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GEOLOGY OF THE REGION ABOUT MERRITT. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



The town of Merritt is situated in Nicola valley at the 

 junction of Coldwater river with the Nicola. The district 

 lies in the Interior Plateau region into which Nicola river 

 has cut one of those deep, wide valleys, characteristic of the 

 region. The bottom of the valley is about 1,900 feet 

 (579 m.) above sea level, while the surrounding country 

 stands 1,500 feet (457 m.) higher. The country is open or 

 only sparsely timbered, and the slopes, though often 

 steep, are generally covered by a thick mantle of drift. 



The oldest rocks of the district are of Triassic age, and 

 belong to the Nicola series. They consist of folded and 

 metamorphosed volcanic flows, and some limestone and 

 argillite. Unconformably above them are the coal-bearing 

 Oligocene rocks which consist of sandstone, conglomerate, 

 shale, and coal. These again are overlaid in places by 

 more recent basaltic flows. 



PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION. 



The importance of the district about Merritt depends 

 primarily on the presence of Oligocene rocks containing 

 bituminous coals. 



Like other Oligocene areas in British Columbia the rocks 

 about Merritt are believed to have been deposited in a lake 

 basin and since elevated to their present position. The 

 basin covers a superficial area of about 40 square miles 

 (103 sq. km.) all of which, however, does not appear to be 

 underlaid by coal. The rocks consist of sandstones, shales, 

 and conglomerates, which dip at angles varying from 10 

 to 40 degrees. In places the strata have been folded into 

 anticlines, and in others faulted and considerably displaced. 

 They contain a variety of fossil plants from which their 

 age has been determined. 



The best natural section of these rocks is that exposed 

 in Coal gully west of the town of Middlesboro. This was 

 measured by G. M. Dawson of the Geological Survey of 

 Canada, and in his report of 1877-78 [1] he gives the follow- 

 ing section in descending order: — 



