10 GOLD AND TIN DEPOSITS OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 
The following report, therefore, deals principally with the mineral deposits, hut the 
broader geology will be described and its bearing on the economic features indicated so far 
as possible. 
LITERATURE. 
This portion of the United States has been long settled and was one of the earliest mineral 
regions in the country to become of economic importance. It has, therefore, attracted much 
attention from geologists, particularly before the civil war, and many of the leading scien- 
tists of their time have studied and described it. It is interesting to note that the North 
Carolina Geological Survey, established in 1824, with Prof. Denison Olmsted at its head, was 
the first organized effort of the kind on this continent. South Carolina followed next, in 
L826, with its survey under Yanuxem. Through these surveys Tuomey, Lieber, Ebenezer 
Emmons. Kerr, lianna. and Nitz made contributions to the geology of the Carolinas that 
have become well known. 
The preliminary nature of this report does not properly admit the inclusion of a complete 
bibliography of this general region, but throughout the report there arc many references to 
articles or portions of works which deal with the area here described. 
GEOGRAPHY. 
LOCATION AM) GENERAL FEATURES. 
The area under consideration lies between meridians 80° and 82° west and parallels 341 
'MY and 35° 30' north. It centers;;) about the middle of the North Carolina-South Caroliiil 
boundary line and includes parts of Cleveland. Lincoln, Gaston, and Union counties in 
Fig. I.— Index map showing location of are l. 
North Carolina, and of Union, Cherokee, York. Lancaster, and Chesterfield counties in 
South Carolina. (See fig. 1.) Outside of the many small towns, the country is rather 
thinly populated, but roads are numerous and generally good. Transportation is facili- 
tated by a number of railroads. Two branches each of the Southern Railway and the 
Seaboard Air Line and one line each of the Carolina and Northwestern, the Lancaster 
and Chester, and the Charlotte. Monroe and Columbia Railroads cross the district. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 
GENERAL OUTLINE. 
The topography of this area is so largely dependent on its geology and on the geology 
and topography of the surrounding region that it will be of advantage to consider the latter 
features briefly before endeavoring to describe the local topography. 
The territory embraced by the Eastern States from Pennsylvania to Alabama is com- 
monly divided, on the joint grounds of topography and geology, into three zones trending 
northeast and southwest and approximately parallel. 
