PENNSYLVANIA. 



259 



generally tossed into highly inclineo positions, and often so much tilled up as to become per- 

 pendicular. The valleys of this region are valleys of elevation. West of that range, on the 

 other hand, the rock strata preserve a nearly undisturbed horizontal position ; but they have 

 bf.en cut through, and partially washed away by the action of water, so that only isolated patches 

 of what once formed a continuous platform now remain, capping the summits of the loftier table 

 lands, and separated by wide and deep valleys of denudation. The former of these regions 

 contains vast deposits of anthracite, and some patches of bituminous coal ; the latter is richly 

 stored with bituminous coals and salt, and both contain inexhaustible quantities of iron-ore. 

 Geologists have generally referred the coal-measures of the Kittatinny region to the transition 

 formation, but the Stale geologist assigns to all the coal-measures of the State the same position 

 in the series, placing the anthracite and likewise the coal of Broad Top in a position strictly 

 equivalent to that occupied by the carboniferous strata west of the Alleghany IMountalns. 



The anthracite or non-bituminous coal is distributed in enormous quantities in three great 

 fields, in a ti-act lying east of the Susquehanna, between the Blue Mountain and the North 

 Branch, and extending eastward, to the Lehigh on the south, and nearly to the head of the 

 Lackawannock on the north. 



The first, or Mauch Chunk, Schuylkill, and Ly ken's Valley coal-field, extends from the 



Lehigh, across the head branches cf the 

 Schuylkill, to Wiconisco Creek, in Dau- 

 phin county, being about 65 miies in 

 length and about 5 of average breadth, 

 having Broad Mountain on the north, and 

 Sharp Mountain on the south ; there are 

 above 100 miles of railroads within thii 

 field, which is worked at both ends and 

 in the middle, and at present yields an- 

 nually about 500,000 tons, which are 

 brought to market by the Lehigh, the 

 Schuylkill, and the Susquehanna. The 

 Lehigh or Mauch Chunk coal, which 

 is procured from the northern end of the 

 field, is somewhat heavier, harder, and 

 more difficult of ignition than that from 

 the southern portion, and it leaves white 

 ashes on burning ; it Is highly prized 

 for purposes requiring an intense and lasting heat, especially in the close-drawing or chemical 

 furnace for warming buildings. The summit-mine, near Mauch Chunk, Is an open coUiery, the 

 stupendous masses of coal being laid open by removing the soil and loose materials, and worked 

 precisely like a quarry ; the thickness of the beds varies from 12 or 20 to 35 and even 

 60 feet. The Room Run mines, in the same vicinity, have been more recently opened, 

 and are found to contain 18 coal-seams of from 5 to 40 feet tliick, presenting a total 

 thickness of 240 feet. The Schuylkill coals, or those nearer the centre of the field, 

 burn more freely and are more easily ignited than the Lehigh mineral, and generally leave a 

 residuum of red ashes ; there are upwards of 60 seams, some of which are from 25 to 30 feet 

 thick. Here mining operations are carried on more largely than in any other portion of this 

 field. The second coal-field lies north of the Broad Mountain ; it is known as the Beaver 

 Meadow, Shamokin, or Mahanoy field, but being buried behind dense chains of mountains, 

 and having no direct southern outlet, it has been less thoroughly explored than the former ; it 

 IS known, however, to contain coal seams of 20, 30, and even 50 feet thick, and it is 

 worked at the northern extremity, where the Quakake Creek affords to the Beaver Meadow 

 mines an outlet to the Lehigh, and towards the western, where the Mahanoy Creek renders a 

 similar service. The third and last field is the Wyoming and Lackawanna coal-field, which 

 occupies a long valley or trough of about the same extent as the others, extending from Carbon- 

 dale, on the Lackawannock, to 10 miles below Wilkesbarre, on the Susquehanna. The beds 

 are very numerous, varying from 1 to 30 feet in thickness, and are generally moie acces- 

 sible than those of the other fields. The northeastern extremity has been connected with the 

 Hudson by the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Carbondale Railroad, and has thus readier 



