CHAPTER LVII. 



REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY. 



BT J. 8. NEWBERRY. 



SUEFACE FEATURES. 



The topography of Columbiana county may be said to be wholly due 

 to erosion. It originally formed a portion of the great table land of the 

 Coal Measures, of which the surface sloped gently to the south, the 

 northern margin of the county reaching on to the divide which sepa- 

 rates the waters of the Ohio from those of Lake Erie. In process of time 

 the drainage of the southern slope of this divide, following certain lines, 

 determined by slight irregularities of the surface, has excavated the deep 

 valleys of several streams which terminate in the still deeper trough of 

 the Ohio. 



All the streams which form this system of drainage take their rise 

 near the northern line of the county, and, descending with rapid cur- 

 rents, at their mouths they flow more than five hundred feet below the 

 summits of the high lands which border them. 



This system of excavation has given great variety to the surface, and 

 has fashioned it into a series of rounded hills rising two hundred to three 

 hundred feet above the broad valleys which separate them. The lines of 

 the landscape formed by these alternations of hill and valley are flow- 

 ing and graceful, and perhaps no part of our State affords more charm- 

 ing views than those which may be seen in various parts of Columbiana 

 county. 



Only the north-western corner of the county is occupied by the Drift 

 clays and gravels which have modified the scenery and agriculture of so 

 many of the counties lying further north and west. The soil is for the 

 most part formed by the decomposition of the underlying rocks, which 

 re sandstones, shales, limestones, beds of fire-clay, and coal. These in 

 their disintegration have produced a soil ot great fertility, and here, a 

 in many other parts of the coal area, we find the hills scarcely less pro. 

 ductive than the valleys, and their very summits frequently crowned 

 with luxuriant crops of corn and wheat. 



The higher lands of the county, with their rounded outlines, excellent 

 soil, and sunny exposures, have proved to be especially adapted to the 



