Tom Povazon, age 11, West Homestead, Pa., for his question:
HOW ARE UNDERGROUND SPRINGS FORMED?
Often you will find springs that have water containing many minerals that have been taken from the rocks. When rocks dissolve with the powerful beating of underground moving water, the result is often called mineral water. And when this water bubbles to the surface, you’ll have a mineral spring. Some of the most famous mineral springs, that have become health spas, can be found in Mount Clemens, Mich., Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Hot Springs National Park, Ark.
A spring is nothing more than a natural source of water that is flowing from the ground.
As rain falls and drifts of snow melt, the water in many locations will seep into the ground. It then filters through the pores and cracks of the soil into layers of rock. Water will finally reach a layer through which it cannot pass, and it collects here in what is called underground water.
As pressure builds on underground water, gravity may force it to find a way to the surface and form a spring.
You’ll find springs just about every place—on mountains and hills as well as in valleys. Springs are often found at the foot of cliffs or slopes where a crack or fault in the rock reaches the surface. On the walls of the Snake River Canyon in Idaho you’ll find hundreds of such springs pouring out water.
In the limestone regions where water flows underground in cavelike channels you’ll find the largest springs. Where these channels reach the surface, great amounts of water can be found gushing from the earth. Missouri and Florida have some of our most famous limestone springs.
Temperature of water that comes from a spring will depend on the temperature of the earth or rocks through which the water flows. Ground water that moves close to the surface will be warmer in summer than it is in winter. Springs that come from deep in the earth are almost always very cold.
In volcanic regions, hot rocks can be found close to the surface as well as deep down. In these sections, spring water as it reaches the surface is often hot. Springs of this type are called thermal springs.
With some thermal springs, the water rises so rapidly along a crack or fissure in the earth that it spurts into the air from time to time. When a spring displays this type of action it is called a geyser. Iceland has a great many geysers and many of the hottest springs in the world.
Fifty two miles southwest of Little Rock, Ark., is the town of Hot Springs. It is the only city in the United States that has almost all of a national park within its city limits. Here are located some of the world’s most famous hot mineral springs.