NATIVE COPrKK NEAli ENJD, OKLAHOMA 3 



deep, (liij; to obtain water for domestic use. A section of the well, as obtained l)y 

 Bennett, is as follows, nninbeiin«; from the top: 



1. TiMi t"ot>t of alliivitil iniUoriiil. 



2. Five feet of diirk red clay sliale. 



3. Six inches of li^lit colored clay shale. 



4. Two feet of li,«iit red olay shale. 



0. Three feet six inches of luottied (hirk red and iii^ht clay shale. 

 G. One foot ten inches of red clay shale. 



7. One foot three inches of light clay shale. 



8. One foot six inches of dark red clay shale. 



!>. Five feet three inches of mottled red and light claj' shale with red greatlj' j)redomiiiating. 



10. Six inches of mottled red and light clay shale, the copper-hearer. 



11. .\ hole was dug in the bottom of the well al)Out two feet deeper into the red clay sliale, but 

 no more copper was found. 



/ 



Nature of the Copper Deposit 



The six-inch copper-bearing liorizon is not materially different from that above 

 and below excepting that the little fissures within it are filled with the metallic 

 copper. From the small exposure in the well it seems that near the middle of the 

 layer the copper films a[)proach a horizontal ])osition, but both above and below 

 they are inclined at almost every angle, showing a total lack of regularity. From 

 an examination of the surrounding country it was learned that the bedding planes 

 of the clay shales are practically horizontal. Wherever good exposures were found 

 many small fracture seams were noticed, as is so common in the Red beds else- 

 where — seams likely produced by the contraction of the sediments upon drying. 

 The copper films occupy these fissures, and therefore have been deposited since 

 the fissures were formed. 



It is reported that copper was also found in a well about a mile distant from 

 the one described, but this was not examined. Careful search along neighboring 

 canyon walls failed to reveal any cop[)er; but the search was not sufficiently ex- 

 tended to have an important bearing on the question of extent of the deposit. 

 Further developments will be awaited with interest. 



Origin op the Copper 



NATURE OF THE RED BEDS 



It is interesting to inquire into the methods by which this native coppei' may 

 have originated. With our limited knowledge of the environments, it must be 

 admitted that any theorizing on the subject may lead to error. It is generally ad- 

 mitted that the Red beds are a mass of clay shales, sometimes quite arenaceous, 

 accumulated beneath ocean water so strongly concentrated that no life could exist 

 within it, and that theref ire they are highly colored WMth red iron oxide. 



The copper-bearing stratum shows no sign of having been reduced by surface 

 agencies. Under such circumstances it would seem that organic matter could have 

 had no part in the reduction of the copper. If the copper were held in solution as 

 a sulphate it may have been associated with ferrous sulphate and a trace of free 

 sulphuric acid, products generally formed by the weathering of copper and iron 



