THE 



GEOLOGtCAL MAGAZINE 



NEW SERIES. DECADE VI. VOL. V. 



No. XI.— NOVEMBER, 1918. 



I. — The Iron-fields of Lorraine. 

 By E. H. Kastall, M.A., F.G.S. 



RECENT events have again called attention to the enormous 

 strategic and economic importance of the iron-fields of 

 Lorraine; on these much of the commercial prosperity of Germany 

 has been built up in the past, and on their possession her futui'e as 

 an industrial nation largely depends. For many years the output of 

 iron-ore from the part of Lorraine under German control has been 

 immense: in 1912, German Lorraine produced approximately 

 20,000,000 tons, while the output of Luxemburg, which, for all 

 practical purposes, is German, was about 6,500,000 tons. In the 

 same year the French portion of the Lorraine iron-field yielded 

 17,300,000 tons, making a grand total for this area of 43,800,000 

 tons of ore. During the War the whole of the French productive 

 region has been occupied by the enemy, and there is no means of 

 ascertaining what has actually happened there, but certain 

 inferences can be drawn from published facts and on a basis of 

 probability. 



First, however, it is necessary to consider briefly the geographical 

 distribution and geological structure of these regions. The Eriey 

 plateau forms a somewhat elevated region extending from the 

 southern border of the Ardennes to a little south of Metz : it is 

 dissected by the valleys of several rivers, including the Moselle, 

 Orne, Fentsch, Algringen, and Meurthe. Geologically the plateau 

 is composed of Jurassic rocks, chiefly Lias and Dogger, and it is near 

 the boundaiy of these two series that the beds of iron-ore occur. By 

 German geologists they are referred to the Dogger, by French 

 authorities mostly to the Lias. According to Van Werveke they 

 belong to the zone of Am^nonites llurchisonce. 



The Briey field is nearh'- 40 miles long, with a width of about 

 15 miles, within which the ore is believed to be payable; south of 

 it comes a barren region extending for some 15 miles and then the 

 Nancy field, which is about 13 miles long. The Lorraine plateau as 

 a whole is divided by rivers and other natural boundaries into 

 several subsidiary regions, while the basins of Longwy and Crusnes 

 are of considerable importance. In the French portion of the Briey 

 field the chief subdivisions recognized are those of Orne, Landres, 

 and Tucquegnieux. 



The general geological structure is very simple, as the whole 

 series dips gently to the west. The iron-bearing beds outcrop on 

 the eastern side of the plateau a few miles east of the frontier and in 

 the south of Luxemburg, hence they naturally become deeper and 



DECADE VI. — VOL. V. — NO. XI. 31 



