FAULKNER COUNTY, 93 
which this statement is not intended to apply. The alluvial materials 
that have filled the valleys of some of the other streams have also 
buried the shales to a considerable depth. These are not the places, 
however, in which one would expect to find the clay shales accessible 
for practical purposes. Indeed, while the valleys have shales of great 
thickness, the rocks are usually at too low an elevation to permit 
advantageous exploitation, on account of the expense of lifting the 
material from shafts or other openings and of draining these openings. 
Crude material to be cheap must be easily accessible and must therefore 
be sought on high ground, where the locality facilitates exploitation 
and avoids the necessity of draining the pits. There are several shale 
hills and ridges in the county where these conditions are favorable, 
and if one observes the geologic section north and south across the 
county it will be seen that these places are most likely to occur on 
the axes of the synclinal folds. One of these hills is known as Round 
Mountain, and is located in sees. 11 and 14, T. 5 N., R. 12 W., about on 
the axis of the Conway syncline. This little mountain stands about 
250 feet above the general level of Cypress Valley and is in every 
respect similar to one having the same name in White County, which 
is located, like this one, on the axis of the Conway syncline. The 
rocks here are nearly horizontal, dipping gently to the south beneath 
the mountain, which is capped by a bed of sandstone that has pre- 
served what remains of it from complete destruction. The total area 
covered by this mountain is about one-half a square mile. 
Samples of the shale from this mountain have not been analyzed, 
but samples from the same beds in Round Mountain of White County 
have been analyzed and it is probable that they have the same or 
approximately the same composition. These analyses are given 
on page 224. 
No coal has been found in the Faulkner County mountain,' but the 
existence of a 2-foot bed of coal in the White County mountain war- 
rants the supposition that there may be a similar bed in this one also. 
Just west of Round Mountain is another though somewhat smaller 
hill, which has no local name. This hill has the same geologic struc- 
ture as Round Mountain and is composed of the same kinds of rocks, 
which lie in the same position. It stands in sections 15 and 16 of the 
same township and covers an area of about 160 acres. 
The other synclines in which the argillaceous shales abound are the 
Holland syncline, the Greenbriar syncline, and the Cato syncline. 
The shales of the Holland syncline are exposed in the Conway- 
Greenbriar road in sec. 13, T. 6 N., R. 14 W., where the road crosses 
East Cadron Creek. The body of the ridge just north of the creek at 
this place is of clay shale, and the whole is capped by sandstone. 
The ridge extends a, mile to the west of the East Cadron bridge, hut to 
the cast it bends gently toward the south to sec. 15, T. 6 N., R. 12 W., 
