32G        CONTRIBUTIONS   TO   ECONOMIC  GEOLOGY,   1907,   PART   II. 
slopes  leading  up  to  it;  but  even  here  at  only  one  place,  the  Patter- 
son mine  (No.  12),  can  the  coal  be  reached  by  wagon.  The  lowest 
coal  bed  of  this  group  is  the  same  as  the  one  worked  at  Cameo  and 
described  by  Richardson."  Several  openings  have  been  made  in  this 
coal  bed,  but  in  only  one,  the  Bailey  mine  (No.  7),  was  work  being 
done  at  the  time  of  the  investigation.  A  considerable  amount  of 
work  has  been  done  at  several  of  the  openings,  but  none  of  them  are 
equipped  with  machinery  or  trackage. 
The  coal  is  black  and  fine  grained,  with  vitreous  to  dull  luster, 
banded  texture,  and  conchoidal  fracture.  It  is  comparatively  soft 
and  slacks  on  exposure.  It  shows  a  slight  tendency  to  coke,  the 
fragments  adhering  in  the  forge ;  but  tests  on  coal  from  the  Patterson 
mine  are  reported  as  failing  to  produce  coke.  The  coal  bed  is  regular 
in  thickness,  uniform  in  character,  and  contains  only  a  small  amount 
of  foreign  material. 
Lower  coal. — The  lower  coal  of  the  Palisades  district  occurs  at  the 
base  of  the  Bowie  or  marine  coal-bearing  member  of  the  Mesaverde 
formation,  about  450  feet  below  the  upper  coal.  There  is  only  one 
bed  of  coal  in  this  member.  It  is  3  feet  4  inches  thick  at  the  north 
end  of  the  district,  where  it  is  mined  for  the  local  market  at  the 
Stokes  mine  (No.  14),  but  it  thins  out  a  few  miles  south  of  Palisades. 
The  coal  is  harder  and  cleaner  than  the  upper  coal  and  does  not  slack 
readily  on  exposure.  Its  quality  is  regarded  as  somewhat  superior  to 
that  of  the  upper  coal,  but  mining  operations  are  difficult  on  account 
of  the  thinness  of  the  bed. 
Sections. — The  sections  given  in  the  subjoined  table  show  the  char- 
acter of  the  coal  beds  in  the  Palisades  district: 
Sections  of  coal  beds  in  the  Palisades  district,  Grand  Mesa  coalfield,  Colorado. 
UPPER  COAL  (PAONIA  SHALE  MEMBER,  OR  FRESH-WATER  MESAVERDE). 
a 
o 
6 
Name  and  lo- 
cation of  mine. 
Section. 
5 
o 
6 
Name  and  lo- 
cation of  mine. 
Section. 
7 
Bailey;  NW-i 
SE.  \  sec.  34, 
T.  10  S.,  R. 
98  W. 
Ft.  in. 
Sandstone,  massive. 
Shale,  sandy 5 
Coal,  impure 3 
Shale,  sandy 4 
Coal 6      2 
9 
Prospect  near 
D  e   Rush 
mine;  sec.  11, 
T.  11  S.,  R. 
98  W. 
Ft.  in. 
Shale. 
Coal 7 
Shale,  sandy 5 
12 
18      2 
10 
Prospect  2 
miles  south 
of  Palisades; 
sec.  14,  T.  11 
S.,  R.  98  W. 
Shale,  carbonaceous. 
8 
Hall;     SE.     \ 
NE.isec.  2, 
T.  11  S.,  R. 
98  W. 
Shale. 
Coal  (bottom  not 
exposed) 7 
Coal 7 
Sandstone. 
a  Richardson,  G.  B.,  The  Book  Cliffs  coal  field  between  Grand  River,  Colorado,  and  Sunnys  de,  Utah: 
Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  316,  1907,  p.  308. 
