Campbell.]  MEADOW    BRANCH    COAL    FIELD    OF    WEST    VIRGINIA.        335 
which  here  occupies  nearly  the  center  of  the  basin.  Around  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  field  the  rocks  pitch  gently  to  the  south- 
west, and  they  have  been  deeply  dissected  by  Meadow  Branch,  which 
makes  its  exit  from  the  basin  at  this  point. 
The  occurrence  of  heavy  beds  of  sandstone  on  Third  Hill  Mountain, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  basin,  has  given  rise  to  the  impression  that 
there  is  a  structural  disturbance  in  this  part  of  the  field  which  allows 
the  sandstones  composing  Short  Mountain  to  appear  again  near  the 
summit  of  Third  Hill  Mountain.  The  rocks  which  cap  Third  Hill 
Mountain  resemble  in  every  respect  the,  heavy  sandstone  showing  in 
Short  Mountain,  but  an  examination  of  the  region  shows  clearly  that 
the  slopes  of  Third  Hill  Mountain  are  composed  almost  entirely  of  the 
red  shale  which  overlies  the  coal-bearing  member  of  the  formation, 
and  consequently  the  sandstone  of  Third  Hill  Mountain  is  an  upper 
bed  occurring  about  TOO  feet  above  the  Short  Mountain  sandstone. 
The  overturned  southeastern  limb  of  the  syncline  has  also  given  the 
impression  that  southeastern  dips  are  normal  and  that  the  coal-bearing 
rocks  underlie  the  red  shales  and  sandstones  which  skirt  the  eastern 
foot  of  Third  Hill  and  Short  mountains;  in  other  words,  that  the 
Pocono  rocks  underlie  the  Devonian  shales  which  occur  east  of  the 
mountain.  This  is  an  erroneous  impression,  and  an  examination  shows 
that  the  structure  is  as  indicated  in  cross  section,  the  southeastern 
limb  being  only  slightly  overturned,  and  that  presumably  at  a  depth  of 
a  few  hundred  feet  it  would  be  found  bending  back  to  the  northwest 
and  uniting  with  the  bed  which  forms  the  crest  of  Sleepy  Creek 
Mountain.  In  passing  to  the  southwest,  the  upturned  bed  of  massive 
sandstone  is  seen  in  the  series  of  isolated  knobs  which  occur  along  the 
southeastern  face  of  Third  Hill  Mountain  until  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pinkerton  Knob  the  sandstone  in  the  center  of  the  basin  disappears 
and  the  principal  ridge  changes  from  the  center  to  the  margin  of  the 
syncline  and  its  top  is  composed  of  sandstone  equivalent  to  that 
exposed  on  Short  Mountain. 
The  structure  of  the  southern  end  of  the  basin  is  much  more  com- 
plicated, the  basin  itself  being  divided  by  a  large  anticlinal  fold  which 
makes  its  appearance  on  the  eastern  limb  of  the  basin  where  it  is 
crossed  by  the  Meadows  road  northwest  of  Jones  Spring.  At  this 
point  Third  Hill  Mountain  throws  off  a  long  spur  to  the  southwest 
which  is  known  as  Locust  Ridge,  and  which  is  continued  beyond  Roar- 
ing Run,  a  tributary  of  Meadow  Branch,  to  Middle  Ridge.  The  fold  is 
small  at  its  first  inception  near  the  Meadows  road,  but  increases  in  mag- 
nitude to  the  southwest  until  on  the  Martinsburg  and  Romney  road  the 
sandstone  forms  an  immense  arch  which  constitutes  the  highest  part 
of  the  mountains.  The  synclinal  basins  on  either  side  are  greatly 
compressed,  and  the  two  bounding  ridges,  together  with  Middle  Ridge, 
