MAHONING COUNTY. 805 



of fire-clay beneath, and fifty feet above this is the Lowell limestone 

 fourteen feet thick, which caps the hill and terminates the section. Half 

 a mile further back from the river, on the farm of Mr. J. Moore, and 

 twenty feet above the limestone, a coal seam is reached and somewhat 

 worked. The first conclusion arrived at in regard to the upper part of 

 th;s section, was that the thick limestone was identical with the upper 

 limestone of Columbiana county; that the overlying coal was Coal No. 6, 

 and the thin seam below. No. 4; but, as remarked on a previous page, 

 the identification of the Lowell limestone with the " white limestone" 

 further south cannot be demonstrated on account of the Drift-covered 

 area which separates their outcrops ; and until proof to the contrary shall 

 be gathered, we must admit the possibility that the Lowell limestone is 

 a difierent stratum, lying at a lower level, and distinct from any met 

 with further west. If this is true, we have here a remarkable thickening 

 of the Lower Coal Measures, for the Lowell limestone lies nearly three 

 hundred feet above the nearest outcrops of Coal No 1, and nearly a hun- 

 dred feet higher than the " white limestone" at Palestine, twelve miles 

 south. 



The Lowell limestone is an element of great economic importance in 

 the geology of this region, since it has been largely used for blast furnace 

 flux, and in fact supplies nearly all the limestone consumed for this pur- 

 pose in the Mahoning Valley. Only the upper half of the stratum is 

 quarried, as the lower portion contained more chert, and is less esteemed. 

 The principal quarries on the south side of the river are those of Mr. J. 

 Moore, Messrs J. and L. Earle, and Mr. Pence. 



On the north side of the river the exposures are less complete, but they 

 show some remarkable changes which very well illustrate the local and 

 uncertain character of some of the strata in the Lower Coal Measures of 

 this region. The Lowell limestone is here found capping the hills about 

 fifteen feet in thickness, and affords a reliable starting point, making 

 the section which is given below : 



PT. 



1. Limestone .., 15 



2. Argillaceous shale - 3 



3. Coal 



4. Fixeclay 3 



5. AigillaceouB and sandy shales 30 



6. Coal, "dirt vein" , 1 



7. Gray shale - 10 



8. Coal(No. 3a) 2ft.6in.to 4 



9. Fire-clay and shale 55 



10. Limestone 2 



11. Sandyshale 10 to 15 



12. Coal No. 3 2 



J.3. Fire-clay, shale, and sandstone, etc., imperfectly exposed to river. 175 



