NOTES  ON  THE  WEBER  RIVER  COAL  FIELD,  UTAH. 
By  Joseph  A.  Taff. 
PRELIMINARY  STATEMENT. 
I  For  many  years  coal  has  been  worked  with  vaiying  profit  at  a  number  of  localities  in 
Weber  River  Valley  and  its  tributaries,  Chalk  and  Grass  creeks,  in  the  vicinity  of  Coalville, 
iSummit  County,  Utah.  Summit  County  is  in  northern  Utah  and  adjoins  southwest  cm 
Wyoming. 
|  The  Weber  River  coal  field  is  situated  east  of  the  Wasatch  Mountain  range.  The  river 
collects  its  waters  chiefly  from  the  northwestern  slopes  of  the  Uinta  Range,  flows  north- 
ward across  Summit  County,  and  thence  westward  through  the  Wasatch  Range  to  Great 
Salt  Lake  west  of  Ogden. 
Facilities  of  transportation  for  the  coal  of  the  Weber  field  are  afforded  by  the  Union 
iPacific  Railroad.  The  main  line  of  this  road  follows  the  valley  of  Weber  River  from 
Ogden  to  Echo,  where  it  turns  toward  the  northeast  up  Echo  Canyon.  From  Echo  the 
Park  City  branch  of  the  Union  Pacific  continues  up  the  Weber  Valley  through  Coalville. 
;From  the  Park  City  branch  spurs  have  been  constructed  to  the  Wasatch  and  Grass  Valley 
mines,  2  and  7  miles,  respectively,  northeast  of  Coalville.  The  Dexter  mine,  the  only  other 
one  now  in  operation,  is  situated  1  mile  southeast  of  Coalville. 
The  rocks  at  Coalville  were  examined  and  the  occurrence  of  coal  noted  a  by  F.  B.  Meek 
,and  E.  Englemann  in  1859  while  attached  to  the  exploring  party  in  command  of  Capt.  J.  S. 
Simpson,  U.  S.  Army.  Meek  revisited  the  field  in  1872  and  it  was  later  studied  by  members 
jof  the  Fortieth  Parallel  Survey;  also  by  C.  A.  White  in  1877.  Beginning  with  the  Meek 
.  and  Englemann  report  in  1860,  the  rocks  were  classed  in  various  groups  of  the  Cretaceous. 
jT.  W.  Stanton  has  surveyed  the  Coalville  section,  besides  various  others  in  the  western 
Cretaceous  areas.  In  a  comparative  study  b  of  the  Colorado  group  of  the  Cretaceous,  the 
<  coal-bearing  rocks  of  Weber  River  Valley  are  included  by  Stanton  in  the  lower  or  Bentou 
i  division  of  the  Colorado  group. 
The  Weber  River  coal  strata  are  of  the  same  age  as  a  part  of  those  of  the  Kemmerer  field 
|  in  southwestern  Wyoming,  recently  surveyed  by  A.  C.  Veatch.  The  exact  stratigraphic 
'  correlation  of  the  coal  beds  in  the  two  fields,  however,  has  not  been  determined. 
SURFACE  FEATURES. 
The  larger  physiographic  features  of  the  country  in  the  region  of  Coalville  are  not  depend- 
ent for  their  expression  on  the  lithologic  character  of  the  formations.     The  main  valleys 
'■  and  ridges  cut  indiscriminately  across  the  hard  and  soft  rocks.     Weber  River  has  a  course 
j;  west  of  north  and  Chalk  Creek  runs  nearly  west,  while  the  strike  of  the  rocks  is  generally 
northeast  and  southwest.     Within  a  range  of  6  miles  from  Coalville  the  surface  rises  3,500 
'  feet  toward  the  southwest.     Toward  the  east  and  northwest  it  rises  to  elevations  of  2,000 
and  2,500  feet  above  the  valley  of  Weber  River,  which  is  here  5,600  feet  above  the  sea. 
The  thicker  and  harder  sandstones  of  the  coal-bearing  section,  Nos.  1,  4,  and  6,  given 
below,  and  another  referred  to  near  the  top  of  the  Cretaceous  system  in  this  field  make  dis- 
tinctive ridges  and  benches  in  the  lower  slopes  of  the  valleys  of  Weber  River  and  Chalk 
a  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phila.,  vol.  12,  1860,  p.  130. 
&Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  106,  1893. 
285 
Bull.  285—06- — 19 
