xt79zw18m27t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79zw18m27t/data/mets.xml Kentucky Geological Survey. 1886 books b97-21-37317344 English Woods, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Crandall, A. R. (Albert Rogers), 1840- Diller, J. S. (Joseph Silas), b. 1850. Report on the geology of Elliott County / by A.R. Crandall ; also, notes on the trap dikes of Elliott County, by A.R. Crandall and J.S. Diller. text Report on the geology of Elliott County / by A.R. Crandall ; also, notes on the trap dikes of Elliott County, by A.R. Crandall and J.S. Diller. 1886 2002 true xt79zw18m27t section xt79zw18m27t

"KENTUCKY GAP," a Natural Roadway out of the Big Caney Creek Canon.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUC1KY.

JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.

I Ej -R.P 0 ]E rT

ON THE

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

BY A. R. CRANDALL

ALSO,

(DO T E S

ON THE

TRAP DIKES OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

BY A. E. CRANDALL AND J. S. DILLER.

STEREOTYPED FOR TIlE SURVEY BY JOHN D. WOODS, PUBLIC PRINTER AND BINDER, FRANKFORT, KV.

This page in the original text is blank.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER.

J. R. PROCTER, Director of the Kentucky Geological Survey:
I herewith transmit to you my report on the Geology of
Elliott county. In so doing, perhaps it may be proper for
me to state that it has been made up from data gathered
together by such brief studies, and at such times (luring
the progress of the work in the upper counties, as the exi-
gencies of the case have permitted. It is therefore more
general in some respects than otherwise might have been
expected. On the other hand it will, I think, be found to
contain such an outline of the geology of the county as will
be most serviceable in calling attention to its natural adapta-
tions; leaving some interesting problems in the geological
history of the region for discussion in connection with the
general geology of Eastern Kentucky as is preferable.
The accompanying map is made up in part from survevs
by the Eastern Kentucky Railway Company (the officers of
which have also generously facilitated the work in this county
in many ways), from the Portsmouth and Pound Gap lpre-
liminary line, and from Lesley's outline map; but chiefly
from surveys made by Assistants C. G. Blakeley and J. A.
Shackleford, under the direction of the present Geological
Survey. From the nature of the drainage this work has
been unusually difficult, and in consequence the map is not
as complete in detail as is desirable. In this connection it
should be stated that the county line, as shown on the map.
is made to conform only in a general way with the meanders
of the countv survey as indicated by the notes on record in
the clerk's office at Martinsburg. Since the publication of
this map, 1 have been informed that the upper part of
Big Sinking creek, from about one-half mile above the Olive

INTRODUCTORY LETTER.

Hill and Martinsburg road, at Dr. Campbell's, should be
included in Elliott rather than in Carter. As the map is
already printed, this statement must suffice to correct the
line as plotted from the notes of the county survey.
Illustrations of the topography of Elliott, by photo-lithog-
raphy, are added to the general descriptions, both as a mat-
ter of economy in space and of accuracy of delineation, which
the text alone could not present.
In plate one an illustration is given of the composition of
a vertical section from notes of observations in the field.
This has been thought desirable in order that the general
reader may be the better able to form a correct estimate of
the value of geological sections, as introduced in reports gen-
erally to show the serial order of beds.
Finally, acknowledgments are due for hospitality and for
assistance from the people of Elliott, with whom the mem-
bers of the survey have come in contact in the prosecution
of the work represented by this report.
A. R. CRANDALL, Assistant.

REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT
COUNTY.

Elliott county is wholly within the coal-field of Eastern
Kentucky. Its western boundary is very nearly also the
western limit of the coal-measuLres. Geographically it falls
between Rowan county on the north-west, Morgan on the
south and south-west, Lawrence on the south-east, and Car-
ter on the north and north-east. In its relation to the drain-
age it is almost entirely in the valley of the Little Sandy;
including the head waters of that river. The county line fol-
lows with some deviations the water-shed between the Little
Sandy waters and the waters of Big Blaine, Big Paint, Elk
Fork, North Fork and Triplet creek-tributaries of the Chat-
terawha or Big Sandy river and the Licking, which, with the
Little Sandy, form a radial drainage from the high land of
this region. On the north the line is an arbitrary one, stretch-
ing across the valley of the Little Sandy, which also includes
most of Carter and Greenup counties.
With such modifications as follow from the geology of this
county, its surface features are like those of Carter and
Greenup, and in marked contrast with Morgan and AMenifee
south-westward along the border of the coal-field. The con-
glomerate escarpment of these counties, broken and irregular
from the erosion of streams running for the most part con-
trary to the dip of the rock formations, disappears to the
northward of the Morgan and Elliott line; and the border
escarpment is continued as an ordinary ridge, forming an
unbroken water-shed through to the Ohio river, the western
boundary of Elliott, Carter and Greenup counties. From
this water-shed of Lower Carboniferous sandstone and shale
(the Waverly beds) the eastward drainage follows the direc-
tion of the dip until interrupted, as it is somewhat irregu-
larly, by successive coal-measure escarpments which deflect

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

the main streams to the northward through these counties.
(See maps with this and previous Report.)
The increased thickness of the conglomerate sand rock to
the southwest along the eastward slope of this main water-
shed gives greater prominence in Elliot to a feature which is
one of the characteristic contributions of this formation to the
topography of the country, namely, cliff-bound creeks. Trav-
elers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway remark the inas-
sive walls along the Little Sinking creek in Carter. Here the
con-lomerate sandstone sliowvs a thickness of seventy to ninety
feet. In Elliott the cliffs reach a maximnum of one hundred
and. seventy-five feet. This massive formation has a dip east-
ward less than the lwhole fall of the streams. Very little of
it remains along the eastern slope of the main ridge at the
head of the clifl'-l)ound creeks of Elliott; but it becomes prom-
inent not far from the heads of all the main streanis in ques-
tion, andl, by a series of rapids and falls, the whole or the
greateu part of the formation is exposed in the wall-like
cliffs which mark the tortuous courses of the streams below.
On Laurel creek and on Caney, as well as on the Little
Sandv for somne miles, the Sabcarboniferotis limestone is ex-
posed, rising to a height of twenty-five feet above the bed in
places. The conglomerate sand rock here rests upon the linme-
stone, with slight traces of transition beds. As may well be
supposed, the natural scenery along these creeks is unusui-
ally interesting and varied. (See accompanying photo-litlho-
graphic illustrations.)
East of the Lirtle Sandy river the cliffs rapidly disappear;
both the dip and the direction of the water-courses conspir-
ing to place the conglomerate sand rock below the beds of
the creeks in this direction. Elliott county, therefore, illus-
trates two types of topography. In the cliff region, as indi-
cated by the shading on the map, the narrow and abrupt
valleys are separated by comparatively broad table-lands.
As the cliffs disappear to the eastward the valleys become
more open, and the hills are reduced to the characteristic
narrow ridges and spurs of the productive coal-measures.
The conglomorate table-lands are diversified by drainage
slopes of moderate inclination and height, including, near

Topography Near Head of Gimblet Creek.

"CONGLOMERATE CLIFFS" on Little Sandy River, near Mouth of Laurel Creek.
ELLIOTT COUNTY, KY.

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GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

the river, a considerable thickness of the coal-bearing series
of rocks, with coals one and two of the general section.
These lands are, however, chiefly agricultural; and as such
they offer inducements which are not found in the coal-field
generally. (See photo-lithograph illustration.) The soil is
of sandy and clayey loam, of medium natural fertility, and
susceptible of improvement by judicious cultivation. In ex-
tent these lands include nearly one-half of the county, the
area of which is about 270 square miles. This region is
adjacent to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, being from
fifteen to twenty-five miles from Morehead, in Rowan county,
and eight to twenty-five miles from Olive Hill and Leon in
Carter-railway stations.
The avilable farm land in the eastern part of the county is
much less in proportion to the whole area than in the west-
ern; and it is mostly in the valleys, including the gentler
slopes. The steeper hillsides and the narrow ridges should
be regarded as timber land, and held as such for the benefit
of the valleys, which otherwise will soon pay the penalty
by excessive washing. This region is nearer the Eastern
Kentucky Railway, being six to twenty miles distant from
Willard, the present terminus of that road.
The timber growth of Elliott is largely of the hard woods,
including, however, a considerable proportion of yellow pop-
lar (tulip tree) and ]inn (basswood). Hemlock is the prevail-
ing growth along the conglomerate cliffs, and yellow pine
(P. miti.s) and other pines fringe the table-lands. The most
valuable timber lands are found in the eastern half of the
county, which is especially noted for its superior white oak
timber. The red maple is noticeably prominent in this part
of the county. Black walnut and ash are represented by
single trees distributed through the heavier forests, while the
beech and the stugar tree are more common. No detailed
study of the forest growth of this region has been made.
Such a study would be of great economic value, if only it
could be made to conduce to an intelligent treatment of these
natural forest lands. This, it seems to me, should be the aim
in respect to the forests of Kentucky, as it is evident that
the commercial spirit of the age will need no incentive to

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

carry its destructive methods wherever desirable timber can
be found.
The geology of Elliott county is so much like that of the
western portion of Greenup and Carter that treating of it
will of necessity seem like repetition. There is one feature
of more than ordinary interest, which does not appear, so far
as is known at the present time, elsewhere in the State,
namely, exposures of trappean rock; the occurrence of pro-
found fractures of the ordinary sedimentary rocks of the
region, as indicated by the intrusion of molten rock, form-
ing dikes and producing more or less of metamorphism of
the including rocks.
Several of these dikes, or what may prove to be several
lateral branches of a single dike, are found apparently radi-
ating from a point on Creeches creek, westward and north-
ward into the valley of Isom creek. This intrusive rock,
peridotite, though hard and to ordinary appearance very
indestructible, is, in fact, even less so than the including
Carboniferous beds; so that it is for the most part covered;
and it is not traceable by any effect produced on the topog-
raphy of the region.
A fuller description of this interesting variation of the
geology of Eastern Kentucky will be found in a special re-
port by J. S. Diller, of the United States Geological Survey,
and the writer, including the petrology of these crystalline
rocks, and the geological features attendant on this eruption.
It is proper here, however, to put on record something of
the part which this trap rock has played in the industry and
the traditions of the region.
One of the most prominent exposures of this rock is on a
branch of Creeches creek. Here is also found the remains of
a rude furnace, but one which must have cost considerable
labor, judging from the size of the mound which appears to
have been thrown up to support it and to serve as a stock
bank for ore and fuel. So far as I have been able to learn,
the traditions of the immediate region throw no light on the
origin of this furnace, further than to attribute it to the
aborigines, or to a time anterior to the permanent settlement
of the region. Attending this view is also the supposition

" CONGLOMERATE CLIFF" on Laurel Creek.

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GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

that silver or some of the precious metals was the product of
this ancient enterprise. On the other hand, it seems to me
quite likely that this old furnace represents an unsuccessful
attempt to make iron; and that it should be regarded as one
of the incidents in the history of the introduction of the
iron industry in the Hanging Rock region. This supposition
is consistent with the conditions as noted about the old fur-
nace, although, so far as that goes, there is nothing inconsist-
ent with the supposition that silver or some other metal was
the product sought in this bootless enterprise. At all events,
it seems to me probable that the precious metal view, re-
sponding as it does to the promptings of hope and of fancy,
and carrying with it an atmosphere of credulity and of mys-
tery, has so tended to obscure the history of this old furnace
and the unfortunate venture which it represents, that it may
properly be regarded as having a place in the unw ritten
chronicles of the settlement of this region, notwithstanding
the popular notion to thecontrary.
Whatever may have been the specific purpose of this fur-
nace, only the dike rock, exposed near by, appears to have
been had in contemplation as a source of ore supply. The
weathered rock bears some resemblance to iron ore, and in
fact more or less of titaniferous iron is present ; besides which,
no other metallic ore has been found at any of the exposures
of this rock.
As to the probability of the occurrence of the more pre-
cious metals, not much can be said, beyond this, that the
metamorphism in connection with this dike is probably lim-
ited to thin contact walls, with some lateral extensions accom-
panying horizontal intrusions of limited extent.

COALS AND IRON ORES.
The coal and ore horizons of Elliott county are the same
as those of Carter. as will be seen by comparison of sec-
tions 1 and 2, plates I and II of this report, with the gen-
eral section for Greenup, Carter, etc. Above the ferriferous
For convenience of comparison and to facilitate the description of the beds in
Elliott, the general section for Greenup, Carter and a part of Lawrence iv here
republished. (See plate.)

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

limestone, both the coals (6, 7 and 8) and the ores (the
kidney ores), with some exceptions, become less and less
prominent towards the border of the field. This thin-
ning out of beds of coal and of iron ore is in keeping
with the tendency which has been noted generally towards
their western limits; a tendency that is accompanied in some
instances by a corresponding thickening of the intervening
rocks. The limestone beds in the coal measures all disap-
pear towards the Silurian axis on the west.
Towards the southern part of Elliott this diminution of
beds westward is coincident with a change in the character of
the rocks of this horizon, which has been noted southward
from Carter and the middle of Lawrence; a change from the
predominating clayey shales which carry these beds, to pre-
dominating sand rock, which soon excludes the kidney ores
altogether as workable deposits, and makes the identifica-
tion of coals 7 and 8 difficult and uncertain. WXhether this
chancre is from a thinning out of the whole series, so that
with its coals and ores it disappears altogether, or from a
gradual change in the character of the rock deposits, has
nor been fully established; the latter seems to be more con-
sistent with the somewhat contradictory data at hand, and
more especially with the great thickening of the coal meas-
ures, and the increased prominence of sand rock towards
the Pine mountain axis. (See report on the Pound Gap re-
gion.)
The kidney ores have been mined in the Little Fork valley
near the north-east corner of the county. Their presence has
been noted to the head of Little Fork, mostly on the east side
of the valley, but also westward, with decreasing prominence
into the valley of Newcomb creek, and in the ridge between
Newcomb and the Middle Fork. In this ridge, near the
Martinsburg road, the lower bastard limestone which marks
the place of one of the upper kidney ores, of Boyd county,
may be seen near the top of the hill. The occurrence of this
earthy limestone, the Buff or Shawnee limestone of the Ohio
reports, is interesting as showing the extension southward
and westward of one of the four earthy limestone beds above
coal 7; beds which, in Southern Ohio and in Boyd county.

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

and parts of Lawrence and Carter, in Kentucky, may be re-
garded as offering the most reliable horizon marks for the
guidance of the geologist. These beds all disappear or lose
their characteristic features south of the Little Sandy drain-
age.
The coarse sandstone, conglomerate sandstone in places,
which often rises in cliffs above the lower bastard limestone
in Boyd and Carter counties, caps some of the hills towards
the head of Little Fork, on the east side. (See plate I.) Dip-
ping down the valley, as already indicated, it forms a con-
siderable part of the ridge along the northward extension
of the county line, and probably caps some of the highest
hills on the west side of the valley.
No trace of coal No. 8 has been noted in Elliott county.
Its place is twenty feet or more below the earthy limestone
above mentioned, and it would be included in all sections of
the ridge along the eastern boundary, and of some of the
higher points across to the ridge between Newcomb and the
Middle Fork.
Coal 7 has been observed at a number of places, along with
the kidney ores, as in section 1, plate II. At the head of
Brushy creek, near the place of Bryan Boggs, a thickness
of forty-two inches is shown, including a thin parting. It
is exposed also near Gallions, on Blaine Trace, as a pronii-
nent stain. Its western limit is the ridge between Little Fork
and Bruin creek, with its continuation against Newcomb creek
to near the head of Little Fork, and then across Newcomb to
include the higher hills along the Middle Fork to the head.
The probabilities are that it will be found of local value only,
in this south-western extension.
Coal 6 has been traced in the Little Fork valley as far as
Hurricane branch, evidently a thin bed as in Carter county.
Its place in the series is shown in section 1, plate II. The
greatest thickness noted falls below two feet of good coal.
The ferriferous limestone and the so-called limestone ore
mark a geological level that is more readily traced than any
A cherty limestone is found in Breathitt county, extending into Perry and
possibly into Letcher, which may prove to be an equivalent of one of these beds.
(See report of Assistant Hodge on Perry and the southwestern part of Letcher.)

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

other above the conglomerate formation. The limestone is
limited to isolated pockets, and has been seen at two points
only in Elliott-on the head of Isom creek, where it occurs as
a fossiliferous bed five feet or more in thickness, and on the
head of Elk branch of Newcomb creek, where it is less prom-
inent. It has also been noticed at several points along the
ridge west of Elk Fork, in Morgan county. The ore which
rests upon this limestone when it is present is more constant,
however, an(l can generally be found weathered out upon the
surface at its proper level. At the mouth of Brushy creek it
is found about one hundred and fifty feet above the bed of
Little Fork, and has been mined for shipment, though the
distance from rail and the character of the roads stand in
the way of profitable mining as it now stands. On Isom.
creek it is about two hundred feet above the drainage, show-
ing very little variation from the general dip of the region-
an unexpected freedom from disturbance in the immediate
region of the dike as previously described. On the head of
Little Fork the limestone ore is well up towards the tops of
the hills, and often has intermingled with it enough small
quartz pebbles to render it worthless for iron-making. WX'est-
ward the ore has been traced along the ridges from. Bruin
creek to the head of the Middle Fork. It is especially prom-
inent as a surface exposure on the ridge between the head of
the Fannin Fork of Elk, above Hutchinson's store, and the
Gilbert Branch of MXiddle Fork. It is hardly to be expected
that this iron ore is present in workable thickness and qual-
ity over all of the region where its presence is indicated by
contour lines of outcrop. Far more constant than the lime-
stone which gives it its name, this bed is more or less inter-
rupted throughout its whole extension south of the Oilio
river. From exposures noted it would not appear to be more
so in this region than in those parts where it has been largely
relied on for furnace supplies of iron ore. In thickness this
bed may also be supposed to be variable-ranging from a few
inches to several feet, as in regions where it has been exten-
sively mined.
The "lime kidney ore" found in some parts of Carter,
and especially near Willard, fifteen to twenty feet below the

Topography above Conglomerate Cliffs on Little Caney Creek.

"CONGLOMERATE CLIFFS" at Forks of Caney Creek, Elliot Co., Ky.

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GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

ferriferous limestone, appears to be entirely wanting in El-
liott; and the same is true of coal 5 of the general section.
No traces of this bed have been observed in the county.
The Little Block ore of the general section and the Hunne-
well cannel coal (coal 4) are better represented; the former
by many exposures in the Little Fork valley, at its proper
level, as in section 1, plate I; the latter on the head of New-
comib creek, and also at a few points on Little Fork. This
cannel seam does not promise well from an economic point of
view; being too slaty or too thin where seen for profitable
mining for the open market. As in (Greenup and Carter, it
appears to interrupt the Little Block ore, occupying very
nearly the same horizon. The localities where coal 4 has
been noted are as follows: In the Little Fork valley, near
the head of Blaine Trace, Blevin's, Anderson's and Triplet's
cannel coals; showing in two benches, the lower ten to
twenty inches. somewhat slaty; the upper ten to fifteen inches,
good cannel, separated from the lower bench by three to five
inches of slate. In the Newcomb valley, near the head of
the Left Fork, Riddle's cannel; opened at several points in
the ridge between the Left Fork and the Middle Fork, and
on the east side of Burnt Cabin Branch one-half mile above
the steam mill. The thickness of the bed in this region is
from three to four feet; of which less than one-half is can-
nel, after deducting six to eight inches of slate. On the
Middle and Right Forks of Newcomb, so far as known, this
seam shows only ordinary bituminous coal of reduced thick-
ness, or with slight traces of cannel. The iron ore, which
marks this level with much greater regularity, has not been
noted in the region of these cannel coals as described. It is
found very generally on the Little Fork, and may be supposed
to average about as in the corresponding belt in Greenup and
Carter. It has been observed by Mr. J. M. Hodge on Isom
creek, associated with a so-called Black Band iron ore-a
highly ferruginous carbonaceous slate, representing the can-
nel coal, as also it is represented in Lawrence county at one
point by a similar black band.
The alternation of the Little Block with coal 4, and the
occasional overlapping of these beds, with a tendency to

1GrEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

transform the coal into a black band, is an interesting indica-
tion of the varying conditions under which the carboniferous
deposits were laid down. It illustrates, in some measure,
the way in which beds of coal and of ore are formed in
"basins " or "pockets," giving to them a distribution un-
even as to thickness and quality, an irregularity which is
more or less characteristic of beds in general, as is found in
developing them. But it should be noticed that it is none
the less an illustration of the widespread continuity of coal
and ore horizons, however much the beds, as workable de-
posits, are limited by such irregularities.
Coal 3 is the most constant bed in the series so far as
unbroken continuity is concerned; but while it is the most
reliable coal in North-eastern Kentucky in this respect, it is
at the same time apparently more variable in thickness and
quality. and in the arrangement of parts, than any other bed.
It is the most important coal in Elliott county. In the north-
east corner of the county it is thin, as shown in section 1,
plate II, twenty-five to thirty feet above the bed of Little
Fork, and as known in the adjoining part of Carter. On
Blaine Trace the bed shows three feet of good coal without
parting, as opened at Blevin's towards the head of the creek.
On the Robert Green Branch a thickness of five feet is
exposed. (See section, plate II, enlarged scale.) On the
head of Nicholas Branch three feet of excellent coal without
parting is shown. Southward and westward this seam retains
as great a thickness, but slaty and shaly partings become
more or less prominent, detracting from the value of the
bed by increasing the expense of mining. Coal 3 is found
as far west as the Little Sandy river at -Martinsburg, high
up in the hill, as in section 4, plate II, and there is good
reason for supposing that it is present in all the region east
of the Open Fork. The place of this coal is often indicated
by springy places or "licks" on the hill-sides, besides show-
ing as a stain at the surface. Several openings made from
these indications show as follows: On Wallowhole creek,
thickness 47 inches, including partings, which have an aggre-
gate thickness of 21 inches; on Prince's Branch west of Little
Fork, 48 inches, with parting 11 inches; near the head of

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

Meadow Branch 44 inches, with partings 10 inches; on Briar
Branch, near Bent. Hutchinson's, 53 inches, with partings 17
inches; on the Bill Branch of Newcomb, 50 inches, partings
12 inches; at Mason's, on the Left Fork of Newcomb, 50
inches, with an 8-inch parting. On the Right Fork of New-
comb, and on the Middle and Open Forks of the Little Sandy
river, test openings have not been made.
Coal 2 is the lower cannel coal of Elliott, Morgan and
Johnson counties, and also of parts of Carter and Lawrence.
It is in its southward extension, however, that it becomes a
prominent cannel seam, as the Elk Fork, the WVest Liberty,
the Pieratt and the Walnut Grove cannels in Morgan. and
probably the Gilmore creek and the Frozen creek cannels in
Wolfe and Breathitt counties, though it has been l)rofitably
mined in upper Carter for several years near Aden Station,
on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railwav, where it has a thick-
ness of about 30 inches ; somewhat slaty in part, but free
from objection in burning qualities, as I find from continued
use in the grate. This bed is found in Elliott. as cannel
coal wholly or in part, more constantly than is usual for a
cannel seam. Its greatest thickness is near the Morgan line
on the Buck Branch of the Middle Fork of Sandy, where
about three feet of cannel is exj)osed, of inferior quality,
however, from the large proportion of ash-about twenty per
cent. At no other eXl)0sure in the county does this bed show
a workable thickness of cannel coal alone. On the Right
Fork of Newcomb, at Adkin's store, this bed shows 19 inches
of cannel overlaid by 15 inches of ordinary bituminous coal,
and on the Left Fork, at Segrave's, three feet of good coal is
exposed, one foot at the bottom being cannel. Elsewhere
coal 2, as exposed, is thinner as a whole and variable in its
character. It is traceable on most of the creeks of East-
ern Elliott, from seventy-five feet above the main drainage
and downward to the creek bed. At the mouth of Hurricane
Branch of Little Fork no cannel appears in this bed, and it
falls below the drainage near the mouth of Isom creek. West
of the Little Sandy river the coals have not been traced. It
will probably be found that coals 1 and 2 will furnish a home
supply for this farming region.

GEOLOGY OF ELLIOTT COUNTY.

Coal 1 is mostly a thin coal as known. It falls below the
drainage for the most part on the open creeks. At the Forks
of Newcomb, as opened by Mr. Isom, coal 1 shows three feet
of excellent coal. Westward over the cliffs it is shown as a
stain, as indicated in the profile section with the map.
The rocks above the conglomerate sandstone differ little
from the section as described for Carter county. The thick-
ening of the sand rock above coal 5, as noticed on the head
of Dry Fork and of Sycamore creek, on the Blaine side, in
Carter, is also a noticeable feature along the ridge at the head
of Blaine Trace in Elliott. The cliffs at the head of this
creek are of coarse sandstone, resembling somewhat the con-
glomerate sandstone, and the horizon of coal 6 appears to be
occupied by the massive rocks which are most prominent in
this region. In general the most prominent bench along the
hill-sides of the Little Fork valley is formed by the per-
sistent sand rock imniediately under the "limestone ore,"
though a number of low points extending into the main val-
ley, extensions from the bench formed by the sandstone ledge
above coal 2, gives greater prominence to the latter bench
where these occur. The alternation of shale and sandstone
is more or less noticeable throughout the whole series, in
the benched hill-sides which figure in the topography of the
country.

MAP AND GEOLOGIC-AL &tCTION

BIG BRANCH.
ELLIOT COUNTY.

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SECTION No.1
AT
FRA NMCS PORTER
ELULIOT CO.
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SECTION No.2
ON THE
ROBERT GREEwN BR
LITTLE FORK

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C.3, SECTION No-f2

CASECTtON Nm3

,Add tRewhee

SECTION Neo3
LEFT FORK OF
NEWCQMS CREEK

Hunters
Entrs

of Creek

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