Most of our awareness of Glen Helen is as a recreational area, but it has also long been a source of scientific study in a number of fields.
The following newspaper clippings demonstrating the scientific approach to Glen Helen were gathered by Mary E. Morgan, have handwritten date notations but lack source notations.
1927[?]
GEOLOGISTS PROBE MOUND AT ‘YELLOW SPRINGS’
YELLOW SPRINGS, Sept. 18.—Investigation of the famfous “yellow spring” from which this town takes its name and which geologists think has been flowing continuously for at least 40,000 years, will be continued by the geology department of Antioch College this fall.
For the past two years college geologists have been tunneling through an orange-red mound which is about 450 feet across and 75 feet high, deposited by the spring, for specimens of fossils.
This year they are planning a series of experiments on the source of the spring, its exact rate of flow and the steps by which it deposits its material at the astonishing rate of four tons a year.
The finding of fossil skulls of five rabbits six years ago in the mound, showed that the rabbits belonged to a species now found only in semi-arid regions. The discovery proved that the climate of southwestern Ohio has not always been the same.
The method to be used by the party in an effort to find the source of the spring, will be to bore a succession of holes in the surrounding territory, insert rock-salt in each hole, and note how soon, if at all, the salt shows up in the spring.
May 30, 1928
ANTIOCH SCIENTISTS PRY INTO FAMOUS YELLOW SPRING TO LEARN ITS SECRETS
Where does the “yellow spring” come from? Flowing at the steady rate of 100 gallons a minute, the 40,000-year-old spring which gives Yellow Springs its name has been the subject of wild conjecture. Some have said that its source is an underground glacial lake; there, that it comes from an underground river rising somewhere in eastern Ohio—or maybe Pennsylvania.
Now Antioch College scientists are out to prove that the spring is a local phenomenon. With a large enough gravel deposit, they say, and thirty-nine inches of rainfall a year, one-fourth to one-half a square mile would be sufficient to collect all the water the spring discharges.
With the help of Prof. C. E. Owen of the physics department, and using equipment similar to that used to determine geological structure in the oil fields, Allan F. Matthews, fellow in the Antioch Geology Department, is measuring the electrical conductivity of the ground on the site of the “yellow spring.” Two automobile steering-rods are sunk, and an electrical current run between them with the ground serving as part of the circuit. The current will vary not only with the distance between the rods, but with the ground material through which the current goes. Fluctuations in the amount of current should indicate the depth of the gravel deposit over the underlying limestone.
Excavation of the yellow spring mound for fossil remains, begun two years ago, is still being continued.
1964
Glen Helen’s New Projects To Be Explained
YELLOW SPRINGS—New outdoor research projects for Yellow Springs’ natural area, Glen Helen will be described at a meeting of the Glen Helen Association Saturday,. The meting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. At the Indian Mound near the eastern entrance to the nature preserve.
Projects outlined by Dr. Kenneth Hunt, Glen Helen director, include the creation and maintenance of a prairie, studies of stream flow, a natural history study of Clifton Gorge, the effect of crowding on animal populations, and possible recreational uses of the southern part of the glen.
Funds for these projects according to Dr. Hunt, will come partly from a National Science Foundation grant, and partly from the Glen Helen Association’s support of the Trailside Museum. The latter building at the western entrance to the glen, has previously been supported by Antioch College as a public service.
Russell B. Stewart, president of The Miami Deposit Bank here, will head a drive to double association membership. Paid members now total 376, of which more than two-thirds are residents of Dayton , Springfield, Xenia, and other parts of the country.
The association has earned national recognition among conservation groups for its successful resistance to a proposed routing of a state highway and a local gravity sewer main through the glen. These campaigns resulted in the national awards from the American Motors Foundation and the Izaak Walton League.
Photo courtesy of Antiochiana