Ashburner.] Oil [P^j, ,j^ 



The saadstone between the several seams has a great sameness of cliarac- 

 acter, and is very much broken up by false bedding and fractures ; in many 

 cases it conlaius thin seams or partings of coal. The numbered seams and 

 partings generally lie parallel wiih the true bedding of the strata, altliough 

 in many instances they are found along the planet of fahe beiidimj. 

 The thicknesses are very variable, in places increasing from 1 and 2 inches 

 up to 10 inches and 1 foot ; and sometimes a seam will be very much 

 broken up and separated by a mass of sandstone, which splits the bed for 

 some distance, but afterwards disappears, permitting the severed portions 

 to unite again. 



The almost total absence of fireclays under the coal seams, and the occur- 

 rence of coarse sandstone in many places directly above them seems to 

 show that the coal has been derived from plants which may have grown 

 at some distance from the locality and been afterwards floated and caught 

 in the falling sediment, forming "drift beds." The period was undoubt- 

 edly one of continuous local current agitation as indicated by the coarse- 

 ness and false bedding of the strata. 



The lower part of the middle member is characterized more particularly 

 by its beds of conglomerate and conglomeritic sandstone, both of which 

 exhibit false bedding in a marked degree. 



At the top of it directly under coal seam No. 1, comes No. 157 of the 

 section, 25 feet thick, composed of soft black shale containing plates of coal 

 and impressions of minute plants, alternating with a fine-grained conglom- 

 erate which contains micaceous specks. The surfaces of the shale are verj* 

 much stained with iron. Directly below these alternating beds occur (No. 

 156) 26 feet of a yellowish-gray argillaceous shale also containing plates of 

 coal and showing "slickensides," giving evidence of some contortion and 

 slipping of the strata. 



The first well defined and massive sandstone (No. 1.55 of the series) oc- 

 curs below the shale ; is 9 feet thick and is separated by 2 inches of black 

 carbonaceous slate (No. 154) from 113 feet (Nos. 153, 152 and 151) of hard 

 massive and conglomeritic sandstone, shoicinj a grenter amount of false 

 bedding than any other part of the sedtion. No. 152 contains a few alterna- 

 ting beds of black slate, but is en masse the hardest and most massive 

 part ot the Pocono or No. X epoch. It forms the crest of Sideling Hill, ap- 

 parently throughout its whole extent ; its position in the mountain can be 

 seen both in Sideling Hill creek section and E. B. T. R. R. section accom- 

 panying the report of the Aughwick Valley. Below these harder and more 

 massive strata there are 82' 1" (Nos. 150 to 144 inclusive') of shale, with a 

 few beds of sandstone, the whole underlaid again by 25 feet of hard, mas- 

 sive sandstone (No. 143), and 13 feet (No. 142) of fine-grained conglom- 

 erate containing thin beds of black micaceous sandstone. 



The general character of the section below this part is as follows : 



Shale and sandstone (No. 141) 26 feet. 



Massive sandstone showing false bedding (No. 140) 17 " 



