CO  A], 
THE  WARRIOR  COAL  BASIN  IN  THE  BROOKWOOD  QUAD- 
RANGLE, ALABAMA. 
By  Charles  Butts. 
FIELD  WORK. 
Within  the  last  twenty  years  Alabama  has  come  into  great  prom- 
inence as  a  coal  and  iron  producing  State,  standing  in  1903  third 
among  the  States  in  the  production  of  iron  ore  and  fifth  in  the  pro- 
duction of  coal.  In  that  year  the  output  of  iron  ore  reached  3,684,- 
960  tons  and  of  coal  11,654,324  short  tons.  The  position  of  the  State 
in  this  respect  is  due  to  the  exploitation  of  the  deposits  of  iron  ore 
and  coal  in  the  region  of  which  Birmingham  is  the  business  and 
geographic  center  and  which  is  known  as  the  Birmingham  mineral 
district.  On  account  of  the  great  economic  importance  of  this  dis- 
trict the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  in  cooperation  with  the 
Alabama  Geological  Survey,  is  engaged  in  making  a  geological  map  of 
it  and  a  report  on  its  geology  and  mineral  resources.  In  the  autumn 
of  1904  a  survey  of  the  Brookwood  quadrangle  was  begun  by  the 
writer,  Mr.  H.  S.  Gale,  and  Mr.  E.  F.  Burchard.  While  the  work 
was  not  completed,  the  portion  of  the  area  underlain  by  the  coal 
seams  of  the  Warrior  basin  was  examined  in  detail,  and  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  this  contribution  to  state  in  a  provisional  way  the  general 
results  of  the  investigation. 
LOCATION. 
The  Brookwood  quadrangle  is  a  rectangular  area  of  about  1,000 
quare  miles,  lying  between  Birmingham  and  Tuscaloosa,  near  the 
central  part  of  Alabama.  Its  northern  boundary  passes  just  north 
of  Oregonia  post-office,  or  Wyndham  Springs,  and  Toadvine.  Its 
eastern  boundary  is  3  miles  west  of  Bessemer  and  6  miles  east  of 
Blockton.  The  southern  boundary  is  about  1  mile  south  of  Pratts 
Ferry  and  the  same  distance  south  of  the  extreme  southern  boundary 
357 
