186 RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE. 



cles of coal, though in the Toomey-West-Hendren group of wells, it was 

 not certain that the coal was of commercial thickness. In the Easter well 

 several feet of coal were found at a depth of 695 feet. In detail, the thick- 

 ness of the individual beds of sandstone and shale vary rapidly so that 

 sections made at even short distances apart may fail to match except in a 

 broad general way. Examples of such variation may be seen in the plot- 

 ted sections given in Fig. 3. The total thickness of the Lee formation at 

 the group of wells four miles northwest of Oneida varies from 785 to 804 

 feet for the three wells whose cuttings were examined by the writer. In 

 the Toomey No. 1 the thickness as deduced from the driller's record is 830 

 feet. To the east the Lee is known to thicken considerably and in the 

 Easter well at Oneida it is 900 feet or slightly more in thickness. To the 

 west it becomes gradually thinner. The Lee forms the base of the Penn- 

 sylvania or Upper Carboniferous. 



Pennington shale. The top of this formation is marked either by a 

 few feet of limestone or by red and green shales. The top of these shales 

 is soft and often gives the drillers trouble by caving. In them there are 

 occasional thin beds of limestone and in their middle and lower parts much 

 of the shale is dark slate colored and breaks into long prismatic or pencil- 

 like pieces. The thickness of the Pennington in the Hendren well is 188 

 feet, in the West well 189, and in the Toomey No. 2, 191. In the Rugby 

 Road and Rugby wells it is 208 and 220 feet respectively, while in the 

 Winfield well it is reported as only 90 feet. 



It is known that after the Pennington was deposited this whole region 

 was uplifted and its surface was subjected to a prolonged period of ero- 

 sion before it sank again and the materials of the Lee began to be laid 

 down upon it. This erosion doubtless removed more of the Pennington 

 in some places than in others and left its upper surface irregular, and the 

 thickness of the part remaining, variable. 



The Pennington appears at the surface only along the Big South Fork 

 River and the lower mile or two of the courses of its principal tributaries. 



The Pennington shale forms the top of the Mississippian or sub-Car- 

 boniferous in this region. 



UNDERGROUND FORMATIONS. 



The following formations do not appear at the surface in this imme- 

 diate vicinity but are encountered in the deep wells. 



Newman limestone. Beneath a considerable interval of red and dark 

 shales there appears in the Oneida region a very light, almost white, lime- 

 stone that is here taken as the top of the Newman limestone. Beneath it 

 there is a variable succession of limestone and red and dark shale beds 



