APR. 4, 1923 WOODRING: GEOLOGY OF HAITI 127 
have to be discarded in mining operations. In a large part of this 
potential lignite field the beds dip very gently and the lignite could be 
mined by stripping off the overburden. The Miocene beds in this 
part of the Central Plain are coastal swamp deposits. 
Lignite of entirely different origin and composition was examined 
in the interior lowland at Camp Perrin in the Arrondissement of 
Cayes. The beds here, which are also of Miocene age, are non-marine, 
and the lignite is probably an undeveloped cannel coal. ‘This lignite 
could hardly be profitably mined, as the beds of good lignite are thin 
and all the beds are crumpled and faulted. Samples of lignite from 
both regions have been analyzed. 
Miocene beds in the Central Plain contain mother rock and reser- 
voirs suitable for the accumulation of oil. Favorable structural 
features were examined and have already been described.!° Seeps 
of oil from these rocks have been reported by several people, but were 
not examined during the reconnaissance. There are no large-scale 
seeps, residues, or mud volcanoes, such as are found in many other 
regions where rocks of the same age contain oil. The oil possibilities 
of the Central Plain can be tested only by the drill. 
Samples of limestone, marl, and argillite have been analyzed to 
determine the possibility of using them as raw materials in the manu- 
facture of cement. Samples of different kinds of rock, gravel, and 
other material have been tested as road material. Gravels and sands 
have been tested as material for concrete and for other uses. Samples 
of clay have been tested as material for making bricks. The Republic 
contains a variety of rocks suitable for building stone and an unlimited 
supply of limestone that is burned for lime. At several places salt is 
obtained by the evaporation of sea water. Samples of cave guano 
‘have been analyzed to determine their value as fertilizers. 
UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES 
Perhaps the most intimate contact between geology and the in- 
habitants of the Republic lies in the development of the water re- 
sources. Most of the inhabitants depend upon agriculture for their 
livelihood and in many parts of the Republic it is necessary to supple- 
ment rainfall with irrigation. At the time of the reconnaissance 
there was little information available concerning the surface water 
resources. A program of measuring the flow of streams that are most 
10 Woodring, W. P., Stratigraphy, structure, and possible oil resources of the Miocene 
rocks of the Central Plain: Rep. Haiti Geol. Survey, 19 pp., map, 1922. 
