xt7v416sz96t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7v416sz96t/data/mets.xml Kentucky. State Geologist. 1886 books b97-21-37317244 English J.D. Woods, Public Printer and Binder, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Geology Kentucky Bath County. Geology Kentucky Fleming County.Linney, W. M. (William M.) Reports on the geology of Bath and Fleming Counties / by W.M. Linney. text Reports on the geology of Bath and Fleming Counties / by W.M. Linney. 1886 2002 true xt7v416sz96t section xt7v416sz96t

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.

JOHN R. PRO(TERl, DIRECTOR.

REPORTS ON THE GEOLOGY

BATH AND FLEMING COUNTIES,

BY W. M. LINNEY.

.i'I'F''u I'II F1.R THE .' FT Hi .1011N f'. i -ensI, vt mi.s- INl'rEH AND I INn.t 'FRANKFO')RT, RI .

This page in the original text is blank.

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.

JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.

R ED PORT

ON THE

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

BY W. M. LINNEY.

STEREOTYPED FOR THE SURVEY BY JOHN D. WOODS, PUBLIC PRINTER AND BINDER, FRANKFORT, KY.

This page in the original text is blank.

INTRODUCTORY LETTER.

Hon. John R. Procter, Director of the Kentucky Geological
Survey:
DEAR SIR: I hereby transmit to you reports on the geology
of Bath and Fleiming counties. To the report on Bath county I
have added, as an appendix, a record of the amount of rainfall
occurring at Sharpsburg during the last twenty-six years. This
record was kept by Mr. Jonathan Vanarsdall, and makes a val-
uable addition to my report. My thanks are due to him and a
large number of other gentlemen of those counties for favors
shown during my work.
Yours very truly,
W. M. LIN NEY.
HARRODSBURG, Ky., January, 1886.

This page in the original text is blank.

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

HISTORICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, ETC.

Bath county was created by the act of legislation as one of
the Kentucky counties in 1811; its territory being, until that
time, a part of Montgomery. In 1869 a portion of its original
territory was taken to aid irr the formation of Menifee. Bath
is situated in the northeast-central part of the State. The Lick-
ing river flows along its northeastern boundary, Menifee county
is on its southeast, Montgomery on the southwest and Bourbon
and Nicholas counties on the northwest. The topographical
features are quite varied.
Around Preston Station, and near tbe head of Flat creek,
the county is level or gently undulating. Some tine rolling
lands are situated along the ridge between little Flat and Flat
creeks, and in some other parts of the county. Much of the
surface is considerably broken-narrow ridge-3 a-ad deie-cut
hollows, giving steep slopes, being the rule; while on the south-
east side the hills become so high and abrupt that they might
be called mountains. From some of these more elevated points
far extended landscapes are presented to the view, and nearly
the whole surface of the county can be seen from a single
point. One does not easily forget or become tired of gazing
from those hills over the plainlike surface of the blue-grass re-
gion, lying towards the north, or from the hills around Owings-
ville, at the panorama of mountains towards the south and east.
The whole drainage system of the county finds its way into
the Ohio through the Licking river. The latter stream has many

'The portion of Bath given to Menifee county was along its southern border and
extended into the rocks of the coal formation. Any one reading the notes of Dr.
David D. Owen, in the first series of reports on the geology of Bath county. should
remember that the coal beds and part of the iron ores there mentioned are now in Men-
ifee county.

6GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

fine sites for the erection of mills and manufactories, but only
a few of the former are built on its banks. During the high
tides rafts of saw logs and a few barges of coal are floated down,
industries which might be largely increased by intelligent enter-
prise. Hinkston creek runs along the county line for some miles.
Flat creek and Little Flat are in the northern part of the county.
Slate creek, a beautiful but very crooked stream, having consid-
erable water power, winds nearly through the center of the
county. It has a large number of small branches which enter it
from the north and the south. Farther to the south is Salt Lick
creek, with its many small tributaries, all rising in the mountain
region. Clear, Caney, two Indian and one Little Indian, Clover,
Cow and other creeks find their way into the Licking. The
county is thus well drained and supplied, except in times of severe
drouth, with an abundance of fresh, flowing water, for stock and
other purposes.
The Chesapeake and Ohio railroad extends east and west
through the south-central part of the county, and nearly the
whole of the traffic and travel of the county is from the various
stations along its line. At Olympia there is a track two and a
half miles long, which extends to the Preston ore banks, and
is psed altcgether in the shipment of iron ores. The northern
part of Bath is EaIrly supplied with well-constructed turnpikes,
but manyr Of the roads :n the southern portion are not macadam-
ized, and in places are very rough and bad, especially in the win-
ter season. The common school system has been better cared
for than in many other counties, while higher schools have been
maintained at Owingsville and Sharpsburg for a number of years.
The county has an area of 275-k0 miles. or 176,064 acres of land,
and in 1880 had a population of 11,982.
Owingsville is the seat of justice, and contains about 1,000
people. It is beautifully situated on a ridge, between Slate and
Prickly Ash creeks. There is, perhaps, no town in the State
from which such interesting and extended views can be seen,
and commanding such perfect drainage in every direction.
Sharpsburg, Bethel and Wyoming are small villages lying in
the northern part of the county; while, in the southern portion,
Preston, Olympia and Salt Lick are stations on the Chesapeake
and Ohio railroad.

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

The following table gives the elevations of a number of points
in the county, above the sea level, as well as the group of rocks
upon which the various points are located. With the aid of the
map, which exhibits the different formations as they are on the
surface, and this table, the reader can obtain a good idea of the
general topography and the unevenness or dip of the rocks as
the county is traversed from northwest to southeast:

Slate Creek, railroad level . . . . . .
Mill Creek, railroad level .........

Mud Lick Creek, railroad level .......
Salt Lick Creek, railroad level . . . . ..
Licking River, Farmer's Bridge, railroad level
Preston, railroad level ... ........
Olympia, railroad level .

Owingsville .
Slate Creek. south of Owingsville ......
Prickly Ash Creek, north of Owingsville . .
Ridge, northwest of Owingsville.
Top of Carrington's Rock .........
Flat Creek, about .............

750

703
656

650
668
741
751

995
688
735
1,020

1,396
650

Top of Upper Rudson.
Upper Silurian.

Upper Silurian.

Upper Silurian.
Black Slate.
Niagara Shale.

Niagara Shale.

Niagara Shale.
Upper Hudson.
Upper Hudson.

Upper Hudson.
Conglomerate.
Lower Hudson.

GENERAL GEOLOffY.
The general section of the rocks of the State is exhibited by
the following diagram. Some of the figures are only approxi-
mate, as the details are not yet complete:

FEET.

Tertiary and Quaternary...... .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . 300

Coal Measures ..... . . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . 2,000
Conglomerate. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . 2,000

Subcarboniferous.. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . 1,200
Devonian. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . 235

Upper Silurian......... .. 285

Lower Silurian. . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . 1,375
Total... .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .I7,395

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

In order to obtain this result the maximum thickness of each
of the various groups should be added together. In no one county
of the State does one-half of this thickness show, and often only
a portion of one single formation is to be seen. Bath county
has far more than an average exhibition of the various geologi-
cal divisions within its borders, and from this and other facts it
is of a more interesting character than some others in the State.
The various groups of stratified rocks here approximate about
fifteen hundred feet, and, beginning with a portion of the Lower
Silurian, they extend to and include part of the Conglomerate,
which lies at the base of the Coal Measures.
Nothing like the above thickness can be seen at any one
point, but by beginning in the northwestern part of the county and
passing to the southeastern border, we successively traverse the
divisions in regular ascending order until we have reached the
highest. The lowest rocks are to be seen in the northern part, in
the valley of Flat creek, and the highest on top of Carrington's
Rock. The whole system of rocks dip from the northern por-
tion to the southeastern. This dip amounts to about seven hun-
dred and fifty feet; so, while Carrington's Rock is only some
seven hundred and fifty feet higher above the sea level than the
valley of Flat creek, the rocks which show in Flat creek are
some fifteen hundred feet beneath the top of the Rock, and this
difference brings them beneath the level of the ocean.
This inequality of the rocky strata of the county was pro-
duced by a marked line of disturbance, which passes through
the State from northeast to southwest, and where the rocks were
elevated and displaced more than on either side of the line. This
anticlinal passed through the county near its northern limit, and
from it the rocks slope gently towards the northwest, but more
strongly in the opposite direction. The dip is not regular, being
greater at some points where the eye can tace it very plainly,
and so slight at others that it requires nice study to determine it.
In places there are short lines of minor disturbances in which
the rocks can be seen to dip in opposite directions, either
towards or from a given point. The details of the dips over a
county form a very important study, as only by a knowledge of
them can intelligent mining for coal, iron, clays, building stones,
etc., be conducted; and the supplies of water from artesian

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

wells must be governed by a knowledge of their occurrence and
persistence.
The annexed table gives the grouping and vertical extent of
the smaller, as well as the larger, divisions occurring in Bath
county:

Carboniferous.

Conglomerate .

Upper beds ............65
Subcarboniferous.
Lower beds........ . 400

Black Slate........ . 135
Devonian. C5rniferous..... . .. . 12
Oriskany.... . .. .. . 3

Niagara.. .. . .. . .. 100
Upper Silurian. Clinton. 35
Medina... .. . .. .. . 10

Upper Hudson .350
Lower Silurian. Middle Hudson.175
Lower Hudson .40

Total .

170

465

150

145

565

1,495

It must be understood that these thicknesses must be approx-
imate only, as the beds are not uniform in depth, being heavier
sometimes on one side of the county than on the other. It is
hoped that, with a careful study of the various groups as out-
lined on the map, the following descriptions may be fully under-
stood:

LOWER SILURIAN.

Only the upper part of the above great formation is exhibited
in Bath county. The Chazy and Birdseye divisions are exposed
in the cliffs of the Kentucky river at Camp Nelson, High Bridge
and other points; the Trenton on the surface of Fayette, Wood-

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

ford, Jessamine and other counties, but the Hudson only here,
where the three beds are represented, the Lower in part and the
Middle and Upper entire.
Lower Hudson.-These beds have a thickness of two hun-
dred feet, all of which is shown in a large number of counties
in Central Kentucky. In Bath they do not rise to the surface of
the county at any point. Near the mouth of Lick Branch the tops
of them are at the water's edge in the Licking river, and may be
traced down the river to the Nicholas line, where they are some
forty feet above the stream. They may also be seen along
Hinkston, where it makes the county line, and up Flat and Lit-
tle Flat creeks, for some miles. These beds have been described
in several reports on the counties of Central Kentucky, and to
give a detailed description of them here would only be a repeti-
tion of words. A few points will be mentioned, while the
reader is referred to reports on Garrard, Mercer and Nelson
counties.
The lower part of these beds is composed largely of shaly
limestones and shales, the types of which can be seen in the
banks of the Licking river, near the Upper Blue Lick Springs.
The upper portion is of heavier, harder limestones, with but lit-
tle admixture of shale. This solid character is so persistent that
the top can nearly always be traced, where shown in this
county, by the bench of resistent rocks which outcrop along the
margin of the streams. The rocks above are softer, and conse-
quently wear away faster than these, giving a different character
to slopes. The great wave marks, which are everywhere, at this
horizon, so noticeable, retain their character and persistency
with much uniformity, so that, whether seen in Madison, Wash-
ington, Spencer or Bath, they present the same unvarying
features.
Some of these layers of limestone make a fair article of build-
ing stone, and have been used for bridge masonry, founda-
tions, fences and other purposes. The upper part is usually
very rough bedded, and from this fact unfitted for any struct-
ural purposes. Where the conditions are favorable, springs
issue from the line of the upper part, the close texture not
allowing the water to pass below before it finds its exit from
their surfaces. The exposures are so limited that the series here

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

does not give any distinctive soils, as those derived from
these rocks are mixed from the decay of. those that overlie
them, and for the same reason the timbers are not characteristic.

Kiddle Hudson.-These beds which, in the earlier volumes
of the Kentucky geological reports, received the name of Sili-
cious Mudstones overlie the Lower Hudson, and are to be seen
making up the principal slopes on the Licking river, from Day's
Mill down to its northern extension with the county. On Hink-
ston creek and along the greater part of the drainage of Flat
and Little Flat they have an aggregate thickness of one hundred
and seventy-five feet. They here give quite a margin of out-
crops but never rise entirely to the upper, general surface of the
country.
The lower layer is composed of a massive concretionary rock
of blue silicious limestone from which, on exposure, the lime
largely leaches away, leaving a light silicious rock of a light
brown color. These blocks often fall from exposures and look
like so many huge kidneys composed of enveloping folds. One,
and sometimes two, other layers of analogous character are seen
in the series, and the composition of some of the even layers
is of the same chemical character. Layers of gray and blue
limestones come between them, some of which are even, and
others rough bedded. Some of these are hard and resist-
ing and do very well for foundations and fences, and a part
of the sandy layers are often used with them. More than half
of the series is made up of sandy or clay shales; these decompose
easily, as do most of the harder layers. In the shales are quite
a large per cent. of potash, and there is more than an ordinary
proportion of phosphate of lime in some of the layers. The
soils are, therefore, of a good character, and only need the care
that an intelligent study of them should give, to keep them in fine
condition. That they may be exhausted by injudicious culture,
and ignorance of their character, is illustrated in too many cases.
With careful protection against excessive waste, judicious
subsoiling and a return, in part, of the vegetable matters grown
to these soils, would keep them valuable for many years. Some
of the best soils around Sharpsburg are based on these rocks,
and they have obtained a deserved reputation where they have
remained in possession of owners who knew how to treat them.

12GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

Often, with quite steep slopes, these soils are easy to culti-
vate, but too often the tendency is to plough them in such a way
that they are literally washed away. It would be advisable to
re-forest many of the greater slopes, or plant in orchards, be-
cause they could thus be better protected than by yearly culti-
vation. Some kinds of fruit succeed well on them, and the
growth of every plant is rapid.
By an examination of the notes on this series, contained in
the reports mentioned under the Lower Hudson, it will be seen
stated that the Middle beds in the State were largely covered
with a forest of beech trees. On Hinkston there seem to have
been but a limited number of trees of this species, but along
the Licking and on Flat creek it was a very common tree in
places. The other trees which characterized these beds in the
county were largely yellow poplar, chinquapin oak, black wal-
nut and sugar maple. The forests have been largely destroyed,
and few trees of any great value remain. Where circumstances
are favorable young trees spring up and grow with much rapidity.

Upper Hudson.-This division lies on top of the last beds
mentioned, and makes up a larger part of the surface of the
county than that of both the Lower and Middle beds combined.
On this group are based the finest and most desirable lands in
Bath. Near Bethel, Sharpsburg, and towards the head of Flat
creek, part of the lands lie comparatively level, and the county
is rich and beautiful. Over other portions there are small areas
which lie well, but over much of it the country is either steeply
rolling or else much broken. The total thickness is about three
hundred and fifty feet, and near the Licking river, opposite
Day's Mill, a section is exhibited of three hundred and thirty
feet. The Middle beds disappear under the river, near this point,
and from the water level to the top of the county only the Upper
beds are present.
The section is composed of blue and gray limestones, in large
part. Some shales come between some of the layers, and a few
courses are brownish on exposure, containing some magnesia.
The larger part of the limestones are, however, in the condition
of carbonates-some quite pure, while others contain variable
proportions of earthy matters. In a section recently exposed a

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

part of these beds show a very massive character, but in a few
years they-break down by crumbling and exfoliating into thin
splintering layers. This is especially true of those parts of the
beds so largely made up of the fossil remains of the ancient life,
whose shells and other parts make up so large a proportion of
these rocks. One large shell, about the size of a hulled walnut,
with rough ribs-the orthis lynx-ranging nearly through all
the strata, is the most persistent and noticeable of them all.
One horizon is well marked, through the county, by being
very rough bedded and containing large masses of a sponge-
strornatapora-specimens of which are often seen isolated from
the rocks which weigh more than a hundred pounds. Through
the part drained by Lower Indian creek the rocks are much
broken into rectangular blocks, and these cover the surface in
such profusion that it is impossible, in some places, to plough
the land. The same condition is to be seen, on a smaller scale,
across the county toward the west. This feature is due to its be-
ing on the line of the greater disturbance, and the immense
force exerted here caused remarkable fractures along a contin-
uous line. The extreme upper parts of these beds contain some
sand in the clay shales, and from this reason are more inclined to
wear away more easily. This, in part, accounts for the superi-
ority of the lands on the Bethel ridge over those on the ridge
between Flat creek and Prickly Ash.
Some of the farming lands based on the steeper slopes of
this division have been very badly treated. The soils have been
ploughed and left in such condition that they have been washed
away, leaving only a chaos of rocks to cover the ground. This
treatment has been worse in past years than more recent-
ly. Evidences are presented on many sides which show that,
at least in part of the county, more interest has been given to
the preservation and improvement of these lands, and that quite
a number of farms, which were formerly considered as worn
out, have been largely restored to fertility.
A number of analyses of the separate soils of the three di-
visions of the Hudson period have been made by the State
Chemist, Dr. Robert Peter; from them the following table is
compiled:

GEOLOGY OF BATH C(ANTY.

o 0 0

Organic andvolatile matters..... . .. . .. . . 5.089 4.778 7.895-
Alumina and iron and manganese oxides .6.782 7.064 8.664
Lime carbonate..192 .101 .543
Magnesia... . .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. .332 .05 .665
Phosphoric acid..166 .165 .369
Potash, extracted by acids..180 .;55 .31&
Sand and insoluble silicates.... . .. .. . .. . . 87.005 86.551 81.690

Total... . .. . .. .. . .. . .. 100.000100.000100.000

These results are from the average analyses of a number of
soils, virgin and worn, and the subsoils beneath them. Those of
the Upper Hudson were selected from Bath county, the others
from several counties where the Lower and Middle Hudson are
prominent and distinctive. As the latter show in this county
quite a uniformity with the conditions present in other counties,
they may be taken as fair representatives of the Lower and.
Middle Hudson of Bath county.
It will be seen from the table that the soils of the Upper Hud-
son have a much larger percentage of organic and volatile mat-
ters than is found in either of the other classes. This can be
readily seen everywhere, in passing over the country, by the
darker color of the soils. It is an important feature, and
teaches us the necessity of furnishing to them organic waste by
the turning under of certain crops, as a supply to every field.
The proportion of potash, phosphoric acid and lime are also
largely in excess in these soils, and on these elements is based
their excellent character.
As both the Lower and Middle beds contain these substances
in a necessary proportion, if they are in an available condition,
it may be seen that the Upper beds are especially rich in these
substances. Many of the commercial fertilizers, being com-
posed largely of combinations whose worth depends upon pot-
ash and phosphoric acid, would be of little or no benefit
here. This is one of the most important facts which can be
brought before the farmers living on soils based upon the Hud-

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

son formation. Thousands of dollars have been so spent on
these soils without any return, and, without the intelligent edu-
cation of the agriculturist on this subject, a few more years will
see hundreds of thousands dissipated in the same way.
That all of these soils could be materially benefited by more
thorough culture, by deep ploughing, harrowing and rolling,
producing a lighter and thoroughly mixed soil, admits of no
doubt. Much in agriculture depends upon the mechanical
condition of the earth, and it is a well-established fact that few
farms which have been cultivated for any number of years
have enough of organic matters in their soils. In freshly
cleared lands the soils, from the presence of dead wood and
roots and the rotten leaves, are dark and loose, warm and dry;
the plough runs easily and the crops grow rapidly. In the
course of prolonged cultivation this organic matter is removed
in part as plant food, and in part by the leaching out by the
waters which percolate through the earth. The soils then be-
come less productive and more difficult to work. Where the
lands are in grass and grazing takes the place of cultivation, or
the grains or their refuse are fed on the land, or returned as
manures, the removal is not so rapid as where all the crops are
taken away from the fields.
The changes which result in soils by the exhaustion of or-
ganic matters can be seen on every side in the continuous
changes in many of them to lighter colors, and a consequent
toughness and coldness. Where fields have had a sod of grass,
or a crop of clover, rye or other green crop ploughed under, the
rotting of these matters returns organic matters to the land,
and the improvement in color, composition and richness can be
directly seen. In Kentucky too little of this kind of treat-
ment has been followed. This is the proper way, and in a large
measure, the only thing necessary to restore the soils on the
Hudson group to a fair share of fertility.
One thing is very evident, in many parts of the State, in seed-
ing the lands to grass, not enough seed is sown to the acre, and
the number of grasses are too few. If farmers would sow plenty
of seed and several other grasses with their clover and timothy,
they might be assured of better stands; and while some might
fail, yet the others would grow all the better. Often this

1GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

failure to sow enough results in having a worthless pasture or
in losing a year without any return.
The soils derived from the wasting away of the lower rocks
of the Upper Hudson are the richest in Bath county. These
soils were marked here, as elsewhere in the State, with a forest
composd largely of blue ash, chinquapin oak, sugar maple, wild
cherry, hackberry, Kentucky coffee tree and some other species.
The natural soil is quite dark, often nearly black, and very fria-
ble. The Upper portions contained white oak, red oak, black
oak, walnut, black hickory, scattering beech and other kinds.
The fossils, which everywhere in the Ohio Valley mark these
beds, are to be seen in great profusion at many of the outcrops.
The great masses of columnaria alveolata are not in such pro-
fusion as in the counties more to the west, but may be seen at
several places on Slate creek. Here they are about seventy-five
feet below the top of the Hudson. Orthis occidentalis, orthis
lynx, orthis subquadrata, pterina demissa, streptelasma cor-
niculum, tetradium minus and other forms are to be collected
in numbers. Slate creek cuts down into these beds, and the
hill-sides are often very rich, while some very desirable bottoms
are found on it and the Licking river. At the mouth of Slate
creek the action of these streams, with their currents cutting
against each other, have eroded a broad valley in the soft layers
in the Upper Hudson. Here in places is to be seen an upper
bottom, formed while those streams ran at a higher level than
they occupy to-day.
UPPER SILURIAN.
The Upper Silurian is one of the great geological formations,
being, in places, thousands of feet in thickness. In Kentucky it
is quite limited in its distribution and the depth of its beds.
Three only of its divisions are present in the State, and all
added together only amount to something like three hundred
feet. The Medina, the Clinton and the Niagara periods all
have a limited representation in Bath county; the Clinton being
the most important, as well as interesting, from the presence,
here, of an iron ore peculiar to the group.
Medina.-The Medina is here composed of ten feet of rocks
which contain some lime and clay, as well as a variable propor-

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY. 17

tion of sand. On fresh surfaces they are bluish, but on expos-
ure they are changed into a dirty yellow. These rocks here
are thin bedded, and have between them more or less shale; all
these break down rapidly when exposed, and form, sometimes,
bare places covered with a yellow sand which marks the Medina
everywhere in its outcrop in the State. This sand is unlike any
other. A number of plant-markings cover the surfaces of some
of the layers, and usually there can be found casts of a few fos-
sils derived from the Hudson beds, in some of the strata, or at
least the species are the same. The exposures of these rocks
are only a few yards wide, and of no particular importance, ex-
cept to exhibit the extension of the group.

Clinton.-The series of rocks, shales and ores, which make
up the division named the Clinton period, are of wide extent
and of much importance. In Bath county they have a maximum
thickness of about thirty-four feet. They are variable in their
bedding, thinning out in one place and thickening in another.
This is due here more to the amount of shales between the rocky
layers than to any other cause, although the solid parts are not
often even-bedded themselves. An average section of these beds
would be nearly represented by the following details:

SECTION OF THE CLINTON IN BATH COUNTY.

Thin limestones and shales... .
Limestone .
Shale .
Limestones .
Shales and thin limestones. .....
Iron ore.......... .. . ..
Thin limestone. ........
Limestone layer. ..........
Wave-marked layer...... . . .
Thin limestones...... .. ..
shales .
Heavy limestones with chert.
Total. . .

FT.

2
0
1

4
2

1
1
3
6
9
34

I -.
I.

0
10
9
11
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
9

.. .. .
.. .. .

.. .. .
.. .. .
.. .. .

.. .. .

GEOLOGY OF BATH COUNTY.

The heavy layers at the bottom range from five feet, on the
western side of the county, to nine feet on the eastern, are mas-
sive and rough bedded, and filled with large quantities of flinty
nodules and masses. Where the limestones have broken down,
these nodules, whole or in fragments, cover the ground and are
mixed in the soil in large quantities. The limestones are rather
a grayish blue, often mottled with light tints of greenish blue and
yellow. Though largely of lime, they contain some magnesia,
and enough iron to give them a yellow color on exposure. The
limestones above are of nearly the same composition, though some
of them have sand in them. The shales are blue and soon melt
down, on exposure, to a stiff, tenacious clay. Three of these
beds are very persistent in their relations--the wave-marked
layer, the iron ore and the heavy beds with chert. These are to
be seen at nearly every outcrop, and about the same distance in-
tervening between them, the wave-marked layer coming in about
ten or twelve feet above the chert bed, and the iron ore four
feet above that. This wave-marked rock is very even, and, as
we have said, persistent in its character. First seen in Montgom-
ery county, it extends through Bath and Fleming into Lewis.
It is from ten to fourteen inches in thickness, marked with
ridges from four tosix inches in height and about twenty-six
inches from crest to crest. The ridges are not a regular curve, but
are somewhat sharpened at the top. This layer and the chert
bed are invaluable guides in determining the place of the bed
of iron ore above.
The bed of iron ore which is shown in the section is part of a
wide extended deposit, being known in Wisconsin, New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio and Ken-
tucky. It has received a number of names-as dye-stone, flax-
seed, fossil, lenticular and concretionary ore. It was called
Clinton ore from its presence in the Clinton group of New York,
and is by this name most generally known. It is a hematite
or red ore, but, where it is exposed, changes into a yellowish
limonite. It is largely composed of little rounded and flattened
grains, which are often due to t