CHAPTER XI.

THE POMEROY AND FEDERAL CREEK COAL FIELD.

BY ELLIS LOVEJOY, E. M.

Under the head of The Pomeroy and Federal Creek Coal Field will be considered that portion of the Pittsburgh coal in southwestern Morgan county, Athens county, Meigs county, and northeastern Gallia county, together with sections showing the geological range of the field.

I. GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.

The following generalized section shows the structure of the Upper Coal Measures and a small portion of the Upper Barren Measures in Meigs county:

No.

1 Coal blossom......

2 Shales, red and yellow, sometimes sandy

8 Sandstone, Waynesburg, base of the Upper Barren Measures.

4 Coal blossom, Waynesburg

5 Shales alternating with laminated sandstones.....

LIMESTONE.

A thin impure white limestone, No. 8 of the above section, found in sections 30 and 33, and fractional section 12, Salisbury township, and

section 4, Rutland township, is the only representative of the numerous seams found in the Upper Coal Measures to the north.

GENERALIZED SECTION OF THE UPPER COAL MEASURES IN ATHENS AND MORGAN

The mark of a coal, 100 to 110 feet above the Waynesburg coal, may be seen in fractional sections 2 and 6, Chester township and in section 8, Sutton township. It belongs to the Upper Barren Measures.

The mark of the Waynesburg coal is found under the heavy rock through southern Chester township, and central and eastern Sutton township. It is of no economic value in this field.

Faint traces of a coal are found, 120 feet to 140 feet above the Pomeroy coal, in sections 7 and 31, Bedford township, and in section 30, Salisbury township.

A thin seam of coal, twenty feet to twenty-five feet above the Pomeroy coal, is found in Bedford and Scipio townships and to the north in Athens county. It is wanting in Salisbury, Sutton and Rutland townships. We will describe it more fully in connection with the Pomeroy coal along Shade Creek.

LIMESTONES.

No single section of the limestones of the Upper Coal Measures in this portion of the field can be taken as a type section.

Unlike the regular persistent marine limestones of the Lower Measures, these white limestones appear and disappear, thicken up and thin out with confusing abruptness.

No. 4 of the above section may be seen in N. W. section 19, Marion township, Morgan county, and in fractional section 4, Lodi township, and section 18, Rome township, Athens county. At the latter place the following section was measured:

The limestones, Nos. 6, 8 and 10 of the general section, must be considered collectively. They belong between the Meigs Creek and Macksburg coals. In section 14, Union township, Morgan county, is a single seam, 126 to 133 feet, inclusive, above the Pomeroy coal. In S. E. section 32, Marion township, are two beds at 99 and 142 feet, respectively, above the Pomeroy coal. In N. E. section 25, Marion township, we find two beds at 135 feet and at 141 to 153 feet. In S. E. section 30, Bern township, Athens county, two beds at 131 and 147 feet.

In fractional section 2, Ames township, but one of this series at 103 feet. Likewise at Evansville, in Lodi township, is there but one, at 107 feet. In W. section 32, Canaan township, we find a single seam, at 106 feet. In section 21, Union township, we find a series of limestones and shales extending from 104 to 132 feet above the coal with no well marked interval of separation. The same is true in fractional section 31, Marion township, where the series extends from 99 to 126 feet above the coal.

The white limestone, No. 14 of the general section, seventy-five feet above the Pomeroy coal, is the most persistent. It alone, in Meigs county, finds a place in the general section.

The following section, measured on the Gifford farm, in section 30, Bern township, shows the position of the limestone :

The intervals are omitted. The sandstone over the Pomeroy coal was seen thirty-nine feet thick.

In fractional section 2, A mes township, Athens county, the limestone, No. 14 of the general section, is seen fifteen feet thick; in N. E. section 7, Canaan township, eleven feet; in S. W. section 26, Rome township, thirteen feet. In the northern portion of the field, in section 4, Union township, Morgan county, the interval between the limestone and the Pomeroy coal was measured seventy-four feet. To the south, in N. E. section 33, Salisbury township, Meigs county, the interval was seventyfive feet. In the latter place the strata were exposed for 110 feet above the limestone with no sign of coal or limestone.

The limestone forty-five feet above the Pomeroy coal, is often wanting, the place being occupied by the Pomeroy sandstone. It was seen in N. W. section 8, and fractional section 32, Homer township, Morgan county, and in N. W. section 23, Ames township, Athens county.

COALS.

The coals above the Pomeroy coal are of little value. The coal blossom, 190 feet above the Pomeroy coal, is the equivalent of the Macksburg or "Sandstone Vein" of Washington county.

The marks of it were found in section 18, Rome township, and in fractional section 5, Bern township, Athens county. The overlying sandstone accompanied it in both instances.

The coal ninety-five feet above the Pomeroy coal, is the equivalent of the Meigs Creek coal, of eastern Morgan county, and of the "Limestone Vein," of Washington county. Blossoms of it were seen in sections 30, 24 and 23, Ames township, Athens county. It is found along Big Run, in Rone township, and along Marietta Run, in Bern township. At the mouth of the latter run the interval between this coal and the Pomeroy coal is increased to 117 feet. It is mined for local use along Coal Run, in S. E. Marion township, also in Windsor township, Morgan county.

CLAY.

The upper portion of the Pomeroy sandstone is sometimes replaced by a bed of red clay.

It is well shown on the Mansfield Petroleum Company's land at Joy, and on Linscott Run, section 7, Homer township, Morgan county.