MATANUSKA AND TALKEETNA BASINS. 115 
On Moose Creek about 11 feet of good coal is exposed 100 yards 
below the upper cabin. The seam strikes N. 80° E. and dips 45° N. 
A. strike fault dipping 80° S. can be seen crossing the bed, with a throw 
)f about 5 feet. An eighth of a mile downstream from this exposure 
i sharp syncline crosses the creek, with axis striking about S. 70° E. 
ind dipping steeply to the west. 
A short distance farther downstream coal beds are exposed striking 
N\ 70° E. and dipping 60° N. This direction does not accord exactly 
with the synclinal axis. In these beds the thickest seam measured 3 
! eet 6 inches of clean coal. Higher in the section were found two 
seams, each 1 foot 7 inches thick, but consisting partly of bone. 
On passing up Moose Creek and following the ridge on its southern 
side sandstones may be observed dipping to the southeast, which is 
:he opposite direction from that of the beds just described. Still far- 
ther east conglomerate beds dip to the southwest. There is undoubt- 
edly block faulting within this area, and should the coal beds be fol- 
owed eastward it would probably be encountered. 
It will be noted that at nearly all the localities above described 
'aulting or folding is present. Such a condition will surely place the 
jost of mining higher than it would be if the beds were less disturbed. 
LIGNITIC COALS. 
At various points in the region north of Matanuska River thin seams 
)i coal were found in rocks of Jurassic age. None exceed 3 feet in 
thickness. In the vicinity of Billy and upper Caribou creeks the 
lighly shattered condition of the strata is unfavorable to the presence 
L)f workable deposits of coal. 
On Billy Creek is exposed an interesting section showing very 
jplearly the complex history through which the coal has gone since 
its formation. The coal-bearing strata have been folded into a closely 
oppressed anticline. Subsequently, they have been cut by basaltic 
dikes, coking the coal at the contacts. The dikes have been faulted, 
pith a displacement of 5 feet, and the coal has been crushed and 
sheared, and finally small stringers of quartz, 2 to 3 inches thick, have 
been formed, accompanied by veinlets of calcite in the coal. 
GOLD. 
DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD-BEARING ROCKS. 
Gold-bearing rocks are found over considerable areas in the region 
adjacent to Cook Inlet. A graywacke and slate series cut by small 
quartz stringers occupies the eastern part of Kenai»Peninsula, extends 
across Turnagain Arm, and may be seen in the valley of Knik River 
still farther north. The search for placer gold in rocks of this type is 
warranted and discoveries of commercial quantities may be expected 
where they appear. 
