GEOLOGY OF SOUTHWESTERN IOWA. 343 



at about the same level at almost any point between Hara- 

 der's mill and the south boundary of the county, except 

 where it may have been disturbed and destroyed by the 

 erosive action of the river in the bottom of its valley. There 

 is no evidence whatever, as some of the inhabitants have 

 supposed, that the bed of coal has been brought near the 

 surface at the points where it has been discovered by an 

 elevation of the strata there in the form of folds. On the 

 contrary, besides the evidence that exists within the county, 

 we have the additional evidence afforded by the strata 

 exposed in the adjoining region, of a perfect uniformity 

 of general dip of all the strata throughout the whole region, 

 and of the almost exact coincidence of that dip with the 

 southerly slope of the streams. The same bed is found in 

 the banks of the East Nodaway from the northwest corner of 

 Taylor county to the southern boundary of the State and 

 beyond, and along the whole distance in that valley it holds 

 about the same relative position above the river level as it 

 does in the valley of the Middle Nodaway. 



In the banks of the East Nodaway, a little below Corning, 

 some slight exposures of very good common limestone are 

 found, and two or three other similar ones exist in similar 

 positions farther down the stream. The stratigraphical 

 position of these strata is believed to be a little beneath 

 the bed of coal found in the banks of the West Nodaway, and 

 to be equivalent to the limestone strata of Barnett and 

 Smith's shaft there. The latter, however, were not found 

 naturally exposed anywhere in the valley of the Middle 

 Nodaway. 



So nearly does the general dip of the strata of this county 

 coincide with the southerly slope of its streams, that all the 

 natural exposures are referred to a vertical range of about 

 fifteen or twenty feet. All these strata are referred to the 

 horizon of the lower half of the series of limestones of the 

 Winterset section. 



Material Resources. Besides its universally fertile soil the 

 material resources of Adams county are of considerable 



