KENTUCKY 109 



from southern Carter county. On Frozen creek, in northwest Breathitt, 

 the Ferriferous limestone is shown at 200 to 220 feet above the Mercer 

 coal bed (3), while an impure limestone, very thin, appears at 15 feet 

 above the Mercer coal bed, and the Tionesta coal bed is shown at 32 feet 

 higher. A coal bed is shown here at 66 feet above the Tionesta, not be- 

 longing to the Pottsville, but useful in carrying the section. This local- 

 ity is 12 miles southeast from that of the Wolfe County section, and all 

 of the intervals between the coal beds show a marked- increase. 



In this upper Kentucky River region Mr Hodge recognizes four per- 

 sistent beds within the interval taken in this paper to represent the 

 Upper Pottsville. These are numbered by him 1, 2, 3, and 4. The 

 intervals vary as follows : 



I. Between 4 and 3 : 



50 feet in Wolfe county ; 65 feet in northwest Breathitt; 140 feet in central 

 Breathitt ; 110 feet in northern Perry and northern Leslie ; 205 feet at the 

 border of Leslie and Harlan near Pine mountain. 

 II. Between 3 and 2 : 



112 feet in central Wolfe ; 132 feet in northwest Breathitt and northern 

 Leslie. 



The interval between 1 and 3 varies from 130 feet in Wolfe to 360 feet 

 in Clay county. 



Coal bed number 4 is the Hunnewell cannel of the more northern 

 counties, the Tionesta of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Though occasionally 

 cannel, as in the counties previously studied, it is more commonly splint 

 coal. It is the most characteristic and persistent bed of the series, and 

 it has been identified in most of the sections; so that it was used by 

 Mr Hodge as the key-bed throughout. Overlying it at many places 

 along the Middle and North forks is another bed, sometimes in actual 

 contact, but at others as much as 30 feet above it. Still another prob- 

 able split was seen, which, being distinctly separate at one locality, was 

 numbered 4 B. These three beds must be considered as one bed on the 

 North and Middle forks, though they become sufficiently distinct and 

 widely separated in Clay county. This coal bed is the notable bed of 

 Breathitt county, where it shows from 3 to 8 feet of cannel on the North 

 fork ; but in Perry it is much broken by partings, though usually of 

 workable thickness. It is variable in Leslie county, but remains im- 

 portant even to the Pine Mountain region, in the southern part of the 

 county. 



The Mercer coal bed 3, which has been followed across Knott county 

 and identified with the '' Elkhorn coal bed " of the Pike County region, 

 is important in Wolfe county, though divided by clay partings 2 to 13 



XV— Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 15, 1903 



