CHAPTER LXXXIII. 



REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OP COSHOCTON COUNTY. 



BT J. T. HODGE.' 



GENERAL FEATUKES. 



Coshocton county lies wholly in the great bituminous coal field, 

 reaching close to its western margin. Its surface is, in appearance, very 

 rough and hilly ; yet, there are no ridges, and rarely any point of consid- 

 erable elevation above the general summit-level. This level, which is 

 that of the great plateau of Eastern Ohio, and the neighboring country 

 farther east, varies little from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above the sea. By the 

 excavation of the valleys below it, the surface has been carved into hills, 

 the slopes of which descend to the general depth of 350 to 400 feet. 

 That the surface of the great plateau once stood considerably higher, is 

 rendered probable by the occasional occurrence of a mound of hard 

 strata, standing like a monument above the general level. A very con- 

 spicuous one of this kind, rising about eighty feet higher than the sum- 

 mit of the highlands about it, and composed, apparently, of beds of 

 Conglomerate (loose pieces of which cover its top and steep sides), is 

 seen near Coshocton county, in Tuscarawas, opposite Port Washington. 

 Another, of similar appearance, is seen in the north-east part of Coshoc- 

 ton county, just north of the road between Chili and Bakersville. 



As the highlands of the county appear^ to have once been considera- 

 bly higher than now, so the bottoms of the valleys were obviously once 

 much deeper than at present; for (as already explained of other portions 

 of the State, in the first Annual Report) below the surface of the valleys 

 are frequently accumulations of sand, clays, and gravels, reaching to the 



* The surrey of Coslioctoii county, was made by Prof. Hodge, in 1S72, and the MS. of 

 his report was sent from Marquette, Michigan, where ho had gone to escape hay-asthma, 

 just previous to his starting to return on the steamer Coburo, which foundered in Lake 

 Huron, with the loss of all on board. (See notice of Prof. H., in vol. I, part 1, p. 12, 

 note.) The report has recently been revised, and brought up to date, by Mr. M. C. Kead. 



