326 



(120 m.) has occurred, it is more probable that the deltas 

 were deposited in the salt water. As already mentioned, 

 since the uplift the delta deposits have been terraced and 

 retrograded. 



The other superficial deposits consist of recent swamp, 

 valley, delta, and beach alluvium. 



Geology of the Coal Deposits. 



There are at present three productive coal seams in the 

 Nanaimo district lying in the following succession from the 

 bottom upwards: the Wellington; the Newcastle, some- 

 times called the lower Douglas; and the Douglas. The 

 lowest seam, the Wellington, occurs about 700 feet (210 m.) 

 above the base of the Nanaimo series, overlying 600 feet 

 ( 1 80 m .) of marine sandy shale , the Haslam formation . The 

 Newcastle and Douglas seams, are only from 25 to 100 feet 

 (8 to 30 m.) apart, and overlie the Wellington seam by 

 about 1,000 feet (300 m.), separated from it chiefly by a 

 thick bedded conglomerate, the Extension formation. 

 A fourth and small seam, called the little Wellington, 

 locally overlies the Wellington at a distance of 20 to 50 

 feet (6 to 15 m.). It has been mined in a small way. 



The coals of the various seams are as a whole much 

 alike, and furnish a bituminous coal of fair grade. The 

 amount of fixed carbon in the best quality ranges from 45 

 to 60 per cent, and the ash from 5 to 10 per cent. The 

 following proximate and ultimate analyses were made by 

 F. G. Wait of the Department of Mines, from samples 

 collected by the writer. 



