OUTCROP IX OHIO 57 



the shales thickening southward * The thickness of the limestone is 

 much less than that reported by Stevenson from this region. He found 

 a continuous exposure of 400 feet on the Staunton pike, and at 200 feet 

 lower some calcareous shale; these measurements by barometer and with- 

 out allowing for the dip. This correction would make the thickness, 

 including the concealed space, upward of 600 feet. The same observer 

 found remarkable variation in the shales. They are wholly absent at a 

 few miles south from the Staunton pike, where a continuous exposure 

 of 30 feet shows the Pottsville in contact with the limestone. Elsewhere 

 they are present, though in at least one locality as thin as 50 feet. A 

 thin coal bed is said to occur on Rich mountain in some shale at about 

 250 feet below the top of the limestone.f The shales are thicker in the 

 southern portion of the Buchhannon quadrangle than in the northern. 

 Everywhere the lower portion is more sandy than the upper. The lower 

 portion of the limestone is silicious, sometimes containing a conglomer- 

 ate of quartz pebbles. J 



The Rich Mountain locality is practically on the strike with White's 

 Brier}^- Viaduct locality, as the Pendleton locality is very nearly on the 

 line with Westerni)ort. The limestone division has increased from 332 

 feet on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to at least 600 feet in Randolph, 

 and from 227 feet at Westernport to an average of 350 feet in Pendleton. 

 The thickness of the limestone division in this area should be borne in 

 mind during the study of the apparenth^ perplexing conditions shown 

 by oil-well records within some of the West Virginia counties. 



Stamping creek, in Pocahontas county, West Virginia, about 40 miles 

 south from the area of the Buchhannon folio, descends the east slope of 

 Greenbrier mountain. Its line is perhaps 10 miles nearer the old shore 

 than is Rich mountain and not quite so far east as the Pendleton Alle- 

 ghany. The section on Stamping creek as given by Rogers is 



Feet 



Sandstone and shales (Canaan, Mauch Chunk) 1,260 



Limestone (Greenbrier) 822 



Red shale 50 



Unlike those in Randolph county, the upper shales are more sandy 

 above, the sandstones being always fine in grain, red to gray ; the shales, 

 for the most part of " rich brownish red color," are crumbly and contain 

 a little calcareous matter ; the limestones are described as blue and gray, 

 with argillaceous bands, and contain a cherty layer near the top.§ 



* J. A. Taft and A. H. Brooks : U. S. Geol. Survey, Franklin folio, 1896. 



fJ. J. Stevenson : Proc. Anner. Phil. Soc, vol. xiv, 1875, p. 389. 



t J. A. Taft and A. H. Brooks: U. S. Geol. Survey, Buchhannon folio, 1896. 



§ W. B. Rogers : Report of progress of Geo!. Survey of Virginia for 1839, p. 92. 



