NOT WORTH A DAM.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 February 1924, Page 4

NOT WORTH A DAM.

i!ivi:n or i.rm.F. m: (By Science .Service). A river that appeared not. to be worth a dam was the cause ot the geological explorations that resulted in the exploration of the Carlsbad cavern in Xew Mexico, and in the discovery of its surpassing beauty and extent. The river is the Pecos. Dams built along it for the impounding of water for irrigation purposes had proved to he of little use because the water disappear-

ed underground, and so the K.S. Geological Survey, before advising the construction of any more dams, sent Dr Willis T. Lee to the scene at the request of the Commissioner of Reclamation to find the cause of the river's strange behaviour. The result was the real discovery of tie Carlsbad cavern, for. although it is nearly ‘2O miles from the river and without effect upon its course, it became known through Dr Lee’s study of the geology of the whole region and his tracing of strain found in the near vicinity of the troublesome river. The caverns are in limestone strata 130!) feet thick, but above and below this layer are other layers of rock salt and gypsum. These wore found to ho the real trouble makers, The strata are tipped at an angle to the surface, near the rivr and under it. The gypsum and salt are soluble in water, and when the dams were built and the wa-ter-level rose byond a certain point, itdissolved its way through these strata underground, and out- on to the surface again some miles below the dam. Tracing the strata back to the foothills of the Gaudelonpe Mountains, about 20 miles south-west of Carlsbad, Dr Lee rediscovered for the world the

great cavern, now made by Presidential proclamation of October 'Toth, a national monument . 'The caverns were first discovered in 1901. Vast numbers of hats were observed issuing from a hole in the side of it lull, and exploration revealed .1 cavern of unknown extent. It remained practically unexplored and unnoticed until thi year, when Robot t A. Holley, of the General Land Office, surveyed about 3J miles of it.. Dr Lee later examined it from the geologic and scenic points of view. Tt is, according to Dr Lee. one of the greatest, if not the greatest cavern in the world. Its total length is quite unknown. It extends al least UHMlft. downwards irom the entrance. Ihe formations of stalactites and stalagmites are of extraordinary beauty. One of the “rooms” in the cavern is half a mile long, several hundred feet wide, and with a roiling si high that torches failed to disclose it. their h"ams being lost in tii • impenetrable gloom. More remarkable discoveries are likely to he the result of further exploration, Dr Lee says, since the geologic formations are most unusual. luderneath the limestone layer in which the cave was discovered arc hods oi gypsum and rock salt of great thickness. These materials are soluble >n water, which seeps through and honeycombs them. Dr 1 ‘c believes iha‘ in these beds may ho sculptured other g!oiH caves, whose e X lont and beauty cast iinly he guessed at for the p’.o-eid. Incidentally, xu-h caverns in -all beds might he developed into mine.- of incalculable extent and richness. Ill" discovery is considered the higgc-L in the geological hold in recent years, and it all goes hack to sending a scientist to find out whether or not: the Pecos I River r worth a dam.