Stevenson.] ' lb± [Nov. 21, 



den ;" the surface is gently undulating and is covered with a deep soil. 

 This is a beautifut cove, precisely similar in type to the anticlinal coves 

 occurring so freqnently in the regions of Pennsylvania, bordering on the 

 Great Valley. The wall of Medina, with its terrace of Hudson and red 

 Medina, is unbroken save by the narrow gap through which Wolf creek 

 passes. 



V. THE SALT AND GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE HOLSTON 



VALLEY.* 



The salt and gypsum deposits found in the vicinity of Saltville, and at 

 several other localities eastward along North Fork of the Holston and its 

 tributary. Cove creek, possess great economical importance and scientific 

 interest. 



A basin of remarkable beauty at Saltville extends on both sides of the 

 Saltville fault, having been eroded in hard silicious beds of the Knox on one 

 side and in the Lower Carboniferous shales on the other ; the length is not 

 far from one mile. The narrow westerly portion, drained by a stream 

 rising in the Knox hills and flowing to the North fork of Holston, is sepa- 

 rated by a well marked divide from the pi'iucipal basin, which, within the 

 memory of some of the older settlers, was occupied by a lake ; now, how- 

 ever, it is drained by a little stream which flows to the river. The salt 

 works are in the larger or eastern portion. 



The character of the rock on the divide is well shown in the railroad 

 cut about one-fifth of a mile from the railroad station and almost directly 

 behind Mr. Robinson's house, wliere it is a conglomerate of red to blue 

 clay, sandstone and large fragments of the chert or cherty sandstone of 

 the Knox group. These are cemented by more or less crystalline gypsum. 

 Remains of Mastodon were obtained in this cut, which were deposited in 

 Emory and Henry College, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, eight 

 or nine miles from Saltville. Tliis conglomerate, which is nearly ICO feet 

 thick in a shaft sunk by Mr. Robinson just north from the railroad, has 

 been eroded from the larger basin as well as from that portion lying west 

 from the divide ; no trace of it occurs elsewhere in the neighborhood. 



Gypsum is mined in large quantities by Mr. Robinson immediately west 

 from the divide. It is reached at but a few feet from the surface, clearly 

 has a covering of blue clay, and exhibits many seams of red clay, which 

 are sometimes so extensive as to injure the market value of the gypsum. 

 The rock in the large excavation appears to be without dip and most of the 

 material is saccharoidal, comparatively little crystalline gypsum having 

 been seen by the writer. The presence of gypsum on the divide, under 



*I am under very material obligations to Mr. W. Mussel white and Hon. C. 

 T. Smith, of Saltville, for assistance in gathering information respecting the 

 salt and gypsum deposits. Mr. Musselwhite, who had charge of the boring 

 operations in the vicinity of Saltville, generously placed all of his results at my 

 disposal. 



