OHAPTEE XVII 



GALLATIN COUNTY. 



Gallatin county is one of the most interesting counties in the State, 

 not merely geologically, but also in an ecouomical point of view. 



A marked feature in the topography of this county is an axis of dis- 

 turbance or upheaval that crosses it, in an east and west direction, along 

 the southern tier of sections on the parallel of township 9. The ridge, 

 which is formed by this line of uplift, attains an elevation of three 

 hundred and forty two feet above the high water of the Ohio river, and 

 has received the name of "Gold Hill." 



Its summit is capped with the conglomerate or millstone grit, a mas- 

 sive sandstone that usually contains small quartz-pebbles, and lies at 

 the base of the Coal Measures in this part of the State, whilst along 

 the northern face of the ridge the Chester sandstone and limestone, 

 which comprises the upper group of the Lower Carboniferous, are 

 brought to the surface, and show, as well as the superimposed conglom- 

 erate, a strong dip to the south, varying in places from ten to forty 

 degrees. Especial attention was directed to discover a reversal of dip 

 or anticlinal axis, but at every locality visited on the north side of 

 the ridge, the strata from top to bottom were basseting at a high angle 

 to the north. On the east end, approaching the Ohio river, Gold Hill 

 descends with a very gradual slope, and is lost in the alluvial of the 

 overflowed bottom back of Shawneetown. In front of this town, on 

 the Illinois shore, the rocky axis here crossed by the Ohio river is 

 exposed to view at low water, where the conglomerate and superim- 

 posed strata lie in great confusion, but generally show an unmistaka- 

 ble dip of from ten to twenty-five degrees to the south, as shown in 

 the diagram, which represents a horizontal section of the rocks running 

 north and south. The basseting conglomerate seen on the north end 

 of this section appears to jut against a reddish, coarse-grained mica- 

 ceous sandstone, that lies apparently horizontal, and may be traced 

 along the water's edge for several hundred yards up the river, without 

 presenting any appearance of an anticlinal axis. It weathers roughly 

 and is coated in spots with a saline efflorescence, and is charged in 



