MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 225 



No quarries have as yet been opened in the gabbro and it has 

 never been placed upon the market to supply road material for other 

 areas within the county. If it were favorably situated in the vicinity 

 of some large city much of the material might pay for its quarrying. 



GRANITE. 



To the southward from the gabbro belt is an area, of granites and 

 gneisses which are best exposed in the granite quarry at Port Deposit 

 already described in the discussion of the building-stone. Here, in 

 the preparation of the raw material for the market, there are left 

 from the blocks used in building, numerous angular fragments and 

 stained blocks which axe now being utilized as road materials and 

 gravel for walks and driveways. A stone-crusher has been erected 

 and it is now crushing all of the material not used as building-stone. 

 The industry which has arisen in road material has rapidly increased 

 and now a considerable business is conducted in the material pre- 

 pared from what was formerly regarded as worthless rubbish which 

 must be removed at a tax on the quarrying industry. 



The road material at this quarry is shown by the test published in 

 the Highway Report of the Survey to be high in its coefficient of wear 

 when compared with other granitic rocks. Its cementing power, 

 however, is somewhat low. 



GRAVEL. 



Deposits of gravel suitable for road material are found in various 

 places in the southeastern part of the county. They have not been 

 as thoroughly developed as they might be. Gravel on the road fur- 

 nishes an excellent material for surfacing the ordinary dirt roads. 



Oil. 



The presence of oil in Cecil county has often been claimed and 



more or less interest has been aroused by the efforts which have been 



made to find it. All such attempts to strike oil in paying quantities 



within the confines of Cecil county are doomed to failure, although 



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