GREAT  DIVIDE   BASIN   COAL   FIELD,   WYOMING. 
227 
MESAVERDE    FORMATION. 
The  best  coal  beds  of  this  region  occur  in  the  Mesaverde  formation. 
This  is  characterized  throughout  the  region  by  two  prominent  ridges 
of  rather  resistant,  massive  white  sandstone,  between  which  are  alter- 
nating beds  of  soft  brown  sandstone  and  carbonaceous  shale  which 
weather  down  and  form  a  pronounced  depression  except  where  cov- 
ered by  gravel  in  the  northern  part.  The  coal  occurs  in  three  zones — 
one  near  the  middle  of  the  formation,  immediately  overlying  the 
lower  heavy  sandstone  member;  another  in  the  base  of  the  upper 
sandstone  member,  and  a  third  at  the  top  of  the  formation. 
In  the  lower  coal  zone  there  are  four  to  six  irregular  beds  of  impure 
coal.  The  exposures  are  very  poor,  and  where  the  beds  were  seen 
they  were  too  thin  to  be  worked  profitably  at  the  present  time.  The 
exposures  of  the  middle  coal  zone  are  also  very  poor.  In  the  portion 
of  the  field  between  Lost  Soldier  and  Separation  Creek  there  are  sev- 
eral thin  beds,  but  they  are  of  no  economic  value.  South  of  Sepa- 
ration Creek  the  beds  appear  to  thicken  toward  the  south  and  at  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  near  Ferris,  in  sec.  22,  T.  21  N.,  R.  88  W., 
the  coal  bed  exposed  in  an  abandoned  mine  has  a  thickness  of  8  feet 
4  inches.  This  is  the  only  place  within  the  field  where  Mesaverde 
coal  has  been  mined.  South  of  the  railroad,  in  sec*  36,  T.  21  N.,  R. 
88  W.,  coal  has  been  taken  from  the  same  zone  at  the  old  Dillon 
mine.a  In  the  upper  coal  zone  there  are  four  or  more  thin  beds  of 
coal.  They  have  not  been  mined  within  the  field,  but,  according  to 
Veatch,6  near  the  Seminoe  Mountains,  in  sec.  23,  T.  25  N.,R.  86  W., 
at  the  Fieldhouse  opening,  some  coal  has  been  taken  from  one  of  these 
beds  for  local  use.  Three  sections  of  coal  beds  of  the  middle  and 
upper  zones  are  given  in  the  following  table: 
Sections  of  coal  beds  in  Mesaverde  formation. 
No.  on 
PI. 
XII. 
Location. 
Section  of  coal  bed. 
Remarks. 
Sec. 
T. 
R. 
1 
SE.  |  SK.i. 
22 
21 
88 
ss 
Ft.  in. 
Shale. 
Coal 1    5 
Shale 1 
Coal 3    3 
Shale 1 
Coal 3    6 
Abandoned  coal  mine.     Opened 
75  feet. 
'    8    4 
2 
S\V.  1  SE.  ',. 
22 
21 
S.-inilstone. 
Coal,  poor 1    6 
Surface  prospect. 
3 
SW.  |  NW.J. 
4 
24 
89 
Shale 1 
Coal,  impure 2 
Shale 2 
Coal,  impure 3 
Shale 2    4 
Surface  prospect 
Coal,  impure 2    3 
6    '_' 
"Veatch,  A.  C,  Coal  fields  of  cast-central  Carbon  County,  Wyo.:  Hull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Burvey  No.  31G, 
1907,  p.  248.  Ball,  M.  W.,  The  western  portion  of  the  Little  Snake  River  cool  field,  Wyoming,  pp.  24.S- 
255 of  this  volume. 
l>  Loc.  cit. 
