174 M. R. CAMPBELL — PALEOZOIC OVERLAPS IN VIRGINIA. 



The small streams are also in a season of great activity, but have not 

 been able to keep pace with the river in its rapid cutting ; still the sur- 

 face is deeply trenched and the old baselevel . is not recognizable unless 

 one has a comprehensive view of the valley and can bring the remnants 

 of the baselevel into his plane of vision. From Christiansburg to Pulaski 

 and around the southern side of Draper mountain to Max Meadows this 

 peneplain is the controlling element in the topography, but between 

 Pulaski aud Max Meadows, on the north side of Draper mountain, 

 along the railroad, there is no trace of a baselevel, for the rocks are 

 sandstones or sandy shales and were not reduced to a peneplain during 

 Tertiary times. 



The most conspicuous topographic feature in the region is Draper 

 mountain, a faulted syncline of heavy sandstone. The shape is charac- 

 teristic synclinal topography, the fault cutting off one side of the perfect 

 canoe-shaped basin, but leaving a narrow ridge on the northern side 

 connecting two hooks that mark the points of the basin. These extrem- 

 ities are in the form of sharp knobs and are conspicuous features in the 

 topography. Peak knob is at the eastern extremity and stands at an 

 elevation of 3,374 feet, while Hamilton knob, at the western extremity, 

 is but 3,163 feet above sealevel. The ridge connecting them is extremely 

 narrow and steep, being formed of a single plate of heavy sandstone 

 with a steep southerly dip, while the softer beds lying above it have 

 been eroded, leaving a marked synclinal valley on the south side of the 

 mountain. 



North of Draper mountain is an exceedingly rugged country, com- 

 posed of sandstones and shales. On either side of the railroad is a range 

 of knobs formed by the harder beds of sandstones ; these knobs are not 

 remarkable for altitude, but constitute a formidable barrier on account 

 of their rugged character and brushy covering. Those north of the rail- 

 road are called the Peak creek hills and trend parallel with the railroad 

 until just west of Pulaski, where they swing sharply around the point 

 of an anticline and then trend due west toward the Altoona coal mine. 



East of New river there are also a few hills dignified by the name of 

 mountains, though but a few hundred feet above the surrounding plain. 

 The most noted of these is Price mountain, north of the line of railroad 

 and between Christiansburg and Radford. This is an isolated knob 

 three or four miles long and 300 to 400 feet high. From a physiographic 

 standpoint it is quite insignificant, but from its economic resources is well 

 and widely known, as it has furnished coal for local use throughout the 

 valley for many years, notwithstanding lack of transportation facilities 

 and the small scale upon which its mines have been worked. 



South of Radford are two small ridges — Ingles and Berringer mount- 



