32 



NOTES OlSr THE GEOLOGY OF WEST VIRGIlsnA, 



1. Concealed, 6. Limestone, dark, impure, upper layers 



3. Limestone, weathering, yellowish white, badly shattered at outcrop ; lower 



flaggy, with fossils, 8 ft. layers more compact, but lireaking 



3. Concealed, 12 " readily after exposure, fossils very 



3. Limestone, dove-colored, compact, non- numerous, 10 ft. 



fossiliferous, 14 " 7. Shale, calcareous, lead-colored, 2g- " 



4. Limestone, dull, dark gray, weathering 8. Limestone, weathering and plastic, l| " 



light gray, and breaking readily af- 9. Shales, very calcareous, brown and 



ter exposure — with numerous fossils, 6 " weathering into mud, 2| '* 



5. Limestone, very coarse, gray, compact, 10. Limestone, gray, compact, non-fossil- 



fossils numerous, and indistinct, G " iferous. Exposed, 8 " 



On Cheat river two miles above Ice's Ferry, aljout twenty feet of the rock eqaiva- 

 alent to 'No. 1 of this section may be seen. 



A list of the fossils obtained from the upper strata on Cheat river was made out 

 by Meek. The following species are determined ; MonticuUpom., n, s. ; Ile^niproiiites 

 crassus ; Productasfasciculatus; Productus inleiformis ; Athyris siibquadrata ; S'piH- 

 fer Keolculv var. ?; Pinna Missouriensis? ; Amcidopecten occidentalism Allorisma 

 clavata ; Bellerophon crassus? ; StraparoUus yla.nidorsatus ; Pliillipsia Stevensoni ; 

 besides nndermined species of Allorisma^ 3Iacrocheilus, Naticopsis, Belleroplion, Pleu- 

 rotomaria and Cyrtoceras. This grouping of species shows unmistakably that the 

 upper portion of this limestone belongs to the horizon of the Chester group. It is in- 

 teresting to observe how closely it is related to the coal measures of the West. Hemi- 

 pronites crassus is a characteristic form in the Western coal measures, and never 

 before was found below^ them. The Spirifer hesitatingly identified with 8. KeoJmlc 

 var. S. Leidyi) is very closely allied to 8. opimus of the coal measures. An 

 imperfect specimen of Bellerop>Iion obtained here cannot easily be distinguished from 

 B. carhona/rius, while the Cytoceras is closely related to C. curtiim of the Illinois coal 

 measures. ' ■ 



As these fossils were obtained from the upper strata of the limestone, I did not 

 deem it unreasonable to suppose that, lower down, the equivalents of the St. Louis 

 and Keokuk group might be found ; and especially because in Randolph County, 

 West Y^irginia, specimens of Lithostrotion occur quite plentifully. Recent examina- 

 tions have not justitied these expectations ; for although in No. 6 of the section, the 

 grouping of species is different from the above, yet the whole has such a Chester 

 aspect that I am compelled to regard the limestone throughout as of Chester age. 

 Further study, however, is desirable, as one or two forms closely related to St. Louis 

 species, occur in No. 6. . ' - ■ , ■ 



Tlie Sandstone is not well exposed, and no satisfactory information respecting it 

 can be given. It varies in color from light gray to brownish, and is moderately fine 

 in texture. The thickness cannot be determined. 



