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Show Two Theories Exist As To Origin Of Oil Now Sought By Ray E. Colton. Geologist Regarding the present search for oil in commercial amounts by the Gulf Petroleum Corporation and the Standard Oil Company of California Cal-ifornia in the Bishop's Springs and Confusion Range areas of Millard County, the writer wishes to point out, namely: "that there are two (2) theories advanced as to the possible origin o'l the oil now sought, and these are as follows: 1- Inorganic theory of oil's origin orig-in postulates chemical reaction on deep buried waters, which when cooled at the surface result in petroleum, especially the action of deepseated water upon deep buried carbides of iron and nickle. The evidence of gaseous emanations emana-tions from volcanoes bears out the chemical similiarity o'f the inorganic in-organic theory of oil's origin, but the geologic evidence of recovery of oil from now producing fields in Uinta, San Juan, Duchense and Washington County, Utah, fails to substantiate this theory dn any satisfactory manner. 2- Organic theory, and as this theory appears to well be supported sup-ported by evidence obtained during dur-ing drilling, will be discussed as the most likely source o'f the oil new sought. 1- Origin of oil from decayed marine animal life. 2- Origin of oil from marine plant life. 3- The combination of marine-an imal and marine-plant li'fe. The word "marine" meaning "sea" is used advisedly as the cores tiaken from wells drilled in now producing areas of the state of . Utah - most generally contain amounts of marine animal and plant life, former . inhabitants of Lake Bonneville and other long vanished marine or sea bodies of water which inundated what is today- Millard . and other counties, during past periods of prehistoric geologic time. Parts of oyster-like bivalves, resembling re-sembling the present day oyster and clam, triobite, gastropod, am-ononites am-ononites and others of the shell specials have been found. From some of the early day wells drilled dril-led in the Hurricane area of Washington Wash-ington County, cores have contain ed marine algae, marine diatoms, kelp, seaweed and others of the marine plant types. . As this evidence also is encountered encoun-tered in wells drilled in Iran, Canada, Can-ada, Mexico, Venezuela, Romania, Russia, and other countries as well as from wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Okla-homa, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana Wyoming and others in the United States, it appears that the organic organ-ic theory of oil's origin is well proven. It is therefor is the established theory now among the writer and other petroleum geologists. NOTE The formation of petroleum petro-leum source beds was a master feat of Old Mother Nature, and this will be discussed in another article of this series appearing as an exclusive feature in the Millard County Chronicle.. RAY E. COLTON |