UTZNACH DEPOSIT. 153 



Whilst the stratified masses of gravel and sand vary much in 

 thickness, and thereby cause considerable differences in the 

 depth of the shafts, the lignite- deposit itself lies almost hori- 

 zontal, showing that the ancient peat-deposit has preserved its 

 original position ; while the overlying masses of sand and gravel, 

 which might have been originally deposited in various thick- 

 nesses, have subsequently also been here and there removed by 

 denudation. Hence the surface of the soil is by no means 

 parallel to the deposit of lignite, but presents small depressions 

 and undulating elevations. 



The precise extent of the lignite formation of Utznach cannot 

 at present be ascertained. The longest galleries following the 

 deposit extend into the neighbourhood of Gauen. They have 

 been worked underground for about forty years, and have cer- 

 tainly furnished a great quantity of coal. But as there is no 

 measurement, and the mining is carried on in a very primitive 

 fashion, the annual product of these pits cannot be accurately 

 stated. Some years ago it was estimated at 500,000 hundred- 

 weight ; but only half that quantity is now raised. 



Formerly the lignite-deposit of Utznach was in connexion 

 with that of Durnten, which is shown by a small deposit of 

 lignite at Eschenbach (between Utznach and Durnten) . It lies 

 almost exactly at the same height (515 metres, or 563*2 yards) 

 above the sea-level. Near Wangen, on the Buchberg, opposite 

 Utznach, and near Kaltbrunnen, traces of lignite are also found 

 nearly at the same elevation. These render it probable that 

 formerly the valley was occupied by a lake from 90 to 100 metres 

 (or about 98 to 109 yards) in depth from the bottom of the val- 

 ley, the shores of which to a great extent were swampy. As the 

 Lower Buchberg rises from the bottom of the valley from Wan- 

 gen to Grinau, another lake would have been produced if the 

 two narrow gaps between Grinau and Utznach and between 

 Wangen and Schiibelbach had been filled up, which was probably 

 the case at the period of the lignite formation. The lignite- 

 deposits show the old swampy shores of this lake, which over- 

 flowed its banks at certain periods, and thus deposited mud, 

 covering the peat, and forming what is now a band of loam, over 

 which a fresh formation of lignite took place a series of pheno- 

 mena which may still be observed in many turbaries. Another 



