142 j. j. stEveNSoN — carboniferous of Appalachian basin 



As the sandstones of the Pottsville are as variable as those of any other 

 formation, the bottom of the Allegheny, for comparison, must be taken 

 as the Brookville coal bed. 



Ten miles northwest from MorgantOwn a record shows the Upper 

 Freeport, Upper Kittanning, and the bottom of the Kittanning sand- 

 stone as at Morgantown, and the sandstone in the Pottsville is at 820, 

 though in a neighboring well it is at 792, having thickened at the ex- 

 pense of the overlying shale. Ten miles southwest, near Fairview, in 

 Marion county, the Upper Freeport is ill denned in a mass of coal and 

 shale beginning at 556 ; no other coal is reported: Another record here 

 shows a great sandstone beginning at 565 and continuing to 761 with 

 only two breaks of shale, 28 and 17 feet respectively. No coal whatever 

 is noted in this record except a thin bed at 805 feet below the Pittsburg 

 and 11 feet above the first sandstone in the Pottsville. Eight miles 

 southwest from Fairview, at Mannington, the Hamilton well shows 

 sandy rocks prevailing in the Allegheny and has apparently the same 

 coal horizon at 824, which is too low for the Brookville, unless there be a 

 local thickening of the section. The sandstones vary greatly. Within 

 3 or 4 miles of Mannington, southwest and west, a sandstone, 115 to 177 

 feet thick, begins at 647 to 682 and ends at 791 to 804; but in one well it 

 begins at 603 and ends at 913, while in another no sandstone appears 

 between 491 and 728, whence it is continuous to 858. Farther west the 

 mass is less, beginning at 685 to 696 and ending at 742 to 765, but a' 

 lower sandstone begins at 785. Three or four miles northwest from 

 Mannington the variations are more notable, wells on a single farm show- 

 ing the upper sandstone 30 to 170 feet thick and beginning at 623 to 650, 

 while the lower sandstone is found in only one well extending from 742 

 to 867. Farther west and northwest sandstone predominates in the 

 Allegheny, and the bottom of the formation is not far from 760 feet 

 below the Pittsburg, including in this the shales and clays underlying 

 the place of the Brookville. The Mahoning interval is indefinite and no 

 trace of the Freeport coals exists, so that the boundary between Allegheny 

 and Conemaugh can be fixed only approximately. The latter formation 

 is not far from 540 feet thick. The only coal appearing in any of the 

 records is one at 672 in a well near Joetown, in western Marion — very 

 near the place of the Lower Kittanning. This horizon is occupied by 

 sandstone in most of the records. 



Wetzel county is west from Monongalia and Marion. As one passes 

 into this county he enters the area in which the section of Allegheny and 

 Conemaugh shortens. 



