ALLEGHENY FORMATION IN WEST VIRGINIA 137 



Passing over into Braxton county, west from Webster and southwest 

 from Lewis, one finds at 5 miles east from Sutton the Upper Freeport 

 (Mason) coal 150 feet above the Brookville, 22 to 24 inches thick and 

 underlying 3 feet of dark plant-bearing shales on which rests a 3-inch 

 coal bed. It is 160 feet below the first red bed. This interval of 140 

 to 150 feet between Upper Freeport and Brookville prevails in most of 

 this area of Upshur, Lewis, Webster, and Braxton counties, though occa- 

 sionally it is a little less, as Doctor White's section in western Webster, 

 near the Braxton line, shows: 



Feet 



1. Concealed and deep red shale 40 



2. Concealed, massive sandstone 140 



3. [Upper Freeport] coal bed 2 



4. Concealed, massive sandstone, pebbly 130 



5. Dark shale 5 



6. [Brookville] coal bed 10 



7. Concealed, massive sandstone 160 



Here the Brookville shows the sandstone parting 3 feet thick, and the 

 coal of both divisions is poor. The great sandstone mass, Charleston of 

 Campbell, is well marked thus far west. The Brookville passes under 

 Elk river 2~y 2 miles from Sutton, and, just before passing under, it 

 apparently breaks up as it does farther north, the section being 



Feet. Inches 



Coal to 10-12 



Interval 30 



Coal 3 to 2 6 



and the lower division is splinty. The bed shows much variation in a 

 little area of a few square miles, but remains comparatively thin, seldom 

 exceeding 5 feet. At a mile and a half below Sutton the coal is 160 feet 

 below the surface, 6 feet thick, underlying the massive white sandstone 

 80 feet thick and resting on the Pottsville sandstone, which is contin- 

 uous for 280 feet. The Upper Freeport is below the surface here. At 

 5 or 6 miles below Sutton, near Frametown, in southern Braxton, a coal 

 2 feet 6 inches is present at 550 or possibly 600 feet below the Pittsburg, 

 140 feet below the lowest red bed of the Conemaugh and just above a 

 massive sandstone; it is evidently the Upper Freeport. At many places 

 in Braxton and Lewis the LTpper Freeport is overlain by dark shale carry- 

 ing great numbers of plant impressions. 



Thus far the tracing of the section has been comparatively simple. 

 The thickness of the Allegheny decreased from 250 feet near the Penn- 

 sylvania line to barely 175 feet in southern Taylor county; thence to 



