48 COAL KESOURCES OF THE YUKON. [no. 218, 
Analysis of coal (No. 241) from 1-foot seam 5 miles above Nahoclatilten. 
[Analyst, E. T. Allen, U. S. Geol. Survey.] 
Per cent. 
Water 6. 88 
Volatile combustible matter 41. 82 
Fixed carbon 48. 91 
Ash 2.37 
100. 0Q 
Sulphur 65 
Fuel ratio 1. 17 
Coke slightly coherent. 
These coal beds have been known for several years, and various 
attempts have been made to open here coal beds of commercial 
importance, but thus far no seams thicker than 12 inches have been 
found. 
Upper Koyukuk. — Near Tramway Bar, on the upper Koyukuk, a 
large coal bed has been reported by Schrader a and others. Tramway 
Bar is on the Middle Fork, 569 miles by river from the junction of 
the Koyukuk with the Yukon. It is 130 miles above Bergman and 
50 miles above Bettles, and about 20 miles from the seat of placer- 
mining operations near Cold Foot. The following description of the 
geologic relations and extent of the coal-bearing formation is quoted 
from Schrader's report: 
On the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk, about 5 miles above Tramway Bar, the met- 
amorphic rocks give way t<> a younger rock series composed of impure sandstone, 
arkose, grit, and conglomerate, indiscriminately carrying more or less lignite and? 
remains of fossil plants. On account of its fossil contents and its resemblance to the 
Kenai found elsewhere in the Yukon district this formation is provisionally referred 
to the Kenai, which is regarded by Dr. Dall as Upper Eocene. In some localities 
the beds are quite firmly consolidated, especially the sandstones, while in others 
they are sufficiently soft to be readily plucked away with a pick or hammer. In 
nearly all localities the beds show more or less disturbance and some faulting and 
folding. Above Tramway Bar they have a southerly dip. At Tramway Bar they 
consist of a belt of firmly consolidated conglomerates, 3 or 4 miles wide, through 
which the river has cut a canyon about 80 feet deep. 
From Tramwav Bar to below the Arctic Circle frequent exposures of sandstone, 
soft shale, and mud rock, carrying more or less imperfect plant remains, are met 
with. * Their attitude often- varies, and they nearly always show more or 
less disturbance. 
From this description it will be seen that coal-bearing rocks are 
exposed along the Koyukuk here for a distance of about 130 miles, 
though coal has been found at only one locality. In 1901 Schrader 
found that this series of sandstones extends up John River northward 
from the Koyukuk for 20 miles, and in the gravels of that stream he 
found pieces of coal of good quality. b 
a Schrader, F. C, Reconnaissance along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. 
Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, pp. 441-486. 
b Schrader, F. C, A reconnaissance in northern Alaska: Prof. Paper TJ. S. Geol. Survey No. 20 (in 
press). 
