SHAW: NEW AREA OF CARBONIFEROUS 557 



Lot 636 



Ford of small stream 1 mile northeast of Oliff , Illinois, and 10 miles 

 by road northeast of Brookport; altitude 370 ±. 



Pentremites symmetricus Streblotrypa nicklesi 



Pentremites sp. Cystodictya pustulosa 



Stenopora sp. Dielasma? sp. 



Polypora sp. Cliothyridina sublamellosa 



Fenestella tenax Composita sp. 



Lot 637 



Near house, Chandler farm, 10 miles by road northeast of Brook- 

 port, side of sink hole. 



Meekopora approximata Spirifer pellensis? 



Stenopora aff. cestriensis Composita subquadrata 



Batostomella sp. Eumetria vera 



Productus ovatus Bellerophon sublevis 



Diaphragmus elegans Sphaerodoma? sp. 



A careful search was made for fossils that might indicate the 

 exact age of the coal, but although several fragments of plant 

 remains were found, 'they were not sufficient to identify the bed. 

 The beds above and below consist mainly of sandstone, commonly 

 cross-bedded, and the true beds range from a few inches to many 

 feet in thickness. The peculiar "gnarly" aspect of the clay and 

 sandy shale associated with the coal, the character of the sand- 

 stone, particularly the scarcity of mica flakes, and the prox- 

 imity of limestones belonging in the Chester group, point to a 

 Pottsville age for the coal. Perhaps it is Mercer, for the coal 

 and associated beds resemble a coal identified by David White 

 as belonging in that member at Murphysboro and elsewhere. 



The economic significance of the discovery is probably not 

 great because the coal underlies only a small area, its thickness 

 is not more than a foot or two, and it is not of a very high grade. 

 The definite knowledge concerning it has been obtained from 

 two small outcrops and nearby abandoned prospects located 

 near the county line in the SW.l, Sec. 16, T. 15 S., R. 6 E. The 

 coal may have an extent of only a few acres or it may underlie 

 considerable parts of several sections and possibly a large area 

 in the Gulf embayment. Its thickness at the exposures and 

 prospects is 10 to 22 inches; possibly thicker coal may be 



