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Note on the Geology of the Bath Springs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Extract

The high temperature of the Bath springs, their saline character, and their content of radioactive substances all combine to show that the waters must rise from a great depth. If we take the average temperature of normal spring water at 50° F. and that of the Bath Springs at 120° F., this gives an excess of 70° above the normal. Accepting the usual temperature gradient in England as being 1° F. for every 64 feet of depth, this makes the position of the: ultimate source 4,480 feet below the surface. This figure must, however, be regarded as a minimum, since no allowance is here made for cooling on ascent. This is an unknown factor, and sufficient data are not available for a reliable estimate. In any case the depth is unlikely to be less than 5,000 ft. and is probably far greater. This water, then, is obviously something very unlike the ordinary surface springs fed by atmospheric waters circulating in the upper layers of the earth's crust.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1926

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References

page 99 note 1 Notes on the Results of a Microscopical Examination of the Sands of the King's Bath, and of the Contents of Hazel Nuts collected fron the Conduits of the Mineral Baths, by Morris, J. W., pp. 10, printed by F. Curtis &Sons, Bath, no date.Google Scholar

page 100 note 1 See, for example, Townsend, Geological and Mineralogical Researches (The Character of Moses), Bath, 1824, p. 197. Mr. Townsend then saw the water coming up through the blue clay (Lias) below the sands.Google Scholar