38 Journal of the Mitchell Society [October 



material deposited from animal life fomid in the sea, consist of 

 conglomerates, sandstones, shale, limestone, and their metamor- 

 phic equivalents, quartzite, slate, and marble. These are ob- 

 served very extensively over considerable areas of western E^orth 

 .Carolina, but principally, as stated above, near the western and 

 eastern sections of the mountain region. Grandfather Mountain 

 is composed of one of these conglomerates of Cambrian age, as is 

 also Grandmother Mountain, a large part of the area around 

 Linville, and just to the east of Pineola. A narrow strip of these 

 rocks is to be found extending across the extreme western part 

 of Buncombe County, across Henderson and Transylvania 

 counties. Brevard is situated in an area of these rocks, as is 

 also Boylston, Mills River, and Fletcher, Henderson County. 

 Practically all of Cherokee and Graham counties is composed 

 of Cambrian rocks and the western parts of Clay, Macon, and 

 Haywood counties. Swain County is composed largely of these 

 Cambrian rocks, with the exception of an area of Archean rock 

 that is exposed around Bryson and for some distance to the 

 northeast. West of Asheville these Cambrian rocks are ob- 

 served in the vicinity of Stackhouse, Hot Springs, and Paint 

 Rock. They include all the limestones, such as are being mined 

 at Fletchers, Mills River, and other places in Henderson and 

 Transylvania counties; the limestones of Madison County; 

 and the marbles of Cherokee, Graham, and Swain counties. 



From the above it will be seen that the larger jDart of the area 

 of western jSTorth Carolina is composed of the Archean rocks, 

 reiDresenting the oldest rock formations. 



Associated with the rocks described above are various min- 

 erals of economic importance, the history of which may be of 

 interest in connection with the geological history of western 

 North Carolina. The precious metals occur very sparingly in 

 nearly all the counties of this section of the state, and in only a 

 very few places has any attempt been made to systematically 

 produce them, and this has been largely by placer mining. 

 Both the rocks of the Archean and Cambrian age apparently 

 contain minute quantities of gold, but in none of these have de- 

 posits been found of sufficient richness to be profitably mined. 

 In the early history of western !N'orth Carolina it was customary 



