DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director

Bulletin 628

GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF 

CASTLE VALLEY

BY

CHARLES T. LUPTON

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916
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OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM

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V
CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction.............................................................. 7

General statement.................................................... 7

Object of investigation................................................ 8

History.............................................................. 9

Method of field work................................................... 10

Land survey......................................................... 11

Acknowledgments.................................................... 12

Geography ................................-.-..-...------ - -- -------- - 12

Position and extent.................................................... 12

Settlements.......................................................... 13

Roads and trails....................................................... 14

Drainage and water resources.......................................... 15

Climate and vegetation................................................ 17

Surface features.......................................................... 17

General statement.................................................... 17

Wasatch Plateau..................................................... 18

Castle Valley.......................................................... 18

San Bafael Swell...................................................... 19

Geology.................................................................. 19

Stratigraphy.......................................................... 19

General features................................................... 19

Carboniferous (Permian) and Triassic rocks.......................... 21

Triassic system.................................................... 22

Vermilion Cliff sandstone...................................... 22

Jurassic system................................................... 23

La Plata sandstone............................................ 23

Jurassic (?) system................................................ 23

McElmo formation............................................. 23

Cretaceous system............... '. ................................. 26

Dakota sandstone.............................................. 26

Mancos shale.................................................. 30

General features.......................................... 30

Shale below the Ferron sandstone member.................. 30

Ferron sandstone member................................ 31

Shale above the Ferron sandstone member.................. 33

Mesaverde formation........................................... 34

Tertiary system................................................... 35

Eocene series................................................. 35

Wasatch formation......................................... 35

Green River (?) formation.................................. 36

Quaternary (?) system............................................ 36

Pleistocene (?) series.......................................... 36

Alluvial fans............................................. 36

Terrace gravels............................................ 37

3
4 CONTENTS.

Geology Continued.

Stratigraphy Continued. Page.

. Quaternary system................................................ 39

Recent series.................................................. 39

Igneous rocks......................................................... 39

Structure.............................................................. 39

General features................................................... 39

Upfolds and domes................................................ 40

Faults............................................................ 41

The coal.....................................................'.............. 43

General features....................................................... 43

Correlation of coal beds in Ferron sandstone member of Mancos shale..... 44

Occurrence.......................................................... 47

Coal in the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale........'... 47

T. 21 Si, B. 7 E............................................... 47

T. 22 S.,E. 6 E............................................... 48

T.-22S., B. 7 E............................................... 54

T. 23 S., B. 6 E............................................... 56

T. 24 S., R. 5 E............................................... 63

T. 24 S., B. 6 E............ ..................:................ 67

T. 25 S., B. 4 E............................................... 71

T. 25 S..B. 5 E............................................... 72

T. 26 S., B. 4 E............................................... 73

Coal in the Dakota sandstone...................................... 74

Coal in the Mesaverde formation................................... 76

Coal in the Mancos shale near Henry Mountains................... 76

Character of the coal.................................................. 77

Physical properties................................................ 77

Chemical properties............................................... 78

Development. ..................^.................................... 83

Mines and prospects.............................................. 83

Cox prospect................................................. 83

Moore mine................................................... 83

Williams mine............................................... §3

Casper mine.................................................. 84

Emery mine..,...........................:................... 84

Browning mine................................................ 84

Other drifts................................................... 85

Transportation routes.............................................. 86

Tonnage.......................................................... 86

Index.................................................................. 87
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE I. A, Coal-bearing rocks (Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale) 

near Mounds, at the northeast end of Castle Valley; B, Coalbearing rocks near Last Chance Creek in the southwestern part 

of the Emery coal field ......................................... 8

II. A, Contact of McElmo formation and La Plata sandstone on the west 

flank of the San Kafael Swell; B, Local unconformity in the Dakota 

sandstone northeast of Perron .................................. 24

III. A, Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale southeast of Emery; 

B, Local unconformity in the Ferron sandstone member of the 

Mancos shale, about 10 miles south of Emery..................... 30

IV. Columnar sections of the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos

shale in Castle Valley.......................................... 32

V. Concretions in the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale,

about 6 miles southeast of Castledale............................ 34

VI. A, Emery fault, north of Ivie Creek; B, Paradise fault, near the

southwest end of.the Emery coal field........................... 40

VII. Columnar sections, showing the stratigraphic position of coal beds in 

the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale in the Emery 

coal field....................................................... 44

VIII. Sections of coal beds in T. 21 S., R. 7 E., T. 22 S., Bs. 6 and 7 E.,

and T. 23 S., R. 6 E........................................... 74

I.. Sections of coal beds in T. 24 S., Rs. 5 and 6 E., T. 25 S., Es. 4 and 5

T&.,&RdT. 26 8.,"R.4T&......................................... 74

X. Map of Emery coal field, Emery and Sevier counties, Utah........ 74

XI. A, Williams mine, on coal bed I, about 3 miles east of Emery; .B,

Casper mine, on coal bed C, about 4 miles southeast of Emery.... 84

XII. Geologic map of Castle Valley, in Carbon, Emery, and Sevier counties,

Utah.......................................................... 86

FIGURE 1. Index map of Utah showing location of Castle Valley and the Emery

coal field..................................................... 8
r
GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE Y ALLEY 

IN CARBON, EMERY, AND SEVIER COUNTIES, UTAH.

By CHARLES T. LUPTON.

INTRODUCTION.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

Castle Valley includes parts of Carbon, Emery, and Sevier counties and is situated between the Wasatch Plateau and the San Raf ael 

Swell, in the east-central part of Utah. (See PL XII and index 

map, fig. 1.) The outcrops of the coal-bearing rocks and adjacent 

formations of the Book Cliffs were mapped and studied by Richardson 1 from Grand River, Colo., westward and northwestward to the 

north end of Castle Valley. The writer traced from north to south 

the lowest formations studied by Richardson, beginning near Mounds 

(Sunnyside Junction), on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and 

ending about 80 miles to the southwest in T. 26 S., R. 4 E., at the 

north end of Thousand Lake Mountain.

The rocks designated in this report the Ferron sandstone member 

of the Mancos shale contain the more important coal beds at the south 

end of Castle Valley east and south of Emery, but in the northern 

part of the area they contain no coal. Near Mounds these rocks 

consist of approximately 75 feet of soft yellowish sandstone characterized by a concretion-bearing stratum. Plate I, A, shows the 

character of the topography where these rocks crop out near Mounds. 

This sandstone increases in thickness toward the southwest, from 

about 75 feet at Mounds to about 800 feet at Last Chance Creek. 

(See columnar sections in PI. IV, p. 32.) The character of the 

surface in this locality is shown in Plate I, B. In the southern part 

of the field 14 coal beds are exposed in these rocks. This coal has 

been described briefly by Taff,2 who examined a few prospects and 

mines south of Emery in 1905 during his investigation of the higher 

(Mesaverde) coal-bearing rocks along the east scarp of the Wasatch 

Plateau.

1 Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance of t;he Book Cliffs coal field between Grand River, 

Colo,, and Sunnyside, Utah : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 371, 1909.

'2 Taff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal field, Utah, west of Green River: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

28r>, p. 301, 1906.

7
8 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH. 

OBJECT OF INVESTIGATION.

The primary object of this examination was to determine the 

quality and quantity of the coal in order that the land, part of which 

had been withdrawn from all forms of entry, might be classified, 

valued, and restored to entry. The method of determining the

H4<

yf

FIGURE 1. Index map of Utah showing location of Castle Valley and the Emery coal field.

quality and quantity of the coal is discussed fully under " Method of 

field work " (pp. 10-11). A secondary purpose of the investigation was 

to collect geologic information regarding this region, of which little 

was definitely known. The age, 'character, and thickness of the 

coal-bearing formations, and their relations to the underlying and
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 628 PLATE I

A. COAL-BEARING ROCKS iFERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANGOS SHALE) NEAR 

MOUNDS, AT THE NORTHEAST END OF CASTLE VALLEY.

1, Book Cliffs, near Sunnyside.

21. COAL.BEARING ROCKS (IN FOREGROUND) NEAR LAST CHANCE CREEK, IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PART OF THE EMERY COAL FIELD.

1, Thousand Lake Mountain.
INTRODUCTION. 9

overlying rocks were studied. Fossils materially aid in determining geologic age, and a careful search along the outcrop was made 

for them. Data regarding the character and thickness of a formation are collected by carefully measuring and describing the various 

strata that compose it. The relations of contiguous formations are 

determined by an examination of the contact line separating them. 

The criteria that are usually relied upon as proof of a time interval 

between the periods of deposition of adjacent formations are (1) a 

discordance in the dip of the strata, (2) erosion channels, and (3) 

conglomerate. On the other hand, if the strata accord in dip and 

there are no sighs of an erosional stage, fossils collected immediately 

above and below a contact line are often of importance in determining whether or not the beds are conformable.

HISTOEY.

From 50 to 60 miles of the old Spanish Trail, which extended 

from Santa Fe, N. Mex., to Monterey, CaL, at the time these places 

were centers of Spanish civilization on this continent, lies in Castle 

Valley. The coal in this field may or may not have been known at 

the time this trail was used extensively. r

Capt. J. W. Gunnison, of the Corps of Topographic Engineers,1 

traversed Castle Valley from north to south in the early part of 

October, 1853, on the way to Sevier Valley, where he and several 

of his party were killed by Indians a few days after passing through 

this field. Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, who wrote the report of this expedition, states, in his journal for October 11, 1853: " Specimens of 

coal were brought in from the hills near the camp, Capt. Gunnison and Dr. Schiel differing in opinion as to its quality." The 

party was camped at this date near the north end of the Emery coal" 

field, about 3 miles east of Emery, approximately in sec. 12, T. 22 

S., R. 6 E. So far as known this is the first published reference to 

the coal in this field.

During the summer of 1873 Lieut. R. L. Hoxie,2 Corps of Engineers, and his party mapped the topography and geology of eastcentral and south-central Utah. Their route of travel led southward through Castle Valley and across this coal-bearing area. E. E. 

Howell,3 who was with this party as geologist, referred to the 

coal in Castle Valley and along Muddy Creek. Robert Forrester 4 

described briefly the coal on Quitchuppah and I vie creeks and gave 

proximate analyses of both the " top vein " (bed I ?) and the " botiU. S. Pacific R. R. Expl., vol. 2, pp. 62-66, 1855.

2 Wheeler, G. M., U. S. Geog. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Ann. Kept, for 1874, p. 5, 1874.

3 Wheeler, G. M., U. S. Geog. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Final Rept, vol. 3, pp. 277, 279, 

1875.

* U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1892, pp. 518-519, 1893.
10 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

torn vein" (bed C?). He considered these coals to be in a downfaulted portion of the Montana group, which is represented in part 

by the Mesaverde formation in the Wasatch Plateau, a few miles 

to' the west. This classification has been the topic of considerable 

debate by those familiar with the coals of this part of Utah. J. A. 

Taff 1 in 1905 examined, the coal-bearing rocks along the east face 

of the Wasatch Plateau and also noted the coal at the south end of 

Castle Valley described in the present report.

METHOD OF FIELD WORK.

This report is based on a detailed examination of the coal beds, 

of the geologic formations in which the coal occurs, and of some of 

the overlying and underlying formations. Field work was begun 

near Mounds, on the Denver & Kio Grande Railroad, July 17, 1911, 

and was terminated at Ivie Creek on October 7 of the same year. 

That part of the coal field lying south of Ivie Creek was examined 

from September 9 to November 3, 1912. Detailed work on the coal 

beds in the vicinity of and 30 miles south of Emery (see PI. X, p. 74) 

was done from September 8 to October 7,1911, and from September 

9 to November 3,1912.

A system of triangulation was developed over the area as1 an aid 

in mapping surface features other than coal, such as roads, trails, 

houses, streams, and rock ledges. North of Ivie Creek this primary 

control was established by means of a 24-inch Johnson plane table 

and a Gale telescopic alidade on a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile.

The outcrop of each coal bed was mapped with relation to land 

corners and the thickness of the coal beds was measured at as many 

pjaces as seemed necessary in order to obtain accurate information 

 regarding the variations in character and thickness. Many Government corner monuments near the coal outcrops were located, and 

enough others were found some distance from the coal outcrops to 

enable the accurate mapping of the Emery coal field. The coal beds 

from the vicinity of Emery at the north edge of the field southward 

to Willow Creek, except in a small area north of Ivie Creek and 

west of Quitchuppah Creek, were mapped by means of a 15-inch 

Bumstead plane table and a Gale alidade on a scale of 2 inches to 1 

mile. (See PL X.) Mines, prospects, and points at which the coal 

beds were measured were located by stadia. The coal beds and 

geologic boundaries between Ivie and Quitchuppah creeks were 

located by triangulation at the time the primary control was 

obtained. That part of the coal field lying south and southwest of 

Willow Creek was mapped by the triangulation method on a scale of 

2 inches to 1 mile. Samples of coal for analysis (see p. 80) were 

collected at seven places and represent the three principal coal beds

*Op. cit., pp. 289-302.
INTRODUCTION. 11

(A, C, and I) in the field. (See table of analysis, p. 80.) The 

geologic unit in which the coals occur was examined, and sections 

of these rocks were measured at different places. Fossils were cpllected wherever possible and are listed under " Geology" (pp. 

19-43). Formations overlying and underlying the coal-bearing rocks 

were studied, and sections of them were measured in detail in order 

to obtain a general conception of the geologic column in this vicinity. 

A geologic section, from the lowest rocks observed by the writer in 

the interior of the San Raf ael Swell, lying to the east, to the highest 

rocks on top of the Wasatch Plateau, a few miles to the west, is given 

by formations under "Stratigraphy" (pp. 19-39).

LAND SURVEY.

Castle Valley, the greater part of which has been subdivided into 

ejections, was surveyed with relation to the Salt Lake base and meridian. Nearly all of this work was done by A. D. Ferron, after whom 

the town of Ferron, in Emery County, was named. The coal-bearing 

portion of the area included within Tps. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 S., 

Es. 4, 5, 6, and 7 E., is described in greater detail than the remainder 

of the field, which lies to the north and northeast of Emery. The 

southeastern part of T. 21 S., R. 6 E.; T. 21 S., R. 7 E., except the 

southeastern part; T. 22 S., R. 6 E., except about four sections in the 

northwestern part; and the northwestern part of T. 23 S., R. (xE., 

were surveyed by Mr. Ferron in July and August, 1873. In May, 

1881, T. 23 S., R. 5 E., except the northwestern part, was subdivided 

by the same surveyor. The eastern part of T. 22 S., R. 5 E., and the 

north half of T. 24 S., R. 5 E., were subdivided by Mr. Ferron in 

August and October, respectively, 1890. Mr. Ferron and A. Jessen 

subdivided the east half of T. 26 S., R. 4 E., in November, 1892, and 

in June, 1895, they surveyed the east-central part of T. 25 S., R. 4 

E. In July, 1896, A. P. Hanson made a survey of the south-central 

and west-central parts of T. 25 S., R. 5 E. The survey of the northeastern part of T. 23 S., R. 6 E., was completed in November, 1909, 

by Mr. Ferron. All this work was done under the contract system. 

The two remaining tracts of the Emery coal field (see PI. X, p. 74), 

the southeastern part of T. 21 S. 5iR. 7 E., and all of T. 22 S., R. 7 E., 

were subdivided in May, 1910, by H. W. Miller and A. Nelson, who 

were in the direct employ of the General Land Office. Under the 

contract system the section and quarter-section corners are marked 

by stone monuments, a large number of which are still in place and 

easily read. The corners in the areas surveyed in 1910 by the General Land Office are marked by iron pipes with copper caps on which 

the positions of the monuments are recorded.

The recent surveys in Tps. 21 and 22 S., R. 7 E., and T. 23 S., R. 

6 E., and the results of the triangulation and stadia work of the 

geologic party in 1911 and 1912 seem to indicate that the lines of the
12 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

older surveys are in places slightly longer than those given on the 

township plats.

The land net at the south end of the coal-bearing area in Tps. 24 

and 25 S., Rs. 4 and 5 E., as shown on the accompanying maps 

(Pis. X and XII), differs from that which is given on the General 

Land Office plats of these townships. A sufficient number of Government corners were located by the triangulation method used by 

the writer to prove definitely that the line connecting the corners 

between T. 25 S., R. 4 E., and T. 25 S., R. 5 E., and that part of 

T. 25 S., R. 5 E., which was surveyed with relation to that line, are 

about 850 feet west of the positions indicated on the Land Office 

plats, thus narrowing the width of the east tier of sections of T. 25 

S., R. 4 E., by that amount. In the construction of the accompanying maps (Pis. X and XII) the northeast corner of T. 25 S., R. 4 E., 

and the corresponding corner of T. 24 S., R. 4 E., were connected by 

a straight line whose bearing is greater than that (S. 4° W.) indicated on the Land Office plat of T. 24 S., R. 5 E. The change in the 

bearing of this line necessarily makes the east-west dimensions of 

the west tier of sections in T. 24 S., R. 5 E., greater than those given 

on the township plat. The discrepancy above described is attributed 

by A. D. Ferron, who ran the line between Rs. 4 and 5 E. through 

Tps. 24 and 25 S., to the short chaining of the fifth standard parallel 

south.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The field work in 1911 was done with the assistance of B. W. 

Clark and A. E. Fath. W. L. Mielke and Millard Massey served as 

camp hands and rendered efficient aid in rodding and in uncovering 

and measuring coal beds. In 1912 the writer was assisted in the field 

by R. V. A. Mills, Millard Massey, Arthur Massey, Merrill Allred, 

and Casper Christensen. In the office the careful work of R. V. A. 

Mills, Frank R. Clark, and E. R. Lloyd has made the report much 

more complete. The writer desires especially to acknowledge the 

favors granted by the officials of the Emery County recorder's office 

at Castledale, and also the courtesy and hospitality of the settlers 

throughout the field. Ira R. Browning also gave information of 

value.

GEOGRAPHY.

POSITION AND EXTENT.

The area mapped in Castle Valley extends S. 30° W. from Mounds 

and lies between meridians 110° 30' and 111° 20' W. and parallels 

38° 35' and 39° 30' N. The entire field is about 80 miles long, ranges 

from 10 to 20 miles in width, and includes about 1,000 square miles. 

The index map (fig. 1) shows the relative position of this area in the 

State. The geology of the entire valley is represented on Plate XII.
GEOGBAPHY. 13

That part of Castle Valley known as the Emery coal field is shown 

in detail on Plate X.

The Emery coal field is at the south end of Castle Valley, between 

meridians 111° 3' and 111° 20' W. and parallels 38° 35' and 39° N. 

The greater part of this area lies along the west side of Emery 

County south of the middle, the remainder being included in the 

southeastern part of Sevier County. This coal field is about 25 miles 

long from north to south, and 22 miles wide from east to west, and 

includes about 300 square miles of land underlain by coal.

SETTLEMENTS.

The principal settlements in that part of Castle Valley described 

in this report are, in order from north to south, Wellington, Farnham, 

Mounds, Victor, Desert Lake, Cleveland, Huntington, Lawrence, 

Castledale, Orangeville, Clawson, Ferron, Molen, Rochester, and 

Emery. Wellington, on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, in sees. 

6 and 7, T. 15 S., R. 11 E., has a population of about 375 people. 

Farnham is a flag station on the railroad in sec. 22, T. 15 S., R. 11 E. 

Mounds, in the SE. ± SE. ! sec. 5, T. 16 S., R. 12 E., is at the junction 

of the Sunnyside branch and the main line of the Denver & Rio 

Grande Railroad. It has a population of about 50 persons and consists of a few houses and a railroad station. Victor, in the S. ^ sec. 29, 

T. 16 S., R. 11 E., and Desert Lake, in the N. \ sec. 11, T. 17 S., R. 10 

E., are small settlements, each containing less' than 100 inhabitants. 

Victor has a store and both have post offices.. The town of Cleveland 

is in T. 17 S., on both sides of the line separating Rs. 9 and 10 E., in 

sees. 13 and 18, respectively. The 200 or more inhabitants support 

two or three stores and a good school. Huntington, the oldest settlement in the valley, has a population of about 800 persons, and is on 

Huntington Creek in T. 17 S., on both sides of the line separating 

Rs. 8 and 9 E., in sees. 24 and 25 and sees. 19 and 30, .respectively. 

This town is the center of a prosperous farming community and is 

well supplied with schools, churches, hotels, and stores. Lawrence 

has about 80 inhabitants and a dozen or more houses on Huntington 

Creek, mainly in sees. 32 and 33, T. 17 S., R. 9 E. Castledale, the 

county seat of Emery County, is on Cottonwood Creek, in sees. 33 and 

34, T. 18 S., R. 8 E. The 700 or more inhabitants support schools, 

hotels, churches, and numerous stores. The town is lighted by electricity and has the only academy in the southeastern part of Utah. 

Orangeville (not shown on the map), with a population of about 650, 

is also on Cottonwood Creek, about 3£ miles northwest of Castledale, in the southwestern part of the same township. Clawson is a 

small hamlet in sec. 26, T. 19 S., R. 7 E. It supports a church, school, 

and small store. The settlers receive their mail by means of a " star "
14 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOUBCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

x

mail route out of Castledale. Ferron, on Ferron Creek, mainly in 

sees. 9 and 10, T. 20 S., R. 7 E., has a population of about 650 persons. 

It is similar to Castledale, Huntingdon, Emery, and Cleveland in the 

number and character of stores, hotels, schools, and churches. Molen, 

also on Ferron Creek, in sees. 7 and 18, T. 20 S., E. 8 E., has about a 

dozen houses, a church, and a school, but neither store nor post office. 

The settlers in this locality receive their mail at Ferron. Rochester, 

in the southwestern part of T. 21 S., R. 7 E., is a small settlement without a post office. Emery, a village of about 550 inhabitants, mainly 

in sees. 4 and 9, E. 22 S., R. 6 E., is the principal town in the coal field 

at the south end of Castle Valley. The people living here are for the 

most part farmers who cultivate the irrigated lands adjacent to the 

village. A few ranchers live south and southwest of Emery on 

Quitchuppah Creek and along Muddy Creek in sec. 36, T. 22 S., R. 

6 E. Emery and the several other towns mentioned above have daily 

mail connections with Price, the county seat of Carbon County, on 

the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, 65 miles north of Emery.

The principal occupations of the settlers of Castle Valley are 

farming and stock raising. Some allied industries, however, such 

as fruit raising and the production of honey, are given considerable 

attention. At Mohrland, the southern terminus of the Castle Valley 

Railroad, in the northern part of T. 16 S., R. 8 E., outside of the area 

examined in 1911, considerable coal is mined from the upper coalbearing formation (Mesaverde), to the study of which little attention was given in this examination. Some coal is mined by the 

ranchers for domestic use east and south of Emery in the lower coalbearing rocks, which are fully described in this report.

ROADS AND TRAILS.

A very good stage road extends the entire length of Castle Valley 

from Price through Huntington, Castledale, and Ferron to Emery. 

Numerous other first-class and second-class roads and trails make the 

greater part of the area accessible. In general, every main stream 

is paralleled by one or more roads leading into the canyons cut into 

the Wasatch Plateau to the west, where wood and coal are abundant. 

A good road has been constructed from Wellington, on the Denver & 

Rio Grande Railroad, to Huntington through Cleveland. A branch 

of this road connects with the Price-Emery stage road about 4 miles 

south of Price. A second-class road from Castledale follows closely 

the route of the old Spanish Trail across the north end of the San 

Rafael Swell to Green River, the easternmost town in Emery County, 

on Green River, in T. 21 S., R. 16 E. Green River Desert, which lies 

about 40 to 70 miles southeast of Castle Valley, is accessible by means 

of a poor and rarely used road from Ferron through Molen and to
GEOGEAPHY. 15

the southeast. A road from Castledale through Buckhorn Flat and 

along Buckhorn Wash also leads through " Sinbad " to the desert. 

From Emery two roads to the east have been constructed. One about 

20 miles in length leads through Rochester and Dry Wash to the 

Globe copper mine. The other extends to the southeast about 18 

miles to a supposed oil field on Salt Wash, 2 miles above its junction 

with Muddy Creek. A wagon trail, very rarely used, connects 

Emery with Caineville, on Fremont River, 60 miles to the southeast. 

A fairly good road connects Emery with Fremont and Loa, to the 

south, near the head of Fremont River. Emery is also connected 

with Salina, west of the Wasatch Plateau, by a fair mountain road 

that follows the courses of Ivie, Togo, and Salina creeks.

DRAINAGE AND WATER RESOURCES.

Castle Valley is drained entirely by Price, San Rafael, and Curtis 

rivers and their tributaries, each river receiving about one-third of 

the rim-off. The following table gives the average flow, during the 

months when irrigation is necessary, of some of the streams in Castle 

Valley that have been measured by the United States Geological 

Survey, in 1909 x and 1913.2

Partial amount of run-off across "Castle Valley during May, June, July, and

August, 1909 and 1913.

Stream.

1909.

1913.

May.

Sec<md-feet.<t 

b 1.030

4R7

416

146

146

480

376

711

257

169

June.

Second-feet. 09*1

741

842

372

245

238

218

401

208

132

July.

Second-feet. 

167

918

97 A

109

101

126

111

75.2

80.6

August.

Second-feet. 

146

107

438

207

(?)

CK A

7ft O

60.5

97 1

51.0

a Second-feet Is the number of cubic feet of water passing a given point in a stream channel each second 

6 Mean daily run-off.

This table indicates that the run-off is greatest in most streams 

during June and that in July and August they carry much smaller 

volumes. The irregularities in the run-off for the different streams 

during any month are probably due to local rainstorms. The 

water from the streams in Castle Valley is utilized mainly for irri1 Freeman, W. B., and Bolster, R. H., Surface water supply of the United States, 1909, 

Part IX, Colorado River Basin : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 269, pp. 77-79, 

81-87, 181-183, 233, 234, 1911.

2 Follansbee, Robert, Porter, E. A., and Gray, G. A., Surface water supply of the United 

States, 1913, Part IX, Colorado River basin: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 359, 

pp. 7O-76, 79-84, 175-177, 1916.
16 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.'

gating the adjacent valley bottoms. In the vicinity of Cleveland, 

however, which lies in the drainage basin of Price River, irrigation 

is made possible by water brought from Huntington Creek over a 

low divide through a canal 15 miles in length. Near Emery a similar condition exists. The. water is taken from Muddy Creek near 

the mouth of the canyon cutting the Wasatch Plateau and is carried 

by a large canal through a divide by means of a tunnel to the flat 

country about Emery.

Practically all the water in the streams flowing east from the 

Wasatch Plateau across the area under consideration is now used 

for irrigation with the exception of that in Last Chance Creek. 

Part of the water from this creek is diverted from its natural course 

and carried by ditches to Paradise Lake, in sees. 14 and 23, T. 25 

S., R. 4 E.

The irrigated area of Castle Valley may possibly be increased as 

much as 100 per cent by the construction of storage reservoirs to 

hold flood waters and the spring run-off in the deep canyons in the 

Wasatch Plateau.

The writer knows of few springs of any importance in Castle 

Valley north of Ivie Creek. One of these, on the outcrop of the 

Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale in the SW. | sec. 24, 

T. 21 S., R. T E., furnishes sufficient excellent water for a few head 

of stock the year round. Farther north in Castle Valley there are 

a few small seeps of alkali water issuing from the shale above the 

Ferron sandstone. They are locally known as "poison springs," 

owing to the very alkaline character of the water. South of Ivie 

Creek, in the more rugged part of the valley, springs are more numerous and the character of the water is much better. Willow Spring, 

near the center of sec. 13, T. 24 S., R. 5 E., is the best in the southern 

part of the coal field. In the vicinity of Paradise Lake springs are 

plentiful. At the extreme southwest end of the field, in the W. £ sec. 

34, T. 25 S., R. 4 E., there is another spring of excellent water.

Paradise Lake, in the S. fsec. 14 and N. -| sec. 23, T. 25 S., R. 4 E., 

receives part of its water from small mountain streams heading west 

and southwest of the lake, but, as stated above, it is partly supplied 

with water diverted from Last Chance Creek. The lake covers about 

160 acres and has no outlet. However, should the water rise more 

than 32 feet from its level in October, 1912, it would flow through an 

old water gap into a canyon to the southeast. This lake is included 

within the limits of the Hogan ranch, and is used by the owners of 

this property to furnish water for their cattle.

In places in the area mapped (PI. XII, p. 86) fairly good water 

could be obtained probably by drilling into the Dakota sandstone 

and also into some of the conglomeratic sandstone beds in the under-
SUB-FACE FEATURES. 17

lying McElmo formation, as has been done in the vicinity of the 

town of Green River, Utah.1

Water may be found in places in the southwestern part of the 

field in stream channels where depressions have been eroded into 

the soft massive sandstone of the Ferron member. In one locality, 

sec. 34, T. 24 S., R. 5 E., a pothole at least 10 feet deep and 3 or 4 

feet in diameter was half full of water in October, 1912. Other 

natural reservoirs of the same type but of smaller dimensions exist 

in this general locality.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION.

The climate of Castle Valley is semiarid, as shown by the annual 

rainfall,2 which ranges from about 7£ inches at Emery to 8£ inches 

at Castledale. The yearly rainfall at Price is greater than either of 

the above measurements indicates and probably is about 11 inches. 

This figure was obtained by averaging the precipitation at Sunnyside, where the annual rainfall is 14.86 inches, and at Castledale. 

The temperature in Castle Valley ranges from 104° to 34° F. and 

averages about 45.7° F.

Vegetation, consisting mainly of a sparse growth of grass, a little 

sagebrush, greasewood, and cactus, is scanty away from stream 

courses where irrigation is not carried on. Pifion is common on 

the sandstone ridges and scarps north of Ivie Creek. South of this 

creek native vegetation is much more abundant. Along many of 

the streams willow and cottonwood trees are plentiful and other 

vegetation is more luxuriant than away from the streams. Irrigated lands produce grain, vegetables, alfalfa, and many kinds of 

fruit. In Castle Valley practically all kinds of fruits common to 

temperate climates with the exception of grapes are raised.

SURFACE FEATURES.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

Castle Valley is bounded on the west by the Wasatch Plateau and 

on the east by the San Rafael Swell. To give an adequate idea of 

the surface of the valley it is necessary to describe, briefly at least, 

the adjacent topographic, features. Topographic maps of this 

region with a contour interval of 250 feet were made by the Powell 

Survey. (See San Rafael topographic map of the United States 

Geological Survey.)

1 Lupton, C. T., Oil and gas near Green River, Grand County, Utah: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 541, pp. 117-121, 1914.

3 Summary of the climatological data (or the United States, section 10, Eastern Utah, 

pp. 2-4, U. S. Weather Bureau.

21246° Bull. 628 16 2
18 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH. 

WASATCH PLATEAU.

The Wasatch Plateau, lying west of Castle Valley, is-a southward 

continuation of the kinds of rocks and type of topography embodied 

in the Book Cliffs, which form the prominent scarp extending along 

the north side of the Denver & Rio Grande Eailroad from Grand 

Tliver, Colo., to Castle Gate, Utah. The Wasatch Plateau ranges from 

2,000 to 3,000 feet in height above the floor of Castle Valley, and at 

many points it is impossible to scale its east face. At only a few 

places can it be traversed with a wagon or buggy. Deep canyons 

have been cut into the plateau by Huntington, Cottonwood, Ferron, 

Muddy, Quitchuppah, Ivie, and Last Chance creeks and some of their 

tributaries. Low on the east scarp of the plateau alluvium has been 

washed down into symmetrical fanlike forms, which in many places 

merge with one another, thus forming compound alluvial fans. Remnants of alluvial fans of former stages of erosion are numerous higher 

on the east flank of the plateau. These remnants have been rather 

fully dissected by minor intermittent streams.

The Book Cliffs consist of almost flat-lying beds of sandstone and 

shale and rise 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the adjacent country. Wherever erosion has removed the overlying sandstone the shale, being 

less resistant than the sandstone, has yielded readily to erosion, producing nearly sheer cliffs instead of gentle slopes.

CASTLE VALLEY.

Castle Valley is literally a monoclinal valley and owes its existence 

to the presence of a soft, relatively homogeneous shale which is easily 

eroded wherever the overlying sandstone is removed. The valley is 

80 miles or more in length, and all of it is included within the area 

mapped except that part in Carbon County north of the Denver & 

Rio Grande Railroad. The topography of Castle Valley north of Ivie 

Creek is characterized mainly by gentle slopes, which develop into 

bad lands near the Wasatch Plateau and in the vicinity of stream 

courses. South of Ivie Creek the topography is more rugged, owing to 

the extensive mantle of gravel and bowlders derived from the basaltcovered area to the southwest. The gravel and bowlders have very 

noticeably protected the underlying shale from erosion, and the resulting topographic forms are entirely different from the forms north 

of Ivie Creek. Along the east side of Castle Valley parallel cliffs similar to the east face of the Wasatch Plateau above described are developed by the erosion of strata of unequal resistance. In passing 

from the Wasatch Plateau across Castle Valley into the San Rafael 

Swell one descends stratigraphically several thousand feet. A view 

westward from the interior of the Swell gives the impression of looking up a very gently inclined varicolored stairway, the steps of which 

increase in height toward the top, represented by the Wasatch Plateau.
GEOLOGY. 19

Castle Valley ranges in altitude from 5,300 feet on Price River, at the 

north end of the valley, to 8,550 feet in the vicinity of the Hogan 

ranch, near its south end.

The boundary separating the San Eafael Swell from Castle Valley, 

arbitrarily adopted by the writer, roughly follows the western limit 

of the irregular rows of buttes, mesas, and " castles " that form the 

western boundary of " Sinbad." The buttes and " castles " here referred to are conspicuously shown on the United States Geological 

Survey's San Rafael topographic sheet.

SAN RAFAEL SWELL.

The most prominent feature of the topography of the San Rafael 

Swell is a series of odd-shaped sandstone forms which encircle an 

area in the heart of the Swell, locally known as " Sinbad," which is 

40 to 50 miles long and 10 to 20 miles wide. These fantastically 

eroded forms are remnants of the outcrop of a massive cross-bedded 

gray Jurassic sandstone about 800 feet thick. It is practicable to 

cross the Swell at only a few places on account of the almost impassable barrier formed by this sandstone rim. Nearly vertical 

scarps and canyon walls 300 to 500 feet in height are common. Low 

hogbacks formed by resistant beds in the strata overlying this sandstone, the upper surfaces of which produce dip slopes of varying 

extent, depending on the inclination of the beds, encircle this belt of 

rugged topography. Badlands are common, especially near stream 

courses.

GEOLOGY.

STRATIGRAPHY. 

GENERAL FEATURES.

During the investigation in Castle Valley reconnaissance excursions were made to the Wasatch Plateau and the interior of the San 

Rafael Swell,1 enabling the writer to discuss in a general way the 

stratigraphy from the lowest rocks (Triassic and Permian) studied 

in the Swell to the highest (Green River?) capping the Wasatch 

Plateau. Throughout the greater part of Castle Valley the upper 

part of the McElmo formation, the Dakota sandstone, and . the 

greater part of the Mancos shale were carefully mapped. All other 

formations described were examined, some in detail, as shown by 

the compiled stratigraphic section, and others in a general way, as 

indicated in the descriptions below. Numerous fossil collections 

were made, and the reports of the determinations of these collections are presented in the descriptions of the several formations.

1 Lupton, C. T., Notes on the geology of the San Rafael Swell, Utah: Washington 

Acad. Sci. Jour., vol. 2, No. 7, pp. 185-188, 1912.
20 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The following summarized description of the Triassic and younger 

strata is given in tabular form for convenient reference and direct 

comparison:

Rock formations outcropping across Castle Valley from the interior of San Rafael 

Swell to the top of Wasatch Plateau, Utah.

System and 

series.

Q u a t e r nary 

(Recent).

Quaternary? 

(Pleistocene?)

Tertiary (Eocene).

Cretaceous 

(UpperCretaceous).

Formation.

Green River 

(?) formation.

Wasatch formation.

Mesaverde formation.

Mancos shale.

Dakota sandstone.

Probable unconformity.

Description of strata.

An extensive mantle of soil, low 

gravel-capped terraces, and low 

broad compound alluvial fans.

Remnants of alluvial fans high up 

on the east face of Wasatch Plateau and lower table-lands. 

High terrace gravel with pebbles 

up to 1 foot in diameter. 

. Gravel of both divisions of the 

Pleistocene (?) consists of yellowish-gray sandstone, gray and 

drab limestone, quartzitic sandstone, and black chert north of 

Ivie Creek and principally of 

dark basalt south of that creek.

Mainly grayish-drab fine-grained 

calcareous sandstone and sandy 

shale, which weather white and 

outcrop in cliffs.

Beds not well exposed but whereverobserved, mainlysandstone, 

and sandy shale of various colors, 

red, yellow, and drab predominating. The outcrop of this formation forms smooth topography.

Mainly beds of massive and medium-bedded sandstone with 

some sandy shale, all of a yellowish-gray color. Several coal beds 

are known to be present near the 

middle of the formation. None 

are known in the lower part of 

the formation up to a horizon 200 

or 300 feet above the base. The 

lower part contains more shale 

than the upper.

Yellow to bluish-drab sandy shale. 

Upper part very sandy, containing Deds and lenses of sandstone. 

Middle and lower parts but 

slightly sandy.

Ferron sandstone member. Alternating beds of sandstone and 

sandy shale with several coal 

beds present in the vicinity of 

Emery. At Mounds this member is represented by about 75 

feet of sandy material which 

generally contains a concretionary zone near the middle.

Bluisb-drab sandy shale. Sandy 

material most plentiful near base 

and top of this part of formation.

Yellowish-gray sandstone with 

thin beds of shale, alternating. 

Sandstone coarse, soft, and in 

places very conglomeratic. 

Near the north end of Castle 

Valley the formation is mainly 

conglomerate. The lower part 

grades into sandy shale.

Thickness.

0-50+ feet.

0-50 feet. 

0-40 feet.

Not determined, probably 

about 800 

feet.

Not determined, probably 

about 1,000 

feet.

About 1,200 

feet, possibly more.

About 3,000 

feet.

Varies from 75 

feet near 

Mounds to 

about 800 

feet on Last 

Chance 

Creek.

About 600 

feet.

60 to 100 feet 

and possibly 

more.

Economic value.

Small springs issue 

from these beds.

Oil shale reported.

Water bearing and 

is known to carry 

thin beds of coal 

near Colton and 

Wales,Utah.

Commonly includes several 

thick beds of 

good bituminous 

coal.

Several beds of 

good bituminous 

coal at the south 

end of Castle 

Valley.

A little coal of no 

importance in 

Castle Valley.
GEOLOGY. - 21 

Rock formations outcropping across Castle Valley, etc. Continued.

System and 

series.

Jurassic (?).

Jurassic.

Triassic.

Carboniferous 

(Permian) 

and Triassic.

Formation.

McElmo formation.

La Plata sandstone.

Probable unconformity.

Vermilion

Cliff sand- 

 stone.

Description of strata.

Variegated sandstone and sandy

shale. The upper 500 feet principally gray and containing some 

conglomerate whose pebbles are

in places 3 inches in diameter.

About 800 feet above the base is

a gray to white sandstone about

200 feet thick which probably

corresponds to the Salt Wash

sandstone members The lower

800 feet of beds are mainly red in

color. About 200 feet above the

base is a prominent gypsum horizon in which 40 feet of very pure

gypsum is exposed. Another

gypsum bed 10+ feet thick is

exposed about 700 feet below the

top of the formation.

Highly cross-bedded coarse gray 

sandstone, weathering into oddshaped buttes, mesas, and "castles." A shaly bed near the 

middle of the formation is present in places.

Mainly varicolored sandstone and

sandy shale. In places conglomeratic near the top. About 200 

>feet below the top asphaltum

seeps were noted at a few places.

Gray medium-bedded sandstone 

exposed in the drainage basin of 

Mexican Spring Wash in 

"Sinbad."

Thickness.

About 1,850

feet.

Not measured, 

estimated at 

800 feet.

Full thickness

not determined; about 

500 feet was

examined.

800± feet exposed (according to 

Forrester's 

unpublished 

notes).

Economic value.

Two or three gypsum beds of importance.

Manganese southeast of Castledale.

A little copper and 

some asphaltumsaturated sandstone; also locally 

water bearing.

Asphaltum. Some

thin lenses of

relatively pure 

alum (sodium

variety).

Sulphur springs 

and deposits on 

San Rafael lliver 

at east side of 

Swell.

oLupton, C. T., Oil and gas near Green River, Grand County, Utah: U. S. Geol. Survey Bu 1.541. 

p. 127,1914. .

CARBONIFEROUS (PERMIAN) AND TRIASSIC ROCKS.

It is believed that rocks of Permian and Triassic age older than 

the Vermilion Cliff sandstone are exposed on one of the southern 

tributaries of San Rafael River, near the west side of " Sinbad," 

1 mile or more west of a prominent butte locally known as The 

Wickiup and about 1 mile east of Mexican Spring Wash. The 

sulphur deposit on San Rafael River, approximately in the northcentral part of T. 21 S., R. 13 E., described by Hess 1 and visited 

by the writer, is situated stratigraphically a few hundred feet below 

the top of these rocks.

Robert Forrester in unpublished notes reports about 800 feet of 

Carboniferous beds exposed along San Rafael River near the Black 

Box, below Lockhart's cabin. These beds are lower than, any examined by the writer. Fossils found by Forrester at this locality and 

identified by G. H. Girty are listed below.

1 Hess, F. L,, A sulphur deposit in the San Rafael Canyon, Utah : U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 530, pp. 347-349, 1913.
22 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The first eight in the list came from a stratum 30 feet below the 

one in which the remainder were found. Mr. Girty states that these 

fossils are characteristic of the "Bellerophon limestone" or top 

of the Aubrey group.

Allorisma capax. 

Sedgwickia sp. 

Myalina aff. M. congeneris. 

Schizodus? sp.

Aviculipecten coloradoensis? 

Pleurotomaria? sp. 

Macrocheilina ? sp. 

Orthoceras? sp. 

Sponge. 

Lioclema? sp. 

Composita mexicana? 

Solenomya? sp. 

Edmondia gibbosa? 

Sanguinolites?? sp. a. 

Sanguinolites?? sp. b.

Leda obesa.

Nucula levatiformis.

Mytilus? sp.

Pleurophorus? sp.

Astarte? sp.

Plagioglypta canna.

Dentalium mexicanum.

Euphemus subpapillosus.

Patellostiura aff. P. nodicostatum.

Bellerophon sp. 1.

Bellerophon sp. 2.

Warthia? sp.

Coloceras n. sp.

Gastrioceras sp.

Ammonoid??

TBIASSIC SYSTEM. 

VEEMILION CLIFF SANDSTONE.

The base of the Vermilion Cliff sandstone was not determined, 

and the section given below represents careful estimates rather than 

accurate measurements of the thickness of the strata. The formation is prevailingly sandy and red. The lower part consists of thin 

to medium bedded sandstone and sandy shale which is yellowish gray 

below but changes to red in its upper part. Overlying this series is 

a grayish-brown coarse-grained sandstone about 90 feet thick, which 

in places is conglomeratic. At several localities asphaltum seeps 

and springs exist near the base of this bed. About 100 feet of varicolored sandy and conglomeratic material overlies this sandstone. 

The presence of a conglomerate near the top of this formation suggests an unconformity, but the evidence on this point is not conclusive, as no fossils were collected in the Vermilion Cliff or the overlying La Plata sandstone.

Section of part of Vermilion Cliff sandstone near west side of "Sinbad," in the

San Rafael Swell.

- [Thickness estimated.]

Top. Feet. 

, * Sandstone, red, maroon, purple, and gray, with beds of thin

conglomerate and sandy shale of similar colors_______ 100 

Sandstone, grayish brown, in places conglomeratic (horizon of

asphaltum seeps and springs near base of this sandstone)_ 90 

Sandstone and sandy shale, red in upper part, yellow and 

gray in lower part, thin to medium bedded__________ 300

490
GEOLOGY. 23

JURASSIC SYSTEM. 

LA PLATA SANDSTONE.

The La Plata sandstone consists of a highly cross-bedded coarsegrained, very massive gray sandstone, but near the middle of the 

formation there is in places some shale, which, however, is not persistent. Careful estimates place the total thickness of this sandstone 

at about 800 feet along the west flank of the San Kaf ael Swell, where 

its outcrop has been eroded into prominent scarps, " castles," buttes, 

and mesas, from which Castle Valley probably takes its name. This 

saridstone is in all probability the same as the White Cliff sandstone 

of the eastern Uinta and southern Utah sections of Powell,1 and 

corresponds to the La Plata sandstone of Cross. 2 This correlation is 

based solely on its stratigraphic position and physical characteristics, 

as no fossils were collected from it.

JURASSIC (?) SYSTEM. 

McELMO FORMATION.

The McElmo formation, which is thicker in this locality than at 

any of the places in eastern Utah and southwestern Colorado, 

where it has been measured, consists of 1,800 to 1,900 feet of varicolored conglomeratic sandstone and sandy shale, with two or more 

gypsum, beds 3 that form but a small part of the whole thickness. 

The lower 800 feet is composed mainly of sandstone and sandy 

shale, with gypsum-bearing beds about 200 feet above the base. 

The upper 400 feet of this part of the formation is mainly red 

and massive. Overlying this is a gray to white sandy series about 

200 feet thick containing a thin stratum of conglomerate at the 

base. This portion is believed to be equivalent to the Salt Wash 

sandstone member 4 in the vicinity of Green River, Utah. Variegated 

sandstone and sandy shale, interbedded, and about 36 feet of gypsum, included in three benches, make up the overlying 350 feet of 

strata. The top of this 350-foot series probably coincides with the 

top of the Flaming Gorge formation as denned by Powell. 5 Gale,6 

however, in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah draws 

the contact between the Flaming Gorge formation and the Dakota

1 Powell, J. W., Report on the geology of the eastern portion of the .Uinta Mountains 

and a region of country adjacent thereto, pp. 52, 53, 152, TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey 

Terr., 1876.

2 Cross, Whitman, and Purington, C. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Telluride folio 

(No. 57), p. 3, 1899.

3 Lupton, C. T., Gypsum along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell, Utah: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 530, pp. 221-231, 1913.

* Lupton, C. T., Oil and gas near Green*River, Grand County, Utah: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 541, pp. 124, 126, 127, 1914.

B Powell, J. W., op. cit., pp. 152, 157.

8 Gale, H. S., Coal fields of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah : U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 415, p. 54, 1910.
24 GEOLOGY ATSTD COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

sandstone about 500 feet stratigraphically higher, a determination 

that includes within the Flaming Gorge about 500 feet more of strata 

than Powell included in it. This 500 feet consists of sandstone, 

sandy shale, and conglomerate of a greenish-drab color and apparently corresponds to part of the Henrys Fork group as defined 

by Powell and as identified by Gilbert 1 in the Henry Mountains. 

In places the colors change to red, maroon, and blue. Considerable 

conglomerate occurs near the base. In Castle Valley the conditions 

apparently are similar to those described by Gale, and the positions 

of the geologic boundaries are similarly located. The McElmo formation as recognized in this field is believed to include not only the 

McElmo formation described by Cross 2 as occurring in southwestern 

Colorado, where it is considered the equivalent of the Morrison f orma.tion, but also a series of marine beds that probably represent a 

part at least of the Sundance formation. Fossils collected near the 

south side of sec. 10, T. 21 S., R. 9 E., on the east side of Coal Wash, 

about a mile slightly east of south from Dripping Spring, within 

10 feet of the base of the formation were identified by T. W. Stanton 

as belonging to a marine Jurassic fauna. Plate II, J., shows the 

strata in which the fossils were collected and also the contact of the 

McElmo formation and the La Plata sandstone. The names of the 

species are as follows:

Ostrea strigilecula White.

Plicatula sp.

Camptonectes stygius White.

Modiola subimbricata Meek. 

Trigonia sp. 

Cyprina? sp.

Camptonectes sp.

As the McElmo formation in its type area is not known to include 

any marine strata, it is possible that the bed containing this fauna 

is older than the basal beds of the typical McElmo.

The following section was measured principally in Colt Gulch, 

10 to 12 miles east of Emery, and is given in detail, except those 

parts near the base numbered 32 and 33:

Section of rocks of McElmo formation measured on the west flank of San 

Rafael Sicell and the east side of Castle Valley.

Top. rt. in.

1. Clay shale, gray to green, sandy, contains calcareous 

nodules; becomes more sandy and greenish near 

top____________________________ 140 0

2. Sandstone, massive, in places conglomeratic_____ 40±

3. Sandstone, gray, medium bedded___________ 11 4

4. Shale, similar to No. 6_________________ 13 2

5. Sandstone, gray; weathers brown; medium grained

and medium bedded_________________ 10 0

1 Gilbert, G. K., Report on the geology of the Henry Mountains, pp. 4, 5, U. S. Geog. 

and Geol. Survey Rocky Mtn. Region, 1877.

2 Cross, Whitman, and I'urington, C. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Telluride folio 

(No. 57), p. 3, 1899.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 628 PLATE I

A. CONTACTOR McELMO FORMATION AND LA PLATA SANDSTONE ON 

THE WEST FLANK OF THE SAN RAFAEL SWELL.

1, McElmo formation; 2, contact between McElmo and La Plata; 3, La Plata 

sandstone.

S. LOCAL UNCONFORMITY IN THE DAKOTA SANDSTONE NORTHEAST OF FERRON.
GEOLOGY. 25

Section of rocks of AIcElmo formation measured on the west flank of San 

Rafael Swell, etc. Continued.

Ft. In.

6. Shale, gray, sandy________________ 17 8

7. Sandstone, medium bedded; contains some shale;

conglomeratic at top______________ _ 11 6

8. Shale, sandy, variegated; contains thin beds of gray 

to brown sandstone; calcareous in places; genera] 

color brown______________________ 207 0

9. Conglomerate, gray; contains black chert and limestone pebbles, the largest 3 or 4 inches in diameter ; contains bones, unidentified__________ 15 6

10. Clay shale, gray, red, and white, with some sandstone and cone-in-cone concretion-like material 

alternating_______________________ 48 0

11. Conglomerate, gray; contains black chert and limestone pebbles 3 inches or less in diameter; also 

some soft, friable sandstone___________ 8±

12. Sandstone, gray (probably top of Flaming Gorge

formation as defined by Powell)_________ 4 0

13. Gypsum, sandy, red, gray, and white________ 16 6

14. Gypsum, pink, impure; very shaly at base, very

pure at top; contains cherty concretions____ 22 0

15. Shale, salmon-red and in places greenish gray___ 10 4

16. Gypsum, almost pure__________________ 10 0

17. Shale, red, sandy ____________________ 1 3

18. Gypsum, somewhat impure_______________ 4±

19. Clay, salmon-red, sandy ________________ 11 0

20. Sandstone, greenish gray, and red sandy shale alternating______________1__________ 20 8

21. Sandstone, red, argillaceous______________ 5 0

22. Sandstone, gray, weathers brown, rather thin bedded 6 0

23. Sandstone and sandy shale, salmon-red, thin bedded; 

contains one or two lenses of calcareous sandstone 2 feet thick near top (within 25 feet); also 

a stratum of gypsum 6 to 8 inches thick near top_ 167 0

24. Sandstone, white, fine grained, ledge maker____ 5

25. Sandstone and sandy shale, chocolate-red in color; 

contains some thin-bedded sandstone near top; thin 

streaks of green sandy clay occur in this material- 57 0

857 4±

26. Shale, greenish gray, slightly pinkish at top, sandy- 50±

27. Sandstone, gray, thin bedded, shaly__________ 45 0

28. Sandstone, massive, gray to white, friable_____ 100±

29. Sandstone, grayish green, shaly, thin bedded____ 18 0

30. Conglomerate; contains black chert and quartz pebbles up to 4 inches in diameter___________ 5

1 213 5±

31. Sandstone, greenish gray to white, shaly______ 3 0

32. Sandstone, red, massive, thin bedded_________ 400±

1 This part of the section (Nos. 26 to 30, inclusive) probably corresponds to the Salt 

Wash sandstone member of the Green River region. See U. S. Survey Bull. 541, p. 127, 

1914.
26 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Section of rocks of McElmo formation measured on the west flank of San Rafael

Swell, etc. Continued.

Ft. in.

33. Sandstone, calcareous, gray in places, slightly green,

thin bedded______________________ 200±

34. Gypsum, relatively pure_________________ 30+

35. Sandstone, red; contains many veins of gypsum__ 10 0

36. Gypsum, very pure____________________ 7 0

37. Sandstone, red_____________________ 5 0

38. Sandstone, greenish gray, thin bedded________ 60 0

39. Shale and sandstone, red, thin bedded________ 18 0

40. Sandstone, yellowish brown, thin bedded______ 15 0

41. Sandstone, yellowish brown, massive_________ 10 0

42. Sandstone, yellowish buff and maroon, thin bedded 

(fossils named on p. 24 collected near base of 

this stratum)_____________________ 15 0

773 0

1,843 9± 

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.

DAKOTA SANDSTONE.

The Dakota sandstone is well exposed throughout the length of 

Castle Valley except for about 1 mile in sees. 14, 22, 23, and 27, 

T. 20 S., E. 8 E., 3 to 4 miles south of Ferron Creek. It has been 

definitely correlated with the Dakota sandstone as mapped by Eichardson x near Mounds, in the Book Cliffs coal field. This formation 

was traced continuously from Mounds to Ivie Creek, a distance of 

about 60 miles, but south of Ivie Creek the mapping of the Dakota 

is only approximate. This formation also crops out in small isolated 

areas near Farnham, both north and south of the Denver & Eio 

Grande Eailroad.

The Dakota consists mostly of grayish-buff sandstone, but in places 

is composed of interbedded sandstone, sandy shale, and conglomerate 

of the same color, in varying proportions. Cross-bedding is common, 

suggesting that the material was deposited in shallow water where 

currents continuously reworked it. In many places local unconformities occur within the formation. An exposure near the center 

of sec. 36, T. 19 S., E. 8 E., on a small northern tributary of Ferron 

Creek, shows that a part of the gray massive sandstone has been 

replaced by dark-brown cross-bedded sandstone. The line separating 

the two kinds of sandstone is very distinct. This phenomenon suggests that at one time an erosion channel was cut into the gray sandstone, and that later the cut was filled by sand of a different color.

1 Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance of the Book Cliffs coal field, between Grand River, 

Colo., and Sunnyside, Utah : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 371, pp. 12-14, pi. 3, 1909.
GEOLOGY. 27

Plate IIj Z?, is a view of this local unconformity. A thin coal bed 

of no economic importance is present in places near the top of the 

formation. A full description of this coal is given on pages 74r-76. 

Sections of the Dakota sandstone were measured at several points 

along the east side of Castle Valley and are given below to show its 

variation in character and thickness.

Section of Dakota sandstone measured in T. 16 S., R. 11 E., 8 miles southwest

of Mounds.

Feet.

Sandstone, gray and yellow, cross-bedded, conglomeratic___ 7 

Conglomerate; pebbles as large as 3 inches in diameter____ 2 

Covered (probably gray argillaceous sandstone)________ 28 

Sandstone, gray; weathers brown; massive; argillaceous

in places______________________________ 10 

Sandstone, gray; weathers brown in places; somewhat conglomeratic ; pebbles chiefly of gray clayey material-___ _ 12 

Covered____________________ ___ _ _ 8 

Sandstone, gray; weathers brown; massive, fine grained____ 8

. 75

The material directly underlying the Dakota at this place consists 

of "lumpy" light, porous, cellular white clay. A section measured 

on Huntington Creek, about 25 miles. southwest of this locality, 

shows the formation much thinner and considerably different in 

character:

Section of Dakota sandstone measured on Huntington Creek in sec. 4, T. 19 8., 

R. 9 E., about 5 miles east of Castledale.

Ft. In. 

Sandstone, yellowish gray, somewhat friable, partly thin

bedded and partly cross-bedded______ 22 0 

Clay shale, yellowish gray________________-__ 1 6 

Sandstone, brownish yellow, fine grained, argillaceous. 3 6

27 0

The rocks directly underlying the Dakota sandstone at this locality 

consist of 300 to 500 feet of maroon to drab sandy shale, sandstone, 

and conglomerate. The beds of conglomerate, which occur near the 

base of the series, are in places calcareous and undoubtedly should 

be included within the McElmo formation, but their physical character in other places suggests a similarity to the Dakota.

Two or three miles southwest of the above-mentioned locality another exposure, on the south bank of Cottonwood Creek near the 

center of sec. 17, T. 19 S., R. 9 E., shows that the rocks have changed 

considerably in character and that a carbonaceous bed occurs at the 

top of the formation.
28 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Section of Dakota'sandstone measured on Cottonwood Creek in sec. 17, T. 19 S., 

R. 9 E., about 5 miles southeast of Castledale.

Feet;

Sandstone, yellow, saccharoidal; contains small iron concretions; lower part slightly conglomeratic_______ 11 6 

Sandstone, massive, yellow and brown, conglomeratic near 

base_____________________________ 24 0

35 6

The carbonaceous beds are not persistent and may occupy any 

position in the formation. In one place near this location carbonaceous material rests on the shale underlying the Dakota sandstone.

The formation is thicker toward the southwest, as shown by the 

following section measured near Horn Silver Gulch in sec. 9, T. 21 S., 

E. 8 E., about 8 miles southeast of Ferron:

Section of the Dakota sandstone measiired in sec. 9, T. 21 S., R. 8 E., about 8 

. miles southeast of Ferron.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, yellow, saccharoidal; contains small iron concretions ; lower part slightly conglomeratic_______ 11 6 

Sandstone, massive, yellow and brown, conglomeratic near 

base __________,.___________________ 24 0

35 6

The formation at this locality contains many spherical iron concretions. The upper part of the sandstone seems to be distinct from 

the underlying and more massive part, which weathers into large 

cubic blocks. A fine-grained thin yellow " clay-ball" conglomerate 

separates the two parts. Directly underlying the sandstone, unconformably at this place, are beds of shale and sandstone several feet 

thick containing fragmentary fossil leaves that could not be identified. This section is as follows:

Section of rocks underlying the Dakota sandstone in sec. 9, T. 21 8., R. 8 E.

Ft. in.

Shale, bluish gray_______ ___ _ - 1 3 

Sandstone, brownish gray, cross-bedded, somewhat carbonaceous______________________:____ _ 2 0

Clay shale, bluish gray; contains leaves of several species

(unidentified)___________________________ S

Shale, sandy, coarse grained, conglomeratic______ 1 0

Shale, drab ____________________ 3 

Clay, white, calcareous, lenticular_______ 2 

Shale, drab, with yellow iron concretions____il__ 1 0

Shale, sandy, bluish____________ 3

Shale, sandy, drab, yellow, and gray. 1 6

8 1

It is possible that these rocks should be included in the Dakota 

sandstone.
GEOLOGY. 29

About 5 miles southeast of Rochester, on the north side of Dry 

Wash, in the E. $ sec. 36, T. 21 S., R. 7 E., the Dakota sandstone is 

much thicker and contains more conglomerate than is shown by any 

other section measured in this part of Castle Valley. 

Section of Dakota sandstone measured in the E. $ sec. 36, T. 21 S., R. 7 E.

Conglomerate, consisting mainly of quartz and black chert Feetpebbles, 2 or 3 inches in diameter______________ 1± 

Sandstone, yellowish gray, soft, thin bedded_________ 6 

Sandstone, yellowish gray, soft, mainly thin bedded; crossbedded in places; contains a few iron concretions stained 

yellow and brown_______________________ 18+ 

Clay shale, gray, yellow, and red_______________ 3+ 

Sandstone, grayish yellow, indurated, massive, coarsegrained, conglomeratic in places.______________ 26 

Clay shale, yellowish gray, gypsiferous____________ 2

56+

About 5 miles southwest of the point where this section was measured thin lenses of coal occur in the top of the Dakota sandstone. 

(See locations 418, 419, and 420 on PI. XII, and p. 75.)

Another section was measured about 12 miles southeast of Emery 

and is given below.

Section of DaJcota sandstone measured about 12 miles southeast of Emery, 3 

miles south of Ivie Creek, near the west side of sec. 36, T. 23 S., R. 6 E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, gray, brown wherever weathered, massive, and 

thin bedded; iron stained in places; contains a thin 

lens of shaly coal at base_________________ 36 0

Sandstone, yellowish brown; small clay balls form a thin 

bed of conglomerate at base__ ____________ 3 6

39 6

A section of the Dakota sandstone measured near the south end of 

the field shows the formation to be somewhat thicker than in the 

vicinity of Ivie Creek, where the preceding section was measured. 

The character and thickness of the rocks in the Dakota sandstone at 

the south end of the coal field are given below.

Section of the Dakota sandstone measured in SE. $ sec. 25, T. 25 S., R. // E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone and bluish sandy shale alternating________ 30 0 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous (see location 421 on p. 76)___ 1 0

Coal, impure___ _ _ 8 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous___ ______________ 8 

Sandstone (?),-poorly exposed _______________ 12 0

Sandstone, white_______ __________ 2 6

Coal, rusty, probably impure 3 

Sandstone and sandy shale, poorly exposed _____ __ 12 0 

Shale, coaly, very carbonaceous ______________ 8

59 9
30 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The Dakota sandstone is exceedingly variable in thickness and 

character, as is shown by the sections given above. Weathering undoubtedly accounts for some of its variation in color. The only 

fossils collected in this formation were the fragmentary leaves mentioned on page 28. At many places in Castle Valley evidences of an 

unconformity were noted at the base of the formation. This may 

only be apparent, however, because local unconformities as extensive 

as that which occurs at its base are present within the sandstone 

itself.

MANGOS SHALE. 

GENERAL FEATURES. '

The Mancos shale in Castle Valley consists of three natural subdivisions; The lowest, about 600 feet thick, is described in this report as " Shale below the' Ferron sandstone member." Conformably 

overlying this shale is the Ferron sandstone member, which contains 

, the coal in the southern part of Castle Valley. This member increases in thickness from about 75 feet at the north end of Castle 

Valley to about 800 feet at its south end. The highest subdivision 

is described in this report as "Shale above the Ferron sandstone 

member." It rests conformably on the Ferron sandstone and is about 

3,000 feet thick in the vicinity of Emery. At the south end of the 

field it is impossible to determine its exact thickness on account of 

extensive faulting.

SHALE BELOW THE FERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER.

That part of the Mancos shale underlying the Ferron sandstone 

member ("shale of the San Rafael Swell" of Taff's classification) 

consists of about 600 feet of bluish-drab shale, which is rather 

sandy in its lower and upper parts. It probably corresponds to 

the Blue Gate shale and possibly includes the Tununk sandstone 

and the Tununk shale, as described by Gilbert1 in his report on the 

Henry Mountains. Five collections of fossils were obtained in this 

part of the Mancos shale. All the species except one are definitely 

Cretaceous forms and characteristic of the lower part of the Mancos 

shale or basal Colorado. The species, identified by T. W. Stanton, 

are listed below:

Prionotropis sp.

Anomia sp.

Inoceramus n. sp., related to I. fragilis

Hall and Meek. 

Cardium sp. 

Lucina sp.

Mactra sp. 

Corbula sp. 

Astarte? sp. 

Ostrea sp.

Gastropod casts of two or more undetermined genera.

1 Gilbert, G. K., Report on the geology of the Henry Mountains, pp. 4, 5, U. S. Geog. 

and Geol.- Survey Rocky Mtn. Region, 1877.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. PERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANCOS SHALE SOUTHEAST OF EMERY.

B. LOCAL UNCONFORMITY IN THE PERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANCOS SHALE, 

ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF EMERY.
GEOLOGY. 31

The greater part of this subdivision of the formation, together 

with a portion of the Ferron sandstone member, constitutes a " riser " 

or cliff, in some places 600 feet high, whereas the upper surface of 

k the resistant overlying Ferron sandstone forms a "step" in the 

toppgraphy. Plate III, -4, shows that part of the Mancos shale above 

discussed and also the lower part of the Ferron member. This shale 

weathers into bad lands along the base of the scarp.

FERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER.

The Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale is well developed in the vicinity of Ferron and Emery and rests conformably 

upon the shale above described. It crops out in the upper part of a 

prominent scarp which ranges from 80 to 1,000 feet in height. This 

member becomes thicker from a point near Mounds, where it is about 

75 feet thick, to Last Chance Creek, TO miles southwest, where it is 

about 800 feet thick. Local unconformities occur within the Ferron 

sandstone, as illustrated by Plate III, B. A section measured on 

Last Chance Creek shows this coal-bearing sandstone portion of 

the Mancos to be more than 800 feet thick. Eight stratigraphic sections on Plate IV show the gradual increase in thickness of the formation toward the southwest. Concretionary beds near the base of 

the Ferron sandstone extend from Mounds to Ivie Creek, but south 

of that stream concretions are not so conspicuous. In some places 

these spherical concretions are much more abundant than in others, 

being very large and numerous north of Ferron Creek. Plate V 

shows a typical exposure of these concretions in the vicinity of Castledale. The Ferron member of the Mancos shale in the Emery field 

carries the principal coal beds, all of which lie above the concretionary horizon above described. This coal, however, is of little 

value north of an east-west line through Emery. Carbonaceous material occurs in this sandstone for several miles north of the place 

(south side of T. 21 S., R. T E.) where the first coal of economic 

importance crops out.

Fossils were collected from the lower part of the Mancos shale 

and were identified by T. W. Stanton, who considered them indicative of "brackish-water fauna, probably of Colorado age." The 

fossils from the Ferron sandstone member do not conclusively prove 

its age, but as the fossils collected stratigraphically above and below 

it are definitely of Mancos age, there can be no doubt that the Ferron 

sandstone is also Mancos. The fossils collected on Ivie Creek about 

50 feet above the base of the Ferron member, in sec. IT. T. 23 S., 

B. 6 E., about 8 miles south of Emery, are given below.

Ostrea sp.

Corbicula sp., related to C. clurkeei 

Meek.

Turritella? sp. 

Corbula sp.
32 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The Ferron member corresponds lithologically and stratigraphically to the Blue Gate sandstone in the Henry Mountains, described 

by Gilbert.1 The following section of the Ferron sandstone was 

measured on Ivie Creek in the north half of T. 23 S., R. 6 E., and 

shows the thickness and distribution of the coals in that locality: '

Section of Ferron sandstone member of Mancos shale on Ivie Creek 8 miles

south of Emery.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, gray; weathers yellowish brown; massive; 

contains more or less persistent layers of gray to 

black shale, some of which is carbonaceous. The . 

upper 40 feet of this massive sandstone in places 

changes, very abruptly into a slightly sandy carbonaceous shale_______________________ 150± 

Bed J, location 206:

Coal__________________.________ 1 2 

Shale, black, carbonaceous, sandy_ ________ 9 

Coal__________________.________ 1 2 

Shale, black, carbonaceous, grading upward into drab ,

sandy shale________________________ 11 0 

Bed I, location 190: Coal, weathered. This bed 

changes abruptly into a carbonaceous shale a short 

distance from the point measured_____;_____ 3 6 

Shale, brown; weathers gray; carbonaceous, sandy___ 3 0 

Sandstone, gray; weathers yellow and brown; massive. 

Beds of sandy gray to brown shale as thick as 4 feet 

are interstratifled with the sandstone__________ 86 0 

Shale, black, carbonaceous, showing a transition upward

into drab shale, which becomes sandy near top____ 3 0 

Bed D, location 148: Coal, blocky_____________ 1 6 

Shale, clayey, drab; joints iron stained; upper part very

gypsiferous and carbonaceous____________ 7 6 

Bed C, location 148:

Coal____________________________ 84 

Clay, sandy, yellow, drab at top___________ 1 9 

Coal, fair, much weathered_______________ 3 8 

Sandstone, brown, carbonaceous______'.____ £ 

Coal, fair, much weathered____________^___ 1 4 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, in places sandy_______ 8 5 

Bed B, location 132: Coal, blocky, fair__________ 1 8 

Sandstone, gray; weathers brown; medium bedded, very

lenticular; in places represented by drab sandy shale_ 23 0 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, showing a transition upward into gray sandy shale________________ 11 G 

Bed A, location 121:

Coal, fair, weathered_________..________ 1 2 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous______________ 4 

Coal, brown, fair____________________ 4 

Shale, brown, sandy__________________'_ 6

i Gilbert, G. K., op. cit, pp. 4, 5.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 628 PLATE IV

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COLUMNAR SECTIONS OF THE PERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANGOS SHALE IN CASTLE VALLEY, 

SHOWING VARIATIONS IN THICKNESS FROM NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST.
GEOLOGY. 33

Bed A, location 121 Continued. Ft. in.

Coal_____..______________________ 1 2

Coal, bony ________________________ 7

Coal____________________________ 3 6

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, sandy____________ 10

Sandstone, white, medium grained_____________ 1 0

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, sandy____________ 4

Sandstone, lenticular ____________________ 4

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, sandy; contains a little coal

in places___________________________ 4 0 

Sandstone, gray, massive________^________ 57 0 

Sandstone, shaly and thin bedded at base, medium

bedded above______________________ 16 0 

Sandstone, shaly, carbonaceous; contains thin lenses of

coal and at some other places is represented by coal 5 

Sandstone, thin bedded, very soft, carbonaceous_____ 4 0 

Sandstone, yellowish gray, calcareous, very fossiliferous_ 10 

Shale, drab to yellow, sandy; upper part (1$ feet) very

fossiliferous_________________________ 14 6 

Sandstone, yellowish gray; weathers brown; somewhat 

cross-bedded, ledge maker; contains thin lenses of 

shale in places; the top of this sandstone forms a 

structural terrace on which rest gravel and bowlders 

of basalt__________________________ 40 0

475 li±

The above section shows an unusual thickness of coal. Taff 1 considered this sandstone (" sandstone of the Red Plateau ") to be the 

same formation that caps Cedar Mountain (Red Plateau), 35 miles 

to the northeast, but the latter formation is about 1,200 feet stratigraphically below the former and probably is equivalent to a conglomerate at the base of the Henrys Fork group of Gilbert's Henry 

Mountains classification, or about 450 feet below the top of the 

McElrno formation.2 As these formations are in some respect similar, and as Taff's work along the east side of Castle Valley was 

entirely reconnaissance, his conclusion that the coal-bearing sandstone south and east of Emery is the same as the formation capping 

Cedar Mountain naturally followed.

SHALE ABOVE THE FERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER.

The upper shaly part of the Mancos shale (" shale of Castle 

Valley" of Taff's classification) is about 3,000 feet thick, as determined a few miles northeast of Emery. It rests with apparent 

conformity upon the Ferron sandstone member and probably should 

be correlated with the Masuk shale of Gilbert's section of the

iTaff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal field, Utah, west of Green River: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

285, p. 291, 1906. 

s Gilbert, G. K., op. cit, p. 4.

21246° Bull. 628 1.6 3
34 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Cretaceous of the Henry Mountains region.1 This subdivision of 

the Mancos'shale is grayish drab in color, and is sandy in its lower 

and upper parts. The upper part in some places contains lenses of 

friable yellowish-gray sandstone. Fossils collected in the lower part 

of the shale above the Ferron sandstone member indicate that this 

shale is unquestionably of Mancos age. The species identified by 

T. W. Stanton are typical of the lower part of the Mancos and are 

as follows:

Inoceramus acutiplicatus Stanton? 

Inoceramus labiatus Schlotheim. 

Inoceramus sp. .

Ostrea sp.

Baculites sp.

Fish scales and bones.

Ostrea congesta Conrad.

The topographic forms resulting from the erosion of this part 'of 

the Mancos shale are similar to those of the shale below the Ferron 

member. This upper shale, together with the overlying Mesaverde 

formation, constitutes the " riser" of the " step " formed by the overlying Mesaverde that caps the east face of the Wasatch Plateau.

MESAVERDE FORMATION.

The Mesaverde formation in this region consists of yellowish-gray 

sandstone, sandy shale, and coal bedsJ The outcrops form the upper 

part of the prominent east scarp of the Wasatch Plateau. From 

western Colorado westward along the Book Cliffs to Castle Gate, 

Utah, and thence southwestward along the Wasatch Plateau, the 

Mesaverde rocks occupy the same relative position in this extensive 

cliff. The formation becomes thinner to the south, as is shown by 

measurements at Sunnyside, Utah, where abqut 1,650 feet of it is 

exposed,2 and at Emery, where the writer by aneroid barometer determined the thickness to be about 1,150 feet. Taff 3 called this coal 

formation Laramie. Regarding its thickness he said: "In the Book 

Cliffs the sandstone is estimated to be not less than 1,000 feet thick." 

Many of the sandstones included in the formation are massive and 

in places are 200 feet or more in thickness. The prominent coal 

beds occur mainly in the sandy shale portions of the formation, 

but as it was not examined in detail for coal little can be said as to 

the number and thickness of the coal beds present. In some places 

the coal has been burned, producing slag; in other places the burning 

has merely oxidized the small quantities of iron in the rocks, giving 

them a brick-red color. In tlie vicinity of Emery the principal coal 

beds are included within about 500 feet of strata, beginning 200 or 

300 feet above the base of the formation.

1 Gilbert, G. K, op. cit., pp. 4, 5.

2 Unpublished data furnished by F. R. Clark.

3 Taff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal field, Utah, west of Green River: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

285, pp. 291-293, 1906. .
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CONCRETIONS IN THE PERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANCCh sriALE, ABOof 
GEOLOGY. 35

A part of the Mesaverde formation was measured in the canyon of 

Ferron Creek, as shown below.

Section of part of the Mesaverde formation in Ferron Creek canyon aoout 12 

miles slightly north of west of Ferron.

Ft. in. 

Sandstone, yellowish gray, mainly massive_____ 20+

Coal____________________________ 3 3 

Shale, bluish gray, showing transition into carbonaceous shale_______________________ 2 0

Sandstone, gray, weathers buff, fine grained_____ 4 6 

Shale, sandy and shaly sandstone, gray_ _ 5 6 

Sandstone, gray, weathers buff, medium bedded; contains leaves in upper part _____________ 7 ' G 

Shale, black, carbonaceous__________________ 1 0

Coal, weathered ____ - _____ 4 2

Shale, brown, carbonaceous_________________ 2 6

Coal, much weathered_________________ 4 6± 

Sandstone, gray, massive__________________ 25+

Sandstone, yellowish gray, thin bedded (to level of 

Ferron Creek) ______________________ 40+

119 11± 

Total coal_______________________ 11 11±

Fossil leaves were collected at this locality and were identified by 

F. H. Knowlton as Sequoia, reichenbachi (Geinitz) Heer and fragmentary dicotyledons, which he states are "presumably Montana" 

in age.

It is probable that this formation is equivalent to the Masuk sandstone, about 500 feet thick, as described by Gilbert,1 occurring in 

the Henry Mountains region, 80 miles southeast of Emery, where 

it is coal bearing and similar to the Mesaverde both lithologically 

and stratigraphically.

TERTIARY SYSTEM.

EOCENE SERIES. 

WASATCH FORMATION.

The Wasatch formation was examined by the writer at only one 

locality in the area under consideration. This formation consists of 

alternating beds of soft varicolored sandstone and sandy shale, possibly 1,000 feet thick.

Wherever the contact between the Wasatch formation and the 

underlying Mesaverde formation has been carefully examined in 

northeastern and central Utah, evidences of an unconformity of a 

greater or less degree are unquestionable. On Deep Creek,2 about

1 Gilbert, G. K., op. cit., pp. 4, 5.

2 Lupton, C. T., The Deep Creek district of the Vernal coal field, Ulnta County, Utah : 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, p. 585, 1912.
36 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

12 miles northwest of Vernal, the Wasatch formation rests upon an 

eroded surface of the Mancos shale. Near Vernal * and northeast of 

Blacktail Mountain 2 it lies unconformably upon the lower part of 

the Mesaverde, and northwest of Blacktail Mountain 3 it rests on the 

higher beds of the Mesaverde. In the vicinity of Castle Valley the 

unconformity is not so pronounced as it is farther north, along the 

south flank of TJinta Mountains.

At the north end of Castle Valley, near Sunnyside, about 3,700 feet 4 

of strata constitute the Wasatch formation. Its base is marked by 

about 3 feet of yellowish-gray conglomerate. The pebbles, which are 

partly subangular and partly well rounded, range from sand grains 

to pebbles 3 inches in diameter. The matrix is a hard, well-cemented 

mass of fine quartz grains. The Wasatch near Emery is estimated to 

be 1,000 feet thick, showing a great decrease in the thickness of this 

formation toward the south, which is true also of the Mesaverde formation, as mentioned above. The topographic forms resulting from 

the erosion of the Wasatch formation are smooth slopes which present 

a striking contrast to the cliffs formed by rocks of the overlying 

Green River (?) formation and the underlying Mesaverde. No 

minerals of any economic importance are known to be present in the 

Wasatch formation of this immediate region; but near Colton and 

Wales, 75 to 150 miles northwest, thin coal beds are present.

GREEN RIVER (?) FORMATION.

The Green River (?) formation overlies the Wasatch and in this 

locality consists of about 800 feet of grayish-drab fine-grained calcareous sandstone and sandy shale, which weather white. This formation, which caps the highest part of the Wasatch Plateau west of 

Emery, crops out in almost vertical cliffs. Although no opportunity 

was afforded to determine the character of the contact at the base 

of the Green River (?) formation, yet it is believed to rest conformably on the Wasatch formation above described.

QUATERNARY (?) SYSTEM.

PLEISTOCENE (?) SERIES.

ALLUVIAL FANS.

Former stages of erosion are recorded by the presence of numerous 

remnants of alluvial fans, probably of Quaternary age. These 

fans fringe the east face of the Wasatch Plateau for its entire length

1 Gale, H. S., Coal fields of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 415, p. 205, pi. 21, 1910.

2 Lupton, C. T., The Blacktail (Tabby) Mountain coal field, Wasatch County, Utah: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, p. 607, 1912.

3 Idem, pp. 607, 608.

4 Determined by F. R. Clark. -
GEOLOGY. 37

and are equally numerous along the Book Cliffs, which extend southeastward and eastward into Colorado. The upper surfaces of the 

fans slope from the plateau at angles ranging from almost horizontal to 15°, being steepest near the cliffs. The drift or wash in these 

remnants is thickest near the cliffs and becomes thinner as the distance from the upland is increased. The greatest thickness of debris 

,or fan material observed at any one place is about 50 feet.

In most places the fans seem to.have been formed about the base 

of a somewhat dissected cliff from which intermittent streams carry 

large amounts of material. The positions of the alluvial fans of the 

first stage of erosion, represented now by remnants of fans, show 

conclusively that the present courses of the streams have changed but 

little since the time of the formation of the fans, because nowhere, 

so far as was observed by the writer, does a perennial stream flow 

through the ruins of one of these once complete erosion forms. 

Erosion has so thoroughly dissected these old alluvial fans that in 

places only a few remnants in the forms of mesas and buttes, with 

sloping upper surfaces, are left to mark the position of a former 

large fan. Along the Book Cliffs and Wasatch Plateau alluvial fans 

are formed with considerable rapidity (in the geologic sense) and 

are dissected with equal speed, because of the fact that the material 

on which the drift is deposited (Mancos shale) succumbs to erosion 

as readily as the semiconsolidated detritus of the fans themselves. 

The older remnants near the cliffs are from 200 to 300 feet above the 

surrounding country, but a few miles east of the plateau they are 

low and grade into the floor of Castle Valley.

Remnants of lower and more recent fans are also present, but they 

are much more nearly complete. The material being eroded at 

present is being deposited along the base of the Wasatch Plateau in 

the form of alluvial fans.

TERRACE GRAVELS.

Remnants of gravel-capped terraces, which probably are of the 

same age as the remnants of the older and higher alluvial fans above 

described, occur at several places along the streams that cross Castle 

Valley. One of the most prominent of these remnants is situated in 

the E. $ sec. 26, T. 19 S., R, 8 E. It is in the form of a small mesa 

or butte, the top of which is a few acres in extent and lies about 250 

feet above the level of Ferron Creek. The upper 10 to 15 feet of the 

mesa is a slightly consolidated conglomerate, the pebbles of which 

consist of well-rounded fragments of yellowish-gray sandstone, gray 

and drab limestone, quartzitic sandstone, and black cherty material, 

and range in size from sand grains to bowlders 1 foot in diameter. 

Another gravel-capped terrace remnant of probably the same age is
38 C4EOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

situated on the north side of Ferron Creek near the southwest corner 

of sec. 34, T. 19 S., R. 8 E, A few miles below the junction of Ferron 

and Cottonwood creeks, on San Rafael Riyer at the west end of 

Fullers Bottom, is a terrace remnant capped with gravel, its top 

about 100 feet above the river level, which is believed to be of the 

same age as those described above. A terrace remnant at a similar 

height above the stream is situated on the west side of Ferron Creek 

about 1 mile above its mouth. Other remnants of probably the same 

age occur along both sides of the same creek about 5 miles above its 

mouth, in sec. 36, T. 19 S., R 8 E., and sec. 2, T. 20 S., R. 8 E. The. 

pebbles composing the conglomerate in the tops of these terraces are 

similar in size and composition to those in the. conglomerate capping 

the small mesa in sec. 26, T. 19 S., R. 8 E., referred to above.

Gravel-capped terrace remnants about 50 feet above the stream bed 

occur on each side of Huntingdon Creek in sees. 33 and 34, T. 18 S., 

R. 9 E., and sees. 3,4, 8, and 9, T. 19 S., R. 9 E. Similar terrace remnants exist along the west side of Ferron Creek about 1 mile above 

its mouth, along Muddy Creek in sees. 12 and 13, T. 23 S., R. 6 E., 

and on the north side of Quitchuppah Creek in sees. 28, 32, and 33, 

T. 22 S., R. 6 E., north and northwest of the Browning mine.

The most conspicuous gravel-capped terraces in the entire field 

occur directly south of Ivie Creek in T. 23 S., Rs. 5 and 6 E., and 

T. 24 S., R. 5 E. Five of these terraces, represented by numbers from 

1 to 5 on Plate XII, are in the southeastern part of T. 23 S., R. 5 E., 

and the highest one (No. 6) lies for the most part in sees. 4 and 9, 

T. 24 S., R. 5 E. The following table shows the average vertical dis-, 

tance between the terraces:

Approximate average vertical distance between terraces south of Ivie Creek.

No.

6

5

4

3

2

1

Feet.

200

60

50

75

80

150

Datum plane.

Above No. 5.

Above No. 4.

Above No. 3.

Above No. 2.

Above No. 1.

Above Ivie Creek.

Some of the terraces are missing in places, as shown on Plate XII, 

and all of them have been eroded considerably. Terrace No. 5 is 

more than 6 miles long, but it includes only a little more area than 

No. 4. The highest terrace (No. 6) is much eroded arid covers approximately 1 square mile. Terraces Nos. 1, 2, and 3 cover comparatively small areas, are narrow, and are irregular in outline, but 

Nos. 4 and 5 have a much larger extent. In general, these terraces 

slope to the north at an average of 0.5° or more, but in places the 

upper surfaces slope as much as 4.5°, as, for example, at Windy 

Point, in the northern part of sec. 1, T. 24 S., R. 5 E.
GEOLOGY. 39

Directly north of Ivie Creek the terraces are not present, except in 

a small area included principally in sec. 33, T. 23 S., R. 5 E.

The material composing the greater part of the gravels which cap 

the terraces consists principally of subangular to rounded fragments of basalt, the largest of which are 4, or 5 feet in diameter. 

They are derived from the extensive masses of this rock in the 

vicinity of Mount Hilgard and Mount Alice and to the southwest. 

In places as much as 20 feet of this material rests unconformably on 

the Mancos shale.

QUATERNARY SYSTEM. 

RECENT SERIES.

The deposits of Recent age comprise the soil which forms a mantle 

over the greater part of the floor of Castle Valley and which is very 

productive wherever moisture is sufficient; the low gravel-covered 

terraces along streams; the low extensive compound alluvial fans 

along the base of the Wasatch Plateau and lower scarps; and sand 

dunes of small extent in T. 21'S., Rs. 7 and 8 E.

IGNEOUS BOCKS.

The east face of a basalt-capped upland which connects Mount 

Hilgard and Thousand Lake Mountain extends northward across 

sees. 9 and 4, T. 26 S., R. 4 E., and sees. 33 and 28, T. 25 S., R. 4 E., 

and then veers slightly to the west. No definite information regarding the thickness of these igneous rocks, which are described at length 

by Dutton,1 was obtained. In addition to this basalt, a few dikes 

of the same material occur in sec. 34, T. 25 S., R. 4 E., and in sees. 2 

and 11, T. 25 S., R. 5 E.

STRUCTURE. 

GENERAL FEATURES.

The structure of Castle Valley is monoclinal and very simple. 

In general the strata dip slightly to the northwest, but here and 

there small local domes are present. The beds are probably a little 

more steeply inclined at the south end of the field than at any other 

place. The McElmo and La Plata rocks as a rule dip more steeply 

than the beds stratigraphically above or below them. The younger 

Mesaverde, Wasatch, and Green River (?) formations lie almost horizontal. Some faulting has occurred along the^ east scarp of the 

Wasatch Plateau, at the south end of the field, and on the west slope 

of Cedar Mountain or Red Plateau.

1 Button, C. E., Report on the geology of the high plateaus of Utah, pp. 271, 280, U. S. 

Geog. and Geol. Survey Rocky Mtn. Region, 1880.
40 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OP CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

UPFOLDS AND DOMES.

Small local upfolds and domes exist at several places in Castle Valley. They are, named in order from north to south, the Farnham upf old, northeast of Farnham, a flag station on the Denver & Rio Grande 

Railroad; the Castledale dome, on Cottonwood Creek, about 3 miles 

east of Castledale; the Paradise dome, south of Ferron Creek and 

about 8 miles east of the town of Ferron, in the northeastern part of 

T. 20 S., R. 8 E.; the Rochester upfold, in the southeastern part of 

T. 21 S., R. 7 E., 3 miles east of Rochester; and the Last Chance 

Creek dome, in the eastern part of T. 25 S., R. 5 E., directly east of 

the principal escarpment.

The Farnham upfold, an elliptical anticline situated mainly north 

of Price River, is 4 or 5 miles long from north to south and about 2 

miles wide. Strike faults having displacements of as much as 300 

feet, with the upthrown side next to the axis, occur at each side of 

the fold. On the west side, where the dips are steepest and the displacement is the greatest, step faults are present. Along the .east 

side and north end the dips range from nearly zero to 10° or 15°; 

on the west side the strata are much more steeply inclined and the 

dips range from nearly zero some distance from the line of flexure to 

nearly vertical at one point near the southwest corner of sec. 12, T. 

15 S., R. 11 E., where a prominent fault terminates and a flexure 

begins. The lowest rocks exposed in this eroded upfold belong to the 

McElmo formation.

The Castledale dome is nearly circular and is about 3 miles in 

diameter. The beds are horizontal in the center of the uplift but 

dip as much as 11° at the west side. The dome is slightly dissected 

by Cottonwood Creek and some of its northern intermittent tributaries.

The Paradise dome is nearly circular and is about 2 miles in diameter. The beds, however, do not dip so steeply as those in the Castledale dome, the maximum dips being 6° W. and 2° E. Erosion has 

exposed the upper part of the McElmo formation in this dome.

The Rochester upfold is elliptical and is about 2 miles long from 

northeast to southwest and 1 mile wide. The slight deformation occurring here is apparent only in the Ferron sandstone member of the 

Mancos shale. The maximum dip of the strata in this upfold is 15° 

W.; the largest eastern dip is only 6°.

The Last Chance Creek dome is larger than any of the upfolds or 

domes above described. Only its western and northern limits are 

shown on Plates X and XII. It was not studied in detail, and the 

dips shown on the maps are only approximate. These upfolds and 

domes suggest favorable structure for the accumulation of oil and 

gas, but there is no definite evidence that they contain these products.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 628 PLATE VI

A. EMERY FAULT, NORTH OF IVIE CREEK, 

Indicated by heavy black line marked 1. 2, Mesaverde rocks; 3, Mancos shale.

J3. PARADISE FAULT, NEAR THE SOUTHWEST END OF THE EMERY COAL FIELD.

. Youngs Point, a few miles north of Emery; 2, fault; 3, Paradise Lake; 4, Ferron sandstone member of

Mancos shale.
GEOLOGY. 41

Many of them are so small in extent, and one, the Farnham upfold, is 

so much faulted, that the probabilities that they contain oil or gas 

in commercial quantities are very remote. Faulting, however, is not 

always an unfavorable condition for the accumulation of oil and gas 

in a dome or anticline. The Farnham upfold has been staked for oil 

once or twice, and it is now reported that a company contemplates 

drilling there.

FAULTS.

. The faults in this area are strike faults that is, their trend coincides with the strike of the beds and are situated principally on the 

west side of Castle Valley near its south end, adjacent to the 

Wasatch Plateau. Two principal faults, the Emery fault and the 

Paradise fault, were mapped in considerable detail and are shown 

on Plates X and XII. Directly west of the Emery fault is a downdropped block which is broken by numerous minor faults and which 

is in this report called the faulted zone. Although some of the 

faults in the faulted zone were mapped, no attempt was made to 

locate in detail all .of them.

The Emery fault is about 20 miles long and extends in a southwesterly direction through T. 22 S., Rs. 5 and 6 E., and T. 23 S., R. 5 E., 

and about 5 miles south into T. 24 S., R. 5 E. It terminates a short 

distance south of Deer Peak, in sec. 29, T. 24 S., R. 5 E., where it 

intersects a short concealed east-west fault, the downthrow of which 

is on the north side. In the vicinity of Emery the downthrow is 

comparatively small, but it increases toward the southwest to about 

2,000 feet near Ivie Creek, in sec. 5 3 T. 24 S., R. 5 E. It is believed 

that the Emery fault is continuous from its north end to a point 1£ 

miles south of Ivie Creek. From this place to its intersection with 

the east-west fault referred to above its position is covered with surface wash and talus, so that its continuity is somewhat uncertain. 

The Emery fault in the vicinity of Ivie Creek is well shown by 

Plate VI, A.

The exact location of the east-west fault near Last Chance Creek 

is not known, but its existence is assumed in order to explain the 

structure in this immediate locality. As is indicated on both Plates 

X and XII, the down-faulted block of Mesaverde rocks which includes the faulted zone lies just west of Deer Peak and extends continuously as far north and northeast as Emery. A mile or more south 

of the assumed east-west fault beds of the Ferron sandstone member 

crop out along Last Chance Creek and are unbroken by even minor 

faults from the prominent escarpment in sec. 9, T. 25 S., R. 5 E., as 

far west as the Paradise fault, in sec. 1, T. 25 S., R. 4 E. These relations, necessitate the assumption of a displacement of 2,500 to 3,000 

feet along an east-west line.
42 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

On Deer Peak, in sec. 29, T. 24 S., E. 5 E., there are several small 

strike faults where the Mesaverde strata have been dragged up with 

the Mancos shale, which lies east of the faults. The prevailing dips 

are to the west.

The faulted zone west of the Emery fault is a down-dropped block 

of Mesaverde rocks, which has been broken into smaller blocks principally by numerous strike faults. In places it is as much as 3 miles in 

width, but elsewhere it is very narrow, and to the north it probably 

connects with the Pleasant Valley and Joes Valley faults described 

by Taff.* This faulted belt extends parallel to the Emery fault and 

was studied with especial care along Ivie Creek in sees. 5 and 6, T. 24 

S., E. 5 E., where the strata are well exposed. Directly west of the 

Emery fault in this locality there is a block of Mesaverde strata from 

1,000 to 1,500 feet wide, dipping about 31° W., whereas the rocks 

lying directly west of this block are much more nearly horizontal, 

dipping only 1° to 10° W. This attitude of the strata is to be expected 

from the fact that the faulted zone on the west side of the fault has 

been dropped, but those beds lying immediately west of the fault have 

been retarded in their descent, thus producing steep dips in the strata 

near the fault and gradually decreasing dips toward the west away 

from the fault.

Several other minor faults of slight throw cross Ivie Creek between the Emery fault and the Paradise fault, which in this locality 

is marked approximately by the edge of the prominent escarpment 

that exposes several hundred feet of that part of the Mancos shale 

above the Ferron sandstone member and the overlying Mesaverde 

strata. The faulted zone becomes less prominent south of Ivie Creek 

and terminates at the short east-west fault about a mile north of Last 

Chance Creek. The displacement due to faults within the faulted 

zone is much less than at the edges of this enormous down-faulted 

block, where the maximum displacement is approximately 2,000 feet.

The Paradise fault was mapped in detail from Ivie Creek to 

the south end of the field, in sec. 4, T. 26 S., E. 4 E. Its position 

north of Ivie Creek is given only approximately. This fault probably connects directly with the Mille Lac (Thousand Lake) fault, 

which was first described by Gilbert 2 in his report on the Henry 

Mountains. Plate VI, #, shows the Paradise fault near Paradise 

Lake, at the south end of the field. North of the east-west fault 

about a mile north of Last Chance Creek the Paradise fault has its 

downthrow on the east side, but south of that locality the downthrow is on the west side. At Last Chance Creek the strata west of 

the fault have been dropped 2,000 to 3,000 feet, the displacement

a Taflf, J. A., The Pleasant Valley coal district, Carbon and Emery counties, .Utah: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 316, pp. 343-346, pi. 20, 1907. 

2 Gilbert, G. K., op. cit., pi. 2.
THE COAL. 43

equaling the thickness of the Mancos shale above the Ferron sandstone member, as is shown by the fact that the top of that sandstone on the east side of the fault is now at the level of the lower 

part of the Mesaverde formation on the west side of the fault. It is 

believed that the displacement at the south end of the field is probably 500 feet more than that at Last Chance Creek.

The faults within the Farnham upfold have been referred to above 

(p. 40). The principal fault on the west side of the fold extends 

more than a mile south of Price Eiver. In the northern part of sec. 

27, T. 15 S., R. 11 E., it strikes N. 40° E. and has a displacement of 

about 200 feet, the downthrow being on the east side. North of 

Price River the maximum throw is at least 300 feet.

A few faults exist on the west slope of Cedar Mountain or Red 

Plateau, near the north end of the field. One of these has a throw 

of possibly 200 or 300 feet and is from 2 to 4 miles in length. Other 

minor faults, mainly of this same type, occur at the south end of 

Cedar Mountain.

THE COAL.

GENERAL FEATURES.

The coal field herein described (see PI. X, p. 74) lies east, south, 

and southwest of Emery. The coal, as shown by its resistance to 

weathering ("stocking" qualities) and its chemical composition, is a 

good bituminous coal. All the commercially important coal beds in 

this field occur in the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale, 

which was mapped from Mounds southwestward for about 80 miles, 

to the south end of the; field, in the northern part of T. 26 S., R. 4 E. 

The northernmost coal of importance appearing at the surface in the 

Ferron sandstone crops out in sec. 26, T. 21, S., R. 7 E. From this 

locality to the southern edge of the field no one coal bed was found 

to be continuous for the entire distance of 33 miles, but coal isi 

present in one or more beds at every place examined, except in part 

of T. 22 S., R. 7 E. (see PL X), where the coal-bearing rocks are 

believed to be barren of coal of economic importance. The Ferron 

sandstone contains 14 coal beds in the Emery coal field. These beds 

are.designated on Plates VIII, IX, and X by the letters A to L, La, 

and M. Bed A is the lowest and bed M the highest stratigraphically.

The Dakota sandstone in places contains thin lenses of coal which 

are of little or no economic importance compared with the coal in 

the Ferron sandstone member in Castle Valley and in the Wasatch 

Plateau field, to the west. This coal is discussed in detail under 

" Coal in the Dakota sandstone " (pp. 74-76).

Good coal occurs in the Mesaverde rocks that crop out in the east 

face of the Wasatch Plateau immediately west of the Emery coal 

field, but only one section of this coal (No. 422, near Paradise Lake)
44 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

was measured. Plate X (p. 74) shows the outcrop of the coal 

beds in the Ferron sandstone member and the prospects, mines, 

and exposures where the coal beds were measured, as well as 

roads, houses, streams, faults, dikes, geologic boundaries, and the 

principal sandstone cliffs. The locations at which the coal was measured are indicated by numbers, which are arranged on the map and 

described in the text by townships in order from north to south. 

The beds are considered from the base of the coal group upward, 

except in the description of the coal in T. 21 S., R. 7 E., where 

a coal bed is described whose correlation with any coal in the township to the south is unknown. The areas of clinker indicated on the 

map represent localities where the coal has been burned along the 

outcrop. South of Ivie Creek the approximate elevations of numerous points on the coal outcrops as well as elsewhere are shown. A 

comparison of these altitudes will indicate something of the topography and relief.

CORRELATION OF COAL BEDS IN FERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF

MANCOS SHALE.

Plate VII (p. 44) shows 18 graphic sections of beds that contain 

more or less coal. They are arranged on the plate from right to left 

in order as they appear, from northeast to southwest, along the outcrop of the coal-bearing formation. These sections show something 

of the vertical distribution, the variation in occurrence, and the 

change in the distances between the coal beds in the Emery field. 

The localities at which these sections were measured are indicated 

on the map (PI. X) by letters corresponding to those placed at the 

tops of the sections on Plate VII. The letters at the left of the sections indicate coal beds. The figures at the right of the sections 

refer to the coal sections measured at those places, and for the most 

part shown graphically on Plates VIII and IX. The approximate 

distances between the places at which the sections were measured are 

also shown.

Some of the coal beds that occur near the middle of the Ferron 

sandstone on Ivie Creek (see sections K and L, PI. VII) are either 

thin or not exposed at the surface at the south end of the coal field 

(see sections P, Q, and R, PI. VII). Many of the sections do not 

show all the coal beds, but the lack may be due to poor exposures 

rather than to the absence of certain beds.

Wherever the correlation of the coal beds in the Emery field is 

doubtful a question mark is placed after the letter at the left of the 

coal bed. (See PL VII.)

Columnar section A, measured in the NW. i SE. £ sec. 34, T. 21 S., 

K. 7 E., shows the presence of only one coal bed (A, coal section No. 

9), which is described on page 48.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 628 PLATE VII

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COLUMNAR SECTIONS SHOWING THE STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION OF COAL BEDS IN THE PERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANGOS SHALE IN THE EMERY COAL FIELD.
THE COAL. 45

Columnar section B, measured in the SW. £ NW. i sec. 24, T. 22 S., 

R, 6 E., shows four coal beds (beds C (?), G, H, andl). Beds C (?) 

and I are unquestionably of commercial value at this place, but beds 

G and H are of little economic importance. Coal beds A and B are 

not exposed at the surface at this locality.

Columnar section C, measured in the NE. £ sec. 26, T. 22 S., R. 

6 E., shows that the thickness of the rocks between beds C (?) and G 

is less than it is in section B, but the distance between beds G and I 

is about the same in both sections. Bed H is not exposed at the place 

where section C was measured. Bed A (?) contains 1 foot of coal 

and lies approximately 10 feet below bed C (?), which contains more 

coal than any of the other beds.

Columnar section D in a stratigraphic distance of 150 feet includes coal beds A (?), C (?), G, J (?), and K. This section was 

measured in the SW. I SE. | sec. 35, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. Bed C (?) is 

here also the principal bed.

Columnar section E, measured in the NW. \ SW. £ sec. 2, T. 23 S., 

R. 6 E., includes only two coal beds. Bed I was measured near the 

old Emery mine, at location 181. Bed J, at location 204, is about 15 

feet stratigraphically above bed I and is of little value.

Columnar section F was measured in the SE. £ NW. | sec. 11, T. 

23 S., R. 6 E., and includes coal beds C, H, I (?), and L. Bed I (?) 

lies about 185 feet above bed C, and bed L is 10 feet above bed I (?). 

The horizon of bed H is represented by a slight indication of burning at the outcrop. Bed C is the principal bed in this locality. (See 

coal section 142, PL VIII.)

Columnar section G, measured in the NE. £ SW. £ sec. 3, T. 23 S., 

R. 6 E., includes coal beds C, D, and G. .Bed C is the lowest coal 

exposed at this place. Bed D lies about 4 feet stratigraphically 

above bed C, and bed G, which is of little value, lies about 35 feet 

above bed C.

Columnar section H, measured in the N. % S. £ sec. 3, T. 23 S., 

R. 6 E., directly across a narrow valley from the place where columnar section G was measured, shows the same coal beds as section G 

and in addition bed F. The thickness of the rocks between beds D 

and G in this section is about 10 feet greater than in columnar section G, measured across the valley. The stratigraphic distance between beds C and D is also a few feet greater in section H than in 

section G. Columnar sections G and H show more coal in their 

lower parts than any of the other columnar sections measured.

Columnar section I, measured in the NE. £ SE. £ sec. 4, T. 23 S., 

R. 6 E., includes coal beds A, C, F, and G and the horizon of bed I 

at the top. Bed D, however, may be represented by the upper bench 

of coal in bed C. (See coal section 146, PI. VIII.) The horizon of
46 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

coal bed I, stratigraphically about 85 feet above bed G (location 

176), is marked by a band of baked clay and slag.

Coal beds A, C, F, and G are included in columnar section J5j 

measured in the SW. £ SE. £ sec. 33, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. The stratigraphic distance between coal beds C and F is at least 10 feet greater 

in this section than in columnar section I. The distance between 

coal beds F and G in section J is correspondingly less than in section I.

Columnar section K, measured in the W. -J sec. 16, T. 23 S., R. 6 

E., shows the position of coal beds A, C (?), G, and I. Bed G at this 

place contains 2 feet of unburned coal and much baked clay. The 

stratigraphic distance between coal beds A and C (?) is about 35 

feet, which is practically the same as the distance between these beds 

in columnar section J, but the distance between beds C (?) and G 

is from 20 to 25 feet greater in section K than in section J. Bed I 

is the only coal shown in section K in which the entire coal bed was 

exposed. Beds A and C (?) are represented merely by bands of 

ashes and baked clay. Bed C (?) possibly should be correlated with 

bed B in columnar section L.

Seven coal beds are included in columnar section L, measured in 

sees. 7, 17, and 18, T. 23 S., R. 6 E. These are beds A, B, C, D, I, J, 

and M. This section shows more coal beds and a greater total thickness of coal than columnar section K, a fact which is due in part to 

the poor exposures at the place where section K was measured. It is 

believed, however, that as many coal beds exist directly north of Ivie 

Creek at the location of section K as there are at the location where 

section L was measured. The distances between bed A and bed I 

are practically the same in sections K and L.

Columnar section M was measured in the NW. { SE. I sec. 17, T. 

23 S., R. 6 E., and includes coal beds A, B, C, H, I, and J. The stratigraphic distance between beds A and B is much less at this place than 

where columnar section L was measured. Coal bed C is represented 

by a bed of brown carbonaceous shale with a little coal interbedded. 

Beds H and I contain about the same amount of coal (a little more 

than 3 feet) and are separated by about 13 feet of strata.

Columnar section N includes five coal beds beds A, B, C, I, and 

J and was measured in the SW. I sec. 21, T. 23 S., R. 6 E. Coal 

beds B and C are undoubtedly the same as those designated B and C 

in columnar section M. Beds I and J are definitely correlated with 

beds I and J in columnar sections L and M. Coal beds D, E, F, G, 

and H are not exposed at the locality where columnar section N was 

measured.

Only four coal beds, A, G, I, and L, are included in columnar section O, which was measured in lot 9, sec. 4, T. 24 S., R. 6 E. The 

others, beds B, C, D, E, F, H, J, and K, are not exposed and are
THE COAL. 47

believed to be of little importance at this locality. Bed A is the most 

valuable coal bed in this section, and is stratigraphically about 95 

feet below bed G. Bed I, which is second in value, lies about 120 

feet above bed G, or about 55 feet below bed L.

Columnar section P, measured in the N. \ sec. 13, T. 24 S., E. 5 E., 

includes seven coal beds (A, G, I, J, K, L, and M). Coal beds A and 

M are the most valuable, but the other beds are of no economic importance at the outcrop. Beds B, C, D, E, F, and H are not exposed where this section was measured.

Five coal beds (A, G, I, L, and M) are included in columnar 

section Q, which was measured in sees. 4, 5, and 9, T. 25 S., E. 5 E. 

Bed A is about 440 feet stratigraphically below bed L, and bed M 

about 20 feet above bed L. Beds G and I are of little value. The 

rocks separating the coal beds consist principally of sandstone and 

sandy shale. Coal bed M contains the greatest thickness of coal, as 

indicated on Plate IX by coal section No. 403.

Columnar section E, measured in sees. 25 and 26, T. 25 S., E. 4 E., 

shows three coal beds (A, L, and M). Beds A and M contain a 

little less coal here than at the location of columnar section Q, but 

bed L contains more coal. The distance between coal beds A and L 

is less and that between beds L and M greater at the location of 

columnar section E than at the location of section Q.

OCCURRENCE.

COAL IN THE FERRON SANDSTONE MEMBER OF THE MANGOS SHALE.

T. 21 S., R. 7 E.

Ten coal sections were measured in sees. 26, 27, 34, and 35, T. 21 S., 

E. 7 E., along the outcrop of one coal bed, which probably should 

be correlated with bed B in the townships to the south. Of these 

10 coal sections Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are shown graphically in Plate 

VIII. The coal, as shown by the graphic sections, ranges in thickness from 1 foot 11 inches to 2 feet 4 inches. At each place the coal, 

is overlain and underlain by shale, except at location 4, where it is 

overlain by sandstone. At locations 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10, on the north 

margin of the field, this coal bed is thinner than it is to the south. 

The sections measured at these locations are not shown graphically, 

but are as follows:

Sections of coal bed B (f) in T. 21 S., R. 7 E.

[In addition to those shown on Plate VIII.]

No. 1. SW. 3 SW. 3 sec. 26.

Ft. In.

Sandstone, yellowish gray, massive__________ 35-40 

Shale, carbonaceous, sandy ____________ 8 

Coal, very impure__________________ 11 

Sandstone, brownish gray, argillaceous________ i+
48 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

No. 2. NE. 1 NW. 1 sec. 35.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, brown, carbonaceous_____________ 6 6

Shale, brown, sandy____ _______________ 1

Coal _________________________ 1 3

Shale, carbonaceous, sandy _ ___ 6±

No. 3. SE. 1 NW. 1 sec. 35.

Sandstone, carbonaceous, grading into brown shale at 

base______________________________ 3+

Coal___________________________ 8} 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous________________ 1+

No. 9. NW. 1 SE. 1 sec. 34.

Shale, brown to black, carbonaceous___________ 1 11

Coal, impure_______________________ 1

Shale, sandy, carbonaceous, includes thin streaks of

coal__________ _ _ _ ___ _____ 4

Sandstone, brown, very carbonaceous__________ 3 0

Shale, brown, contains a few thin bands of coal____ 2$

Coal, very impure_ ______ 4

Shale carbonaceous___ . ___________ 6

No. 10. NE. 3 SW. 1 sec. 34.

Sandstone, yellowish gray, thin-bedded, carbonaceous in

lower part_______ _ , 3 0 Shale, brown, carbonaceous_______-______________ 10.

Coal___________________________ 1 0 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous________________: 1+

It is believed that the southeastern part of this township marks 

the northern extent of coal in the Emery coal field. No coal is exposed in the Ferron sandstone farther north in Castle Valley between this township and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at 

Mounds, although in places much carbonaceous shale is present, 

especially east of Molen, in sees. 16 and 21, T. 20 S., R. 8 E.

T. 22 S., R. 6 E.

Seventy-two sections were measured on the coal beds in T. 22 S., 

R. 6 E. The following table shows the number of sections obtained 

on each bed, and columnar sections B, C, and D on Plate VII show 

the stratigraphic distances between the beds:

Coal beds exposed in T. 22 S., R. 6 E.

Coal 

sections.

L_____._____ 82

K____._____ 81 

J___________ 78-80 

I___________ 60-77

Coal 

sections.

H____._____ 51-59 

G____._____ 42-50 

F____-_____ 37-41 

E____._____ 36

Coal 

sections.

D____._____ 35 

C__________ 17-34 

A__________ 11-16
THE COAL. - 49

Bed A. Coal bed A ranges in thickness from 1 foot at location 11 

to 4 feet 11 inches at location 16, the average thickness being about 

1 foot 7 inches. All the measurements made on the bed are shown 

graphically on Plate VIII, except No. 11, which is as follows:

Section of coal bed A. at location 11, in tlie SE. J sec. 26', T. 22 S., R. 6 E.

Feet.

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, with thin lenses of coat near base- 10

Coal, bony, dull___________________ 1

Shale, brown, weathers bluish_____________ 4

The shale that forms the roof of the coal in this section is the floor 

of bed C at location 19. The five graphic sections (PI. VIII) show 

similarities in thickness of coal and in the character of the roof and 

floor, except at location 1C, where the coal is much thicker and the 

roof and floor are sandstone. As in places the correlations are 

doubtful, the abrupt change in thickness of bed A at location 16 

suggests a possibility that this section should be correlated, with

bed C. 

Bed C. Bed C in this township shows considerable A^ariation in

thickness and character along its outcrop from north to south, its 

thickness ranging from 4 feet at location 25 to about 13 feet a,t location 30. At location 17, in the SE. $ NE. £ sec. 25, the bed contains 

several inches more coal than it does at location 18, where it is about 

7-| feet thick, but the arrangement' of the partings in general is the 

same. In a distance of less than a quarter of a mile the lower 2-foot 

bench of coal at location 17 becomes entirely worthless, and at location 18 it is replaced by carbonaceous shale. Sections at locations 

19, 20, and 21 each contain approximately 7 feet of coal, but the 

upper 3-inch parting at location 19 is not present at locations 20 

nnd 21. At location 22, on the north side of Grassy Valley, in the 

NE. | NE. £ sec. 24, the bed is more broken than it is at locations 

20 and 21, and more nearly resembles the section at location 17 

than any of the other sections between locations 17 and 22. Bed C 

at'locations 23, 24, and 25 contains less coal than at any of the other 

locations mentioned, a fact which seems to indicate that the bed thins 

toward the south; but the section measured at location 26, in the 

SE. | SW. 1 sec. 13, about 1J miles north of location 25, shows a 

great thickness of coal (7 feet 2 inches) compared with the section 

at location 25. The character of the roof changes toward the west 

and north from location 25, so that sandstone rests directly on the 

coal to a point beyond location 32. Sections at locations 26, 27, and 

28 were measured along the outcrop from north to south and show 

that the bed is thinner on the west side as well as on the east side 

of Muddy Creek, toward the south. (See PI. VIII.) This apparent 

decrease in the thickness ends abruptly, for at location 29, the old 

21246° Bull. 628 16 4
50 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OP CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Casper mine, in the SE. £ NW. J sec. 26, bed C contains 8 feet 5 

inches of coal in two benches. In mining the coal from the Casper 

mine only the lower bench is removed. A sample for analysis (laboratory No. 12652, p. 80) was taken from this mine. (See PL XI, B, 

p. 84.) At location 30, about a- quarter of a mile south of the Casper 

mine, bed C contains 11 feet 3 inches of coal, or 2 feet 10 inches 

more than at location 29. The bed at location 30 is much broken by 

partings, but only two of them would be of special disadvantage in 

mining. At the next point at which the bed was measured (location 

31) only 5 feet of coal in two benches is present. Both benches 

can be mined easily by using the 1-foot shale parting (see PL 

VIII) as a "mining seam." At location 32 the total thickness of 

the bed is about the same as at location 31, but more coal is present 

at location 32 because of the decrease in the thickness of the partings. 

At location 33 the bed is much broken, and probably only the lower 

portion will be mined. Westward from location 33 to location 34, 

a distance of about 2 miles, the coal bed continues fairly constant in 

thickness.

A careful study of the graphic sections of bed C (PL VIII) shows 

the coal to be badly split by partings and irregular in thickness. It is 

believed, however, that bed C is more constant in thickness than some 

of the beds farther south, which in places contain more coal than is 

exposed at any point on bed C in this township. For these reasons 

bed C probably holds out greater inducements for future development than some of the beds farther south which are apparently 

thicker.

Bed D. Coal bed D was measured at only one place, location 35, 

in the SE. £ NE. | sec. 26, where it is represented by. 5 inches of coal 

overlain by sandstone and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale.

Bed E. Location 36 marks the position of bed E and is the only 

place in the township where this coal was measured. Bed E contains 9 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by j^ellowish-gray massive sandstone and is 24 feet 6 inches stratigraphically above bed D.

Bed F. Five sections of bed F were measured in this township, 

but the coal is of little value at every place. It is thickest at location 37, in sec. 26, where it contains 1 foot 2 inches of coal overlain 

by sandstone and underlain by shale, and thinnest at location 38, 

where thin laminse of coal interbedded with drab shale are exposed. 

Five inches of coal, overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous 

shale, is exposed at the horizon of bed F at location 39, in the SE. £ 

NW. i sec. 26. About 150 feet north of this place the bed is entirely 

replaced by massive sandstone, whereas at location 40 bed F contains 

6 inches of coal overlain and underlain by brown shale. At location 

41 the bed contains 10 inches of fairly good coal overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale.
THE COAL. 51

Bed G. Nine sections on bed G were measured in this township. 

It ranges in thickness from 11 inches at location 47 to 4 feet 4 inches 

at location 50. Five of the sections (Nos. 43, 45, 46, 49, and 50) areshown graphically in Plate VIII. The others are as follows:

Sections of coal bed G in '1\ 22 &., R. 6 E. 

[In addition to those shown on Tlate VIII.]

No. 42. SW. 1 NW. I sec. 24.

Pt. In.

Sandstone and shale, brown, carbonaceous; contains a 

few thin laminae of coal near base______________ 2 0 

Coal, fair, weathered_ ________________ 1 3 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous. _ _ _ 6

No. 44. SE. I NE. 1 sec. 26.

Shale, brown, sandy, carbonaceous____________ 7 

Coal, fair; contains a few thin laminae of shale____ 5

Shale, brown, carbonaceous, sandy, with a few thin lenses 

of coal________________ _ __ __ 2 0 

Coal, weathered ______________________ 11

Shale, brown, carbonaceous ______________ 6+

No. 47. SE. I SW. 1 sec. 35.

Shale, sandy, with thin lenses of coal_____________ 6

Coal, dull, with a little carbonaceous shale______ 7

Coal, fair________'._________________.._ 4

Shale, brown, carbonaceous__________________ 1-fCoal bed_________________________ 11

The correlation of all these sections with bed G is rather indefinite 

because of the lenticular character of the thinner coal beds in this 

part of the field. At location 44 bed G is broken by a 2-foot shale 

parting which renders the bed practically worthless for mining, but 

at location 45 the bed is more valuable, as shown by the section in 

Plate VIII. At location 48 it contains 1 foot 9£ inches of poor coal. 

Bed G at the last place measured (location 50, in sec. 33) is thicker 

(see PL VIII) than at any other point examined in the township, the 

principal bench being 3 feet 9 inches thick, with a minor bench above.

Bed H. The coal in bed H was measured at nine places in this 

township at locations 51 to 59 but only three of the coal sections 

(Nos. 53, 55, and 59) are shown graphically in Plate VIII. The 

others are described beloAv. The maximum thickness is 3 feet at 

location 53. At location 51, in sec. 13, there is only 6 inches of coal 

overlain and underlain by sandstone, and at location 52 the bed contains 7-i inches of coal overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale. The bed at location 53, in the NE. | sec. 26, contains
52 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH. .

approximately 3 feet of weathered coal overlain and underlain by 

sandstone, but this measurement may be incomplete. At location 54, 

in the E. -| sec. 26, 1 foot 1 inch of coal, overlain by yellowish-gray 

sandstone and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale, is exposed 

on bed H, but at location 55, a short distance to the south, the bed 

is a little thicker, containing 1 foot 4 inches of coal, overlain and 

underlain by shale. The coal bed at location 56, in sec. 35, is as 

follows:

Section of coal bed H at location 56, in the SE. i NE. i sec. 85, T. 22 8., R. 6 E.

Ft. in.

Shale, brown, carbonaceous__________________ 1

Coal, much weathered, bony at top___________ 9

Shale, brown, carbonaceous______________..__ 3 '

Coal, impure, slightly shaly_____________..__ 4

Shale, dark, weathers gray________________ 4

Coal, weathered, stained yellow in places_______ 11

Bone, containing thin lenses of coal _____ ____ 2 0

Coal bed___________________________ 2 7 

Total coal_________________________ 2 0

The coal at this place is of little economic importance, owing to 

the partings. At location 57, in sec. 35, 1 foot 2 inches of coal, 

overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale, is exposed on 

bed H, and at location 58, in the same section, 1 foot 2 inches of 

coal is exposed, the upper part of which is slightly shaly. The floor 

and roof of the bed are brown carbonaceous shale. At location 59, 

in sec. 34, bed H contains 1 foot 8 inches of good coal, overlain and 

underlain by brown carbonaceous shale. Owing to the lenticular 

character of the coal at this horizon, exact correlations are rather 

difficult to make, but it is believed that the above-described sections

are all on coal bed H.

Bed I. Coal bed I was measured in this township at 18 locations, 

designated by Nos. 60 to 77, which are arranged in order from 

north to south along the outcrop. All the sections are shown graphically in Plate VIII, except No. 77, which is described below. The 

bed ranges in thickness from 1 foot at location 77 to 20 feet at location 75. The Moore mine, at location 60, in sec. 13, is the easternmost point at which bed I is exposed. About a quarter of a mile 

north west of location 60 bed I was measured at two points in what 

is known as the Williams mine. (See PL XI, A, p. 84.) Coal section 61 gives the thickness of the coal at the mouth of the entry, 

and section 62 shows its thickness at the back end of the entry, about 

200 feet S. 60° E. from location 61. The variation of the bed within 

a short distance is very striking, as is well illustrated by the graphic 

sections (Nos. 61 and 62, PI. VIII). Near the mouth of the mine
THE COAL. 53

the joints of the coal are filled with films of gypsum and sulphur. 

A sample was collected at location 62, and the analysis (laboratory 

No. 12613) is given in the table on page 80. Sections 03, 64, and 65, 

all measured less than a mile south of the Williams mine, suggest 

that bed I increases in thickness toward the south. At location 66, in 

sec. 13, only 4 feet 9 inches of coal is exposed, which is 3 feet less 

than the bed contains at location 65, a quarter of a mile to the north. 

Coal sections 67 and 68 show an apparent increase in thickness 

toward the south. Bed I rapidly deteriorates in value from location 69 toward location 71, on account of an increase in the thickness 

and number of partings and a decrease in the thickness of the coal. 

At location 72 it is of more value than at location 71, containing 3 

feet of coal in one bench, overlain by shale and underlain by clay. 

The coal section at location 73, which is probably on bed I, seems to

indicate that the bed is of little commercial importance toward the

south, but at location 74, a short distance south of location 73, the 

bed has about the same thickness as at locations 66 and 67. It maintains this thickness for some distance along the outcrop, but at location 75, in sec. 33, at the Browning mine, it contains approximately 

20 feet of coal, overlain and underlain by brown shale. This is 

the greatest thickness observed for any one bed in the Emery field. 

A sample for analysis (laboratory No. 12627, p. SO) Avas collected 

from the lower 12 feet of coal, which is the only part of the bed mined 

fit this place. Bed I was measured at location 76, in sec. 33, but contains very much less coal here than at the Browning mine. It is 

only a little over 3 feet thick at location 76, as indicated in 

Plate VIII. Possibly the section measured at location 76 may represent a coal bed either slightly above or below bed I, as there has been 

considerable burning between locations 75 and 76. At location 77, 

in sec. 34, bed I is probably represented by only 1 foot of coal, overlain by clay of varying colors and underlain by' grayish-brown sandstone. It is quite probable that the variegated claylike material 

overlying the coal is in large part ash, and the total thickness under 

cover may compare very favorably with that measured at the Browning mine (location 75). About a third of a mile northeast of the 

Browning mine, in sec. 33, there is an old entry on bed I which Avas 

partly filled with water at the time of the field examination. The 

coal was not measured at this place, but it is believed to be approximately as thick here as at the Browning mine.

Bed J. Bed J was measured at only three locations (Nos. 78, 79. 

and 80) in this township. At location 78 it contains 2 feet 3 inches 

of coal in two benches, separated by 1 foot 2 inches of brown shale, 

beginning 10 inches below the top of the bed, as shown in Plate VIII.
54 GEOLOGY AND COAL EESOTJECES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The roof and floor of the bed are shale. At location 79, in sec. 33, the 

following section was measured:

Section of coal led J at location 79, in the NE. I SE. i sec. 33, T. 22 S., R. 6 E.

Sandstone, argillaceous _ .

Coal, slightly shaly

Coal

Shale, brown and gray

Coal bed _

Total coal _ .

Ft.

1

2

in.

4

 31

10

4

8*

At location 80, in sec. 33, 1 foot 3 inches of coal is exposed on bed 

J, which is overlain by sandstone and underlain by clay. At this 

place bed J is 8 feet stratigraphically above bed I.

Bed K. Bed K is believed to be represented in this township by 

only one measurement, in sec. 35, where 8 inches of coal is exposed at 

this horizon.

Bed L. Bed L was measured at only one place-in this township, 

where the section is as follows:

Section of coal led L at location 82, in the SW. I NW. % sec. 33, T. 22 S., R. 6 E.

Shale _

Coal

Coal bed _ _ _ _'

Tott^l coal _ _ _ _ ._ _

Ft.

10

1

4

1

__________ 1

in. 

0

4

4

0

0

8

4

In many places in -this township correlation of the coal sections is 

very definite, but in others it is rather doubtful, owing to the facts 

that some of the beds are thin and lenticular and that "burning" 

and talus cover have obscured the outcrops. It is believed that the 

correlations given above are as nearly correct as it is possible to 

make without drilling.

T. 22 S., R. 7 E.

In T. 22 S., R. 7 E., 34 sections were measured Nos. 84 to 97 on 

coal bed C, 98 to 109 on bed F, and 110 to 117 on bed I.

Bed G. Bed C ranges in thickness from 5 inches at location 89 

to 8 feet 5 inches at location 87. Seven of the measurements made on 

bed C (Nos. 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, and 92) are shown graphically on 

Plate VIII. The others are given in detail below:
THE COAL. 55

Section of coal led C at location 84, in the NE. i SW. i sec. 30, T. 22 S., R. 7 E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, massive; weathers gray_____________ 10+ 

Coal _____________________________ 4 

Sandstone_________________________1_ 2$ 

Coal-____________________':________ 1 0

Sandstone ______________________________ 4

Coal bed _________________________ 1 6} 

Total coal_________________________ l 4

The coal at locations 85 and 86 is be.tween 5 and 7 feet thick, but at 

location 87 the bed shows a marked increase in the amount of coal 

and also in the number of thin shale partings. At location 88, in 

lot 1, sec. 19, a short distance west of location 87, the total thickness 

of the coal bed is practically the same as at location 87, but the character and arrangement of the benches are entirely different, as indicated on Plate VIII.

Coal sections at locations 89 to 97, inclusive, in the northeastern 

part of the township, are correlated with bed C, because they seem 

to be at the same horizon as bed C elsewhere. At location 89 the 

bed contains only 5 inches of coal, overlain by sandstone and underlain by shale, but at locations 90, 91, and 92 the thickness ranges 

from 1 foot 8 inches to 2 feet 2 inches, being greatest at location 91. 

(See PL VIII.) At location 93, in sec. 10, 1 foot 1 inch of coal is 

exposed on bed C, but at location 94, in the same section, only 7 

inches of weathered coal is exposed. Sandstone overlies and shale 

underlies the bed at locations 93 and 94. At location.95 the following 

section was measured:

Section of coal bed at G at location 05, in tJie NE. i NE. i sec. 10, T. 22 S., R. 7 E.

Sandstone, gray. Indies. 

Coal ________________________________ 3 

Shale, black carbonaceous___________________ 1 

Coal, slightly bony___ ..___________________ 7

Shale, black carbonaceous________1____________ 10

Coal bed____________________________ 11 

Total coal___________________________, 10

At location 96, in sec. 10, 1 foot 3 inches of coal was measured, 

and at location 97, in sec. 3, the bed is only 11 inches thick. The bed 

at each location is overlain by sandstone and underlain by shale.

Bed F. In the southwestern part of this township bed F was 

measured at 12 places, which are indicated on the map (PI. X) and 

on the plate of coal sections (PL VIII) by Nos. 98 to 109, inclusive. 

The character of the floor and roof and the thickness and character 

of the bed in this township are well shown in the graphic sections.
56 GEOLOGY AXD COAL EESOUBCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Bed F in this region is reasonably constant in thickness, ranging from 

1 foot 9 inches at location 105 to 4 feet 10 inches at location 109, and 

is only locally split by partings. At location 103 the coal occurs in 

two benches, the lower of which probably is the same as the lower 

bench at location 104 and is of no economic importance. The upper 

bench contains 2 feet 3 inches of coal.

Bed I. The identification of bed I in this township is uncertain, 

although coal sections measured at locations 110 to 117, in sees. 7 and 

18, are tentatively correlated with bed I for the reason that they 

occur at about the same stratigraphic position as bed I elsewhere 

throughout the field. In this township the bed varies in thickness 

from 10 inches at location 115 to 1 foot 7 inches at location 112. At 

the Cox prospect, location 110, it contains 1 ofoot 4 inches of coal, 

overlain by sandstone and underlain by shale. Bed I in this locality 

is definitely known to be lenticular because it is entirely replaced by 

massive yellowT ish-gray sandstone a short distance east of this prospect. Eleven inches of coal, overlain aricl underlain by brown carbonaceous shale, is exposed at location 111. The coal bed at location 

112 is shown graphically on Plate VIII. In the NE. £ SE. £ 

sec. 7, at location 113, 1 foot 1 inch of coal with shale floor and roof 

is exposed. At location 115, 10 inches of coal is exposed, and at location 116, in sec. 18, 1 foot 1 inch of coal, overlain by sandstone and 

underlain by shale, is exposed on the south side of a road leading 

east from Emery. Bed I contains about 1 foot of coal at location 

117, in sec. 18, where sandstone underlies and shale overlies the coal.

T. 23 S., R. 6 £.

Thirteen coal beds are exposed in T. 23 S., E. 6 E., and 120 measurements of the thickness of the coal in the different beds were made. 

The following table shows the number of sections obtained on each 

bed:

Coal beds exposed in T. 23 S., R. 6 E.

Coal 

sections.

M_.__________._____ 233-237 

L__________________ 219-232 

K____________._____ 216-218 

J__________________ 204-215 

I__________________ 180-203 

H______________ 169,177-179 

G____________-_____ 170-176

Coal 

sections.

F____________ 153-159, 162-168 

E__________________ 152 

D_______________ 148,150,151 

G _____ 133-138,140-148,160,161 

P._______________ 132,139,149 

A___________._____ 118-131

The usual order of the description of coal in each township, namely, 

by beds from the north side of the township along the outcrop to the 

south side, is varied for this township, the beds south of Ivie Creek, 

except bed I, being described before those north of that stream.
THE COAL. 57

Bed A. The thickness of bed A Avas measured at 14 places in 

this tOAvnship, designated on the map (PI. X) by Nos. 118 to 181. 

All these sections except Nos. 119 and 127 are shown graphically on 

Plate VIII. The bed ranges in thickness from 1 foot 11 inches at 

location 124 to 10 feet 1 inch at location 118. The overlying sandstone at locations 118 and 120 forms an excellent roof. At location 

119, in sec. 16, no coal is exposed on bed A, but its horizon could be 

definitely traced by a streak of brown shale and sandy clay at a 

distance of 15 feet above the lowermost massive sandstone scarp. At 

location 121, in sec. 17, coal is exposed on what is believed to be bed 

A, but the bed is very much broken at this place and closely resembles, in the number of partings, the coal bed at location 118. The 

roof is brown carbonaceous shale grading upward into sandy shale 

and that into sandstone. At location 122, in sec. 17, the bed contains 6 feet 8 inches of coal in three benches. At location 124, in sec. 

20, it contains only 1 foot 4 inches of coal in two benches, separated 

by 7 inches of carbonaceous shale. The correlation of coal section 

124 with others here referred to bed A is doubtful on account of the

e

greatly reduced thickness of the coal, but its stratigraphic distance 

above the lower sandstone scarp indicates that it is at the horizon of 

bed A, as heretofore stated. At location 127, in the NE. | NW. £ 

sec. 21, bed A consists mainly of carbonaceous shale interbedded. 

with some coal. The bed is about 8 feet thick, of which about 2£ 

feet is coal in several thin layers.

Bed B. The coal that is assigned to bed B Avas measured in this 

township at only three places, locations 132 and 149, in sec. 17, and 

139, in sec. 21. At location 132 the bed contains 1 foot 8 inches of 

coal, overlain by shale and underlain by sandstone, and at location 

139 it contains 1 foot 9 inches of coal in two benches, separated by a 

1-inch shale parting 5 inches below the top of the bed. At location 

149, in the NW. I SE. £ sec. 17, the bed is represented by only 9 

inches of coal, overlain by carbonaceous shale and underlain by 

yellowish-gray bone.

Bed C. Bed C was measured at 17 places in this township, indicated on the map (PI. X) by Nos. 133 to 138,140 to 148,160, and 161. 

All the sections are shown, graphically on Plate VIII, except 

No. 147. If the suggested correlation is correct, bed C in sec. 20 

is probably lenticular and of little value. At location 134 a lens of 

coal of undetermined extent is of workable thickness, but at location 

136 the coal is impure and of no immediate importance. Between 

locations 137 and 140, in sees. 21 and 28, the sections measured at 

the outcrop indicate that the bed is comparatively free from partings and constant in thickness, ranging from 1 foot 10 inches to 

2 feet 6 inches or more except at locations 160 and 161, where an
58 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OP CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

unusual amount of coal is present. The upper 1 foot 3 inch bench at 

location 161 possibly corresponds to the bed as represented by coal 

sections 137, 138, and 140. At location 141, on an outlier in sec. 34, 

bed C contains 6 feet of coal in two benches, which is more than 

double the thickness of coal at any location on this bed in this township previously described, except 134.

In the northern part of the township bed C contains generally 

more coal than is exposed in the southern part. Between locations 

142, in sec. 11, and 145, in sec. 3, the bed ranges from about 6 to 

9^ feet, including partings which, though usually thin, separate 

the bed into two or more benches. These partings will probably 

give no serious trouble in mining. If locations 145 and 146 are at 

the same horizon, bed C increases in thickness very rapidly westward from location 145.. The section at location 146, about a quarter of a mile distant, shows more than double the amount of coal 

exposed at location 145. Bed C in sees. 16 and IT is extremely lenticular in its occurrence according to sections measured at locations 

147 and 148. At location 147 no coal is exposed at the horizon of 

this bed, but only a carbonaceous shale band, whereas at location 148, 

a mile to the west, 13 feet 4 inches of coal in three benches is exposed on bed C. (See PI. VIII.)

Bed D. Bed D was measured at locations 148, 150, and 151, in 

sec. 3. At location 150 the bed contains 12 feet 6 inches of coal in 

six benches, and at location 151 it contains only 11 feet 1 inch in five 

benches. The arrangement of the benches and partings between 

them is shown graphically on Plate VIII. Only 1 foot 6 inches of 

coal is contained in bed D at location 148.

Bed E. Location 152, in sec. 3, is the only place at which bed E 

was measured in this township. It contains only 10£ inches of coal 

overlain and underlain by shale.

Bed F. Bed F was measured at 14 places in this township, shown 

on the map (PL X) by Nos. 153 to 159 and 162 to 168. Plate VIII 

gives the coal sections measured at these locations, except Nos. 153, 

155, and 168. This coal is of little value along the outcrop through 

the western part of sec. 20 and through sec. 29, as may be inferred 

from the following coal sections: At location 153, in sec. 20, 1 foot 1 

inch of coal on bed F contains several thin bands of shale; at location 154, near the center of sec. 29, the bed contains 1 foot 10 inches 

of coal (see PL VIII); and at location 155, near the north line of 

sec. 29, it contains only 8 inches of coal with a floor and roof of 

brown shale. Bed F along its outcrop through the eastern part of 

sec. 20, through sec. 21, and a small portion of sec. 28, at locations 156 

to 159, contains a much greater thickness of coal (from 8£ to 9£ feet) 

than is exposed at any other places examined in this township. (See 

PL VIII.) The total thickness of coal south of location 162 is
THE COAL. 59'

greatly reduced by the splitting of the bed into two benches, the 

lower of which, according to the exposures, is of very little economic 

importance.

The exposures in sees. 3 and -4 suggest that bed F is very lenticular. 

At location 167, 2 feet 10 inches of coal is exposed in one bench, 

whereas at location 168, a few hundred feet to the west, only 6 inches 

of coal is exposed. The bed is overlain by shale and underlain by 

sandstone.

Bed G. Bed G was examined at seven exposures in this township. 

The locations are shown on the map (PI. X) and the sections are 

shown graphically on Plate VIII by Nos. 170 to 176.

At locations 170 and 171, near the line between sees. 29 and 32, 

bed G contains about 1^ feet of coal, but at location 172, near the 

center of sec. 29, it contains only 7 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by carbonaceous shale. At location 173, near the north line of sec.

29, bed G contains 2 feet 1 inch of coal in two benches. As may be 

inferred from the coal sections above given, bed G in sees. 29 and 32 

is of little value, being very lenticular. No exposures were seen on 

the bed between locations 174 in sec. 3 and 173 in sec. 29, probably 

owing to poor exposures along the outcrop between those places. 

At locations 174 to 176, inclusive, in sees. 3 and 4 (see PI. VIII) > 

this bed is more constant in thickness and more persistent in occurrence than it is farther south.

Bed H. The coal in bed H in this township was measured at locations 169, 177, 178, and 179, sees. 17, 20, and 29. The coal sectionsare shown) graphically on Plate VIII. According to these sections, 

the bed shows a slight tendency to increase in thickness toward the 

south. It ranges from 1 foot 4 inches at location 177 to 3 feet 3 

inches at location 169. No other exposures at this horizon were found, 

so that little is known of the occurrence of the bed in this township.

Bed L Bed I in this township was measured at 24 places, which 

are represented on the map (PL X) by Nos. 180 to 203. ,As may be 

inferred by a careful study of the graphic sections (PL VIII), bed 

I is very lenticular and exhibits very abrupt changes in thickness 

even between near-by sections. The range in thickness is from 1 

foot 3 inches at location 180 to 14 feet 11 inches at location 198. At 

location 180, in sec. 3, the coal is overlain by gray clay shale and 

underlain by brown shale which contains streaks of coal. At location 181, in sec. 2, 5 feet 5 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by 

carbonaceous shale, is exposed on bed I. This section was measured 

near the Emery mine (abandoned), which at the time of the examination was closed by caving. A sample for analysis (laboratory No. 

238'6) was collected at the Emery mine by J. A. Taff. 1

1 Taff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal flcld, Utah, west of Green River: TJ. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

285, p. 294, .1906.
60 GEOLOGY AND COAL KESOUKCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

The measurements in this southern half of sees. 2 and 3 at locations 

181, 182, 186, and 187 and in sec. 8 at location 188, all of which are 

believed to be on bed I, suggest a nearly east-west zone where the 

coal is at least twice as thick as it is on either the north or the south. 

South of sees. 3, 4, and 8, according to coal sections that are supposed 

to be on bed I, the coal is much thinner (at locations 183, (184, 185, 

and 189) as far south as the south line of sees. 16 and 17. Southward 

from this line, however, a thin lens of coal on bed I is separated from 

a comparatively thick one (see Pis. VIII and X) by Dog Creek, a 

southern tributary of I vie Creek, flowing through sees. 31,32,29,21,20, 

and 16. In making the above tentative suggestion it is assumed that 

the correlation shown on Plate VIII is correct, but this is questionable 

at several locations, owing mainly to the abrupt changes in the thickness of the coal and to poor exposures between places examined. 

The correlation of the sections referred to bed I is based on the relation of the outcrops to other known traceable beds.

It is also possible that the entire thickness of coal on bed I is not 

exposed at locations 183, 184, and 185. At location 193, in sec. 20, 

coal " bloom " was exposed about 6 feet below the base of bed I, but 

it was not possible to determine the source of this "bloom." The 

difference in the thickness of coal between sections at locations 194. 

in sec. 20, and 195, in sec. 29, is due to a change in thickness of the 

bed, as there is no doubt about the correlation of these sections. 

South of location 196 bed I is concealed by alluvial deposits for a 

distance of a mile or more. The next measurement of the bed was 

made at a good exposure at location 197, in sec. 32. A sample of 

coal for analysis (laboratory No. 14903, p. 80) was collected from 

this surface exposure.

Two thin coal beds (8 inches and 4 inches thick) crop out at 

distances of 17 and 28 feet, respectively, above bed I at location 199, 

in sec. 32. The 8-inch bed probably should be correlated with coal 

bed J. The southernmost section showing the full thickness of coal 

on bed I in this township was measured at location 203, in sec. 21. 

The scarcity of measurements in this vicinity is due mainly to a lack 

of exposures at this horizon. A 1 foot 1 inch bed of coal is exposed 

at location 199, on the south side of a knoll near the south quarter 

corner of sec. 28, and is believed to represent the lower bench of 

bed I, the upper bench not being represented.

Bed J. Bed J was measured at 12 places in this township, the 

locations of which are designated by Nos. 204 to 215. It is of little 

economic importance, being thin (ranging from a few inches of shale 

containing thin bands of coal at location 210 to 2 feet 4 inches of coal 

at location 206) and locally split by shale partings into two or more 

benches. Coal sections at locations 206 to 209. 211, and 215 are 

shown on Plate VIII; the others are fully described below.
THE COAL. 61

At location 204, in sec. 2, bed J, which is 1 foot 1 inch thick, is 

overlain by 1 feet 8 inches of sandstone and shale, which in turn are 

overlain by a local lens of coal only 7-| inches thick. The stratigraphic distance between beds I and J at this point is 7 feet. The 

scarcity of sections on this coal bed is due partly to its lenticular 

character, partly to the extensive burning of the underlying coal 

bed (bed I), and partly to the presence of hill wash that covers the 

outcrop of the bed in places.

Little is known of this bed between locations 204 and 206, except 

at location 205, where it contains 1 foot 1 inch of coal in one bench, 

overlain and underlain by shale.

Between locations 206, in sec. 17, and 209, in sec. 20, the exposures 

are not so far apart and the graphic sections probably represent 

about the true thickness of coal. At location 210, in sec. 29, bed- J 

is made up of brown shale containing thin bands of coal and bone

and is of no economic importance. Practically nothing is known of 

the thickness of the coal along the outcrop between locations 210, in 

sec. 29, and 215, in sec. 32, a distance of about 4£ miles. Much'of the 

coal between these points has been burned along its outcrop, and to 

this is probably due the scarcity of the exposures. The coal sections 

at locations 211 to 214, inclusive, were measured along the outcrop 

around an isolated tract in sees. 20, 21, and 29. The thickest of these 

four sections is at location 211, in sec. 29, where the coal is 1 foot 10 

inches thick. The coal seems to be thinner toward the north and 

east from location 211. The bed contains 1 foot 2 inches of coal, 

underlain and overlain by shale, at location 212, in sec. 20; 9 inches 

of coal, with roof and floor of carbonaceous shale, at location 213, in 

sec. 21; and only 7 inches, with shale above and below the coal, at 

location 214, in sec. 29. As these measurements are well distributed 

and nearly surround the isolated tract, they suggest that probably 

bed J is of very little economic importance under this small area.

Bed K. Three measurements on bed K were obtained in this township, the locations of which are shown on Plate X by Nos. 216 to 218. 

At location 216, in sec. 9, the bed contains 1 foot 2 inches of coal, 

Avith brown shale above and below it; and at locations 21.7, in sec. 29, 

and 218, in sec. 31, it contains only 4 inches of coal. Bed K in this 

toAvnship is thus of no economic value, as at location 216 only a very 

small area is underlain by the coal, and at locations 217 and 218" it is 

too thin to be mined. About 20 feet stratigraphically above bed K, 

at location 218, is a bed of carbonaceous shale containing a little coal.

Bed L. Bed L in this township was measured at 14 places, which 

are designated on Plate X by Nos. 219 to 232. Plate VIII shows the 

sections, except. Nos. 219, 222, 224, 225, 226, and 230, which are described below. The range in thickness is from 6£ inches at location
62 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

219 to 4 feet at location 228. The correlation shown on Plate VIII 

is doubtful in places, but it is believed that the sections here referred 

to bed L all occur at the same stratigraphic horizon.

Bed L in the northern part of the township, between Muddy and 

Quitchuppah creeks, underlies only a few isolated tracts. It is thin 

and much broken by partings and is of little economic importance, 

as is well shown by the following sections. At location 219, in sec. 3, 

near the horizon of bed L there are two thin beds of coal the lower 

6| inches thick and the upper 7 inches thick separated by about 8£ 

feet of sandstone, clay, and shale. The sections at locations 220 and 

221 are shown graphically on Plate VIII. At location 222, in 

sec. 2, 9£ inches of coal on bed L is exposed in two benches separated 

by a 3-inch parting of drab shale. The bed is here overlain and 

underlain by shale.

The section at location 223 is shown on Plate VIII, except that the 

coal in its upper part contains several £-inch beds or lenses of brown 

shale. The following three measurements in the SE. £ sec. 3 suggest that bed L is of little value in a small outlier in that vicinity. 

At location 224 it contains only 1 foot 2£ inches of coal in two 

benches, separated by 1 foot 3£ inches of shale. The bed is here 

overlain by shale and underlain by brown clay. At location 225 it 

contains 1 foot 1£ inches of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by 

shale, and at location 226 it contains only 1 foot of coal, overlain by 

sandstone and underlain" by shale.

The exposures in the southwestern part of the township, at locations 227 to 232, suggest that bed L is of more economic importance 

here than elsewhere in this township. In this area it contains from 

1 foot 6 inches to 4 feet of coal. At some places the coal is badly 

weathered and films of gypsum fill the joints and bedding planes. 

The sections are all shown on Plate VIII, except that at location 230, 

where the coal was very poorly exposed, but where, it is believed, 

from 3 to 4 feet of coal is present. The bed is here overlain by sandstone and underlain by shale.

Bed M. Bed M was measured in this township at five locations, 

which are indicated on Plate X by Nos. 233 to 237. Two of the sections, at locations 234 and 236, are shown graphically on Plate VIII, 

and the others are described below. At location 233, in sec. 11, 6 

inches of coal, overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale, 

is believed to represent bed M. The section at location 234, in sec. 

7 (see PI. VIII), shows that the bed has materially changed in 

character and thickness from that exposed at location 233. The 

change is even more striking between the near-by sections at locations 234 to 237, inclusive. At location 235, in sec. 7, the bed is 

practically worthless, consisting mainly of brown sandy carbonaceous 

shale with thin streaks of coal. At location 236, in sec. 18, it is of
THE COAL. 63

more value, containing 3 feet 3 inches of coal. At location 237, in 

sec. 19, 1 foot of coal believed to represent bed M is exposed, with 

roof and floor of brown shale.

T. 24 S., R. 5 E.

The 8 coal beds exposed in T. 24 S., R. 5 E.. was measured at 80 

places. The table below shows the beds that are present and the 

numbers of the coal sections measured.

Coal beds exposed in T. 24 S., R. 5 E.

Coal 

sections.

M_________. 311-317 

L_________. 305-310 

K________. 300-304

Coal 

sections.

J_________ 282-299

I_________ 264-281 

H________. 247-263

Coal 

sections.

G________. 246

A_________. 238-245

Bed A. The coal in bed A in this township has been more or less

burned along its outcrop. The rocks overlying the coal bed south 

of the main branch of Willow Creek and north of the principal 

south branch of Willow Creek are considerably baked, and the horizon of the bed is represented by a dark-red band along the hillside, 

whereas north of Willow Creek the burning has been so complete 

that no coal remains at the surface on bed A. South of Willow 

Creek, however, there are a few unburned wedges or remnants of 

the coal which give the probable range in thickness of the coal in this 

township. The sections measured on bed A at locations 238 to 245 

are shown graphically on Plate IX.

South of Willow Creek bed A in this township varies greatly, in 

thickness from place to place, ranging from 9 feet 10 inches at 

location 241 to 14 feet 6 inches at location 240. The coal was measured in sec. 13 at location 238, where the outcrop crosses Willow 

Creek. The top of the bed at this place was not fully exposed, being 

overlain by soil, gravel, and bowlders, but it is believed that all the 

coal of value is shown graphical!}7 in the section on Plate IX. Southward from location 238 for a distance of about a mile the exposures 

on bed A are very poor, and the next measurement was obtained at 

location 239, in sec. 24. The base of the bed was not definitely determined, but at least 12 feet of coal is present at this place. A thin 

streak of bony coal, not shown on Plate IX, occurs about 2 feet below 

the top of the bed at location 239. At location 240, in sec. 24, about 

a quarter of a mile south of location 239, the bed contains 14 feet 2 

inches of fairly good coal in two benches. It is believed that the 

entire bed is exposed here, which suggests that probably the two previous measurements given underestimate the amount of coal in the 

bed. Near location 242, in sec. 26, the coal bed was burning at the 

time of the field examination. A sample for analysis (laboratory 

No. 15061, p. 80) was collected from the surface prospect at location
64 GEOLOGY AISTD COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

243, in sec. 26. The sample was considerably weathered and can not 

give an adequate idea of the character of the coal under thick cover. 

Coal bed A was not measured along the outcrop toward the east, 

southeast, south, and southwest for a distance of 1£ to 2 miles from 

location 244, in sec. 24, but at location 245, in sec. 25, it contains 12 

feet 9 inches of fairly good coal in two benches. South of this 

point in this township no sections were measured on this bed, but 

according to the section at location 387, in sec. 3, T. 25 S., K. 5 E., 

it contains 7 feet 2 inches of coal. This bed probably contains coal 

of workable thickness southward from location 245.

Bed Gr. Bed G was measured in this township only at location 

246, in sec. 24, where 5 inches of weathered coal, overlain and underlain by brown shale, is exposed.

Bed II. Bed H was measured in this township at 17 locations, 

which are designated on the map (PL X) by Nos.4247 to 263. Six of 

the sections are shown on Plate IX; the others are described below. 

Bed H overlies bed G in this township at a stratigraphic distance of 

approximately 50 feet. It ranges in thickness from 8 inches at location 262 to 2 feet 7 inches at location 255. The three northernmost 

exposures on this bed, at locations 247, 248, and 249, in sec. 13, show 

it to contain about 1 foot of coal. The graphic sections on Plate IX 

show the thickness and character of the bed at locations 250, in sec. 

13, and 251, in sec. 12. At location 252, in sec. 13, it contains 1 foot 

of coal, slightly bony at the base, overlain by shale and underlain by 

clay. The character and thickness of the bed! at locations 253, in 

sec. 11, and 254 and 255, in sec. 14, are shown by the graphic sections 

on Plate IX. The distance between beds H and I at location 255 

is 6 feet. About two-thirds of a mile farther east, at location 256, 

in sec. 13, this bed contains 1 foot 3 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by shale; and at location 257, in sec. 14, the coal bed is represented by brown to black carbonaceous shale. About a mile south of 

location 257 bed H at locations 258 and 259, in sec. 23, contains 1 

foot 3 inches of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by shale. In the 

NE. £ SE. £ sec. 23, at location 260, on the west side of a deep canyon, 1 foot of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by shale, is exposed on bed H. The coal section at location 261 is shown graphically on Plate IX. Near the south boundary of sec. 23, at location 

262, only 8 inches of coal is exposed on bed H wT hich seems to be of 

little economic importance farther south and southwest. The southernmost place at which this bed was measured in the township is in 

the SW. £ NW. i sec. 26, at location 263, where 9 inches of coal, 

overlain and underlain by shale, is exposed.

Bed /. Bed I was measured in this township at 18 locations, 

which are designated on the map (PL X) by Nos. 264 to 281. Part 

of the sections measured are represented graphically on Plate IX;
THE COAL. 65

the others are described below. The bed throughout this township 

is less than 2 feet in thickness, except at location 272, in sec. 11, 

where it is 3 feet 6 inches thick. At location 264, in sec. 13,1 foot of 

coal, overlain and underlain by clay, is exposed on bed I. The sections measured at locations 265, 266, and 267, in sec. 13, are shown 

graphically on Plate IX. In the NE. £ NE. £ sec. 13, 1 foot 1 inch 

of coal, overlain by bone and shale and underlain by shale, is believed to represent bed I. The following section of this bed was made 

at location 268, in sec. 13:

Section of coal bed I at location 268 in the NW. I NE. i sec. 18, T. 24 8., R. 5 E.

Clay, dark brown. Ft. in.

Bone ______________________________ 2

Coal, bony, brownish black___________ ._ 5

Coal, weathered, stained yellow in places______ 8

Clay, darK reddish brown_______ ______ 5±

Shale, dark blue. 

Total coal_________________________ 1 1

Five inches of coal, overlain and underlain by dark-brown shale, 

supposed to be on bed I, is exposed at location 269, in sec. 12. The 

coal section at location 270, in sec. 12, is shown graphically on Plate 

IX. At location 271, in sec. 13, the bed contains only 9 inches of dull, 

weathered coal, which is overlain by bone and underlain by shale. 

Bed I at location 272, in sec. 11, is 3 feet 6 inches thick (see PI. IX), 

containing more coal than was seen at any other exposure on this 

bed in this township. The bed is represented by 1 foot 2 inches of 

coal, overlain and underlain by clay, at location 273, in sec. 14, on 

the south side of Willow Creek. Plate IX shows the thickness and 

character of bed I at location 274, in sec. 13. At location 275, in sec. 

14, 1 foot 2 inches of coal is exposed, and at location 276, in sec. 23, 

1 foot of weathered coal, overlain by shale and underlain by clay, 

represents the bed. At location 277, about 1,000 feet northeast of 

location 276, 1 foot of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by shale, 

is exposed on bed I. The coal section at location 278, in sec. 23, is 

shown graphically on Plate IX. The bed was measured at location 279, about a quarter of a mile farther southwest, where 1 foot 

of coal is exposed. Only 6 inches of coal is exposed at location 280, 

in sec. 23. The southernmost measurement on bed I in this township 

was made in sec. 26, at location 281, where 9 inches of coal, overlain 

by shale and underlain by dark-gray clayey sandstone, is exposed.

Bed J. Bed J was measured in this township at 18 locations, Nos. 

282 to 299. (See PI. X.) Most of the sections are shown graphically 

on Plate IX. The maximum thickness is 3 feet 2 inches at location 

291. At location 282, in the SE. £ NE. £ sec. 13, 9 inches of coal, 

overlain by clay and underlain by bone, is exposed on bed J, The 

21246° Bull. 02§ 10 5
66 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

sections at locations 283 to 289, in sees. 11, 12, and 13 (see PL IX), 

show the bed to be rather irregular in thickness (from 1 foot 3 inches 

to 2 feet 10 inches) between these points and to occur in one bench. 

The upper bed of coal exposed at locations 285 and 286 (see PL IX) 

should probably be correlated with bed K. At location 290, in sec. 

11, 2 feet 6 inches of coal, overlain by sandstone and underlain by 

dark-brown carbonaceous shale, represents bed J. The sections at 

locations 291 in sec. 14, and 292, in sec. 13, show the bed to be thicker 

than at the locations described above. (See PL IX.) The stratigraphic 

distance between beds I and J at location 293 is 9 feet. Bed J between 

locations 293, in sec. 14, and 296, in sec. 23, is thin and of little economic importance. At location 293 it contains 1 foot 1 inch of coal; 

at 294,1 foot 2 inches; at 295,1 foot; and at 296, only 9 inches. The 

roof and floor of the bed in this locality are generally shale and clay, 

respectively. The sections at locations 297, in sec. 23, to 299, in sec. 

26, inclusive (see PL IX), show bed J to be of little economic importance and to deteriorate in value toward the south. It is exposed 

in two beds, neither of which is thick enough to be profitably mined.

Bed K. Bed K was examined in this township at locations 300 

to 304, which are indicated on the map (PL X). Only one section 

(at location 304) is shown on Plate IX; the others are briefly 

described below. Bed K in this township lies about 11 feet stratigraphically above the top of bed J and reaches a maximum thickness 

of only 1 foot 7 inches at location 304. It follows that the bed in 

this township is of little economic importance. There are, however, 

two lenses of coal, probably of small lateral extent, which are' of 

some value, one in the vicinity of location 302, in sec. 13, and the 

other in the vicinity of location 304, in sec. 23. At locations 300 and 

301, both in sec. 13, bed K contains 10 inches of coal. At the former 

place the roof and floor are bone and at the latter the roof is clay 

and the floor is shale. An exposure about a quarter of a mile west 

of location 301, believed to represent bed K, shows 1 foot 1 inch of 

coal having a roof and floor of carbonaceous shale. A short distance 

farther west 1 foot 2 inches of coal, supposedly on bed K, is exposed. 

At location 302, in sec. 13, there is 1 foot 2 inches of coal having clay 

above and bone below it. At location 303, in sec. 12', the bed contains only 8 inches of coal having a shale floor and roof.

Bed L Bed L was measured in this township at six locations, 

designated on the map (PL X) by Nos. 305 to 310. Three of the 

sections are shown on Plate IX. The bed in this township is approximately 55 feet stratigraphically above bed K and 15 feet stratigraphically below bed M. Bed L, like bed K, is of little economic 

importance in this township, although several exposures show a 

thickness of coal greater than 1 foot 3 inches. The sections at loca-
THE COAL. 67

tions 305 and 306, both in sec. 13, show more than 1 foot 4 inches of 

coal. (See PI. IX.) Two other exposures on bed L, one about 100 

to 200 feet west of location 306 and the other at location 307, in sec. 

13, each contain 11 inches of coal having a bone roof and a shale 

floor. . At location 308, in sec. 23, the bed contains 1 foot of coal, the 

lower 4 inches of which is slightly bony. At location 309, in sec. 25, 

only 8 inches of coal is exposed. The bed at both locations is overlain and underlain by shale. In the SE. £ SE. £ sec. 24, on the east 

side of the ridge, 5 inches of coal is exposed which is believed to represent bed L. The southernmost exposure of bed L in this township 

is on thfc north side of Last Chance Creek, at location 310, in sec. 31, 

where 1 foot 8 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by dark-brown 

shale, is exposed.

Bed M. Bed M in this township was measured at seven locations, 

which are represented on the map (PL X) by Nos. 311 to 317. The 

sections at locations 311 to 314, in sees. 13, 14, and 23, are shown on 

Plate IX; the remainder are described below. The maximum thickness is 5 feet 2 inches, at location 313 in sec. 14. The bed is represented by 11 inches of coal, with shale above and below, at location 

315 in the SE. £ SW. £ sec. 23. At location 316, on the south fork 

of Willow Creek in the SE. £ SE. | sec. 27, bed M is represented 

by 7 inches of bone and bony coal of no economic value. The 

southernmost place where this bed was measured in this township 

is in the SE. £ SW. £ sec. 25, at location 317, where 1 foot 1 inch 

of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by sandstone, is exposed. 

Overlying the bed at this place there is approximately 70 feet of the 

lower part of the shale above the Ferron sandstone.

T. 24 8., R. 6 E.

Beds A, C, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, and M are represented in T. 24 

S., R. 6 E., by a total of 53 measurements, designated on the map 

(PI. X) by locations 318 to 370. All the sections containing more 

than 1 foot 4 inches of coal are shown graphically on Plate IX by 

corresponding numbers. The following table indicates the numbers 

of the sections measured on each bed:

Coal beds exposed in T. 2^ 8., R. 6 E. 

Coal

sections.

M____...___ 370 

L__. __.___ 366-369 

K____...____ 364-365 

J____.___ 356-363

Coal 

sections.

I_________ 347-355 

H____.____ 342-346 

G__.___.___ 338-341 

F____.____ 333-337

Coal 

sections.

C____-____ 328-332 

A____.___ 318-327

Bed A. Bed A, which is the lowest one in the section, was measured in this township at 10 locations, which are represented on Plate 

X by N is. 318 to 327. The details of the sections are shown graphi-
68 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

cally on Plate IX. The bed ranges in thickness from 1 foot 5 inches 

at location 325 to 13 feet 5 inches at location 319. A good example 

of the apparent abrupt change in thickness of bed A is furnished 

by coal sections 131 (PI. VIII) and 318 (PI. IX). The former 

section, showing 2 feet 3 inches of coal, was measured in sec. 33, 

T. 23 S., E. 6 E., and the latter, showing 8 feet 1 inch of coal, was 

measured in lot 8, sec. 5, T. 24 S., E. 6 E., only about 1 mile distant. 

There appears to be no constant rate of change in bed A in any particular direction. At location 319, in lot 9, sec. 4, east of location 

318, the bed attains its greatest thickness (13 feet 5 inches) observed 

in this township. Less than half as much coal (5 feet 1 inch) is 

exposed at location 320, in lot 14, sec. 5, whereas at location 321, in 

lot 16, sec. 6, 9 feet 6 inches is exposed. Southwestward from location 321, however, to location 327, in sec. 18, the bed is much thinner 

and is badly split by partings at locations 322, 323, and 324. At 

various places along the north side of Willow Creek valley, in sec. 

18, the horizon of bed A is marked by a considerable thickness of 

baked clay which locally contains some slag or fused material. When 

the thickness of coal in bed A at location 238, in the SW. £ NW. i 

sec. 13, T. 24 S., E. 5 E., is compared with the sections last given 

above, it seems doubtful if the entire thickness of the coal bed is

<i

exposed at locations 322 to 327. It is believed from a careful study 

of the coal in this locality that bed A is valuable for several miles 

, along the outcrop southward from I vie Creek and probably is of 

some value as far south as Last Chance Creek. If it may be assumed 

that bed A is continuous and fairly constant in thickness, the sections measured at locations 322 to 327 probably represent only a 

part of bed A or possibly a "split" from it. The bed probably 

underlies portions of lots 3 and 4, in sec. 19, for at locations 244 

and 245, in sees. 24 and 25, respectively, T. 24 S., E, 5 E., only a 

short distance to the west, bed A contains 12 to 14 feet of coal.

Bed C. Coal sections 328 to 332 (see PI. IX) represent bed C in 

this township and are arranged on Plate X in order from north to 

south along the outcrop. This bed at location 328, in sec. 8, contains 10 inches of coal, overlain by shale and clay and underlain by 

clay. The bed is variable in thickness and is badly split by partings 

in sees. 7, 8, and 18, as is shown graphically on Plate IX by sections 

329 to 331. The greatest thickness is 7 feet 4 inches, at location 832, 

in sec. 18. Bed C in this locality is 35 feet stratigraphically above 

bed A.

Bed F. Bed F was measured in this township at five locations, 

which are designated on Plate X by Nos. 333 to 337. The sections 

at locations 335 to 337 are shown graphically on Plate IX. The bed 

is of little economic importance in this township, as the benches of 

coal are thin and the intervening partings unusually thick, except
THE COAL. 69

at location 337, where the bed is possibly of value, being 3 feet 6 

inches thick, including partings. The section measured at location 

333 is as follows:

Section of thin coal beds at the horizon of bed F at location 838, in lot 1, sec. 5,

T. 24 S., R. 6 E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, massive,, yellowish gray; contains clayball concretions________,______________ 30+ 

Coal, blocky________________________ 6

Shale, brown, carbonaceous________________ 2 0 

Shale, brown to black; contains thin streaks of coal__ 2 0

Coal, impure, of variable thickness_________ 8± 

Sandstone, argillaceous and carbonaceous, brown at 

top; becomes less argillaceous and thin bedded near 

bottom _____________________ 7 0

Clay, drab, grading down into brown shale 1 10 

Coal, bright_____________________ 7 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous.___ __ __ ___ 6+

The base of the section at location 333 is about 60 feet above the 

top of bed A at location 318. An outcrop of bed G, near location 

340, in sec. 5, shows that bed F contains only brown carbonaceous 

shale. The distance between beds F and G at this place is 42 feet. 

At location 334, in lot 15, sec. 6, about 4 miles along the outcrop but 

approximately 1£ miles in a straight line southwest from location 

333, bed F contains only 8 inches of coal, having a brown carbonaceous shale floor and roof. The distance between beds F and A at 

location 334 is 55 feet, as compared with 60 feet at location 333. The 

sections at locations 335 to 337 (see PL IX) shows the ^hickness and 

the character of the coal and the character of the floor and roof of 

bed F in sees. 7, 8, and 18.

Bed G. Bed G is represented in this township by coal sections 338 

to 341, which are described below. Three benches of coal aggregating 2 feet 8 inches are exposed at location 338, in lot 10, sec. 4. 

The thickness of each bench of coal and the thickness and character 

of the partings are shown on Plate IX. Coal section 339, measured 

in lot 9, sec. 4, contains 2 feet 3 inches of coal in two benches, separated by 4 inches of brown shale that begins 9 inches below the top 

of the bed. Brown carbonaceous shale both overlies and underlies the 

coal. Bed G at this place is approximately 90 feet strati graphically 

above the top of bed A (PI. IX, coal section 319). At location 340, 

in lot 11, sec. 5, 11 inches of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by 

brown shale, represents bed G, which is 65 feet below the base of bed 

I (PL IX, coal section 349). At location 341, in lot 10, sec. 5,1 foot 

1 inch of coal, overlain and underlain by brown carbonaceous shale, 

represents bed G, and this is the southernmost measurement obtained 

on this bed in this township.
70 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Bed H. Bed H in this township was measured at five exposures, 

which are designated on Plate X by Nos. 342 to 346. The exposures 

at locations 342 to 345 are all in sec. 6, and the character and thickness of the coal are shown on Plate IX. Southward from sec. 6 

the bed was examined in the NE. \ SW. \ sec. 18, near the east end 

of a high ridge, where it contains only 9 inches of coal, having a 

shale floor and roof. The southernmost exposure examined in this 

township is at location 346, in sec. 18, where there is 1 foot 3 inches 

of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by shale.

The stratigraphic distance between beds H and A at location 34T, 

in sec. 4, is 210 feet.

Bed I. Coal bed I and the associated rocks were examined at 

nine locations, which are designated on Plate X by Nos. 347 to 355. 

All these sections except Nos. 350, 352, and 354 are shown graphically 

on Plate IX. This coal bed, if the correlation of the^exposures here 

suggested is correct, is in this township extremely variable in thickness, as well as in the number and arrangement of the benches. The 

graphic sections show very well its variable character. The coal bed 

in sees. 4 and 5, at locations 347 to 349, seems to be relatively constant in thickness, except for the lower two benches at location 348 

(see PI. IX), which may represent a split from bed I or a local lens of 

small lateral extent. Bed I in the vicinity of location 356 (on bed J), 

in sec. 5, is represented by a band of carbonaceous shale. Toward the 

west, in sec. 6, at locations 350 to 353, it is of no economic value. At 

location 350, in lot 10, sec. 6, an exposure believed to represent bed I 

contains only 4 inches of coal, having a carbonaceous shale floor and 

roof. The section at location 351 is shown on Plate IX. At location 

352, in the center of sec. 6, the bed contains 1 foot 3 inches of coal 

having a roof and floor of carbonaceous shale, but at location 353, 

only a few hundred feet to the southeast, there is only 3 inches of 

coal. (See PI. IX.) No exposure was examined on bed I between 

the SE. i sec. 6 and the SW. £ sec. 18. At location 354, in the N. £ 

SW. i sec. 18, this bed contains 11 inches of coal, having a carbonaceous shale roof and floor. The section at location 355 is shown on 

Plate IX.

Bed /. Bed J in this township was measured by eight locations 

(PI. X, Nos. 356 to 363), and all the sections except Nos. 361 to 363 

are shown graphically on Plate IX. The exposures examined occur 

in sees. 5 and 6, except one at location 363, in sec. 18. The bed is of 

value along its outcrop from location 356 to a point between locations 359 and 360, but eastward and southward from location 360 it 

is of no economic value in this township. At location 361, in the 

NW. i SE. % sec. 6, the horizon of bed J is represented by a highly 

carbonaceous dark-brown shale 1 foot 6 inches thick. In the NW. £ 

SE. £ sec. 6, at location 362, 10 inches of coal, overlain by sandstone
THE COAL. 71

and underlain by clay, is exposed at the horizon of the bed. The 

southernmost measurement on bed J in this township was made at 

location 363, in the NW. £ SW. £ sec. 18, where it contains 1 foot 

2 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by dark carbonaceous shale. 

The stratigraphic distance between beds J and I in the vicinity of 

location 356 is 20 feet, whereas the corresponding distance in the 

vicinity of location 357 is only 6 feet 6 inches.

Bed K. Bed K in this township was measured at three exposures, 

two of which are designated on the map (PL X) by Nos. 364 and 365. 

At location 364, in lot 10, sec. 6, it contains 1 foot 2 inches of coal, 

overlain and underlain by brown shale. In the NW. \ SW. £ sec. 18, 

10 inches of coal, overlain by shale and sandstone and underlain by 

bone and sandstone, is believed to represent bed K. At location 365, 

also in the NW. | SW. \ sec. 18, 8 inches of coal, overlain and underlain by bony shale, is exposed.

Bed L. Bed L was measured at four places in this township 

(Pxl. X, location 366 to 369). The sections are shown graphically 

on Plate IX. The outcrop of bed L incloses an isolated tract in 

sees. 4 and 5 (see PI. X), and the bed at the exposures examined 

contains about 3 feet of coal. The other exposures examined on 

bed L are so far 'apart that little can be said about the character and 

thickness of the coal between them. Two of the exposures examined 

are not indicated on the map. In the NE. £ SW. £ sec. 18, near the 

east end of a high ridge, 9 inches of coal is exposed; and at about a 

quarter of a mile to the west 1 foot 8 inches of coal is exposed at 

the same horizon.

The stratigraphic distance between beds L and I at location 367, 

in sec. 4, is 57 feet and between beds J and L at location 369, in sec. 18, 

is 49 feet.

Bed M. Coal section 370, measured in lot 1, sec. 7, shows that bed 

M contains 7 feet 11 inches of coal in two benches, the upper one 4 

feet 5 inches thick, separated by 2 inches of bone. Shale both overlies and underlies the coal at this place. It is quite probable that 

bed M underlies the small outlying hill in the northwestern part of 

sec. 7 and also an irregular strip along the west side of sec. 6, where 

its horizon is covered by alluvium. It is known to be present also 

in the outlier, whose eastern part extends into sec. 18.

T. 25 S., R. 4 £.

Only three coal beds (A, L, and M) are known to be exposed in 

T. 25 S., R. 4 E.

Bed A. Bed A was measured at three locations in this township, 

designated on Plates IX and X by Nos. 371 to 373. At each of the 

three exposures, which are in sec. 25, it contains about 2 feet of coal.
72 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

but southwestward from sec. 25 no outcrop was seen, and little is 

known of the bed in sees. 26, 34, and 35.

Bed L. Bed L in this township was measured at seven locations 

(PL IX and X, Nos. 374 to 380). The bed ranges in thickness 

from 1 foot 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, being thinnest at locations 

376 and 377 and thickest at location 378. So far as the exposures 

reveal the thickness and character of the coal, bed L is very irregular, 

as is shown graphically on Plate IX. In the SW. £ SE. £ sec. 34, 

at location 380, a total of 3 feet 6 inches of coal is present in three 

beds in a thickness of about 12 feet of strata. The two lower beds 

are of little value, as they are thin and widely separated by clay 

and bone. The upper bed, 2 feet 6 inches thitfk, is probably all that 

would be removed in mining.

Bed M. Six measurements were obtained on bed M in this township, and are designated on Plate X by Nos. 381 to 386. All these 

sections are shown graphically on Plate IX, except No. 384 and 

the upper two benches of No. 381. In sec. 13, at location 381,

3 feet 8 inches of coal is exposed in a section of rocks 13 feet

4 inches in thickness. The two upper beds are each 6 inches thick 

and are separated by 4 feet of yellowish-gray sandstone. The 

middle bed is separated from the lowest by 5 feet 6 inches of 

brown shale. It is quite probable that only the lower bed of coal, 

which is 2 feet 8 inches thick (see PL IX) will be mined. At location 384 about 800 feet slightly west of south of location 383, in the 

NW. | NW. £ sec. 35,1 foot 3 inches of coal, overlain by sandstone and 

underlain by brown shale, represents this bed. Overlying bed M 

at this locality there is more sandy material than was noted in this 

part of the columnar section at any other place in the Emery coal 

field. Usually bed M is overlain directly by yellowish-drab sandy 

shale, becoming less sandy toward the top. One or two thin beds of 

limestone also were noted in the overlying rocks within a distance of 

. 100 feet above this coal bed. At location 386 1 foot 11 inches of coal 

is present in°7 feet 11 inches of strata. The upper bed is 1 foot 4 

inches thick and the lower one 7 inches thick. They are separated by 

6 feet of light-gray to dark clay and shale.

T. 25 8., E. 5 E.

In T. 25 S., E. 5 E., 21 measurements were obtained on four coal 

beds. The following table shows the numbers of 'the coal sections 

measured on each bed:

Coal beds exposed in T. 25 S., R. 5 E.

Coal 

sections.

M_________________ 403-407 

La _________________ 402

Coal 

sections.

L _________________ 396-401 

A _________________ 387-395
THE COAL. 73

Bed A. Coal bed A was examined in this township at nine locations 

(PL X, Nos. 387 to 395). The sections are shown graphically on 

Plate IX, except those at locations 393 to 395. Southwestward from 

sec. 3 into sec. 9 bed A shows a gradual decrease in thickness, ranging from 7 feet 2 inches at location 387 to 2 feet 6 inches at location 

392. No exposures were observed in sees. 16 and 17, but farther southwest the bed is of no economic value, being too thin. In the NW. \ 

;'NE. \ sec. 20, at location 393, bed A contains only 5 inches of good 

/ coal, which is overlain and underlain by several feet of brown cari bonaceous shale, containing in places thin streaks of coal. The bed is 

/ represented by 10 inches of coal with a little bone, overlain and un- 

/' derlain by dark-brown shale, at location 394, in the NW. \ NE. \ 

sec. 30. At location 395, in sec. 30, about a quarter of a mile southwest of location 394, bed A contains only 11 inches of coal, overlain 

by clay and underlain by shale.

Bed L. Bed L was measured in this township at six places 

Nos. 396 to 401 (see Pis. IX and X), inclusive. The graphic sec- 

"tions on Plate IX show the character and thickness of the bed and 

probably roughly represent its true condition, as the exposures are 

rather uniformly distributed over the northwestern part of the 

township. At location 398, in sec. 6, a bed which lies 10 feet below 

the bed shown in the plat© of graphic sections (PI. IX) contains 

only 3 inches of coal.

Bed La,. Only one exposure, at location 402, in sec. 3, was examined at the horizon of bed La in this township. It is believed that 

> the coal exposed here is but a local lens or probably a split from 

either bed M or bed L. This section is given on Plate IX.

Bed M. Coal bed M was measured in this township at five locations, which are designated on Plates IX and X by Nos. 403 to 407. 

The exposures examined are not well distributed and so perhaps 

do not truly represent bed M in the entire township. The bed is 

probably irregular in thickness and occurrence, however, as may be 

inferred from the sections at locations 403 to 405, which are very 

near" together in sees. 4 and 5. At locations 406, in sec. 18, and 407, 

in sec. 30, the bed is more than 5 feet thick, but little is known of the 

coal between these exposures or between locations 406, in sec. 18, and 

405, in sec. 5. It is believed, however, that only the middle bench 

of coal at location 404 is exposed at location 405.

T. 26 8., £. 4 E.

The coal beds of T. 26 S., R. 4 E., which are present only in sees. 

2, 3, and 4, were measured at five locations Nos. 408 to 412.

Bed A. Bed A was measured at three places in this township, 

which are represented on Plates IX and X by Nos. 408 to 410. 

At location 409, in sec. 3, a prospect tunnel about 15 feet in length had
74 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OP CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

been made. The coal here was very much broken and distorted. The 

lower 3-foot bench of the lower bed was sampled for analysis 

(laboratory No. 15060, p. 80) at the back end of this entry. The 

lower coal bed, as shown on Plate IX by coal section 409, may 

be present elsewhere, but at locations 408 and 410 there is no evidence of its existence.

Bed #. At location 411, in the SE. £ NW. £ sec. 3, 1 foot 1 inch 

of coal, overlain by clay and underlain by shale, represents bed ~B. 

The coal at this place is about 12 feet stratigraphically above bed A.

Bed L At location 412, in the SE. £ NE. £ sec. 4, 4 feet 4 inches 

of coal, overlain and underlain by shale, represents what is believed 

to be bed L. On account of considerable cover in places and the disturbed condition of the strata it was not practicable to obtain other 

measurements on any of the coal beds in this township.

COAL IN THE DAKOTA SANDSTONE.

The coal in the Dakota sandstone is of some economic importance 

in central and eastern Utah south of the Book Cliffs,1 but along the' 

east side of Castle Valley it is of little value at present, and, considering the extensive deposits of coal in the Mesaverde formation in the 

Wasatch Plateau and Book Cliffs fields and in the Ferron sandstone 

member of the Mancos shale in the Emery field, it seems doubtful if 

the coal of Dakota age in this region will ever be mined, except possibly in a small way for domestic use by ranchers.

Sections of coal beds of Dakota age are described below in order 

from north to south. The locations examined are indicated on 

Plate XII. The northernmost exposure of coal in the Dakota sandstone examined in Castle Valley is in the SE. £ NW. | sec. 24, T. 17 

S., R. 10 E., at location 413, where there is 3 inches of coal, overlain 

by 2 feet or more of black carbonaceous shale and underlain by 5 

feet or more of the same material. Several prospect pits, some of 

which are 8 feet or more in depth, have been opened in the vicinity 

of location 413. No evidence of coal exists at the outcrop of the 

Dakota, although exposures are good for about 15 miles to the southwest, but on the west side of Huntington Creek, in the NW. £ SW. | 

sec. 9, T. 19 S., R. 9 E., at location 414 the following section shows 

the character of the rocks:

Section of coal-bearing strata in Dakota sandstone at location 'J/14, in sec. 9,

T. 19 S., R. 9 E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, yellow, carbonaceous______________ 1 0 

Shale, black, very carbonaceous; contains thin streaks

of coal at base___________________-_- 1 6 

Sandstone, yellow, carbonaceous ______ _ _ 5 0

6

1 Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance of the Book Cliffs coal field, between Grand River, 

Colo., and Sunnyside, Utah : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 371, pp. 12-13, 1909.
U S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

T. 21 S., R.7 E.

BED B 

4 56 7

T. 22 S., R. 6 E. T. 23 S.;- R.6JE.

WILLIAMS MINE

61 62 63 64 . .65. .66 181 182; vK 183 .184. 185 186 8 189 I9° 191 137 .138. ,140,;[ .'41, .142 143

146, ,148. .161

'69, .177. 178 i 179

T. 22 S.. R. 7 E, 

BED C

87 88 .90. 91

31 .32, 1,33, ! 34 162 163, l!_64 , , 16 5, .166. -i 167

Bep B ; 

132. .139

220( ,221, 223, ,227, .228 .229 231 232

l" ^^ _ ^^ ___ __

102 OS 104

Impure Carbonaceous Sandy?( 

Coal coal Bone shale Shale shale'|k Sandstone

206 ,207. . ,208, 209 211 215

Sampled for analysis

SECTIONS OF COALHEDS IN T. 21 S., R. 7 E.,T. 22 S., RS. 6 AND 7 E., AND T. 23 S,, R. 6 E., EMERY COUNTY, UTAH
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

T. 24 S., R. 5 E. T. 24 S., R. 6 E. T. 25 S., R. 4 E.

BULLETIN 628 PLATE IX

T. 26 S., R 4 E. 

Bed F -Bed A320 321. 322 323 335 336 337 371 372 .373. 381 382 383 385 386 408 409 410

374 375 376 377 378. 379 380

5" 338 339 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 291 292 297 298 2"

Bed H 

343 344

T. 25 S., R. 5 E. 

Bed A

387 388 389 390 391. 392

Bed M 

312 313

=^ Carbonaceous

~ shale

402 1.403. 404 405 406 407

Bed L 

305 306 310

396 397 398 399 .400 ,. .401 

3"

Sampled fbr analysis

SECTIONS OF COAL BEDS IN T. 24 S., RS. 5 AND 6 E., T. 25 S., RS. 4 AND 5 E., AND T. 26 S., R. 4 E., SEVIER AND EMERY COUNTIES, UTAH
§l^^pS|:^'*: ;S|^pH|

^K^^SsSs^ss

Outcrop of coal bed continuously exposed

(Figures refer to sections on P/ates VIII-IX) ?iillMf(ll»»

Outcrop of coal bed coi/erec/j

location inferred !\ \ / />

Outcrop of coal bed hurned

Clfnker area, result of burning ofcoai 

T I Local coal mine

'°+^\ W^V^ / >f%»£LAi^ '

x i Coal prospect

Fault, showing upthrow

^'JL *^ ^

^'-^^w^^.^^a

Approximate e/syation

Location of 

shown on Plate VII

OF EMERY COAL FIELD, EMERY AND SEVIER. COUNTIES, UTAH
THE GOAL. 75

About 5 miles southeast of Castledale an exposure on the south side 

of Cottonwood Creek, in the SE. | NW. | sec. 17, T. 19 S., R 9 E., at 

location 415, shows a lens of shale and coal interbedded, which ranges 

in thickness from a knife-edge to 3 feet. The lens is overlain and 

underlain by yellowish-gray iron-stained sandstone. About a quarter 

of a mile south of this place, at location 416, a prospect has been 

opened on a bed of bone 2 feet 5 inches thick, the top 11 inches of 

which contains thin layers of good coal. Three miles southwest of 

location 416, in the SW. i NE. £ sec. 36, T. 19 S., K. 8 E., at location 

417 on the north side of Ferron Creek, coal " bloom," which results 

from the weathering of a very thin bed (about half an inch) of coal, 

is plentiful. Southwest from this place for 18 or 20 miles the outcrop of the Dakota shows no evidence of coal, but at location 418, 

in the NE. £ NW. £ sec. 22, T. 22 S., E. 7 E., about 6 miles southeast 

of Emery, a bed of coal 1 foot 6 inches thick is exposed and contains 

streaks of brown carbonaceous shale. A few hundred feet to the 

southwest the following section was obtained:

Section of coal oed in the Dakota sandstone at location 419, in the NE. 1 NW. 1

sec. 22, T. 22 S., R. 7 E.

Ft. in.

Sandstone, brown, shaly, carbonaceous___________ 6 

Coal, bright, weathered ; joints contain gypsum___ 9 

Shale, carbonaceous; contains thin streaks of coal_ 3* 

Coal, slightly bony____________________ 6$ 

Shale, brown, carbonaceous__:____________ 4 

Coal, bony_ _____:__________ 1£ 

Shale, brownish gray, carbonaceous____________ 2 6

Coal bed _____*__________________ 2 \ 

Total coal_______________________ 1 5

The total amount of coal here would warrant mining where fuel 

is scarce, yet it seems doubtful if this bed will be utilized even as 

a source of domestic fuel, because much thicker beds of purer coal are 

present a few miles farther southwest in the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale. The total coal at location 420, as shown by 

the following section, is practically the same as at location 419:

0

Section of coal bed in the Dakota sandstone at location J/20, in the NW. % NE. J

sec. 28, T. 22 S., R. 7 E.

Ft. in.

Conglomerate, in places replaced by sandstone______ 8

Coal, much weathered ; contains gypsum in joints__. 8

Sandstone, gray, lenticular, conglomeratic_______ 3

Coal, much weathered______.._________ 7

Coal, bony, impure_____________________ 2

Shale, brownish black, sandy. 

Coal bed_______________________ 2 J.

Total cost _______________________ 1 5
/ 76 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

Coal in the Dakota sandstone was also examined in the SE. | SE. £ 

sec. 25, T. 25 S., R. 4 E., at location 421, but is of little value here, as 

elsewhere in Castle Valley.

Section of coal in the Dakota sandstone at location 421, in the SE. $ SE. i sec.

25, T. 25 S., R. 4 E.

Ft. in.

Shale, brown, carbonaceous-._________________ 1 0

Coal, apparently quite pure____..___________ 8

Shale, brown, carbonaceous__________________ 8

Sandstone (?), poorly exposed_______________ 12 0

Sandstone, white________________________ 2 6

Coal, rusty, probably impure______________ 3

Sandstone and sandy shale, poorly exposed _______ 12 0

29 1

COAL IN THE MESA VERDE FORMATION.

Coal of Mesaverde age is exposed in the NW. £ NE. £ sec. 22, T. 25 

S., R. 4 E., at location 422. It was impossible to determine the exact 

thickness of the coal, owing to a fault that cuts the rocks a few feet 

from the exposure and has somewhat disturbed the adjacent strata. 

The fault has a vertical throw of about 75 feet, the downthrow being 

on the southwest side. At location 422 (see PI. *IX) 12 feet of coal 

was measured without exposing the base of the bed, but it is believed 

that very little coal remained unexposed at this place. The coal is 

overlain by 1 foot of brown shale and that by about 75 feet of sandstone and clay interbedded. Although this bed was not traced in 

either direction from location 422, it is believed to be the only exposure of coal of Mesaverde age included in, the area shown in Plate X.

COAL IN THE MANGOS SHALE NEAR HENRY MOUNTAINS.

A belt barren of coal, 30 or 40 miles in width, separates the Emery 

coal field frtfm the coal-bearing rocks of the same age in the vicinity 

of the Henry Mountains, to the southeast. The rocks exposed in 

the intervening area belong to the Vermilion Cliff, La Plata, McElmo, 

and Dakota formations. Gilbert l states: " The best outcrop was 

seen in the bank of the south branch of Lewis Creek where it crosses 

the upturned edge of the Blue Gate sandstone. The seam has a 

thickness of 4 feet only and is not well disposed for mining."

The writer in October, 1911, while visiting on a reconnaissance 

trip to the north end of the Henry Mountains, measured a flat-lying 

coal bed in Gilbert's Blue Gate sandstone near the center of sec. 19, 

T. 31 S., R. 10 E., about 2£ miles west of the base of Mount Ellen.

1 Gilbert, G. K., Report on the geology of the Henry Mountains, p. 145, U. S. Geog. and 

Geol. Survey Rocky Mtn. Region, 1877.
THE COAL. 77

The sandstone in which the coal occurs is believed to be the same as 

the Ferron sandstone member of the Mancos shale, to judge from its' 

stratigraphic position and lithology. The section of the coal bed 

and associate^ rocks is given below:

Section of coal led measured near center o f sec. 19, T. 81 &., R. 10 E.

	Ft. in.

Sandstone, gray, soft, massive________________, 15+

Sandstone, yellow and somber-colored____________ 2 6

Coal, bright_________________________ 2 1

Shale, sandy, with a little coal_____________ li

Coal, bright, blocky_____..______________ 7$

Bone________ ___-_______________ 3

Coal, bright (no partings) .. 6 6

Sandstone, gray, argillaceous________________ 1+

Coal bed_________________________ 9 7 

Total coal________________________ 9 2£

This coal is apparently a low-grade bituminous coal and is similar 

to that in the vicinity of Emery described in this report. The outcrop of this bed was not traced, hence nothing definite can be said 

as to its extent.

Several other exposures of coal along Fremont River between the 

Emery field and the Henry Mountains were examined. A 2-foot bed 

of coal crops out on the north side of Fremont Eiver 4 or 5 miles 

west of Giles. This coal occurs in the upper part of what Gilbert 

called the Tununk sandstone or in the lower part of his Blue Gate 

shale, which, with but little doubt, corresponds to that part of 

the Mancos shale lying beneath the Ferron sandstone member in 

Castle Valley. Coal is also reported near Hanksville, which is near 

the junction of Curtis and Fremont rivers. Coal of good quality has 

been mined at " The Factory," a prominent topographic feature 

about 6 miles north of Giles.

CHARACTER OF THE COAL. 

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.

The coal of the Emery field is pitch-black in color, but here and 

there thin layers of grayish-black bonelike coal are present. The 

coal when rubbed on unglazed porcelain gives a black streak and 

when pulverized in a mortar gives a black powder with possibly a 

slightly brownish tinge. In general the coal is bedded and has a 

bright vitreous luster, but parts of the same bed differ widely in 

appearance. In places the coal is distinctly banded, showing thin 

alternating bright and dull layers, while a few inches above or 

below the banded part the coal may be massive and either bright or
78 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

dull, and other layers a few inches thick have a dull luster and 

resemble cannel coal in texture. The jointing and cleavage of the 

coal vary somewhat, being columnar in most places but cubical in 

others. The fracture of the coal is remarkably even. In texture it 

ranges from laminated to dense, and in coherence it is comparatively 

brittle. The coal is hard and when struck with a hammer emits a 

metallic sound. When burned it gives a bituminous odor and a short 

yellowish-red smoky flame. The resulting ash is fine grained and 

gray in color. It is not known definitely whether or not the coal 

will coke, but when the Pishel 1 coking test was applied it showed 

slight coking qualities. In places where the coal is somewhat 

weathered, the surfaces of joints and bedding planes are partly covered 

with thin films of sulphur and alkaline salts. Globules of resin are 

present in small amounts. That the coal has good stocking qualities 

is inferred from the reports of ranchers and others who use it and 

from the condition of the walls of country banks and prospect drifts 

that have been exposed to weathering for many years.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES.

Three samples for analysis were collected in the Emery coal 

field during the field season of 1911. Two of these (laboratory Nos. 

12613 and 12627) were taken from coal bed I. Sample 12613 was 

collected from what is locally known as the Williams mine, at 

location 62, in the SE. ! SW. \ sec. 12, T. 22 S., E. 6 E., on the 

north side of Muddy Creek; sample 12627 was taken at the Browning mine, at location 75, in the NE \ SW. \ sec. 33 of the same 

township on Quitchuppah Creek. Taff, in 1905, collected a sample 

(laboratory No. 2386, also shown in table, p. 80) from the Emery 

mine (location 181, in sec. 2, T. 23 S., E. 6 E.), which is also on bed I. 

The other sample taken in 1911 (laboratory No. 12652) represents 

coal bed C and was collected at the Casper mine, at location 29, in 

the SE. I NW. I sec. 26, T. 22 S., E. 6 E., on a minor western tributary of Muddy Creek.

Three additional samples for analysis Avere collected during the 

field season of 1912 in the part of the coal field south of Ivie Creek, 

but owing to the lack of prospecting these samples are considerably 

weathered. At location 197, in the SW. \ SW. \ sec. 32, T. 23 S., 

E. 6 E., a sample (laboratory No. 14903) was collected under a 

sandstone ledge at a surface prospect on coal bed I. Laboratory 

No. 15061 represents a sample collected at location 243, in the SE. \ 

NE. \ sec. 26, T. 24 S., E. 5 E., from a surface prospect on coal 

bed A. In the SW. \ NW. \ sec. 3, T. 26 S., E. 4 E., at location 409, 

a sample (laboratory No. 15090) was collected from the lower 3

1 Pishel, M. A., A practical test for coking coals: Econ. Geology, vol. 3, pp. 265-275, 

1908,
THE COAL. 79

feet of coal in a short prospect drift on bed A. As the drift is only 

about 15 feet long and was opened several years ago the sample undoubtedly represents- weathered coal.

An effort was made to obtain samples as nearly unweathered as 

possible by removing a foot or more- of the surface of the coal. It 

is believed, however, that notwithstanding the care taken, analyses 

12613 and 12652 represent slightly weathered coal. These samples 

were collected from mines in which air could circulate freely, but 

sample 12627, collected from the Browning mine, which was closed 

so that circulation of the air was at a minimum, is considered to be 

practically unweathered. An ultimate analysis, which shows accurately the amount of each chemical element in the coal, was made 

of sample 12627 in addition to the proximate analysis and calorific 

determinations. The analyses of the other samples collected are 

only proximate but include calorific determinations with the exception of No. 2386, collected by Taff in 1905.

A proximate analysis is much simpler than an ultimate analysis. 

In the former the coal is treated in such a way as to determine the 

amounts of moisture, volatile matter (gases), fixed carbon, and ash. 

Usually the amount of sulphur contained in the coal is ascertained. 

In the ultimate analysis the exact amounts of the elements constituting the coal are determined. A calorific determination of the coal 

is usually made in both kinds of analyses in order to ascertain its 

heating value, which is expressed in terms of calories 1 and British 

thermal units.2

In sampling a coal bed a fresh face of the coal is chosen where 

possible and all surface impurities are removed. A channel is cut 

perpendicularly across the face of the coal bed from roof to floor 

of such size as to yield not less than 5 pounds for each foot of coal 

in the bed. Partings more than three-eighths of an inch in thickness are discarded. An oilcloth is generally used to catch the coal 

as it falls from the channel and to prevent moisture and impurities 

from being mixed with the sample. The coal is then pulverized, 

thoroughly mixed, quartered, opposite quarters discarded, and the 

remainder remixed. This process is continued until the sample is 

reduced to about 1 quart, which is sent in an air-tight can to the 

chemical laboratory of the Bureau of Mines at Pittsburgh for 

analysis.

The accompanying table of analyses shows the composition of all 

the samples collected in the field and the heating value of all except 

one (No. 2386).____'____________

1 A calorie is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of a gram of pure 

water 1° C. at or about 4° C.

2 A British thermal unit (B. t. u.) Is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 1° F. at or near the temperature of maximum density (39.1° F.).
Analyses of coal samples from the Emery coalfield, Emery and 

[Made at the Pittsburgh laboratory of the Bureau of Mines, A. C. Fie

V,

Bed.

J. .................. .

I.....................

I.....................

I.....................

 C.... .................

A.....................

.A.....................

Location.

Quarter.

SW...

SW...

SW...

SW...

NW...

NE...

NW...

Sec.

12 

33 

2 

32 

26 

26 

3

T. S.

22 

22 

23 

23 

22 

24 

26

R. E.

6 

6 

6 

6 

6 

5 

4

No. on 

plates.

62 

75 

181 

197 

29 

243 

409

Laboratory No.

12613 

12627 

2386 

14903 

12652 

15061 

15090

Airdrying 

loss.

0.9 

.3 

.8 

8.5 

1.8 

11.6 

17.0

Form 

of

analysis.

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

A 

B 

C 

D

Proximate. 

Moisture.

. 4.0 

3.1

4.0 

3.6

5.1 

4.3

16.7 

8.9

5.2 

3.5

18.4

7.7

23.6 

7.9

Volatile 

matter.

41.8 

42.2 

43.6 

49.6

40.9 

41.0 

42.6 

45.4

36.7 

37.0 

38.7 

42.1

34.3 

37.5 

41.2 

45.0

39.1 

39.8 

41.2 

48.4

33.9 

' 38.3 

41.5 

44.5

32.6 

39.3 

42.7 

49.5

Fixe

carbo

42

43

44

50

49

49

51

54

50

50

53

57

41

45

50

55

41

42

43

51

42

47

51

55

33

40

43

50
THE COAL. 81

12613. Collected at the back end of the Williams mine (location 62, Pis. 

VIII and X), in the SE. i SW. i sec. 12, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. The coal was possibly slightly weathered.

12627. Browning mine (location 75, Pis. VIII and X), in the NE. J SW. J 

sec. 33, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. The sample was taken from the lower 12 feet of coal 

bed I, which is 20 feet thick at this place. The sample probably represented 

practically fresh coal.

2386. Collected by J. A. Taff 1 in 1905 from the Emery mine (location 181), 

in the NW. J SW. J sec. 2, T. 23 S., R. 6 E., at the back end of a 50-foot drift 

which was inaccessible in 1911.

14903. Surface prospect (location 197, Pis. VIII and X) in the SW. J SW. J 

sec. 32, T. 23 S., R. 6 E. This sample was collected under a sandstone ledge 

which protected the coal somewhat. About 2 feet of the outer coal was removed 

in order to obtain a more nearly fresh sample. It is believed, however, that this 

sample was much weathered.

12652. Casper mine (location 29, Pis. VIII and X), in the SE. £ NW. i sec. 

26, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. The sample was -collected from the lower 7 feet 2 inches 

of the bed at a point about 250 feet northwest from the mouth of the entry. 

The coal was probably slightly weathered.

15061. Surface prospect (location 243, Pis. IX and X) in the SE. J NE. i 

sec. 26, T. 24 S., R. 5 E. The sample was collected from the lower 11 feet 3 

inches of the bed, excluding the 3-inch bone parting about 2 feet 9 inches above 

the base of the coal. The coal at this place if unweathered would probably 

compare favorably in calorific value with laboratory No. 12627.

15090. Prospect (location 409, Pis. IX and X) in the SW. i NW. \ sec. 3; T. 

26, S., R, 4 E. The sample was collected at the back end of a 15-foot drift from 

the lower 3-foot bench of coal. The analysis shows that it is much weathered 

and contains an excess of moisture.

In the table the analyses are given in four forms, marked A, B. 

C, and D. Analysis A represents the composition of the sample as 

it came from the mine. This form is not well suited for comparisons, for the amount of moisture in the sample as it comes from the 

mine is largely a matter of accident and consequently analyses of the 

same coal expressed in this form may vary widely. Analyses B represents the condition of the. sample after it has been dried at a 

temperature slightly above normal room temperature until its weight 

becomes constant. This form of analysis is best adapted for general 

purposes of comparison. Analysis C represents the theoretical condition of the coal after all the moisture has been eliminated. Analysis D represents the coal after all moisture and ash have been theoretically removed. This is supposed to represent the true coal 

substance free from the most important impurities. Forms 0 and 

D are obtained from the others by recalculation.

In the analytical work it is not possible to determine the proximate 

constituents of coal or lignite with the same degree of accuracy as 

the ultimate constituents. Therefore the air-drying loss, moisture, 

volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash are given to one decimal place

i Taff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal field, Utah, west of Green River : U, S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

285, pp. 294, 801, 1906.

21246° Bull. 628 16 6
82 GEOLOGY A1STD COAL RESOURCES OP CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

only; whereas in the ultimate analysis ash, sulphur, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are given to two decimal places. The determination of the calorific value to individual units is not reliable, 

hence in the column headed " Calories " the values are given to the 

nearest five units, and in the column headed " British thermal units " 

they are given to the nearest tens, as the British thermal unit is about 

one-half the value of a calorie.

It seems to the writer that if the samples had been unweathered 

each analysis would show a heating value on the air-dried basis 

equal to or greater than that represented by laboratory No. 12627 

(13,000 British thermal units). Striking variations may be noted in 

the amount of ash and sulphur in the above table of analyses. The 

ash on the air-dried basis varies from 5.95 (No. 12627) to 14.3 (No. 

12652) and averages 9.2; the sulphur ranges from 0.39 (No. 12627) 

to 4.7 (No. 12613), averaging 1.88.

For comparison, the following table of analyses of coals from adjacent fields in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, is given:

Analyses of coals from Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.a

Locality.

10 miles northwest of Pali5 miles north of ThompClear Creek, Utah.........

Blacktail Mountain, Utah .

Laboratory 

No.

3545

3856

12632

542

3762

10998 

4300

6772

Airdrying 

loss.

4.4

2.3

.3

3.4

3.1

2.3

9.0 

1.6

7.1

Moisture.

10.0

4.1

3.6

2.7

4.0

6.4

6.1 

1.9

4.7

Volatile 

matter.

32.7

32.6

41.0

40.0

43.2

37.3

42.3 

36.5

39.7

Fixed 

carbon.

51.0

43.8

AQ A

50.5

47.3

47.3

45.1 

51.4

53.9

Ash.

6.3

10 5

6.0

6.8

5.5

9 n

6.5 

10.2

1.7

Sulphur.

0.66

.60

3Q

1.79

.58

5.99

.90 

.93

.81

Calories.

6,310

6,030

7 99^

7,385

,

6,340 

7,265

7,310

British 

thermal 

units.

11,360

10,850

10 nnn

13,290

11,410

13,080

13,160

a These are analyses of air-dried samples and should be compared with form B in the preceding table.

An examination of this table shows that the coal in the Emery 

coal field compares very favorably with the coals of the near-by fields, 

with which it will have to compete sometime in the future.

Moisture, sulphur, and ash are injurious constituents of coal and 

detract from its heating value. On the other hand, reasonably high 

fixed-carbon content accompanies an enhanced heating value. The 

analysis of sample 12627, from the Emery field, shows that it contains less moisture than any of the other coals listed, except those 

from Sunnyside, Utah, and Uinta County, Wyo. (laboratory Nos. 

12632 and 4300). It also contains a smaller amount of sulphur than 

any of the other analyses and 1 per cent less than the average sulphur 

content of all of them. In ash the Emery coal compares very favorably with the other coal beds shown iji the above table in that it contains less than any of the other coals except those from Clear Creek,
THE COAL. ' 83

Utah, and Rock Springs, Wyo. (laboratory Nos. 542 and 6772), and 

nearly 1.5 per cent less than the average of all. The above table 

also shows that the Emery coal contains more fixed carbon than the 

coal from Thompsons, Clear Creek, Iron County, and Blackta.il 

Mountain, Utah, but a little less than the coals from the other four 

localities. The fixed carbon in the Emery coal exceeds the average 

of the fixed carbon content of the coals in the above table by 0.6 per 

cent. The average of the British thermal units of seven of the coals 

cited is 12,310. The Emery coal contains about 700 British thermal 

units more than this average and exceeds all the coals, compared except those from Sunnyside, Utah, and Uinta County- and Bock 

Springs, Wyo.

DEVELOPMENT.

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

»

Several small mines and prospects have been opened on the coal 

beds of this field, and considerable coal has been removed for local 

use. These drifts are described below in order from north to south 

along the outcrops of the various beds.

cox PROSPECT.

The Cox prospect (location 110, PL X), in the NE. ± SE. ± sec, 

7, T. 22 S., R. 7 E., is on a lens of coal believed to be at the horizon of 

coal bed I, which, 300 feet east of the prospect, is replaced by massive sandstone. The prospect consists of a single drift about 20 

feet long which extends slightly east of north along the strike of 

the rocks. Probably not more than 10 or 15 tons of coal has been, 

removed. Owing to the well-preserved sandstone roof, propping is 

unnecessary.

MOORE MINE.

A drift about 100 feet in length extends N. 15° E. on coal bed I 

in the NW. £ NE. £ sec. 13, T. 22 S., R. 6 E., and is known locally as 

the Moore mine (location 60, PI. X). It is reported to have been 

opened in 1905 by Thomas Thompson, of Ferron, Utah. The roof, 

which is sandstone, is much broken by joints and requires considerable support. At least 150 tons of coal has been mined from this 

place.

WILLIAMS MINE.

The Williams mine (location 61, PI. X), also on bed I, is on the 

east side of Muddy Creek in the SE. | SW. | sec. 12, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. 

Its entiy, from which no rooms have been turned, is about 200 feet 

long and 12 feet wide and bears S. 60° E. As the coal bed has a 

fairly good sandstone roof very little propping is necessary. A
84 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH. '

sample (laboratory No. 12613) taken at the back end of the entry 

(location 62) shows a heating value of 12,100 British thermal units 

on the air-dried basis. Probably 600 or TOO short tons of coal has 

been removed from this mine. The mouth of the mine is shown in 

Plate XI, A.

CASPER MINE.

One of the oldest mines in this field, known locally as the Casper 

mine, is on coal bed C on a tributary of Muddy Creek in the SE. {- 

NW.'i sec. 26, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. (location 29, PL X), about 4 miles 

southeast of Emery. The coal bed at this place strikes N. 5° or 6° 

E. and dips, about 2° W. Those mining coal here have left pillars 

here and there between great irregular cavelike rooms, some of 

which are large enough for a team and wagon to turn in them. It 

has been the custom to load the wagons in the mine at the faces of 

the entry and rooms, thus avoiding any mine haul and the construction of a loading tipple. Owing to the irregular shape of the mine 

cavity, it is difficult to estimate the amount of coal removed, but it 

is believed that 1,000 to 2,000 tons has been taken from the Casper 

mine. A sample (laboratory No. 12652), which shows 11,480 British thermal units on the air-dried basis, was collected at a point 

about 250 feet northwest of the mine mouth. The coal bed has a 

good sandstone roof and requires very little support. Plate XI, /?, 

shows the conditions at the mouth of the Casper mine.

EMERY MINE.

The Emery mine (location 181, PL X), in the NW. i SW. i sec. 

2, T. 23 S., R. 6 E., was inaccessible in 1911 on account of caving. 

Some coal is mined from the same bed (bed I) at a surface exposure 

near the head of a small ravine directly south of the mouth of the old 

mine. Two entries have been driven one 20-)- feet and the other 50+ 

feet long. Taff,1 who collected a sample from this " country bank " 

in 1905, states: " A drift has been driven 50 feet on the coal and two 

rooms have been turned." The analysis (laboratory No. 2386) made 

from the sample collected by Taff at this place is republished in the table 

of analyses on page 80 in order that all analyses made from coals 

in the Emery coal field may appear together. It is estimated that 

at least 1,000 tons of coal has been removed from the Emery mine.

BROWNING MINE.

In 1881 Philip Pugsley opened a prospect on the outcrop of coal 

bed I in the NE. ± SW. ± sec. 33, T. 22 S., R. 6 E. (location 75, PL X) 

on the east side of Quitchuppah Creek and directly south of the 

mouth of Dipping Vat Creek. This mine, which supplies the

1 Taff, J. A., Book Cliffs coal field, Utah, west of Green River : TJ. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

285, p. 301, 1906.
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IULLETIN 628 PLATE XI

A. WILLIAMS MINE, ON COAL BED I, ABOUT 3 MILES EAST OF EMERY.

U. CASPER MINE, ON COAL BED C, ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EMERY.
THE COAL. 85

greater part of the fuel for the town of Emery and the ranchers 

living near by, is known locally as the Browning mine because it 

is under the management of Ira E. Browning, of Castledale. The 

coal bed at this place is'20 feet thick, as shown by section 75 (PI. 

VIII). The entry bears N. 85° E. for a distance of 165 feet. One 

room, about 40 feet in length, has been turned to the north at a point 

about 90 feet from the mine mouth. In mining, only the lower 12 

feet of coal is removed, the upper part of the bed serving as a 

roof: that requires no support. The coal is brought to the surface 

by means of a small car on a steel track. The surface equipment 

consists of wagon scales, a substantial coal bin, and a dwelling 

house for the use of the miners. During the A^7 inter of 1910-11 

about 450 tons of coal was sold at the mine at $1.50 a ton. The total 

amount of coal removed is probably not less than 2,000 short tons. 

A sample (laboratory No. 12627) was taken from the lower 12 feet 

of the bed at the back end of the entry. This analysis shows that 

the coal on the air-dried basis yields 13,000 British thermal units.

OTHER DRIFTS.

In the NW. i NE. £ sec. 33, T. 22 S., E. 6 E., on the north side 

of Dipping Vat Creek, a tributary of Quitchuppah Creek, there is 

an abandoned drift on coal bed I. The total thickness of the coal* 

could not be measured on account of caving and the presence of 

water. The drift is 20 to 30 feet long and the coal apparently 

equals in quality and thickness that exposed in the Browning mine. 

The strata dip more steeply at this place than at the Browning 

mine. It is estimated that at least 200 tons of coal has been removed.

A prospect drift (location 16, PL X) on coal bed A, in the SW. £ 

SE. I sec. 33, T. 22 S., E. 6 E., on the north side of Quitchuppah 

Creek, bears nearly north and is about 50 feet long. Probably not 

more than 30 or 40 tons .of coal has been taken from this prospect.

On the east side of Quitchuppah Creek, in the NE. J NE. \ sec. 

4, T. 23 S., E. 6 E., 75 or 100 feet above the stream level, another 

prospect, probably on coal bed A, was noted but not visited by the 

writer. There is also a small surface prospect on coal bed I (location 87, PI. X) in the NE. \ NW. \ sec. 19, T. 22 S., E. 7 E. A 

small prospect drift, about 15 feet long, in the SW. \ NW. \ sec. 

3, T. 26 S., E. 4 E., at location 409, exposes 6 feet 4 inches of coal 

in two beds. The entry is about 3 feet 8 inches in width and averages 4. feet in height, except at the back end, where a hole has been 

dug exposing the lower bed, of which the lower 3-foot bench of 

coal was sampled and is represented by laboratory No. 15090.

Coal has been mined at several places in the Emery field from surface exposures, but the total production of coal from the field probably does not exceed 6.000 short tons.
86 GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF CASTLE VALLEY, UTAH.

TRANSPORTATION ROUTES.

Two railroad routes have been surveyed into this coal field, one 

from the west and the other from the northeast. The former is considered to be the best by the company that controls the greater amount 

of coal land in this area, which is in the vicinity of Ivie and Quitchuppah creeks. Already about 20 miles of railroad, which is now 

in. poor condition owing to floods, has been constructed eastward up 

Salina Canyon from Salina, which is on the Denver & Rio Grande 

Railroad. The additional construction of about 30 miles of railroad 

with a comparatively low grade would connect the heart of the coal 

field with the eastern terminus of the Salina Canyon branch. Such 

a route would furnish a more direct outlet to the Pacific coast than 

the route surveyed to the northeast through Castle Valley, joining the 

main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at Price or Wellington, and, in addition, would be equally direct to the Salt Lake City 

region. If the northeastern route is chosen, about 70 miles of railroad 

must be built over a country that presents practically as great difficulties mile for mile 5s must be surmounted on the western route, 

where only 30 miles is required. The Castle Valley Railroad has 

constructed a spur from Price as far southwest as Mohrland, in 

T. 16 S., R. 8 E.j but only a small portion of this road could be used 

to advantage, as it is situated mainly high in the foothills adjacent to 

the Wasatch Plateau.

TONNAGE.

A careful estimate was made of the coal in the Emery coal field. 

It is assumed in calculating the tonnage that each acre of land 

underlain by a coal bed 1 foot thick (1 acre-foot) contains 1,800 tons. 

In the table given below two columns of figures are shown. The one 

on the left gives the estimated tonnage; the one on the right shows 

approximately the amount of coal that can be recovered, on the assumption that only 1,000 tons of coal can be mined from each acrefoot. J$y careful mining, however, much more than this amount may 

be recovered.

Estimated quantity of coal in .Emery coal field, Utah.

Township.

T. 21 S., R. 6 E ............................................................

T. 21 S.. R. 7 E ............................................................

T. 22 S., R. 6 E... .........................................................

T. 22 S. . R. 7 E .............................................................

T. 23 S., R. 6 E ............................................................

T'. 23 S., R. 6 E ............................................................

T. 24 S., R. 5 E................................ ............................

T. 24 S.. R. 6 E .....................................................:......

T. 25 S. , R. 4 E ...........................................................'.

T. 25 S., R. 5 E ............................................................

T. 26 S., R. 4 E ............................................................

Total coal.

Short tons. 

21.463,000

311,000

427,176,000

21,736,000

214,310,000

355,877,000

268,389,000

33,171,000

30,093,000

54,734,000

1,805,000

1,429,065,000

Recoverable 

coal.

Short tons. 

11,923,000

173,000

237,320,000

12,075,000

119,061,000

197,710,000 14.Q iflfi finn

18,027,000

16,741,000

1,002,000

. 793,546,000
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Dakota sandstone 

'.. .'/_-'J (Number refers to 

.'s-^fiel coal section described 

in text)

Scale i25pQo i°J$$w ~f~errace gravel (Numbers refer 

areas south of Ivie Creek)

Fault, showinq upthrow n^ 0 . ., , , 

' . 5^ Strike and d member (Letter (U) and doWnthrow (D)

GEOLOGIC MAP OF CASTLE VALLEY, CARBON, EMERY, AND SEVIER COUNTIES, UTAH
INDEX.

Page. 

Alluvial fans, description of.................. 36-37

Allred, Merrill, work of...................... 12

Analyses of coal from the Emory coal field.... 80-82

Analyses of coals from Colorado, Utah, and

Wyoming....................... 82

Book Cliffs, topography of................... 18

Browning, I. R., acknowledgment to ........ 12

Browning mine, description of............... 84-85

Carboniferous rocks, exposures of............ 21

fossils from.............................. 21-22

Casper mine, description of.................. 84

plate showing........................... < 84

Castledale, description of.................... 13

Castledale dome, description of.............. 40

Castle Valley, situation of................. 7,12-13

topography of........................ 17,18-19

Chemical properties of the coal............... 78-83

Ghristensen, Casper, work of................. 12

Clark, B. W., work of....................... 12

Clark, F.R., workof........................ 12

Clawson, description of...................... 13-14

Cleveland, description of..................... 13

Climate of the region........................ 17

Coal, distribution of, in the Ferron standsone. 7 

early mention of......................... 9-10

formations containing................... 43-44

. quantity of.............................. 86

Coal bed A, exposures of..................... 49,

57,63-64,67r-68,71-72,73-74 

B, exposures of.................... 47-48,57,74

C, exposures of........... 49-50,54-55,57^58,68

D, exposures of.......................... 50,58

E, exposures of.......................... 50,58

F, exposures of........... 50,55-56,58-59,68-69

G, exposures of.................... 51,59,64,69

H, exposures of................. 51-52,59,64,70

I, exposures of......... 52-53,56,59-60,64-65,70

J, exposures of......... 53-54,60-61,65-66,70-71

K, exposures of.................... 54,61,66,71

L, exposures of..... 54,61-62,66-67,71,72,73,74

La, exposure of.......................... 73

M, exposures of..'............ 62-63,67,71,72,73

Concretions in the Ferron sandstone, plate

showing......................... 34

Cox prospect, description of................. 83

Cretaceous system, rocks of.................. 26-35

Dakota sandstone, character and thickness of. 26-30 

coal beds in.......................... 43,74-76

unconformity in, northeast of Ferron..... 26

Desert Lake, description of.................. 13

Domes, descriptions of....................... 40-41

Emery, description of........................ 14

Emery coal field, map of..................... 74

situation of.............................. 13

Page.

Emory County, recorder of, acknowledgment to......................... 12

Emery fault, north of I vie Creek, plate showing .............................. 40

Emery mine, description of.................. 84

Eocene series, rocks of........................ 35-38

Farnham, description of..................... 13

Farnhamupfold, description of.............. 40,41

Fath, A. E.,workof......................... 12

Faults, descriptions of....................... 41-43

Ferroii, A. D., surveying by ................. 11-12

Ferron, description of....................... 11,14

Ferronsandstonemember of the Mancos shale,

chara'cter and thickness of.... 7,31-33

coal beds in.............................. 43,44

correlation of........................ 44-47

distribution of....................... 47-74

columnar sections of..................... 44

plate showing.........;............. 32

concretions in, plate showing............ 34

southeast of Emery, plate showing....... 30

unconformity in, plate showing,.......... 30

Field work, method of....................... 10-11

Forrester, Robert, description of Castle Valley coal by...................... 9-10

Fossils from Carboniferous rocks, identification of........................... 21-22

from the Mancos shale, identification of. 30,31,34 

from the McElmo formation, identiftcationof........................... 24

from the Mesaverde formation, identification of........................... 35

Geologic map of Castle Valley................ 86

Girty, G. H., fossils determined by........... 21-22

Green River (?) formation, character and

thickness of..................... 36

Gunnisou, Capt. J. W., exploration by....... 9

Hanson, A. P., work of....................... 11

Howell, E. E., mention of Castle Valley coal

by............................... 9

Hoxie, Lieut. R. L., exploration by.......... 9

Huntington, description of................... 13

Igneous rocks, occurrence of.................. 39

Industries of the region....................... 14

Jessen, A., work of........................... 11

Jurassic system, rocks of..................... 23-20

Knowlton, F. H., fossils determined by....... 35

La Plata sandstone, character and correlation

Of............................... 23

contact of, with McElm(o formation, plate

showing......................... 24

Last Chance Creek, coal-bearing rocks near,

plate showing................... 8

Last Chance Creek dome, description of...... 40

87
INDEX.

Lawrence, description of..................... 13

Lloyd, E. R., work of........................ 12

McElmo formation, character and correlao tionof......................:.... 23-24

contact of, with La Plata sandstonet plate

showing......................... 24

fossils from.............................. 24

section of................................ 24-26

Mancos shale, character and divisions of...... 30-34

coal beds in....................... 47-74,76-77

Massey, Arthur, work of..................... 12

Massey, Millard, work of..................... .12

Mcsaverde formation, character and thickness

of................................ 34-35

coal beds in.......................... 43-44,76

Mielke, W. L., work of...................... 12

Miller, H. W., work of....................... 11

Mills, R. V. A., work of..................... 12

Mining of the coal........................... 83-85

Molen, description of........................ 14

Moore mine, description of................... 83

Mounds, coal-bearing rocks near, plate showing....'.......................... 8

description of............................. 13

Nelson, A., work of.......................... 11

Objects of the investigation.................. 8-9

Orangeville, description of................... 13

Paradise dome, description of................ 40

Paradise Fault, near the southwest end of the

Emery coal field, plate showing.. 40 

Paradise Lake, description of................ 16

Physical properties of the coal............... 77-78

Pleistocene (?) series, formations of........:. 36-39

Quaternary system, formations of............ 36-39

Railroads, routes for......................... 86

Recent series, deposits of.................... 39

Roads of the region.......................... 14-15

Rochester, description of...................! . 14

Rochester upfold, description of............. 40

San Rafael Swell, topography of............. 19

Sections of coal beds in Castle Valley, plates

showing......................... 74

Springs in Castle Valley, situation of......... 16

Stanton, T. W., fossils determined by... 24,30,31,34 

Stratigraphy, general features of............. 19-21

Structure of the region....................... 39-43

Tafl, J. A., mention of Castle Valley coal by. 10 

Terrace gravels, description of............... 37-39

Tertiary system, rocks of.................... 35-36

Tonnage of coal, estimate of................. 86

T. 21 S., R. 7 E., coal beds in................ 47-48

T. 22 S., R. 6 E., coal beds in............... 48-54

T. 22 S., R. 7 E., coal beds in................ 54-56

T. 23 S., R. 6 E., coal beds in................ 56-63

T. 24 S., R. 5 E., coal beds in................ 63-67

T. 24 S., R. 6 E., coal beds in................ 67-71

T. 25 S., R. 4 E., coal beds in................ 71-72

T. 25 S., R. 5 E., coal beds in................ 72-73/

T: 26 S., R. 4 E., coal beds in................ 73-74

Transportation, routes for................... 86

Triassicsystem, rocks of. ......f............. 22

Upfolds, descriptions of...................... 40-41

Vegetation of the region..................... 17

Vermillion Cliff sandstone, section of........ 22

Victor, description of......................... 13

Wasatch formation, character and thickness

Of................................ 35-36

Wasatch Plateau, topography of............. 18

Water resources of the region................ 15-17

Wellington, description of................... 13v Williams mine, description of................ 83-84

plate showing........................... 84

o