IRON  AND  MANGANESE  ORES 
THE  (LINTON  OE    RED  OMK*  OF  THE  IURMINC 
HAM   DISTRICT,   ALABAMA. 
By   Ki;\  E5ST    I'.    Bl   RCHARD. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Detailed  work  on  the  iron  ores  of  the  Birmingham  district  was  car- 
ried on  in  t  he  su  miner  of  L  906,  continuing  to  the  southward  (he  studies 
of  these  ores  begun  in  northeast  Alabama  by  E.  C.  Eckel  in  the  fall  of 
L905. 
By  the  Birmingham  district  is  meant  the  area  from  which  the  fur- 
nace- hi  Birmingham,  Ensley,  and  Bessemer  derive  their  iron  ores. 
It  is  comprised  within  the  southeastern  pari  of  the  Birmingham  3(9 
minute  quadrangle,  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  Bessemer  quadrai 
gle,  and  the  northeast  quarter. o.  the  Brookwood  quadrangle.  Asa 
complete  report,  with  maps,  covering  the  iron  ores  and  iron  industry 
of  the  Birmingham  district,  is  now  in  preparation,  this  paper  presents 
only  an  outline  of  the  principal  facts  regarding  the  red  ore  that  were 
noted  in  the  course  of  the  survey.  The  brown  ores  used  in  the  (list  riet 
come  mainly  from  the  vicinity  of  Woodstock.  These  ores,  together 
with  their  geologic  relations  and  extent,  have  been  described  in  a  pre- 
vious Survey  report.0  The  present  bulletin  contains  an  article  by 
Charles  Butts  (pp.  247-255),  outlining  the  distribution  and  character 
of  the  local  fluxing  materials. 
THE    TOPOGRAPHY  AND    ITS    RELATIONS    TO    INDUSTRIAL 
DEVELOPMENT. 
The  city  of  Birmingham  and  its  suburbs  are  built  in  the  heart  of  the 
valley  region  of  Alabama.  This  valley  region  lies  between  theCahabJ 
coal  field  on  the  southeast  and  the  Warrior  coal  field  on  the  north- 
west, and  its  rectilinear  ridge  and   valley  type  of  topography  is  in 
a  Burchard,  E.  F..  Iron  ores  in  the  Brookwood  quadrangle,   Uabama:  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No. 
260,  L905,  pp.  321-334. 
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