GEOLOGY OF THE PROVINCES OF BARAHONAAND AZUA. 219 



be determined only by field examination and careful calculation by a com- 

 petent engineer. The output under present management is sufficient to 

 supply the local demand, and the profit appears to satisfy the owners. 



Petroleum Possibilities in Enriquillo Basin. 



There are rumors that indications of petroleum have been seen at many 

 places in and near Enriquillo Basin. Some of the places mentioned are 

 east of Neiba, others are north and west of the Cerros de Sal, and still others 

 are near Tierra Nueva and Jimani. The indications reported are asphalt 

 seeps, salt springs, limestone having the odor of "burned gasoline," and 

 lignite. 



E. I. Kilborne, an engineer in the employ of the Barahona Company, 

 reports that he found asphaltic material which had the odor of petroleum 

 on a branch of Arroyo Palma Dulce, about 6 kilometers east of Duverge* 

 Salt springs, which are regarded by the natives as indicating the presence of 

 oil, are reported to exist at several places east of Neiba. Bituminous 

 limestone that gives off a fetid odor when struck occurs near Angostura 

 at the west end of Cerros de Sal. There are small fragments of woody 

 material at the same locality and elsewhere in the rocks of the Cerros de 

 Sal formation. 



The strata that overlie the gypsum beds in the Cerros de Sal appear to 

 have been a possible source of petroliferous material, as they are rich in 

 marine fossils and contain layers of lignite. The same beds under suitable 

 cover might contain pools of oil. Any search for favorable structure in 

 Enriquillo Basin should be preceded by a thorough study of the strati- 

 graphic sequence along the Cerros de Sal, where the steep tilting of the 

 beds furnish excellent exposures. The area from Neiba eastward to Rio 

 Yaque is regarded as sufficiently promising to warrant a careful study of the 

 structure and detailed investigation. 



Sierra Bahoruco South of Duverge*. 



Sierra Bahoruco is a rugged range that rises to an altitude of 1 700 

 meters on the south side of Enriquillo Basin, in the south-central part of 

 the Province of Barahona. (See PI. XIX.) Trips were made along the foot- 

 hills of this range and southward from Duverge through Puerto Escondido 

 to Rancho Viejo, on the trail to Pedernales. 



A bench of coralliferous limestone, which is mentioned elsewhere in this 

 report (p. 213), is especially well developed between Duverge and a point a 

 few kilometers west of Las Baitoas. (See PI. XVII, B.) Close to the road 

 that skirts the base of the mountains there are cliffs, 3 to 12 meters high 

 composed almost entirely of branching corals, some of which are so fresh 

 as to retain their original colors. Somewhat farther north in the basin 

 there are more massive corals, which commonly occur as detached heads 

 lying on or partly buried in the silty soil. Many of the mountain spurs 



