650 M. L. FULLER APPALACHIAN OIL FIELD 



The 60 per cent carbon line, supposed to mark the eastern limits of 

 most of the commercial oil deposits, follows parallel to the Allegheny 

 front, just outside the outermost strong fold (Chestnut Eidge, etcetera) 

 from northern Pennsylvania to southern West Virginia. Here it turns 

 abruptly west, crossing the State to a point south of Huntington; then 

 bends south again, running not far from the eastern edge of the Ordo- 

 vician limestones of the Cincinnati anticline across Kentucky and Ten- 

 nessee into Alabama, figure 1, page 619, and figure 5, page 643. 



Assuming the correctness of the postulated relationship of the oil to 

 fixed carbon of the coals, we find that instead of the entire area of the 

 basin between the Appalachians and the Cincinnati anticline l)eing avail- 

 able, as in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, only a narrow strip is 

 left between the 60 per cent carbon line and the outcropping limestones 

 of the geanticline, in which testing has shown the cover to be thin and 

 the reservoirs few in number and poor in character. 



There is apparently little hope of the discovery of large pools of oil in 

 Kentucky, Tennessee, or Alabama. This conclusion coincides with those 

 based on the stratigraphy and the character of the reservoirs, and rein- 

 forces the general conclusion that in spite of favorable structure neither 

 the future production nor the life of the Appalachian field are likely to 

 be greatly affected by discoveries in this section. 



The relation of the carbon of coals to oil also tends to indicate that 

 comparatively little is to be expected from future developments in the 

 extreme northeastern portion of the Appalachian field, as in the Gaines 

 region, or the stronger anticlines or slopes near the Allegheny front. It 

 does not, however, preclude the discovery of small pools. 



FUTURE INFLUENCE OF GEOLOGY 



It has been elsewhere noted that the production of the Appalachian 

 field jumped suddenly upward following the application of the anticlinal 

 principle to well location in the years following 1888. Important as was 

 the part played by geology in the Appalachian field at that time, it was 

 insignificant compared to its part in the California and mid-continental 

 developments. Eastern operators have never utilized geologists to the 

 extent Western oil men have. In the Oklahoma field there are probably 

 today from 25 to 50 geologists to one employed in the Appalachian field, 

 exclusive of college teachers who make occasional investigations. 



It is to be hoped that geologists will eventually be employed in the Ap- 

 palachian field to a much greater extent than at present, and, if so, it is 

 likely that the influence of geology on the future of the field will be con- 

 siderable. There are very few pools, even among those that have been 

 producing for years, which can not be extended to include a number of 



