THE PETKOLETJM EESOURCES OF THE UNITED 



STATES.^ 



By IvALPH Arnold. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In 1908 when the agitation for the conservation of our mineral 

 and other natural resources was at its height, a paper was prepared 

 by Dr. David T. Day on " The Petroleum Eesources of the United 

 States."^ It Avas the privilege of the writer to contribute some of 

 the data upon which Dr. Day based his conclusions. Since the prep- 

 aration of that article much development work has been done in 

 this country, new fields have been opened up, and the possibilities 

 of the older fields have been more closely studied. The present paper 

 is intended as a revision of Dr. Day's thesis in view of the latest in- 

 formation pertaining to the subject. The writer wishes to acknowl- 

 edge bis indebtedness to the following, among others, who have 

 contributed data used in the preparation of these estimates: James 

 H. Gardner, M. J. Munn, Prof. L. C. Glenn, Prof. G. D. Harris, 

 and Richard R. Hice. 



EXTENT OF THE PETROLEUM FIELDS. 



The oil fields of the United States usually are classified as the 

 Appalachian, Lima-Indiana, Illinois, Mid-Continent, Gulf, Rocky 

 Mountain, California, and Alaska. 



Appalachian -field. — The Appalachian field extends from south- 

 western New York, through western Pennsylvania, southeastern 

 Ohio, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky, into northern Ten- 

 nessee. The formations yielding the oil throughout this field in- 

 clude those of the Devonian and Carboniferous. The oil occurs 

 along the axes and on the flanks of anticlines, parallel in general 

 with the strike of the Appalachian Mountains, and on minor ter- 

 races or other structures associated Avith them. Occasionally it has 



1 Reprinted by permission from Economic Oeology, Vol. 10, No. 8, December, 1915. 

 »BulI. U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 394, pp. 30-50, 1909. 



273 



