The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation of the Department of Registration and Education : the Illinois State geological survey in war mineral research

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URBANA

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STATE OF ILLINOIS

DWIGHT H. GREEN. Governor

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

FRANK G. THOMPSON, Director

DIVISION OF THE

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

M. M. LEIGHTON, Chief
URBANA

CIRCULAR NO. 104

The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation
of the Department of Registration and Education

II. The Illinois State Geological Survey in
War Mineral Research

By M. M. LEIGHTON, Chief

REPRINTED FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR,

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION,

FOR 1942-43, pp. 128-152, 1944.

PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

URBANA, ILLINOIS
1944

128

THE BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES
AND CONSERVATION

Created by the State Civil Administrative Code in 1917, the
Board of Natural Resources and Conservation governs the re-
search activities of the Geological, Natural History, and Water
Surveys. Under the law, this Board selects and appoints, without
reference to the State Civil Service law, all members of the scientific
staffs. Members of the non-technical staffs are subject to the
Civil Service Code.

As the three Surveys are divisions of the Department of Regis-
tration and Education, the Director of this Department is ex officio
chairman. Other members are the President of the University of
Illinois, or his representative, and several scientific experts qualified
by at least 10 years of experience in practicing or teaching their
several professions.

Present membership of the Board is as follows:

Honorable Frank G. Thompson, Chairman.

Dr. A. C. Willard, President of the University oi Illinois.

Prn*?gr.nr EmeritoB wniimT^T-^W^ University of Illinois, *
representing Biology. r*JC4c~*^c^/ - stt^/ ** c^f '^^MjtA^JL-

Professor Roger Adams, University of Illinois, representing
Chemistry.

Louis R. Howson, Chicago, representing Engineering.

Professor Ezra J. Kraus, The University of Chicago, represent-
ing Forestry. / p*

Professor Edtuu ft. Ba&nT The University of Chicago, Vice-
Chairman and Secretary of the Board, representing Geoiogy.

Traditionally non-partisan, the Board serves without pay. One
of the five experts has served continuously since creation of the
Board in 1917. The others were appointed in 1922, 1938, 1940, and
1942, upon the retirement or death of their predecessors. Because
several sciences, two different universities, and industry are repre-
sented by the Board membership, its points of view are broad and
in the interest of the people of the entire state.

The Board, which meets at regular intervals, receives and
carefully studies quarterly reports from the three chiefs of the
Scientific Surveys. Members of the Board frequently make field in-
spections of projects with which they are most intimately concerned.

By their wise guidance of the individual Surveys and their co-
ordination of the activities of these three organizations, members of
the Board have through the years made valuable contributions to
the development, intelligent utilization and conservation of the
state's natural resources. Their devotion to the responsibilities im-
posed upon them by law, their recognition of measures consistent
with sound public policy, their comprehension of fruitful research

BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION 129

I

The Natural Resources Building on the Campus of the University oi Illinois houses the
State Geological Survey and the State Natural History Survey Divisions of the Depart-
ment of Registration and Education.

programs, and their exercise of infinite care in selection of scientific
staffs have brought national and international recognition to Illinois
and its wealth of natural resources.

Although the three Scientific Surveys are administered by the
State Department of Registration and Education, location of the
Surveys' headquarters and principal laboratories on the University
of Illinois campus at Urbana offers many advantages. Research is
furthered through the availability of the University libraries and
some of the laboratories and experimental field-plots, and in like
manner Survey facilities are made available to University staff
members and some advanced students seeking professional train-
ing. Cordial relations and a generous exchange of information
between University and Survey staffs make for prompt and ef-
fective dissemination of the results of research. Operational econ-
omy is also achieved by one system, maintained by the University,
that provides water, heat, light and other services for the Surveys
and the University.

Headquarters, Offices and Laboratories

Because much of the work of the Water Survey is intimately
associated with chemistry, headquarters and main laboratories of

130 DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

that organization are located in the William Albert Noyes Labora-
tory of Chemistry.

Until 1940, the Geological Survey had most of its offices
and laboratories in the Ceramics Building, the Geological Survey
Annex, and other quarters, and the Natural History Survey, while
maintaining headquarters in the Natural History Building, had
many of its offices and laboratories in other buildings scattered
over the campus. The need for modern scientific laboratories and
centralization of staff personnel led to an appropriation of $300,-
000.00 by the Assembly of the State of Illinois in 1937, grants
from the Federal Government of $245,454.00 and $22,000.00, re-
spectively, and then in 1939 an additional appropriation from the
State of $200,000.00 for equipment.

By July, 1940, the first unit of the Natural Resources Building
was nearing completion, and members of the Geological and
Natural History Survey staffs were moving into their new offices
and laboratories. The Natural Resources Building in its present
form comprises this first unit, which was so planned that new
units might be added conveniently and economically as expand-
ing programs and staffs made necessary an increase of floor
space.

Although the exterior of the building conforms to the stately
Georgian design of other campus building, utility rather than
beauty was the guiding principle in designing, constructing, and
equipping the interior. However, the foyer illustrates the decora-
tive possibilities of certain Illinois building materials, and many
of the laboratories exemplify the functional beauty concept of
modern design.

Efficient use of floor space is evident throughout the building.
Not only is full use made of the three main floors for offices and
laboratories; ingenious planning made possible the natural light-
ing of the basement, permitting laboratories and offices on this
floor, as well as storage rooms, and a well-insulated roof allowed
utilization of the fourth floor for offices, drafting rooms, libraries,
and laboratories.

Geological Survey Research Facilities

It is at a very propitious time that the Geological Survey has
come into the possession of its portion of the Natural Resources
Building with facilities for research which are most valuable in
furnishing needed new information for this new technological war
period. These facilities enable the Geological Survey, in its mineral
research, to employ the most modern techniques of geological,
physical and chemical science including the X-ray and spectrograph.

Its portion of the five floors is fully utilized as offices, labora-
tories, grinding rooms, preparation rooms, machine shops, geologic
collections, drafting, filing, and photography rooms, and library.
All laboratories are directly serviced with distilled water, steam,
vacuum, and compressed air, electric current of various voltages,

BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION 131

and much special equipment. Each laboratory is tailor-made for
the particular kind of research to which it is devoted.

Six laboratories are especially devoted to research on coal,
two for investigations directed to an understanding of the occurrence
of oil and gas and groundwater, eight to studies of the non-metallic
industrial m'nerals, two for investigations of paleontology and stra-
tigraphy, and seven for research phases which are common to
various minerals.

In addition, another building, known as the Geological Survey
Laboratory, erected under an appropriation made in 1939 of $95,-
000.00, is especially adapted to large-scale experimental work. It
is located near the University Power Plant, and in it applied research
work on semi-plant scale is carried on to test the commercial merits
of successful small-scale laboratory findings.

Natural History Survey Research Facilities

With the drive for expanded food production necessitated by
the war. Natural History Survey equipment associated with research
on insect control has taken on added significance. Constant tem-
perature chambers, the insecticide compounding rooms and testing
rooms, and other space in the Natural Resources Building devoted
to insect control investigations are answering well the purposes for
which they were designed. The large reference collection of insects
is proving invaluable in a survey of the state's mosquitoes and
other blood-sucking insects, as well as in the determination of in-
sects submitted by citizens of the state for identification.

Culture chambers, a specially designed refrigerator, plant dryer,
and other equipment add to the efficiency of Natural History Sur-
vey botanists in their studies of grain, fruit, and other plant diseases.

One of the aquarium rooms devoted to fisheries investigations
has been turned over to research directly associated with the war
program. Without the well-constructed tanks, water dechlorinator,
and various other modern equipment, such an investigation as that
now in progress would be impossible.

Completion in 1942 of a service building adjoining the experi-
mental greenhouse on the north has made available additional
greenhouse space for insecticide and fungicide tests. This new
structure conforms in style to the Natural Resources Building im-
mediately north of it.

In a period of national emergency, when time is more than ever
an important element in the solution of problems, the value to
research of adequate quarters and modern equipment becomes more
apparent even than in times of peace.

Natural Resources Garage

In order to provide for the care and maintenance, at a con-
venient location affording proper supervision, of cars and trucks
required by the Geological and Natural History Surveys in their

132

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

field programs, a garage, known as the Natural Resources Garage,
was built in 1942 at the rear of the Natural Resources Building at a
cost of $50,000.00. This garage has a housing capacity of 44 cars
and modern eguipment for repair and servicing by skilled auto-
mobile mechanics who have the responsibility of keeping the two
Survey fleets of cars in excellent condition, especially during the
present period when much important field work must be done with
the most economy of gasoline, tires, and other restricted materials.
The garage conforms in style to the parent building and contains
a mezzanine floor for the storage of geological field collections and
publications. It also contains a machine shop for the Geological
Survey for the construction of special research equipment that cannot
be purchased on the open market.

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133

THE ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN
WAR MINERAL RESEARCH

By M. M. LEIGHTON, Chief

The mineral resources of Illinois, representing as they do the
foundation of much of the commerce and industry of the upper
Mississippi valley region, have assumed, since the United States'

actual participation in the war, a new sig-
nificance as raw materials for war industry
and the wartime civilian economy.

According to recently published infor-
mation of the Inter-State Commerce Com-
mission, 7,1.2 per cent of the 1942 tonnage
of revenue freight originating in Illinois con-
sisted of mineral materials and manufac-
tured products made from minerals, as did
69 per cent of the revenue freight tonnage
terminating in Illinois.

The Department of Registration and
Education, through the activities of the State
Geological Survey Division, has thus had a
splendid opportunity for valuable service
M M L ht Ch' t through the prosecution and speedy accom-
plishment of research objectives in locating
and developing the State's mineral resources.

Under the guidance and control of the Board of Natural Re-
sources and Conservation, the Geological Survey has expanded
steadily through the years, in personnel, physical plant, research
facilities, and in service to the mineral industries and citizens of
the State. Its staff, a group research body of specialists, gives to the
State as a whole the benefit of sound theoretical training and equally
important practical experience. Its organization and cooperative
relationships are shown in the accompanying chart. Members of its
technical staff include geologists, chemists, physicists, mineralogists,
petrologists, and a mineral economist — well qualified to carry on
the important task of making science the servant of man and an
auxiliary strength to industry.

Research Facilities Converted to the War Effort

This report deals with the accomplishments of the fiscal year
of 1942-43, a year during which our participation in the war has
forced almost every organization and agency to fit its functional
program to the immediate needs of the nation. The outbreak of the

The new garage.

134

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

war found the Geological Survey exceptionally well equipped to
contribute to the national welfare, having recently moved into
greatly enlarged quarters in the new Natural Resources Building and
the new Applied Research Laboratory for which the most up-to-date
laboratory equipment had already been secured. These splendid
research facilities have become irreplaceable tools for waging effec-
tive warfare on the home front. The survey has for many years been
engaged in a program of fundamental and applied research on the
mineral resources of Illinois — studying the occurrences within our
borders of coal, petroleum, natural gas, fluorspar, clays and shales,
special stone deposits, silica and silica sand, lead, zinc, underground

DEPARTMENT

STATE OF ILLINOIS
OF REGISTRATION

AND EDUCATION

BO AOQ

or NATL

R*L

RESOURCE* *

NO CONSERVATION

WATER SURVEY

T

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY

ILL"

CHIEF

m

ASSISTANT TO CHIEF
SECRETARY TO CHIEF
FINANCIAL RECORDS
PUBLIC INFORMATION

GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES

GEOCHEMISTRY

SUBSURFACE GEOLOGY

OIL AND GAS

INDUSTRIAL
MINERALS

STRATIGRAPHY AND
PALEONTOLOGY

INDUSTRIAL
MINERALS

ANALYTICAL

OIL AND GAS

PETROGRAPHY

FLUORSPAR

X-RAY AND
SPECTROGRAPH

AREAL AND

ENGINEERING

GEOLOGY

MINERAL ECONOMICS

COOPERATIVE RELATION SHIPS

STATE

STATE WATER SURVEY

STATE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY

STATE MUSEUM

STATE DEPARTMENT OF MINES ANO MINERALS

STATE DEPARTMENT Of PUBLIC HEALTH

STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND BUILDINGS

DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS

WATERWAYS DIVISION

PARKS DIVISION
STATi DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
STATE SANITARY WATER BOARD
ADJUTANT GENERAL

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION

TE CO

t*ERCE COMMISSION
•OST - WAR PLANNING COMMISSION

FEDERAL

J S OEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BUREAU OF MINES

NATIONAL PARR SERVICE
I S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

COAST ANO GEODETIC SURVEY
j S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ADMINISTRATION

FOREST SERVICE
J 5 WAR DEPARTMENT

CORPS OF ENGINEERS
RATIONAL PLANNING BOARO
WAR AGENCIES

UNIVERSITIES. COLLEGES, AND NORMAL SCHOOLS
OTHER GEOLOGICAL . ENGINEERING, AND INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS

ADDRESS i00 NATURAL RESOURCES BUIL Din G , UNI vE R SIT Y O* ILL'NO'S C A m PUS . CHAMPAIGN - URBAN A , ILLINOIS

Organization chart.

The Geological Survey's Applied Research

Laboratory where semi-plant scale experiments

work toward improved products from Illinois

mineral resources.

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION

135

waters, and industrial minerals of future importance still awaiting
development.

Faced with the necessity of devoting all its energies to the
national emergency, the Survey temporarily suspended work on a
few of its fundamental research studies which held less promise of
immediate application and transferred the personnel engaged in
such studies to those lines of investigation more intimately related
to the war effort to which their training and experience made them
most valuable. In spite of this necessary shift of emphasis, every
effort is being made to preserve a program of fundamental research
essential to the sound prosecution of applied research that will
outlive the war and be ready to meet the inevitable problems of
post-war conditions. In fact, it was the careful and exhaustive work
of past years that made it possible for the Survey to readjust its
program so guickly to wartime reguirements. It already had avail-
able in its files, its published bulletins, and its "mental bank" a
vast accumulation of data and experience on which to draw. The
continuation of such a well balanced program guarantees a harvest
of fundamental data of inestimable value for the work that will be
done after the war.

More than halt of Illinois is underlain by coal.

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION 137

Coal Studies — A Year of Accomplishment

The great coal beds that underlie 3/5 of the surface of Illinois
have long been and are lkely to remain our most valuable and
continually important single mineral resource. There is plenty of
coal in Illinois; but there is likewise plenty of work to be done on
it to utilize its potential values to the utmost.

Essential to such utilization is an accurate inventory of the
State's coal resources — particularly of the No. 6 (Herrin) coal bed,
which is the most important and widespread commercial coal in the
State, since approximately 75 per cent of all the coal mined in Illinois
is taken from that bed. Experienced Survey geologists are engaged
in the determination and mapping of the distribution of this coal and
of its depths and thicknesses below the surface in southern Illinois.
At the present time mapping of this bed, on the detailed scale of one
inch to the mile, has been completed for all of the area of its occur-
rence, from southern Sangamon County southward, as far as the
Belleville region, and southeastward to the Ohio River at Shawnee-
town, an area containing billions of tons of excellent coal.

Another area receiving study for coal resources is the oil-oro-
ducing area known as the "Illinois basin," where coal beds of com-
mercial thickness were suspected, but where there has previously
been little information available concerning them. In oil well drilling
operations in that part of the State the holes penetrate coal-bearing
rocks before they reach the oil pay zones. By carefully checking
drilling progress at oil well sites and by studying the cuttings as
they are flushed out at the surface, accurate and detailed records
are being made of the coal beds in southeastern Illinois, where min-
ing has not yet been attempted. This work is carried on from a Dort-
able field laboratory which affords sleeping guarters for the men,
saves much otherwise necessary automobile travel, and insures the
securing of immediate first-hand information. A most important
objective of these studies is the protection of our coal beds from
damage resulting from the improper plugging of wells drilled for
oil. Some 140 wells scattered through eastern counties, from Moultrie
County southward to Gallatin County, have now been logged in the
field and their cuttings collected for more detailed study later.
Evidence to date indicates that considerably more workable coal is
present than was formerly known and it seems probable that the
known reserves of coal have been increased to the extent of many
hundred million tons.

A special study is being made of the extent and distribution of
strippable coal in the State, and of exploration, development and
mining methods particularly in comparison with underground meth-
ods in order to gain definite information on the comparative value
to the State of coal that can be mined by stripping methods, and
of the soil that is disturbed by such mining.

During the last year also the Geological Survey has made
important contributions to the knowledge of the chemical and
botanical components of coal. Studies of this kind are fundamental
to an understanding of our coals and the determination of their
ultimate usefulness.

This portable field laboratory enables scientists to collect needed information "on

the spot."

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION 139

Improved Stoker Fuels — The Goal of Special Research

To help meet the specialized demands on our coal resources
from the greatly increased use of modern stoker equipment, the
Geological Survey is making rapid progress in the study of the com-
bustion behavior of Illinois coals. Microscopic investigations in the
past have demonstrated that coal is not a simple homogeneous sub-
stance but is composed of different ingredients which occur in bands.
These banded ingredients, known technically as vitrain, clarain,
fusain, and durain, have been discovered to possess different com-
bustion characteristics. They have also been discovered to be
mechanically separable. In its special Research Laboratory the
Survey has installed such preparation and combustion equipment
as a large concentrating table with automatic feed bin, equipment
for large-scale float-and-sink tests, a stoker-boiler equipped with
complete instrumentation enabling the operator to keep a large
number of continuous mechanically recorded observations from
which can be determined the amount of heat obtained per pound
of coal, the uniformity of heat release, the ability to hold fire, the
amount of clinker formed, the relative density of smoke given off,
etc. These studies are in the hands of a highly trained mining en-
gineer and an experienced research combustion engineer and are
designed to establish the best methods of stoker coal preparation
to accomplish the best combustion performance for each type of coal
produced within the State. The design and construction of the testing
apparatus as well as the studies themselves are new contributions
in the field of coal research and their importance is well appreciated
by the coal and stoker industries. From results to date it is antici-
pated that there are commercial possibilities in the preparation of
coal which may result in the production of better stoker fuels.

Smokeless Products from Illinois Coal

A major problem for Illinois operators is to produce fuels for
both domestic and industrial use that will meet the specifications
set up by smoke abatement ordinances in the larger metropolitan
areas. The Geological Survey has for several years past been con-
ducting research designed to help industry meet this problem. The
past year has seen progress made in the installation of large-scale
equipment to test the commercial feasibility of the Survey's process
for the manufacture of smokeless briquets from Illinois coal "fines."
Following the Survey's important recent discovery that the very fine
dust of coal burns with a low smoke production and can be made
into a smokeless briquet without driving off any portion of the vola-
tile matter, further study is being given to this problem. Since it is
estimated that over a million tons of deduster dust were produced
in Illinois in 1942, it is evident that the discovery of a use for this
otherwise waste product will be of real benefit to Illinois producers.

The shatts of Illinois coal mines penetrate rock

strata which record hundreds oi thousands of

years oi earth history.

Experimental briquetting machine used in research to produce smokeless briquets

Experiments conducted in modern stoker

equipment under controlled conditions

may develop improved stoker fuels from

Illinois coal-

Coking oven in the Geological Survey's Ap-
plied Research Laboratory with charge ready
to be drawn.

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION

141

Equally promising and equally important is the work being done
in our Applied Research Laboratory on the coking of Illinois coals,
to establish the test methods of preparing a cheap and satisfactory
fuel for hand-fired furnaces and stoves; and, at the same time, to
provide data on the tars, gases and oils that are yielded as by-
products from coking operations — to demonstrate the values of such
by-products and recommena the most promising means of utilizing
them. The results of researches along these lines, carried on at
Urbana, during the past few months, have been so satisfactory that
an enlarged Illinois coke industry seems assured for the future.

Consideration is being given to securing the necessary materials
for constructing a type of oven for a study of the coking of Illinois
coals for metallurgical purposes. Under war conditions, the trans-
portation of eastern coals to the Chicago and St. Louis markets is a
heavy burden, and therefore the benefits to be gained from this
research on coking of Illinois coals are specific. Plentiful supplies
of Illinois coals believed to have possibilities for metallurgical coke
are obtainable within 100 miles of St. Louis. The Appalachian coals
are in the neighborhood of 700 miles distant. Assuming (1) that
500,000 tons of coal per year are coked in the St. Louis area, and (2)
that 50 per cent of this can be obtained in the Illinois coal fields, the
net saving would be approximately the transportation of 250,000 tons
for 600 miles or 150 million ton miles per year. Actually, it appears
that at least as much as 70 per cent and perhaps more of Illinois coal

A new coking plant near Millstadt, Illinois.

142 DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

can be used. For several years the Roberts Ovens at Granite City-
used 85 per cent of Illinois coal blended with 15 per cent of Eastern
Kentucky coal for the production of metallurgical coke.

In the Chicago area at the present time approximately ten mil-
lion tons of Eastern coal per year are being coked. Low sulfur
Illinois coals are available 100 to 300 miles from these coke ovens,
while the Appalachian coals are 500 miles distant. Assuming again
that Illinois coals are used to the conservative amount of 50 per
cent, the savings for each million tons of coal coked in the Chicago
area per year would be roughly 100 million ton miles per year in
transportation.

Problems of Coal Storage

Another important coal research project that is occupying the
attention of the Geological Survey at the present time deals with
problems of coal storage.

Because it is necessary under existing conditions to store larger
guantities of coal than normal times reguire, the old problem of
spontaneous combustion has come to the fore. Chemists of the
Survey are contributing helpful information and advice on such
problems.

Research Aids Oil and Gas Production

Crude oil has been the number one mineral product of Illinois
in dollar value for the four years, 1939 through 1942, and is second
only to coal in value of total production to date. Almost one billion
barrels of oil have been produced in Illinois and the current rate of
production was 217,000 barrels per day in May, 1943. The great
revival of the oil industry of Illinois through the discovery in 1937
of production in the Illinois basin placed the State in the ranks of
the major producers for the second time in its history. This new oil
field region had long been considered unfavorable prospecting
territory, until the Geological Survey pointed out its real possibilities
in 1930, and aided materially in the work that resulted in the discov-
ery of its actual worth as a petroleum-producing area. Illinois ranked
fourth in the nation in oil production for the three years 1939, 1940
and 1941, and fifth in 1942. Although production has been gradually
declining for the past two years, drilling is still active and thirty-two
new oil pools were discovered during the twelve months ending in
May, 1943.

Oil occurs in Illinois in sandstone and limestone strata, both of
which exhibit a wide variety of textures, compositions, porosities,
permeabilities and fluid saturations. The most efficient methods of
well spacing, drilling, completion and production in any given oil
pool depend upon a thorough understanding of local geological con-
ditions. The drilling of more than 16,000 wells in Illinois within the
past six years has provided a tremendous source of information.
The Geological Survey has secured logs of nearly all these wells

MAP CLASSIFYING OIL AND GAS POSSIBILITIES IN ILLINOIS
SHOWING PRODUCING AREAS AS OF JULY I, 1943 8(Hgoa&

144

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

Illinois oil fields are important contributors to the nation's supply of this critical

material.

and has collected samples of the drill cuttings, rock cores, etc., from
selected wells at many locations where such information is needed.
It is the careful study and correlation of well logs, samples, electric
logs, etc., that enables the Survey to assist the operators and the
people in exploration and drilling problems, to prepare useful maps,
and to publish information which may lead to further discoveries.

This vast number of records is sorted and filed and is available
to the public at all times and the results obtained from their study
are published as promptly as possible. Current information on drill-
ing is issued monthly in mimeographed form and from time to time
geologic reports are published which include structure maps, cross
sections, and other illustrations and which recommend certain new
areas favorable for exploratory drilling and indicate possible new
"pay zones" in existing fields. By such means, the people of the
State receive the benefit of sound scientific evaluation of an immense
amount of information not available through any other single organi-
zation.

Additional Reserves Assured

On the basis of information so far secured relative to oil-pro-
ducing areas of Illinois, it is the opinion of geologists that hundreds
of millions of barrels of oil are still undiscovered and it is probable
that a comparable additional amount will yet be produced in existing
fields with the aid of secondary recovery methods. Many of the

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION

145

"new" fields of Illinois — those discovered since 1936 — have now
reached stages where such secondary recovery methods are needed.
For the past twelve years the Survey has carried on studies of
secondary recovery operations in the State — largely air and gas
repressuring, and natural and accidental water-flooding. A compre-
hensive report on the results to date of the water-flooding studies is
in press. Some large scale water-flooding operations are now under
way in the old shallow fields of Clark and Cumberland counties.

"Catching samples" of drill cuttings at a well tor study ot possible producing

reservoirs.

In the new fields a beginning of water-flooding has been made in the
Patoka and Clay City pools. The Survey plans extensive studies
related to secondary recovery methods because such methods prom-
ise to become increasingly important in Illinois. Thus with continued
intelligent exploration and improved production methods, Illinois
seems assured of an important oil industry for some decades to come.

Groundwater Supplies Given Special Study

With the greatly increased demands for groundwater to supply
ordnance and war plants, army camps, and municipal areas sud-
denly enlarged by an influx of labor population, a special study was
undertaken a little over a year ago to discover additional resources
of this vital substance and to help maintain and improve previously
developed supplies. Enabled by supplementary funds appropriated
by the State Legislature, the Survey secured the services of several
additional well-trained scientists to achieve early results. Besides
making thorough-going geoloqical stud;es, electric well surveying
methods in common use in oil fields were for the first time employed
on deep wells drilled for water and with such success that great
improvements have been made in procedures of well drilling, well
construction, and rehabilitation. In these studies, attention has been

146

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

given especially to locating and maintaining water supplies in the
vicinity of Joliet, Kankakee, Chicago, Rockford, and Peoria. Large
new groundwater resources were discovered in the Joliet and Peoria
areas and geophysical surveys of certain existing wells in the Joliet
and Chicago areas have yielded information which has made it
possible for the owner and well-driller to proceed intelligently to
improve both guantity and quality of water produced. Also, a better
appreciation of the importance of the proper well spacing now pre-
vails in the water well industry and of the geological conditions
which must be taken into account to increase or maintain the proper
water supplies.

In addition to these studies in defense areas, the Survey has
maintained its regular service to the people of the State in furnishing
reports on the geological conditions affecting groundwater resources
at specifed locations. During the last year the Geological Survey
investigated and furnished detailed reports on 153 localities where
more adequate groundwater supplies were desired. In this work
electric resistivity surveys have been found to be the most effective
way of determining the best location for the development of a large
groundwater supply from sand and gravel of the glacial drift. Sand
and gravel offer greater resistance to the movement of an electrical

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION 147

current through them than does clay. Therefore the ground is sys-
tematically tested and areas of relatively high electrical resistivity
are sought, and locations for test holes in these areas are pointed
out. The method is of great value to large water users such as
municipalities, industries, institutions, and war plants. During the
past 6X/2 years there have been approximately 100 such surveys. In
75 surveys suitable locations for testing were found. In 50 locations
satisfactory groundwater supplies were developed; 25 locations
were not tested. Of the 25 unfavorable surveys, testing at eight con-
firmed the unfavorable reports and the other 17 projects were aban-
doned. Thus, the electrical resistivity survey both eliminates un-
necessary testing and reveals the best locality within economical
testing distance wherein to develop a large water supply.

Surveys for Industrial Minerals Speeded Up

The great need for immediate information regarding additional
resources of fluorspar, lead and zinc, agricultural limestone, flux
stone, and other mineral substances used by industry in great quan-
tities, has placed a heavy responsibility on the Geological Survey
staff, particularly so because in the case of certain of these resources
the federal government has requested the State Survey to assume
full responsibility with respect to information on Illinois' potential
contribution to the national supply.

In Hardin and Pope counties, adjoining the Ohio River, and in
adjacent parts of Kentucky, occur the most important deposits of
fluorspar in the western hemisphere. From mines in this small area
comes approximately 80 per cent of the national total produced in
1942. Fluorspar is an especially critical mineral because it is essen-
tial to the rapid manufacture of high grade steel, and because it is
also extensively used in the preparation of synthetic cryolite, a sub-
stance employed in the manufacture of aluminum. It is also the only
commercial source of fluorine, which, in the form of hydrofluoric
acid, is one of the basic materials of the chemical industry and en-
ters into the production of war materials in many different ways.
Survey geologists and geophysicists are assisting the operators in
the further development of known fluorspar deposits and at the same
time are actively helping in the search for new deposits.

From the fluorspar district comes another critical war mineral,
zinc ore; and our studies of fluorspar deposits have involved the dis-
covery of additional resources of this ore. Another area receiving
critical attention with respect to zinc and also lead resources is in Jo
Daviess County, which was at one time one of the most important
lead- and zinc-producing districts in the United States. Several min-

An Illinois fluorspar mine — vital to the nation's
war needs. Southeastern Illinois and adjacent
areas in Kentucky contain the most important
deposits o/ (his critical mineral in the western
hemisphere.

148 DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

ing properties are again in operation and there is every evidence
that significant production of these two important minerals will de-
velop.

High-purity dolomites have assumed special significance in the
light of war conditions as refractories, as a flux in steel making, as
sources of the metal magnesium, and as potential sources of mag-
nesia. An investigation has been made of the State's resources of
high-purity dolomite and a report now in press reveals that Illinois
has enormous resources of dolomite of high purity and diverse char-
acter suitable for many purposes and well distributed throughout
the northern part of the State.

Illinois' Vast Clay and Stone Resources
Contribute to the War Effort

Although less spectacular in the popular concept of "strategic
minerals," Illinois produces a large tonnage of the clay necessary
in bonding the molding sands used in foundries to produce arma-
ments. An investigation in co-operation with the University of Illi-
nois and under the sponsorship of a large clay products company
has provided a fundamental explanation of certain properties of
clays and molding sands that appears to be leading to improvements
in foundry practice and probably a speeding up of production. A
large amount of Illinois clay is also used to make the refractory
brick needed to line furnaces producing steel and other metals. Man-
ufacturers are unable to keep up with the demand for some kinds of
refractory brick caused by the demands of the war effort. As a re-
sult of the Survey's fundamental study of the composition and prop-
erties of clays, a new process for making an urgently needed type
of refractory has been discovered that promises to speed up produc-
tion and reduce cost.

Every clay producer knows that the properties of his clay vary
slightly from place to place in his clay pit. Although this causes a
large amount of trouble in manufacturing processes using clays,
there has been no simple and rapid method of determining the im-
portant properties of clays before they are processed. A differen-
tial thermal analytical procedure has been developed in the Survey
laboratories that discloses the components of a clay by determining
their reactions when heated. It is believed that this procedure will
serve as a simple prospecting "tool" for the clay industries.

Agricultural limestone, used to correct soil acidity, and thereby
promote the growth of crops and pastures, is another of the less spec-
tacular mineral materials but one of great importance on the farm
production front of Illinois. Illinois is the country's outstanding user
of this material and with needs for even greater agricultural produc-
tion a continuing supply of agstone is necessary. To assist in pro-
viding such a supply the Geological Survey is co-operating with
farmers, farm advisers and others in evaluating the worth of lime-

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION

149

Car loads of Illinois limestone find profitable markets in the construction, metallurgical,
chemical and agricultural industries.

- ' . -

Huge quarries occur in the State that yield large tonnages and convert stone re-
sources into wealth.

150

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

A large glass sand quany in Illinois.

stone deposits as sources of agstone and has also prepared a report
dealing with the agricultural limestone resources of Illinois, their
character, occurrence and methods of examining them and deter-
mining their merit. This report, soon to be distributed, is planned to
aid in meetina the changes effected by the war on the normal sources
of agstone within the State.

In addition to work directly related to the war effort, the Survey
is devoting what time it can to certain studies which are regarded as
of special significance when peace comes again. The surface clays
of the State are being studied to discover what heretofore overlooked
commercial uses they may have and success along certain lines al-
ready seems likely; in a report issued during the year the ordinary
sands of Illinois have been shown to be a new potential source of
the commercially important mineral feldspar; and the soundness or
weather resistance of the dolomites of the Chicago area likewise has
been given study. Also the Survey continues its ready co-operation
with the mineral industries of the State on many problems relating to
resources, processing, and products, its co-operation with various
Federal and State agencies, and last but not least its services to the
people of the State in matters relating to the character, use and value
of industrial mineral resources of particular personal interest.

STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION

151

Geologic Studies Assist Engineering Projects

The Geological Survey has for years co-operated with other
State agencies in furnishing them with reports on the geology of
specific areas where engineering work is in progress or contem-
plated. During the year reports were prepared for the State Water-
ways Division, on geologic conditions affecting proposed dam sites
at ten different localities in the State. Samples and test borings at
these sites had been previously studied. Advice was also given on
the geology of dam sites for two municipal reservoirs. Geologic condi-
tions along several main highways of the State were investigated
at the reguest of the Division of Highways and procedures were rec-
ommended for overcoming problems of subgrade stabilization, drain-
age and landslides. Other requests for information or detailed in-

Modern hydraulic mining of silica sand in an Illinois quarry.

152 DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

vestigations were answered, with respect to construction projects at
ordnance plants, airport sites, hospitals, leakages from municipal
water reservoirs, foundation failures in large buildings, etc.

Topographic Mapping of Illinois

Topographic mapping of Illinois, carried on in co-operation with
the U. S. Geological Survey, was continued without restriction, be-
cause of the great and varied usefulness of these maps to engineer-
ing, government, and numerous other agencies. Maps were com-
pleted for five quadrangle areas and approximately 75 per cent of
the entire State has now been covered.

Variety of Publications Issued

The Survey has published over 100 technical and educational
bulletins, 86 reports of investigations, 43 issues of Illinois Petroleum,
3 popular educational pamphlets for use in grade and high schools,
nearly 100 issues in its "Circular" series, and 79 monthly Oil and Gas
Drilling Reports. In addition to these regular publications, it has
issued many special development, structural, and geologic maps.

Some of its more recent publications of especial interest are:
Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ottawa-Marseilles-Streator
Quadrangles, Pennsylvanian Fusulinidae of Illinois, Correlation of
Domestic Stoker Combustion with Laboratory Tests and Types of
Fuels, Feldspar in Illinois Sands, Modern Concepts of Clay Minerals,
A Field Test on the Use of Fibre Pipe as a Substitute for Steel in Ce-
menting Wells, Secondary Recovery of Oil in Illinois, Bituminous
Coal Movements in the United States; Geologic Maps of the Chicago
Area to accompany the popular bulletin issued previously; Geologic
Maps, Drilling Reports; etc.

A complete list of publications, very thoroughly indexed, is
available and will be furnished upon request.

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