Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 81.djvu/32

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The average composition of samples taken on circles 200, 400, 600, 800, 1,000 and 1,100 feet from the center of the deposits, and for the average material from the entire depth of the boring, as determined by routine methods, was found, after drying the material to free it from the water which is present, to be as follows:

The great uniformity of the deposit is revealed by these figures.

The water is probably of thermal origin, as it contains borates and iodides. Chlorides and sulphates of sodium are the predominating salts, sulphate of ammonia in marked amount, while chloride of potassium, lime and magnesium and ferrous iron are present. It is impossible to separate the water from the bitumen without change, but in the old methods of refining pools of it would collect on the surface of the asphalt, and this water, although somewhat concentrated and oxidized, had the following composition: