER, PITTSBURGH, PA.

( Meeting, October, 1889.)

GAS IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY. NATURAL gas bas been known to exist for many years in the St. Lawrence Valley, between Quebec and Montreal, and more particu­ l!lrly in the vicinity of Louisville and Three Rivers, 74 and 94 miles respectively northeast of Montreal, and 98 and 78 miles respectively south west of Quebec; the distance from Montreal to Quebec along the St. Lawrellce River being about 175 miles. It was not until 1880 that any practical explorations were begun with the hope of finuing gas in sufficient quantities for commercial uses. In' this year Messrs. Pi ret and Genest., of Three Rivers, sank a well near St. Maurice to a depth of 50 feet, where solid rock wat; encountered. A similar well was drilled through the glacial and alluvial drift, in the same d~trict, in 1883, by the Messrs. Renaud Freres and Dubois, to a depth of 70 feet before solid rock was en­ countered. In this latter well a strong flow of gas was obtained. The gas was an outRow from a very limited reservoir in the porolls glacial gravel, which had been filled from the gas resulting from the decomposition of vegetable remains, which had been buried in the gravel at the time of its deposition. Subsequently, other wells were sunk in the same way, with the hope of getting gas in commercial quantities from similar reservoirs. Comme'rcial Gas.-By gas ill commercial quantities I mean gas in such quantity that, if utilized with proper care and economy, it would generate steam at a cost below the cost at which the same duty could be obtained from the use of coal or wood at current prices, and that

* This paper has more special reference to explorations for natural gas in that portion of Ontario buunded on the north by , on the past by the , on the south by , and on the west by a line drawn from Hamilton, southwest to . NATURAL GAS IN THE PENINSULA. 291 the net revenue from the use of the gas would be such as to give a reasonable profit on the capital invested in the drilling of the well and the piping of the gas to the consumer, and at the same time provide for a sinking fund to replace this invested capital within the time when it might be considered that the gas-producing rock would become absolutely exhausted. It is important in this connection to Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 bear in mind that natural gas, like all other mineral deposits, can be exhausted. In a commercial sense a gas-reservoir is not unlike a coal-bed. For every cubic foot of gas taken out of a gas-reser­ voil' there is just one cubic foot less remaining.

RELATION BETWEEN PETROLUEM AND NATURAL GAS. A popular impression exists that the gas is being continually produced, but this is not a fact in a commercial sense, as far as the natural gas-deposits of the Appalachian region are concerned. Natural gas and petroleum are intimately associated with one an­ other. In all gas-reservoirs it is possible to find petroleum, some­ times, however, in such infinitesimal quantities that it is of no com­ mercial value, and can only be found by a very careful examination of the gas-produciug rock. Natural gas is also always to be found in the rocks which produce petroleum, although in the latter case the amount is so small as not to be practically valuable. While it is unnecessary in this connection to comment upon the question whether the primary condition in which these hydrocarl· ..J products exist is gas or oil, and if gas, whether the secondary pro­ duct is petroleum, and if petroleum, whether the secondary product is gas; stilI it is interesting to know that wherever petroleum has been found a certain amount of gas is always being produced by the volatilization of the lighter products of the petroleum. This pro­ duction of gas, however, is so small that the statement is justified that no gas is being produced in quantities sufficiently great to be of commercial value. In disproof of the opinion, which I have always held, that petroleum can be found in gas-producing rocks, the statement is frequently made by practical gas,men that in certain districts where natural gas has been found, and where it is being practically utilized for commercial purposes, the ga~ is abso­ lutely dry; that is, it contains no petroleum which can be ohtained as a precipitate from the gas. While it is true that in many of our prominent gas districts the petroleum is not readily visible in the gas, still I know of no case where I have not been able to find some 292 NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. petroleum, even if it were only a single drop, in a district which is producing daily millions of cubic feet of natural gas.*

GEOLOGICAL MAP of the Eastern end of the o ONTARIO PENINSULA, NIAGARA . by Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Chfl.I'/•• Alb"t Aehburner, D.80. Comifel'OUS Limestone fIIITI1llIIIJ 1889 Lower Helderberg I ~ w"~Pn~e )~

Niagara Slwles & L.9.1-·--A

Cl1nton c:::::::::J

Medina ~

I BR. I

J> 4. L 'Ii: 1 :e r. , B . ~ Ip

Without making further reference to the occurrence of petroleum in the district under consideration, I believe that whatever may be

* I have given carl)ful thought to this question in connection with the occurrence of the immense deposits of natural gas in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pa., and the great possibility which, to my mind, exists of finding valuable pools of petroleum near Pittsburgh, at! well as new pools of ~as. It should be a sufficient warrant for a very exhaustive geological examination of the district, at the expense, however great, of the Pittsburgh natural-gas companies. NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. 293 the possibility of finding natural gas in commercial quantities in the district, no petroleum will ever be discovered that can be economi­ cally utilized. GaB Between Montreal and Quebec.-The gas found in the vicin ity of Louisville aud Three Rivers, in the shallow drift wells, was at first thought to be similar in its occurrence to the rock gas found in Pennsylvania. The first intelligent reference to the occurrence of Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 this gas was made by Rev. Mr. La Flamme, Assistant Geologist of the Canadian Geological Survey, and Professor at La Valle Univer­ sity, in 1883, when he read a paper at Louisville by the light of the gas obtained in the vicinity. He called attention to some of its geological relations. It was soon realized that these drift-gas reser­ voirs would not supply sufficient gas for practical purposes, and attention was dir~cted to the possibility of finding a larger quantity in the underlying Trenton limestone, which forms the middle mem­ her of the Siluro-Cambrian period. It might be well to state that nowhere in America has drift-gas been found in quantities which could be profitably drilled for and utilized, except in some sections of IIIinois; and even there the quantity of gas is so limited that it can only be profitably utilized for domestic illumination and heating in the immediate vicinity of the wells. A number of natural-gas companies have been organized in the United States to develop the drift-gas pools, and to distribute the gas for general consumption in small towns in the immediate vicinity of the wells. In each case, however, to which my attention has been directed, the investment has proved very unprofitable, and the experience had in the United States should discourage anyone from attempting to utilize the drift-gas in Canada. In the latter country the quantity which has so far been found is much ·more limited than in the United States, where the money which has been iuvested for drilling the wells and piping the gas to any distance has been absolutely thrown away. All the gas which has ever been found; and which can be profitably utilized in the St. Lawrence Valley southwest of Quebec, comes from the Trenton limestone strata, or immediately overlying Utica slates. The recent discovery of large quantities of gas in the Trenton lime­ stone, particularly in the States of Ohio and Indiana, has increased the search for gas in the same geological horizon in the St. Lawrence Valley. The discovery of the existence of gas and petroleum in the Tren­ ton limestone is generally accredited to the parties who first drilled 294 NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARlO PENINSULA. oil- and gas-wells to the Trenton limestone in Ohio and Indiana, about eight years since. The existence of both oil and gas in the Trenton limestone has been known for many years; both Prof. J. P. Lesley, State Geologist of Pennsylvania, and Dr. J. S. Newberry, late State Geologist of Ohio, pointed out more than twenty-five years ago the occurrence, in the State of Kentucky, of both oil and gas in the

Trenton limestone strata. At that early date they suggested the Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 possibility that petroleum could be found in some sections of Ken­ tucky in profitable quantities. The first extensive development of petroleum and natural gas in the Trenton limestone, however, occurred in Ohio; and this led to the drilling of wells in the St. Lawrence Valley in the vicinity of Louis­ ville an.d Montreal to depths varying from 550 to 1500 feet. In them gas was found at varying depths, but these early operations were badly conducted. The wells were not carefully cased, water was permitted to flow into the holes and partially drown out the gas-flow, and little was proven except that gas did occur in the strata drilled through. From the facts which I collected in an examination of the St. Lawrence valley between Montreal and Quebec I was led to con­ clude, that while there was every hope of getting gas in special localities, which could be profitably utilized for light and heat by domestic and manufacturing consumers in the immediate vicinity of the wells, there was no promise that it would ever be found in quantities large enough to permit of its profitable transportation in pipes to any distance from the wells, and that certainly gas would never be found in the immediate vicinity of either the city of Quebec or Montreal, or near enough to these cit.ies to allow it to be piped profitably to either city for municipal distribution for heating or even illumination. The fact that the Trenton limestone had proved such a productive oil- and ga.,,-horizon in the States of Ohio and Indiana, and that gas had been found in limited quantities between Quebec and Montreal in very nearly the same geological horizon, was one of the sugges­ tions leading to a search for gas iu other localities in Canada where the geological conditions might be more favorable than in the St. Lawrenee Valley. I wish to make a general reference to other sug­ gestions which ledto the same inquiry.

PETROLEUM AND GAS IN WESTERN NEW YORK. In Allegany County in western New Yo~k as early as 1865, an organized effort was made to find the oil-sands which had proved so NATURAL GAS IN THE' EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. 295

productive in the Oil Creek district of Pennsylvania,• and a well was drilled in the vidnity of Independence. I t, proved to be a complete failure as far as it concerned the discovery of oil in profitable quanti­ ties. In 1874 extensive petroleum pools were discovered in McKean County in Pennsylvania, directly south of the Pennsylvania-New York State line, and about 70 miles a little east of south of Buffalo. This led to renewed efforts to discover oil in New York. Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 They were successful as far as Allegany County was concerned, in which a pool was found which has been very productive and pro­ fitable; bnt the wells drilled in an other localities in western New York were failures in respect to the developing of profitable deposits of petroleum. In 1880, when natural gas began to be generally used a!, a fuel, the search for oil and gas in New York received an immense impetus and many wells were put down. A few favorable localities were found for the occurrence of natural gas in commercial quantities between Albany on the Hudson River, and Buffalo at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Facts relating to these explorations have already been communicated to the Institute in a paper* which I read over two years ago at the Duluth meeting. In 1883 wells were drilled in the city of Buffalo, aud natural gas was found at depths ranging from 415 to 460 feet in the lower part of the Salina lime shales. These wells are particularly referred to in a paper read a year ago at the Buffalo meeting on "The Geology of Buffalo as Related to Natural Gas Explorations Along the Niagara River."t

EXPLORATIONS WEST OF THE N IAO(URA RIVER. These facts pointed to the possibility of fiudiug gas in commercial quantities on the eastern end of the Ontario peninsula between Lakes Ontario and Erie. Wells were put down at at the southern end of the WeHand Canal with the hope that gas would be found at the same geological horizon as at Buffalo, and if not, that the Trenton limestone might be encountered by drilling to depths not exceeding 1500 feet. I referred to this in the paper which I read at the Buffalo meeting. The difficulty which the local geologists experienced in harmoniz­ ing the section of one of Port Colborne's .wells which was drilled to a depth of 1500 feet, with a section of the Buffalo wells, and the conflicting opinions held by geologists at Buffalo as to whether the

* Trans., xvi., 906. t Trans., xvii., 398. 296 NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA • deepest well in Buffalo (1305• feet) stopped in the red rocks supposed to exist in the lower part of the Salina group, or in the red Medina sandstone, together with conflicting views held as to the geological relationship of the gas found at Port Col borne at a depth of 760 feet, and at Buffalo at a depth of 460 feet, and the failure to encounter the Trenton limestone in the 1500-foot well at Port Colborne, pro­ Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 duced the greatest confusion as to the understanding of the geologi- . cal structure along the Niagara River and in the Ontario peninsula east of a line drawn from the city of Hamilton at the extreme western end of Lake Ontario southwest to Port Dover on the north­ ern shore of Lake Erie and west of the city of Buffalo. It was held by many intelligent persons, that the gas found at Buffalo and Port Col borne was really Trenton gas, and that it had leaked from the original Trenton limestone reservoirs into the higher strata in which it was found, and since the general upward dip of the strata along the WeIland Canal is toward the north, it was decided by loeal geologists and capitalists to drill a well at Thorold in order to explore the Trenton limestone, which it was correctly concluded had not been found in the Port Col borne gOO-foot well, and which must be found at Thorold at less depth than at Port Col borne. After the Thorold well had been drilled to a considerable depth, I was consulted by citizens of St. Catharines as to the possibility of obtaining gas in the immediate vicinity of that town in sufficient quantities to permit of its profitable distribution through the city for manufacturing and domestic consumption. The interest which the citizens of St. Catharines took was local, and presented itself as follows: First. Was it possible that the gas which had been fouud in the region surrounding St. Catharine.'l could be found in the strata under­ lying the town, or sufficiently near to make it profitable to pipe the gas to the town? Second. What promise was there of finding gas under St. Cathar­ ines in the same geological horizon in which it occurs in western Pennsylvania and in western Ohio? Third. Where, in the vicinity of St. Catharines, was the best place to drill a test-well in order to find the gas if it existed, or to con­ clusively settle the question that it did not exist without making further explorations after one well had been drilled? . Gene:ral Geology of the St. CathO,rines District.-The general geo­ logical structure of the Ontario Peninsula, west of the Niagara River, NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN OSTARIO PENINSULA. 297 is comparatively simple. The strata along the Weiland Canal which outcrop, or which immediately underlie the Saugeen and Erie clays, are composed of the representatives of the Lower Devonian and Upper Silurian formations, commencing at Port Colborne with the Upper Helderberg or Corn iferous limestones, and descending the geological scale toward Port Dalhousie, where the Medina sandstone is found. The individual groups are as follows: Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021

Upper Helderberg limestone, . . No. VIII. Oriskany sandstone, • . (Wanting) No. VII. Lower Helderberg limestone, } (Wanting) Salina or Onondaga shales, No. VI. Niagara shales and limestones, Clinton red and gray shales, No.V. Medina sandstone, . No. IV.

The geological structure of these groups is such that they overlap each other successively in going from Lake Erie north to Lake Ontario, having a general dip toward the south on an average of 35 feet to the mile. The .•. rata extending from the Niagara limestone down into the Medina sandstone for a vertical distance of·350 feet are exposed along the Niagara gorge from the Rapids above the Falls to the mouth of the Niagara at Fort Niagara. The general dip of these strata to the sOllth is modified apparently by two systems of local rolls, one having a general northeast and southwest direc­ tion, and the other system, which is very much less prominent, having a nortllwest and southeast direction. These local rolls, which are hardly to be dignified by the names of anticlinals and synclinals, change the direction of the dip and its intensity at local points. If gas shall be found at any point, these two systems of rolls will have an important bearing upon the location of the most produc­ tive wells. No wells have ever been drilled in the immediate vicinity of St. Catharines to explore eFlpecially for either oil or natural gas, but three wells have been drilled at different times to explore the strata generally for any minerals of value which they might contain, and particularly salt. About 1818 the drilling of awell was commenced in the town on a property which now belongs to Mr. J. P. Merritt. Drilling was continued at this well at various times until 1862. The total depth drilled to was 300 feet, and I was informed by Mr. Merritt that the. total Cost for drilling was $4000. Bed-rock was' struck in this 298 NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. well at a depth of about 15 feet, and numerous mineral springs were encountered throughout the whol~ depth of the well. About 1855 a well was drilled on the property which now belongs to the Stephenson House to a depth of 510 feet, with the hope of obtaining brine for the manufacture of salt. The diameter of this hole was 5 inches, and it is repol'ted to have traversed the red strata of the Medina formation to a depth of 450 feet when shales were Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 struck which were supposed to represent the Hudson River forma­ tion, but I am disposed to believe that the Medina strata con tinned to the bottom of the well. In 1862 the well is reported to have yielded 22 gallons of' water per minute. The brine is so much charged with lime and magnesia salts as to be unfit for the manufacture of salt, but the water has acquired a great reputation in the treatment of diseases, being taken internally and used for bathing. The specific gravity of this water is reported to be 1.036. A third wen was drilled in St. Catharines in 1861 by Mr. E. S. Adam,;, in which was discovered a saline water somewhat similar to that obtained from the Stephenson well, but somewhat weaker. The table below gives the analyses of the water from these two wells . • Analysis No. 1. was made in 1860 by Prof. Croft, of , of a specimen of the Stephenson well water, while specimens Nos. II. and III. were made in December, 1862; No. II. being a specimen of the water from the Stephenson well, and No. III. being a specimen of the water from the Adams well. These analyses gave grains of mineral constituents for 1000 parts of each watel' as follows:

I. II. III. Grains. Grains. Grains. Chloride of sodium, 29.8034 23.00 19.94 " potassium, .3555 trace trace " calcium, 14.8544 9.66 6.49 " magnesium, . 3.3977 2.40 1.95 Iodide of sodium, .0042 trace trace Sulphate of lime, 2.1923 1.75 1.77

Total, 50.6075 36.81 30.15 Analyses Nos. 1. and II. show a considerable variation in the com­ position of the water from the Stephenson well within a year. It is more than probable that at the time the secoric1 specimen was col­ lected some surface fresh water had leaked into the well. The question naturally suggests itself, which of the strata imme­ diately underlying the region around St. Catharines occur elsewhere NATUBAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. 299 and contain gas in..commercial quantities. The Clinton sandstol11?8 and shales are exposed in the Government quarry at Merritton, back of the Riordan paper mills. Immediately overlying the Clinton sandstone is an exposure of the Niagara limestones and shales. The elevation above tide of the geological plane dividing the Clinton from the Niagara formation in this quarry is 490 feet. This same plane, under the town of Port Colborne, was passed through in the Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Port Col borne well No.3 at a point 125 feet below tide, so that there is a total dip iu the strata between Merrittori and Port Col borne of 615 feet in a downward direction toward Port Col borne. The average dip per mile between these two towns is, therefore, 35 feet. It must be remembered, however, that there are some local rolls in the strata between these two towns, which have already been referred to, which make the dip less than the average rate of 35 feet per mile in sonle localities, and in other localities more than the average rate of 35 feet per mile. Judging from exposures in the vicinity of St. Catharines, and as far north as the south shore of Lake Ontario, this average rate of dip continues north of the town and at least as far as the south shore of the lake. These dips, in themselves, are favorable to the exist­ ence of -natural gas, and, judging from a consideration of the geo­ logical structure of the rocks themselves, it is safe to conclnde that the strata which underlie the St. Catharines region would be found sufficiently free from cracks and sufficiently· impermeable to the upward flow of petroleum or natural gas to make 500 feet of strata, ample to confine any oil or gas in a po;c,sible reservoir-rock which they might overlie. The only strata underlying the St. Catharines region which, in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania, contain gas in commercial quantity are the lower part of the Medina sandstone, the Hudson River shales, slates and sandstone8, the Utica shales and slates, and the Trenton limestone. The outcrop of the top of Medina sandstone occurs south of the town. Therefore it was evident that the gas horizon found at Buff!~lo from 15 to 60 feet above the bottom of the Salina lime shales; at Port Col borne, in the top of the Medina sandstone; at Getzville, 6 miles from North. Tonawanda, in the Niagara lime shales; and, at Fredonia, New York, in the Corniferous limestone, could not be found at St. Catharines, sinc~ none of these formations underlie the town. As for the probability of the existence of gas in the Trenton limestone, nothing could be said other than that the 300 NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. g~ological structure of the district under examinailon was favorable I to its existence; the fact must be detprmiued hy actual drilling. Geological Section of the St. Cathat'ines Well.-After one well was drilled, an examination of the mineralogical and chemical I:ltruc­ ture of the specimens of the rock obtained from it wlluld enable de­ ductions to be drawn for a considerable area. The geological struc­ ture about 1 t miles west of the town was fimnd to be more favorable Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 than elsewhere, and a well was drilled at a selected point. Immediately subsequent to the erection of the Thorold well derrick, and before drilling had· been commenced, I ventured an opinion that the geological structure of the strata· at Thorold abso­ lutely precluded the existence of gas there in commercial quantity, and that the drilling of this well would not settle the question con­ clul:lively, because even if a gas pool did exist in the Trenton strata under the eastern portion of the Ontario peninsula, there was no hope of encountering it in the Thorold well. The St. Catharines well was located at a point where there was apparently a very low, but perceptible, dome in the strata, caused by the intersection of two broad and comparatively flat anticlinals, one having a general north-northeast and south-southwest direction, and thl' "ther having a general northwest and southeast di~ectioll. After setting the drive-pipe in this well in the alluvium clay, drill­ ing was commenced in the upper portion of the Medina sandstoue strata, 130 feet vertically below the top of the Medina formation. The upper part of the Medina is boldly exposed at several points southeast of St. Catharines. The St. Catharines well was drilled to a total depth of 2200 feet. The geological horizon separating the Medina sandstone from the underlying Hudson River shales was pierced at a depth of 720 feet. The Trenton limestone was struck at a depth of 1505 feet. The bottom horizon of the Trenton* was passed through at a depth of 2182 feet, drilling being stopped at a depth of 2200 feet after 18 feet of the Calciferous sandstone had been pierced. Combining the sections of the Port Col borne and Buffalo wells with that of the St. Catharine!! well, the following is a general sec­ tion of the strata:

* No attempt has been made to subdivide the limestone strata between the Utica shales and the Calciferous sandstone into the Trenton, Black River, Birrlseye, Chazy and Quebec; the drillings between the Utica and Calciferous being so nearly alike, the entire 67i feet of limestones have been grouped for convenience under the name of Trenton. NATURAL GAS IN THE EASTERN ONTARIO PENINSULA. 301

Devonian. Thickness. Depth. No. VIII. Corniferons limestone, 25 feet to 25 feet. No VIl. Oriskany sandstone, Wanting.

Silurian. ( Lower Helderberg limestone, .• Wanting. Water lime,. • . . .• Wanting. I (The Buffalo cement-bed is one of the top strata of the Salina, and Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 No. VI. ~ does not belong to the water-lime group, as popularly supposed.) Salina or Onondaga limestone and shales, 500 feet to 525 feet. Niagara limestone, 155 "680" Il Niagara shales, 70 "750" No. V. Clinton limestone and shales, 50 "800" Medina saud stone and shales, • 850 "1650" No. IV. { Oneida sandstone and coni{lomerate, Wanting.

Silurio-Cambrian and Cambrian.

,No .. III. Cincinnati, {Hudson River shales, } 785 feet to 2435 feet. Utica shales aud slates, r Trenton limestone, 1 I Black River limestone, } No. II. ~ Birdseye limestone, . 677 feet to 3112 feet. Chazy limestone, I Quebec limestone, l Calciferous sandstone, . . 18 feet to 3130 feet. The upper 930 feet of this section has been compiled from facts obtained from the Euffalo, Getzville and Port Col borne wells, and from a study of the strata along the Niagara River gorge from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. I t may be of interest to note here that Corniferous limestone out­ crops may be found in several of the higher hills in Buffalo and 'at Elack Rock village (on the northern edge of the city of Euffalo), which derives its name from the character of the limestone at that point. The outcrop here occurs 52 feet above the surface of Lake Erie, or 625 feet above tide. The Salina limestone and shales, upon which the Corniferous lime­ stone immediately rests everywhere, in the vicinity of the Niagara River, underlies all the level country from Black Rock to a point about 2 miles south of Niagara Falls, covering a distance of 15 miles by the river. A stratum of the Niagara limestone, 75 feet below the top of the formation, f()rms the knuckle of the Falls. Between the Falls and the mouth of the river at Lake Ontario thf're is a vertical thickne!ls of 550 feet of the Silurian strata boldly e:xposf'd, extending 350 feet vertically down into the Medina forma­ tion. 302 NATURAL GAS IN THE EAST.ERN ONTARIO PENINSULA.

The lower 2200 feet of the above section were classified from over 1 200 specimens of the drillings of the St. Catharines well and from a number of general facts reported of the strata pierced by the Thorold well. In the St. Catharines well several small pockets of gas were found at a number of places in tIle Medina, Hudson, Utica and Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 Trenton strata, and about 500 feet below the top of the Trenton limestone,at a point more than 1500 feet below ocean level, a pool of gas was pierced which produced on an average about 100,000 cubic feet of gas per day for several days, but was soon exhausted. A careful mineralogical and chemical examination of the drillings from the Trenton limestone pierced by the St. Catharines well does not give promise of the existence of gas in commercial quantities in the Trenton limestone anywhere under the eastern portion of the Ontario peninsula unless the character of the rock changes very l11a·­ terially from that found in the St. Catharines well. This section of the eastern portion of the Ontario peninsula, which is now published for the first time, is not only of great im­ portance as bearing upon the occurrence of natural gas in the dis­ trict} but one of the most important sections relating to Ameriran geology, since it conclusively settles the stratigraphical structure of the Niagara region, whose geology has been studied by more geolo­ gists and for a longer period than that of any district on the Con­ tinent. On account of the low southern dip of the strata (an aver­ age of 35 feet per mile), the lack of good exposures, except from the Falls north to the mouth of the Niagara River, and the fact that Lake Ontario cuts off the opportunity of observing the basset edges of the strata north of the river, it was impossible to determine ab­ solutely the thickness of most of the strata from the Corniferons limestone down to the Trenton limestone except by drilling of wells; the records of the Buffalo, Getzville, Port Col borne, Thorold and St. Catharines wells, studied independently and conjointly, have afforded for the first time this favorable opportunity. Upon the facts contained here and in my Duluth and Bnffalo . papers already referred to, the' following conclusions bearing upon the occurrence of natural gas in the eastern Ontario peninsula are based: CONCLUSIONS. 1. The gas in the Buffalo wells, in qnantities sufficiently great to beprafitably utilized, comes from the lime shales occurring from 15 THE DAVIS-COLBY ORE-ROASTER. 303 to 60 feet above the bottom of the Salina formation. Small amounts of gas, but not in commercial quantities, were also found in the Niagara limestones from 45 to 80 feet below ·the top of the Niagara formation. 2. The top of the Trenton limestone under t.he city of Buffalo should be encount.ered by a well drilled in the vicinity of the

Buffalo Cement Company's present wells, at a depth of 2400 feet, Downloaded from http://onepetro.org/TRANS/article-pdf/18/01/290/2176535/spe-889290-g.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 more or less. 3. Little hope can be entertained of finding gas,in commercial quantities in the Trenton limestone under the eastern Ontario peninsula. 4. In the southern portion of the Ontario peninsula, east of a line from Hamilton to Port Dover, natural gas, in quavtities sufficiently great to be profitably utilized near the wells, can he expected to be found in special localities where the local geological structure is favorable to its existence, in the following geological horizons: 1. From 15 to 75 feet above the bottom of the Salina formation. 2. In parts of the Niagara limestone and shales; notably in the upper part of the Niagara limestone. 3. In the upper part of the Medina sandstone. 4. In the Hudson River and Utica shales and sand­ stones. The most promising horizons are those in the upper part of the Medina and lower part of the Salina formations. 5. It cannot be expected that gas would exist in any of the strata in commercial quantitY' unless the gas-reservoir stratum is covered by at least 400 feet of snperincumbent strata; nor can it be expected that gas will be found in any two or three different strata in the same well.

THE DAVIS-GOLBY ORE-ROASTER.

BI STERLING G. VALENTINE, PH.D., L1!lBANON, PA.

,(Ottllwa Meeting, October, 1889,4

THE annual «se of large quantities of sulphurous iron-ores (over 1,500,000 tons in the United States-) has led to a search for the best methods of desulphurization, in order to make this material more available for the manufacture of a good quality of pig-iron. Al­ though such ores can be used raw in small amounts, they must be previously roasted if they are to constitute the entire ore-charge of a furnace.