DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

JOHN BARTON PAYNE, Secretary

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEOKGE OTIS SMITH, Director 

Bulletin 697

GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE 

UNITED STATES

BY

R. W. STONE AND OTHERS

WASHINGTON

GOVEBNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1920
ADDITIONAL COPIES

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

AT

50 CENTS PER COPY 

V

r
CONTENTS.

Page.

Part I. General discussion................................................... 15

Introduction, by R. W. Stone.......................................... 15

Mineralogy and geology of gypsum, by R. W. Stone....................... 16

Chemical and physical properties.................................... 16

Distinctive features............................................ 16

Chemical composition............................................ 16

Hardness and specific gravity................................... 16

Color.......................................................... 16

^ Crystallization. .................................................. 17

Solubility..................................................... 17

Varieties........................................................... 17

Anhydrite.....................................................'....' 18

General features................................................ 18

Occurrence.......................:.......................... 19

Classification of deposits........................................... 21

General discussion ........................................... 21

Deposition from solutions...................................... 22

Deposition from sea water.................................. 22

Deposition from .ground water.............................. 22

Deposits produced by alteration.......'.......................... 25

Deposits produced by disintegration and mechanical reaccumulation........................................................

Geologic age of deposits.............................................

Analyses of gypsum, by R. W. Stone...................................... 27

Errors in the chemical analysis of gypsum, by George Steiger............ 30

The gypsum industry, by R. W. Stone.................................. 33

Historical sketch.................................................... 33

Production............................:........................... 34

Producing localities.................. ^......................... 34

Production by States.......................................... 35

Production by uses............................................... 36

Imports............................................................. 38

Technology ........................................................ 38

Mining.....................................'................... 38

Crushing...................................................... 38

Calcining...................................................... 39

Mixing...................:.................................... 40

Arrangement and cost of plaster mills........................... 40

Cost of gypsum plaster...... I................................... 41

Uses of gypsum................................................... 42

Uncalcined gypsum............................................ 42

Calcined gypsum............................................... 43

Part II. Gypsum deposits................................................. 47

Alaska, by E. F. Burchard .............................................. 47

Arizona, by R. W. Stone... '. ........................................... 49

. Development and character........................................ 49

Localities........................................................ 49
4 CONTENTS.

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued. 

Arizona Continued.

Localities Continued. . Page.

Cochise County....:.......................................... 49

Douglas................................................... 49

Benson...,.........................:...................... 50

Land..................................................... 50

Whetstone Mountains...................................... 51

Mohave County............................................... 51

Navajo County................................................. 51

Pima County.................................................. 52

Serritas Mountains...'.......................'..........'..... 52

Santa Rita Mountains...................................... 52

Empire Mountains......................................... 52

Tucson................................................... 53

' PinalCounty. .......................................... ^..... 54

Area along San Pedro River............................... 54

Feldman.................................................. 55

Arkansas, by H. D. Miser............................................... 57

California, by F. L. Hess.................i............................ 58

Distribution...................................................... 58

Climate............................................................ 58

Localities.......................................................... 59

Fresno County................................................ 59'

Paoli mine................................................. 59

Deposits near the Paoli mine................................ 61

Coalinga deposits.......................................... 61

Imperial County.....................:....................... 63

Inyo County.................................................. 63

Kern County................................................. 64

Sunflower Valley......................................... 64

Lost Hills................................................. 65

Deposits near McKittrick....................... '. .......... 67

California Gypsum & Mineral Co....................... 67

Abbott & Hickox..................................... 68

Other deposits........................................ 69

Deposits near Maricopa.................................... 70

Deposits near Bakersfield.................................. 70

Cottonwood Creek..........................j.......... 70'

 Kern Lake gypsite deposit.............-.".............. 71

Buena Vista Lake ..................................... 73

Cane Springs.............................................. 73

Kings County.................................................. 73

Kettleman Plains.............. '........................... 73

Los Angeles County.......................................... 75

Castaic ................................................... 75

Palmdale................................................ 75

Orange County............................................... 77

Riverside County............................................. 77

Corona................................................... 77

Palen Mountains........................................... 78"

Maria Mountains......................................... 78

Mecca................................................... 79

Other deposits...........................................'. 79

San Benito County............................................. 79
CONTENTS. 5

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued. 

California Continued.

Localities Continued. , Page.

San Bernardino County....................................... 81

Amboy.................................................. . 81

Avawatz Mountains....................................... 82

San Luis Obispo County...................................... 83

Carrizo Plain............................................. 83

Alamo Creek............................................. 84

Santa Barbara County......................................... 84

Santa Barbara Creek...................................... 84

Point Sal................................................. 84

Ventura County.............................................. 85

Fillmore ................................I............... 85

South Mountain ......................................... 85

French Point............................................. 85

Ojai Valley............................................... 85

Summary........................................................ 85

Colorado, by R. D. George............................................. 87

General character................................................. 87

Age............................................................. 87

Localities........................................................ 87

Larimer County............................................... 87

Jefferson County............................................. 88

Douglas County.............................................. 88

El Paso County.............................................. 89

Pueblo County................................................ 89

Fremont, Custer, Huerfano, and Chaffee counties................ 90

Park County.......................;.......................... 92

Summit County............................................... 92

Rio Blanco, Garfield, Eagle, and Pitkin counties............... 92

Gunnison County............................................. 93

Delta, Montrose, San Miguel, and Dolores counties.............. 93

Florida, by R. W. Stone.............................................. 95

Idaho, by R. W. Stone............................................... 99

\ Iowa, by R. W. Stone and G. F! Kay.. /..,............................. 101

Gypsum at Fort Dodge, by R. W. Stone............................ 101

Character and extent.......................................... 101

' Economic development....................................... 103

Geologic relations. ............................................ 104

Gypsum at Centerville, by G. F. Kay.............................. 107

General relations......................................... 107

' Development............................................ 107

Character................................................. 109

v Summary................................................ 110

Kansas, by Erasmus Haworth......................................... Ill

Previous publication............................................... Ill

Geography....................................................... Ill

Geology............. I............................................ 112

" Localities......................................................... 112

Blue Rapids area. .............................................. 112

Central area.................................................. 114

Extent of the deposits..................................... 114

Solomon mine............................................ 114

Hope mine............................................... 115

Other exposures.......................................... 115
6 CONTENTS.

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued.

Kansas Continued. '

Localities Continued. Page.

Medicine Lodge area.......................................... 117

Gypsum crystals.............................................. 118

Pennsylvanian shales..................................... 118

Cretaceous shales......................................... 119

Tertiary formations....................................... 119

The gypsum industry in Kansas.................................... 119

Origin of the gypsum of Kansas..................................... 120

Louisiana, by R. W. Stone... ......................................... 121

Michigan, by R. A. Smith............................................. 122

Geologic occurrence...............\................................ 122

Character and extent.............................................. 122

Economic development, by R. A. Smith and R. W. Stone.......... 124

Grand Rapids-Grandville district.............................. 124

Alabaster...................................................... 127

Turner....................................................... 127

St. Ignace..................................................... 128

History............................................................ 128

Mississippi, by R. W. Sttone........................................... 130

Montana, by R. W. Stone.............................................. 131

Age and distribution...................................... ^......... 131

Localities. ...... ; ................................................ 131

Cascade County................................................ 131

Millegan................................................. 131

. Riceville.................................................. 131

Goodman.................................................. 132

Kibbey................................................... 133

Fergus County................................................ 134

Big Snowy Mountains..................................... 134

Heath...................................................... 134

Hanover................................................. 135

Jefferson County.............................................. 136

Carbon County............................................... 137

Big Horn County..................T........................... 137

Madison County............................................... 138

Other localities............................................... 138

- Nevada, by J. C. Jones................................................ 139

Character, extent, and development.........v ....................... 139

Geology.......................................................... 142

Deposits in western Nevada................................... 142

Deposits in southern Nevada................................... 144

Origin of the deposits...... ; ...................................... 144

Localities........................................................ 146

Western Nevada................................'............... 146

Lovelock....................."............................. 146

Table Mountain........................................... 150

Gerlach.................................................. 150

Mound House............................................. 150

Gypsite near Mound House................................ 152

Ludwig................................................... 153

Hawthorne................................................ 155

Deposits in southern Nevada, by J. C. Jones and R. W. Stone.. 155

Arden...................................................... 155
CONTENTS. 7

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued. 

Nevada Continued.

Localities Continued.

Deposits in southern Nevada Continued. Page.

Gait..................................................... 158

Moapa................................................... 159

Las Vegas................................................ 159

Virgin River.............................................. 160

New Mexico, by N. H. Darton......................................... 161

Distribution...................................................... 161

General geologic relations........................................... 161

Manzano group................................................ 161

Gypsum above Wingate sandstone.............................. 162

Gypsum of Quaternary age...................................... 163

Localities.......................................................... 163

Gypsum in Manzano group...................................... 163

Mesa Lucero.............................................. 164

Chupadera Mesa..................................:......... 164

East of Socorro............................................ 166

Phillips Hills.............................................. 168

Sacramento Mountains..................................... 169

Vaughn region............................................. 170

Ancho..................................................... 171

San Andres Mountains...................................... 171

Caballos Mountains......................................... 172

Sierra Era Cristobal......................................... 172

Eincon Colorado to Lamy................................... 173

Pecos Valley............................................... 173

Gypsu'm overlying the Wingate sandstone...................... 177

Los Cerrillos.............................................. 177

Tonque....................... I........................... 177

Tijeras Canyon............................................. 179

Rio Chama-Gallina region................................. 179

, Nacimiento uplift......................................... 181

V Jemez region.............................................. 182

-, San Jose Valley........................................... 184

'i Deposits of Quaternary age..................................... ' 184

White sands............................................... 184

Pinos Wells.............................................. 186

New York, by D. H. Newland and Henry Leighton..................... 187

History of the gypsum industry in New York......................... 187

Method of mining.................................................. 18g

General geology.................................................... 189

\' Age and distribution of the gypsum deposits..................... 189

Stratigraphy of the Salina formation............................ 191

General relations........................................... 191

Bertie limestone member.................................. 192

Camillus shale member..................................... 192

Syracuse salt member...................................... 193

 Vernon shale member...................................... 193

Pittsford shale member.................................... 193

General structure of the Salina formation........................ 193

Nature of the gypsum deposits................................. 194

Localities.......................................................... 194

; Herkimer County............................................... 194

Oneida County................................................. 195

Madison County............................................... 195

Onondaga County.,-^......................................... 19fi
8 CONTENTS.

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued. 

New York Continued. 

Loc alities Continued.

Onondaga County Continued. Page.

Geology.................................................. 196

Clifford Miller quarry...................................... 196

Quarry of the National Wall Plaster Co...................... 197

Quarries at Jamesville..................................... 197

Other quarries in Onondaga County......................... 199

Cayuga County.................................................. 200

Seneca County................................................ 201

Wayne County................................................. 201

Ontario County............................................... 202

Livingston County............................................ 203

Monroe County................................................. 203

Distribution and general character of the gypsum deposits... 203

Empire Gypsum Co....................................... 204

Garbutt Gypsum Co........................................ 205

Lycoming Calcining Co..................................... 206

Monarch Plaster Co........................................ 206

Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co......................... 206

Possible occurrences of gypsum elsewhere in Monroe County. 207

Genesee County............................................... 207

Distribution and development............................. 207

United States Gypsum Co.................................. 207

Niagara Gypsum Co........................................ 208

Other occurrences in Genesee County...................... 209

Erie County.................................................. 209

Distribution of the gypsum deposits........................ 209

American Gypsum Co....................................: 211

American Cement Plaster Co............................... 211

Physical and chemical characters of the gypsum..................... 213

Future of the gypsum industry..................................... 215

Origin of the deposits.............................................. 216

OMo, by J. A. Bownocker............................................ 218

Location and thickness of deposits........./....................... 218

History of development............................................ 221

Development in 1918, by R. W. Stone.....................;....... 222

Oklahoma, by L. C. Snider........................................... 224

Character and extent.............................................. 224

Geologic relations................................................. 224

Localities............................... ........°. ................ 225

Main line of gypsum hills...................................... 225

Gypsum deposits......................................... 225

Gypsite deposits........................................... 227

Second line of gypsum hills................................... 227

Gypsum deposits......................................... 227

Gypsite deposits......................................... 228

Southwestern area............................................ 229

Gypsum deposits......................................... 229

Gypsite deposits........................................... 232

Economic development. ...........................^.............. 232

General condition of the gypsum industry....................... 232

Mills and quarries............................................ 233

Oregon, by R. W. Stone................................................ 236

Location and character............................................ 236

Geologic relations................................................. 236

Econo'mic development........................................... 237
CONTENTS. 9.

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued. Page.

South Dakota, by J. G. Button.. ................................:.... . 239

Structure and stratigraphy.......................................... 239

Localities........................................................ 242

West of Minnekahta........................................... 242

Minnekahta to Hot Springs.....................'............... 244

Rapid City to Sturgis......................................... 245

Sturgis to Spearfish........................................... 246

Chemical composition of shale and gypsum of Spearfish formation..... 248

Economic development........................................... 248

Texas, by R. W. Stone................................................ 250

Distribution...................................................... 250

Economic development........................................... 250

Localities........................................................ 251

North-central Texas...........:............................... 251

Character and general relations of the gypsum deposits,...... 251

Geologic relations of the gypsum beds, by W. E. Wrather..... 255

Culberson and Hudspeth counties.............................. 257

Southeastern Texas............................................ 258

Deeply buried deposits.................................... 258

Brooks County, by C. L. Baker............................ 259

Other localities, by B. F. Hill.................................. 260

Utah, by R. W. Stone and C. T. Lupton ................................ 261

Distribution...................................................... 2C1

Localities in centra,! and southern Utah, by R. W. Stone........ 261

Nephi, Juab County...................................... 261

Levan, Juab County....................................... 265

Manti, Sanpete County.................................... 266

Mayfield, Sanpete County.................................. 266

Salina, Sevier County..................................... 267

Sigurd, Sevier County.................................... 267

White Mountain, Millard County. ......................... 268

Cedar City, Iron County, to Glendale. Kane County.......... 270

St. George, Washington County............................. 271

\ South Wash, Wayne and Garfield counties ................. 272

J Moab, Grand County, by F. L. Hess....................... 273

Gypsum along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell, by C. T. «

Lupton................................................. 273

Location and extent...................................... 273

Topography. ............................................. 274

Geology.................................................. 275

General features of the gypsum deposits..-................... 275

Localities......:......................................... 276

South of Cedar Mountain............................... 276

San Rafael Valley..................................... 276

Horn Silver Gulch..................................... 277

Cold Wash............................................ 278

Colt Gulch............................................ 278

Muddy Creek......................................... 279

Last Chance Creek.................................... 280

Caineville............................:............... 280

t Notom. ........'...................................... 281

Other exposures...................................... 281

Character of the gypsum.................................. 281

] Development. .............................................. 282

Virginia, oy G. W. Stose............................................... 283

Location.......................................................... 283

Topography...................................................... 283
10 CONTENTS.

Part II. Gypsum deposits Continued.

Virginia Continued. Page.

Geology.-........................................................ 285

The rocks.................................................... 285

Structure..................................................... 286

Origin of the deposits......................................... 289

Gypsum industry................................................. 292

Earlier development........................................'.. 292

Present operating mines....................................... ' 293

Wyoming, by R. W. Stone............................................. 295

Character and extent.............................................. 295

Economic development........................................... 296

Localities........................................................ 297

Black Hills.................. r ................................ 297

Big Horn Mountains.......................................... 299

Distribution.............................................. 299

East slope................................................... 299

Sheridan County..................................... 299

Buffalo. ............................................. 299

Crazy Woman Creek.......................... 1.......... 300

Powder Eiver........................................ 300

West slope................................................ 300

Shell. ............................................... 301

Hyattville. .......................................... 301

Tensleep............... 1 ................................ 301

Bigtrails.............................................. 301

Redbank..............!............................... 301

No Wood.............................................. 302

Big Horn Basin ............................................... 302

Stucco.................................................... 302

Greybull.................................................. 302

Cody. ................................................... 302

Thermopolis...........-............._..................... 303

Owl Creek Mountains.......................................... 303

Gros Ventre Range.'........................................... 303

Salt River Range. ............................................ 304

Wind River Range and vicinity................................ 304

Fort Washakie............................................. 304

Lander................................................... 304

Hailey.................................................. 304

Central Wyoming.............................................. 304

Conant Creek. . . .:........................................'. 304

Rattlesnake, Green, and Ferris mountains.................. 305

Alcova................................................... 305

Southeastern Wyoming....................................... 305

Casper-Douglas area........................................ 305

Seminoe Mountains...........:........................... 305

Shirley Mountains and Freezeout Hills...................... 306

Rawlins................................................... 306

Medicine Bow............................................. 306

Elk Mountains. ............. r ............................ 307

Laramie Basin........................................... 307

Laramie Mountains........................................ 308

Part III. Bibliography...................................................... 309

General references.................................................... 309

References by States.................................................. 309

Index.................................................................... 317
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLA.TE I. A, Selenite which has been split and bent to show cleavage and

slight flexibility; B, Selenite crystals......................... 16

II. A, Gypsum having serrate surface due to erosion by rain; B,

Rock gypsum that shows effects of solution.................. 16

III. A, Massive, gypsum showing mottled structure; B, Massive

gypsum showing banded structure........................... 16

IV. A, Fibrous gypsum or satin spar from a fissure in clay; B, Slab of 

selenite an inch thick, illustrating transparency and incipient 

cleavage................................................... 17

V. A, Aggregate of impure gypsum crystals from marl bed; B, Spongy 

) gypsum formed as a secondary deposit....................... 18

VI. Map of the United States showing localities which produce

gypsum. .................................................. 34

VII. A, Gypsite deposit, Douglas, Ariz.; B, Mill of Arizona Gypsum

Plaster Co., at Douglas, Ariz................................ 50

11 VIII. A, Gypsum quarry 3 miles west of Winslow, Ariz.; B, Gypsum 

bed at Plaster Bluff, on Little Missouri River 3 miles south-

} west of Murfreesboro, Ark.................................. 51

IX. Map showing*distribution of gypsum deposits in California....... 58

X. A, Mound of gypsum in the Lost Hills, south of Tulare Lake, 

Calif., made by the evaporation of water seeping from the rocks 

below; B, Gypsum deposit 4 miles northwest of Coalinga, Calif. 66

J

XI. A. Gypsite workings in sec. 7, T. 32 S., R. 22 E., on the Carrizo 

Plain, Calif.; B, Gypsum interbedded with clay shales 1£ miles 

southwest of Palmdale,Calif................................. 76

\ XII. A, Gypsum deposit in the bed of a periodic lake at Amboy, Calif.; 

B, Gypsite deposit 9 feet thick on the brow of a hill 1£ miles 

^ southwest of Palmdale, Calif................................ 77

XIII. A, Bed of gypsum on mesa 15 miles north of King City, Calif.; B, 

Gypsum outcrop on Fort Dodge, Des Moines & Southern Railroad half a mile south of Des Moines River near Fort Dodge, 

Iowa....................................................... 80

XIV. A, Gypsum quarry in Lykins formation, Loveland, Colo.; B,

Thick bed of gypsum in Perry Park, Colo................... 88

XV. Thick bed of gypsum at entrance to Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Springs, Golo. ............................................. 89

XVI. A, Mining gypsum, Fort Dodge, Iowa; B, Rock gypsum as it

comes from the mine, Fort Dodge, Iowa...................... 104

XVII. Map showing gypsum deposits and approximate limits of the

Permian series in Kansas ................................... 112

XVIII. A, Gypsum bed in Best Bros, quarry, Kling, Kans.; B, Gypsum

quarry of United States Gypsum Co. at Alabaster, Mich ........ 120

XIX. Map of New Mexico showing distribution of gypsum deposits.... 162

XX. A, Gypsxim in north wall of Rincon Colorado east of Pedernal Peak, 

Torrance County, N.Mex.; JB, Outcrop of gypsum near Rosario 

siding, west of Los Cerrillos, N. Mex......................... 178

11
12 ILLTJSTKATIONS.

Page.

PLATE XXI. A, Gypsum on Wingate sandstone on bank of Gallina River, 14 

miles north-northeast of Gallina, N. Mex.; S, Gypsum capping 

Cerro Blanco, 1 mile northwest of plaza of Gallina, N. Mex... 179

XXII. A, Cliffs of gypsum at edge of mesa 3 miles southwest of San 

Ysidro, N. Mex.; B, Outcrop of bed of gypsum 50 feet thick 

on north bank of San Jose River opposite pueblo of EIRito, on 

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, 63 miles west of 

Albuquerque, N. Mex...................................... 184

XXIII. The white sands, wind-blown gypsum in desert West of Tularosa,

N.Mex.................................................... 185

XXIV. A, Rock gypsum showing banding and eelenit.e crystals, Akron,

N. Y.; B, Gypsum quarry near Lyndon, Onondaga County, N. Y. 196

XXV. Map showing location of gypsum deposits in Ohio............... 218

XXVI. A, Mine of United States Gypsum Co. at Gypsum, Ohio; B, Rock

gypsum quarry of American Cement Plaster Co., Watonga, Okla. 222

XXVII. Map showing location of gypsum deposits in Oklahoma.......... 224

XXVIII. A, Glass Mountain, Woods County, Okla., capped with massive 

gypsum; B, Escarpment capped with gypsum ledges, Red 

River valley, Greer County, Okla........................... 226

XXIX. A, Gypsum quarry and loading platform of aerial tramway, 

Gypsum, Oreg.; B, Gypsum outcrop 4 miles northwest of Minnekahta, S. Dak-............................................. 236

XXX. A, Bluff showing gypsum bed 1 mile northwest of Hot Springs, 

S. Dak.; B, Three gypsum beds in Hell Canyon, 20 miles southwest of Custer, S. Dak....................................... 242

XXXI. A, Gypsum in Spearfish formation on east side of Spearfish Valley,

S. Dak.; B, Close view of gypsum bed at Spearfish, S. Dak..... 243

XXXII. A. Gypsum at Spearfish, S. Dak.; B, Gypsum quarry 2 miles east

of Nephi, Utah............................................. 246

XXXIII. A, Polished block of gypsum from Nephi, Utah, showing mottled 

character of the rock; B, Polished block of gypsum from North 

Holston, Va., showing granular character and selenite phenocrysts...................................................... 264

XXXIV. A, Gypsum quarry 1£ miles east of Levan, Utah; B, Gypsum bed

in Horn Silver Gulch, southeast of Ferron, Utah.............. 265

XXXV. Map showing distribution of gypsum deposits on west flank of

San Rafael Swell, Utah..................................... 276

XXXVI. Map of Wyoming showing areas known to contain gypsum....... 296

XXXVII. A, Butte of red beds of Spearfish formation capped with a 30-foot 

bed of gypsum east-northeast of Cambria, Wyo.; B, Method of 

mining gypsite, Laramie, Wyo............................... 298

FIGUKE 1. Diagram showing faulted gypaum bed near Tucson, Ariz......... 54

2. Diagram showing edge of gypsum bed near Tucson, Ariz......... 55

3. Idealized section through gypsite deposit 4 miles northwest of

Coalinga, Calif............................................... 62

4. Idealized section across hills l£ miles southwest of Palm dale, Calif.,

showing relations of gypsite and gypsum to the country rock.. 76

5. Map showing location of gypsum and gypsum mills near Fort

Dodge, Iowa ................................................ 105

6. Section at Great Western gypsum mine, Blue Rapids, Kans...... 113

7. Section at gypsum mine near Solomon, Kans. ..*................. 114

8. Outline map of Michigan showing gypsum deposits ............. 123
ILLUSTRATIONS. . 13

Page. 

FIGURE 9. Map showing location of gypsum deposits in Nevada............. 140

10. Map showing geology of T. 27 N., R. 32 E., and location of old

gypsum quarries near Lovelock, Nev.......................... 148

11. Diagram of gypsum bed at entries of mine at Arden, Nev......... 156

12. Diagram showing relation of shale and gypsum in mine at Arden,

Nev......................................................... 156

'13. Gypsum and anhydrite from Arden, Nev., as seen under petrographic microscope......................................... 157

14. Generalized columnar section showing stratigraphic relations of

gypsum deposits in New Mexico.;.......................... 162

. 15. Section of east slope of Mesa Lucero, in Socorro County, 25. miles

southwest of Belen, N. Mex.................................. 164

16. Section across Chupadera Mesa, 35 miles east of Socorro, N. Mex... 165

17. Map of part of central New Mexico showing gypsum deposits...... 165

18. Section of strata in west face of Chupadera Mesa, 25 miles east of

Carthage, N. Mex......................................:.... 166

19. Section of gypsum and associated strata near Abo siding in the

northwest face of Chupadera Mesa, N. Mex ................... 166

20. Columnar section of gypsum and associated beds in Arroyo de lao

Cafias east of the spring, 7 miles east-southeast of Socorro, N. Mex. 167

21. Columnar section showing relation of gypsum and associated beds

in Phillips Hills, 6 miles southwest of Oscuro, N. Mex........... 168

22. Columnar section of gypsum and associated strata about 2 miles

. southeast of Salinas siding, 10 miles north of Tularosa, N. Mex... 169

23. Columnar section of gypsum and associated strata east of Tularosa,

N. Mex..................................................... 169

24. Approximate section across Sacramento Mountains east from

Alamogordo, N. Mex......................................... 170

25. Columnar section showing relation of gypsum deposits in Rhodes 

Canyon, San Andres Mountains, 25 miles east-southeast of 

Engle, N. Mex............................................. 171

26. Section across San Andres Mountains, 18 miles northeast of Engle,

N. Mex.................................................... 172

27. Columnar section showing relations of gypsum and associated

beds in Caballos Mountains 15 miles southwest of Engle, N. Mex. 173

28. Section across Caballos Mountains 15 miles southwest of Engle,

N. Mex., showing structural relations of gypsum............... . 173

29. Record of boringin NE. £sec. 4, T. 22 S., R. 28 E., eastof Carlsbad,

N. Mex.i.................................................. 176

30. Section showing relations of gypsum deposit east of Rosario siding,

7 miles west of Los Cerrillos, N. Mex......................... 176

31. Columnar section showing relations of gypsum deposit on east 

bank of Tonque Creek, 2 miles below the brick works, Sandoval 

County, N. Mex............................................. 177

32. Cross sections showing relations of gypsum in Tijeras Canyon

east of Albuquerque, N. Mex................................ 177

33. Outline map and section of part of the valley of Rio Chama, in 

Rio Arriba County, N. Mex., showing outcrop and relations of 

the gypsum bed............................................ 178

34. Columnar section of rocks in Rio Chama-Gallina region, N. Mex... 179

35. Map showing outcrop of gypsum bed along the west side of the 

Nacimiento uplift from Rio Gallina to Rio Salado, Sandoval 

County, N. Mex............................................. 180
14 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

FIGURE 36. Sketch section at Senorito, N. Mex,, showing relations of gypsum

bed........................................................ 181

37. Map and sections of the south end of the Nacimiento uplift southWest of Jemez, showing outcrop and relations of gypsum bed..,. 183

38. Section showing relations of gypsum bed southwest of Jemez,

N. Mex............ ........................................ 184

39. Section of rocks associated with gypsum bed at El Rito, N. Mex...: 184

40. Section along north side of .San Jose Valley near Suwanee, N. Mex.,

showing relations of great gypsum bed in faulted blocks......... 185

41. Map showing outcrop of gypsum in San Jose Valley, N. Mex..... . 185

42. Map of New York showing distribution of Salina formation........ 190

43. Diagram showing relative position and linear extent of the Silurian

strata in New York........................................... 192

44. Map showing Jamesville-Fayetteville district, Onoadaga County,

N.Y...................:................................... 197

45. Map showing Wheatland district, Monroe County, N. Y............ 205

46. Map showing Qakfield and Akron districts, Genesee and Erie

counties, N. Y................................................ 208

47. Map showing the area that contains the gypsum-bearing formation

in the Black Hills, S. Dak..................................... 241

48. Map of Texas showing location of principal-deposits of rock gypsum.. 251

49. Columnar section showing strata exposed along Double Mountain 

Fork of Brazos River, from Flattop Mountain, Haskell County, 

to top of Double Mountain, Stonewall County, Tex.............. 254

50. Map showing distribution of principal gypsum deposits in Utah-... 262

51. Diagram showing geologic structure at gypsum quarry, Nephi,

Utah..........................'.............................. 264

52. Cross section of strata that lie between gypsum mill and quarry,

Nephi, Utah................-.!................................ 264

53. Map showing extent of gypsum deposit at White Mountain, Utah. 269

54. Index map of southwestern Virginia............................. 283

55. Geologic map of Hplston Valley, in the vicinity of Saltvillej Va... 284

56. Structure sections across Holston ValleVj Va., along lines indicated

by letters on the marginsof the geologic map.................. 287

57. Structure sections across Holston Valley, Va., along lines indicated

by letters on the margins of the .geologic map .................. 288
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

By R. "W. STONE and others.

PART I. GENERAL DISCUSSION.

INTRODUCTION.

By R. W. STONE.

This report has been prepared to take the place of the Survey's 

Bulletin 223, " Gypsum deposits in the United States," which was 

published in 1904. The total value of crude and calcined gypsum 

produced in the United States increased from $2,750,000 in 1904 to 

more than $11,000,000 in 1918, or over 300 per cent. Since Bulletin 

223 was published much information has been obtained as to the 

quantity and the distribution of the gypsum deposits of the country. 

A large part of this new information is contained in State and Federal reports and in technical and scientific journals,' but some of 

that which is given here has not previously been published.

The sections of this report relating to the deposits in the individual 

States considered have been prepared by State geologists, by members of the United States Geological Survey, or by others who are 

familiar with the subject. For this reason the method of treatment 

is not uniform throughout the report. Other variations are due to 

differences in the conditic/ns of the development of the gypsum 

industry from State to State. In the sections on States such as 

Florida and Oregon, practically all that is known about the deposits 

is given; in those on others such as Iowa, New York, and Oklahoma, 

the information given is condensed from detailed reports.

Some of the material in the introductory chapter on the mineralogy 

and geology of gypsum is quoted almost literally from publications 

to which credit need not everywhere be given, because the material 

has been published many times in text books, encyclopedias, and 

State and Federal reports, with only slight changes in form, so 

that the original authorship is hard to determine.

The description, of the processes of mining and milling gypsum 

is brief, because the discussion of technologic matter of this kind is 

thought to be outside the province-of the United States Geological 

Survey. . A paper on this subject,1 published by the Bureau of

1 Stone, R. W., Gypsum products, their preparation and uses : Bur. Mines Tech. Paper 

155, 1917. "

15
16 - GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Mines of the Department of the Interior in 1917, can be had on 

remitting 20 cents to the Superintendent of Documents, Government 

Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF GYPSUM.

By R. W. STONE. 

CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES.

Distinctive, features. Gypsum is a common"mineral, which occurs 

in both massive and crystalline form, and is widely distributed in 

the United States. Crystalline gypsum, known as selenite, can bo 

split into layers, sheets, or plates much like mica (see PI. I, A), and 

tiny kind of gypsum is so soft that it can be scratched with the finger 

nail. Unlike the plates of mica, however, the plates of gypsum are 

not elastic. Gypsum is of commercial value chiefly because, after 

it is calcined and then mixed with water, it will set or harden and 

can be .used as wall plaster. It was used in this way by the Egyptians 

4,000 years ago.

Chemical composition. Gypsum is a hydrous calcium sulphate, 

having the chemical formula CaSO4.2H2O. This formula, reduced 

to its final components, is:

ff, . . . , . ,_ 0 _ . rLime (CaO), 32.5 per cent. Calcium sulphate (CaSO,), Sulphur trioxide ^ 466

Gypsum, CaS04.2H,-0 <9.1 per cent, percent 

Water (H20), 20.9 per cent. l

Pure gypsum, the sulphate of lime with water of crystallization, 

is seldom found in nature, for nearly all gypsum deposits contain 

oxides of iron and aluminum, carbonates of calcium and magnesium, 

and other impurities. The anhydrous calcium sulphate, anhydrite, 

which has the formula CaSO4 , is often associated with gypsum, 

either disseminated through it or occurring with or in jt in separate 

masses.

Hardness and specific gravity. The crystalline form of gypsum, 

selenite, is the standard for the second degree (hardness 2) in the 

Mohs scale of hardness. Gypsum is so soft that it can be scratched 

with the finger nail, and it can thus easily be distinguished from 

other minerals that have a similar appearance. The specific gravity 

of the pure mineral ranges from 2.30 to 2.33 that is, 1 cubic foot of 

gypsum is 2.3 times as heavy as 1 cubic foot of water.

Color. Pure rock gypsum is white and selenite is colorless and 

transparent or translucent. Owing to impurities, however, gypsum 

ranges through gray to black, from flesh pink to red and brown, and 

some is yellow or pale blue. Pure powdered gypsum is white.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE I

A. SELENITE WHICH HAS BEEN SPLIT AND BENT TO SHOW CLEAVAGE AND 

SLIGHT FLEXIBILITY.

B. SELENITE CRYSTALS.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE II

A. GYPSUM HAVING SERRATE SURFACE DUE TO EROSION BY RAIN.

B. HOCK GYPSUM THAT SHOWS EFFECTS OF SOLUTION.
U. s. ovor IHITI'XT, KTRVEY KfLLHTiN 697 PLATE in

 *

J!

A. MASSIVE GYPSUM SHOWING MOTTLED STRUCTURE.

B. MASSIVE GYPSUM SHOWING BANDED STRUCTURE.
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE IV

A. FIBROUS GYPSUM OR SATIN SPAR FROM A FISSURE IN CLAY.

B. SLAB OF SELENITE AN INCH THICK, ILLUSTRATING TRANSPARENCY AND 

INCIPIENT CLEAVAGE.
MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF GYPSUM. 17

Crystallfoation. Gypsum, as selenite, crystallizes in the forms 

peculiar to the monoclinic system. Typical gypsum crystals are 

shown in Plate I, B. Selenite has a perfect cleavage parallel to the 

 principal plane. It separates into thin plates along the cleavage 

planes, but these plates, although thin as paper, are only slightly 

flexible, not elastic. A very common form of the crystal is an elongated irregular diamond or oblique parallelogram. Single crystalsdiffer greatly in size, but most crystals observed are less than 6 

inches long. Crystals from 1 foot to 5 feet long have been found. 

Crystal aggregates occur in a variety of shapes, ranging from formless masses to beautiful rosettes.

Solubility. Gypsum is soluble in hydrochloric acid but does not 

effervesce or gelatinize. It does not dissolve in sulphuric acid. It is 

slightly soluble in water. At 32° F. (0° C.) one part of gypsum 

dissolves in 415 parts of water and at 75.2° F. (24° C.) one part of 

gypsum dissolves in 378 parts of water. In time, however, rain and 

ground water have a marked eifect on gypsum, eating deeply into its 

outcrops, as shown in Plate II, and causing the formation of sinks 

and caves, in places of considerable extent.

VARIETIES.

Gypsum occurs as rock gypsum, gypsite, selenite, and satin spar.

Eock gypsum, or massive gypsum, the form in which the mineral 

is most commonly found, is the form, that is of the greatest economic value. This variety occurs interbedded with sedimentary 

rocks and is composed of minute, even microscopic crystals, which 

make a generally opaque rock. When pure it is white; thick beds 

of gypsum in the Central and Western States are almost snow-white. 

Commonly, however, it contains impurities and may be pink, blue, 

green, gray, or brown. The color may be evenly distributed, banded, 

or mottled in the rock, as shown in Plate III, A and B. Eock 

gypsum that is very fine grained, white, slightly translucent, and 

suitable for carving and. sculpturing is known as alabaster. Eock 

gypsum occurs in beds ranging from thin layers covering small 

areas to deposits 60 feet or more thick and extending for many miles.

Gypsite, or earthy gypsum, is soft, incoherent, impure gypsum 

formed at the surface by the evaporation of gypsiferous water. 

It is an efflorescent deposit and ranges from material so powdery 

that it resembles wood ashes through sandy and earthy phases to 

a form that is slightly consolidated. In color gypsite is gray, 

mottled with white, buff or creamy, rusty, pink, or, where it contains much iron, red. The color is due largely to the clay and fine 

sand mixed in the deposit. Few deposits of gypsite are over 20 

feet thick, and the largest cover only a few acres. 

124567° 20 2
18 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Selenite is a variety of gypsum which occurs in distinct crystals 

or in broad folia. The largest crystals known are over 4 feet 

long, but these are rare. Pure selenite is colorless and transparent. 

Selenite splits easily into sheets, and therefore, as it is transparent, 

it is often mistaken for mica, but sheets of selenite are not elastic 

like mica. The cleavage, slight flexibility, and transparency of 

selenite are shown in Plates I, A, and IV, 5, and an aggregate of 

gypsum crystals is shown in Plate V, A.

Satin spar is a crystalline variety of gypsum made up of needlelike fibers. (See PL IV, A.) It occurs in narrow veins or seams, 

rarely over 3 or 4 inches thick, either in massive gypsum deposits 

or in the wall rocks near these deposits. It is nowhere sufficiently 

abundant to be commercially valuable. Satin spar is usually white 

or pink, and the fibers are perpendicular to the walls of the vein. 

It is deposited by the evaporation of gypsiferous waters and usually 

lies below a bed of gypsum.

ANHYDRITE. 

GENERAL. FEATURES.

Deposits of the mineral anhydrite are found at many places 

in the United States in close association with deposits of gypsum. 

Anhydrite is calcium sulphate, the formula for which is CaS04 , the 

same formula as that of dead-burned gypsum. In other words, it 

is of the same chemical composition as g3^psum except that it contains no water of crystallization. By the absorption of two parts 

of water it turns to gypsum. This process actually takes place in 

nature and in some places has doubtless resulted in the alteration 

of beds of anhydrite to beds of gypsum.

Anhydrite may be formed from solutions of gypsurn at various 

temperatures when the solutions contain sufficient quantities of certain other salts. In a saturated solution of sodium chloride gypsum 

changes to anhydrite at a temperature of 30° C. (86° F.), a temperature commonly reached in summer. This fact satisfactorily 

accounts for the formation of anhydrite in nature from concentrated 

sea water or lake brines.

The similarity of anhydrite to gypsum and limestone is so marked 

that doubtless it has been wrongly identified many times. The 

simplest tests to distinguish them are those for hardness and specific 

gravity, for anhydrite is harder and heavier than gypsum. Some 

compact gypsum is so hard that it can not easily be scratched with 

the finger nail, but even if the two minerals can not be readily distinguished by the difference in the ease of scratching they can be 

distinguished by the sound of scratching. ' The difference in specific 

gravity is very considerable. When heated in a closed tube, gypsum gives off water abundantly, but anhydrite yields little or none-..
II. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE V

A. AGGREGATE OF IMPURE GYPSUM CRYSTALS FROM MARL BED.

SPONGY GYPSUM FORMED AS A SECONDARY DEPOSIT.
MINERALOGY A2STD GEOLOGY OF GYPSUM. 19

Anhydrite may be distinguished from gypsum by its crystalline 

cleavage, the planes of which intersect almost rectangularly in three 

directions, giving it a pseudocubic aspect. In the following table by 

Rogers a the differences between the two minerals are contrasted:

Anhydrite, CaSO*.

Orthorhombic. 

Cleavage, pseudocubic. 

Specific gravity, about 2.9. 

Hardness, 3 to 3^.

Fragments are square ,or rectangular, 

with parallel extinction.

High relief in clove oil or balsam

(o=1.571; 7=1.614). 

Double refraction, rather strong;

maximum value, 0.043. 

Soluble with difficulty in dilute HC1. 

Little or no water in closed tube.

Gypsum, CaSOi.2H«0.

Monoclinic.

Cleavage, perfect in one direction.

Specific gravity, about 2.3.

Hardness, 1£ to 2-J.

Fragments are platy with oblique extinction, or have aggregate polarization.

Low relief in clove oil or balsam 

(a=1.520; 7=1.529).

Double refraction, rather weak; maximum value, 0.009.

Easily soluble in dilute HCI.

Abundant water (20.9 per cent) in 

closed tube.

The optical tests implied above may be made with crushed fragments as well as with thin sections.

The weathering of anhydrite is very different from that of selenite 

or of fine-grained gypsum, for it remains hard and white instead of 

breaking down to a soft incoherent powder as gypsum does. The 

surface of a weathered block of anhydrite is usually rough, being 

covered with innumerable pits separated by thin sharp ridges.

OCCURRENCE.

According to Rogers,2 the modes of occurrence of anhydrite are 

as follows: As a sedimentary rock, often associated with salt in 

inland-sea deposits; as a vein mineral or an associate of ores; as 

the metamorphic equivalent of sedimentary anhydrite; as a cavity 

filling in igneous rocks; as a cavity filling in limestones; as a replacement of limestone along with dolomite;-as the dehydration product 

of gypsum. Numerous localities where anhydrite occurs in the 

United States are mentioned by Rogers in the paper cited above. 

Of these the ones where anhydrite is found in considerable quantity, 

together with others known to the present writer, are given below.

California. In- the Palen Mountains, Riverside County, interbedded anhydrite and crystalline gypsum alternate with layers of 

limestone. The differentiation of the gypsum and the anhydrite is 

thought to be due to original differences in composition.

Colorado. In the region around Gypsum, Eagle County, where 

gypsum is abundant, anhydrite has been found near the Iron Nellie

1 Rogers, A. P., Notes on the occurrence of anhydrite in the United States: School of 

Mines Quart, vol. 36, p. 124, 1915.

2 Idem, p. 138.
2.0 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

mine. Rogers thinks it probable that all the gypsum in this region 

is a hydration product of the anhydrite.

loioa. At a depth of 542 feet in a drill hole at Centerville, Appanoose County, there is a bed of anhydrite 5 feet thick, which is 

underlain by 5 feet of crystalline gypsum.

Louisiana. Beds of anhydrite several feet thick have been found 

at different depths in deep wells at Belle Isle and near Vinton.

Michigan, At a number of places in the southern peninsula anhydrite has been found in deep wells in beds from a few feet to 45 

feet thick at depths ranging from 200' to 2.350 feet.

Nevada. At the Ludwig mine, in Lyon County, anhydrite with 

a little gypsum occurs on the 400-foot level, and on -the surface its 

place is taken by gypsum. Rogers believes that the anhydrite was 

formed by the metamorphisrn of an original sedimentary bed of 

anhydrite.

At Mound House, Lyon.County, anhydrite occurs on the lowest 

levels of the main gypsum quarry, and Rogers says that the formation of gypsum at the expense of anhydrite is unmistakable.

At Arden, Clark County, the present writer observed masses of 

anhydrite in the thick bed of gypsum and came to the conclusion 

that the deposit is the result of the hydration of an original anhydrite deposit.

New Mexico. Anhydrite in thick beds is not uncommonly associated with massive gypsum at a number of widely separated localities. The two different mineral deposits are thought to be original, 

and to be due to changes in temperature of the concentrated sea 

Avater from which the deposits were formed.

Ohio. Massive rock gypsum is found at the surface near Sandusky, but a deep well near Cleveland encountered anhydrite below 

rock salt at depths of 2,154 and 2,300 feet. Here, as in Michigan, 

the occurrence of gypsum at or near the surface and of anhydrite at 

considerable depths is suggestive that the gypsum deposits are 

original beds of anhydrite altered by meteoric or ground water.

Oklahoma. A considerable bed of anhydrite occurs in the Medicine Lodge gypsum for 50 miles or more, with gypsum above and 

below it. L. C. Snider, of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, believes this anhydrite is the result of original deposition and not of 

alteration.

Texas. In a deep well at Spur, Dickens County, seven beds of 

gypsum, from 1 to 15 feet thick, occur in the upper 285 feet of 

the boring. Anhydrite is first found at 298 feet and occurs at intervals down to 4,105 feet in beds from a few feet to 73 feet thick. 

It is intimately associated with dolomite and is partly original and 

partly secondary. Udden believes that the anhydrite has formed in 

connection with the dolomitization of limestone by a reaction be-
. MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF GYPSUM. 21

tween magnesium sulphate and calcium carbonate. The fact that 

all the beds of calcium sulphate within about 300 feet of the surface 

are gypsum suggests that they may be due to the hydration of deposits originally laid down as anhydrite. They do not seem to be 

derived even indirectly from limestone, for the inclosing beds are 

shale and sandstone.

Utah. At Nephi, in the middle of the upper part of the great 

quarry face, there is a large body of anhydrite surrounded by 

gypsum.. As the geologic structure of the gypsum has not been determined definitely, there is some objection to the suggestion that 

the orginal deposit of anhydrite has been hydrated except the core.

Virginia* At Plasterco and North Holston much anhydrite is admixed with the gypsum and the two minerals grade into each other. 

In one and perhaps in both of the mines the quantity of anhydrite 

seems to increase with depth, a condition which suggests the idea 

that the main deposit is anhydrite that has been altered to gypsum 

near the surface by hydration. This process may have been aided 

by circulation of water along a fault plane which cuts the bed of 

anhydrite and reduced part of it to a breccia of anhydrite and shale.

CLASSIFICATION OF DEPOSITS.

GENERAL DISCUSSION.

Gypsum deposits may be classified! by their origin, mode of occurrence, position with relation to the earth's surface, and in other ways. 

Gypsite and gypsum dunes are accumulations on the surface, whereas 

satin spar and rock gypsum, occur within other rocks. Differentiation by mode of occurrence makes the following separation: Interbedded, efflorescent, and periodic-lake deposits, veins, dunes, and 

isolated crystals. This classification * is simple and needs but a few 

explanatory paragraphs.

Interbedded deposits; are those bodies of gypsum interstratified 

with shales, sandstones, and limestones which have been laid down 

in seas or lakes. The study of the broader stratigraphic relations 

of the gypsum series usually shows that they were formed in local 

basins, and lack or scarcity of fossil remains indicates sea water 

which had reached a degree of concentration unfavorable to life.

Efflorescent deposits are formed on the surface by the evaporation 

of water that has percolated through massive gypsum or gypsiferous 

strata. The gypsum thus formed is the variety known as gypsite 

or earthy gypsum. It is made of microscopic plates of crystalline gypsum.

Periodic-lake deposits are formed by the crystallization of gypsum 

from the waters of intermittent shallow lakes. The material of 

such a deposit is generally granular and crystalline, the particles

1 Hess, F. L., A reconnaissance of the gypsum deposits of California : U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 413, p. 7, 1910.
22 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UISrtTED STATES.

ranging from minute specks to grains one-quarter of an inch in 

breadth, and thin in proportion. As it is derived largely from shallow water near the shore, where evaporation would be most rapid 

and the water would therefore be more highly saturated with 

gypsum, the gypsite deposited by a periodic lake will be found 

around the old medial shore of the lake.

Veins of gypsum are generally composed of satin spar or selenite. 

They are formed of gypsum dissolved by water circulating through 

gypsum-bearing strata and redeposited in fissures, cracks, and bedding planes. °

Dunes of gypsum sand occur in some regions. The sand is the 

product of wind erosion and is derived from the disintegration of 

massive crystalline gypsum or from surface deposits of small gypsum 

crystals produced by evaporation of gypsiferous waters. This sand, 

for instance, may be swept up by the wind from playa lakes during 

drought. Soluble salts swept up with the gypsum by the wind are 

subsequently dissolved out of the dunes, leaving the less soluble 

material.

Isolated crystals and small flakes of gypsum, such as occur in 

many shale and clay deposits throughout the country, are supposed 

to have been formed by the -decomposing of small quantities of 

pyrite and the resultant acid acting on calcium carbonate in the 

form of fossil shells. Iron sulphide yields sulphuric acid, which in 

contact with calcium- carbonate gives calcium sulphate or gypsum..

Separation by origin gives the following classification: Deposition 

from solution in (a) sea water, (£>) ground water; produced by 

alteration; produced by disintegration and reaccumulation.

DEPOSITION FROM SOLUTIONS.

Deposition from sea water. It is generally believed that most of 

the important deposits of rock gypsum of the world have been 

formed by the evaporation of sea water. This method of formation 

is inferred from the fact that the beds are usually interbedded with 

shales, sandstones, and limestones which have been deposited in seas 

or lakes. A scarcity or total absence of fossils in the gypsum-bearing rocks shows that the water in which they were deposited had 

reached a degree of concentration that was unfavorable to life. Sea 

water contains 3.5 per cent of mineral salts in solution. The most 

abundant salt is sodium chloride, which constitutes more than 77 per 

cent of the total solids, whereas calcium sulphate is only 3.6 per cent. 

Calcium sulphate is not precipitated until about 80 per cent of the 

water has been evaporated. With these facts in mind, it is difficult 

to account for the great thickness of some gypsum beds. The quantity of water of normal salinity which would have to be evaporated 

to make a gypsum deposit 30 or 60 feet or more thick is so great that
MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OP GYPSUM. 23

no known ocean basin would h<?ld it. From 1,000 feet of normal sea 

water about 0.7 foot of gypsum would be precipitated before the 

point of saturation for sodium chloride would be reached; to precipitate 30 feet of gypsum would require about 43,000 feet of water. 

Beds of gypsum 40 to 50 feet thick are not uncommon, requiring for 

their deposition continental depressions much greater than any now 

known. These thick deposits, which are not of great extent and 

grade laterally into much thinner deposits covering wide areas, are 

accounted for by Branson's modified bar hypothesis.1 This hypothesis is stated as follows:

In the drying up of a large interior sea the waters might come to lie in 

separate basins if the bottom were uneven. Evaporation over the full expanse 

of the interior sea might be rapid enough to decrease the depth and area in 

spite of the inflow of some stream, but when considerable areas of bottom had 

become exposed the total evaporation would have become less and the inflow 

nearer to the amount of evaporation. Assuming that isolated basins would be 

formed, separated by low barriers, and that the main streams would empty 

into the marginal basins, the inflow might be sufficient to cause these basins to 

overflow and supply the minor basins that had no direct stream connections 

with highly charged waters as fast as .their own waters evaporated.

A part of this modified bar hypothesis is the assumption that 

when the isolated seas were formed the sea water had already reached 

a considerable degree of concentration, and so the interior receiving 

basins would" be supplied with highly concentrated waters instead of 

normal sea water. The greater thickness of a gypsum bed may also 

have resulted, too, from' currents shifting the unconsolidated gypsum 

along the bottom.

Deposition from solution in ground water. Water making its way 

through joints, fissures, and bedding planes of gypsum-bearing strata 

may take up calcium sulphate in solution. This water may come to 

rest in passageways in the gypsum beds or in the adjacent wall rock 

and there by evaporation deposit the gypsum as selenite or satin spar.. 

These crystallizations in seams and veins are clearly secondary deposits and of later origin, for they not uncommonly cut beds of gypsum. Gypsum beds and rocks adjacent to them are in many places 

veined and seamed by such secondary deposits. The passages thus 

filled m&y have been very narrow at first but became enlarged gradually by solution and possibly by the expansive force of the growing 

crystals.

Gypsite or gypsum earth is found in many places in the western 

States, usually in regions where beds of rock gypsum occur. Gypsite 

probably is derived from primary deposits through the circulation 

of ground water. The spring theory of origin is generally accepted 

for deposits of this class, for water percolating through gypsum beds

1 Branson, E. B., Thick gypsum and salt deposits: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol.- 26, pp. 

235-237, 1915.
24 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE.UNITED STATES.

dissolves a portion of the rock and on issuing at a lower point as 

a spring redeposits the gypsum by evaporation, aided perhaps by the 

action of organic matter of decaying vegetation; also water may come 

up through beds of rock gypsum and form gypsite at the surface directly over the primary deposit. In either event a crust of minute 

gypsum crystals would be formed on the surface and increase gradually in thickness.

Microscopic examination shows that gypsite consists of small irregular crystals and plates of gypsum. The deposits are so soft as to 

be easily worked with a spade, and some of the gypsite is very light 

and powdery. Gypsite deposits are thin and of little area that is, 

they are rarely more than 15 feet thick and cover only a few acres. 

They are rather impure also, owing to the presence of sand, clay, lime 

carbonate, and organic matter, brought in by surface agencies.

Deposition from ground water is thought to be the mode of accumulation of certain other gypsum deposits. It has been found that 

some low dome-shaped mounds in Louisiana on the Gulf Coastal 

Plain are underlain by beds of salt and gypsum: Harris 1 maintains 

that the domes are not due apparently to differential erosion but have 

been actually uplifted. Although uplift has been ascribed to gas 

pressure, water under great head, and igneous masses approaching the 

surface, Harris offers an entirely different explanation. He finds 

that the domes occur at the intersections of master faults and thinks 

the faults have served as channels along which saline solutions have 

ascended from great depths. Theoretically warm waters rising 

through the faulted strata would precipitate their salts as they cooled. 

The solvent power of water for sodium chloride decreases rapidly 

at a high temperature, so the main precipitation of this salt would 

be at considerable depth. There would be a tendency for the salt 

to form a cone with point up, and this cone as it grew broader and 

longer, by the expansive force of crystallization, might force the 

overlying mass upward. The solution from which the sodium chloride had been precipitated would become cooler as it approached the 

surface and lose .its calcium sulphate. Gypsum would therefore be 

found above the salt and near the surface. This relation has been 

noted in Louisiana and Texas.

Another idea of the origin of the.domes of salt and gypsum on 

the Gulf Coastal Plain is that of G. S. Rogers,2 who believes

that the salt plugs are offshoots of deeply buried bedded deposits which have 

been subjected to great pressure or thrust and have been partially squeezed 

upward in a semiplastic condition along lines of weakness. As the region lies 

along a heavily loaded seacoast, the nature of the lateral thrust is not difficult 

to understand. The fact that the surface beds are undisturbed, except im1 Harris, G. D., Econ. Geology, vol. 4, pp. 12-34, 1909.

2 Rogers, G. S., Intrusive origin of the Gulf coast salt domes: Econ. Geology, vol. 13, 

pp. 447-485, 1918.
MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY OF GYPSUM. 25

mediately around the salt plugs, is explained by the nature of the section a 

series of indurated and rigid formations overlain by a great thickness of relatively yielding and plastic sediments.

The origin of the gypsum and anhydrite that cap most of the domes 

is obscure. Rogers suggests that anhydrite overlies the bedded salt 

deposit from which the salt plugs were derived, and that when the 

salt was squeezed up a portion of an overlying anhydrite bed was 

brought up with it. Later action of circulating waters may have 

changed the shape of the mass considerably and converted part of 

the anhydrite into gypsum. The capping gypsum and anhydrite 

may also reasonably be ascribed to the action of ground water that 

percolated down through any one bed toward the sea and, finding 

its progress arrested by the salt plug and the uplifted sediments 

around it, rapidly ascended to a cooler zone where some of its dissolved salts would be precipitated.

DEPOSITS PRODUCED BY ALTERATION.

The«origin of gypsum may be explained in a number of ways, each 

applicable to a particular kind of deposit and all based on the fact 

that gypsum is produced by the chemical action of sulphuric acid on 

calcium carbonate. Gypsum may thus be formed in the laboratory, 

the reaction stated in its simple form being

H2S04+CaC03 =CaS04+H2 0+C02 .

Sulphuric acid dissolved in the water of thermal springs may produce gypsum by acting on travertine. The acid is formed from 

sulphurous vapors which have been oxidized, and the materials acted 

upon are principally calcium and magnesium carbonates. The 

thermal waters on evaporating at the surface deposit the gypsum as 

layers of fine crystals.

The origin of some gypsum has been attributed to the alteration of 

limestone by the action of sulphuric acid in water from sulphur 

springs. The acid may be accounted for by the oxidation of sulphureted hydrogen, and this acid, working through cracks, joints, 

and bedding planes in the limestone, reacts with calcium carb'onate 

and forms calcium sulphate.

Gypsum is formed likewise by sulphurous acid, which escapes 

around the fumaroles of volcanoes and which, when it is converted 

into sulphuric acid, attacks rocks which contain lime.

Limestone may also be converted to gypsum by sulphuric acid 

derived by ground water from pyritic shales. A more or less constant supply of acid in the ground water might in time change 

bedded limestone to apparently bedded gypsum. This origin has 

been ascribed by some to the gypsum deposits in New York.

Individual crystals or small groups of crystals or plates of selenite 

are common in some clay and shale deposits but so scattered as to be
26 GYPSUM DEPOSITS Or THE UNITED STATES.

of no economic importance. These disseminated gypsum crystals 

may be formed by the decomposition of pyrite, which gives rise to 

sulphuric acid and soluble sulphates that act upon any. lime present, 

as in fossil shells, and convert it into gypsum.

Anhydrite alters to gypsum by taking up water and recrystallizing. 

In this reaction great pressure is developed, for there is an increase 

of 33 per cent in volume. The force of the expansion is sufficient to 

lift a considerable thickness of overlying strata and has been considered to be the cause of the hummocky surface over some gypsum 

deposits.

Anhydrite generally occurs in sedimentary beds, but it is not 

commonly found at the surface. Outcrops of anhydrite in Oklahoma and New Mexico are exceptions to this rule. Most of the 

known occurrences of massive anhydrite are in mines or deep wells. 

In a number of mines the large irregular masses of anhydrite completely surrounded by gypsum and the increasing abundance of 

anhydrite with depth suggest that it was the original mineral of 

the deposit. That the gypsum in a number of mines is derived 

from anhydrite is proved conclusively by the microscopic structure 

of thin sections of the roek.

DEPOSITS PRODUCED BY DISINTEGRATION AND MECHANICAL REACCUMTTLATION.

t

Dunes of gypsum sand are found in a number of places" where 

wind erosion is active. A large deposit of this sort is formed by 

the white sands in Tularosa Basin, New Mexico, which cover about 

270 square miles. The sand is derived in part from the disintegration of gypsum exposed at the surface. Furthermore, the surface 

waters are highly impregnated with various salts. Evaporation is 

rapid and produces an efflorescence or crust which is disintegrated 

and blown by the wind into drifts. The sand derived from these 

two sources contains soluble salts, which are subsequently redissolved, 

leaving the dunes composed of practically pure gypsum.

GEOLOGIC AGE OF DEPOSITS.

The commercial deposits of gypsum that are being exploited in 

the United States range in age from Silurian to Quaternary. The 

age of some deposits, like that at Fort Dodge, Iowa, is so much in 

doubt that they are omitted from the subjoined table. Others, like 

the deposits near Bridger, Mont., and Empire Mountains, Ariz., are 

classified tentatively.

Age of gypsum deposits.

Quaternary_____-Arizona, Douglas, Tucson; New Mexico, County of

Otero, white sands.

Tertiary_______California; Nevada, lacustrine deposits. 

Cretaceous______Arkansas.
ANALYSES OF GYPSUM. 27

Jurassic_______Colorado; Montana, Heath; New Mexico; Utah. 

Triassic_______.Montana, Bridger; Nevada, western area; South

Dakota; Wyoming. 

Permian_______Arizona, Winslow; Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma,

Texas. 

Pennsylvania!!____ Arizona,. Empire Mountains; Montana, Hanover,

Kibbey, and Riceville; Nevada, southern area;

New Mexico. 

Mississippian____.Iowa, Centerville; Michigan, southern peninsula;

Virginia. 

Silurian_______ Michigan, northern peninsula ; New York; Ohio.

It is noticeable that the most extensive gypsum deposits in the 

 country, those in the western United States, occur only in the Pennsylvanian, Triassic, and Jurassic rocks. In several places the gypsum is closely associated with beds of salt, and the fact that both 

minerals occur in massive and extensive beds is indicative of widespread aridity. Paleogeography shows that from Pennsylvanian 

to late Jurassic time the sedimentary history of much of the- western 

part of the United States ran an uneventful course with no physical 

changes of great moment. During much of the time the sea was 

shut out and its place taken in part by inland seas or lakes. There 

were occasional invasions of the sea, so that the estuaries and" 

:.nland water bodies were sometimes salt, sometimes brackish, and 

. sometimes fresh. That the sea .did come in is shown by beds of 

limestone with marine fossils, and exclusion of the sea and arid 

conditions are shown by the widespread deposits of salt and gypsum. 

Deposition took place in these bodies of water and in dry basins; 

and in large part the material was derived so extensively from 

deeply weathered surfaces that the sedimentary strata are prevailingly red. Hence the name "Red Beds," which is closely associated with many of the western gypsum deposits.

ANALYSES OP GYPSUM.

By R. W. STONE.

The following analyses are compiled from various sources. Some 

were made in the laboratory of the United States Geological Survey 

from samples collected by members of the Survey. Some are taken 

from publications of State geological surveys. Others have been 

furnished by gypsum, companies without information as to the 

analyst. The total calcium sulphate in each analysis has been computed by the writer from the 0 sulphur trioxide. The significance of 

each analysis depends on the method of taking the sample, the method 

of preparing it for analysis, and other methods employed. As these 

are not known, a discussion of the analyses is not attempted.
Analyses of gypsum from different loc

Arizona:

Empire Mountains .& ...... . . ..........

California:

Palmdale c. ........................ .\ ....

Do.c......... ........................

Cane Springs <*.....:........_............

Florida: ..........

Panasoffkee f ............................

Do./..................................

Do.f. .................. ..........

Idaho:

Iowa: 

Fort Dodge ft. ............................

DoA .................................

Do.*. .................................

Centerville j .............................

Kansas: 

Blue Rapids A. . ..........................

DoA. ................................

Hope ft ...................................

Dillon *..... .............................

 Kling*.... ...............................

Michigan: 

Grand Rapids m ..........................

DoA.................................

Do.*.... ............... ..........

Alabaster n ...............................

Do.A....... ............ ..........

DoA. ................................

Montana: 

Great Falls ft. ............. ............

Armingtono_ ....._,_..

Bowler o .................................

New Mexico: 

Sandoval County p. ......................

White Sands 9.". ..........................

Calcium 

Oxide 

(CaO).

31.00

32.13

32.7

27.50

32.80

28.76

32.32

32.39

32.30

31.40

31.18

33.37

33.51

32.28

32.72

32.94

31.40

32.33

32.36

32.95

33. 10

33.02

34.24

30.8

Sulphur 

trioxide 

(S0g).

44.17

46.50

44.7

33.50

45.30

37.06

45.76

45.00

41.13

44.51

46.56

46.65

44.61

44.70

44.75

46.18

46.19

47.10

45.94

45.94

46.61

44.2

Calcium 

sulphate 

(CaSOO, 

calculated 

from SO3 .

' 75.09

79.05

7^ QQ

56.95

77.01

63.00

77.79

74 97

76.50

69 99

75.66

75.67

78.44

79.15

79.31

75.84

78.20

79. 10

75.99

76.08

72.27

78.51

78.52

76.55

80.07

78. 10

78.10

79.24

75.14

Water, organic loss 

on ignition, 

etc. 

(H2 0).

21. 86

20.36

19 7

16.40

20.60

18.08

21.39

21.64

21.53

1 fi °.Q

20.00

20.05

20.76

20.03

18.84

20.50

19.47

Ofl Of)

19.00

19.95

19.10

20.96

20.86

20.23

20.44

20.96

21.04

. 18. 89

20.8

Iron and 

aluminum 

oxides 

(Fe2O3, 

AlsOs).

1.00

2

1.30

.30

.71

.01

.52

.32

QQ

.75

.74

.17

.35

.26

.15

1.83

.12

.40

.08

Trace.

.13

.4
New York:

DoA.................................

Oot-fiolrl h

Do.*....... ...........................

Ohio:

Do.fc .................................

Oklahoma:

South Dakota:

Utah:

Do.".. ...............................

Fullers Bottom «o... ......................

Horn Silver Gulch w ......................

Virginia: ,

Do.*.... ..............................

Wyoming:

Hyattville (Chugwater formation)*. .....

Hyattville (Embar formation)z. .........

Thermopolis z ............................

Crazy Woman Creek, Johnson County z. .

31.36

26.27

01 tiA

. 30. 74

30.76

OA CO

29.36

32.52

31.62

32.07

32.44

32.50

32.20

32.00

32.47

32.49

31.51

33.20

32.5

33.74

32.92

32.72

34.20

32.81

oo 74

00 00

45.00

42 39

43.78

4O CQ

30.47

OC 7Q

43.65

45.80

46 11

45.30

45 45

46.60

45.80

45.75

45.63

45.88

46.72

44.74

46.3

43.92

45.74

45.18

45.50

45.42

57.36

61.68

57.51

76. 50

72.06

74.43

7= on

74.10

60.84

77.45

74.21

77.86

78. 39

77.01

77.27

79.22

TV. 86

77.78

77.57

78.00

72 00

7Q 49

76.06

78.71

74.66

76.81

77.35

77.21

11 14

16.30

14.87

20. 15

18.19

17.53

19. 75

20.52

14.53

17.93

17.07

20.14

19.79

21.41

21.14

20.07

20.80

21.10

20.85

20.75

20.20

20.54

20.58

19.05

15.60

20.85

20.8

19.50

19.99

20.03

20. 00

20.40

4.08

1.47

3 

no

.08

1.68

3.74

.27

1.98

5.87

2.85

'.30

.16

.21

12

Trace.

Trace.

.3

.17

.03

.05

.10

.11

a Arizona Gypsum Plaster Co.

& Hatcher, Carpenter, and Andrus, analysts, Tucson, Ariz. 

c George Steiger, analyst. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 413, pp. 27-30,1910. 

d George Steiger, analyst. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 430, p. 418,1910. 

c U. S. Geol. Survey Twentieth Ann. Kept., pt. 6 (continued), p. 663,1899. 

/ II. S. Geol. Survey; Chase Palmer, analyst. 

g U. S. Geol. Survey; W. C. Wheeler, analyst. 

ft U. S. Gypsum Co. 

< Iowa Geol. Survey, vol. 3, p. 291,1895.

i S. W. Beyer, analyst. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 580, p. 64, ,.915. 

* Kansas Geol. Survey, vol. 5, pp. 145-146,1899. 

I U. S. Bur. Standards.

i* Michigan Geol. Survey, vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 150,1904. 

» George Steiger, analyst. U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 616, T>. 232,1916.

o W. O. Dickinso

PU. S. Geol. Surv

9 W. J. Gies, anal

r Empire Plaster 

a G. E. Willcomb

t Ohio Geol. Surv

a Oklahoma Geol

f Analyses furnis

to J. G. Fairchild, 

x Henry Froeling

y D. B. O'Brine, 

z W. C. Wheeler, 

aa Manganese oxid
30 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ERRORS IN THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GYPSUM.'

By GEOKGE STEIGER.

Some difficulty was experienced with the determinations of Avater 

in the chemical analyses of gypsum made in connection with a report 

on gypsum in California.1

As is the custom in the chemical laboratory of the United States 

Geological Survey, the specimens were prepared for analysis by long 

grinding, to bring the materials to a very fine state of division. The 

water content in several specimens was so low as to throw doubt on 

the determinations; consequently, the figures were checked by the 

estimation of water on the unground material. The new figures were 

several per cent higher than those previously found.

Some experiments were then made on a sample of pure selenite, and 

on one of very pure massive gypsum, each of which contained the 

theoretical percentage of water. The results proved to be of sufficient interest to warrant their being noted in connection with the 

present paper, as they go to show the totally fallacious results which 

might be reported in an analysis of gypsum if proper attention is not 

paid to the preparation of the sample. Fine grinding of any rock in 

preparing the sample for chemical analysis is liable to cause serious 

error in the determination of water, though usually not to the extent 

of the one in question.2

The selenite was ground in a mechanical grinder and the water content was determined from time to time by heating a gram portion to a 

temperature of 300° or 400° C. The extent of rehydration of this 

material which had been ground and heated was then determined by 

allowing it to stand in a loosely covered crucible for various lengths 

of time. For lack of time the rehydration of the ground material 

before heating was, unfortunately, not determined.

Extent of rehydration of ground and heated gypsum by exposure to air.

Time 

ground.

Hours.

5

10

15

20

30

49

Content of 

water.

Per cent.

16.65

12.57

10.25

7.74

6.95

4.11

Air 

slacked.

Days.

2

5

8

16

3

6

» 14

3

11

13

6

8

Water reabsorbed.

Per cent.

1.53

1.47

. 1.47

1.59

1.70

1.74

1.62.

2.15

1.96

2.02

1.91.

1.93

1 Hess, F. L., A reconnaissance of the gypsum deposits of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 413, 1910.

2 Hillebrand, W. F., The influence of fine grinding on the water and ferrous-iron content 

of minerals and rocks: Am. Chem. Soc. Jour., vol. 30, p. 1120, 1908.
EEEOES IN THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GYPSUM. 31

Potilitzin and Van't Hoff hold that " soluble anhydrite " will unite 

with water when exposed to ordinary air in such quantity as to form 

the half hydrate (CaSO4 .|H2O) and that at this point the hydration 

will cease. Cloez determined the quantity of water absorbed by soluble anhydrite to be 8 per cent, which is slightly in excess of the 

amount required to form the half hydrate that is, 6.2 per cent.

W. A. Davis 1 has shown the work of Cloez to be correct, but if the 

product is then exposed to dry air it will lose water to such an extent 

as to leave a resulting material containing water closely approximating the amount required for the half hydrate. From these data it 

may be concluded that for every 1 per cent of rehydration which has 

taken place, as shown in column headed "Water reabsorbed," 15.1 

per cent of " soluble anhydrite" was present, the remainder having 

been there in the nonsetting condition.

Results of the same order were obtained from the sample of massive gypsum, though this was not ground so long as the selenite.

The following table is given to show the extent to which the dehydration due to grinding might affect the results of the chemical 

analysis of a commercial gypsum:

Extent to wliicli dehydration due to grinding may affect analyses of gypsum.

Water in

. coarse

ground.

15.60

20.45

15.15

19.48

17.80

19.73

Water in

fine

ground.

9.78

16.12

9.90

19.90

9.19

19.86

Difference.

5.82

4.33

5.25

 .42

8.61

.13

The material used for the determinations contained in the first 

column was crushed in a mortar only ta a rather coarse powder; no 

grinding motion was used. These figures represent the true percentages of water held by the impure gypsums. In the second 

column will be found the percentages of water retained after continued 0 grinding of fresh portions of the same specimens, and in 

the third column the errors caused by the long grinding.

Standard methods were used for the determination of CaO, SO3 , 

etc., with the usual precautions. No difficulties were experienced.

As stated by Van't Hoff, if the dehydration of gypsum takes 

place below 107° C. anhydrite is formed without going through the 

half-hydrate stage. If the crude gypsums referred to in the earlier 

part of Bulletin 413 were formed by the dehydration of the dihy1 Soc. Chem. Ind. Jour., vol. 26, p. 727, 1907.
32 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

drate by the action of the- desert sun, and if Van't Hoff's conclusions 

are to be accepted, we might expect to find no half hydrate, but 

only the original dihydrate and anhydrite. W. A. Davis, however, 

shows by experiments that dehydration takes place in two stages, 

the half hydrate being an intermediate product. If this theory is 

accepted, all three forms may be present.

Le Chatelier *.showed that at 155° C. the dehydration, is incomplete, 

the half hydrate only being formed at this temperature. He states 

that the reduction to anhydrite requires a- temperature of at least 

163° C. Lacroix 2 claims that gypsum can be completely dehydrated 

at 80° C., and Shenstone and Cundall 2 observed that the water may 

be entirely driven off at 70° C.

The allotropic forms in which these compounds may occur, tneir 

relations one with another, and the contradictory results obtained by 

numerous experimenters, together with the unknown conditions under which the dehydration or deposition of the crude gypsums referred to took place, throw doubt 011 any conclusions that would be 

drawn from an ordinary chemical analysis as to the amount of 

plaster a, particular specimen might yield.

In crude gypsums that have been produced by natural processes 

under circumstances which are not fully known, either by the dehydration of the dihydrate or by direct deposition in the partly hydrated state, we woulcl expect to find mixtures containing the dihydrate, the half hydrate, and the anhydrate, the last being partly 

in the soluble and partly in the nonsetting form From the bulk 

analysis of such material it is not possible to calculate the proportions of these compounds. All that can be done is to indicate the 

minimum quantity of plaster that might be produced by combining 

the entire amount of water (about 100° C.) 3 to the dihydrate, providing the material contains sufficient calcium sulphate.

Here again false conclusions may sometimes be drawn, for many 

crude gypsums contain admixed clay or other hydrated materials. 

If impurities of this character are present the amount of plaster the 

sample will yield, as shown by the above calculation, will appear too 

high. On the other hand, if the partly dehydrated material contains 

a quantity of the half hydrate or soluble anhydrite, the figures will, 

be too low, as both of these forms are capable of producing plaster.

1 Experimental records on the constitution of hydraulic mortar.

2 Soc. Chem. Ind. Jour., vol. 26, p. 735, 1907.

3 See Clarke, F. W., The data of geochemistry, 4th ed.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 695, pp. 

218, 242, 578, 1920.
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 33

THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY.

By R. W. STONE. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH.

Man has known the value of gypsum for certain purposes so long 

that the date of the discovery of its peculiar properties is unrecorded. 

The ancient Assyrians used alabaster for sculpture, and the Egyptians 4,000 years ago made plaster from calcined gypsum, the same 

as the plaster of Paris of the present time. Some of their plaster 

work done within the pyramids is hard and durable to-day. That 

the Greeks were familiar with gypsum is shown by the writings of 

Theophrastus (born 372 B. C.), and Pliny the Elder (23-79 A. D.) 

speaks of it in his Historic naturalis.

The white rock gypsum known as alabaster has been used in Europe 

for centuries in the ornamentation of buildings, particularly those 

devoted to religious purposes, and continues to the present, large 

quantities being used in Italy for sculpture. Calcined gypsum has 

had no extensive use until within the past half century, although for 

several centuries it has been utilized for plaster and for making casts'.

Gypsum has been.quarried and used in the United States for somewhat more than a century. The advancing tide of settlers found and 

first used the easternmost deposits those in central New York then 

those in Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa. Gypsum was discovered in New rYork as early as 1792, and a stock company was organized in 1808 to quarry the rock for land plaster, but not until 1892 

was the first production of plaster in New York reported. The 

utilization of the gypsum of Virginia for land plaster, was advocated 

in 1835. About 1840 the deposits near Grand Rapids, Mich., were 

discovered, and before 1850 gypsum was being obtained near Sandusky, Ohio. Iowa began to produce gypsum in 1872 and California 

in 1875. In 1895 the production of 265,503 tons of crude gypsum 

was reported from 13 States, and in 1915 eighteen States and Alaska 

were yielding nearly ten times as much crude gypsum as in 1895, the 

amounts ranging from a few thousand tons in some of the States to 

more than one-half million tons in New York. The output of crude 

gypsum mined in the United States in 1918 was 2,057,015 short tons, 

and the total value of the crude and calcined gypsum sold was 

$11,470,854.

The most rapid development of the industry was between 1898 

and 1903, when the increase in production was more than 350 per 

cent. At that time gypsum wall plaster began to be used extensively. 

Since its introduction as a building material the increase in use of 

gypsum for this purpose has been rapid and the industry has grown 

from $750,000 in 1898 to approximately $11,000.000 in 1918. There

124567° 20 3
34 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

were 57 gypsum mills in the United States in 1918. The largest 

producers are the United States Gypsum Co., Chicago, 111., the Acme 

Cement Plaster Co., St. Louis, Mo., and the American Cement Plaster 

Co., Chicago, 111., each operating several mills and quarries in' a 

number of States. 

Two gypsum products of recent development, plaster board and 

gypsum tile, are adding impetus to modern sanitary fire-resistant or 

protective construction and seem to augur an appreciable increase in 

the gypsum industry.

PRODUCTION.

The following table shows the development of the industry: 

Crude gypsum mined in the United States, 1880-1918.

Short tons.

1880________ 90, 000 

1881________ 85,000 

1882________ 100, 000 

1883________ 90, 000 

1884________ 90, 000 

18S5-_______ 90, 405 

1SS6________ 95, 250 

1887________ 95, 000 

1888________ 110, 000 

1SS9________ 267, 769 

1890________ 182, 995 

1891________ 208,126 

1S92__ .____. 256, 259

Short tons.

1893______ 253, 615 

1894______ 239, 312 

1895______'_ 265, 503 

1896______ 224, 254 

1897______ 288, 982 

1898_______ 291, 638 

1899______ 486, 235 

1900______ 594, 462 

1901______ 633, 791 

1902______ 816, 478 

1903______ 1, 041, 704 

1904______ 940, 917 

3905______ 1, 043, 202

PRODUCING LOCALITIES.

Short tons.

1906______ 1, 540, 585 

1907______ 1, 751, 748 

1908______ 1, 721, 829 

1909______ 2. 252, 785 

1910______ 2, 379, 057 

1911_______ 2, 323, 970 

1912______ 2, 500, 757 

1913______ 2,599, 508 

1914___.____ 2. 476, 465 

1915______ 2, 447, 611 

1916_____ 2,757,730 

1917______ 2,696, 226 

1918______ 2, 057, 015

Gypsum was mined and calcined in 1919 at plants located in the 

following places:

Arizona: Douglas. 

California: Amboy. 

Colorado: Loveland, Portland. 

Iowa: Centerville, Fort Dodge. 

Kansas: Blue Rapids, Medicine Lodge. 

Michigan: Alabaster, Grand Rapids,

Grandville. 

Montana: Hanover. 

Nevada: Arden, Mound House. 

New Mexico: Acme, Oriental. 

New York: Akron, Garbutt, Oakfleld. 

Ohio: Castalia, Gypsum, Port Clinton.

Gypsum from Nova Scotia is calcined at Brooklyn, New Brighton, 

Newburgh, and New York City, N. Y.; at New Haven, Conn.; and 

at Chester, Pa. 

Twelve plants report the manufacture of Keenes cement, and 28 

plants operated by the original producers of the gypsum report 

making gypsum block, tile, or board.

Oklahoma: Acme, Eldorado, Okeene, 

Southard.

Oregon; Gypsum.

South Dakota: Black Hawk, Piedmont.

Texas: Acme, Plasterco.

Utah: Nephi, Sigurd.

Virginia: North Holston, Plasterco.

Washington: Tacorna (using Alaska 

gypsum).

Wyoming: Kane, Laramie, Red Buttes.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE VI

MAP OF THE UNITED STATES SHOWING LOCALITIES AT WHICH GYPSUM IS PRODUCED
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 35

The producing localities are shown on the accompanying map of 

the United States (PL VI). This map shows graphically that the 

industry is distributed, except in the southeastern part of the United 

States. South of Ohio River and east of the Mississippi there is 

only one locality, near Saltville, Va., where gypsum is mined.'

At some of the localities listed above the deposits have been 

worked for many years; at others the development is recent. There 

are other localities in the United States where gypsum has been 

mined and calcined but which have been abandoned because of the 

exhaustion of easily available raw material, burning of the mill, or 

lack of markets.

PRODUCTION BY STATES.

Gypsum was produced in 18 States and in Alaska in 1918. New 

York was the largest producer of raw gypsum, Iowa ranked second, 

and Michigan was third. Sales of gypsum products are credited 

to Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin, although these 

States are not producers. This is the necessary result of the trend 

of the gypsum industry toward assembling calcined gypsum, retarder, fiber, and sand, and preparing plasters for the market at 

local mixing mills, from which they may be more readily and economically distributed to the .trade territory. Sales reported to the 

Survey from mixing plants and warehouses are credited to the State 

in which the plants are located.

Gypsum produced and marketed in the United States, 1918.

State.

Arizona, California, 

Colorado. Illinois," 

Minnesota, o Montana. Nevada. New 

Mexico, Oregon, 

South Dakota, 

Utah, Virginia, 

Washington," WisI^ichiffan

Tcxis

Number of 

plants 

reporting.

18 

5 

3 

8 

6 

4 

4 

5 

4

57

Total 

quantity 

mined 

(short 

tons). '

331,395 

327,927 

54,958 

286, 768 

531, 038 

199, 456 

126, 208 

157,388 

41, 877

2, 057, 015

Sold without calcining.

Ground for 

land plaster.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

40,428 

10, 546

(») 

5,892 

3,139 

4,391

(6) 

(6)

64, 571

Value.

8159,215 

37. 823 

(*>) 

23,876 

14, 552 

19,277

?i

255, 716

For Portland 

cement, paint, 

and other 

purposes.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

71,596 

47,173

(») 

40, 716 

 179,968 

9,614 

35,211

?!

' 405, 621

Value.

8168,082 

122,325 

(6 ) 

107,562 

442, 087 

29, 295 

70, 437 

(») 

(")

980, 836

Sold as calcined 

plaster.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

208,763 

218. 178 

46, 710 

207, 059 

275,333 

162, 626 

72, 271 

129, 034 

29,813

1,328,269

Value.

81,515,150 

1. 786, 266 

343, 749 

1,629.711 

2, 213, 460 

1,191,077 

567, 207 

834, 560 

195, 143

10,234,302

Total 

value.

51,842,447 

1,946,414 

343, 749 

1,761,149 

2, 670', 099 

1.239,649 

637, 644 

834,560 

195, 1-13

11, 470, 854

« No crude gypsum is produced in the State.

& Some crude gypsum is included with calcined plaster.
36 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The sum of the quantity sold without calcining and sold as calcined plaster does not equal the total quantity mined, principally 

because there is a loss of about 15 per cent by weight in calcining.

In the following table is given by States the quantity of gypsum 

mined from 1908 to 1918. It shows that New York has been tha 

principal producer since 1909, and Iowa has ranked second since 1911.

Crude gypsum produced in the United States, 1908-1918, in short tons.

State.

Utah......................................

1908

(o

8

(a

(a 

240 

130 

327

(a 

(a 

318 

(a 

\a 

(a

(a 

;

«

(a

31 

674

1,721

,270 

,184 

,810

) 

,046

,188 

,331

,829

1909

(a 

(a 

a 

(a 

319 

137 

394S(a 

403

(a

a 

(a 

43 

952

.577 

,697 

,907

,929

',745 

,930

2,252,785

1910

(a)

00 

45,901 

45,820 

322,713 

135.088 

357,174 

00

ft

467,339 

162/788

188,559 &

46,279

W 

. (a) 

607,396

2,379,057

1911

(a) 

(a) 

43,855 

26, 226 

354, 204 

122,579 

347, 296 

(a)

fa(a)

472.834 

(a) 

108,653

(a) 

179,625

®

44,687 

624,011

. 2,323,970

1912

ft (o) 

47,741 

(a)

411,186 

131,031 

384,297 

(a) 

122, 408

00 

506,996 

262,551 

135,074

(a) ' 

160, 863 

00 (<*) 

 36,581 

302,029

2,500,757

State.

Ohio..........................

Texas

Utah..........................

1913

ft ( a)

49,015

(a)

456,031

110,510

423,896 ' ft

(a)

43,180

529,627

254,863

147,876

ft (a )

161,090

00(o)

30,632

392, 788

2, 599, 508

1914

00( »)

27,376

(a)

480,404

80,774

393,006

(a!«

523.368

265.091

113,103

ft («)

158. 814

44', 950

(a).

31,216

358,363

2,476,465

1915

00(o)

32,559

00

495,860

60, 019 joq 701

ft ft

00

540,914

259,036

110,790

(a)

00

176,306

23,445

(a)

38,827

319, 164

2,447,611

1916

00

00

32.575

00

522, 293

78,257

4K7 07K

ft(a)

(a)

579,827

286, S78

161,661

( a)

( a )

197,785

00

46,964

394,315

2,757,730

1917

 ft 

(°)

(0)' 30,552

461, 864

79,331

O7C oflo

(a

(a

(o

606,268

270,538

158,017

^ (a)

257,328

(«)

00

55,844

° 400,681

2,696,226

1918 .

a

a

a

327,927

54,958

286,768

(a)

(a)

(a)

cqi noo

199,456

126,208

fa)

(«)

157,388

ft (o)

41,877

331,395

2,057,015

a To avoid giving the production of individual plants, the figures are included under " Undistributed." 

PRODUCTION BY USES.

The quantity and value of gypsum marketed for different purposes 

is shown in the following table:
Gypsum produced and marketed in the United 

Year.

1913.....................................................

1915.....................................................

1916.....................................................

1917......................................................

1918. .................................:...................

Year.

1913.........................

1914.........................

1915..........................

1916.........................

1917

1918..........................

Sol

For Portland cement.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

408,221 

a 390, 742 

0406,393 

0454,112 

o 526, 881 

o 403, 635

Value. 

1

8600, 913 

o 549, 083 

o 528, 161 

a 607, 995 

o 867, 123 

a 974, 283

Average 

price 

Der ton.

$1.47 

1.41 

1.30 

1.34 

1.65 

2.41

As land plaste

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

54,815 

52, 945 

69,256 

81, 879 

84,366 

64, 571

Value.

895,953 

97, 716 

122, 714 

167, 136 

230, 808 

255, 716

Sold calcine

As plaster of Paris, wall plaster, Keenes cement, etc.

Quantity A - 

(short Value. Jg£e 

tons>- per ton.

1,680,157 $5,858,785 $3.49 

1,565.937 6,038,777 3.86 

1,520,308 5,776,826 3.80 

1,677,081 6,884,960 4.11 

1,531,535 8,873,176 5.79 

1,174,359 8,483,633 7.22

For dental plaster.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

861 

641 

534 

661 

991

Value.

84, 168 

3,374 

2,376 

8,766 

7,672

Average 

price 

per ton

84.84 

5.26 

4.45 

13.26 

7.74

To glass factor

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

10,942

11,861 

11,537 

13, SOS 

13, 567

Value.

$21, 797 

(b) 

26,620 

28,839 

72,558 

84,928

a. Small quantity of paint material included with gypsum sold f

6 Included under "As boards, tile," etc.

c Some dental plaster included with boards, tile, etc! 
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES

IMPORTS.

Gypsum imported into the United States comes almost wholly 

from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and enters the ports of the 

New England and North Atlantic States, over one-half of it entering the part of New York. The value of imports from 1889 to 1898 

averaged about one-third of the value of domestic production, but 

since 1899 the proportionate value of imports has become very 

small and seems to be steadily decreasing. It amounted to less than 

one-twelfth of the value of domestic production in 1913, about 

one-fifteenth in 1914, and one seventy-ninth in 1918.

Gypsum imported and entered for consumption in the United' States, 191S-1918.a

Year.

1913...........................

1914...........................

1915............................

1916...........................

1917...........................

1918............................

Unground.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

447,383 

369, 214 

336, 856 

254, 131 

240,269 

50, 653

Value.

$473,594 

392, 118 

356, 791 

275, 043 

265,504 

55,004

Ground or calcined.

Quantity 

(short 

tons).

4,542 

3,559 

5, 749 

11, 706 

16,533 

6,117

Value.

831, 277 

27, 931 

22,873 

72, 345 

109.732 

70,028

: Value of 

. manufactured 

plaster of 

Paris.

852,051 

24. 792 

10,095 

9-,085 

6,016 

1,765

Total 

value.

8556,922 

444,841 

389,759 

356,. 473 

3S1',252 

126,797

a Figures compiled from records of.the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of 

Commerce.

TECHNOLOGY.

Mining. The variety of gypsum commonly used is massive or 

rock gypsum, which is mined where it occurs in.beds several feet 

thick. The first operation at all properties is quarrying from the 

outcrop. In some places a flat-lying bed is close to the surface, and 

quarrying is continued by stripping the overburden; in other places 

the overburden becomes excessive a short distance from the outcrop, and quarrying gives place to mining, either from adits driven 

in the quarry face or from shafts. Flat-lying beds are mined by 

the room and pillar system. Where the gypsum beds dip strongly 

a sloping shaft follows the bed underground, drifts are run out 

from it, and the rock is taken by stoping.

Eock gypsum is drilled and shot down with powder, broken into 

lumps that can be lifted by one man, and loaded into tram cars for 

delivery to the crusher. 

At a number of places in the Western States gypsite or gypsum 

earth is used instead of rock gypsum. This soft pulverulent material is dug by hand, with horse scrapers, or with gasoline shovel, 

. and hauled to the mill by wagon or tram.

Crushing. Gypsite is dumped into storage bins and sent to the 

kettles without further treatment, grinding being unnecessary. Eock
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 39

gypsum is broken in. a jaAv crusher or nipper, from which it falls 

into a gyratory crusher. "When reduced to pieces the size of coarse 

corn, it is carried by belt conveyer to a dryer, a large rotating cylinder, slightly inclined from the horizontal. Crushed rock is fed into 

the upper end and dried by hot gases entering at the lower end. 

The dry rock is then pulverized in burr, emery, or roller mills or in 

disintegrators and elevated to storage- bins in the top of the building.

Calcining. -In nearly all gypsum mills the pulverized rock is calcined in kettles. A calcining kettle is a hollow' cylinder of boiler 

plate, having a diameter of 8 to 14 feet and a depth of 6 to 10 feet. 

It has a convex iron or steel bottom. The kettle rests on a masonry 

fire box and is surrounded by a shell of brick. The gypsum is stirred 

by an agitator consisting of a gear-driven vertical shaft, to the 

bottom of which is attached a curved cross arm bearing several 

stirring paddles. A sheet-iron lid with loading doors covers the 

kettle.

The gypsum, whether ground rock gypsum or gypsite, is fed slowly 

into the kettle, which is heated to 212° F. The temperature is raised 

gradually and the heat drives.off the water of crystallization, of the 

gypsum in the form of steam. The steam passing through the 

material floats it up and gives it the appearance of boiling. This 

stage is reached at 230° F. At about 1.0° higher the mass settles 

down, and if "first settle plaster" is desired, the contents of the 

kettle are drawn off at once through .a gate near the bottom. For 

" second settle plaster" the temperature is raised, and at 270° F. 

the mass begins to boil violently again. At a temperature of about 

850° F. the material is discharged through a gate into a fireproof 

bin or on to a floor, where it cools.

At a few mills gypsum is calcined in rotary kilns by the Cummer 

process. The rock ground by the gyratory crusher to pieces threefourths of an inch in diameter is fed mechanically in regular 

quantity into a long, nearly horizontal, rotating cylinder,. where 

it is partly calcined by hot gases from a fire box built beneath. 

Most of the free water is eliminated and some of the water of 

crystallization. It requires about 10 minutes for the gypsum to 

pass through the rotary calciner, and during this time it is constantly 

agitated by falling from lifting blades or shelves. As it leaves 

the calciner, it is steaming and heated uniformly to the desired 

temperature, which ranges from 400° to 600° F.

' The hot steaming rock is elevated to brick or brick-lined calcining bins, which are so constructed that tlie material in process of 

calcination is thoroughly ventilated, though the outside air is excluded. The heat carried to these bins by the material from the 

rotary calciner rapidly disseminates itself through the mass and
40 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

completes the calcining process. To make the process continuous, 

four bins are required for each plant, the capacity of a single bin 

being equal to the daily output of the plant. While calcination is 

being completed in two bins, the third one is being discharged 

and the fourth is being filled. Plaster made by this process is 

pulverized after calcination. . -

In some very large and modern plants, calcining is completed in 

the rotary kiln, and the plaster goes direct to a cooling bin.

Calcined plaster is screened or bolted, and the oversize is reground 

in burr mills or pulverizers of other types. After screening and 

regrinding, the material is elevated to storage bins in the upper 

part of the mill over the mixing machines.

Mixing. If pure material has been used this calcined gypsum or 

plaster of Paris will consist of calcium sulphate plus a residue of 

about one-fourth of the water in the gypsum. The ideal composition 

of plaster of Paris is represented by the formula GaSO4.-|H2 0, 

which calls for 93.8 per cent of calcium sulphate and '6.2 per cent 

of water. Plaster of Paris when mixed with water will set or harden. 

This is the principal characteristic from which gypsum derives its 

economic importance. Pure plaster of Paris of normal fineness (80 

per cent passing 100 mesh) starts to set in about 6 minutes. Therefore in preparing gypsum .plaster for the market for most uses a - 

retarder must be added. The retarder commonly used in the United 

States is composed of hair, caustic soda, and lime. This retarder, 

together with other materials, such as sand and wood fiber, which 

may be added to the plaster for various purposes, is usually mixed 

with the plaster at the mill.

The mixing machine, which as a rule is installed on the first or 

shipping floor, consists of three parts at the top a hopper that opens 

into the floor above, in'the middle a mixing chamber in which are 

paddles that revolve in opposite directions, and below this a sacking 

chamber with several chutes for filling a number of sacks or bags 

simultaneously.

From the storage bins the cool calcined plaster is drawn by gravity 

through chutes to the hopper of the mixing machine. The other 

ingredients are carefully weighed and are added in the proper proportions, and the contents of the hopper are discharged into the 

mixing chamber. After mechanical mixing for a few minutes the 

plaster is dropped into the sacking chamber, from which it is fed 

into containers. It is then ready for use..

Arrangement and cost of plaster mills. As plaster mills are generally arranged the rock is received at one end of the mill, where the 

power plant is located and the crushing is done. The grinding and
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 41

calcining department is in the middle of the building, and the mixing, 

sacking, and storage space is in the opposite end from the crusher. 

Local conditions vary the details of arrangement. In some mills the 

crusher is on the ground floor at the end of the mill nearest the 

quarry, and the cracker is in an excavation directly below the 

crusher. In other mills, especially those at a.lower elevation than the 

quarry, the crusher is on the second floor and the cracker below it on 

the first floor. The kettles, hot pit, power plant, and sacking and 

storage rooms are also on the ground floor. The second floor is 

v occupied by the tops of the kettles, by the burr mills, and by the 

charging hopper of the mixing machine. Storage bins for the burr 

mills, kettles, and mixer occupy the third floor.

Several factors make considerable variation in the cost of a 

gypsum mill of given capacity. These factors include type of mill, 

availability and land of building material, labor, and location with 

respect to transportation. Estimates of approximate cost of plaster 

mills, Avhen constructed of wood, including necessary mills, kettles, 

conveyors, building, and bins complete, ranged in 1916 from $7,000 

to $10,000 for a capacity of 25 tons in 24 hours and a 60-horsepower 

steam plant and from $27,000 to'$30,000 for a capacity of 100 tons in 

24 hours and a 150-horsepower steam plant. A mill of steel construction, fireproof throughout, having a capacity of 200 tons in 24 

hours and requiring a 300-horsepower plant, would cost complete 

$75,000 or more. In 1919 the cost of similar construction would be 

about double the estimated cost in 1916.

Cost of gypsum plaster. The cost of producing and marketing 

gypsum plaster varies considerably, even in different plants operated by the same company. Local conditions affect cost of 

mining, fuel, and selling, and the season of the year is a large 

factor as well. Figures given by large producing companies and 

verified by the writer from their cost sheets are the basis for the 

following statements.

One company having a single plant reports that for the years 

1911-1915 the average cost of production per ton of calcined plaster 

was $2.64. This company has cheap power, but the selling cost of 

the product was at times very high. With large production and 

low selling cost it has made plaster for $1.78, and with these conditions reversed it has cost $3.43 a ton.

Two of the largest gypsum companies in the United States furnished the following figures of cost for 1915. The first company 

gave its average costs and the second its maximum and minimum 

costs per ton.
42 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Cost of producing and' selling neat gypsum plaster in 1915.

Fuel.................................................................

First 

company.

1 Average.

SO.G5 

.85 

.15 

.50 

.25 

.60

3.00

Second company.

Minimum.

SO. 52 

.80 

.13 

.25 

.30 

.95

2.95

Maximum.

SI. 10 

1.25 

.22 

.35 

.40 

1.25

4.57

On account of the increased cost of labor and of all supplies entering into the manufacture of gypsum plaster, the cost since 1915 

has increased more than 80 per cent, but detailed figures are not

available.

USES OF GYPSUM.

Uncalcined gypsum. Nearly half a million tons of gypsum is sold 

annually without calcining. The bulk of this material is used as 

retarder for Portland cement. Raw gypsum crushed to pass through 

a half-inch ring is added to the cement clinker as it comes from the 

roaster in the proportion of 2 per cent of gypsum to the total quantity of cement. The next largest use of raw gypsum and one of 

the earliest in this country is as land plaster or fertilizer. It has a 

very beneficial effect with some crops, especially clover and other 

legumes. The action of gypsum as a fertilizer is indirect, and not 

as a plant food itself. It is supposed to act on the double silicate of 

magnesia and potash, setting those substances free to act as plant 

food. Land in the Western States which contains black alkali or 

which upon being irrigated develops it in excess, to the detriment 

of crops, is made usable by the application of gypsum. The carbonates of soda, potash, and magnesia, which form black alkali, are 

changed to sulphates, which are less injurious to plants.

Raw ground gypsum or land plaster, if applied freely on manure 

piles and stable litter, acts as a disinfectant and also retains the ammonia, which is the valuable product of the barnyard manure heap. 

Gypsum reacts with the ammonia of the manure to form ammonium 

sulphate. This easily available plant food thereby is not given off 

into the air nor is it readily washed from the heap by rain, but it is 

saved until the manure is spread on the land.

Raw ground gypsum is used in making the common blackboard 

crayon, as base for paints, as a filler for cotton and in nearly all 

the finer grades of paper, and as a base for mixing with Paris green 

or other insecticides. It is sometimes added to water used for 

brewing.
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 43

Raw gypsum and gypsite are used successfully at a few places in 

arid sections of the Western States as road metal, and gypsum has 

been quarried in blocks for building material. Fine-grained semitranslucent rock gypsum or alabaster is used by sculptors and artists 

for statuary and other forms of decoration, but so far as the writer 

is aware it is not quarried in this country for this purpose.

Calcined gypsum. The principal use of calcined gypsum, amounting to about a million and a half tons annually, is as wall plaster. 

All gypsum wall plasters have other materials added to the calcined 

gypsum either before sacking or just before wetting for use. These 

plasters, of which there are many brands, commonly known as hard 

wall plaster, may be grouped in four classes: Cement plaster calcined gypsum, retarder, with or without hair. Wood fiber plaster 

calcined gypsum, retarder, wood fiber. Prepared plaster calcined 

gypsum, retarder, sand, hair or wood fiber. Finishing plaster 

calcined gypsum, with or without retarder, with or without hydrated 

lime.

These plasters are used in the ordinary manner for covering walls 

and ceilings, being spread on wood or metal lath, plaster board, tile, 

concrete, or other masonry. Because it is a poor conductor of heat, 

and cold gypsum plaster is used as an insulating medium in coldstorage buildings, around steel frames of buildings, and as a covering 

, for heating plants and water pipes. «

An industry of recent development which is growing rapidly is iho 

making of gypsum plaster board, tile, and blocks.

Gypsum plaster boards are of various types, mainly consisting of 

gypsum plaster mixed with fibrous binding material to give strength 

1 and toughness for effective nailing.. A type of plaster board in comI mon use consists of four alternate layers of paper or felt with three 

i intermediate layers of gypsum. Other boards contain but two layers 

I of felt with a gypsum layer between. In order to meet the joist and 

stud spacing of standard construction, plaster boards are usually 

, 32 by 36 inches (8 square feet) and are made one-fourth, three- 

| eighths, and one-half inch in thickness. The fibrous binding matejrial forming the outside surface of the plaster boards is an exceljlent bonding surface for gypsum plaster. Plaster boards are used 

in place of wood or metal lath on surfaces that are to be plastered 

and where high fire-resistive construction is required. In fireproof 

i construction the plaster boards are fastened to metal studs'or hangers 

by metal clips. Plaster boards are used for deadening sound by being 

laid between rough and finished floors; as sheathing boards by 'being 

nailed to the studding and behind the clapboards; as outside sheathing, which is waterproofed before application of outside stucco cov-
44 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ering; as insulation and fire resistance under wood shingles, in air 

ducts, and in dumb-waiter-shafts.

Gypsum floor screeds are used as a nailing sleeper for floors. They 

are 2 .by 3 inches and 8 feet long and weigh 2 pounds per linear foot. 

They do not rot or burn.

Gypsum tile is made for partitions, floors, roofs, and furring. 

Partition tile, solid or hollow, is 12 by 30 inches wide and 2 to 8 

inches thick. These tiles, laid with gypsum plaster, are used in the 

highest type of fireproof building for dividing and corridor partitions, in elevator and stairway inclosures, and in dumb-waiter shafts; 

they are light in weight, can be laid very rapidly, can be cut with a 

handsaw, and, when plastered with gypsum, make .partitions of high 

heat-resistive value.

Gypsum floor tile is a hollow box or dome of reinforced gypsum, 

plaster, used as a filler between concrete joist construction. These 

tiles-are 19 inches wide and 24 inches long, 7, 9, 11, and 13 inches 

high, and weigh 24, 27, 30, and 33 pounds per linear foot; they afford 

a saving in dead weight of construction and provide a smooth, allgypsum ceiling to plaster upon.

Gypsum roof tile is made 24 and 30 inches long, 12 inches wide, 

and 3 inches thick and is laid between supporting subpurlin T irons. 

Larger gypsum roof tile, reinforced and made of especially hard 

gypsum, are madte to span 4 feet and are laid upon the main roof 

purlins. In 1916 a long-span beam in T and 1C section and as much 

as 10 feet in length was introduced and used. In 1917 an improved 

long-span gypsum tile with channel (n) section was introduced, 

gained favor, and is being used on factory roofs of large area and on 

large Government buildings, including naval gun shops, ammunition 

warehouses, and docks. The tile are made with reinforcing metal 

fabric on the broad face and reinforcing rods looped at the ends 

embedded in the sides. The tile are 15 to 22 inches wide, 6 to 10 feet 

long, 4 to 7 inches thick, and weigh 16 to 20 pounds per square foot. 

They require less supporting steel than concrete roof decks and are 

quickly put in place at a low cost of erection. Common practice is 

to mold 6-foot tile at the mill, ancT to mold longer tile where the 

building is to be erected. For field molding, 'however, an order of at 

least 50,000 square feet may be required.

Another type of gypsum roof deck is that which is cast in place, in 

the same manner as concrete. A roof cast in place is best poured 

in strips about 3 feet wide. One side of the strip must be bulkheaded 

and to the proper height, so that a screed moved along it will true 

the gypsum to the proper surface. Metal reinforcing rods may be 

placed in each T-beam stem and a 3-foot strip of wire mesh over 

the top. The finished deck is monolithic and can be .covered with
THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 45

any type of roofing. The low heat conductivity of gypsum is an 

especially valuable quality in a roof deck. Slate or any other roof 

covering can 'be nailed or otherwise secured to the smooth decks 

of gypsum roof tile.

Gypsum furring tile are of the same character and general dimensions as the partition tile, are hollow or solid, and are 2 inches thick.. 

They are fastened to the wall by nailing and are used for sound 

absorption and soundproofing, fire protection, insulation from heat 

or cold, and damp proofing.

Other uses for calcined gypsum which have been in practice longer 

than those just described are in making statuary and other art work, 

relief maps and models, molds for rubber stamps, molds for pottery 

and terra cotta, in bedding plate glass for polishing, in foundry 

molds for special castings, and in making surgical casts. Calcined 

gypsum enters into the composition of match heads, hat blocks, relief 

decorations for walls and ceilings, and asbestos pipe covering, and it 

is used for various other purposes,

PART II. GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

ALASKA

 By E. F. BUBCHAED.

The only known extensive deposit of gypsum in southeastern 

Alaska is operated by the Pacific Coast Gypsum Co. and is situated 

in the eastern part of Chichagof Island, about a mile from lyoukeen 

Cove. Carboniferous rocks are exposed along the southeastern shore 

of the cove and form the divide on the southwest side of the valley. 

The gypsum beds apparently overlie these rocks and are tentatively 

assigned to late Carboniferous (Permian) formations. In the immediate vicinity of the gypsum beds cherty limestone strikes northwest 

and dips northeast, and in the mine the gypsum beds strike east and 

dip 20°-60° N. The mountain to the north is a granite mass intruding the limestone beds. The gypsum occurs in the bottom1 of a 

valley, but as the valley is deeply filled with gravel deposits the 

limits of the gypsum have not been ascertained. The deposit is 

covered by gravel, except near the shaft house, and no footwall nor 

hanging wall has been encountered in the mine workings. Several 

solution channels, filled with gravel that is more or less -cemented, 

have been penetrated in mining. The gravel is of the same character as that in the bed of Gypsum. Creek. The gravel-filled channels 

extend below the 160-foot level. One channel has been tunneled for 

35 feet without being cut through. Thin dikes of basaltic rock cut 

the gypsum beds, and a vein of anhydrite-ranging in thickness from 

6 inches to more than 10 feet has been found on, the second level. 

This anhydrite is much harder than the inclosing gypsum, and it 

is left in the mine. Some of the gypsum is white, but most of it 

in the upper part of the mine is of a light bluish-gray color. It 

occurs in massive beds, which dip 30°-60° NE. The main body of 

gypsum has a high degree of purity.

The mine shaft is 315 feet deep. The first level is at 75 feet, the 

second is at 160 feet, the third at 300 feet, and there is a 15-foot 

sump. For 11 years the company mined on the second level 

and developed extensive galleries. Early in 1917 the shaft was sunk 

to a depth of 315 feet and mining begun on the 300-foot level. Mr. 

iW. R. Nichols, president of the company, and D. C. Stapleton, su47
48 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

perintendent of the mine, report that the new workings have developed an extensive massive body of pure-white rock gypsum of 

superior quality. The general trend of the gypsum deposit is 

slightly north of west. Mining is by overhand stoping, and considerable broken gypsum rock is stored in the slopes.

The gypsum is hoisted to rock bins of 1,200' and 2,500 tons capacity. 

The larger bin was completed in 1917. From the bins it is dumped 

into tramcars and drawn by steam locomotive to the wharf, where 

there is bunker capacity of 2,000 tons. The production of gypsum 

from this mine began in 1906. Shipments of crude gypsum axe made! 

by barges to Tacoma, Wash., where the material is calcined and 

manufactured into wall plaster of various grades and into plaster 

board and plaster blocks.

Other claims which have been located on reported deposits of 

gypsum adjoin on the east the claims'now being worked for gypsum 

by the Pacific Coast Gypsum Co. and extend to the shore of Chatham 

Strait.
ARIZONA.

By R. W. STONE. 

DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTER.

Gypsum deposits in Arizona have been worked but little because 

of small demand within the State and because of an abundance of 

gypsum in adjoining States to meet the local needs. Most of the 

readily accessible deposits in Arizona were visited by the writer in 

September, 1916. At that time Douglas was the only place where 

gypsum was being mined and milled. The deposits visited include, 

gypsite, selenite plates, and massive gypsum, and widely differ in 

origin.

Most of the known gypsum localities are in the southeastern part of 

the State. Their description is arranged by counties.

LOCALITIES:

COCHISE COUNTY.

Douglas. A deposit of gypsite in sec. 11, T. 24 S., E. 28 E., which 

is 5 miles east of Douglas and 1-| miles north of the international 

boundary, is the source of raw material for the Arizona Gypsum 

Plaster Co. The gypsite lies on a gently sloping plain on the north 

side of a low hill. The area of workable deposit is estimated at 100 

acres, and the thickness is in places nearly 6 feet. The gypsite is 

underlain by reddish clay containing selenite crystals one-fourth 

inch long and in places by a limy rock (caliche).

-The gypsite - is light buff and is free from impurities except at 

the surface, where there is soil and vegetable matter. The top is 

therefore plowed up and scraped off into old workings. Horse 

scrapers are used for digging the gypsite and moving it to traps 

through which it is dumped to wagons below. (See PL VII, A.) 

It is hauled by team 5 miles over a good road down grade to the 

mill at Douglas for 3 cents a cubic foot. A small body of gypsite 

is reported in the southern part of sec. 14 and another between sees. 14 

and 15, T. 24 S., R. 28 E. There is said, to be a large deposit just 

over the line in Mexico.

The preparation of plaster at the mill of the Arizona Gypsum 

Plaster Co. is particularly simple. Loaded wagons are dumped 

directly into storage bins from an overhead trestle -(PI. VII, B). 

Screw and bucket conveyers move the material to bins over two 

8-foot kettles. These kettles and the engine boiler are fired with oil. 

After calcining, which takes about four hours, the plaster is elevated 

by bucket conveyer to a bin in the top of the mill. From this bin 

124567° 20 4 49
50 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

it flows to a revolving tubular fine wire screen, which removes foreign material and lumps of gypsum. From this screen the plaster 

flows directly to a bin over the mixer and sacker. There is no grinding machinery; the raw material is dumped directly into the calcining kettle, and the plaster is sacked after screening only..

Besides wall plaster this company makes solid and hollow gypsum 

plaster tile 'and blocks. The tile are used for partitions, roofing, and 

backing brick veneer; the blocks are used for walls, both interior and 

exterior. Blocks are made with either smooth, corrugated, or imitation rough stone face, and have been used for a number of years in 

Douglas as the main structural material in some houses, warehouses, 

and stores. The arid climate of southern Arizona makes possible 

the successful use of gypsum for exterior construction. A gypsumblock structure is estimated to cost 25 per cent less than brick, because 

cheaper labor can be used and the large size of the blocks makes walls 

go up faster. Blocks are made as large as 8 by 12 by 24 inches.

The Douglas Gypsum Block & Plaster Co., beginning in August, 

1918, made gypsum products, mostly in the form of cast building 

blocks. Gypsite from a deposit 5 miles east of Douglas was used. 

Operations began with one kettle.

Benson. Reports of extensive gypsum deposits at Benson were 

not confirmed by a visit to this railroad junction in the valley of San 

Pedro River. Two miles south of Benson and one-third of a mile 

west of the Benson-St. David highway there is a place in the bluff 

forming the valley rim where gypsum crystals are abundant. The 

locality may be recognized by boulders of grit 2 to 3 feet in diameter 

near the top of the bluff. The crystals, which are for the most part 

aggregates of platy selenite smaller than a man's hand, occur in red 

clay, which at this point underlies a grit that outcrops in the boulders 

already mentioned. Where the crystals have weathered out in greatest number not more than a few bushels could be raked up. In other 

words, the deposit has no value.

There is, however, a deposit about 9 miles south of Benson, which 

is similar to others in this river valley.

Land. About 9 miles south of Benson and 1 mile west of Land, 

a station on a branch of the El Paso & South western Railroad, there 

is a deposit of gypsum on which mining claims have been located. 

A company was formed and stock sold in it, but the writer failed to 

find any development work other than a little prospecting. The 

mesa is composed of clay, caliche, soft sandstone, and gravel, and in 

the bluff which forms its edge gypsum is exposed. Likewise the 

small outlying knobs and knolls are underlain by gypsum. These 

deposits are probably of Pliocene or post-Pliocene age. The plaster 

rock, however, is so deeply weathered,, and partly concealed by wash 

from the overlying soft strata, that without digging the, character
XT. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE VII

^. GYPSITE DEPOSIT, DOUGLAS, ARIZ.

Loading is done by horse scrapers that dump through platform to wagon below. Photograph by

R. \V. Stone.

B. MILL OF ARIZONA GYPSUM PLASTER CO. AT DOUGLAS, ARIZ. 

Gypsum block and tile yard in foreground. Photograph by R. W. Stone.
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE VIII

J.. GYPSUM QUARRY 3 MILES WEST OF WINSLOW, ARIZ.

At this quarry very little stripping is required. Ledge from which gypsum is blasted is shown on 

left,. Photograph by R. W. Stone.

G^l'SUM BED AT PLASTER BLUFF, ON LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER 3 MILES SOUTHSOUTHWEST OF MUHF11EESBORO, ARK.

Photograph by J. A. Taff.
ARIZONA. 51

and thickness of the deposit could not be determined. General indications point to a bed about 10 feet thick. The outlying knobs containing gypsum have very little overburden and small acreage. Recovering gypsum from the main body under the mesa would seem 

impracticable by reason of the overburden, which probably would 

increase in thickness back from the outcrop. Small selenite crystalsare abundant in the- soil in this vicinity.

Whetstone Mountains-. In discussing the agriculture of the bottom land of San Pedro- River near Santa Catarina and the application of gypsum to the soil Oscar Loew l says: " This useful mineral 

is found in the neighboring Wheatstone Mountains." This reference probably is to the Whetstone Mountains, a few miles south 

of Benson, but no information has been obtained in regard to the 

deposits.

MOHAVE COUNTY.

W. T. Le© observed an abundance of gypsum, in Virgin Valley 

and mentions 2 it as follows:

The filling of this old valley is apparently composed of two distinct formations, but their relation was not satisfactorily determined. The older one consists of alternating layers of sand and clay and contains extensive beds of 

gypsum. * * * The gypsum and gypsiferous clay are conspicuously exposed 

along the river, where they are deeply dissected over a large area locally 

known as the badlands of the Virgin. 

While at St. George, Utah, the writer was informed that thick 

ledges of massive gypsum are extensively exposed in South Mountain 

and in Quail Canyon, 15 to 20 mil.es south of St.. George. This locality is in the extreme northern part of Mohave County and west of 

Hurricane Cliff,

NAVAJO COUNTY..

Gypsum occurs in the form of selenite in plates of considerable 

size on the Fort Apache Reservation, in Navajo County. It is said 

to occur at three places in such quantity that it might be used in the 

construction of houses for the Indians.

Winslow, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, in Navajo* 

County, was for a number of years the shipping point for gypsum 

quarried in the vicinity. The raw rock was used at the Portland 

cement plant at Riverside, Calif., and some was calcined at Los Angeles. Shipments were discontinued in 1914, owing, it is said, to an 

increased freight rate. The deposit lies on both sides of the railroad 

3£ miles west of town. Holdings of the Acme Cement Plaster Co. 

in sec. 15, T. 19 N., R. 15 E., are said and appear to be worked 

out. A much larger tract in sees. 16 and 21 and neighboring

1 U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th. Mer. Final. Kept., vol. 3, p. 591, 1875. 

2 Lee,-W. T., Geologic, reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol.- Survey 

Bull. 352, p. 36, 1908.
52 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

sections of the same township is held by the Navajo Gypsum & Fertilizer Co. It is reported that this deposit extends nearly 5 milessouth from the railroad in a belt that is in places more than a mile 

wide. The gypsum is flat lying and close to the surface and needs.1 

only a little stripping. Both companies when operating obtained 

their rock by the same method. Large blocks of gypsum were blasted 

from the ledge (as shown on PI. VIII, A), broken with sledges 

to lumps that could be lifted by hand, and loaded on tram cars for 

delivery at the loading platform on the railroad siding. The Navajo 

company used steel cars, which were hauled on the half mile of track, 

between the quarry and the railroad by gasoline engine.

The bed, which lies flat," is from 4 inches to 4 feet thick and averages about 18 inches. It rests on red shale and is o'verlain in places' 

by green shale in which there are many veinlets of satin spar. Much 

of the gypsum seen at Winslow by the writer has a slight greenish 

tinge due to mottling by some green claylike. mineral scattered 

through the white gypsum. The rock approaches alabaster in fineness of grain. It occurs in red shale and sandstone of the Moencopie 

formation, probably of Permian age. . Deposits of gypsum are reported to have been slightly developed, 

in the vicinity of Woodruff and Snowflake, but they are not now

operated and no description can be given of the occurrences.

PIMA COUNTY.

- Serritas Mountains. It has been reported that in the Serritas. 

Mountains south of Tucson gypsum occurs with the copper ore deposits of the Azurite group. Inquiry of several mining men, including Mr. Eay, owner of the Mineral Hill mines (Azurite group) r 

and the mineralogist at San Xavier mine, failed to substantiate, 

this report.

/Santa Rita Mountains. A gypsum locality described as in the 

Santa Eita Mountains " not far from, Rosemont" probably is the. 

locality in which gypsum occurs near the Total Wreck mine on the 

east side of the Empire Mountains and 10 miles south of Pantano,. 

a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Mr. Carl Schofield, 

forest ranger, at Rosemont, and mining men familiar with the region have no knowledge of gypsum in the Santa Eita Mountains..

Empire Mountains. According to Hatcher, Carpenter, and Andrus, mining engineers of Tucson, there is a deposit of gypsum in 

the Empire Mountains, 10 miles by road from Pantano, and at an. 

elevation of about 1,000 feet above that station. In a limestone 

ridge parallel with a northeast wash, there are two gypsum beds,, 

each about 50 feet thick and separated by a thin bed of limestone. 

These beds outcrop for about a mile and are composed of soft 

granular gypsum, mostly white but some cream-colored. The soft
ARIZONA. 53

gypsum contains layers of alabaster 6 to 8 inches thick. The beds 

strike northeast with the ridge and clip southeast at a high angle. 

An analysis of this gypsum, made by Hatcher, Carpenter, and Andrus, is given iii the table on page 28. The age of the gypsum beds 

is believed, to be late Carboniferous.

 Tucson. In .the earlier report on gypsum in Arizona W. P. Blake 1 

says:

The locality north of Tucson, in the foothills at the western end of the 

Santa Catalina Range, has afforded a supply for the production at Tucson of 

plaster of Paris of good quality, which has been used locally in construction. 

A considerable quantity of the product was used in making the interior decorations of the cathedral. The crude rock is brought in from the quarry by 

Mexican teamsters, arid little is known in regard to the geologic position of 

the deposit. It is probable that it occurs in strata of Triassic age, flanking 

the ancient gneiss of the mountains.

The writer made diligent inquiry at Tucson regarding this 

locality without success. Doubtless there was such a quarry years 

ago, but its existence is not known to the present mining men. There 

is a locality on the west side of the Santa Catalina Kange where E. L. 

and Ralph Wetmore of Tucson have discovered and sunk prospect 

pits on a bed of gypsum. This locality, however, does not seem to 

be the one mentioned by Blake, because it is not at the end of the 

range nor did the Wetmore brothers find evidences of former quarrying.

The Wetmore deposit is in sec. 3, T. 13 S., R. 14 E., about 8 miles 

northeast of Tucson and three-quarters of a mile south of Alamo 

Spring, which is shown on the topographic map of the Tucson quadrangle. The place is reached by a road which crosses Rillito Creek 

at the University farm. Gypsum is exposed on the east side of a 

wash and close under the north end of a low ridge which terminates 

in a 50-foot bluff. Two pits have been sunk 8 to 10 feet and a third 

one 5 feet. Some of the rock was hauled to the experiment farm 

.of the University of Arizona for use on a patch of black alkali soil.

In one of these pits there is 4£ feet of gypsum in a deposit a 

little over 6 feet thick. The top of the bed is at the surface and the 

pit passes into red clay below.

Section of gypsum bed 9 miles northeast of Tucson.

Ft. In. 

Gypsum ______________ _____ ____.,__ 2 6

Clay and satin spar________________________ 6-10 

Gypsum _____ _ _______-______________ 1 0 

Clay and gypsum __________ _ ___ 1 3 

Gypsum _____ 1 0

1 Blake, W. P., Gypsum deposits In Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 100-101, 

1904.
54 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The gypsum is massive, light-brown to. white,, slightly porous, and 

contains veinlets of satin spar.. Veins of satin spar in the- clay are 

pure white. A nearly vertical fault, passing through this, pit, has a 

throw of about 10 inches. One side of the shaft is shown in the 

accompanying diagram (fig. 1). . Only a few feet away is a pit about 5 feet deep, which discloses 

the edge of the deposit. The layers terminate with rounded edgesr 

and each is shorter than the next above, producing a bevel underneath. The under surface of the lo.west layer is irregular with hollows, cups, and small downward-projecting knobs, as if it had been 

attacked from below by a solvent. The accompanying diagram 

(fig. 2) shows these features.

Beneath and along the edge of the deposit is red clay with faint 

lines of bedding which follow roughly the 

curves of the beveled edge. Veinlets of satin 

spar in the clay have a similar trend.. The 

conditions suggest undercutting and solution 

by running water and subsequent burial in 

mud.

If this deposit of gypsum extends back 

under the adjacent low ri'dge on the south, it 

underlies an area of several acres. No prospecting has been done, however, to determine 

its lateral extent. Several small hummocks 

in the wash consist of highly gypsiferous 

earth or red clay with abundant satin spar in 

minute irregular veins. 

The formation in which the gypsum occurs is red clay and semiconsolidated beds of sand and gravel. It forms a long, gently sloping 

a.pron at the base of the Santa Cataliiia Range, from which the 

material doubtless was derived. Arroyos and gulches dissect this 

apron,, and in one of these the gypsum is exposed. The age of the 

deposit is supposed to be Quaternary.

PINAE, COUNTY.

Areas along San Pedro River. Concerning gypsum in one of the 

main valleys of southeast Arizona, W. P. Blake * said:

The gypsum along San Pedro River occurs in horizontal beds, probably of 

Pliocene or post-Pliocene age. The strata are soft, unconsolidated gray sandstones and clays and appear to be the lower members of the same series in 

which the beds of diatomite and volcanic ash are found. The gypsum is interstratified conformably in comparatively thin layers' or seams, rarely more 

than a few inches in thickness. These layers appear to have been formed

FIGURE 1. Diagram showing faulted gypsum bed 

near T'ucson, Ariz.

. S. Geol. Surrey Bull. 223, p. 100, 1904.
ARIZONA. 55

subsequent to the deposition of the strata by crystallization from the infiltration of gypseous solutions. The mineral occurs as selenite and also in the 

fibrous form, as satin spar.

This description seems to fit the occurrence of selenite crystals near 

Benson, already described (p. 50), and is applicable to other deposits 

which doubtless occur at many places along the bluff of San Pedro 

River valley in Cochise and Final counties. There are, however, 

other deposits of gypsum along this river which are much more 

Avorthy of mention.

Prof. G. E. P. Smith, of the University of Arizona, at Tucson, told 

the writer that gypsum occurs in thick beds in a high bluff along 

San Pedro River in the extreme southeast corner of Pinial County, 

a few miles north of Redington. The writer did not visit the locality, 

and Prof. Smith's observation was only a casual one, 

so no details of the occurrence are at hand. It is as-, 

sumed from its location and 

from the occurrence of gypsum at Feldman, about 25 

miles farther down the river, 

that the deposits near Redington are massive white, 

finely granular gypsum in 

semiconsolidated Quater -

nary Sediments and possibly FlGCKE 2. Diagram showing edge of gypsum bed 

^ '-, near Tucson, Ariz. several square miles in area.

Feldman. At the solitary ranch, and post office of Feldman, 10 

miles south of Winkelman, in sec. 33, T. 6 S., R. 16 E., there is a 

deposit of gypsum on both sides of San Pedro River. The attention 

of the writer was called to it by the following statement of Frank L. 

Culin, jr.,1 in a bulletin of the University of Arizona:

Another deposit has lately been discovered nenr Winkelnian, Final County. 

United States Geological Survey men say that this deposit is the largest and 

most extensive deposit of high-grade gypsum in the United States. This deposit will probably be worked in the near future.

The United States Geological Survey was then unaware of this 

occurrence, and far more extensive deposits of high-grade gypsum 

have long been known in several States.

Mr. W. E. Duffy, mining engineer, Phoenix, Ariz., is authority 

for the statement made orally to the writer that gypsum occurs 

on the west side of San Pedro River at Feldman but in much less 

quantity than on the east side of the river.

1 Culin, F. L., jr., Gypsum : Arizona Univ. Bull. 19, Mineral Technology Ser. 10, p. 7, 

1916.
56 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The deposit on the east side of San Pedro River at Feldman was 

seen by the writer in September, 1916. It outcrops in the low bluff 

that separates the valley bottom from the bench land and in the 

gullies which dissect the bench. The gypsum is soft and deeply 

weathered at the surface, so that it makes only a faint rim in the 

sides of the washes. Because of this weathered condition and for 

lack of complete exposures, either natural or artificial, the thickness 

of the deposit was not measured; that part of it which lies nearest to 

Feldman appears, however, to be 30 feet thick. It is reported that a 

shaft sunk 20 feet in the gypsum did not reach the bottom of the 

deposit. Through failure to find the shaft, the whereabouts of which 

is not known to the local residents, this statement was not verified.

From an elevation several feet above the gypsum a gray outcrop, 

believed to be the continuation of the deposit, was seen 2 or 3 miles 

to the east. It was reported by Mr. Feldman that it extends along 

the road 3 miles, beginning, nearly 2 miles north of Feldman post 

office and fully 3 miles east of the road. In other words, a considerable part of the southeast quarter-of the township was once underlain by gypsum. Much of the original deposit has been removed by 

the cutting of gullies which dissect the bench land.

Near the road, and apparently farther east also, the deposit is 

overlain by unconsolidated gravel. For the most part the overburden is only a few feet thick. The underlying beds were not seen. 

The deposit is believed to be of Quaternary age.

It is reported that a company was formed and stock sold for the 

commercial development of this gypsum. The rock was to be hauled 

by wagon to Winkelman and shipped by train to a mill 5 miles east 

of Phoenix for grinding, but although some gypsum was hauled to 

the railroad it was never shipped. The likelihood of the successful 

commercial development of this gypsum deposit under present conditions, several miles from a railroad and far from a market, seems 

remote, although the gypsum, as shown by float specimens found in 

the gully bottoms, is massive, pure white.- and apparently of good 

quality.
ARKANSAS.

By H. D. MISER.

Gypsum crops out in Arkansas, so far as known, only in Pike and 

Howard counties, in the southwestern part of the State. Within these 

counties it is confined to the De Queen limestone member, in the upper 

part of the Trinity formation, which is of Lower Cretaceous age. 

This limestone, as well as the rest of the Cretaceous rocks in this 

region, dips at a low angle to the south and is exposed in a narrow 

belt extending westward from Plaster Bluff, on Little Missouri River, 

3 miles south-southwest of Murfreesboro, through De Queen in Sevier 

County, and thence into Oklahoma.

The thickest exposure is in Plaster Bluff, where the gypsum forms 

a single bed ranging from 10 to 14 feet in thickness. This bed, an 

outcrop of which is shown in Plate VIII, Z?, consists of pure 

saccharoidal gypsum, though there ar$ some thin seams of satin spar 

and as much as 3 feet of interbeddecl clay in its lower part. The 

thickest layer of gypsum is 4 feet thick and lies at the top. The 

gypsum at this locality is 65 feet above Little Missouri River. Overlying it is 55 feet of interbeddecl clay and limestone, and in addition 

there are several feet of gravel on the top of the hill. This gypsum 

has been mined 'on a small scale, but so far no attempt has been 

made to develop it extensively,

 To the west as far as Messers Creek, in Howard County, there are 

a few outcrops and reported occurrences of gypsum, but it is not 

everyAvhere pure, and at no place does its reported or observed thickness exceed 3 feet.

Gypsum is reported 1 100 feet below the surface in a well at 

Augusta, Woodruff County, in the eastern part of the State. The 

bed is about 10 feet thick, is probably of Eocene age, and underlies 

deposits of sand and clay.

Gypsum has not been produced in Arkansas, and there is little 

call for the development of the deposits, as the demand is supplied 

by other States near by.

1 Purdue, A. H., Water resources of the contact region between the Paleozoic and Mississippian embaymcnt deposits in northern Arkansas : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 

145, p. 95, 1905.

57
CALIFORNIA.

By F. Li HESS. 

DISTRIBUTION.

The gypsum deposits in California that give promise- of possible 

commercial importance are south of San Francisco Ba}^ (see PL 

IX), and most of them are associated: with Tertiary strata; a, few 

occur in Pleistocene beds. Many deposits are found in the Coast 

Range, from San Benito County southward into Los Angeles County. 

These deposits are generally shallow, are covered thinly by soil, or 

lie on the surfaces of knobs or ridges, with, here and there on© on a 

hill slope or in a ravine, and are of the variety known as gypsite.

At Point Sal, Santa Barbara. County, and at Palmdale, Lang, and 

Castaic, Los Angeles County, gypsiferous strata interbedded with 

clayey material have been worked. Beds that seem, from the descriptions obtainable, to have the same general characteristics as these 

occur at several points in the Colorado Desert.

In San Joaquin Valley, in the Mohave Desert, and probably in 

the Colorado Desert are many playas that become lake beds during 

wet seasons, and some of these beds carry considerable deposits of 

gypsum. Such deposits do not exist in all the periodic-lake beds, and 

whether they form or not depends on the nature of the rocks drained 

by the streams feeding the lakes. In the Palen Mountains and 

Maria Mountains, between the Colorado and the Mohave deserts, 

and in the Avawatz Mountains, there are large deposits of rock 

gypsum which appear to be the only extensive beds of the kind in 

the State.

CLIMATEl

The climate of the portion of California which contains the gypsum deposits described in this report is so dry that the most moist 

of the lands are semiarid and the less favored portions are arid. 

Along the west side of San Joaqilin Valley, in the lower hills of 

the Coast Range, temperatures of 110° to 125° F. are frequently 

recorded in summer and in the Mohave Desert,, according to common report, these temperatures are exceeded.

The seasons are often spoken of as wet and dry, because nearly 

all the rain that falls in that region comes during the late autumn, 

the winter, and the early spring. However, the wettest winters are 

probably not so damp as the summer season in the eastern portion of 

the United States. Naturally, with such heat and such dearth of rain 

58
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE IX

Cazadero Jf l£ \N A P A\ Y JO L 

Gnerne '

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 TO 80 90 100 Miles

MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF GYPSUM DEPOSITS IN CALIFORNIA.
CALirORlsTIA. 59

the humidity is low in summer, so that water evaporates very rapidly 

and the rocks are quickly dried, the water being drawn out of them 

to great depths. These climatic conditions have much to do with 

the formation of gypsum deposits and will be referred to in the 

descriptions of the deposits.

LOCALITIES.

The deposits of economic importance occur in three forms according to their origin efflorescent, periodic-lake, and interbedded 

deposits.

The efflorescent deposits lie along the Coast Range, extending 

southward from San Benito County to Los Angeles County, in an 

area that is nearly coincident with the Tertiary sandstones and shales 

throughout this region.

The periodic-lake deposits lie in San Joaquin Valley, Mohave 

Desert, and probably also in Colorado Desert, and the interbedded 

deposits occur principally in the mountains in the deserts of Riverside County.

Localities where gypsum is known to occur are here described by 

counties, which are arranged in alphabetic order:

FRESNO COUNTY. 

PAOLI MINE.

An efflorescent deposit has been worked at the Paoli mine, in 

Fresno. County, on a ridge on the north side of Tomey Creek, 18 miles 

southwest of Mendota, in the SW. | sec. 1, T. 16 S., R. 12 E., Mount 

Diablo base and meridian, and adjacent lands. It lies from 400 to 

800 feet (barometric measurement) above the floor of the valley. 

Tomey Creek, which is at the foot of the hill, flows only during 

wet seasons and empties on the plain a mile or two farther east.

The outcrops of gypsite begin on a low hill less than 100 feet above 

the creek bed, and occur over a large part of the crest of a gradually 

rising ridge for nearly a mile. The rocks are soft and clayey, containing fine sand with interspersed pebbles of chert, igneous rocks, 

and glaucophane schists. Locally there are thin beds of diatpmaceous 

shales and beds of sandstone containing large numbers of Tertiary 

barnacles. The dip is about northeast, at angles ranging from 15° 

to 30 °. The hills here are largely structural, with abrupt faces on the 

southwest and gentler slopes on the northeast. The gypsite occurs 

on the edges of the softer layers in irregular deposits whose distribution is due almost entirely to the strike and width of the outcrops. 

From the main ridge following Tomey Creek four other ridges extend 

like fingers to the north, and gypsite deposits are found on these at a
60 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

number of places. Gypsite is found also at several points in the 

intervening gulches beneath a thin layer of soil. The thickness of 

the deposits is hard to determine, as they had been cut through at 

only a few points, but it appears to range from 3 to possibly 15 feet. 

The latter depth, however, if reached at any place is exceptional,, 

and the average depth probably does not much exceed 3 feet.

On the theory that the deposits were interbedded, a short tunnel 

was run into the hill 30 or 40 feet below one of the deposits, but it 

encountered only a friable sandstone.

The gypsite is of a creamy or buff color and can be worked with a 

pick and shovel at- many places with a shovel alone. At some 

points it has been partly dissolved and reprecipitated, so that it is 

considerably hardened, but the hardened part is not more than a 

few inches thick and can be readily worked with a pick. The gypsite is easily crushed and most of it could be handled by screening 

without crushing. Ordinarily the gypsite is covered by a few inches 

of soil, below which for a few inches it is very free from foreign 

matter, containing a few pebbles of'the same sort as those found in 

the sandstone. These pebbles increase in number downward. At 

a depth of 2 or 3 feet they become abundant, and at a greater depth 

the gypsite forms the smaller part of the mass, the larger part being 

the sandstone of the underlying rock. In the gulches there are 

places to which the gypsite has been washed from the ridges by 

freshets and in which it now forms deposits several feet thick, though 

sufficient prospecting has not been done to show their exact dimensions. There is almost no gypsite on the sides of the hills, its absence 

being due probably to its solution and washing away by rain water. 

The gypsite remains on the tops of the hills, but on their sides, which 

receive not only the falling rain but the run-off from the upper parts 

of the hills, it is dissolved and carried away. Occasional torrential 

rains carry the gypsite from above and deposit it in the T alleys so 

quickly that it is not dissolved but is moved like so much earth or 

sand. Deposits in the gulches are rare and are generally mixed with 

considerable earth.

A specimen of the purer material from the Mendota No. 1 claim 

was analyzed by E. C. Sullivan, of the United States Geological 

Survey, with the following result:

Partial analysis of gypsite from north side of Tomey Creek, Fresno County,

Calif.

Lime (CaO)_______________,__________ 28.3 

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 )______________________ 39.5 

Water driven off at 60° C__I__________ _ . 3 

Water driven off at 300° C__________ 18. 6 

Chlorine (01)______________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (Fe2Oa)_ - :- -~r «6
CALIFORNIA. 61

This is equivalent to 85 per cent of gypsum. In 1894 E. W. 

Hilgard 1 published the following analyses of specimens from these 

deposits:

Analyses of yypsite from, Tomey Creek, Fresno County, Calif.

No.

1

5

6

7

Locality. Gypsum.

95.24

94.74

92.90

82.20

Clay.

1.98

1.52

2.60

8.21

Sand, 

moisture, 

carbonate 

of lime, 

etc.

2.78

3.74

4.50

9.59

Some gypsite was mined from these deposits several years ago, 

when a cabin and a small amount of machinery were erected. The 

gypsite was mined for land plaster and used on the ranches of 

San Joaquin Valley as an antidote for alkali. No work, except 

assessment work, has been done on the claims for a number of years. 

Water is very scarce and what is to be had is not fit for drinking. 

Drinking water must be brought from Mendota, 18 miles away. The 

plain is almost as flat as a floor and the soil makes good roads, .so 

that teaming is easy and, for such a distance, hauling is very cheap.

On the south side of Tomey Creek similar deposits occur and have 

been prospected to some extent.

DEPOSITS NEAR THE PAOLI MINE.

A few miles south of Tomey Creek, along Cantua Creek, like beds 

were once worked in a small way for land plaster, and similar deposits may be found wherever the same rocks outcrop along the 

foothills.

COALINGA DEPOSITS.

In the NE. | sec. 22, T. 20 S., R. 14 E., Mount Diablo base and 

meridian, about 4 miles northwest of Coalinga, is an efflorescent deposit which was worked to a small extent for land plaster a number 

of years ago. The gypsite overlies a sandstone that lies next to a 

coarser fossiliferous stratum having a dip of about 30° NE., occupying the top of a small hill, and may be followed for about 200 feet 

along the strike of the rocks. This sandstone was determined by 

Ralph Arnold and Robert Anderson,2 of the United States Geological Survey, to be near the base of the Tejon formation of theEocene. The general relations of the gypsite and the country rock

1 California State Mineralogist Twelfth Eept., p. 323, 1894.

2 Personal communication.
62. GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

are shown in figure 3. At a depth of 2 or 3 feet pebbles begin to 

appear in the gypsite, and below that they form so much of thk 

mass that the material would have to be screened for use. (See 

PL X, B.} The gypsite is light buff, .very soft and friable, and 

could be largely shoveled from the face. A few small stringers are 

harder, but all could be worked with a pick. The gypsite is so soft 

that small animals and insects burrow through it.

A partial analysis of a specimen of gypsite from this deposit, made 

for Arnold and Anderson by E-. C. Wells, of the United States Geological Survey, gave .CaSO4, 71.6; SiO2 , 0.8.

About 7 miles northeast of Coalinga, on the top of a hill half a 

mile S. 20° E. of the Home Oil Co.'s wells, is a gypsum claim, on 

which a small area'about 20 by 50 feet has been stripped to a depth 

of 1 or 2 feet. The. gypsite below this is very impure, containing 

many fragments of fine-grained shale.

 Gypsite

FIGUBB 3. Idealized section through gypsite deposit 4 miles northwest of Coalinga, Calif.

Not drawn to scale.

An old gypsum mine 9 miles north of Coalinga, on the foothills 

of the Coast Range, was once worked by open cuts. In one cut 

the gypsum was 10 feet thick and in another cut it occurred in two 

beds interstratified with clay and sandy calcareous shales. The 

strata dip 20a SE. The gypsum was ground in a mill at Coalinga 

and used as a fertilizer.

Three miles west of Coalinga, on the east side of a hill in the S. | 

sec. 35, T. 20 S., R. 14 E., gypsite crops out at a number of places 

through a distance of about a quarter of a mile. Prospect holes have 

been sunk at a number of points and shallow excavations have been 

made. The deposits are very similar to those just described as 

occurring northwest of Coalinga but are somewhat larger. There 

is apparently from 2-| to 3 feet of fairly good gypsite, but below that 

the foreign matter forms too great a proportion of the material 

to allow profitable working. The deposit is overlain by about a foot 

of soil. The stratum covered by the gypsite is a soft sandstone, 

which is in many places very pebbly. The weathering of the sandstone leaves a layer of loose pebbles on the surface, and where gypsite has formed these pebbles are contained in it.
CALIFOBNIA. 63

A specimen collected by the writer from this deposit was partially 

analyzed by E. C. Sullivan, of the United States Geological Survey's 

chemical laboratory, with results as follows:

Partial analysis of yypsite from 8. * sec. 85, T. 20 8., R. 14 E.

Lime (CaO)______________________.______ 20. 6 

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 )______:_______________ 34.4 

Water driven off at 60° C___________________ . 5 

Water driven off at 300° C___________________ 16.1 

Chlorine (01)____________________________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (Fe2 03 )_____ ______________ 1.2

This analysis gives an equivalent of 74.1 per cent gypsum. A 

tunnel near the summit of the hill on the west side shows many narrow veins of crystalline gypsum cutting the sandstone. There are 

small nodules of kaolin from one-half to 2^ inches in diameter along 

one of the bedding planes of the sandstone. These nodules have 

probably not been formed by the kaolinization of granitic pebbles, 

as they contain no visible quartz grains. It seems possible that they 

may have been pellets of clay rolled on an ancient shore line.

Mr. N. L. Palmer, of Coalinga, stated that gypsum is to be found 

also in sec. 34, T. 20 S., E, 16 E., about 1 mile south of Stanley 

station on the Southern Pacific Eailroad; in sees. 32 and 33, T. 21 S., 

E. 16 E., 6 or 7 miles southeast of Coalinga; and in sec. 34, T. 20 S., 

E. 14 E., 3 miles west of Coalinga.

IMPERIAL COUNTY.

A deposit of gypsum occurs in the hills 30 miles west of Brawley, close to the San Diego County line. It is in the W. £ NW. $ 

sec. 18, T. 13 S., E. 9 E., and the E. $ NE. £ sec. 13, T. 13 S., E. 8 E. 

The gypsum is closely related to an occurrence of celestite and is said 

to be very thick. Reports indicate a massive rock gypsum, of good 

quality, 200 feet or more thick, making a narrow ridge-nearly 1 mile 

long. The location of this deposit 25 miles from a railroad prevents 

its development at present.

INTO COUNTY.

In southeastern Inyo County, near Acme, south of Tecopa, there 

are several beds of pure-white gypsum from 6 to 10 feet thick, 

outcropping within a mile or two of the Tonopah & Tidewater 

Eailroad. A bed of massive crystalline gypsum reported to be 

about 8 feet thick and to dip about 40° has been mined by tunnels 

and open cut by the Acme Cement Plaster Co. and the material 

shipped to Los Angeles for milling.
64 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

KERN COUNTY. 

SUNFLOWER VALLEY.

About 6 miles southeast of Dudley, Kings County, in the McLure 

Valley, or, as it is generally known, Sunflower Valley, Kern County, 

some thin deposits of buff gypsite, from 1 foot to 2 feet thick, over- 

' lying soft, siliceous Tertiary shales, have been prospected to a small 

extent, and have been shown to cover possibly an acre on a low 

mound in the NW. £ sec. 15, T. -25 S., R. 18 E. The gypsite is covered with 8 to 16 inches of soil and is much mixed with shale.

Across a low range of hills of what is known locally as " porcelain 

shale " gypsite is found on many of the hilltops and ridges. A deposit on the property of the Visa-lia Oil Co., near the middle of 

the W, | sec. 22, T. 25 S., R. 18 E., about 7 miles southeast of 

Dudley, may be taken as an example of the deposits common to this 

locality. It occupies the upper part of the east side of a northsouth hill through a distance of about a quarter of a mile, and its 

width reaches 300 feet as an extreme, probably averaging somewhat 

over 100 feet. It lies on fine-grained sandstone and shales, on both 

sides of a fossiliferous, limy sandstone carrying Ostrea vespertina 

and Pecten coaling aensis.

The gypsite is buff in color and is hardened for 2 or 3 inches on 

the top, so that when dug it breaks in slabs a foot or more across. 

Below the crust it is so soft that it may be screened to get rid of 

pebbles and fragments of sandstone or shale without crushing. The 

deposit is 2 to 3 feet thick, the purer material generally being contained in the upper 2 feet. Sandstone or shale forms a large portion 

of the lower part of the mass, the proportion becoming, greater with 

increase of depth and making up the bulk of the lowest part of the 

deposit. Gypsite occurs also on the hills in other parts of the same 

section.

Mr. Orlando Barton, who lived near by in 1907 and who had spent 

much time in examining the rocks of this region, stated that deposits 

of gypsite occur on the following bodies of land in T. 25 S., R. 18 E., 

of which only those described were .examined by the writer:

Gypsite deposits in T. 25 S., R. 18 E., near Dudley, Kings County, Calif.

Sec. 14, small bed in SE. i. 

Sec. 20, about one-quarter acre in SE. £. 

Sec. 21, 10 acres in SE. \. 

Sec. 22, 20 acres in SW. 1, NW. i, and SE. i. 

Sec. 23, thin; various parts. 1 

Sec. 25, 3 acres in SW. J. 

Sec. 26, small amount in NE. \ and NW. i 

Sec. 27, 4 acres in NE. \.

Sec. 28, 30' to 150 feet wide, runs north-south in E. \ E. \, the whole 

length.
CALIFORNIA. 65

Sec. 29, small amount in SW. 1; several acres of good gypsum in SE. |,

reaches thickness of 4 feet.

Sec. 30, small bed of good gypsum in southeast corner. 

Sec. 34, small bed of good gypsum in northwest corner. 

Sec. 35, good bed 100 feet wide in SE. $, one-fourth mile long; small bed

in NE. 4. 

Sec. 36, small beds in all but NE. £.

Mr. William Taylor, of Dudley, stated to the writer that gypsite 

deposits also occur in the NI^. £ sec. 3, T. 26 S., R. 18 E., in Antelope 

Valley, the next large valley south of McLure Valley.

LOST HILLS.

In San Joaquin Valley a few miles south of Tulare Lake and 

about 25 miles west of Wasco, on the Santa Fe Railwaj7 , is a low 

range of hills, running northwest and southeast, probably a continuation of a range somewhat higher and broader, known as the 

Kettleman Hills, which separates the Kettleman Plains from San 

Joaquin Valley. The Kettleman Hills are said by Arnold and 

Anderson 1 to be of anticlinal structure, and it is probable that the 

Lost Hills are formed by the southern extension of the anticline, 

which here disappears under the floor of the valley. The rocks in 

place in the Lost Hills are probably a part of the Etchegoin formation, of upper Mioeene age.

This section of the valley is exceedingly dry, having an average 

annual rainfall of probably not more than 2 or 3 inches, and is 

even drier than the adjacent foothills, the nearest of which are 

8 or 10 miles to the west.

A county road from Wasco, the nearest shipping station, to Antelope Valley passes about 2 miles south of the Lost Hills. A traveler 

approaching the country from this road, when within half a mile or 

more of the hills, may notice gypsite in the piles of dirt thrown from 

holes dug by kangaroo rats and other rodents. In the W. £ sec. 30, 

.T. 2& S., R. 21 E., many such places were seen, and also in the 

western part of sec. 19. At a number of points the writer dug 

through the soil, which was 6 to 2i inches thick. Below this cover 

of earth the gypsite is generally soft and powdery and of a creamy 

buff color, though 'at one or two places, it was brownish and granular. It was not practicable with the tools at hand to dig to any 

considerable depth, so that the thickness of the gypsite was not 

determined. Mr. Orlando Barton stated that he had at a number 

of places dug into the gypsite to a depth of 4 feet without passing 

through it.

UJ. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 357, p. 05, 1908. 

124567° 20 5
66 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

On the tops of the hills there is also a coating of gypsite, at many 

places without the usual covering of soil,, which has probably been 

blown off, as the ground is dry and powdery and easily moved by 

the winds, which during a day sometimes pile it in drifts several 

feet deep. At one place in sec. 19, where a northeast-southwest draw 

cuts through the hill, the gypsum appeared to be from & to 8 feet 

thick.

On the south side of the draw, standing on a rather abrupt 

northern slope, is a mound known as "The Oil Bubble." (See PI. 

X, A.) The mound, which is 10 to 15 feet high and about 65 feet 

in diameter, is composed of small crystals of gypsum, most of them 

less than one-quarter inch in length, mixed with enough clay to 

permit the mass to be easily kneaded. This mound also contains 

a small amount of material resembling greatly oxidized -asphalt, 

stained slightly with native sulphur. At the time it was visited the 

mound was wet and sticky, and it is said to remain moist throughout the summer. It is reported to give off some gas, the asphalt arid 

the form suggesting the name "Oil Bubble." The mound is formed 

bj the evaporation of water carrying gypsum in solution, the clay 

probably being brought to the place by winds. The excessive dryness 

of the surrounding country makes it seem probable that the water 

comes from a considerable depth, rising through the Tertiary gypsiferous sandstones.

On the north side of the draw is a dark, fine-grained sandstone 

cemented by gypsum, of which it carries a considerable quantity. It 

clips toward the northeast at a low angle, closely following the contour of the hill, and that it is of Pleistocene age, formed by the 

cementing of wind-blown sand by gypsum, is suggested, though 

there is a strong possibility that it is a phase of the Pliocene sandstones met in the Kettleman Hills farther to the northwest.

Above the sandstone lies about 2 feet of gypsite, and this is said 

to extend 6 or 7 miles northwestward along the hills. If the Lost 

Hills are to be regarded as an extension of the Kettleman Hills anticline from which the upper, nongypsiferous beds have been eroded, 

it seems .probable not only that the hills contain other such beds of 

gypsite, but that alongside them,, for their whole length, such deposits 

as were noted in sec. 30 will be found. It is not to be supposed 

that these beds will be equally thick or good in. all places, and in 

spots the gypsite may be entirely lacking.

The beds in this locality are the most extensive that were seen by 

the writer in California. Whether they will be workable is problematic. At present the nearest shipping point is Wasco, on the 

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Eailway, 25 miles to the east. Water 

could probably be obtained by boring deep enough almost, any where in 

the region. The deposits would need careful prospecting to ascertain
11. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE X

A. MOUND OF GYPSUM IN THE LOST HILLS, SOUTH OF TULARE LAKE, CALIF., 

MADE BY THE EVAPORATION OF WATER SEEPING FROM THE ROCKS BELOW.

Photograph by F. L. Hess.

B. GYPSUM DEPOSIT 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF COALINGA, CALIF. 

Photograph by F. L. Hess.
CALIFORNIA. 67

their thickness and area, but this would not be difficult, as it could 

all be done with a shovel or a shovel and mattock. The around could O

be easily stripped with teams and scrapers and the gypsite loaded 

into wagons directly from the scrapers by erecting a platform under 

which the wagons could be driven.

If a railroad should be built along the base of the foothills of the 

Coast Eange, transportation would not be a serious matter, and if the 

deposits proved to be of sufficient extent the manufacture of gypsum 

plaster might then be undertaken.

Analyses of gypsum from sec. 30, made by E. C. Sullivan and 

R. C. Wells, of the United States Geological Survey, are as follows:

Analyses of gypsite from south side, of the Lost Hills, Kern County, Calif. 

[Ground quickly to 40-mesb.]

Lime (CaO) ............................................................

Sulphur trloxido (S03 ) .................................................

Water driven off at 300° C. .............................................

Chlorine (Cl) ...........................................................

Silica (SiOg)...................................... '.....................

1

9"; i

35.1 

.9 

16.9 

None. 

1.1

2

29.9 

42.8 

.2 

19.3 

Trace. 

.3

3

29.5 

40..7

I 19.1

None. 

.4 

.7 

5.3

1.7 

1.2 

.6 

Norm.

4

29.9 

40.8

19.4

None. 

.3 

None. 

6.1 

1.4 

2.0 

.5 

None.

' Analyses 1 and 2 by E. C. Sullivan; 3 and 4 by R. C. Wells.

The first analysis shows an equivalent of 75.5 per cent of gypsum, 

so that about one-fourth of the material is foreign matter; the 

second sample contains the equivalent of 91.2 per cent of gypsum. 

The analysis shows a slight excess (0.6 per cent) of calcium sulphate, which may indicate the presence of either anhydrite ('calcium 

sulphate not combined with Avater) or partly dehydrated gypsum. 

The third and fourth analyses are more detailed and show the character of the impurities better. The amount of gypsum indicated is 

nearer the amount shown by the second analysis than the first.

DEPOSITS NEAR McKITTRICK.

The same Tertiary sandstones and shales that are so prominent 

in the southern part of the Coast Range are also the prevailing rocks 

near McKittrick, and as would therefore be expected gypsite deposits 

are found in many places in this neighborhood.

Calif omiia Gypsum <£ Mineral Co. The property of the California* Gypsum & Mineral Co. is located on the north slope of a 

rather low hill in the S. $ sec. 20, T. 30 S., K. 22 E., about one-half 

mile from McKittrick railroad station. The gypsite is overlain by
68 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

6 inches to 24- feet of soil and is of a buff color. It has been mined 

at a number of places to a depth of about 2 feet, below which it contains too much of the country rock to be profitably worked. The 

rock beneath the gypsite is a fine-grained shale. In places the gypsite 

is somewhat hardened for 2 or 3 inches on the top, but the mineral 

below that can be easily handled with a shovel. Altogether perhaps 3 or 4 acres had been exposed.

A partial analysis by George Steiger in the chemical laboratory 

of the United States Geological Survey of a specimen collected by the 

\vriter was as follows:

Partial analysis of gypsite from deposit' one-half mile southeast of McKittrick,

Calif. 

Lime (CaO)________________________________ . 31.05

Sulphur trioxicle (SO3 )______________________ 42.19 

Water driven.off at 60° C_____________________ 1.49

Water driven off at 300° C___________________ 17. 80 

Chlorine (01)_______.___________________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (Fe2O3 )_____^_____._____________ .56

This analysis gives an apparent equivalent of 85.2 per cent of 

gypsum. Several hundred tons of gypsite for use as land plaster 

had been shipped from the deposit, and there w°as a small plant on 

the property for the preparation of the material.

Abbott & Hickox. A. gypsite claim in the NE. | SW. I sec. 30, T. 

30 S., E. 22 E., held by Messrs. Abbott & Hickox, is about 2^ miles 

southwest of McKittrick. The deposit most worked is on the summit of a hill between 50 and 75 feet high. It is about 500 feet long 

by 200 feet wide at the widest point and is oval in shape. . The gypsite is from 2 to 4 feet thick and is overlain by soil that is in places 

2 feet thick, although in other places gypsite forms the surface. The 

average covering is probably 10 to 12 inches thick. About 4,000 

tons are said to have been shipped from the spot. 

' A partial analysis by George Steiger of gypsum from this deposit 

is given below:

Partial analysis of gypsite from deposit near McKittrick, CaMf.

Lime (CaO)______________________________ 30.32

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 )_______________________ 43.09

Water driven off at 60° C_____________________ . 25

Water driven off at 300° C_____________________ 19. 75

Chlorine (Cl)____________________________ Trace.

Iron oxide (Fe2 03 )_______________________ .34

This gives an equivalent of 92.5 per cent of gypsum. On several 

of the hilltops near at hand the gypsite outcrops were accompanied 

by carbonate of lime, which seemed to be a replacement of the gypsite, and the two are in places more or less mixed.
CALIFORNIA. 69

Oihw deposits. Considerable gypsite of character similar to that 

described above occurs in the SE. \ sec. 30, T. 30 S., R. 22 E., and some 

has been shipped. In places it reaches a thickness of 3£ feet.

About 1 mile south of the locality just mentioned, on the north 

side of a small gulch, is a deposit which is 9 feet thick and considerably hardened but which does not se'em to be of great extent. Parts 

of it are bleached almost white. This deposit also overlies a finegrained shale which is in places much colored by iron oxide. The 

shale is yellowish gray, of low specific gravity, and contains many 

casts of foraminifers. Borings made about 100 feet from the gulch 

are said to have shown the gypsite to be about 2 feet thick. A number of other deposits exist in sees. 28 and 29, T. 30 S. The gypsite 

and the underlying shales are at some places almost of the same color, 

so that it is not easy to tell where one leaves off and the other begins, 

as the gypsite is powdery and sifts down, disguising the appearance 

of the underlying rock. It was reported that on one claim the gypsite was 90 to 100 feet thick, but it is probable that the soft underlying 

shale has been supposed to be gypsite, for it does not seem possible, 

from the mode of formation of the gypsite, that it could have been 

so thick.

At the time of the writer's visit (1907) Mr. H. F. Brinkman, of 

Pasadena, Calif., was examining the deposits to determine their commercial value. Mr. Brinkman made the following estimate of the 

area and thickness of gypsite deposits in the neighborhood. The 

writer had no opportunity of verifying the figures outside of the 

areas mentioned aboA7 e.

Gypsite in the McKittrick district.

No.

2

3

4

fi

fi

7

8

9

10

11

n

13

14

15

Section .

S W. } sec. 6. .....................................

NW. i sec. 14. ....................................

S W. J sec. 30. ....................................

SE. J- sec. 3 .......................................

S W. i sec. 3 .................'............... ....

N W. \ sec. 3. .....................................

N W. i sec. 4. .....................................

NE. Jsec. 4. .....................................

SE. i sec. 4 .......................................

SW. \ sec. 4 ......................................

SW. J sec. 2. .....................................

SE. i sec. 2. ......................................

NE. J sec. 1 ......................................

Range.

22 E.

22 E.

22 E.

21 E.

22 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

21 E.

Township.

308.

SOS.

308.

308.

30 S.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

308.

Acres.

2

0

10

o

3

8

10

20

10

10

10

10

10

4

10

10

Thickness.

Feet. 

2

2

2-4

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

2-3

2-3

According to Mr. Brinkman, .deposits Nos. 1 and 2 contain about 

4,000 tons and deposit No. 3 about 20,000 tons. Deposit No. 5 

consists of powdery gypsite. No estimate was made of the extent 

of the deposits in sees. 30, 31, and 32, T. 30 S., R. 22 E., or jr. sec.
70 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

29. A deposit in sec. 5, T. 31 S., R. 22 E., contains about 5 acres, and 

there is a little in sec. 4, T. 31 S., E. 22 E.

Samples of plaster of Paris made by Mr. Brinkman from gypsite 

from different localities in the neighborhood were all of a creamy to 

buff color, varying somewhat in shade, and a number of the shades 

would make attractive tints for wall coverings. The gypsite deposits 

follow the Tertiary sandstones and shales to the southwest, and many 

patches are reported to occur between McKittrick and Midway.

Mr. E. H. Andrews, of Midway,^reported gypsite in the following 

sections in the area between McKittrick and Midway:

T. 30 S., R. 22 E., sees. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35.

T. 31 S., R. 22 E., sees. 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27,

28, 34, 35.

T. 32 S., R. 22 E., sees. 2, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 34. 

T. 32 S., R. 24 E., running diagonally from northwest to southeast.

Owing to lack of time the writer was unable to visit these localities.

DEPOSITS. NEAR MARICOPA.

In the country closely adjacent to Maricopa, known as the Sunset 

district, are a number of small areas carrying thin deposits of gypsite; 

associated with shales like those found farther north along the Coast 

Range. None are known that seem to be of value.

DEPOSITS NEAR BAKERSFIELD.

Cottonwood Creek. Deposits of gypsite occur on both sides of 

Cottonwood Creek, 16 miles east of Bakersfield. They are reached 

from Edison, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, by following the 

main road 4% miles to the creek and then traveling up the creek for 

3£ miles. The deposits may also be reached from^Pampa, from 

which they are about 5 miles distant. The deposits occur on the 

northeast side of the creek at the top of a steep slope, between 50 

and 75 feet above the creek bed. A more gentle slope rises from the 

top of the steep bank, and on this slope gypsite may be found at a 

number of places, covering altogether several acres. At the edge of 

the slope the gypsite is 2 to 3 feet thick, grading into soft, earthy 

material below, probably the equivalent of the shales over which the 

gypsite lies in the McKittrick and other districts. The deposit is in 

the SE. i SE. I sec. 20, T. 29 S., R, 30 E., Mount Diablo base and 

meridian. A small amount of gypsite was shipped from this deposit 

several years ago for use as a fertilizer.

A number of claims on the southwest side of the creek were held by 

Mr. William Harmon. One of these claims was in sec. 28, where 

deposits had been opened in a small way on the top of a hill about 

200 feet above the creek. j The deposits are small and of no great 

value. In the narrow gulch east of the hill there is a deposit of
CALIFORNIA. 71

impure, soft, powdery gypsite 6 to 8 feet thick, which is exposed for 

several hundred feet along the gulch. Its width and its thickness 

away from the creek are unknown. On the top of the hill east of the 

gulch, in the NW. | sec. .28, there are other gypsite deposits similar 

to those on the west side.

A partial analysis by E. C. Sullivan of a specimen from this deposit is given below:

Partial analysis of gypsite from deposit near Panipa, Calif.

Lime (CaO) ________ . ____________________ 28. 1 

Sulphur trioxide (SOa) ________________________ 34.8 

Water driven off at 60° 0 ______________________ . 5 

Water driven off at 300° C ____________________ 16. 0 

Chlorine (01) ____________________________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (FeaOa) _____________ ___ __ ___ .8

The analysis shows an apparent equivalent of 71.8 per cent of 

gypsum. In another gulch in the southeast corner of the NE. ^ 

sec. 28, about one-quarter of a mile east of Mr. Harmon's cabin, 

gypsite from 10 to 25 feet thick is . exposed on both sides for a 

distance of 100 yards. The gypsite is of about the same quality as 

that in the gulch already mentioned.

These gulch deposits are probably formed by the washing down of 

the gypsite from the hills above and are mixed with considerable 

earth. The deposits are about one-quarter of a mile from the contact of the soft Tertiary rocks^with old crystalline rocks, which are 

here andalusite schists. Mr. Harmon stated that much better deposits of gypsite occur near Caliente.

Kern Lake gypsite deposit. In what was once the bed of Kern 

Lake but is now a part of a large farm belonging to the Kern County 

Land Co. gypsite has been exposed in sees. 26 and 27, T. 32 S., R. 27 

E., Mount Diablo base and meridian, iby an irrigating ditch that runs 

through the deposit for about three-quarters of a mile along the line 

between the north and south halves of the sections. The deposit is 

about 20 miles southwest of Bakersfield but only 5 miles from the 

railroad station known as Conner. Gypsite is also reported from 

a point one-half mile farther south, but none has been found nearer 

the center of the old lake, west of this locality. The ditch is 2| feet 

deep, and gypsite forms its bottom and sides for a large part of the 

distance mentioned. The soil covering the gypsite is thin and very 

light and porous when dry. Over a large part of the known area the 

gypsite is less than a foot below the surface. The gypsite is creamy 

in color, finely granular, and in places is very free from dirt and 

foreign matter. Water from the irrigating ditch has cut channels 

from 8 inches to more than a foot in diameter through the gypsite, 

and they can be followed more than 50 feet on each side by the caving
72 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of the earth. Near the ditch the gypsite is reported to be 4 feet 

thick. The composition of a picked sample is shown by the following 

analysis by E. C. Sullivan, of the United States - Geological Survey:

Analysis of gypsum, from old lied of Kern Lake.

Lime (CaO)_____________________________ 33.2 

Sulphur trioxide '(80s)_______________________ 47.3 

Water driven off at 60° C________..____________ None. 

Water driven off at 300° C____________________ 19. 7 ' 

Iron oxide (Fe2O3 )___________ ________,___ .1

The lime and sulphuric anhydride are both too high for pure 

gypsum, which contains 32.6 and 46.5 per cent, respectively, and the 

water is low (20.9 per cent in pure gypsum). The analysis apparently shows the presence of nearly 6 per cent of anhydrite (anhydrous 

calcium sulphate), which would leave about 94.3 per cent of gypsum. 

It is possible, however, that instead of containing anhydrite the 

material may include some partly dehj^drated gypsum which would 

in no way be hurtful to plaster manufactured from it. It is remarkably free from other impurities. At some other points the gypsite 

is more or less mixed with earth. The lake received its drainage 

from the Tehachapi Mountains, on the- south, which are -composed 

largely of Tertiary rocks, presumably similar to those along the 

Coast Range and also to the rocks a few miles farther east. These 

rocks are highly gypsiferous, so that considerable amounts of 

gypsum would be carried into the lake, which was of great periodic 

variation in size owing to the unequal distribution of rainfall from 

season to season and from year to year, though it was at all times 

shallow. The saturation point for gypsum Avould possibly never be 

reached by the lake, even when the level of the water was near or 

below the surface of the soil, which, owing to its great porosity, will 

hold large quantities of water.

The deposition of gypsum from such a lake is apparently much 

the same phenomenon as the deposition of gypsite from rocks by 

the evaporation of water drawn to the surface by capillarity. The 

shallow water near the shore line would be more highly saturated 

with gypsum than the deeper water, as the part evaporated would 

be a much larger proportion of the mass. The hot sun would at the 

same time evaporate great quantities of water from the shore itself, 

which is formed of fine porous silt. The 'water would come, at least 

in part, from the already somewhat concentrated water along the 

edge of the lake, and as the water evaporated gypsum would be left 

behind in crystalline form. The flow of water once established would 

continue until capillary attraction could no longer lift the water from 

the depth to which it had sunk. In the absence of definite data, it 

may be supposed that the longer established channels by which the
CALIFORNIA. 73

water escaped into the atmosphere would act much more rapidly 

than the newer ones that were allowed to form by the retreating 

shore line; that-there would therefore be a. movement of the water 

toward the side; and that there would be deposits of gypsite under 

certain areas from which evaporation was greatest and near which 

the shore most often lay. In the middle of the lake, where water 

stood oftenest and longest, probably no considerable deposits would 

form, as they would be again dissolved by floods in succeeding years.

It is probable that gypsite will be found at a number of points 

around the old medial shore of the lake that is, around the shore 

which was its normal edge between the highest and lowest stages. 

If the deposits are of sufficient extent they might form a basis for 

the profitable manufacture of gypsum plaster, particularly as much 

of the land is not under .cultivation.

Buena Vista Lake. Buena Vista Lake lies 5 or 6 miles west of 

the Kern Lake gypsum deposit, in the same shallow depression. A 

cut for the Sunset Eailroad as it turns to the southwest to follow' 

the shore of the lake exposes gypsite similar in appearance to that 

of Kern Lake. Nothing is known of its extent or thickness. Gypsite is reported along the foothills for 150 miles but nowhere in quantity to have commercial value. The deposits are scattered and thin.

' CANE SPRINGS. 1

About 25 miles northeast of Mohave and 3£ miles southeast of Cane 

Springs and Cantil, on the line of the Southern Pacific Eailroad joining Mohave and Eandsburg, gypsite is exposed at the surface over an 

area covering nearly 1 square mile. The gypsite deposits are on the 

south edge of a playa about 5 by 8 miles in extent. The thickest 

beds lie in.the SE. | NW. £ sec. 28, T. 30 S., R. 38 E., Mount Diablo 

base and meridian, and reach a depth of 10 feet. The gypsite is 

exceedingly fine grained and of a buff color.

A partial analysis of a specimen collected where prospect holes 

showed the gypsite to be thickest indicated an equivalent of about 

79.5 per cent of gypsum.

A plaster mill was erected on this deposit in 1910 and operated 

intermittently. . . .

KINGS COUNTY. 

KETTLEMAN PLAINS. .

The E. D. Jones gypsum deposit is in the Kettleman Plains, Kings 

County, 200 yards north of an old schoolhouse in the NW. | sec. 

13, T. 24 S., E, 18 E., Mount Diablo base and meridian,2 5£ miles 

by road northeast of Dudley. It is in the flat floor of the valley,

1 For a somewhat fuller account see Hess, F. L., Gypsum deposits near Cane Springs, 

Krin County. Calif.: U. .S. Geol. Survey Bull. 430, pp. 145-140, 1910. ' 

" California State Mineralogist Thirteenth Kept., p. 503, 1896. .. .
74 GYPSUM DEPOSITS. OF THE UNITED STATES.

between half, a mile and a mile from the nearest hills on the northeast and still farther away from those on the southwest. It presents 

some features that differentiate, it so- sharply from the deposits in 

the neighborhood that it is placed tentatively among the periodiclake deposits..

An excavation about 30 by 50 feet and 3 feet deep has been made. 

The bottom of the hoi© is covered, with gypsum, so; that the depth of 

the deposit can not be told, The gypsum is said to be found over 

an area of SO1 acres, although it was seen by the writer only at the 

excavation. The gypsum, which is coarsely granular, is composed 

of an aggregate of small crystals, the largest one-half to threefourths of an inch broad, is rather firmly coherent, and is overlain 

by a few inches of soil.. Between the crystals the spaces are filled 

with material apparently less pure. The comparatively large size 

of the crystals indicates that the deposit was laid down in a periodic 

lake rather than by efflorescence. The presence.of considerable 

quantities of water seems necessary for the formation of gypsum 

crystals of easily visible size. Robert Anderson, of the United 

States Geological Survey, has informed the writer that in the surrounding hills there seems to be evidence that this portion of the 

Kettleman Plains was at one time covered by a lake or an arm of 

Tulare Lake.

This deposit was worked for land plaster in the early nineties. 

A small mill for grinding was put up, but the wagon haul of nearly 

40 miles to Huron, the nearest railroad point, makes production too 

expensive to be profitable. It is stated that selected samples from 

this deposit contained: 94 per cent of gypsum.1 A partial analysis 

by E. C. Sullivan of a specimen collected by the writer was as 

follows:

Partial analysis of gypsum from Kettleman Plains, Calif.

Lime (CaO)____________________________ 19.1 

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 )_______________________ 27. 3 

Water driven off at 60° C____________________ . 8 

Water driven off at 300° C____________________ 15. 3 

Chlorine (CI),_____________________________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (Fe2O3 )_________________________ 1.1

This analysis gives an equivalent of only 59.2 per cent of gypsum. 

The specimen collected was thought to be representative, but hand 

sampling- is almost invariably uncertain, owing to the small size of 

the specimen and to the narrow area from which it is taken. In order 

to get reliable results a sample taken from such a deposit must be 

very large and must be collected so as to reach all available parts of 

the deposit,, and it must then be carefully mixed and quartered to a 

convenient size for analysis. It is therefore entirely probable that

1 California State Mineralogist Thirteenth Rept, p. 503, 1896.
CALIFORNIA. 75

either or both of "the specimens analyzed may give a wrong impression of the deposit. They are both of value, however, in giving 

some idea of the purity of at least portions of the gypsum.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY. 

CASTAIC.

Gypsum was mined during 1904 and 1905 by the Fire Pulp Plaster 

Co. from a deposit in Charley Canyon, 12 miles north of Castaic, 

a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles County. 

It is said to occur in a vein, 2 to 4 feet wide, in a soft, much-jointed 

shale. The vein runs at about a right angle to the face of the hill 

but was found too expensive to work, as the road of the canyon 

washed out after heavy rains. The gypsum is said to be white or 

pink in color and of excellent quality.

PALMDALE.

At Palmdale, Los Angeles County, a station on the Southern 

Pacific Railroad G9 miles north of Los Angeles, both efflorescent 

and interbedded gypsum deposits are found, about 1^ miles southwest of the railroad, on a low ridge along which runs the Los 

Angeles aqueduct carrying water from Owens River to Los Angeles. 

Decomposed granite occupies a portion of the outer side of the 

ridge, and on it in places is a basal conglomerate containing large 

boulders of granite. Over this is a series of gypsiferous soft sandstones and shales. With the shales are interbedded thin strata of 

gypsum, half an inch in maximum thickness, and some lenses 4 to 

6 feet in length, and on these sediments gypsite has formed in 

deposits similar to those farther north, along the Coast Range. 

The gypsum deposits occur through a length of about a mile or 

a mile and a half along the top and sides of the ridge. In places 

they have been washed down the sides of the hill, so that they 

cover the granite below. The accompanying sketch (fig. 4) shows 

the geologic relations. Two companies, the Fire Pulp Plaster Co. 

and the Alpine Plaster Co., formerly worked the deposits, and each 

had a plaster mill at Palmdale, but the mills have been dismantled 

and; all operations ceased because of the inferior quality and the 

meager quantity of the rock.

The gypsite is 2 to 10 feet thick and is irregular in distribution 

and purity. /At a number of places it occurs in small valleys in 

which it has been deposited by freshets that brought it down from 

the low hills above. In places it is much stained with iron, especially 

in watercourses through the gypsite. The gypsite is ordinarily 

overlain by 6 inches to 1 foot of dirt, and excavations from which it 

is removed cover from a few hundred square feet to an acre or more..
76 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

,The thickest deposits are on the brows of spurs 'of the main hill, 

.where they reach a thickness of 9 feet. (See PL XII, #.) The 

gypsite is creamy white in color.

A partial analysis by George Steiger of a specimen from one of 

these deposits which was being worked February 1, 1907, gave the 

following result:

Partial analysis of gypsite from Alpine. Plaster Co.'s deposit, Palmdale, Calif.

Lime (CaO)___________-___-___-_________ 32.8 

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 )_____ __ _________ 45.3 

Water driven off at 60° C - _____ __ .1' 

Water driven off at 300° C________________._____ 20. 5

Chlorine (01)________________ _________ .06

Iron oxide (Fe2 03 ) _ .30

FIGURE 4. Idealized section across hills 1£ miles southwest of Palmdale, Calif., showing 

relations of gypsite and gypsum to the country rock.

This is apparently equivalent to about 77.3 per cent gypsum. 

The interbedded gypsum deposits also were worked by the Fire Pulp 

Plaster Co. The beds are not at all uniform in the quantity of 

gypsum carried and can be worked only in places. The dip is uneven 

but is about 45° W. The gypsum strata reach in places a thickness of 3 or 4 inches, and all contain more or less clay. (See PI. XI, 

B.) The rock was shot down with dynamite and then handled with 

forks to separate' the gypsum from the clay. Some hand picking 

was also necessary.

A piece of gypsum from one of the strata was partially analyzed 

by George Steiger, with the following result:

Partial analysis of rock gypsum from Palmdale, Calif.

Lime (CaO) __________ _ _ _. ____ ________ __ 27. 5 

Sulphur trioxide (SO3 ) _____________________ _ . 33.5 

Water driven off at 60° C ___________ - ________ .8 

Water driven off at 300° C ___________________ 15. 6 

Chlorine (Cl) ___________ '. ________________ Trace. 

Iron oxide (Fe^Oa)- ______ _ __ __ ____ " ____ . 1.3

The specimen apparently carries 72.1 per cent of gypsum.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XI

A. GYPSITE WORKINGS IN SEC. 7, T. 32 S., R. 22 E., ON THE CARRIZO PLAIN,

CALIF.

This work was done to meet assessment requirements on supposed oil land. Photograph by

Ralph Arnold.

B. GYPSUM INTERBEDDED WITH CLAY SHALES \Y2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF

PALMDALE, CALIF.

The whiter strata are gypsum. Photograph by F. L. Hess.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE

A. GYPSUM DEPOSIT IN THE BED OF A PERIODIC LAKE AT AMBOY, CALIF.

The gypsum, formerly dragged onto the platform by a horse scraper and dumped in the tramcars beneath, is now loaded by gasoline shovel. Photograph by F. L. Hess.

B. GYPSITE DEPOSIT 9 FEET THICK ON THE BROW OF A HILL 1)4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PALMDALE, CALIF. ;v « 

Photograph by F. L. Hess.
CALIFORNIA. 77

Similar beds outcrop at a point about 1£ miles northwest of the 

 workings just described. 'A face 25 feet high and 50' feet broad is 

exposed in an excavation in the side of the hill.- The beds here dip 

northeastward. Other deposits of gypsum are said to occur in the 

higher hills 6 or 7 miles south of Palmdale. Similar interbedded 

gypsum deposits are reported to occur at Lang, southwest of Palmdale, and the deposits at Castaic are said to be in the same rocks.

ORANGE COUNTY. -

A deposit in Gypsum Canyon, on the western slope of the Santa 

Ana Range, in Orange County, is in the form of a bunchy vein in 

rocks of probable Upper Cretaceous age. The strata are chiefly 

sandstone. The deposit, which has a thickness of 8 to 10 feet, is 

white and crystalline and almost as clear as alabaster. At one spot 

a mass of dolomite was found inclosed in it.

RIVERSIDE' COUNTY. 

CORONA.

Gypsite occurs in several small areas on both sides of Gypsum 

Canyon, about 2 miles south of Corona. The larger deposits, from 

which several hundred tons has been shipped, are on the east side 

of the canyon, a short distance from its mouth, in a small gulch 

that lies between 50 and 100 feet above the floor of the canyon. 

The gypsite is at most 4 feet thick and is overlain by 1 to 2 feet of 

soil. Its color is creamy, like that of the gypsite in the San Joaqnin 

Valley, and it grades into the rock below in the same manner. The 

rock that it overlies is andesitic but is so badly decomposed that its 

nature can not' readily be told. Its appearance in the field suggests 

that it may be a tuff. In thin sections it shows considerable iron 

pyrites, together with some calcite, and it is possible that the gypsum 

is derived directly from this rock through the interaction of weathering pyrite and plagioclase feldspars. However, close by, on the side 

nearer the mouth of the canyon, are soft sandstones from which the 

gypsite may have come. These sandstones may outcrop above the 

deposit on the hillside, and the gypsum may have been carried to 

its present place by the stream that flows in the gulch in wet weather. 

Near the mouth of the canyon a tunnel run into the west side hag 

4 to 5 inches of efflorescent salts on the floor, and on the Avails 

there is an inch or more. The efflorescence is composed largely of 

iron sulphate. Other small gypsite deposits are said to occur in 

neighboring canyons west and southwest of Corona. This material 

is used in orchards as fertilizer and to prevent disease.
78 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

PALEN MOUNTAINS.1

Extensive deposits of gypsum occur ill the Palen Mountains between the Colorado and Mohave deserts, northern Riverside County, 

Calif. The cut-off of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway from 

Parker to Bengal passes within about 15 miles of the deposits.

The gypsum is very pure, occurring in extensive layers interbedded 

with limestone. Most of it is finely crystalline and compact and 

varies in color from transparent white to slightly reddish. A small 

percentage of the material is alabaster, finely granular, snow-white, 

and sufficiently compact for ornamental purposes.' This material 

occurs ill layers and lenses in the crystalline gypsum.

The beds have a maximum thickness of several hundred feet,' 

with little or no interbedded limestone; the entire series of limestone and gypsum is probably several thousand feet in thickness. 

In places the 'gypsum is the predominant formation, but elsewhere 

the limestone is by far the most abundant.

The belt of gypsum and limestone is, roughly, about 3 miles 

long and from one-half mile to 1-| miles wide. It runs across the 

Palen Mountains in a general east-west direction and disappears 

under unconsolidated desert deposits on both sides. It is bounded 

on the north by a great mass of granite and on the south by quartzites 

and shales, with intrusive igneous rocks of several varieties. The 

gypsum beds are largest and most abundant in the southern part of 

the belt. The strike of the beds ranges from east to northeast, and 

the dip is to> the north at different angles,

A dark igneous rock occurs extensively as an intrusive within the 

area of gypsum and limestone, being especially abundant in the 

northern half of the belt. It cuts the gypsum beds more commonly 

than the limestone because of their softer nature. On account of this 

fact many of the gypsum beds are locally so intricately intermixed 

with igneous rock as to render them almost valueless. However, 

large portions of the area are free from these intrusives.

. ' MARIA MOUNTAINS.2

The series of gypsum and limestone beds of the Palen Mountains 

reappears to the east from under the desert deposits and occurs 

throughout the Maria Mountains. The main, gypsuim locality in the 

Maria Mountains is 17 miles in an air line south of Blythe Junction, 

a station on the Parker cut-off of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 

Railway. The area underlain by gypsum is wedge-shaped, being 

above 2-| miles long, 2| miles wide at the east end, and 1 mile wide

1 Harder, E. C., The gypsum deposits of the Palen Mountains, Riverside County, Calif.: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 430, pp. 407-416, 1910.

2 Surr, Gordon, Gypsum in the Maria Mountains of California: Min. World, vol. 34, pp. 

787-790, 1911.
* CALIFORNIA. 79

at the west end. The country is flat and covered by wash both east 

and west. Gypsum beds again appear 5 miles east of the locality and 

the large gypsum deposits in the Palen Mountains, about 15 miles 

west of the west end of this district, are probably a continuation of 

the gypsum series here described.

The gypsum in the Maria. Mountains occurs in beds that have a 

general east-west course and a northerly dip, which ranges at the 

outcrop from 20° to almost vertical. In places the formation is 

nearly flat, and so doubtless are the underlying gypsum deposits. 

Igneous rock, a quartz monzonite gneiss, bounds the gypsum area on 

the north and south. The gypsum beds range in thickness from 10 to 

more than 100 feet and are interbedded. with limestone or shaly 

material. They occur in two bands of four beds each. The thickness of the limestone between the gypsum beds is from 100 to several 

hundred feet. Most of the gypsum is snowy white; some of it, however, has a grayish tint or shows grayish bands.

The openings in the gypsum are superficial with the exception of 

a shaft and numerous drill holes put down by the United States 

Gypsum Co. The shaft, which is in the eastern part of the district 

and near the northern limit of the gypsum belt, is vertical, 70 feet 

deep, and has a 50-foot crosscut at the bottom. A vertical hole was 

drilled- in the bottom of the shaft to a depth of 260 feet, but whether 

it was all in gypsum is not known.

The geologic age of the deposits is unknown but may be Paleozoic.

MECCA.

In the Colorado Desert, 12 miles east of Mecca, are deposits of rock 

gypsum about the extent and purity of which reports differ considerably. Specimens seen and information obtained from various 

sources indicate that the deposits are similar to those at Palmdale, 

and probably have no commercial value.

OTHER DEPOSITS. 1

At many places in the Colorado Desert the Miocene rocks carry 

interbedded strata of gypsum, which, however, are generally .too thin 

to be of economic .value.

SAN BENITO COUNTY.

Along the west side 'and middle of the Coast °Bange many deposits 

of gypsite that are in all essential respects similar to those on the 

eastern slopes have been reported. They are particularly numerous 

along the east side of Salinas Valley.

1 Communicated by W. C. Mendenhall.
80 . GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The deposits east of Metz and King City, most of them in San 

Benito County but a few in Monterey County, have been briefly described in reports of the California State Mining Bureau.

A deposit on the southwest side of Bitterwater Valley, in San 

Benito County, 10 miles east of King City, at an elevation of 1,900 

feet, crops out along the top of a series of ridges and dips gently 

westward. It is overlain by clayey soils and covers an area of several 

hundred acres. The upper portion of the deposit is composed of 

massive gray gypsum, which, according to analysis, is 90 per cent 

pure. The thickness of this deposit is from 3 to 7 .feet. This stratum 

is underlain by another, less pure, which contains only.40 to 60 per 

cent gypsum, the impurities being lime, clay, and sand. The gypsum 

is soft and marly >and can be advantageously used for fertilizing 

purposes. (See PL XIII, A.)

The following descriptions are taken from a report by Lewis E. 

Aubury: 1

In Bitterwater Creek canyon a number of detached gypsum deposits are found, 

running from Lewis Creek in sec. 5, T. 19 S., R.-10 E. Mount Diablo meridian, 

to sec. 17 or 18, T. 18 S., R. 9' E. The quality of the gypsum differs materially in 

the various exposures.

F. Q. Alvarez, Bitterwater post office: In sec. 5, T. 19 S., R. 10 E., and sec. 32, 

T. 18 S., R. 10 E., on the east side of the lower Bitterwater. The gypsum lies in 

or in close contact with a belt of serpentine which runs along the east rim of 

Bitterwater Valley. It is mixed with clay and often of a grayish color; some 

boulders of white gypsum are, however, found on the surface. Several years 

ago some was excavated and hauled to San Francisco, but in later years the 

deposit has been idle.

Mrs. S. Chambers, Bitterwater post office: In sec. 15, T. 18 S,, R. 9 E., on the 

west side of Bitterwater Valley, some gypsum boulders were excavated some 

years ago. In a well dug near the house a bed of gypsum about 3 feet thick was 

passed through. Three hundred yards northeast of the house some open cuts 

have exposed two beds of a fair quality of gypsum. The country rock is shale, 

but the gypsum is accompanied by a light-gray sandstone containing inclusions 

of gypsum.

.1. F. Dunn, Hollister: On the Topo ranch, in sec. 17 or 18, T. 18 S., R. 9 E., on 

the divide west of Bitterwater Valley, a deposit of gypsum lying in a horizontal 

bed 3 to 4 feet thick has been opened for about 100 feet. It has only a solid 

overburden of 2£ to 3 feet, and is underlain by shale. The gypsum is of fairly 

good quality. The deposit is 12 miles from railroad.2

J. C. Tully, Bitterwater post office: In sec. 32, T. 18 S., R. 10 E. [See Alvarez 

deposit, of which it forms part.]

R.-R. Tully, Bitterwater post office: In sec. 11, T. 18 S., R. 10 E. Some detached bodies of grayish-colored gypsum, somewhat mixed with clay.

Estate of T. Williams (deceased), 1003 First Street, San Jose: In the southwestern part of T. 19 S., R. 12 E., and the northwestern part of T. 17 S., R. 12 

E. Mount Diablo meridian, on Silver Creek, indications of gypsum have been 

found.

1 The structural and industrial materials of California : California State Min. Bur. Bull. 

38, pp. 286-287, 1906.

2 California State Mineralogist Thirteenth Ann. Kept., p. 504, 1896.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY UULLETIM 697 PLATE XIII

. BED OF GYPSUM ON MESA 15 MILES NORTH OF KING CITY, CALIF.

B. GYPSUM OUTCROP ON FORT DODGE, DES MOINES & SOUTHERN RAILROAD 

HALF A MILE SOUTH OF DES MOINES RIVER, NEAR FORT DODGE, IOWA.

This outcrop shows bedding, solution channels, and durability under long exposure. Photograph

by R. W. Stone.
 CALIFORNIA. 81

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. 

AMBOY.

Aniboy, a station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway 

in the Mohave Desert, San Bernardino County, about 225 miles 

from Los Angeles, is on the north shore of a periodic lake, along 

which the railway extends in an east-west direction for 6 or 8 

miles. The gypsum deposits are in the lake bed, probably stretching nearly around it. This lake bed is of a type common in the 

Mohave Desert and is a number of miles in extent. The surface soil 

is salty, so that almost no vegetation grows on it. The lake receives 

drainage from mountains on both the north and the south, but the 

rainfall in the mountains is rarely sufficient to furnish the streams 

enough water to cover the surface of the dry bed.

A small volcano rises 3 miles west of the lake, and from this 

streams of basaltic lava have run over the lake bed. In the bays 

between these flows gypsum is found throughout the area, and the 

winds have blown it up into small drifts across the tongues of lava. 

Over a portion of the area a light volcanic ash forms the surface 

soil, a foot or more thick, and below this gypsum is found to 

a depth of 6 to 8 feet, at which point the water level is reached. It 

is not known how far the gypsum may extend below water level. 

Many prospect holes have been dug along the north and east shores 

of the lake and gypsum was found only within about half a mile or 

a mile of the shore line.

The gypsum varies considerably in character, both longitudinally 

and vertically. In many places the gypsum nearest the surface is 

rather dirty, but below it is a stratum, 14 inches to 2 feet thick, 

of clean, white granular gypsum. In places the gypsum is cemented 

into a clean, spongy mass, which has little solidity but can be 

broken out in chunks a foot or more in diameter. At other places the 

gypsum crystals reach an inch or more in breadth but are thin in 

proportion. There is also considerable variation in the amount of 

dirt present. It is reported, that gypsum occurs on the south side 

of the lake bed, and it is probable that the deposits will be found 

along a considerable proportion of its circumference. The character of the rocks in the hills is unknown, but there are crystalline rocks 

on both sides and more than likely young sedimentary rocks also.

In a prospect hole 2 miles east of Amboy no water appeared at 

a depth of 9£ feet, and the gypsum does not have the salty taste 

Avhich is common to the gypsum on the west side of the lake. Gypsum is found all the way to the bottom. The uppermost 2 feet is 

rather dirtj'. Below this material is 2 feet of much cleaner material, 

but the lower 4J feet is iron stained and dirty. The gypsum is 

124567° 20 6
82 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

coarse grained, the largest crystals being one-fourth inch across, 

and in general is loose but includes some hard layers and seams.

The Consolidated Pacific Cement Plaster Co. of Los Angeles is 

operating on the west side of the lake and has a mill at Amboy. This 

company draws its supply of gypsum from points between 2 and 3 

miles southeast of the mill. The surface is stripped by horse scrapers 

to a depth of about 6 inches, and the gypsum is then loaded into 

tram cars by gasoline shovel. (See PL XII, A.) These cars arethen hauled by steam locomotives to the mill. The deposit is 

worked' down to water level, a depth at this point of somewhat less 

than 8 feet. The level will undoubtedly vary from time to time. 

At this depth the gypsum is apparently of as good or better quality 

than at points above.

A partial analysis of a selected sample by George Steiger is as 

follows:

Partial analysis of gypsum -from deposit 2 miles southwest of Amboy, Calif.

Lime (CaO)_____________________________ 32. 7 

Sulphur trioxide (SO.)________________________ 44.7 

Water driven off at 60° C_____________________ . 2 

Water driven off at 300° C_____1 _______________ 19. 0 

Chlorine (Cl)_____________________________ . 13 

Iron oxide (Fe2O3 ) __________________________ .2

The water driven off at 60° C. is considered as hygroscopic. That 

driven off at 300° C. (19.5 per cent) is sufficient to hydrate fully 92.8 

per cent of gypsum. Nominally this would leave 2.7 per cent of 

anhydrite, but it is probable that this is partly hydrated calcium 

sulphate, and that a portion of the 92.8 per cent is also only partly 

hydrated, so that the sum of the two, 95.5 per cent, more nearly 

represents the amount available for plaster making. There is a 

small amount of lime present, probably as calcium carbonate, in 

which form it would amount to 2.5 per cent. The gypsum from the 

top to the bottom of the deposit would probably not be as pure as 

this analysis would indicate.

There is undoubtedly enough gypsum in sight to run several such 

mills as that now working for many years. Two salt works on the 

lake bed, a few miles east of Amboy, make use of the heavy brine.

Similar periodic-lake deposits of gypsum are said to exist south of 

Danby, on the Atchison, Topelia & Santa Fe Railway, and near 

Kelso, on the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. Similar deposits 

are also reported in the Colorado Desert.

AVAWATZ MOUNTAINS.1

Not far from the northern boundary of San Bernardino County, 

on the northeast edge of the Avawatz Mountains. there -are ex1 Abstract from report made by H. R. Johnson for the Avawatz Salt & Gypsum Co., July, 

1911.
CALIFORNIA. 83

tensive deposits of rock gypsum. The locality is at the extreme south 

end of Death Valley and about 10 miles west of the Tonopah & 

Tidewater Eailroad. The Avawatz Salt & Gypsum Co. of Los Angeles has gypsum claims in sees. 15, 22, 23, 25, and 26, T. 18 N., 

E. 5 E., San Bernardino base and meridian, and has done development work on the gypsum and associated beds of talc, salt, and. 

celestite.

The gypsum-bearing strata range from 150 to about 400 feet 

thick, the average thickness being 250 feet. They outcrop over an 

area 9 miles long by 1 mile wide. These strata consist of greenish 

or reddish sands and clays, which carry large quantities of gypsum 

and beds of rock gypsum from 1 to 10 feet thick. The rock gypsum 

is massive, fine grained, and varies in color from white through 

shades of green, pink, and red to dull black. The green is clue to 

flakes and seams of green clay, the red to iron, and the black to 

manganese. Weathered gypsum outcrops are generally cream or 

buff or show delicate tints of red or green. Satin spar occurs in seams 

from 1 inch to 4 inches wide. Plated selenite is comparatively rare.

Earth movements have been intense in these mountains, producing 

curved lines of strike and many prominent faults. The valuable 

nonmetallic deposits lie mostly in troughs between parallel ridges and 

the mainjnountain mass. The gypsum in many places is in particulaiiy advantageous positions for mining.

Analyses of a number of samples show from 74 to 97 per cent 

pure gypsum.

SAN LU1S OB1SPO COUNTY. 

CAEEIZO PLAIN. 1

Gypsite occurs at numerous places on the southwest flank of the 

Temblor Range., immediately east of the Carrizo Plain, from the 

vicinity of sec. 16, T. 31 S., E. 21 E., to the Kern and San Luis 

Obispo county line, near sec. 36, T. 32 S., E. 22- E. The deposits 

are- of the efflorescent type, and most of them are of poor grade. 

They overlie the soft Miocene sandstones exposed on this flank ot 

the range. Only assessment work had been done on these deposits. 

The gypsite is of so low a grade that under present costly methods 

of working and lack of adequate and cheap transportation facilities 

it is practically valueless. The locators made no secret of the fact 

that the work was done for the purpose of meeting the assessment 

requirements on oil claims, so that these occurrences could in no 

sense be considered as actual gypsite prospects.

Plate XI, A '(p. 76), a view taken in sec. 7, T. 32 S., E. 22 E., shows 

one of the many gypsite workings in the Carrizo Plain on which work 

had been done to meet assessment requirements.

1 Notes furnished by Ralph Arnold.
84 ' GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ALAMO CREEK.

Bunchy gypsum veins are scattered over 40 acres on Alamo Creek, 

16 miles from Santa Maria. The veins occur in clay beds similar 

to those at Point Sal. Part of the gypsum is white and part grayish. 

Little development work has been done on the deposit.

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. 

SANTA BARBARA CREEK.

Deposits of alabaster described as 20 to 30 feet thick and traceable 

across the country for many miles were visited on the south side of 

an eastern branch of Santa Barbara Creek, 32 miles southwest of 

McKittrick. The location of the claim was given as the SE. £ sec. 

34, T. 9 N., E. 25 W., San Bernardino base and meridian. The outcrop occupies the end of a low point and is about 50 to 75 feet long 

by 20 to 25 feet broad and probably somewhat less in thickness. It 

has an apparent strike along the face of the hill, but a prospect 

tunnel driven to a length of 40 feet failed to find gypsum in other 

than thin veins, the largest of which is about 4 inches thick. The 

outcrop is composed of finely crystalline material, some of which 

may be classed as alabaster. It is in irregular masses, the largest 

of which is probably not over 2 feet long, and the clear material is 

in still smaller pieces. There are small pieces of beautiful pink and 

clear white material, though only a part of it is hard enough to be 

useful as alabaster. It occurs in a soft, clayey sandstone, which is 

probably of Tertiary age.

POINT SAL.

On Point Sal, Santa Barbara County, gypsum was mined for 

several years previous to and including 1889, at a number of points 

1 to 2 miles from the coast. Of the former workings there now 

remain only caved open cuts and tunnels. The rocks are clayey 

ghales of Miocene age, only slightly consolidated, are overlain and 

underlain by harder rocks, and appear to be similar to those on 

Santa Barbara Creek, mentioned above. The gypsum in sight is 

similar to that described near Santa Barbara Canyon and is apparently not in continuous beds, as it can not be traced into the 

gulches. Almost none is to be seen on the surface, and the beds are 

probably of little or no economic value. From 10 to 20 carloads 

of gypsum remain unshipped on the seashore. The gypsum is well 

solidified and is of rather fine grain. Although it contains considerable clay a small part of it is white.
CALIFORNIA. 85

VENTURA COUNTY. 

FILLMOEE.

A bed of massive white gypsum in sees. 12 and 13, T. 3 N., R. 20 W., 

 J. miles by road south of Fillmore, was quarried from 1911 to 1914. 

The gypsum is interbedded with diatomaceous shale that strikes east 

and dips north at a low angle. The rock was calcined and made- into 

wall plaster at Fillmore. Operations were abandoned because of the 

impurity of the gypsum. .

SOUTH MOUNTAIN.

On the south slope of South Mountain at an elevation of 2,000 feet, 

about 4 miles south of Santa Paula, massive but soft granular gypsum 

occurs interbedded with diatomaceous shale. The beds strike east 

and dip 60° N. The gypsum is between the two lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad, but it is impure, occurs on the top of the mountain, and does not warrant development.

FEENCH POINT.

% In sec. 16, T. 8 N., R. 24 "W., San Bernardino base and meridian, 

on the east side of Cuyama River, 6 miles above the mouth of Santa 

Barbara Canyon, is a hill known as French Point, which is 200 

to 250 feet above the river. A deposit of alabaster is reported to 

occur near the top of the hill, from which blocks a yard square 

and 10 inches thick are said to have been taken. An analysis shows 

that it contains over 90 per cent of gypsum. The locality is 25 

miles south of Maricopa, Kern County.

OJAI VALLEY.

There is an undeveloped bed of gypsum on the hill below the 

grade that leads to the upper Ojai Valley in Ventura County about 3 

miles east of Nordhoff. It is exposed for a width of 15 to 20 feet in 

a canyon on the south side of the road and dips slightly to the east. 

Another outcrop, perhaps the same bed, appears a mile distant, on 

the opposite side of the hill. The locality is so situated that it can 

be reached by the construction of a short road.

SUMMARY.

The gypsum deposits of California may be divided into four 

classes (1) efflorescent deposits; (2) periodic-lake deposits; (3) 

interbedded deposits; (4) selenite, or crystallized gypsum veins. Of 

these all except the fourth class the vein may locally be of value.

The efflorescent deposits are widely spread over .the Coast Range 

and Tehachapi Mountains from San Benito to Los Angeles counties. 

They overlie a variety of Tertiary sediments, fine and coarse sandstones and shales. In general they are of little or no value, but 

locally, Avhere transportation is not too difficult, the deposits may 

be workable.
86 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

At a number of places visited claims on such, deposits were nominally being held for the gypsum upon them. The gypsum at many 

deposits can be of no value until transportation is very much cheaper 

than it is now or is likely'to- be, and that at other deposits will never be 

of value. Many a claim owner freely admitted that he was really holding the claim for oil, ~but that under the then existing laws he believed there was no legal way of holding an oil claim against jumpers 

until it could be prospected, no matter what expenditure of time and 

money was made up'on it, whereas if it were taken up as a gypsum 

claim it could be held until a patent was obtainable by doing the 

annual assessment work.

Efflorescent deposits are formed fey the evaporation of water which 

lias percolated through porous gypsiferous rocks and dissolved gypsum from them and which leaves its load of gypsum at the place 

where vaporization has proceeded to a point at which gypsum is 

precipitated through supersaturation.

The' periodic-lake deposits are found in San Joaquin Valley, 

the Mohave Desert, and probably in the Colorado Desert. The large 

deposit at Amboy is being -mined, and prospecting may show others 

to be of value also. In this and other desert playas the waters 

are briny, but at Kern and Buena Vista1 lakes gypsum .has been deposited from comparatively fresh waters. In the desert lakes gypsum is probably precipitated through supersaturation brought about 

by -evaporation, but in the fresh-water lakes the gypsum is deposited 

just outside the normal shore line by the evaporation of water from 

the soil, the deposit being formed similarly to the efflorescent deposits on rocks, the soil drawing its .supply of water from the somewhat .concentrated solution along the shore of the lake.

Practically all the efflorescent and lake deposits except those in the 

briny lakes are covered by soil. From those that are not thus covered the soil seems to have been removed by wind or other agencies. 

The soil is thought to be not necessarily of later deposition but to be 

older than or contemporary with the gypsite deposits. The summer 

heat is very great in all the localities, so that the moisture drawn from 

the rocks and soil by the sun is vaporized at a depth of several inches 

below the surface, the depth varying with the locality, or at least 

it is vaporized sufficiently to precipitate the gypsum before it reaches 

the surface.

Interbedded deposits are found in Miocene clayey sediments at 

many places from the middle of Los Angeles County southward along 

the Colorado Desert, and at a few places northward. Locally these 

deposits may foe workable, but they are generally lean. Interbedded 

deposits in the Palen, Maria, and Avawatz mountains are of unknown 

age and are reported to be of excellent 'quality and considerable 'sis 

. Large veins of selenite are not known at any place in the State.
COLORADO.

By R. D. GEORGE.-

GENERAL CHARACTER.

Gypsum is widely distributed in Colorado, though commercial 

deposits appear to bo confined to a few geologic formations. The 

supply is almost unlimited, and unless very important new uses are 

found either for the raw mineral or the manufactured products 

there is enough to meet the demands for centuries. By far the 

larger part of the gypsum is of the granular rock variety and occurs 

interstratified with other sedimentary rocks. Here and there, however, through the weathering of the rock gypsum, considerable accumulations of gypsite ha.ve been formed.

Two deposits in the vicinity of Pueblo may be of Tertiary lake 

origin. One of them is firm gypsum, but the other is gypsite.

Of the vast volume of gypsum in the State a very large proportion is of excellent quality, and analyses show a°s high as 99 per 

cent of hydrous calcium sulphate. In places the deposits must be 

classed as gypsiferous shales, which are commercially useless.

There are only two deposits being worked for the manufacture 

of plaster at the present time. These are the United States Gypsum 

Co.'s property near Arkins, west of Loveland, in Larimer County, 

and the Colorado Portland Cement Co.'s deposit at Coaldale, with a 

mill at Portland, in Fremont County. Gypsum is quarried near 

Stone City, Pueblo County, for use in Portland cement.

AGE.

So far as our present knowledge goes the Carboniferous was by 

far the most important period of gypsum deposition. Probably 

90 per cent of the gypsum of the State occurs in strata of Pennsylvanian and Permian age. The Morrison formation (of Cretaceous or Jurassic age) contains workable deposits near Pueblo and 

Colorado Springs. Gypsum, mainly in the form of selenite crystals, occurs in the Benton, Mobrara, and Pierre formations of Upper 

Cretaceous age. The large deposit of commercial gypsum near 

Stone City rests on Cretaceous strata and may be of Cretaceous 

age, but so far as "the writer knows it is possible that it is of Tertiary

lake origin.

LOCALITIES. 

LARIMER COUNTY.

The gypsum near Arkins is near the base of the Lykins formation (probably of Permian age) and is revealed by the erosion of 

the crest of an anticlinal fold. The deposit as exposed ranges in 

thickness from 12 to 36 feet and averages about 24 feet. (See

87
00 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

PL XIV, A.) The gypsum lies between the hard basal sandstone 

member of the formation and the " crinkled " sandstone, which consists of a varying mixture of sand and lime carbonate. Exposures 

and test holes have shown a minable deposit exceeding 1,000,000 tons.

The color ranges from gray to white, and the texture is fine granular. Analyses show slight variations in purity from place to place, 

but as a whole it is a remarkably uniform and clean body of gypsum. 

It is convenient to transportation, easily quarried, and makes excellent gypsum products. This deposit has been quarried for many 

years and is now worked by the United States Gypsum Co.

Gypsum occurs at about the same position in the Lykins formation 

at points between the Arkins deposits and the north line of the 

State. Some of the more important-outcrops are at Owl Canyon, 

Deadman Butte, near Greenacre ranch, and on Boxelder and Sand 

creeks near Table Mountain. Between these points minor outcrops 

are known, und beyond Table Mountain others have been reported. 

The evidence at band makes it appear possible that the deposit is 

fairly continuous for several miles between Owl Canj-on and Greenacre ranch.

The Owl Canyon outcrop shows a clear-white granular gypsum 

of 99 per cent purity and apparently of great extent. West and 

southwest of Greenacre ranch there are two beds separated by a considerable thickness of red shaly sandstones and shales. In places 

the western or lower deposit carries much beautiful selenite, but the 

upper deposit is weathered into gypsite over a considerable area, In 

the vicinity of Table Mountain the deposit is white massive granular 

gypsum, and forms a riclge of considerable extent. To the north of 

the mountain it occurs in several bands from 2 to 12 feet thick 

separated by thin red shales. 1

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Near Morrison, on Bear and Deer creeks, gypsum occurs as lenses 

and in bodies of considerable size in the Lykins formation. On 

Deer Creek u stratum 20 feet thick lies not far from the top of the 

formation. As a rule the gypsum is associated with the variegated 

shales and earthy limestones, but on Deer Creek the deposit is associated with the limestones occurring below the capping sandstone. 

Shipments have been made from the vicinity of Morrison.

DOUGLAS COUNTY.

The Perry Park gypsum deposits also occur in the Lykins formation, which there consists mainly of soft red shales. The " crinkled " 

sandstone forms two bands, the lower of which is calcareous and

1 Butters, R. M., Permian or " Permo-Carboniferous " of the eastern foothills of the 

Rocky Mountains in Colorado : Colorado Geol. Survey Bull. 5, pt. 2, p. 74, 1913.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XIV

A. GYPSUM QUARRY IN LYKINS FORMATION, LOVELAND, COLO. 

Photograph by W. T. Lee.

B. THICK BED OF GYPSUM IN PERRY PARK, COLO.

This deposit is west of Gove Creek and shows as a white band in the middle ground. Photograph

by G. B. Richardson.
V. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

THICK BED OF GYl'SUM AT ENTRANCE TO GARDEN OF THE 

The gypsum is in the foreground between the fence and the 
COLORADO. ..-.-. 39

\

yields fossils regarded as of Permian age. Above the upper band

. and apparently forming the top of the Lykins formation is an

j irregular band of- gypsum averaging about 40 feet but reaching a

maximum of 75 feet in thickness.1 This band of gypsum is overlain

by a limestone which probably belongs to the Morrison formation.

The gypsum can be traced for about 8 miles. (See PL XIV, B.)

A large part of the mineral is of excellent quality, and it has been

quite.extensively Avorked.-

EL PASO COUNTY.

In the Garden of the Gods, along Fountain Creek, Little Foun- 

^ tain Creek, and at Glen Eyrie extensive beds of fine white granular 

gypsum occur in the upper part of Hay den's Red Bed series, which 

is now called the Lykins formation. The deposits range in thickness 

from a few feet to 60 feet. Selenite and satin spar occur in appreciable quantity in some of the beds. In the Garden of the Goda 

the gypsum is interstratified with clays, and the white outcrop of 

this member is a conspicuous feature at this much frequented place. 

(See PL XV.) Near Glen Eyrie the bed is 57 feet thick. These beds 

have not been worked to any extent, but beds near Colorado City 

have been worked rather extensively. Stevenson 2 reports a thickness of 120 feet of gypsum and shales on Little Fountain Creek.

Local occurrences of gypsum are reported as far south as Trinidad, 

but no descriptions are available.

PUEBLO COUNTY.

A short distance south of Stone City, about 20 miles northwest of 

' Pueblo, there is a considerable surface deposit of very pure gypsum 

which has been worked by the Turkey Creek Stone, Clay & 'Gypsum 

Co. The product is used in the cement industry. The deposit is 

underlain by Upper Cretaceous rocks and, from the description at 

hand, would appear to be of comparatively recent lake origin.

Gypsum is reported in Sullivan Par.k, on SW. | sec. 4, T. 18 S., 

R. 67 W., or near the county line, a few miles north of Stone City. 

Nothing is known of the character and extent of the deposit. 

 Gilbert 3 mentions two occurrences of gypsum in the Pueblo quadrangle. Of the first of these he says:

Near'the northwestern corner of the quadrangle are two small areas of the 

Morvison formation. These are parts of a much larger area occurring in the 

Colorado Springs quadrangle, adjacent at the north, so that they' belong 

rather to that quadrangle than to the Pueblo. The formation contains an

1 Butters, R. M., op. cit., p. 82.

1 -Stevenson, J. J., Report on the geology of a portion of Colorado examined In 1873: 

U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Final Rept., vol. 3, p. 379, 1875. 

3 Gilbert, G. K., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol." Atlas, Pueblo folio (No. 36), p. 6, 1897.
90 . GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

important series of gypsum beds, and a few of those beds were observed in the 

more easterly of the Pueblo areas. They are overlooked from the south by a 

high cliff of Dakota sandstone and are accessible only from the Colorado 

Springs side. The gypsum is massive and is mottled with gray and white.

The westernmost of these deposits lies in Fremont County and 

extends a considerable distance northward into the Colorado Springs 

quadrangle. Near the road between Canon City' and Colorado 

Springs, about 3 or 4 miles northwest of the northwest corner of 

Pueblo County, the United States Portland Cement Co. has quarried 

gypsum for their cement plant at Concrete. This deposit is believed to be a continuation of that near Stone City. It is not unlikely 

that the gj^psum on Beaver Creek mentioned by Stevenson 1 belongs 

to the same series, but it is hard to reconcile his statement that the 

thickness is 100.feet with the'thickness recorded for the Stone City 

deposit

The second occurrence mentioned by Gilbert is that of a deposit 

of earthy gypsum in an alluvial flat near Greenhorn station, on the 

Trinidad line of the Denver & Bio Grande Railroad. The flat is 

probably along Greenhorn- Creek or its tributary from the south. 

In either case the flat must be underlain by beds of Niobrara age.

The gypsite is said to have'been manufactured into plaster in 

Pueblo.

FREMONT, CUSTER, HTJERFANO, AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES.

From Oro Junta to Cramer and beyond on the Florence & Cripple 

Creek Railroad, in Fremont County, there is an extensive deposit 

of rock gypsum. Though the writer does not know the age of the 

inclosing strata, it would seem probable that they belong to the 

Lyldns formation. The gypsum varies from massive granular to 

finety laminated, and in color from a pure white to a dark brownish 

gray. Selected rock proved on analysis to be almost entirely free 

from impurities, but the darker rock is evidently impure. The 

beds in places attain a thickness of 60 to 75 feet, and the outcrop 

is traceable at least 1^ miles. No attempt was made by the writer 

to determine the limits of the deposit. Several exploratory pits 

have been dug, but so far as known no commercial shipments .have 

been made. This deposit is probably the one referred to by Stevenson. 2 He says:

From Ute Creek (Eightmile) to Beaver Creek the gypsum bed is a wellmarked feature of the outer*wall of the park and seems to be in thin layers 

alternating with drab or lead-colored clays.

In the same connection he mentions the occurrence of gypsum 

 along Turkey Creek farther east. Here he indicates that the beds

1 Stevenson, J. J., op. cit., p. 379.

2 Idem, p. 380.
COLORADO. 91

are either Jurassic or Triassic and states that they vary but little 

from 100 feet at several exposures. Several low hills are covered 

by gypsum. These beds must be almost continuous with those of 

Little Fountain Creek.

The deposit at Coaldale is the most extensively worked deposit 

in the State. From this locality the Colorado Portland Cement Co. 

gets its supply of raw material for its plaster mill and its cement 

plant at Portland, Colo. The average quality of the rock is equal 

to that of any other'found in the State, and the quantity is sufficient to meet the demand for many years.

The gypsum occurs in low hills extending for a distance of over 

2 miles. At the places where the rock is quarried the only covering is a thin layer of alluvial gravel. The underlying rock is said 

to be sandstone. Weathering has developed a considerable quantity 

of gypsite, which was once worked for plaster making.

At the principal workings the quarry face is over 100 feet high 

and 300 feet long. Bands and lenses of dolomite occur in the deposit, but they are not continuous and present no serious obstacle 

to the working of the quarry. There are four other openings on 

the company's holdings of 1,600 acres, all of which show commercial 

gypsum. The main body of the deposit is dark gray, but streaks 

of white are found. .

On the same line of Carboniferous outcrops, both to the southeast in Custer and Huerfano counties, and northwest in Fremont 

and Chaffee counties, gypsum deposits of commercial quantity' and 

quality occur, but no detailed description of the geology is available. 

From Stevenson's report it is evident that he regarded the containing 

strata as Carboniferous. The stratigraphic succession from the bottom is limestone, shales and sandstone, gypsum, reddish-gray sandstones, a-nd shales. Between Howard and Swissvale the deposits 

occur irregularly on both sides of the river in a series of strata about 

125 feet thick in which is one stratum of gypsum about 15 feet thick. 

Tests by the United States Portland Cement Co. showed that this 

band is of excellent quality. It has not yet been worked.

The United States Portland Cement Co., of Concrete, Colo., is 

mining gypsum for the cement plant at a point about 4 miles1 northwest of Stone City. The gypsum of this region occurs in comparatively thin masses interruptedly over an area 10 to 12 miles long 

from north to south and about 7 miles broad from east to west. The 

gypsum series is underlain by shale, and shale and red sandstones 

and sandy shales separate the gypsum strata, which range from 4 

to 6 feet in thickness/ The mineral is pink and of excellent quality 

for the purposes of the cement industry.
92 .GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

PARK COUNTY.

Near the old salt works in South Park impure gj^psum occurs in large 

quantity in what Peale1 . believed to be either Cretaceous or Jurassic 

strata. The outcrops are near the bases of several lava-capped buttes. 

The lower slopes of the buttes are so covered that the exact geologic 

relations are not clear. In one place, however, the gypsum is in 

laminated sandstones dipping north. It is very impure and ranges 

in color from gray to black. The surrounding country is occupied 

by Hay den's Upper Carboniferous, which includes in many places 

strata corresponding in character and position to the Permian. It 

is not unlikely that the gypsum belongs to this series.

In lake deposits, west and southwest of Fairplay, Stevenson2 found 

a fine soil containing much gypsum.

SUMMIT COUNTY.

Stevenson 3 reports the occurrence of gypsiferous shales on Snake 

River, a tributary of Blue River, in Summit County.

EIO BLANCO, GARFIELD, EAGLE, AND PITKIN COUNTIES.

Along the valleys of White, Grand, and Eagle rivers, and their 

tributaries, such as Roaring Fork, and Fryingpan, Brush, Gypsum, 

and Cottonwood creeks, extensive areas of Hayden's Upper Carboniferous formations are exposed. In many places along these 

streams the outcropping edges of the strata show large deposits of 

.gypsum and gypsiferous shale varying in color from pure white to 

pink-gray and almost black. In some places the weathering of the 

gypsum has covered wide slopes with a soft flourlike gypsite that is 

more or less mingled with detritus from the higher strata. The 

general geologic relationships are such as to suggest an equivalence 

of age with the deposits along the eastern foothills of the range,, 

though in places the gypsum is possibly in strata corresponding to 

the Hermosa formation of the San Juan country, and is thus of 

Pennsylvanian age.

At Ruedi, on Fryingpan Creek in Eagle County, a plaster mill was 

in operation for a few years, but it is now closed. A few carloads 

of gypsum have been shipped from Gypsum station to Portland, 

Colo., for use in the manufacture of cement.

Along the open valley of Eagle River, between the canyon and a 

point about 5 or 6 miles above the Grand, the bordering hills are 

formed of gypsiferous shales and gypsum, wjiich break down into

i Peale, A. C., U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr. Seventh Ann. Kept, for 1873, p. 224, 

1874.

- Stevenson, J. J., op. clt., p. 454. 

3 Idem, p. 374.
COLORADO. 93

a soft powdery gray to white mass of impure gypsite and alluvium. 

In the lower canyon of Eagle River the gypsum beds clip from the 

river in both directions.

The peculiar erosion of these hills has developed a topography 

closely resembling that of the badlands. The section on Eagle River 

consists of about 1,500 feet of shales, sandstones, and limestones, with 

many transitions from one type to another. In color the rocks are 

white, gray, pink, red, brown, and black. Of the total thickness 

probably one-half is gypsum bearing. From fossil evidence Lesquereux determined the age to be Permian. Recent work supports this 

finding.

The same gypsiferous series continues from the Eagle to the 

Grand and follows it interruptedly almost to the canyon. It also 

appears on both sides of Spruce Creek and on both sides of Roaring 

Fork. In all these areas the strata and gypsum deposits are very 

similar to those just described.

The gypsum occurs in strata and lenses of irregular thickness. In 

length some are measurable in miles, others in yards, and the thickness ranges from a few inches to approximately 200 feet. In many 

places the beds are scattered rather uniformly throughout the gypsiferous series, and workable beds may number from two to six. In 

other places the bulk of the gypsum is massed within one-third or 

one-fourth the thickness of the series. At a point 2£ miles east of 

Gypsum, in a stratigraphic section 140 feet thick, the gypsum measures 90 feet. Here selenite and anhydrite are plentiful.

The gypsum deposits along Eagle and Grand rivers in Eagle 

County are so extensive that they could supply the entire United 

States for many years.

GUNNISON COUNTY.

Howell 1 mentions the occurrence of gypsum on the east side of 

the river near Gunnison. 

DELTA, MONTROSE, SAN MIGUEL, AND DOLORES COUNTIES.

Siebenthal 2 describes the occurrence of gypsum along the Gunnison Canyon in Delta and Montrose counties. The gypsum occurs 

near the middle of a series of shales and sandstones of undetermined 

age but separated from what has been called Dakota sandstone in 

that area by 400 feet of " variegated but predominantly reddish 

shales with interbedded red and buff sandstones." The description

1 Howell, E. E., Report on the geology of portions of Utahj Nevada, Arizona, and New 

Mexico examined in the years 1872 and 1873 : U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th 

Mer. Final Kept., vol. 3, p. 264, 1875.

" Siebenthal, C. E., Gypsum of the Uncompahgre region : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 285, 

pp. 401-403, 1906.
94 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of the sandstone resting on the pre-Cambrian schists suggests the 

" crinkled " sandstone of the Lykins formation east of the range.

The gypsum-bearing recks average 110 feet in thickness and outcrop interruptedly for 20 miles from Smiths Fork to Red .Rock 

Canyon. The gypsum beds range from 1 foot to nearly 60 feet 

thick. Some of the sandstones and shales are gypsif erous.

A thick bed of gypsum occupies the Avhole head of Big Gypsum 

Valley and extends along the north side of the valley to Dolores 

River. It reappears down the river at the mouth of Little Gypsum 

Valley and extends some distance up that valley, especially on the 

north side. The deposit is overlain by a crumpled limestone, and 

'this is overlain unconformably by the sandstone and conglomerate 

of the Dolores formation. The unconformity may represent Cutler 

time. In places a rich Pennsylvanian fauna occurs some distance 

above the gypsum. The area covered by gj^psum in the two valleys 

is probably between 20 and 30 square miles. The mineral occurs as 

massive white gypsum in beds from 5 to 10 feet thick throughout 

a series of strata between 200 and 300 feet thick. Weathering has 

formed impure gypsite,

In East Paradox Valley gypsum covers about 8 square miles and 

in West Paradox Valley about one-half square mile. In these valleys the gypsum is associated with limestone and shales and is over:- 

lain by red shales and shaly sandstone.

In Sinbad Valley gypsum covers about 7 square miles and is associated -with limestone and shale. Cross and Howe* believe the 

gypsiferous series to be the same as that which Peale regarded as 

probably Permian. They think the. beds may be the Cutler formation. In later official publications the Cutler lias been classed .as 

Permian (?).

From the views expressed and from the field relations, it would 

seem probable that the beds in all this region are Permian or late 

Pennsylvanian.

In the Rico quadrangle gypsum occurs well down in the Hermosa 

formation, and in places reaches a thickness of 30 feet. It is underlain by black shales. In the Rico mining district gypsum occurs 

as a gangue, especially on Newman Hill.

On Hermosa Creek, north of Durango, a small exposure of gypsum 

appears to be well down in the Hermosa formation. Gypsum occurs 

in other parts of the State, particularly in the west and southwest.

1 Cross, Whitman, and Howc, Ernest, Red Beds of southwestern Colorado and their correlation : G'eol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 16, pp. 447-498, 1905.
FLORIDA.

By It. W. STONE.

Gypsum has been reported at only one locality in Florida, which 

is near Panasoffkee, Suniter County, 60 miles north of Tampa. 

This locality is not readily accessible, for it is ,a low-lying area of 

hummocky land, known as Bear Island, in the midst of a marsh 

about 6 miles west of Panasoffkee. It was examined by D. T. Day 

about 20 years ago. At the time of his visit there was a logging road 

across the swamp, but that road has been torn up, and the place is 

now less easy to reach. The following description is quoted from 

Day's report: 1

In the southern and southwestern portion of this so-called island the 

gypsum reaches the surface, with no covering whatever except an inch or 

two of vegetal mold. By striking a lioe into this the gypsuni may be dug up 

in a soft state like clay, but it soon hardens on exposure to dry air. It is 

greenish while wet and turns white on drying. Where the gypsum is at the 

surface there are knolls from 10 to 50 feet square and 3 to 6 feet higher 

than the adjoining land, but the gypsuni is found almost everywhere by 

slight excavation. The deposit is probably gypsite, or secondary gypsum.

Two pits sunk through it have shown it to be 6£ feet thick in one place 

and 7 feet thick in the other, with the usual light Florida sand "underneath. 

Mixed through it are boulders of very impure limestone, with occasional 

hard, flinty ones. As a rule the topography of the country will admit of 

digging 6 or 8 feet through the gypsum without encountering any considerable 

amount of water, except in the wet season.

The quality of the gypsum is almost uniform in .all the places from which 

specimens were taken.- The quantity is evidently sufficient for a large supply. 

The only difficulty to be anticipated in the mining is the fact that the lumps 

of limestone would be encountered at irregular intervals; their character makes 

it evident that they are residual lumps from limestone which has been dissolved by the action of rain water, as in many other, parts of the State. It 

is probable that the floor of the deposit will frequently be a bed of limestone, 

very irregular in its surface, so that it will be difficult to dig all the gypsum 

from it by cheap means.

According to a description by. Prof. F. H. H. Calhoun, of Clemsonc 

College, S. C., there is at this locality a deposit of poAvdery to 

granular gypsum evidently formed from springs, and varying in 

composition from pure gypsum to 22£ per cent calcium carbonate. He 

describes it as in places from 3 to 7 feet thick with an overburden of

1 Day, D. T., Gypsum in Florida: U. S. Geol. Survey Twentieth Ann. Kept., pt. 6, pp. 

6Gi', 663, 1899 ; Gypsuni deposits in Florida: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 48, 1904.

95
96 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

3 feet and elsewhere from 6 to 12 feet thick without overburden. Tlie 

following quotation is from Mineral Industry, 1917: x

This deposit is probably the same one visited by Dr. Day, but lie evidently 

did not see the best exposures. The material appears in sec. 23, T.° 20, 11. 21, 

as a huge mound from 6 to 10 feet thick. It has an average length oj: 150 

yards and an average width of 60 yards.

North of this large deposit, which occurs on what is. known as Soapstone 

Island, the deposits become thinner and less continuous. It might be best described as a swell or saucer type.

This type continues for some 200 yards and then gradually gives place to 

the type of deposit described by Dr. Day on Bear Island. The deposits on 

Bear Island consist of isolated mounds of gypsum from 6 to 100 feet in 

diameter and probably average 3 or 4 feet in thickness. I estimate that the 

deposit on Soapstone Island contains about 35,000 tons, the adjacent deposit 

about 70,000, and that on Bear Island probably as much, but so scattered as to 

make quarrying difficult. I found very little evidence that these mounds were 

connected under the surface.

Mr. Harry Houston, of Brooksville, Fla., has examined these deposits and finds' that Bear and Soapstone islands are in the E. £ 

sec. 23, T. 20 S., R. 21 E., and that the largest continuous deposit is on 

Soapstone Island, probably in the NE. £ SE. £ sec. 23. He sunk 

many holes with a 2-inch auger and found the deposit from 6 to 10 

feet thick with an average of 8 feet. North and west of the large deposit there are many more or less detached hummocks of gypsite. He 

reports one deposit " 3 acres wide and 6 acres long with an average 

thickness of 8 feet," or approximately 206,000 cubic yards, and 

another " 350 yards long and 140 yards wide with an average depth 

of 8-J feet," or a total of 131,800 cubic yards. This makes a total of 

337,000 cubic yards or about the same number of tons. Mr. Houston's 

report is furnished by Messrs. A. J. Burnham and S. Stevens, of 

Bushnell, Fla., who have a lease on the gypsum land.

The writer visited this locality in March, 1919, and learned that 

gypsite occurs on Bear, Soapstone, and Burnt islands in the swamp 

west of Panasoffkee and also near Inverness. These islands are 

about 4 miles west of the Seaboard Air Line Railway at a point 

3^ miles south of Panasoffkee. Pine land extends within about threequarters of a mile of the islands, but the remaining distance is sw7 amp 

grown up with saw grass more than head high, so that access from 

this direction is difficult. The islands are easily reached by a small 

gasoline launch from Panasoffkee. It takes about three hours to 

make the trip across Panasoffkee Lake, up Withlacoochee River and 

Jumpers Lake, and thence by pole boat up Bear Island Creek to the 

islands.

The deposits are a soft, incoherent mass of fine gypsum .crystals 

or particles having the character of gypsite. On Bear Island there

1 Mineral Industry for 1917, p. 117, 1918.
FLOKIDA. 97

are many hummocks of gypsite from 3 to 6 feet high which are 

said to extend from northeast to southwest for nearly a mile in a 

belt a quarter of a mile wide. By these estimates this belt would 

cover approximately 160 acres, but as the hummocks are detached, 

with little or no gypsite between them, the available quantity probably is not over 200,000 tons and may be.much less.

At the south end of Soapstone Island, which is half a mile long, 

there is an area of several acres in which gypsite forms a comparatively level-topped deposit rising about 10 feet above water level. 

Bordering it on the west and north are several acres of gypsite hummocks as much as 10 feet high. The deposit at the south end of 

Soapstone Island is the largest compact body that has been discovered. Drill holes sunk in it by Mr. Houston, are reported by him to 

show an average thickness of 8 feet of gypsite. Several holes showed 

7£ to 9| feet of gypsite, and two holes 14 and 15 feet deep did not 

reach the bottom of the deposit.

The overburden consists of 2 or 3 inches of vegetable deposit or 

woods mold. There is over the whole area a forest cover of palmetto, cabbage palm, cypress, live oak, and other trees. Overturned 

trees show a flat mass of roots but no tap roots, perhaps because 

the bottom of the gypsite deposit seems to be practically at the level 

of the surrounding swamp and the gypsite is probably always damp. 

It might not be difficult to strip off the forest and leave a clean surface of gypsite, but as the highest estimate of the quantity available 

is only about 330,000 tons a moderate-sized business of 50,000 tons 

annually would exhaust the deposit in six or seven years. A conservative estimate of 150,000 tons available to be worked by a small 

plant having a capacity of 20,000 tons a year gives the same result 

 exhaustion in a brief period. Although the deposits could be mined 

by steam shovel or floating dredge, they have not been developed 

because of their small size and location in an area of small market, 

which is easily supplied from gypsum producers in Virginia and 

those in the Atlantic Coast States using gypsum from Nova Scotia;

Samples of gypsite were taken by the writer for analysis:

Analyses of gypsite from Florida..

[Chase Palmer, analyst.]

Silica (SiOo). ....................................................................

Bear 

Island.

32.39

44.10

21.64

.52

.55

Soapstone 

Island.

32.30

45.00

21.53

.32

.28

124567° 2C
98 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The sample from Bear Island was obtained by cleaning off a few 

inches from the face of an exposure to get unstained material free 

from vegetation. The sample from Soapstone Island was dug 2 feet 

below the surface in the side of a vertical wall of a natural hole in 

the deposit. These analyses are practically identical with that of the 

sample obtained by D. T. Day, as shown in the table of analyses on 

page 28.

According to geologic maps of Florida, the area west of Banasoffkee is occupied by rocks of the Vicksburg group, of Oligocene 

age. This group consists of soft, porous light-gray to white limestone, containing marl beds and layers of chert. The writer did not 

find limestone exposed near the gypsite deposits but did -see nodules 

of fossiliferous chert between the hummocks of gypsite. The meager 

evidence suggests, as mentioned by Prof. Calhoun, that the gypsite 

has been derived from springs. It would seem that at some earlier 

geologic period the land stood at a slightly higher elevation and that 

gypsiferous waters rising under artesian head reached the surface 

here and, evaporating, made mounds of gypsite.

According to Mr. S. Stephens, of Bushnell, Fla., there is considerable gypsite on Burnt Island, which lies about 200 yards east of the 

north end of Soapstone Island, and also a few miles north of this 

localitjr, near Inverness. He reports that the deposit near Inverness 

is pockety, can be traced about 1£ miles, and does not contain more 

than 5,000 tons. Of this same deposit Prof. Calhoun says i1

Further north, about 5 miles east of Inverness^ more deposits are found, 

but in these the type is different. It lies beneath the surface covered with 

an overburden from a few inches to several feet in thickness. The deposit 

itself, I believe, -would not average more than 3 feet and is not continuous. 

This deposit extends south some 2 or 3 miles.

The writer concludes that the Florida gypsite would make plaster 

suitable for gypsum board, block, and tile and for base coats. Probably it would not make perfectly white plaster. The manner of occurrence and the size of the deposits do not encourage development. 2

1 Mineral. Industry for 1917, p. 117, 191S.

" Stone, E. W., Florida gypsum deposit explored : Rock Products, vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 

30-31, 1920.
IDAHO.

By R, W. STONE.

Gypsum 'lias 'been found In two localities In Idaho in quantity 

worthy of mention. The smaller but more accessible of these deposits is in Bear Lake County, 3 miles east of Montpelier, on the 

south side of Montpelier Canyon. G. R. Mansfield, of the United 

States Geological Survey, who examined the deposit, has furnished 

the writer with the following data, previously unpublished. There 

is a prospect hole in the deposit in the SW. | sec. 32, T. 12 S., R. 45 

E., where a small body of gypsum lies on and fills cracks in limestone apparently of Pennsylvania!! age. The gypsum is fine grained, 

white, massive, and seemingly pure. It is not well exposed, but 

the bed is at least 4 feet thick. The lateral extent was not determined. An analysis made by W. C. Wheeler, of the United 

States Geological Survey, from a sample cut across 4 feet of the 

bed is as follows:

Analysis of gypsum from a deposit near Montpelier, Idaho. 

[W. C. Wheeler, analyst-.]

SiO2 _____________________________________ 4.14 

A1 2 03 _______________________-:___________ . 89 

Fe20s_________________________________ .10 

MgO _________________________________ .99 

CaO ____________________________________ 31. 40 

C02 ____________________________________ 2. 33

SOa ___________________________________________________ 41. 13

H2 0', loss at 200° C__________________________ IS. 39

In the mountains in the northeastern part of Benr Lake County 

Mr. Mansfield found lenses and layers of gypsum in the Nugget 

sandstone, of Jurassic or Triassic age, but nowhere more than a 

few inches thick.

The second deposit was examined and described by E. F. Burchard.1 It is in Washington County and lies high in the bluffs overlooking Snake River, about 10 miles northeast of Huntington, Oreg.. 

which is the nearest town. Rock gypsum as exposed in short adits 

and pits in sees. 7, 8,'IT, and 18, T. 13 N., R. 7 W., occurs in lenticular 

masses banded with grayish and greenish material, possibly chloritic. "The lenses appear to range from 6 to 20 feet in thickness.

1 Burchard, E. P., Gypsum industry in 1910 : TJ. S. Ceol. Survey Mineral Resources, 

19.10, pt. 2, p. 727, 1911.

99
100 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Some of the gypsum is pure white, massive, and spotted with small 

lumps of impure gypsum and dark country rock; some is yellowish, 

owing to lumps of foreign material; and some is so filled with 

laminae of a greenish chloritic (?) mineral and small rolls of impure limy material that it would seem to be worthless. Quarrying 

would require handling much overburden and waste gypsum, and 

underground mining would be uncertain because of the lenticular 

character of the deposit.

There is a branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad on the 

Oregon side of Snake River within half a mile of the prospects.

The character of the deposit is similar to that a few miles farther 

south on the Oregon side of the river, and meager evidence suggests that the gypsum-bearing rocks are of the same series in both 

places and of Miocene age.
IOWA.

By K. W. STONE and G. F. KAY.

The first gypsum mill built in the United States west of Mississippi Eiver was located at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and the plaster industry of the State is over 45 years old. Gypsum, however, is known to 

occur in only two areas the well-known one at Fort Dodge and the 

recently discovered one at Centerville. At Fort Dodge the gypsum 

outcrops, but at Centerville it lies 500 feet below the surface and 

was discovered in a drill hole. The two occurrences will be described 

separately.

GYPSUM AT FORT DODGE.

By R. W. STONE. 

CHARACTER AND EXTENT.

In the vicinity of Fort Dodge, Webster County, which is near the 

center of the State, there is an area of 60 or 70 square miles underlain 

by sedimentary strata carrying gypsum. This area is 3 to 6 miles 

wide and about 13 miles long. It extends in a northeast-southwest 

direction, and the greatest width is at Fort Dodge, where Des Moines 

River crosses it. Gypsum is exposed in the bluffs along the river, 

and its tributaries, Soldier Creek and Twomile Creek or Gypsum 

Hollow. Earlier reports* have contained stratigraphic sections of the 

gypsum and adjacent strata exposed at a number of quarries and 

other localities in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, but in June, 1916, at 

the time of the writer's visit, none of these localities presented adequate exposures, for the rocks were buried in talus and overgrown 

with brush. In fact, no place was found where more than 15 feet 

of the beds near the gypsum horizon were exposed, and although it 

was intended to search for fossils in the pink shales, the possibility of 

finding traces of animal life was despaired of because of the soft 

clayey character of the shales at the outcrop and the friable, sugary 

character of the sandy layers.

The gypsum bed is fairly well exposed north of Fort Dodge, in the 

bank of Soldier Creek, just above creek level, 1^ miles above its 

mouth, near a railroad bridge at the cemetery. South of the city 

in Gypsum Hollow above the tracks of the Fort Dodge, Des Moines 

& Southern Railroad, and directly across Des Moines River, in the

1 See bibliography, p. 311.

101
102 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

hollow which that railroad follows south, gypsum outcrops conspicuously. (See PI. XIII, #, p. 80.) All these localities contain abandoned quarries, where the gypsum was taken along the outcrop and 

back so far as the cover was not too great. At none of these places is 

the whole thickness of the gypsum clearly exposed, but it may be 

seen at the mouth of the drift mine of the Plymouth Gypsum Co. 

in the SE. £ sec. 31, T. 89 K, E. 29 W., which is on the west side of 

Des Monies Eiver.

Extensive development by mines and drill holes has shown that 

the gypsum occurs in a single bed lying practically horizontal and 

ranging in thickness from 10 to 30 feet. In that part of the gypsum 

area now being mined the bed is commonly 22 to 25 feet thick and is 

reported to be fully 30 feet at one place in the property of the Wasem 

Plaster Co. in the SE, £ sec. 34, T. 89 N., E. 28 W.

The miners recognize the following divisions in the gypsum bed:

Section of gypsum bed at Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Feet. 

9-foot ledge, all but upper part suitable for plaster, varying in

thickness ______________________________ 3-12 

6-foot ledge, fine plaster rock_________________ 6 

Hard ledge _._____________________________ 4

18-inch ledge inferior for plaster but sometimes used______ 1$

Bottom, or 2-foot ledge, not good for plaster__________ 2-4

The bottom ledge is not of constant thickness and is almost everywhere left in the floor, either because the rock below it is clay 

that would swell and make a bad floor, or is a sand that is not 

easily separated from the plaster rock and would be detrimental. 

The 18-inch ledge in some places is not so good as the best rock, -and 

it1 is not everywhere mined. The hard ledge is recognized by the 

miners in all the properties by the quality that gives the name. 

Above it is the ledge that furnishes most of the plaster rock and 

is removed except for what is left in pillars and roof. Only those 

thoroughly familiar with the deposit can pick out the various 

ledges, for the outward appearance is the same and the separation 

is only a line of parting and not marked by clay or other foreign 

material. The upper ledge,, sometimes 'called the 9-foot, is the most 

variable because this deposit was exposed to the preglacial erosion 

and-its upper surface suffered thereby. One ean easily imagine that 

when this gypsum bed was exposed over a wide area the streams 

carved channels in it and through it, and the margins of the troughs 

thus made were irregular by reason of the tributary gullies. So the 

upper ledge varies much in thickness. In places it is entirely-cut 

away and in others the whole thickness of the gypsum deposit was 

eroded. An old watercourse of this sort, which cut clean through 

the gypsum in preglacial time and was subsequently filled by what 

the miners call "sea mud," is fully 500 feet wide in one of the mines
IOWA. 103

and means the loss of several acres of valuable deposit. Close to 

the old watercourse the gypsum is thin and poor. The upper part 

of the 9-foot ledge is always left to support the roof and is very 

uncertain working because of its great irregularity.

Vertical joints at intervals, of 50 feet or less are common in the 

gypsum and make a, clean parting, from roof to floor. In some 

places they are an advantage in mining. Solution channels are 

present, and in the drift mine of the Plymouth Gypsum. Co., on 

the w.est side of Des Moines Biver, a cavity said to have been 15 by 

50 feet was penetrated. The water from the sumps in this mine is all 

pumped into and carried away by an underground channel in the 

mine.

Although in the mine now being worked the gypsum bed averages over 2.0 feet thick, it is reported that in a well in sec. 27, T. 89 N., 

E. 28 "W., only 1 foot of gypsum was found and in another well none. 

The gypsum lies only 40 to. CO feet below the surface of the prairie, 

and one of the wells was 90 feet deep. One of the old mines is said to 

have run into gypsum too thin to work.,

The evidence of mines, wells, and drill holes shows,, therefore, that 

although the gypsum deposit in a general way underlies 60 to 70 

square miles, it is very possible that little more than 40 square miles 

of this area is what would be termed workable at the present time. If 

we .consider 10 feet the average thickness of the gypsum actually 

mined, which Avould mean a yield of 30,000 tons to the acre, it is 

easily understood that there is a vast quantity of gypsum in the 

vicinity of Fort Dodge.

This massive gypsum, described above as divisible into ledges, 

is stratified in layers from 2 inches to 2 feet thick. The thin layers 

are called flags. Furthermore, all of the ledges and layers shoAv 

marked horizontal banding of alternate light and dark layers about 

half an inch thick. The small bands are for the most part regular 

and horizontal but in places are slightly wavy.

That the gypsum is of fine quality is shown by the analyses in 

the table on page 28. Small bands of satin spar have been found, 

but large plates and crystals, of selenite do not occur in the gypsum 

bed. Selenite crystals occur in the coal measures, however.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

The gypsum plaster industry began at Fort Dodge when a mill 

was erected in 1872 at the head of Gypsum Hollow, at that time 

2 miles southeast of the village square. A second mill was built 

in 1882 near the month of Gypsum Hollow, and in 1885 the Blandon 

mill was erected on the east bank of Des Moines Eiver due south 

of the town. This mill was followed by the Duncombe mill at the 

mouth of Gypsum Hollow. The mills were supplied with rock
104 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

quarried along the outcrop by stripping the overburden of glacial 

material. Rock for the Buncombe mill was hauled across the river 

on a pontoon bridge.

. Operations on the prairie began when the Cardiff mill, named in 

memory of the Cardiff giant, which was quarried from gypsum in 

Gypsum Hollow and shipped to New York State for burial and discovery, was erected in 1895, and a shaft was sunk to the gypsum. 

This mill was 4^ miles southeast of the city, and the mine was the 

easternmost development. Mining was done as in a flat-lying coal 

bed, by the room and pillar method. As the overlying deposits are 

glacial clays 40 to 60 feet thick, shafting to the gypsum bed is not 

expensive. The second mill on the prairie was the Crawford, completed in 1899. The Mineral City mill began operations in- the 

spring of 1900, and the Waterloo mill was finished in the fall of 

1901. Since that time mills have been built by the Acme, American, 

Plymouth, Wasem, and United States Gypsum companies. Of 

the 13 mills that have been built, 3 have burned, 5 have been dismantled, and 1, the Mineral City, was moved a few hundred feet 

and replaced by the-present large Mineral City mill. Five mills are 

now in operation at Fort Dodge by the following companies: American Cement Plaster Co., Cardiff Gypsum Plaster Co., Plymouth 

Gypsum Co., United States Gypsum Co., and Wasem Plaster Co. 

The method of mining is the same on all properties. (See PL 

XVI, A.) Hand and electric augers are used, the rock is blasted 

down, and cars loaded with gypsum blocks are moved by hand or by 

mules. In the larger mines, electric motors are used on main gangways. (See PI. XVI, B.} Mill machinery is driven with electricity. 

All calcining is done in kettles with coal for fuel. Gypsum plasters 

are the principal product; gypsum plaster board is made .by. one 

company and gypsum blocks by three companies.

The location of the mills and mines is shown on the accompanying 

map (fig. 5). All are using rock hoisted from a shaft at the mill, 

except the Plymouth Gypsum Co., which, has worked out the gypsum 

available at the mill and is operating a drift mine on the west side of 

Des Moines River. The rock is crushed at the mine and carried to 

the mill by cars running on overhead cables a distance of 7,000 feet. 

Iowa is second only to New York in the production of gypsum. 

Most of the calcined gypsum is sold as wall plaster in a territory 

included mostly in the States of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

Nebraska, and the Dakotas.

GEOLOGIC EELATIONS.

Fort Dodge and the gypsum mills are on the prairie. Gypsum 

is exposed in -the vicinity along the bluffs of the river and its tributaries. There is a mantle of glacial material 20 to 60 feet thick over
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XVI

JL. MINING GYPSUM, FORT DODGE, IOWA.

View showing general appearance of working face in underground gypsum mine, method of drilling, and method of loading. Photograph furnished by United States Gypsum Go.

£. ROCK GYPSUM AS IT COMES FROM THE MINE, FOUT DODGE, IOWA.

Only one mine at Fort Dodge is entered by an adit, the others being shaft mines. Electric motor

and mine cars are shown. . .
IOWA. 105

the area which effectually conceals bedrock except in stream bluffs 

where there has been recent excavating or natural cutting. Excavations soon after abandonment become masked with the glacial

R.28 W.

R.29 W. Scale R.26 W.

3 Miles

EXPLANATION

Gypsum mill Gypsum min Boundary between gypsum 

and coal measures.(Gypsum 

lies on dotted side of boundary)

FIGURE 5. Map showing location of gypsum and gypsum mills near Fort Dodge, Iowa.

clays that easily slip down, and vegetation is abundant. Consequently the geologic sections described in former reports and measured many years ago are now merely matters of record which can
106 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED. STATES.

v.

not be verified. No such exposures were found in 1916 at the localities mentioned.

The oldest bedrock exposed in the gypsum area is the St. Louis ^ 

limestone of Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) age. 

. Earlier study of field exposures and the records of wells and 

mines show that the surface of the St. Louis limestone was uneven 

at the time the coal measure shales were laid down unconformably 

upon it. It is probable that the younger Perinsylvanian or upper 

Carboniferous strata completely covered the limestone, but were 

subsequently partly -removed, so that in places knobs and ridges 4 

sticking up many feet into the coal measures became exposed at the 

surface as islands in the midst of the shales. The gypsum was laid * 

down on this fairly level surface and was deposited for the most 

part on the coal measure shales but in some places directly on the 

limestone.

After the deposition of the gypsum mud was laid down in which '* 

there were layers of gypsum an inch or more thick. On top of this 

mud sand was laid down and more mnd, making alternating strata of 

shale and sandstone. These beds above the gypsum, the original 

thickness of which is unknown, are soft, the shales clayey, and the 

sandstone friable. The color is gray and red, some of the exposures 

being very noticeably pink. Mottling of green and pink is seen in 

some of the shales, and some of the friable sandstone at the outcrop j 

is pure white or cream, with sharply outlined pink areas in it. Of * 

these beds 20 to 30 feet remain in some places, but elsewhere the , 

glacial drift lies directly on the gypsum.

The upper surface of the gypsum was widely exposed and eroded 

previous to the glacial epoch and was channeled by streams, as described earlier in this paper. ^

The gypsum deposit at Fort Dodge seems to be in a trough or : 

basin. The gypsum beds lie unconformably on strata of Pennsylvanian and Mississippian age, and the basin is completely surrounded 

by these older rocks. The gypsum and its closely related rocks in 

this area have yielded few fossils, so that there is little paleontologic , 

evidence of the age of this deposit. The Permian of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas is highly gypsiferous, including some very thick 

pure deposits, and is so highly colored as to be known as the " Bed ; 

Beds." The Fort Dodge gypsum is related to a pink formation, not 

red. Furthermore, in Kansas there is no unconformity between the 

Permian and the underlying coal measures. There is therefore no 

definite evidence for correlating these beds with the Permian 300 

miles west, although there is some color of resemblance. The age 

of the Fort Dodge gypsum is therefore unknown but is believed to be 

Permian.
IOWA. 107 

GYPSUM AT CE3STTERVILLE.1

By GEORGE F. KAY. 

GENERAL RELATIONS.

A gypsum deposit was discovered in the southern part of the 

town of Centerville, Appanoose County, Iowa, in the fall of 1910. 

For many years the Scandinavian Coal Co. has been operating a coal 

mine at Centerville. This company, in prospecting for coal on its 

property by means of the diamond drill, discovered gypsum below 

the coal-bearing rocks.

The rocks below the Pennsylvania!! in Appanoose County are 

known only from drill records of artesian wells. At Centerville 

three deep wells have been sunk for water. The deepest of these wells 

and the one of which, there is the most complete record gave a section 

as follows: 2

Record of deep well at Centcrville, Imva.

Feet.

Quaternary: Drift__________________________ 90 

Carboniferous:

Pennsylvania!!: Shales, coal and coaly shale, and a few

thin seams of limestone___________________ 436 

Mississippian: Chiefly.limestones and shales____'. ______ 574

Devonian: limestone and shales____________ __ 260

Silurian: Limestones, shales, and sandstones___________ 180 

Ordovdciau: Dolomites, limestones, sandstones,' and shales__ 955

The depth of this well was 2,495 feet. Its bottom penetrated the 

Oneota dolomite, or lowest formation of the Ordovician in Iowa. 

This well was sunk in 1893, and if gypsum was penetrated it was not 

so recorded by the drillers. However, in this connection, it is of 

interest to state that the log of one of the other deep wells,3 completed in 1904, contains a, statement to the effect that at a depth of 

600 feet below the surface the drill passed through 15 feet of " white 

sand." From the evidence that has been obtained from the 'holes 

recently drilled it is very probable that this material should have 

been recorded as gypsum. This well is more than half a mile northeast of the hole in which gypsum was first recognized.

The driller's log of the Scandinavian Coal Co.'s hole, in which the 

gypsum was first recognized, has been published in detail elsewhere.4

1 A brief reference was made .to this deposit in Iowa Geol. Survey Ann. Kept., vol. Ul, 

p. 24, 1912.

- Idem, p. 935. 

3 Idem, p. 937.

* U. S. Geol. Survey BulL 580, pp. 59-64, 1914.
108 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

This log has been interpreted as follows:

Correlation of log of Scandinavian Coal Co.'s hole at CentcrvUle, Iowa.

Feet.

Quaternary : Drift ______________=____________ 31 

Carboniferous:

Pennsylvania!!: Des Moines group:

Henrietta formation: Limestones and soft blue shales. 36 

Cherokee shale: Bine, gray, and black shale, sandstone, several thin seams of coal, and some limestone___________________________ 372 

Mississippian: Chiefly limestone, lime shale, shaly limestone, some sandstone, gypsum, and anhydrite______ 111

550

The gypsum and anhydrite were penetrated between the depths 

of 537 and 547 feet below the surface. Analyses made under the 

direction of Dr. S. W. Beyer, of the Iowa State College, proved that 

the upper 5 feet of this 10 feet was anhydrite 'and the lower 5 feet 

gypsum. The gypsum was overlain by 14 feet of limestone and 

underlain by 2 to 3 feet of buff dolomitic limestone, beneath which 

was shale.

DEVELOPMENT.

Soon after gypsum had been found in Discovery hole some of the 

citizens of Centerville subscribed sufficient funds to drill two additional holes. One of these was located 1,200 feet southwest of Discovery hole at a lower elevation. The drill penetrated to a depth of 

563 feet but found neither gypsum nor anhydrite. The Mississippian 

was pierced to a depth of 114 feet, the hole ending in shale, above 

which was 2 feet 6 inches of dolomite.

A third hole was then drilled about 1,700 feet northwest of Discovery hole. This hole gave a section upon which the following 

interpretation is placed:

Correlation of log of third hole at Centerville, Iowa,,

Feet.

Quaternary: Drift__________________________ 20 

Carboniferous:

Pennsylvanian: Gray, blue, and dark shale with seams of

coal and limestone_____ _______________ 456 

Mississippian: Limestone, arenaceous limestone, some 

sandstone, and gypsunu_ _______________ 116

592

The gypsum was entered at 572 feet below the surface. It proved 

to be 19 feet thick and of fine quality. Just beneath the gypsum was 

gray sandy shale, which was penetrated for only 1 foot.

The Centerville Gypsum Co. was then formed, with a capitalization of $25,000, and decided to sink a shaft close to Discovery hole
IOWA. 109

with the object of using it later for hoisting gypsum on a commercial 

scale. This shaft was started about July 1, 1912. The gypsum 

Avas reached about September 1, 1913, and the shaft has been sunk 

to the rock beneath the gypsum. The shaft is 16 by 6 feet° and has 

three compartments. Gypsum, 13 feet in thickness, was reached 

at a depth of 533 feet. In the eastern part of the shaft the gypsum 

is free from anhydrite but in the western part anhydrite is associated with the gypsum.

When the shaft reached a depth of 528 feet, only a few feet above 

the gypsum, progress was greatly hampered by large quantities of 

artesian water that entered it. Some water had come in nearer the 

surface, but it was easily handled. The artesian water, about 3,300 

gallons an hour, comes from a porous limestone about 4 feet thick 

which lies on the gypsum. It rises to a height, of about 300 feet. 

The problem of handling this water was not solved and no further 

work was. done toward opening a mine until 1917, when the water 

was successfully sealed out. The mine and mill were operated for 

several months in 1919. The gypsum bed is 10 to 22 feet thick and 

is worked by the room and pillar system.

CHARACTER.

The gypsum that has been obtained from the 2-inch drill cores and 

from the shaft is of two fairly distinct varieties, rock gypsum and 

selenite. The rock gypsum breaks into irregular-shaped lumps, is 

white in color, and is composed of small, brightly shining elongated 

crystals. It is saccharoidal and distinctly friable, being easily crumbled to fragments resembling a pure-white granulated sugar. Much 

of the selenite'is very clear and transparent and has the characteristic 

pinacoidal cleavage. It is possible to secure fairly large masses of 

selenite free from impurities. Some of it is gray to light brown in 

color.

Under the direction of Dr. S. W. Beyer, of the Iowa State College, 

five analyses were made, two of the gypsum and three of the anhydrite. The results 1 were as follows:

Analyses of gypswn and anhydrite from, Appanoose County, Iowa.

Sulphur trioxide (S03 ). .............................

Lime (CaO) . ........................................

1

Gypsum.

1

46.56 

33.37 

20.03

99.96

2

45.65 

32.76 

20.75

99.16

Anhydrite.

1

54.12 

40.20 

6.62

100.94

2

55.29 

40.67 

4.66

100.62

3

54.45 

39.58 

5.13

98.16

1 Iowa Geol. Survey Ann. Rept., vol. 21, p. 24, 1912.
110 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

SUMMARY.

The discovery of a deposit of gypsum in the Mississippian rocks of 

southern, Iowa is of scientific interest. The evidence indicates that 

the deposit may be extensive, and the gypsum is of good quality. 

The presence of anhydrite decreases the value of the deposit for making wall plaster and related products. The relation of the anhydrite 

to the gypsum and the relative amounts of the two minerals will have 

an important bearing on the commercial value of the deposit. However, anhydrite is 'considered by some manufacturers of Portland 

cement to be practically as serviceable as gypsum.

The fact that the deposit is more than 500' feet below the surface 

and the presence of large amounts of artesian water are factors 

unfavorable to the mining of the gypsum. On the other hand, the 

deposit is well located with regard to fuel and transportation, and it 

is fair to assume that if gypsum products' were made in this part of 

the State a good market for such products could soon be developed.
KANSAS.

By ERASMUS HAWORTH. 

PREVIOUS PUBLICATION.

The Kansas University Geological Survey published in 1899 a 

report on gypsum and gypsum cement plasters.1 The volume treated 

the subject with special reference to the State of Kansas. The 

changes that have occurred since 1899 have been in the manufacture 

of gypsum products, and nothing new regarding the origin of the 

gypsum or its geology has been brought to light.

This short review is little more than an abridgment of Grimsley 

and Bailey's report with some added notes regarding the present 

status of the industry.

GEOGRAPHY.

The accompanying map (PI. XVII) shows the areas of the State 

throughout which rock gypsum can be had in sufficiently large quantities to supply gypsum industries. Here and there throughout this 

area are small patches of gypsum earth or gypsite. They were exhausted long ago as sources of material for the manufacture of Avail 

plaster. The supply of rock gypsum, however, is sufficient to supply 

the world for centuries, and its quality is fully equal to that found 

'elsewhere. Freight rates and demand determine the amount of it that 

is mined in Kansas from year to year and not the amount of material 

available.

It will be seen from the map that an area^comprising many square 

miles in the vicinit}r of Blue Rapids is underlain with workable 

gtypsum. South of Kansas River gypsum is more abundant. In 

the area between Salina and Hope rock gypsum is very abundant.

The largest deposit of gypsum in Kansas is west of Medicine 

Lodge, in Barber County. It is.12 to 15 miles across in any direction. The gypsum, which is interbedded with the shale of the Permian Cimarron group ("Red Beds"), resists erosion and is left as 

a cap on the shale hills. In some places the gypsum beds are 40 to 

50 feet thick, and in a large part of this area they are without cover. 

To the west and north the strata dip underneath the surface, and

1 Grimsley, G. r.,. and Bailpy, E. H. S., Special report on gypsum and gypsum cement 

plasters : Kansas Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 5, 1899.

1.11
112 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

the gypsum beds for many mileg are covered by overlying formations.

The three areas mentioned are the principal ones in Kansas. A 

number of others are very well known. Near Wellington and Mulvane, in Sumnef and Sedgwick counties, rock gypsum occurs in 

large quantities, and here and there patches of gypsum earth have 

been found. Gypsite, near Mulvane, was manufactured into wall 

plaster years ago.

GEOLOGY.

In the vicinity of Blue Rapids and in the southern part of Dickinson County and also southeast of Wellington the lower Permian 

rocks, which lie at the surface, consist of beds of gypsum interbedded with limestone and shales that carry marine fossils, indicating the geologic age of the strata. All of the gypsum beds 

in these areas lie considerably above the Cottonwood limestone, which 

is at or close to the division line 'between the Permian and the 

Pennsylvanian.

The gypsum in Barber County is much later in age. It is in 

great layers, interbedded in red shale and sandstone, generally known 

as " Keel Beds." It is not easy to determine the manner in which 

the gypsum and associated red beds were deposited. There is fairly 

good evidence that they were accumulated under ocean water, although some geologists attribute them to subaerial accumulation. It 

is now generally admitted that they are Permian in age.

LOCALITIES. 

BLUE RAPIDS AREA.

A vertical section showing the relations of limestone, shale, and 

gypsum beds to each other and to the Cottonwood limestone at the 

Great Western gypsum mines, Blue Rapids, is given in figure 6. The 

gypsum bed at this mine is 8-| feet thick and immediately overlies 2* 

feet of limestone, which is 26 feet above the Cottonwood limestone. 

In this locality the shales range from light to dark green in color, so 

characteristic of the Permian.

In the 143 feet of strata shown in the section" above the Cottonwood limestone there is a total of 10| feet of limestone in five beds. 

All these limestones, and in many places the shales just above and below them, are rich in marine fossils. Some of the more common 

forms of fossils are Fusulina cyUndrica, Seminula argentea, CTionetes 

granulifera, Productus semireticulatus, and Derbya, crassa.

Gypsum is reported in wells north, south, and west of Blue 

Rapids but appears to be absent in wells to the east of that town.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XTH

N

LEGEND

( ! DBCATUB j SORTOKJ PHILLIPS j SMITH JEWELL j R

\-s \ \~s^~~~A ~^^^^J^^v ! j.

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LINCOLN sELLIS

i RUSSELL '_ __ __

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" I F IN N E Y HOnGEMAyNL jT,/ ^ ' ' __ _-^ / ! 

- - - _ _J

0 10 80 30 50 CO 70 80 9 100 Slilu

MAP SHOWING GYPSUM DEPOSITS AND APPROXIMATE LIMITS OF THE PERMIAN. SERIES IN KANSAS.
KANSAS. 113

The bed is probably continuous in a large area around Blue Rapids. 

It is reported in wells at Herkimer, west of Marysville, at 80 feet 

below .the surface; on the Axtell farm, 3 miles north of the Great 

Western mine, at 90 feet below the surface;,and on the Lee farm, 

west of Blue Rapids and three-fourths of a mile south of Winter's 

mill, at 60 feet below the surface. Gypsum is reported in many other 

wells, but these reports are unreliable, because many of them are 

based upon the peculiar taste of the water. Outcrops of the gypsum 

near Blue Rapids are not extensive, owing to* the soluble character 

of the gypsum, which is dissolved out 

and covered by debris from the 

crumbling rocks above.

A small amount of gypsum was 

obtained some years ago from a mine 

on the Yarrick farm, 1 mile south of 

Blue Rapids. The blocks, which are 

piled around the entry, are now 

bleached white and seamed with small 

fissures. The fresher specimens show 

that the gypsum is about the same as 

in the other mines. At this place it is 

100 feet below the buff limestone.

Pink rounded gypsum nodules occur in the shales in many of the 

ravines west of Blue Rapids. Near 

Waterville the nodules are in black 

shale, o£ which 2 feet is exposed, 

overlain by 3 feet of blue shale and a 

30-inch bed of limestone. The buff 

limestone with flint nodules, which 

may be traced across the country, lies 100 feet above this limestone. The gypsum lies about 10 feet above Blue River.

On the John Morrow farm, about 2 miles east of Waterville arid 

2 miles west of Blue Rapids, pink gypsum nodules are embedded in 

12 feet of shale near the water's edge. Above the gypsiferous shale 

is 20 feet of red and blue shales and limestone.

The dip from Winter's mine to Fowler's mine, 1$ miles north, is 

12 feet, or 8 feet to the mile; and from the Yarrick mine to1 the 

Great Western, a distance of 2£ miles a little east of north, the dip 

is 18 -feet, or 7 feet to the mile. From the Great Western mine west 

to the exposure at Waterville the dip is between. 8 arid 10 feet to the 

mile. The dip of the gypsum, then, in the vicinity of Blue Rapids, 

is to the northwest, about 10 feet to the mile. 

124567° 20 8

Bufi limcstono, 2' 6"

Shale, 5<V

Limestone, 2' 6" 

Shale, 20'

Limestone, 2' 1"

Shale, 20'

lied and blue shale, 8'

Gypsum, 8' 6"

Limestone, 2' 6"

10'

Shale

8'

Limestone, 1'

Shale, 7'

Cottonwood limestone, 5'

FIGURE 6. Section at Great Western 

gypsum mine, Blue Rapids., Kans.
114 GYPSUM DEPOSITS .OF THE UNITED STATES. 

CENTRAL AREA. .

Extent of the deposits. There are two well-marked horizons at 

which rock gypsum occurs in the central Kansas area and indications 

of a third horizon. The lower and more extensive deposit extends 

over the central, northern, and western parts of the area; the second 

one over the central and southern parts; and the third is found 

only in the southern part. The interval between the middle and 

lower deposits is 100 feet, and between the middle and upper it is 

40 feet. The dip of the gypsum is nearly west, ranging from 6 to 12 

feet to the mile.

Solomon mine. In the northern part of the area, 6 miles southwest of Solomon, on the bank of Gypsum Creek, was located the 

mill and mine of the Crown Plaster Co. The mine entrance is 15 

feet above the creek; the gypsum is 5 feet thick and is underlain

by about 4 feet of shaly limestone. Below this limestone there is a series of 

shales, with a 3-foot stratum of gypsum. 

The roof of the mine is a 2-foot member 

of compact dark shale. The strata at the 

Solomon, mine,, including six beds of gypsum,, are shown in the section (fig. 7). 

The shales with the intercalated gypsum layers are folded and broken. The 

folds extend down into the mine, causing 

the shales of the roof to cut out the gypsum in many places. For this reason the mine was abandoned in 

1898. Probably the dip of the gypsum is northwest.

The lower part of the thickest gypsum layer is very compact 

and is filled with oval crystals of yellowish-brown selenite, which 

have the greater length in the direction of the vertical crystal axis. 

The crystals are laminated by pronounced pinacoidal cleavage. 

The larger ones are about seven-eighths of an inch long and half 

an inch wide, and. rock specimens from this portion of the stratum 

break with a conchoidal fracture. The upper part is white, less 

compact, contains no phenocrysts, and breaks more irregularly.

The occurrence of these selenite phenocrysts is of no little interest. It indicates that the ocean water at one time was evaporated very slowly and under the most favorable conditions for 

the production of individual crystals. Later there was a slight 

freshening of the water by surface drainage entering the - concentrated lake, 'so that the crystals were partly redissolved, as 

shown by their rounded edges. Still later the rapid evaporation, of 

the water precipitated the massive gypsum, and afterward an agitation of the shallow water sufficiently vigorous to mix. the crystals

Soil and gypsum, 4' 

Gypsum, 1' 

Gypsum, 1' 

Gypsum, 10"

Gypsum, 2' 

Gypsum, 5'

Gypsum, 3'

FICUKE 7. Section at gypsum 

mine near Solomon, Kans.
KANSAS. 115

thoroughly with the newly precipitated gypsum; formed the whole 

mass as it now, appears.. The deposit is therefore a record of rainsand winds not unlike those now common in the same locality.

Hope mine. At Hope, 20 miles southeast of Solomon,, the Kansas 

Cement Plaster Co. began operations in 1887. Calcining ceased here 

several years ago. This company first used the middle stratum of 

gypsum quarried near the top of the hill, 1|- miles west of town. 

It is aibout 5 feet thick and lies 10 feet below a buff shaly limestone. 

It is white and compact in texture, except near the surface, where 

it is rendered granular and more or less colored as a result of 

weathering. The satin spar associated with it is clear white when 

viewed from the side, but when viewed from above it possesses a 

cream-white tinge. Overlying the main gypsum bed is a thin deposit of black,, impure, shaly gypsum1.

In 1894 this quarry was abandoned and an 80-foot shaft was sunk 

a quarter of a mile west,, to the lower stratum, which is nearly 14 feet 

thick. In this shaft the gypsum is- white,, though much of it is 

traversed by wavy dark lines close together; giving it an appearance 

somewhat like granite or gneiss, so that plaster made from it was 

called by the company " granite cement plaster," The lower part of 

the stratum is' compact, and. contains rounded crystals of selenite, 

with dark mottled surfaces. It thus- bears a. close resemblance to the 

gypsum near Solomon, already described, although the crystals are 

usually larger, -averaging about 2 inches by 1 inch,

A study of the levels and the character of the rock indicates: that 

the gypsum quarried below Solomon is. the same as that in the shaft 

near Hope,

The gypsum in the quarry on the hill east of Hope lies below a 

buff soft shaly limestone, which accompanies all. the gypsum outcrops 

to the south, and southeast, at the Henquenet cave, German church, 

Rhodes mill, and Elmo.- This gypsum lies. 100 feet above the rock 

in the Hope shaft. The levels and dip would connect this upper 

layer with the outcrop near Saline,, which was named by Cragin1 the 

Greeley gypsum, from the township, in which it was found. Hestates that it was probably 100 feet higher than the so-called Hope 

gypsum, but as two gypsum horizons occur at Hope it is doubtful to 

which one he refers..

Other exposures. The lower gypsum, or the one near Solomonr 

outcrops a quarter of a mile south of the Dillon mill, where it is 

5 feet thick and is covered with 5 feet of dirt. This locality is 2 

miles west of. the. Hope shaft, and the gypsum is 10 feet lower. In 

a well near the Tinkler earth deposit at Gypsum, 15 miles west

1 Cragin^ F. W., The Permian system- in Kansas : Colorado Coll.. Studies; vol, 6, p. 10, 

1896..
116 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of the outcrop at Dillon, rock gypsum is found 60 feet lower. This 

same rock gypsum outcrops along the east bank of Gypsum' Creek, 

and exposes about 3 feet of white granular gypsum. It may be seen 

in places between Gypsum and Solomon, and at nearly the same 

level. Similar outcrops occur in the Holland Creek area. South 

and west of Gypsum no gypsum was found, either in outcrops 

or in wells. The upper gypsum, as exposed in the Hope quarry, 

outcrops at higher altitudes to the west and north. It occurs 7 miles 

southwest, at the gypsum cave on the Henquenet farm. The lower 

8 feet of gypsum at this cave is veined and spotted, and polished 

slabs of it bear some resemblance to onyx. The upper 2 feet exposed 

is fine grained .and compact, like alabaster. This layer is covered by 

15 feet of shales and 10 feet of buff shaly limestone. The roof of the 

eastern end of the cave has fallen,, making a ravine with gypsum 

walls. No other caves are found in this region, but there are a 

number of similar ravines which probably have had the same origin.

Two miles west of the cave, near the top of the hill, there is an 

exposure of 15 feet of white gypsum which, according to barometric 

measurement, is about 300 feet higher than the cave gypsum. One 

mile farther west a deposit of banded gypsum covered with buff 

shales was found in a well on the Wuthnow farm. The well was 

drilled 8. feet into the rock and then abandoned. On the hill onequarter of a mile to the north is an old gypsum quarry 35 feet higher 

than the gypsum in the well. The rock as exposed is 5 feet thick, 

dark colored and irregularly crystalline in the upper portion, and is 

covered with a layer of black gypsum. This deposit and the one 

on top of the hill mentioned above were the only outcrops noted of 

the third or upper gypsum.

In the well on the Rhodes farm, 3 miles west of the Wuthnow farm, 

the gypsum is 40 feet lower than it is at the cave 6 miles east, and 

60 feet lower than in the Hope quarry, 8 miles northeast. This layer 

outcrops at the same level in the ravine below the well, and it is 

compact and banded. Above it is the buff shaly limestone as at 

the other places. The dip from Wuthnow to the Khodes farm is 

nearly 12 feet to the mile.

One mile south of the exposure on the Rhodes farm the gypsum 

outcrops on the Banker farm and extends for some distance farther 

south. It also outcrops on the Tucker farm, 1 mile east and nearly 

15 feet liigher. One mile northeast of this exposure is a thick bed 

of gypsum 10 feet higher, close to the German church.

The deposits of gypsum rock in this central area have not attracted 

much attention. The lower bed, or the one near Solomon, seems 

to be more favorable for working than the so-called Hope gypsum, 

for it has good thickness and quality wherever found, whereas the 

upper bed differs in character from place to place.
KANSAS. 117 

MEDICINE LODGE AREA.

The southern area, which is in the vicinity of Medicine Lodge, 

is the largest area in Kansas, and, with its continuation in Oklahoma 

and Texas, it forms the largest area of gypsum in the United States. 

The gypsum extends from a point near the town of Medicine Lodge 

Avestward through Barber County into Comanche County and southward into Oklahoma and Texas and passes under the Tertiary gravels 

to the north. The outcrop of the deposit trends northeast and southwest.

The gypsum of the Medicine Lodge area is massive, and the lower 

portion of the stratum is very compact. This portion is used at 

the Medicine Lodge mill for the manufacture of terra alba, and the 

upper portion, which has a sugary texture, is used in the manufacture of wall plaster. The satin spar, which is found throughout the 

"Red Beds" below the gypsum,.forms wavy plates, made up of an 

aggregate of perpendicular needles. Some pieces of it are soft and 

readily crumble, but other pieces are compact and glassy in appearance.

. The easternmost occurrence of gypsum in this area is 6 miles 

southwest of Medicine Lodge, in an isolated range of hills 3 miles 

long, which is separated by a narrow valley from a second hill

1 mile in length. The valleys of East Cedar and West Cedar creeks,

2 miles wide, separate these hills from the next series, in which the 

gypsum plateau is continuous to the west. Medicine Lodge River 

cuts out the gypsum in a valley 6 or 7 miles wide. The northern 

limit of the gypsum can not be determined, for it is covered with 

Tertiary deposits. Salt Fork and Sandy Creek cut out broad valleys to the south, and the streams in the eastern portion of Comanche 

County have removed much of the gypsum, but it is continuous 

over the great portion of western Barber and eastern Comanche 

counties. It lies about 1,800 feet above sea level.

In the eastern part of Comanche County, on Cave Creek, a gypsumbed 15 feet thick is found 15 feet above the Medicine Lodge bed. 

This upper layer, called the Shimer gypsum by Cragin,1 appears to 

be a local deposit.

West of Medicine Lodge the Gypsum Hills, with sloping sides 

and level tops, are composed of the red clays and shales of the 

Permian "Eed Beds." The cap rock is a ledge of solid gypsum, 

which has protected to a considerable extent the underlying soft 

strata. The base of the hills is a massive red sandstone. A second 

red sandstone is found 125 feet higher, and 100 feet still higher 

is the ledge of gypsum that forms the top of the hills. This gypsum layer -ranges from 3 to 20 feet in thickness, depending upon

i Cragin, P. W., op. cit., p. 27.
118 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

the amount of erosion. -Forty feet below the gypsum is a green 

gypseous sandstone 2|- feet thick, which stands out as a prominent 

ledge through the hills. The red clays and shales below the gypsum 

contain an interlacing network composed of layers of selenite and 

satin spar of variable thickness, redeposited from downward-moving 

surface waters which have dissolved portions of the gypsum bed.

At Klingj in the northwest corner, of Barber County, is the quarry 

from which Best Bros, produce gypsum for their mill at Medicine 

Lodge. The gypsum bed is 20 to 25 feet thick, and the overburden 

is 30 feet thick. About 20 feet of gypsum is quarried, and the bottom 

of the bed, consisting of 3 feet of hard, darker gypsum, is not 

removed.

In the western part of Barber and the eastern part of Comanche 

counties the solvent effects of water on the gypsum are well shown 

by caves, sinks, bridges, and underground watercourses. On Cave 

Creek, 4 miles west of Evansville, is the Big Gypsum Cave in the 

Medicine Lodge gypsum. A stream of considerable size flows into 

the west entrance and out of the east one, making the eave an underground watercourse for at least 100 feet. The roof at the east 

entrance is 15 feet above the water level, but in a short distance it 

lowers to 3 feet. The floor is strewn 'with large slabs of white 

gypsum. At the center is an opening through the roof. This 

nearly circular hole is a few feet in diameter in the cave and 30 feet 

on the surface. The section near this cave shows 30 feet of the 

Medicine Lodge gypsum separated by 15 feet of red shale from 

the Shinier gypsum, which is 15 feet in thickness. This- exposure 

is the typical one of the Cave Creek formation of Cragin.

The natural bridges found here are remnants of old caves, or 

underground water channels, whose roofs have partly fallen in. One 

of the best of these natural bridges is on Bear Creek, south of Sun 

City. It is about 40 feet high and 35 feet wide..

GYPSUM CRYSTALS.

Pennsylvania^ shales. In numerous places in the Pennsylvanian 

shales of southeastern Kansas, gypsum ^crystals are found in comparative abundance but not in sufficient quantities to be of any economic importance. They occur usually in the soil and clay near 

the surface. The size of the crystals ranges from microscopic dimensions to- almost} an inch in diameter, but most of them range 

from one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch.

The occurrence of selenite crystals is interesting principally from 

theoretic considerations, as it illustrates in a beautiful manner one 

of the modes by which gypsum may be formed.
KANSAS.

They probably have orginated principally through the action of 

"soluble iron sulphate on calcium carbonate, the iron sulphate having 

been produced by the oxidation of pyrite. The shales in the vicinity 

of a gypsum deposit are usually quite heavily charged with pyrite. 

As weathering decomposes the shales the pyrite changes to iron 

sulphate, which may come in contact with limestone and thus form 

calcium sulphate. One of the noticeable features of such localities 

is the iron sulphate present in the water; of wells which penetrate 

the undecomposed shales.

Cretaceous shales. In many parts of Kansas, where Cretaceous 

shales outcrop, fine crystals of gypsum are common. Along Smoky 

Hill River for many miles such crystals are particularly numerous. 

Some of them measure more than a foot in length and are magnificent 

museum specimens. Nowhere in Kansas is the Cretaceous gypsum 

abundant enough to be of any importance for manufacturing 

purposes.

Tertiary formations. In the southwestern part of the State, where 

the Tertiary formations are in contact with the Cimarron group 

("Red Beds"), the lowermost portions of the Tertiary sands in 

many places contain well-formed gypsum crystals, particularly in 

the- southwestern part.of Meade County andj in different places in 

Seward County. From 50 to 100 feet above the contact line between the "Red Beds" and the Tertiary gypsum crystals are abundant and as perfectly formed as any others in the State.

It is probable that these crystals originated from an upward 

.movement of water through the "Red Beds," which served as a 

source of the gypsum, and that the crystallization was produced by 

surface evaporation at or near the present position of the gypsum. 

The deposits of gypsum crystals have no economic importance.

THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY IN KANSAS.

At the present time the gypsum industry in Kansas is in successful operation. A number of the smaller companies have sold out 

to the larger ones, so that fewer companies are now operating.

The gypsum industry at present is confined to the Blue Rapids 

and Medicine Lodge districts, where there are four mills or plants. 

At Blue Rapids the American Cement Plaster Co. is operating two 

mills, and the United States Gypsum Co. is operating one. The 

mills south of Kansas River in Dickinson County have been abandoned. A mill at Hope, operated occasionally, has for a number 

of years produced only crude gypsum to be sold to Portland cement 

factories throughout the State. At Medicine Lodge the Best Bros.' 

Keenes cement plant is very active.
120 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The plants at Blue Rapids use rock gypsum. They make wall 

plaster of different kinds and during recent years have made hollow 

tile and blocks for interior walls. Partition tile and blocks are 

made 1£ to 12 inches thick. The light weight of gypsum tile walls 

permits the use of much lighter structure to sustain the load.

The factory at Medicine Lodge, which has been in operation 

more than 25 years, makes Keenes cement equal in quality to the 

English product. This material sets harder than ordinary gypsum 

wall plaster, and sells at higher prices. It is used as wall plaster, 

for making imitation marbles, as a backing for marble slabs, and 

in ornamental plaster work. Best Bros.' quarry is at Kling. Plate 

XVIII, J., shows the character of the bed and the overburden.

ORIGIN OF THE GYPSUM OF KANSAS.

Space does not permit a lengthy discussion here of the ideas 

which have been expressed regarding the origin of gypsum. From 

their complete interbedding with stratified rocks the conclusion is 

reached that the gypsum beds are of sedimentary origin. In all 

the areas in Kansast to the east and northeast of Barber County 

gypsum occurs very closely associated with limestones and shales, 

which are doubtless of marine origin, as is abundantly shown by 

the large number of marine fossils in them, and therefore the 

gypsum must have been of marine origin also.

We may, therefore, say.that the gypsum around Blue Eapids and 

in Dickinson County, and other points to the south outside of Barber 

County, was laid down in a body of ocean water sufficiently concentrated to allow the deposition of gypsum but not enough to 

precipitate salt. Deposition of gypsum begins after evaporation 

of 37 per cent of the water, whereas 93 per cent of the original 

water must be evaporated in order to deposit salt.

It seems probable that here and there in the Kansas gypsum belt 

there were small bodies of ocean water which for a time were concentrated and later rediluted, either by an influx of ocean water or 

by an extra amount of fresh water clue to increased rainfall.

The origin of gypsum in the "Red Beds" in Barber County may 

have been a little different, although the burden of evidence at the 

present time.indicates that here also as with the other Kansas deposits the gypsum was mainly derived by a concentration of ocean 

water.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XVIII

A. GYPSUM BED IN BEST BBOS.' QUARRY, KLI>\G, KANS. 

Photograph by E. F. Burchard.

B. GYPSUM QUARRY OF UNITED STATES GYPSUM CO. AT ALABASTER, MICH.

View shows method of removing overburden and of loading rock blasted from ledge. Photograph 

furnished by United States Gypsum Co.
LOUISIANA.

By B. W. STONE.

Deep drilling for oil has disclosed the fact that rock gypsum occurs 

several hundred feet below the surface at a number of places in the 

western and southern parts of Louisiana. Conspicuous among these 

localities is the Sulphur mine, 3 miles west of Sulphur City, Calcasieu Parish, where a well sunk by the Louisiana, Petroleum Co. 

to a depth of 1,230 feet was in "pure gypsum, dense, granular, and 

coarsely crystalline, grayish or white" 1 for 540 feet, from 690 to 

1,230 feet below the surface.

In Calcasieu Parish, 4 or 5 miles southwest of Vinton, 150 feet 

of gypsum was recorded at a depth of 950 feet, and on Hackberry 

Island, in Cameron Parish, ,33 miles southwest of Lake Charles, a 

well at a depth of 1,620 feet reached 210 feet of gypsum. Likewise 

in Winn Parish, a well at Goldonna penetrated 22 feet of gypsum, but 

did not pass through the formation at the bottom of the hole about 

2,240 feet deep.

On the Gulf coast, a well sunk at Belle Isle, three-quarters of a 

rnile north of Atchafalaya Bay passed through 100 feet of gypsum 

and sulphur rock from 290 to 390 feet below the surface, and the 

next 490 feet was in very porous sulphur, gypsum, and anhydrite.

Smaller quantities of gypsum have been reported in other wells. 

Where selenite crystals have been obtained from the sand pumpings 

the identification of gypsum may be considered as authentic, but elsewhere, in the absence of satisfactory samples, there is some question 

whether the rock reported as gypsum may not be partly consolidated 

marl or some other rock. These thick deposits of rock gypsum near 

the Gulf of Mexico may eventually be developed by deep shafts. 

Besides supplying the local market, Louisiana gypsum products 

might be used for some of the trade of Central and South America.

1 Harris, G. D., Oil and gas in Louisiana, with a brief summary of their occurrence in 

adjacent States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 429, p. 100, 1910. '121
MICHIGAN.

By II. A. SMITH.

A more detailed report on the gypsum deposits of Michigan by 

Grimsley 1 was published by the Michigan Geological Survey in

1904. f 

GEOLOGIC OCCURRENCE.

Gypsum in Michigan occurs chiefly in the Michigan formation 

(lower formation of Grand Rapids group) of the Mississippian, in 

the Bass Islands dolomite (lower formation of Monroe group, Silurian), and in the Salina formation of the Silurian. More or less 

gypsum occurs locally in the Detroit River dolomite, the upper formation, of the Monroe group. The Grand Rapids group immediately 

underlies the Michigan coal basin and is exposed in many places in a 

nearly continuous belt around it. On the southeastern side of the 

coal basin the Bayport limestone (upper formation of Grand Rapids 

group) and the gypsum-bearing series beneath it locally have been 

wholly or partly removed by erosion. The Monroe group outcrops 

only in the extreme southeastern portion of the State and in the r* 

St. Ignace Peninsula and adjacent islands. The Salina formation 

does not come to the surface in southern Michigan and has not been 

certainly differentiated from the Monroe group in the St. Ignace 

Peninsula. (See fig. 8.)

CHARACTER AND EXTENT.

Large deposits of gypsum occur at many places in a nearly con- / 

tinuous belt of gypsum-bearing rocks around the coal basin which 

occupies the central part of the Southern Peninsula. Gypsum deposits also occur in the St. Ignace Peninsula and on the St. Martin 

Islands in Lake Huron. Surface indications point to the probable 

occurrence of gypsum deposits in the northern -part of the Beaver 

Island group in the northern part of Lake Michigan. Thick beds 

of anhydrite, in part altered to gypsum, are known in Monroe 

County and in the vicinity of Detroit and St. Clair rivers, but at 

considerable depth. Borings within the central coal basin show that 

locally thick beds of gypsum are present beneath the coal measures.

1 Grimsley, G. P., The gypsum of Michigan: Michigan Geol. Survey, vol. 9, pt. 2, 1904. 

122
MICHIGAN:.

The gypsum of Michigan belongs to the massive rock variety and 

occurs in lenticular deposits embedded in shale and shaly limestones. 

In some places the beds of gypsum, are very numerous. The beds 

range in thickness from, a fraction of an inch to 25 feet or more.

8. Outline map of Michigan showing gypsum deposits.

The thinner beds are generally small in area, but some of the thicker, 

ones have been traced over large areas. The easily mined deposits 

of gypsum in Michigan are practically inexhaustible. In., addition 

less easily accessible deposits underlie an area hundreds and probably thousands of square miles in extent.
124 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The rock gypsum is generally very pure. Commonly its color is 

white or reddish, but the upper portions of some beds which lie near 

the surface are stained yellow by iron oxide and are more or less 

mixed with clay, sand, and gravel. The texture in most places is 

finely to coarsely crystalline. At Alabaster, losco County, some of 

the rock of a very fine and uniform grain is the variety known as 

alabaster.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. 

By R. A. SMITH and R. W. STONE.

The gypsum deposits are, or have been, mined in three localities 

Grand Rapids and Grandville in Kent County, Alabaster in southeastern losco County, and St. Ignace in Mackinac County, but operations ceased at St. Ignace many years ago. Large undeveloped deposits occur in western losco, southeastern Ogemaw, and southern 

Arenac counties. Beds from 5 to 30 feet thick occur at comparatively 

shallow depths at Ionia, Ionia County, and in Saginaw County. 

Beds from 6 to 12 feet thick were penetrated in shallow wells at 

Bellevue and Eaton Rapids in Eaton County.

Grand Rapids-Grandville district. The Grand Rapids-Grandville 

district, as developed, extends in a belt 3 or 4 miles in width along 

the valley of Grand River from the northern part of Grand Rapids 

southwest through Grandville into eastern Ottawa County, a distance 

of 10 miles or more. The valley of the Grand ranges in width 

from 1 mile at Grand Rapids to 4 miles at Grandville. The bluffs 

along the valley are composed of drift material and rise 100 to 150 

feet above the river flats. Exploration and development have been 

confined to the Grand River valley, where the rock is covered by 

only a few feet of river silt or sand and gravel. Further exploration 

in the creek valleys northwest and southeast along the strike of the 

beds will probably show that the gypsum has a much greater extent 

in these directions than now known.

There are several beds of minable thickness in this area, and a 

number of others under 5 feet thick. At Grand Rapids, the first 

workable bed, 6 feet in thickness, has been quarried; the second, a 12- 

foot bed, is both quarried and mined; and the third, a 22-foot bed, 

about 30 to 60 feet below the second, is mined. The upper bed is absent in many places, having been removed by erosion, and the second 

is locally very thin, or even absent. Where the 12-foot bed is mined 

the 6-foot bed is generally left untouched. The 22-foot bed is divided near the middle by a shale parting 1 foot or more in thickness. 

Until about 1900 only the two upper beds at Grand Rapids were 

worked, for it was supposed that water would, be very troublesome
MICHIGAN. 125

in mining the third bed, but when a shaft was sunk to it mining 

conditions were found to be ideal, the mine entries being perfectly 

dry.

North of the river near Grand Kapids the mine adits enter the 

bluffs at the level of the mills. South of the river near Plaster Creek 

the bottom of the lowest bed quarried is about 10 feet above the river. 

At Grandville the quarries are about a mile south of the river and 

only slightly above it.

The overburden in the vicinity of the quarries ranges from a few 

feet to more than 20 feet of sand and gravel. Near the Plaster Creek 

quarries surface materials are relatively thin, but there is 12 to 15 

feet of shale above the 6-foot bed of gypsum. The heavy cost of removing the overburden and pumping water has caused the gradual 

abandonment of quarries and the opening of mines.1

The gypsum mills and mines nearest to Grand Rapids are just outside the west city limits on the north side of the river. At the first 

two mills, those of the Grand Rapids Plaster Co., the geologic section is as follows:

Section at Eagle Mills, Grand Rapids, Midi.

Shale and sands. Ft. In.

Gypsum _________________ 1 6

Shale____.___________________________ 3

Gypsum __ ______ .._________ 1

Shale ________________________________ 4

Gypsum _ __ _ G

Flinty gypsum_________________________.__ 1 2

Shale______________________________ _ 1

Gypsnm (mined)_____ ______ _ _ _ __ 11

The so-called 12-foot bed, which at this locality is 11 feet thick, 

is being mined from two short slopes, 1,100 feet apart, one at each 

mill. The 6-foot bed just above it, which used to be quarried, is left 

in the miae roof.

At the Midland mill of the United States Gypsum Co., a short 

distance farther west, the 12-foot bed has been worked out and a 

thicker bed, 36 feet below it, is being mined from a vertical shaft. 

This deeper bed is about 20 feet thick. Another bed of gypsum, 

called the "salt vein," lying a few feet above the big bed, has been 

mined to a small extent from this shaft.

That these deeper beds are present under the mines first mentioned is shown by drill holes and shafts in sec. 34, T. 7 N., R. 12 W., 

of which a composite log has been furnished by Mr. A. H. Apted, 

of the Grand Rapids Plaster Co.

1 The remainder of the description of the Grand Rapids-Grandville district was written 

by R. W. Stone.
12-6 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

/

Composite log of drill boles and shafts in sec.. 84,, T.. If, N-., R. 12 W., Grand

Rapids, Mich.

Ft. fn.

Sand_______________:_________________ 40 

Clay________________'.________________ 23 

Clay and shale___________________________ 3 3 

Gypsum_____________________________ ____ 1 G

Shale._______________________-. ______________ 4

Shale and- gypsum _________ ___ _ __ 3 3 

Shale _____________________________'___ 2. 6 

Gypsum________________________________ 1 8 

Shale _________________________________ .2 

Gypsum________________________ ___ 1 

Shale________________________________ 44 

Gypsum _________'______________________ ^ 7' 

Shale __________________________ _____ 1 

Gypsum___,____________________________ 11 6 

Shale________________________._________ 2 6 

Gypsum________________________________ 2 6 

Shale______________________.________ 4 

Gypsum and shalej________________________ 6' 

Gypsum_________________:_________________ 1 6 

Shale and gypsum_________________________ 3 

Gypsum and sandstone______________________ 5 6 

Gypsum_________________________________ 3 6 

Shale__________________________.____:____ 8

Gypsum_________________________________ 10 6 

Shale_______________________.________ 2 

Gypsum________________:____:__________:_ 9

Shale________________________._________ 6 

Gypsum________________________________ 4

At the mine of the Michigan Gypsum Co., on the south side of 

the river, the upper bed was quarried out and the excavations are 

now full of water. The lower or 22-foot bed is being mined from 

a vertical shaft 90 feet deep,

At Gramdville an 11-foot beel lying under a considerable cover of 

unconsolidated sand and gravel is being quarried by the. Grand 

Eapids Plaster Co.. It is reported, that 4- feet below it there is 

a M-foot bed and that an abandoned: shaft of the United States 

Gypsum. Co.. about 2,000 feet from this quarry reached a still lower 

bed the 22-foot bed of the Grand Eapids mines.

Correlation' of these beds seems simple, for they lie practically 

horizontal. Furthermore, it is asserted by men long familiar with 

these gypsums deposits that rock from the upper and lower beds 

can be distinguished by physical; characteristics. The Tapper beds 

are said to be whiter, softer, more massiver and to contain fewer 

small selenite plates than the lower beds..

It is believed by some that the mines of the Grand Eapids Plaster 

Co. at Grand Eapids are working in the same bed that makes the
MICHIGAN. 127

floor of the quarry of that company at Grandville; in other words, 

that the 6-foot and 12-foot beds at Grand Kapids are respectively 

the 11-foot and 14-foot beds at Grandville. Others believe that 

the 6-foot bed of the Grand Eapids area is absent near Grandville, 

and that the 11-foot bed in the Grandville quarries is the 12-foot 

bed at Grand Eapids. If this is so, then the 14-foot bed at Grandville is represented at Grand Eapids by foods of gypsum and shale 

shown in the log of test holes on page 126 as lying just below the 

12-foot bed. There seems to be no question that the bed 20 to 22 

feet thick in the drill holes in sec. 34, in the shafts of the United 

States Gypsum Co., and of the Michigan Gypsum Co. is one and 

the same bed. No matter which correlation is correct, the quantity 

of gypsum in the Grand Eapids-Grandville area is sufficient to 

meet the demands of the entire United States for many years.

Alabaster. The Alabaster quarry and mill are located in the 

southeastern part of losco County, 6 miles south and west of Tawas 

City, and three-fourths of a mile from the shore of Saginaw Bay. 

The gypsum bed is from 18 to 23 feet in thickness. Near the bay it 

was originally covered by 5 to 8 feet of gravel. Farther west the 

overburden is tough boulder clay 9 to 14 feet or more in thickness, 

which is removed by steam shovels as quarrying progresses. (See Pi. 

XVIII, B.) The base of the bed is about 15 feet above the level of 

the bay. A large area has been worked out; the face of the quarry is 

now in the form of a horseshoe and is nearly a mile long. This 

quarry is the largest in Michigan and one of the largest in the United 

States. It is owned and operated by the United States Gypsum Co.

The bed of gypsum at the Alabaster quarry is of commercial 

thickness over an area of at least 25 to .30 square miles in southeastern losco County and northwestern Arenac County. The bed dips 

gently to the southwest under other strata. In the western part of 

losco County and southern Ogemaw County gypsum outcrops in 

many places and is only lightly covered over a large area. Drillings 

north and west of Alabaster show at least five workable beds below 

the Alabaster quarry bed ranging from 4 to 22 feet thick.

Turner. In the vicinity of Turner, Arenac County, and in the 

northeastern part of the county, a persistent bed of gypsum occurs 

50 to 100 feet above the Alabaster quarry bed. This bed is locally 

known as the Turner bed.1 There are two areas in the county in 

which this bed is thick enough for mining one in the vicinity of Turner and the other in the northeastern part of the county. The combined extent of the two areas is 20 to 25 square miles, but further 

exploration will probably increase very greatly the minable area 

of the bed.

1 Gregory, W. M., Geology of Arenac County: Michigan Geol. and Biol. Surrey Pub. 11, 

Geol. Ser. 8, pp. 54-58, 1911.
128 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

St. Ignace. Gypsum occurs at different places in the St. Ignace 

Peninsula 1 and on adjacent islands. In 1850 a quarry was opened 

near Point Aux Chenes, 7 miles west of St. Ignace. A dock was 

built and gypsum was snipped to mills in Chicago. Owing to various troubles, chief of which were water in the quarry, and a scourge 

of smallpox, the quarry was operated only intermittently for a 

number of years. Finally an ice floe carried away the dock, and 

the enterprise was abandoned. In 1894 some test holes were put 

clown 2 miles west of the old quarry. According to reports 3 holes 

penetrated a ledge of gypsum a few feet in aggregate thickness. 

In a deep well 2 miles south of St. Ignace, some gypsum was struck 

at 35 feet, 13 feet of gypsum at 174 feet, and 5- feet at 255 feet. 

Drillings on a bench at the foot of Eabbits Back Point, a high limestone spur projecting into the lake 4 miles north of St. Ignace, 

showed some gypsum a few feet below the surface, a 21-foot bed 

at about 30 feet, and a 9-foot bed at 57 feet. The surface of the 

land on which the drillings were made is only 10 to 15 feet above 

the lake. In some places gypsum was found under only about 

14 inches of soil, and near the extremity of Kabbits Back Point a 

bed outcrops close to' the water's edge and can be seen beneath the 

water near the shore. Gypsum was found on adjoining tracts of 

land and at Grosse Pointe, 4 miles farther north. From this point 

eastward gypsum outcrops along the shore for several miles. On 

the southern part of St. Martin Island, directly east of Grosse Pointe, 

gypsum is struck in shallow wells over a large area of the island 

and may be, seen in the water along the shore. The top ledge, said 

to be 3 feet thick, is near the surface, and other beds occur lower 

down. According to analysis, the rock is very pure, containing 

over 98 per cent of gypsum.

Present evidence indicates seven easily accessible heavy beds of 

gypsum in St. Ignace Peninsula and adjacent islands, but whether 

water would be generally troublesome in quarrying or mining is 

uncertain.

According to Lane there are many signs of gypsum deposits in 

the northern part of the Beaver Island group in Lake Michigan.

HISTORY.2

In 1827 gypsum was discovered 011 Plaster Creek, in the southwestern part of Grand Eapids. It was calcined some years later 

by James Clark, who used an old Indian corn mill for grinding 

and a caldron kettle for calcining. The first mill was built on

1 Grimsley, G. P., The gypsum of Michigan: Michigan Geol. Survey, vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 83, 

1904.

2 Idem, p. 42.
MICHIGAN. 129

Plaster Creek in 1841 near the crossing of the Grandville road. The 

machinery consisted of one run of millstones and a thick-bottomed 

two-barrel caldron kettle. Most of the gypsum was ground into 

land plaster, and 10 years later 60 tons were produced daily. In 

1843 gypsum was discovered on the north side of Grand River, 

and in 1849 a mill was built near the site of the present Eagle Mill 

No. 1 of the Grand Rapids Plaster Co. A second mill, now the 

Eagle Mill No. 2 of this company, «was erected on neighboring property in 1869.

In the early sixties gypsum was discovered south of Grandville, 

6 miles southwest of Grand Rapids, through the overturning of an 

old tree by a high wind, and two mills were built, one in 1873 and 

the other in 1874. Other mills were built and quarries opened later 

at different times, but owing to the keen competition and faulty 

methods of calcining1 many of the ventures were unsuccessful. About 

1901 consolidation of the interests began, and at present the seven 

mines and quarries and eight mills in the Grand Rapids-Grandville 

district are owned or controlled by four companies.

.Gypsum had been discovered by the Indian traders at Alabaster 

before 1841, but it was not until 1862 that a quarry was opened, 

supplying small mills at Winona, Bay City, and Monroe with gypsum for the manufacture of land plaster. Later a mill was built, and 

at present this quarry, operated by the United States Gypsum Co., 

is one of the largest in the United States. Another quarry was 

opened in 1870 about 3 miles south of Alabaster, but trouble with 

water caused its abandonment.

In 1823 Dr. J. J. Bigsby made the first discovery of gypsum in

Michigan, on St. Martin Island. In the fifties a gypsum quarry

was opened near Point Aux Chenes, 7 miles west of St. Ignace,

Mackinac County, but its operation was abandoned after a few years.

124567° 20 9
MISSISSIPPI.

By R. W. STONE.

So far as has yet been discovered gypsum does not occur in commercial quantities in the State of Mississippi. Gypsiferous marls 

occur in Attala, Carroll, Hinds, Holmes, Leake, Madison, Rankin, and 

Scott counties, and gypsum crystals are found with clayey material 

in a broad area. This crystalline gypsum occurs usually in plates, 

rosettes, or lenticular masses less than 2 inches thick. The largest 

mass! of pure gypsum found in the State was 10 to 12 inches thick. 

It was embedded in clays in a well near Cato, Rankin County. Another occurrence was a crystalline mass 1 to 2 inches thick that had 

a surface equal to 1 square foot. Gypsum crystals from Canton, 

Madison County, in the writer's possession are in lumps 2 to 3 

inches across and 1 inch thick. The material is colorless, glassy, and 

transparent, but flaws are numerous and partly filled with clay. 

These gypsum crystals are sometimes mistaken for mica but can be 

readily distinguished from it by reason of the fact that they can be 

scratched easily with the finger nail, and the thin plates into which 

they can be split are only slightly flexible and are not elastic.

Plaster of Paris can be made from gypsum crystals, but they are 

not used for this purpose commercially. Exceptionally fine, clear 

crystals are used to a very small extent for certain optical purposes. 

The gypsum crystals found in Mississippi have no value.

1 Hilgard, E. H., Report on the geology and agriculture of the State of Mississippi, 1860. 

130
MONTANA.

By R. W. STONE.1 

AGE AND DISTRIBUTION.

Cascade, Fergus, and Carbon counties contain all the developed 

gypsum deposits and, so far as is known, most of the workable beds 

in Montana. The gypsum beds are in rocks of Carboniferous age 

overlying the Madison limestone and in .the Ellis formation of 

Jurassic age. These formations occur in the eastern part of the 

mountain belt and are exposed in five principal areas (1) from 

Missouri River eastward along the flanks of the Belt Mountains 

through Riceville and Kibbey, thence southeast toward Judith Gap, 

and around the Little Belt Mountains to the head of Musselshell 

River; (2) encircling the Big Snowy Mountains and structural 

domes in Judith Basin; (3) from Livingston east to Boulder River; 

(4) around north end of Big Horn Mountains; (5) in the Jefferson 

and Madison ranges.

There seems to be no published record of gypsum in the Jefferson, 

and Madison ranges and none in the Livingston area in these formations. Of some other deposits but little is known beyond the location. 

It is possible that commercially workable deposits of gypsum occur 

elsewhere in the general areas described than at the few places here 

mentioned, but if so they are not known to the writer.

LOCALITIES. 

CASCADE COUNTY.

Millegan. The presence of gypsum near Millegan, in T. 15 N., 

R. 3 E., and in the hills 4 miles north of this place and 2 miles west of 

Smith River, is reported by Mr. J. R. Villars, a surveyor, of Great 

Falls, Mont. The upper part of the Carboniferous is exposed in this 

area, and it is presumed that the gypsum is the massive variety 

occurring in a bed or beds several feet thick, as at Riceville.

Riceville. Gypsum has been mined intermittently for a number of 

years at Riceville, on the Neihart branch of the Great Northern 

Railway. For seven years the rock was calcined at Great Falls; both 

mine and mills discontinued operation in 1915.

The gypsum is in the upper part of the Carboniferous section and 

outcrops about TOO feet above the creek. Mining developments of the

1 Based on field notes of C. F. Bowen, of the TJ. S. Geological Survey; on data furnished 

by the United States Gypsum Co., of Chicago; by J. R. Villars, of Great Falls; by I). C. 

Bard, of Seattle ; and on notes in earlier publications of the U. S. Geological Survey and 

other sources.

131
1 __ 1

_ _ _ 1

1 _ 1

- 1

L. _ - _ - 1

6

6

6

4

2

132 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

past few years show that the gypsum deposit near Biceville is variable in thickness and not continuous; the workable part is a bed 3 to 

6 feet thick. In places it pinches out entirely. At one place the bed 

is 15 feet thick without a parting, but an adit shows that this thick 

bed pinches out in 100 feet. The deposit, as a rule, has a number of 

clay and sandstone partings. The following section of the deposit is 

obtained by combining measurements in a shaft and an adjacent drill 

hole:

Section of gy-psutn deposit at Riceville, Mont.

Ft. in.

Clay and sandstone_________________. _.___ 3 

Gypsum_____________ _______. ___,.___ 1 

Partin 

Gypsum 

Partin 

Gypsum 

Parting 

Gypsum.. 

Partin

Gypsum_____________ _ _ _ .________ 4 

Parting______________ _________________ 4 

Gypsum__________ _ _ _ _ ________ 2 

Parting_____________ ________________ 6 

Gypsum_______________________________ 4 

Clay and sandstone.

The partings are either clay or sandstone, or both. The lower 4 

feet of gypsum is said to be left unmined on account of impurities 

mixed with it.

The mine consists of a devious branching adit, from the sides of 

which many rooms have been driven. At the mouth the adit is in red 

clay, which may not be in place. Gypsum first appears about 50' feet 

from the portal and is- about 4| feet' thick. The roof is shale and 

gypsum and the floor sandstone. About 115 feet from the entry 

gypsum disappears, and the adit passes through red shale, which 

shows many slickensided surfaces and appears to be a roll. Fifty 

feet farther the gypsum reappears and forms the walls of the adit to 

the end, which is about 1,000 feet from the entry. Throughout most 

of the mine the bed has a northeast dip of about 5°, but at the end 

of the adit the dip increases rapidly.

The bed is exposed about 1 mile northeast of Riceville on the east 

side of Belt Creek, but the position' seems abnormal. It appears 

to be in a landslide or small fault block, for it strikes directly into 

a hill of sandstone underlain by red shale, the shale butting against 

the gypsum on the east.

Goodman. At Goodman siding, 3 miles north of Riceville, an attempt to mine gypsum was unsuccessful. A small gypsum mill was
MONTANA. 133

erected in 1900, evidently before thorough prospecting of the deposit. An adit on the east side of Belt Creek, dri-ven several hundred feet into the hill, encountered only lenticular masses and thin 

seams of gypsum embedded in red clay. Judged by its relation to 

the overlying thick sandstone this bed is slightly higher in the geologic section than the one which has been mined at Riceville. If 

this correlation is correct the main bed has not been found.

An effort to develop the bed on the west side of Belt Creek about 

1 mile north of Goodman siding, at Sieglung's place, had the same 

result as the work at Goodman. Two adits 500 and 615 feet long 

passed through small bodies of gypsum but were mostly in wash.

Kibbey. In the northern part of T. 16 N., R. 8 E., 10 miles east of 

Riceville, is Kibbey, a small settlement near which gypsum was 

mined about 1899. The mine was near Charles Beckstrom's farm. 

A section measured by C. F. Bowen at this place is as follows:

Section of gypsum at Kibbey, Mont.

Ft. in. 

Gypsum, weathered, apparently lias many thin shale

partings_______________ ___________ 3 4

Sliate _____________...___________________ 4 

Gypsum, weathered, apparently free from, partings____ 5 

Gypsum, white, clean________________________ 5 6

Gypsum, dirty, thin partings of .shale at top and bottom_ 6 

Gypsum, good______ ____ 8 

Gypsum, poor dark gray_____ ____ 3

Gypsum, good, white____ _ ___ ___ _ 3 2 

Sandstone ___________ _ :_____ 3 

Shale, gray and greenish above, red below_ ______ 20

About 1,000 feet southwest of this mine the upper beds of the 

Madison limestone are exposed, striking east and dipping 5° north. 

The gypsum, which is 100 feet stratigraphically above the limestone, 

is exposed for at least half a mile to the east.

In 1898-99 gypsum was quarried about a mile west of Kibbey 

and milled at Monarch, but the plant was burned in 1900 and operations were discontinued.

There is undoubtedly a large body of 'good gypsum in the vicinity 

of Kibbey, but it is several miles from a railroad. It occurs a short 

distance above the top of the Madison limestone, and 500 to TOO 

feet stratigraphically below the bed at Riceville, popular belief to the 

contrary notwithstanding.

The next reported occurrence of gypsum is 12 miles east of Kibbey 

and 7 miles south of Geyser, on Tree Creek. No data are at hand 

concerning the thickness and correlation of the bed, and it is presumed that this is only one of the many exposures of gypsum along 

the north side of the Little Belt Mountains.
134 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

FERGUS COUNTY.

Gypsum occurs in Fergus County along the north side of the 

Little Belt Mountains, around the Big Snowy Mountains, encircling 

a small dome at Hanover and probably in other structural domes. 

No information is at hand concerning deposits west of the Great 

Northern Railway in this county.

Big Snowy Mountains. The gypsum-bearing formations completely encircle the Big Snowy Mountains and the gypsum is said 

to be pure and in a thick bed. Several places are reported by 0. W. 

Freeman, as follows:1

Pure beds of gypsum over 20 feet in thickness occur in the foothills of the 

Big Snowy Mountains, as" on the Bast Fork of Spring Creek and near Irene, on 

the south side of the Snowies. A small amount of pure-white gypsum has 

been produced in the foothills southeast of Moore. The gypsum found on the 

southwest side of the Snowies is exceptionally white and pure and, being found 

only a few miles from the railroad, might be utilized at a profit. Quantities of 

excellent gypsum in beds 20 to 30 feet thick occur on Alaska bench, east of the 

Snowies and near the N ranch, northwest of Tyler.

It is reported that a thick bed of gypsum outcrops extensively 2 

miles south of Forest Grove, which is on a branch of the Chicago, 

Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway east of Lewistown.

Heath. C. F. Bowen, of the United States Geological Survey, 

in 1916 examined a bed which outcrops near Heath, a post office 8 

miles southeast of Lewistown, in a coulee in the SW. £ sec. 1, T. 14. N., 

R. 19 E., and in a railroad cut in the NW. % sec. 12. (See PL 

XVIII, C.} He reports that the. United States Gypsum Co. has 

prospected the bed by eight drill holes, six of which penetrated 13 

to 14 feet of gypsum. At two holes on. a slope where a thinner 

deposit was found the top of the bed probably is eroded. The lower 

2 feet of the bed, as seen by Mr. Bowen at a prospect, is pebbly or 

crushed and interlaminated with thin films of clayey and sandy 

material. This stratum is overlain by 3 or 4 inches of shale, above 

which .is the main gypsum ledge, about 8 feet thick, consisting of 

clean white gypsum, apparently of good quality. As it has been 

proved to underlie several hundred acres, and is directly on the railroad, it should furnish ample material for commercial development. 

The remainder or upper part of the deposit is apparently somewhat 

dirty, but prospecting had not gone far enough to determine whether 

the impurity is inherent in the gypsum or is due to weathering and 

infiltration of sandy material. Near the top of the deposit there is 

a shale parting about 1 foot thick.

The United States Gypsum Co. has leased 300 acres of land in 

sees. 1 and 2, T. 14 N., R. 19 E., near Heath, and is preparing to

1 Freeman, 0. W., Gypsum and lime industry In central Montana: Min. and Eng. World, 

vol. 45, pp.. 663-664, 1916.
MONTANA. 135

erect a plant for mining gypsum and making wall plaster and other 

gypsum products.

Mr. W. V. Shoemaker, superintendent for the company, furnished 

the accompanying sections, which were measured on adjacent 

property.

Sections of gypsum at Heatli, Mont.

Gypsum. . ......................................................................

Dirt.............................................................................

Dirt.............................................................................

Gypsum ........................................................................

Dirt.............................................................................

Gypsum, main bed ................ ....

Gypsum, pebbly. . ..............................................................

Total bed .................................................................

Darby 

property.

Feet. 

0.8

1.8

.6

.6

2.9

.5

8.0

2.0

12.3

17.2

Bard 

property.

Feet. 

0.9

.8

.4

.6-

2.2

.4

5.8

2.0

9.3

13.0

The bed dips to the northwest at a low angle except along the 

county road, where the dip is 15°. This gypsum .bed is in the Ellis 

formation of Jurassic age, and it is believed that the other occurrences of gypsum around the Big Snowy Mountains are of the same 

age.

Hanover. On the north side of Big Snowy Creek, in the foothills 

of South Moccasin Mountains, 8 miles northwest of Lewistown, there 

is a physiographic eminence more or less detached from the main 

mountain uplift. It is located in sees. 22 and 27, T. 16 N., R. 17 E., 

at a railroad siding called Hanover. This topographic feature is a 

structural dome, as shown by Calvert's map* of the Lewistown coal 

field or Judith Basin, as the area commonly is called. Rocks of the 

Morrison (Cretaceous?) and Ellis formations encircle the dome and 

dip away from it in all directions. The Carboniferous rocks are exposed in the middle. Gypsum occurs at the top of the Carboniferous 

section and makes a roughly circular outcrop. It is exposed at several'places around the margin of the dome and at each exposure dips 

away from the dome. At the south side of the dome, near the railroad the strike curves strongly to the north, both east and west of 

the quarry that has been opened recently. The dip at the quarry is 

21° S. At a prospect on the northwest flank of the dome, where the 

strike is northeast, the dip is 18° NW. The center of the dome, 

therefore, is not underlain by gypsum but is surrounded by gypsum 

that dips away from it. There is some suggestion of faulting about 

1,000 feet northwest of the quarry.

1 Calvert, W. R., Geology of the Lewistown coal field, Mont.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 390, 

pi. 1, 1909.
136- GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE .UNITED STATES.

The Hanover Gypsum Co., which owned several hundred acres on 

this dome, opened a mine and quarry and built a mill. The making 

of plaster was begun in the summer of 1916. After a few days' 

operation the property was sold to the Three Forks Portland Cement Co., which has continued to operate it.

Mr, C. F. Bowen visited Hanover in September, 1916, and reports 

that the gypsum bed seems to be constant in thickness. Two" exposures about half a mile northwest of the mine show 6 feet of good 

clean gypsum. He measured the following section .at the quarry 

and tunnel northeast of the mill:

Section of gypsum, deposit at Hanover, Mont.

Ft. in.

Gypsum, with lenses of shattered limestorae_____~_ 5

Limestone, thin bedded, dark ________________ 8

Gypsum, white, massive ____ 4

Shale_______________________________ 1 3

Gypsum________ __ _____ 9

Shale ________________________________ 2

Gypsum, white; variable thickness_______ _ 1

Shale, gray, streaked with gypsum; variable thickness__ 1 9

Gypsum, white to gray, massive_____________ 7

Shale, black, indurated, seamed with gypsum________ 2 

Gypsum, thickness not known.

The .bottom bed has not been explored. As the upper bed is 

either at the surface or under light cover it can be quarried. The 

7-foot bed will be mined. Under these conditions rock can be taken 

from the quarry in summer and from the mine in winter or inclement weather. The quarry and mine are about 1,000 feet from the 

mill. Rock is moved to the mill by gravity on a small tramroad. 

It is broken by jaw and gyratory crushers in a building separated 

from the main mill. An underground conveyor carries the crushed 

gypsum from storage bins in the crusher building to a rotary 

drier in the mill. After passing over this drier, it goes through 

the usual revolving cylindrical drier, about 40 feet long. The dry 

rock is pulverized in a Raymond mill before calcining.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

A small deposit of rock gypsum has been developed in Jefferson 

Canyon at Cavern, just east of Lime Spur, in a gulch a few hundred 

yards north of Jefferson River. The area is very small and much 

faulted. The gypsum is quarried and hauled down grade to loading 

bins at a railroad siding. The Three Forks Portland Cement Co. 

uses the gypsum quarried here in making cement at Trident. Because 

of the excessive folding and faulting the stratigraphic position of 

the deposit is difficult to determine, and the age of the gypsum is 

riot known definitely.
MONTANA. 137 

CARBON COUNTY.

A gypsum field that has been little explored extends from Bridger 

Canyon in a southeasterly direction into Wyoming. A plaster 

mill 8 miles southeast of Bridger operated on a gypsum bed 10 to 

12 feet thick, but this mill has been idle for 10 years or more. The 

following data are furnished by J. P. Rowe,1 of the University of 

Montana:

A gypsum bed 15 to 20 feet thick outcrops 1^ miles from Bowler 

and is exposed for more than a mile. Another locality is east of 

Bridger and 4 to 5 miles north of Bowler. Here a 20-foot bed 

increases to 50 feet farther north and 3 miles north of the first 

outcrop has thinned to 15 feet. This place is 4r| miles from Crockett 

and may be over the line in Big Horn County. The bed strikes 

north and dips west. The gypsum is of Triassic age (Chugwater 

formation).

BIG HORN COUNTY.

In the Red Valley, west of Lodge Grass Creek, in the Crow Indian 

Reservation, the following section was measured by C. A. Fisher: 2

Section of Chugwater formation west of Lodge Grass Creelc, Mont.

Feet.

Red sandstone (overlain by Sundance formation)________ GO 

Gypsum _______ _____________________ 6

Brick-red shale____________________________ 20 

Gray limestone_____________________________ 3 

Purple shale_____________________________.._ 5

Light-gray to lavender thin-bedded limestone__________._ 12 

Maroonish shale ____________ _______________. 10

White limestone, thin bedded at base, massive above______ 16 

Purplish shale ____ ______ _______ ___ 18 

Gypsum ______ _____ ____ ______ 60

Bed sandstone_____________ _______ ____ 170 

Gray and red laminated sandstone, 6 to 10 inches_ ____ 6 

Red sandstone___ 150 

Gypsum________ _ __ ^ 50 

Porous purple limestone _ 4 

Red shale _______ _ __ _______ 30

Purple thin-bedded limestone (Minnekahta)_____ ____ 2 

Concealed (probably red shale)_________________ 30

652

These three beds of gypsum, 6, 60, and 50 feet thick, are at the 

north end of the Big Horn Mountains and illustrate the abundance 

of gypsum that encircles the range. They are 15 to 20 miles from a 

railroad and have not been developed.

1 Rowe, J. P., Montana gypsum deposits : Mines and Minerals, vol. 28, p. 59, 1907.

2 Barton,'N. H., Geology of the Big Horn Mountains : U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 51, 

p. 38, 1906.
138 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

MADISON COUNTY.

The following notes are furnished by D. D. Condit, of the United 

States Geological Survey. Between Cabin and Beaver creeks, small 

tributaries of Madison River, in or near sec. 10, T. 11 S., R. 3 E., 

which is about 10 miles east of Lyon, there is about 10- feet of gypsum 

in the Din woody formation. The geologic position of this deposit is 

just below the "Red Beds" (Chugwater formation) and just over 

the Phosphoria formation.

About 12 miles west of Lyon in the NW. i sec. 27, T. 10 S., R. 2 W., 

a bed of gypsum 10' to 20 feet thick is exposed along.a wood road. 

This locality is on the head of Trail Creek at the summit of the 

Gravelly Range, which is the southern continuation of the Tobaccoroot Mountains. The gypsum is above the "Red Beds" and is 

thought to be in the Ellis formation.

OTHEK LOCALITIES.

At Hunters Hot Springs, on the north bank of Yellowstone River, 

about 20 miles east of Livingston, the hot waters are depositing 

gypsum, and' the old hot spring fissures are filled with a mass of 

gypsum and stilbite. Weed 1 says that the gypsum occurs in veins 

from 1 to 5 feet wide. The material has not been utilized.

Besides the occurrences described above, gypsum is found in the 

form of selenite crystals in certain Cretaceous strata in the counties 

east of the Rockies. The crystals occur singly, in clusters and 

rosettes, and on weathering out from the shale in which they 

originate are found scattered on the surface. They are not known 

to be sufficiently abundant at any locality to be of commercial 

value.

1 Weed, W. H., Gypsum veins and waters of Hunters Hot Springs, Mont. : U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 260, pp. 601-604, 1905.
NEVADA.

By J. C. JONES. 

CHARACTER, EXTENT, AND DEVELOPMENT.

Four types of gypsum deposits are known to occur in Nevada 

(1) beds or lenses of rock gypsum interstratified with sedimentary 

rocks of marine origin ranging in age from Pennsylvania!! to Triassic; (2) thin beds and seams in lacustrine deposits of Tertiary age; 

(3) small seams and replacements in mineralized areas chiefly in 

the altered andesites of Tertiary age; and (4) surface or gypsito 

deposits resulting from the erosion and solution of the other types. 

Excepting a single gypsite deposit, only the deposits of rock gypsum are extensive enough to be utilized.

The deposits of rock gypsum occur in two widely separated areas 

or provinces, in western Nevada and in the extreme southern portion of the State. The western province includes the deposits near 

Lovelock and Table Mountain, in southern Humboldt County; near 

Gerlach, in central Washoe County; at Mound House? in Ormsby 

County; at Ludwig, in Lyon County; and near Hawthorne, in Mineral County. These deposits are all of Triassic age and are largo 

masses or beds of coarsely crystalline rock gypsum, usually dazzling 

white in color, most of which have been more or less metamorphosed 

and recrystallized by a later intrusion of granodiorite.

The southern group is confined to Clark and southern Lincoln 

counties and includes the deposits near Arden and those in the 

mountains in the vicinity of Moapa and Logan. The Arden and 

Gait deposits are Pennsylvanian in age, but the others in the group 

may be somewhat younger. The gypsum is massive and granular 

and varies in color from white to red. Aside from such segregation and recrystallization as was developed incident to the folding 

and faulting during the-formation of the mountain ranges the gypsum has not been materially altered since its deposition.

In recent years considerable search for suitable deposits of gypsum has been made throughout the State, but as far as known none 

has been found outside of the two general areas mentioned. Though 

rocks of Carboniferous age are widely distributed in the eastern, 

central, and southern parts of the State gypsum occurs in them 

only at the extreme south. The Triassic rocks are mainly found in 

the western part of the State and to some extent in the extreme south. 

Gypsum in large masses or lenses is commonly associated with them.

139
140 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

FIGURE 0. Map showing location of gypsum deposits in Nevada.
NEVADA. 141

Scattered throughout Nevada, generally in the foothills and lower 

ranges, are large areas of unconsolidated clays, tuffs, and other lacustrine sediments characterized by an abundance of diatomaceous 

earth. ' These sediments are largely of Miocene age and in a former 

report 1 on the gypsum deposits of Nevada are said to contain beds 

of gypsum, both as' white granular layers and as selenite. None of 

these deposits has been worked, and many of the reported gypsum 

deposits have proved to be diatomaceous earth or volcanic tuff locally 

bearing thin stringers of selenite.

Widely distributed through the State are large areas of mineral-, 

ized and altered rocks in' which sulphides are very abundant. 

Through the action of the atmosphere and surface waters the sulphides are oxidized, forming sulphates and sulphuric acid, which 

tire carried in solution through the rocks. These react with the calcium minerals, in particular calcite, that may be present and form 

calcium sulphate. Gypsum thus formed may occur as isolated crystals, thin seams or veins of selenite, or in the limestones it may form, 

fairly large masses through replacement. The veins and disseminated crystals are especially common in the altered andesites that 

are abundant in most of the mining camps in Nevada. Owing to 

the small size, deposits of gypsum formed in this way are of no value 

at present.

During the weathering of gypsum deposits more or less of the 

gypsum is removed, chiefly in solution. Owing to the generally dry 

climate of Nevada, the surface waters carrying the gypsum in solution 

usually evaporate near the original deposits and form gypsum earth 

or gypsite. Some of these secondary Deposits are large enough for 

profitable working, and for a number of years such deposits have been 

utilized near Mound House. Elsewhere the deposits are too small or 

contain too much foreign material to be of value.

At the time when the previous report was published, in 1904, two 

quarries, located at Lovelocks and Mound House, had been opened, 

and one mill, located at Empire, near Carson, was in operation.2 

Since then quarries have been opened at Ludwig, Arden, near Overton, and Dike, and mills have been established at Reno, Arden, and 

two at Mound House. In addition several other deposits have been 

prospected in the southern part of the State and near Gerlach. In 

1918 only the mills at Mound House and at Arden were in operation. 

Considerable gypsum is shipped direct from the quarries to mills in 

California. The combined capacity of the mills in operation is approximately 500 tons of plaster daily. By its high quality the manu-

> Louderback, G. D., Gypsum deposits in Nevada : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 113, 

1904. 

-Idem, pp. 112-118.
142 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

f actured product reaches a wide market. A large quantity of Nevada 

plaster was used at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 

San Francisco for making the staff with which the buildings were 

surfaced.

Owing to the comparatively small local demand and the expense 

of transportation and fuel, only those deposits which are favorably 

located near the railroads can be profitably developed under present 

conditions. The high quality of the products offsets to a large degree 

the higher cost of production and enables the Nevada mills to compete successfully in the markets along the Pacific coast. There is an 

opportunity for the Nevada quarries in the small but growing demand 

for gypsum to apply to the thousands of acres of lands high in alkali. 

Gypsum neutralizes the alkali and makes the land cultivable.

In the present study of the gypsum deposits the quarries at Lovelock, Mound House, Ludwig, and Arden were visited, and information regarding the deposits near Gerlach, Overton, Dike, and elsewhere was given by Gov. Emmett D. Boyle, E. Duryee, and others. 

The writer gratefully acknowledges the courteous aid given him by 

Mr. Gorin, superintendent of the Arden Plaster Co.; Mr. McKenzie, 

foreman of the Pacific Portland Cement Co., whose quarries are at 

Mound House; and Mr. Orem, superintendent of the Nevada Douglas 

Copper Co., which owns the deposit at Ludwig.

The known deposits of gypsum in Nevada are large, some are of 

exceptional purity, and the supply is so abundant that it will suffice 

for many years to come.

GEOLOGY.

DEPOSITS IN WESTERN NEVADA.

The gypsum deposits in western Nevada have many features in 

common that indicate a similar origin. All are in the form of large 

lenses or beds intercalated in massive? limestones of Triassic age; 

all have been intruded by or are in close proximity to the late 

Mesozoic granodiorite; and where the development has been extensive 

they are seen to grade into masses of coarsely crystalline anhydrite, 

from which they have been derived through hydration.

The Triassic rocks of this province lie in an area roughly defined 

as lying west of a line extending south from Battle Mountain 

through Austin and Silver Peak and south of an east and west line 

running a few miles north of Winnemucca and Gerlach. The typical geologic section of the area is in the West Humboldt Mountains 

near Star Peak. J. P. Smith x has recently described this section as 

follows:

1 Smith, J. P., The Middle Triassic marine invertebrate faunas of North America : U. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 83, p. 8, 1914.
NEVADA. 

Geologic section of the West Humloldt Range, Nev.

143

Lower Jurassic 

(Lias).

Unconformity 

Upper Triassic.

Middle Triassic.

Star Pekformation.

Koipato formation.

Carries Arietites.

Pseudomonotis subcircularis zone (slates, with RJiabdoceras and Halorites). 

Thickness about 900 feet.

Siliceous and tuffaceous beds, without fossils. Thickness unknown.

Massive limestones, probably corresponding to the Hosselkus (Upper Triassic) 

limestone of the California section. Thickness about 2,000 feet.

Siliceous and tuffaceous beds without fossils, partly rhyolites, and other volcanic flows. Thickness 1,000 to 2,000 feet.

Daonella zone. Slaty limestones and tuff beds, hard at the top and grading over 

into shaly limestones and calcareous shales at the bottom. Thickness 1,000 

to 1,500 feet. The lower 200 feet contain nearly all the fossils, which belong to 

the fauna of Ccratitcs trinodosus.

Siliceous beds, tuffs, graywackes, and igneous rocks of unknown thickness. 

Without fossils.

Though this general succession probably holds good throughout 

the province, the local sections are so meager and complicated by 

faulting and so little detailed work has been done that the correlation of the different gypsum deposits can only be suggested. The 

deposits near Lovelock are in the southern end of the West Humboldt Range, where the Triassic rocks seem to be confined to the 

upper half of the Star Peak formation. Louderback1 says that the 

fossils found at Muttleberry Canyon belong to the Pseudomonotis 

zone and that the overlying Jurassic rocks appear at the summit. 

The gypsum outcrops only a short distance from the summit but 

is separated from it by a westward-dipping normal fault. Knowledge of the general structure of the range suggests that the throw 

of the fault is not over 1,500 feet and that the gypsum lies in the 

massive limestone below the Pseudomonotis zone.

Fossils were not found in the series containing the gypsum at 

Ludwig, though the rocks resemble those in the Star Peak section 

just below the Pseudomonotis zone. On the other side of the 

Smith Valley Range, near the Mason Valley mine, two imperfectly 

preserved fossils belonging, to the Daonella zone of the Star Peak 

formation were found in a slaty limestone. Here a number of faults 

interrupt the section, and the Triassic rocks are mainly massive 

white and black limestones and meta-andesite. As these rocks are 

quite different from those exposed at Ludwig, the suggestion can 

merely be made that the gypsum is contemporaneous with that near 

Lovelock.

1 Louderback, G. D., Basin-range structure of the Humboldt region: Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., vol. 15, p. 295, 1904.
144 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The sections exposed in the other areas are too incomplete to 

make any definite correlation, but if the constant occurrence of the 

gypsum immediately below the dark brecciated limestone in all the 

localities in this province can be safely used for correlation, the deposits are contemporaneous and are Upper Triassic in age.

DEPOSITS IN SOUTHERN NEVADA.

In the absence of fossils no definite statement as to the age of 

these deposits can be made. Spurr1 in describing the geology of the 

Muddy Eange says that in the vicinity of the gypsum deposits the 

Carboniferous limestone is brought by faulting into contact with red 

Mesozoic sandstones, although in places they are apparently conformable. From the fossils collected Stanton thought the red beds 

might be as old as the Permian and certainly not younger than the 

Triassic. The limestone is Pennsylvania^! in age. If, as'appears 

probable, the gypsum belongs with the limestones rather than the 

sandstone, it is doubtless of the same age as the gypsum in the Spring 

Mountain Eange. As the gypsum in the Gait deposit, to the north, 

is also in the Pennsylvanian series 2 it would seem probable that all 

the deposits in the southern province are of the same age, although 

there is a possibility that those in the Muddy Eange are somewhat 

younger.

OBIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS.

The deposits of rock gypsum in Nevada, as has been shown, occur 

as lenses and irregular masses interbedded with limestone and shale 

of marine origin. In all the deposits that have been extensively 

developed more or less anhydrite is present, and in the deposits of 

the western province the gypsum has had its immediate origin 

through the hydration of massive anhydrite by the action of surface 

waters. Further, all the deposits in this province have been intruded 

by or are in close proximity to granodiorite later in age than the 

gypsum. In at least one deposit, that at Mound House, typical contact-metamorphic minerals are present in the gypsum.

Some years ago, before the presence of the anhydrite was known, 

the rather constant association of the gypsum with near-by deposits 

of sulphides in the western province led to the suggestion that the 

gypsum originated through the replacement of limestone by the action of acid waters formed in the oxidation of the sulphides in the 

neighboring ore bodies. This view was supported by the presence of 

limestone in the gypsum, by the rounded and corroded grains of calcite seen in thin sections of the gypsum, and by the irregular outlines 

of the deposits. That this ac.tion takes place in the vicinity of the

1 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 137, 1903.

2 Idem, pp. 148-151.
NEVADA. 145

ore bodies is shown by the beautiful crystals of selenite found in the 

Ludwig mine in the midst of the oxidized ore.

As many of the gypsum deposits are much larger than the ore 

deposits from which they were supposed to have originated; are conformable with the sedimentary series of which they are a part; are 

usually separated from the ore bodies by a, hundred feet or more of 

limestone through which the solutions must pass and in which no 

trace of gypsum can be found; and as the gypsum contains no copper 

minerals that would have been deposited from the solutions and 

grades with depth into anhydrite, whose origin from cold surface 

solutions would be difficult to understand this hypothesis is quite 

improbable. 

From the constant association of the gypsum with marine sediments it is almost certain that the gypsum was formed by evaporation of the oceanic waters that deposited the limestones and shales 

found interbedded with it. In a study of the deposits at the Ludwig 

mine and at Mound House Rogers* came to the conclusion that the 

original deposits were largely if not altogether anhydrite, which was 

recrystallized at the time of the intrusion of the granodiorite. In 

commenting on Eogers's paper Jones 2 suggested that the original 

deposits were probably gypsum that had been dehydrated and metamorphosed into anhydrite through the action of the intruding granodiorite, citing the intimate1 interbedding of thin limestone and gypsum layers and the known absence of saline deposits as indicating 

that the concentration of the water did not progress far enough to 

cause the deposition of anhydrite. Van't Hoff and his associates 

have shown that when sea water is evaporated at a temperature of 

25° C. the calcium sulphate is deposited as gypsum until the solution is saturated with sodium chloride and then is deposited as anhydrite'along with the salt. At 60° C., however, only anhydrite is 

formed, and though this may seem to be a much higher temperature 

than is reached ordinarily in sea water, yet the saline waters of 

some inclosed basins have still higher temperatures in the layers 

near the surface. In many deposits elsewhere a layer of gypsum 

lies under anhydrite and salt, suggesting that these deposits were 

formed at the lower temperature mentioned. On.the other hand, 

deposits are common with anhydrite and gypsum intermingled as 

at Arden. The formation of these deposits is possibly explained by 

the work of Van't Hoff, who has shown that the hemihydrate may

1 Rogers, A. P., The occurrence and origin of gypsum and anhydrite at the Ludwig 

mine, Lyon County, Nev.: Econ. Geology, vol. 7, pp. 185-189, 1912. Notes on the occurrence of anhydrite in the United States: School of Mines Quart, vol. 36, pp. 123-142, 

1915.

2 Jones, J. C., The origin of the anhydrite at the Ludwig mine, Lyon County, Nev.:. 

Econ. Geology, vol. 7, pp. 400-402, 1912.

124567° 20 10
146 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

be formed in saline solutions at somewhat lower temperatures than 

anhydrite. The hemihydrate, which is never found in nature, is 

very unstable and quickly changes to a mixture of gypsum and 

anhydrite.

The evidence disclosing the effect of intrusions on gypsum is 

meager. It is well known that when gypsum is heated it first loses 

part of its water, changing to the hemihydrate or plaster of Paris, 

and if the heating be continued all the water is lost, and the product 

has the same composition as anhydrite. There is some difference 

of opinion as to whether this product is1 the same as anlrpdrite, as 

it has been observed that the crystal form of the product is different 

from that of anhydrite. Van't Hoff has shown, however, that in 

dehydrating gypsum an intermediate form of the anhydrous sulphate, which he called "soluble anhydrite," is first produced which 

slowly changes over to anhydrite. As far as experiment can show, 

then, it is possible that the heat attendant upon the intrusion of the 

granodiorite, which was high enough to cause the development of 

tourmaline and phlogopite in the gypsum at Mound House, could 

have dehydrated whatever gypsum was present in the original deposits and changed it to anhydrite.

As the temperature and salinity of the waters that formed the 

original deposits are only conjectural, the question whether either 

gypsum or anhydrite alone or a mixture of the two composed the 

original masses must remain open. We can safely say, however, that 

the deposits of rock gypsum in Nevada were precipitated either in 

the form of gypsum or anhydrite or as a mixture of the two from 

evaporating sea waters along with the limestones and shales with 

 which they are interbedded, and that in the western province they 

were metamorphosed and recrystallized and possibly dehydrated at 

the time of the intrusion of the granodiorite. Further, the intrusion 

of the granodiorite caused more or less segregation of the gypsum 

and partial replacement of the limestone layers in the gypsum. 

Faulting, which has continued to ths present time, has elevated certain blocks of the gypsum-bearing strata, and erosion has exposed 

them in the present mountain ranges. The solvent action of the 

surface waters has continued the replacement of the limestones in 

the gypsum and has hydrated the anhydrite to a depth of 200 to 400 

feet.

LOCALITIES.

WESTERN NEVADA. 

LOVELOCK.

The deposits of gypsum near Lovelock* are in the West Humboldt 

Mountains east of the town. This range extends in a southerly direction from Imlay to the Carson Sink, a distance of over 60 miles.
NEVADA. 147

Near the center the range is divided into two parts by the deep transverse valley of Cole Canyon. The northern half of the range is 

sometimes known as the Star Peak Range and the southern half as 

the Lake Range. About 10 miles south of Cole Canyon is Muttleberry Canyon, a steep-walled valley that crosses the Lake Range. 

Lovelock is 6 miles a little north of west of the mouth of Muttleberry Canyon. The gypsum outcrops at intervals in the area immediately to the north of the canyon.

In this area the Lake Range is largely composed of Triassic limestones, slates, and quartzites, and Lower Jurassic shales. These rocks 

are intruded by granodiorite,. which is probably contemporaneous 

with the late Mesozoic batholith of the Sierra Nevada. Tertiary rhyolites, andesites, and basalts also are present, having flowed over the 

eroded surface of the older rocks.

The Mesozoic rocks are folded into a series of rather open anticlines and synclines, the axes of the folds striking a few degrees to 

the east of the trend of the range. As the Tertiary volcanic rocks 

are not warped the folding probably took place at about the time of 

the intrusion of the .granodiorite. The present form of the mountain 

range is due to faulting, which has continued to the present time and 

has broken the mountain mass into a number of large blocks. The 

major fault lies along the western base of the range.

Louderba^k 1 has thus described the structure of the mountain 

range in the vicinity of the gypsum deposits: At Muttleberry 

Canyon the sedimentary rocks are folded in an anticline, which, as 

the axes of the folds are oblique to the trend of the range, is succeeded to the north by a series of synclines and anticlines. Superimposed on these folds are several faults which strike both parallel 

and transverse to the trend of the range. As is shown by the outcrops of the gypsum, the general effect of the transverse faults has 

been to offset the strata progressively to the northwest.

The gypsum occurs as a large bed or lens intercalated in the 

Triassic limestone. It ranges in thickness from 100 to 200 feet, 

and its pure1 white outcrops are a striking feature that may be 

seen for many miles. The southern outcrop of the gypsum lies 

a short distance north of Muttleberry Canyon and a little east 

of the crest of the range. About 100 feet of gypsum is exposed 

in a massive gray limestone that dips 20° E. The bed of gypsum 

strikes parallel to the crest of the range and may be followed for 

about half a mile. A large fault parallel to the crest of the range 

marks the western boundary of the gypsum, and transverse faults 

terminate it at both the north and south.

1 Louderback, G. D., Basin-range structure of the Humboldt region: Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., vol. 15, pp. 29&-29T, 1904.
148 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The other gypsum outcrops are all on the western face of the 

range. Owing to the structure they are progressively offset to the 

northwest and 2 miles north of Muttleberry Canyon are at 'the1 base 

of the range. The old quarry is at this point and as shown by Louderback 1 is on the crest of an anticline that gives the deposit an 

appearance of being unusually thick. - The axis of 'the anticline 

strikes a few degrees east of north and pitches both north and 

south from this point. The gypsum is carried below the surface 

about a quarter of a mile north of the quarry by the pitch of the

EXPLANATION 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Rhyolite

FIGDBB 10. Map showing geology of T. 27 N., R. 32 E., and location of old gypsum 

quarries near Lovelock, Nev. By L. J. Pepperberg. Furnished by courtesy of Southern Pacific Co.

axis of the anticline or is terminated by a transverse fault. Transverse faults have progressively, offset the gypsum so that the outcrops to the south appear to rise toward the crest of the"*range. (See 

fig. 10.)

About two-thirds of a mile north of the quarry the gypsum again 

appears at the surface in a flat syncline that also pitches to the 

north. At the new quarry at the southern end of the syncline the 

gypsum outcrops on the side of a steep hill and runs northward 

in two arms that finally disappear beneath the alluvial deposits of 

the valley at distances of half a mile and a mile, respectively.

The new quarry is a large open cut in the side of a steep buttress near the base of the range, about 6 miles east of Lovelock.

1 Louderback, G. D., Gypsum deposits in Nevada : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 115, 

1904. - ' 
NEVADA. 149

The exposed face shows the gypsum to be intricately folded and 

plicated. This is well brought out by the many alternating thin 

white and bluish bands of the gypsum. Many of the bluish bands 

are thin beds of limestone intercalated in the gypsum. The limestone is usually broken into small angular blocks 2 to 3 inches in 

diameter separated by thin seams of pure-white granular calcite 

and gypsum 1 inch in greatest width. A short tunnel run into 

the face at the floor of the quarry intersects a limestone breccia, 

the contact with the gypsum above dipping 30° toward the hill. 

Another tunnel 200 feet to the east starts at the contact of the gypsum, and breccia, and the end of the tunnel, 50 feet from the portal, 

is'entirely in the breccia. A 10-foot raise at the end of the tunnel 

broke into a small cave lined with stalactites and rosettes of purewhite crystalline gypsum.

The gypsum was shipped for a time to the mill of the Western 

Gypsum Co. at Keno, but as the face of the quarry progressed into 

the hill the proportion of calcium carbonate became excessive, and 

the quarry has been idle for a number of years. The following section is exposed at the new quarry:

Section in gypsum- quarry near Lovelock, Nev.

Feet. 

Limestone, hard, black, fine grained, and brecciated, with

numerous transverse stringers of white calcite___^____ 100 

Gypsum and limestone, white, thin-bedded in altei'natiug layers, the limestone commonly fractured and recemented by 

calcite and gypsum, most of the gypsum confined to the 

upper 200 feet _____.._ ..._________..________ 300

 Limestone, gray to black, fine grained ___________200

Shales and sandstones, green and yellow, indurated, containing much pyrite in perfect small cubes; base covered_____ 200

The gypsum contains many thin bands of bluish-white limestone 

which become more numerous toward the top and bottom until they 

form the greater part of the deposit. The gypsum has weathered 

to a white earthy deposit that has washed over the face of the hill and 

m'asks the limestone strata so that the outcrop appears to be a single 

thick bed of gypsum. As is shown at the quarry, the gypsum taken, 

into solution apparently replaces the calcite to some extent and assists 

in concealing the true nature of the deposit. Whether this is true of 

all the gypsum in the vicinity can not be stated definitely, as there 

has been little development outside the two quarries, and it is possible 

that in the series there are thick beds of gypsum without an excess of 

limestone. As the gypsum taken into solution by the surface waters 

is largely deposited and concentrated as a network of veins and partial replacement of the limestone at the surface, the surface layers 

may be utilized in time.
150 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

TABLE MOUNTAIN.

The deposit of .gypsum at Table Mountain is located about 26 

miles a little south of east- of Lovelock, the nearest shipping point, 

and in the first -mountain range -east -of the Lake Range. It is described by Louderback 1 as 'a bed 100 to '200 feet -thick about two-thirds 

of the way up the western slope of the mountain. The bed -dips 

40° E. into the mountain, and its striking white outcrop extends for 2 

miles along the face. It is underlain by -a j^ellow to gray limestone 

and capped by a dark-colored teeeeiated limestone similar to that 

overlying the gypsum in the Lake Range. It is similar to the gypsum 

previously described and is otf the sam% age, but it has never been 

developed because -of its distance from the -railroad and the high 

divide over which it must be hauled.

GERLACH.

At the western base of Luxor Peak, toward the northern end of the 

Truckee Range and about 10 miles south of Oerlach, in an area of a 

few square miles, limestones, 'schists, and gypsum of Triassic age are 

exposed in contact with granodiorite to the east. The beds are nearly 

vertical and strike to the northeast somewhat obliquely to the trend 

of the range. The gypsum occurs in several large lenses, and as it is 

somewhat more resistant to weathering than the surrounding rocks, 

it forms low terraces 20 to 40 feet in height. On one of these terraces 

hot springs have built low cones of selenite as described by Hague.2 

The gypsum lies between a white limestone and a dark calcareous 

schist. For the most part it is pure gypsum, containing beds of limestone and sandy layers. It is soft, massive, white, and crystalline. 

Drilling has shown that it passes into white coarsely crystalline 

anhydrite with depth, but more than a million tons of gypsum are 

available.

MOUND HOUSE.

South of Virginia City several irregular bodies of Triassic sedimentary rocks -occur in the Virginia Range. Near Mound House 

one of these bodies, which is 'Composed of limestones, .gypsum, shales, 

and meta-andesites, forms an extended belt along the eastern slope 

near the crest of the range and extgnds southerly .acr-oss 'Carson 

River into the ranges to the south. Fossils have not been found in 

this particular belt, but fragments of Daonella, a Triassic pelecypod 

characteristic of the lower part of the Star Peak formation, have 

been found in a similar belt south .of Dayton, a few miles to the

1 Louderback, G. D., Basin range structure of the Humboldt region : Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., vol. 15, p. 334, 1904.

2 Hague, Arnold, Descriptive geology : U. S. 'Geol. .Bxpl. 40:th :Par. Final Rept., vol. 2, 

pp. 808-809, 1877. ,
NEVADA. 151

east. At Mound House the sedimentary rocks have been intruded 

and somewhat metamorphosed by granodiorite, very similar to and 

probably of the same age as the late Mesozoic batholith of the Sierra 

Nevada, a few miles to the west.

About a mile west of Mound House there is a thick lens of gypsum that is interbedded with limestone. Quarries of the Pacific Portland Cement Co. are located here, the gypsum being transported by 

aerial tram to the mill on the Virginia & Truckee Railway a short 

distance north of the station. There are several large open pits or 

quarries in the deposit, the largest being about 10Q feet deep. About 

half a mile north is the Ragan quarry, located in a smaller deposit 

which has been developed but little. Several gypsite deposits formed 

from the rock gypsum lie to the east and furnish raw material 

for the Ragan mill, located a quarter of a mile east of the town on 

a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

As described by Louderback1 the main deposit is a thick bed or 

lens approximately 350 feet .wide at the south end and thinning to 

only a few feet 700 feet north of the end. At the south the gypsum 

is abruptly cut off by granodiorite. On the east a nearly vertical 

fault brings the gypsum in contact with nieta-andesite and on the 

west the gypsum lies on a yellowish soft granular limestone into 

which there is more or less gradation. About half a mile to the north, 

at the Ragan quarry, a thin bed of gypsum outcrops directly below 

a dark-bluish brecciated limestone cemented with white veins of calcite that has been replaced to some extent by gypsum. The gypsum 

and limestone dip at a high angle to the east at both quarries, and 

the sequence is the same as that near Lovelock.

In the southern quarries the gypsum is banded to some extent and 

the intricate plications and folds suggest the bedding of the deposits 

near Lovelock. The gypsum is massive, pure white, with bands 

somewhat darker and grayish, rather coarse grained and crystalline, 

the fractured surfaces showing many glistening cleavage faces. 

Small vertical slips with polished sliekensided faces, parallel to 

the major fault on the east, are quite numerous in the upper 

parts of the deposit. These have been the channels of surface waters 

which have widened the fractures by solution and deposited more 

or less secondary selenite.

Many of the darker streaks and blotches owe their color to finely 

disseminated pyrite. In the lower levels of the main quarry there 

are a few darker masses that have the appearance of included 

boulders. The largest of these masses is 3 feet in diameter. They 

are somewhat harder than the surrounding gypsum, and thin sections 

show that they are composed of a fine-grained groundmass of

i Louderback, G. D., tl. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 115-116, 1904.
152 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

gypsum, containing crystals of a brown mica, probably phlogopite, 

tourmaline, rounded and corroded grains of pyrite, calcite, and 

anhydrite. As phlogopite and tourmaline are usually formed at 

high temperatures and in close relation to granitic intrusions,^ it is 

probable that these darker, harder masses were produced by sporadic 

replacement of the gypsum consequent upon the intrusion of the 

granodiorite.

. Thin sections of the gypsum show that it is composed of gypsum 

crystals 1 to 5 millimeters in length.with perfect outlines embedded 

in a groundmass of smaller grains of gypsum with irregular interlocking outlines caused by the mutual interference of the individuals as they finished their growth. In both the larger crystals 

and the. groundmass there are numerous minute elongated bubbles 

that are usually filled with a white claylike material that is so fine 

grained that it appears to be opaque. In places this impurity occurs 

in blotches in the groundmass. The bubbles are arranged parallel 

to the longer axes of the gypsum crystals, and as the.best-developed 

cleavage is in the same direction many of the crystals resemble a 

grid. In addition to the gypsum there are fairly abundant rounded 

and corroded grains of calcite, suggesting a replacement of calcite by 

gypsum.

In gypsum from the lower levels of the main quarry there are fragments of anhydrite, the largest of them 2 or 3 millimeters in diameter. 

The development of gypsum along the cleavage cracks and about the 

rounded borders of the anhydrite indicates that much of the gypsum 

has originated from the Irpdration of the anhydrite. Drilling opera- 

^tions conducted some years ago are said to have determined that 

the gypsum graded into massive crystalline anhydrite within 200 

feet from the bottom of the quarry.

GYPSITE NEAR MOUND HOUSE.

A broad alluvial apron slopes gently to the east from the ridge 

containing the massive gypsum. On this slope are six or more 

low concentric terraces spaced from a few hundred feet to a third 

of a mile apart. At the outer borders of the terraces and forming 

the greater part of their steep front are deposits of gypsite 5 to 15 

feet in depth and several hundred feet in length. The main impurity 

in the gypsite consists of small pebbles that are easily removed by 

screening, leaving rather pure material that is used at the Ragan 

mill and was for a time shipped to the mill at Reno.

The concentric arrangement of these deposits about the gypsum 

in the ridge back of them shows that they have been formed through 

the erosion and weathering of the gypsum. It is difficult to determine whether the gypsite has been carried in solution and de-
NEVADA. 153

posited through evaporation or has simply been washed down. It 

is probable that both processes have been effective. There is but 

little gypsite apparent in the intervals between the belts.

LUDV/IG.

The deposit of gypsum at Ludwig is located at the base of the 

western slope of the Smith Valley Eange. The range at this point 

is composed largely of limestone, slate, quartzite, and meta-andesite 

of Triassic age flanking on both sides the core of granodiorite which 

has intruded the sedimentary rocks. Tertiary rhyolites, tuff, and 

andesite occur in patches, and to the north and south these later 

A7 olcanic rocks form much of the range. Although the Mesozoic rocks 

are folded, the present attitude of the range is due to a number of 

large faults both parallel and transverse to the range.

The sedimentary rocks strike a few degrees east of north at a 

slight angle with the course of the mountain range and dip about 

55° E. The section exposed in the immediate vicinity of the 

gypsum deposit of the Nevada Douglas Copper Co. is as follows:

Geologic section at Ludwig, Nev.

Feet.

Quartzites, thin-bedded and shaly, light gray to black, in 

places grading into black shales, with considerable finegrained disseminated pyrite_______________-_ 1, 500

Limestone, massive, cream-colored, friable, and soft___ 250

Limestone, brecciated, bluish to black, with angular fragments of quartzite and dark-colored limestone, the largest a foot in diameter, cemented by narrow veins of 

white, friable calcite____________________ 150

Gypsum, pure white, massive and coarsely crystalline; 

base covered by alluvium__________________ 100-200 .

Although no fossils were found in the section measured, yet the 

finding of an imperfect ammonite and a Daonella in a shaly limestone near the Mason Valley mine, on the opposite side of the range, 

makes it quite probable that these beds are contemporaneous with 

the beds at Lovelock, as is suggested by the lithologic similarity.

The gypsum outcrops in an elongate area lying parallel to and 

150 feet west of the gossan that marks the outcrop of the ore body 

of the Ludwig copper mine. The main gypsum outcrop extends 

several hundred feet beyond the northern end of the ore body and 

there turns somewhat to the east. A second outcrop of the gypsum 

in the alluvium a couple of hundred feet to the south of the main 

outcrop indicates a total length of the gypsum body of 4,000 feet 

and a maximum width of 200 feet.

Near the center' of -the deposit and 100 yards northwest of the 

incline of the Ludwig mine is a quarry about 100 by 200 feet in
1-54 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

area, with a maximum depth of 40 feet. This is the terminus of 

the .Nevada, Copper Belt Railroad, which connects with the Southern 

Pacific Railroad at Wabuska, 50 miles distant by rail. Until the 

purchase and closing down of the mill at Reno by the Pacific Portland Cement Co. the gypsum was shipped there for treatment.

The gypsum is a very pure, snow-white, coarsely crystalline rock 

gypsum., with many glistening cleavage faces showing on the fractured surfaces. There is no banding or other evidence of bedding. 

Where a few feet of alluvium covers .the gypsum, the upper surface 

is imdulatory and solution 'channels in the gypsum are filled with 

alluvium. ,

On the 400-foot level of the Ludwig mine a 200-foot crosscut has 

been driven west into the gypsum. The first 150 feet is in the 

brecciated limestone that forms the footwall of the ore body, the 

next 10 or 15 feet is in gj^psum, and the remainder of the crosscut 

is in coarsely crystalline pure-white anhydrite. The boundary between gypsum and anhydrite is irregular and undulatory and dips 

about 2,0° E. At the contact the gypsum grades rather sharply into 

the anhydrite and has evidently been formed by the h}-dration of 

the anhydrite. The contact between the gypsum and the brecciated 

limestone is marked by a heavy gouge .and fault breccia with slickensided walls. The breccia dips 55° E., parallel to the general bedding 

of the overlying .strata. The gouge probably'marks a fault.along 

the bedding plane which has not materially altered the relative position of the gypsum and the limestone.

Thin sections show the anhydrite to be in large rectangular crystals with well-developed cleavage and with somewhat irregular outlines due to their mutual interference. Numerous minute inclusions 

of a translucent claylike material that is greenish by transmitted 

light are arranged parallel to the cleavage cracks and partly fill 

them. They occur also in irregular patches, .giving the gypsum, a 

cloudy appearance. The alteration to gypsum begins on the faces 

of the crystals and along the cleavage cracks. Under a high-power 

microscope exceedingly minute needles of gypsum may be seen penetrating the crystals of anhydrite.

Many of the gypsum crystals are 5 millimeters in diameter but do 

not show perfect outlines, as they are intimately intergrown along 

their 'borders. At Ludwig, .as at Mound House, the gypsum contains many bubbles. The lack of any evidence of strain suggests 

that there has been little if any increase in volume during the change 

from anhydrite to gypsum.

Another deposit similar to the one at Dud wig is known just west 

of Buckskin, 4 miles west of Ludwig. Aside from sinking a few 

pits little has been done toward its development.
NEVADA. 155

About 5 miles southeast of Yerington a large lens of gypsum 

occurs in a white limestone that has been intruded by granocliorite. 

In appearance and mode of occurrence it is similar to the deposit at 

Ludwig and probably grades into anhydrite with depth.

HAWTHOBNE.

Three miles west of Ha.wthorne a large body of interbedded gypsum and white limestone somewhat similar to the deposits at Lovelock outcrops on two steep rounded hills. It has been intruded by 

granodiorite and probably changes to anhydrite with depth.

SOUTHERN NEVADA.

By J. C. JOKES and R. W. STONE.

ARDEN.

The deposit near Arden is in the foothills of the Spring Mountain Range about 15 miles southwest of- Las Vegas and about 

5 miles west of the mill at Arden, a station on the Los Angeles & Salt 

Lake Railroad. Gypsum is transported to the mill over a narrowgage railroad. The entire property was developed, owned, and operated by the Arden Plaster Co. until 1919, when it was purchased and 

its operation continued by the United States Gypsum Co., of Chicago, 111.

An oval-shaped hill, approximately 500 feet high and three-quarters 

of a mile in length, the longer axis trending northwest, is underlain 

by gypsum. The following section is exposed at the southern end of 

the hill:

Geologic section exposed at Arden, Nev.

Feet.

Limestone, massive, dull gray, cherty, the chert in thin bands 

and lenses forming one-third of the mass; both chert and 

limestone with abundant poorly preserved fossils, the 

greater number being fragments of Productus and Athyris, 

bryozoans, and corals.____ ___ _ 125±'

Shales, red and green, gypsiferous, with thin beds of gray 

limestone iu places and including a bed of gypsum ranging 

from 25 to 80 feet in thickness________________ 85±

Limestone, gray massive with rare chert nodules; thickness 

unknown.

The strata dip gently to the east, and there probably is a fault along 

the eastern side of the hill. A transverse fault about a quarter of a 

mile northwest of the quarry apparently has cut off the gypsum.

The gypsum ranges from 20 to nearly 90 feet thick, the upper surface being very irregular, as shown in figure 11.
15.6 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

FIGURE 11. Diagram of gypsuin bed at entries of mine 

at Arden, Nev.

The impression given is that an original deposit about 90 feet thick 

was subjected to rapid and deep erosion, or solution, which cut 

channels across and in places nearly through it. This very irregular 

surface was engulfed in a mud now which carried blocks of gypsum 

and partly consolidated mud beds. This mud filled the channels and 

 worked down into narrow cracks in the gypsum. As the mud dried 

and hardened, water descending from it opened small solution cavities in the upper surface of the gypsum. 

The hardened mud or 

shale was strong 

enough to bridge the 

few inches of open 

'space thus formed. 

The relation of the 

shale and gypsum 

near the east entry 

of the mine is shown 

in figure 12.

In the face of the east quarry 3 feet of shale is interbedded in the gypsum. It contains numerous stringers of selenite of secondary origin. 

After quarrying on the east and south side of the hill until the 

removal of overburden became excessive, the company drove several 

entries and opened large O chambers in the gypsum. Thousands of 

tons of gypsum were removed from an upper level, and work was 

begun and continued on a lower level as well. The whole body of 

gypsum is being removed except 

necessary pillars; but as the hard 

shale that fills the old channels 

penetrates nearly to the bottom 

of the gypsum and the bed contains here and there large masses 

of anhydrite, these impurities 

are left as pillars, thereby reducing the waste of gypsum. The 

pillars are 25 to 50 feet in diameter. The change from the masses of pure gypsum to the gypsiferous 

shale that fills the channels is abrupt, the boundary being nearly 

vertical and somewhat undulatory.

The gypsum is massive, pure, with a reddish tinge near the surface 

that changes to bluish underground, translucent, medium grained, 

and crystalline. Masses of anhydrite, the largest of which weigh 100 

tons, are found in the midst of the gypsum. The anhydrite is similar 

in appearance to the gypsum and can be recognized by its 'greater 

hardness and tendency to break in rectangular blocks.

FIGURE 12. Diagram showing relation of 

shale and gypsum in mine at Arden, Nev.
NEVADA. 157

- Thin sections of the anhydrite show a network of slender crystals 

of anhydrite, the largest of which are 5 millimeters in length, and 

have a decided tendency to radiate from common centers. The interstices are filled with a mosaic of smaller rounded grains of anhydrite. 

The anhydrite is transparent and has well-developed rectangular 

cleavage, that parallel to the longer axes of the crystals being best. 

A few patches composed of very minute opaque dustlike particles of 

kaolin and iron oxide are arranged parallel to the longer axes of 

some of the larger crystals. In a few isolated areas gypsum has 

developed as single large crystals containing many elongate bubbles 

and inclusions arranged parallel to the principal cleavage. Minute 

fragments of anhydrite included in the gypsum crystals suggest that 

the gypsum has developed at the expense of the anhydrite. If this is so, 

the absence of veinlets of gypsum 

shows that the replacement is proceeding from isolated centers rather than 

along fractures.

Thin sections of the gypsum have 

little resemblance to the texture of the 

anhydrite from which it may have 

originated. Clear crystals of gypsum 

with very irregular outlines, intimately 

intergrown, are the chief constituent. 

The crystals contain numerous elongate 

bubbles, largely filled with a whitish 

pulverulent clay, which are usually arranged parallel to the principal cleavage cracks. A few minute 

rounded fragments of anhydrite are scattered through the gypsum. 

A hand specimen from this mine shows on the weathered face a 

sharp line between anhydrite on one side and gypsum on the other. 

Close examination reveals small stringers of gypsum penetrating the 

anhydrite. A thin section cut from this specimen along the contact 

between the two minerals discloses only a few minute grains of 

anhydrite in the massive gypsum, but anastomosing veinlets of 

gypsum are abundant within the anhydrite on the other side of the 

contact. The width of the veinlets tends to become narrower as the 

distance from the contact increases. This evidence of the microscope 

and the shape and relation of the anhydrite masses to the gypsum' 

bed are strongly conclusive that a large part of the gypsum at least 

is derived from the anhydrite. Fracturing of the anhydrite along 

the contact, as shown under the microscope, is evidently due to increase in volume by hydration.

FIGURE 13. Gypsuin and anhydrite 

from Arden, Nev., as seen under 

petrographic microscope, f, Gypsum ; a, anhydrite.
158 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

About a mile west of the quarry hill is a long ridge which shows 

a similar geologic section. The beds dip about 30° SW; A quarry 

was opened by the Arden Plaster Co. in this ridge, but work in it 

 has been discontinued. The gypsum thins down the dip and does 

not appear on the other side of the ridge. It is evidently the edge of 

a lens of gypsum, of which that in the detached hill is a part.

Gypsum occurs at several other points in the Spring Mountain 

Range near the Arden deposit, although none of the other deposits 

have been developed. Gilbert -1 gives the following section, measured

at Cottonwood Springs, 6 miles west of the Arden quarry:

, .

Section of Carboniferous strata in the Spring Mountain Range, Nev.

Feet.

Massive red and yellow sandstone_______________ 1,000 

Bedded fine-grained to saccharoidal limestone, gray .and 

cream-colored; beds separated by shaly layers so as to - weather in steps _ ____________________ 500 

Massive gypsum, Avhite and red, in lenticular masses..____ 0-70 

Gray, massive cherty limestone:

Limestone ________________________ - 250 

Unseen (red shale?) _____ 25 

Limestone____________.______________ 200 

Friable sandstone, in places shaly or marly, variegated with

brilliant iron colors _____________ _ _ _- _ 300 -

2, 395

Both limestones contain Pennsylvanian fossils similar to those 

found above the gypsum at Arden. If the cherty limestone at Arden 

is the same as that in the above section the gypsum lies in the shale 

of the fourth member of the section and .is somewhat older than the 

gypsum at Cottonwood Springs.

GAXT.

Several large deposits of gypsum occur-in the Las Vegas, Muddy, 

and Meadow Valley ranges north and east of Las Vegas. The northernmost of these is the Gait deposit, which is in the Meadow Valley 

Range 27 miles north of Moapa, and about 1^ miles from the main 

line of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. The gypsum lies on 

the east slope of the range in an erosion basin which drains through 

a ravine to Mormon Canyon -and finally to Colorado River. The 

range 2 is here composed of folded and faulted limestones, shales, and 

sandstones of Carboniferous age. The section 3 at the gypsum de1 Gilbert, G. K., Report on the geology of portions of Nevada, Utah, California, and 

Arizona examined in the years 1871 and 1872 : U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th 

Mer. Final Kept, vol. 3, p. 166, 1875.

2 Spurr, J. B., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 148-151, 1903.

3 Boyle, E. D., private report, 1913.
NEVADA. . 159

posit includes a thick series of calcareous sandstones on which lies 

unconformably a thick series of alternating thin-bedded limestone 

and gypsum. Above the gypsum series is massive, red, siliceous limestone. The gypsum deposit is about 3,600 feet long and 1,000 feet 

.wide. The strata dip about 60° NW. and are more or less distorted. 

To the south the series grades into' gypsiferous shale with thin beds 

of gypsum. The gypsum beds range in thickness from a few inches 

to 20 feet, and it is estimated that about 15 per cent of the'deposit

can be utilized.

MOAPA.

Another large deposit is located in the Muddy Range directly 

south of Moapa and about 5 miles from the nearest shipping point, 

which is 7 miles from Moapa on the St. Thomas branch of the Los 

Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. It is owned Jby the Rex Plaster 

Co., which formerly shipped the gypsum to its factory at Los 

Angeles. The property includes an area 2 miles long and half a 

mile wide, running north and south through the middle of T. 16 

S., R. 66 E; Mount Diablo meridian. According to Mr. E. Duryee, superintendent of the Hex Plaster Co., a well-defined and massive body of pure white gypsum 100 to 300 feet thick runs through 

the property. It lies between gray limestone on the west and red 

sandstone on the east. The beds dip about 40° E. at the southern 

end and gradually steepen to 70° E. at the northern end. The 

mass of gypsum is exposed by numerous narrow vertical-walled 

gullies that cross the deposit at right angles. It is estimated that 

5,000,000 tons of gypsum are available above the bottoms of the 

gullies. The only overburden is a few feet of weathered-gypsum

at the surface.

LAS VEGAS.

Dr. R. W. Martin, of Las Vegas, reports that 7 miles northeast 

of the town there is a solid .ledge of rock gypsum, which is 100 to 

125 feet thick and outcrops for nearly a mile. He says that the 

bed dips at a high angle at the outcrop but flattens under cover, 

for an adit driven -under it 150 feet did not reach the gypsum. A 

raise at the end of the adit showed the presence of the bed. The 

gypsum is said to be like that at Arden, and a specimen on exhibition 

at the Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas certainly is similar. 

Dr. Martin also reports that just east of the above-described

. property, 9 miles northeast of Las Vegas, there is an area of several hundred acres underlain by gypsite, which has a maximum 

thickness of 15 feet, and that 15 miles east of Las Vegas there is

, a cave containing stalagmites and stalactites of gypsum and large 

plates of selenite. One of these plates of selenite, exhibited at the
160 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Chamber of Commerce at Las Vegas, measures about 10 by .24 

inches.

Some of the streets in Las Vegas and a long stretch of the main 

road south from town have been surfaced with gypsum scraped 

from knolls in the desert. The result is very satisfactory.

VIRGIN RIVER.

*

In September, 1915, H. S. Gale, of the United States Geological 

Survey, visited the valley of Virgin Eiver below St. Thomas. He 

found that the valley is narrow and bounded abruptly by cliffs 

and steep slopes. In these valley walls there is a great thickness 

of gypsum and gypsiferous shales associated with thick beds of 

rock salt. These mineral deposits are exposed at several places 

along both sides of %the Virgin Eiver valley between St. Thomas 

and the mouth of the Virgin at Colorado Eiver. They are included in a series of characteristically red shales and sandstones 

usually referred to as "Bed Beds," of Triassic or Permian age. 

The beds including the gypsum and salt have clearly been very much 

faulted and folded, so that the present outcrops represent disconnected parts of them. The gypsum is particularly well exposed in the 

walls of a canyon about 4 miles south of St. Thomas on the west 

side of Virgin Eiver,
NEW MEXICO. 

By N: H. DABTON. 

DISTRIBUTION.

A very large area in New Mexico is underlain by gypsum, and 

this mineral -outcrops extensively in several districts. The beds are 

thick, and most of the material is exceptionally pure. Many deposits 

are interbedded with red and gray sandstones and limestones of 

later Carboniferous age, which extends through the south-central 

portion of the State, and a thick bed overlies a sandstone of Jurassic 

age in the northern part of the State. A large deposit of gypsum, 

constituting the white sands of the Tularosa Desert, is of Quaternaryage.

The principal exposures of gypsum in workable deposits are in 

Bernalillo, Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Guadalupe, McKinley, Otero, 

Quay, Rio Arriba, Eoosevelt, Sandoval, San Juan, San Miguel, 

Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance, and Valencia counties.

Only a small amount of gypsum has been mined in New Mexico, 

mainly because of long distance to market, and because the local 

demand for plaster is small. Doubtless in future years, as settlement progresses, the deposits will be more extensively utilized.

On the map (PL XIX) are shown the principal areas in which 

gypsum or formations that contain gypsum are exposed. . This map 

sets forth many facts not shown in the previous publications,1 but 

when further detailed studies of the geology of the State are made 

the boundaries will be modified in places, and probably some additional areas will be discovered.

GENERAL GEOLOGIC RELATIONS.

The accompanying columnar section (fig. 14) shows the principal 

stratigraphic relations of the more important gypsum deposits in 

New Mexico.

Manzano group. The gypsum deposits in the Manzano group 

are associated with the Yeso formation and the San Andreas limestone of Lee.2 The Yeso formation consists of red shales with 

gypsum beds and the overlying San Andreas limestone when studied 

in detail proves to be an alternation of limestones, gray sandstones,

1 Herrick, H. N., Gypsum deposits in New Mexico : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 

89-99, 1904.

2 Lee, W. T., The Manzano group of the Rio Grande valley: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

389, p. 12, 1909.

124567° 20 11 161
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

and gypsum beds, the latter ranging from a thin sheet to 100 feet 

or more thick. These two formations begin in north-central New 

Mexico and thicken in a short distance southward, finally attaining 

a thickness ©f 1,000 feet or more in the San Andres, Sacramento, and 

Caballos mountains. As shown in figure 14, the lowest formation of

(ttanes and lake deposits ^ 

(Quaternary)

STancos and Mesa verde . formation 

o (TTpper Cretaceous) ->-

Dakota sandstone .. > { 

(Upper Cretaceous) r

Zuni sandstone VJ

(Jurassic!) v

(Jurassic) I 

VTriassic .»«»-«.. $»

(.late Carboniferous.)

Mag'dalena group (Pennsylvania^ 

'underlain by earliew]?aleozoic'"»i < 

rocks to the south

Pr6-CamSrian "K. . . >

p,,.,,T?a3S

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HP^i^S^

i i

i i i

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I I 1 . j. i i -

I I .,1 -.1

till i

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Shale and sandstones

Sandstones and shale

Gypsum, 0'- 80 ( 

Thin-bedded limestone, 3-12 

- - Sandstone, massive 0'- 150'

 * Red.shale

, Limestone., gypsum^ gray 

saadstone, and '\.ed_beds'-'

r Red sandstone and shale 

(Abo sandstone )

 Bkaestone (Mad'era)

 Eiffiestone, shale, and sandstone 

(Sandia formation)

Grajiite, schist, qnartzitc

FIGURE 14.-Generalized columnar section showing stratigraphic relations of gypsum

deposits in New Mexico.

the Manzano group is the Abo sandstone, which consists of dark-red 

sandstone and shale. In the southern part of Otero County there is 

a bed of gypsum apparently in the lower part of this formation.

Gypsum above Wingccte sandstone. The massive sandstone that 

extends across western New Mexico in the Zuni uplift, where it 

was named Wingate sandstone, appears also in the Rocky Mountain, 

Naciniiento Mountain, and Sandia Mountain uplifts, and is everywhere overlain by a distinctive thin-bedded limestone and locally
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XIX

Gypsum with limestone and 

sandstone in Manzanognoup

I stantia P 

JLA3STCE

Endho

1919

MAP OF NEW MEXICO SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF GYPSUM DEPOSITS.
NEW MEXICO. 163

by a thick bed of gypsum, which attains a thickness of 100 feet 

near Cuba, on the west side of the Nacimiento uplift, 65 feet on 

Chama River near Gallina, 80 feet at El Rito near Laguna, and 60 

feet on Galisteo Creek west of Los Cerrillos. As shown in figure 

14, it is overlain by shales and sandstones of supposed Morrison 

age. To judge from relations in northwestern New Mexico, Arizona, 

and Utah it is'of Jurassic age. The southernmost exposure of this 

succession is in the Sandia uplift not far northeast of Tijeras, east of 

Albuquerque, and it finally thins out and disappears in the central 

part of the State.

Gypsum of Quaternary age. Calcium sulphate (or gypsum) is 

carried in solution by surface waters in many places, especially in 

drainage from areas of shales or from "Red Beds" which contain 

gypsum deposited at the time of the accumulation of the red sediments. When these surface waters evaporate they leave crusts of 

gypsum and other minerals, which are observable in many places in 

the arid and semiarid regions. Wihen the waters drain into* basins 

the deposit may accumu] te to a considerable thickness. Such deposits occur in most of tk desert basins in New Mexico. Water 

rising from below and seeping out at the surface also brings up calcium sulphate and other salts, \hich gradually' accumulate and in 

places build up mounds. These niv. \inds are conspicuous in those parts 

of the Tularosa Desert where the gi\ \und-water level is near the surface. The readily soluble salts wash\put of these deposits, and so 

the gypsum of the mounds is nearly pui ^ or mixed with blown sand. 

By these two agencies evaporation in basins and in mounds there 

has been a great accumulation of gypsum in the Tularosa Desert 

west of Alamogordo. The wind has blown much of this gypsum 

into sand and built up the extensive areas of the white sands 

described elsewhere (p. 184).

LOCALITIES. 

GYPSUM IN MANZANO GROUP.

Gypsum deposits appear in the Manzano group a few miles south- 

, east of Lamy in Santa Fe County and they thicken and increase in 

number southward and southeastward. The principal areas of outcrop are shown approximately on the map (PL XIX), but detailed 

descriptions can be given only for some representative exposures. 

Part of the region has not been examined in detail, and no data are 

available for the area between the Datil and Zuni mountains. There 

is a vast amount of the mineral so exposed conveniently for working, 

' and most of it is of very high grade. It is worked at Ancho, Lin- 

; coin County; Acme. Chaves County; and Oriental, Eddy County.
164 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Basalt. __ - -«* » 

'Brown sandstone .----.--> 

Jjimestone - - - - - -- * 

Gypsum and limestone ->

Gypsum - - -- > 

Sandstone, gray, massive, _^ 

moderatelynard "" Limestone, hard ------»

Limestone,"sandstone aud-> 

gypsum

Gypsum

Sandstone, gray-- 

Gypsum with.thin limestouei

(Sandstone, white to gray,--- 

moderately hard 

Gypautn--- _-_._s

Sandstone, massive, hard, > 

gray

Red sand and sandy shale > 

 yrith,(yypBum' beda;-5 to 8 feel

Feet

Mesa Lucero. The slopes of the high lava-capped plateau southwest of Belen consist of thick beds of limestone, sandstone, and red 

shale, with several intercalated deposits of gypsum, as shown in 

figure 15. The beds dip west at a low angle.

The aggregate thickness of gypsum in this exposure is about 160 

feet, and two of the beds exceed 80 feet in thickness.

A few miles farther south, at a point 

5 miles east of Puertocito and 30 miles 

northeast of Socorro, the two principal 

gypsum beds are 65 and 60 feet thick 

and are separated Ijy 90 feet of limestone. Under the hard massive sandstone member, in this locality 80 to 

100 feet thick, are 200 feet of red shales 

with beds of limestone and gypsum.

Next below there is about 1,500 feet of 

red sandstone (Abo sandstone), extending to the top of the limestone of 

the Magdalena group.

Cfmpadera Mesa. The Chupadera 

Mesa (fig. IT) occupies a wide area in 

the eastern part of Socorro County 

and extends north into the southwestern corner of Torrance County, where 

its northern margin is known as Mesa 

Jumanes. The highland is capped by 

limestone of the upper part of the Manzano group in a broad sheet, 

dipping gently east, and at its southeast corner sloping down into 

the north end of the Tularosa desert west of Carrizozo. To the 

north, west, and southwest the mesa terminates in a line of high 

cliffs in which are exposed sandstones, gypsum, and red shale with 

interbedded limestones. The general structural relations are shown

FIGURE 15. Section of east slope of 

Mesa Lucero, in Socorro County, 

25 miles southwest of IJelen, 

N. Hex. .

Limestone

 ' i

Gypsum, limestone, and sandstone 

Red sandstone (Abo)

FIGURE 16. Section across Chupadera Mesa, 35 miles east of Socorro, N. M?x.

in figure 16. 'The succession differs somewhat from place to place, 

but figure 18 shows a typical section of the strata overlying the Abo 

sandstone, which constitutes the slopes west and north of the foot 

of the mesa. It will be seen from this section that there 'are many 

thick beds of gypsum, aggregating more than 250 feet, not counting 

thin beds. Most of the gypsum is pure white and evidently of high 

grade.
NEW MEXICO. 165

20 30 40 MILES

FIGURE 17. Map of part of central New Mexico showing gypsum deposits, 

described in this report are indicated by the dotted sections.

The areas
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

In sections east of Abo Pass the gypsum is exposed in the succession shown in figure 19.

In this locality the principal bed, 90 feet thic£, is near the top, but 

there are several thin beds lower down.

In the north face of Mesa Jumanes, a short distance south of

Williard (fig. 17), there is a 

similar succession, but the gypsum beds are much thinner.

East of Socorro. In the many 

ridges of limestone and sandstone of the Manzano group east 

of Socorro there are numerous

Sandstone, gray to buff __.__.:>.

Sandstone, gray.. . _>.

Sandstone, sof t to slabby . ___ .^. 

Gypsum - - >

Red shale, sandstone and gypsum j 

Gypsum on sandstone _____ ..->

Red shale with gy,peum ^,iV...,--> J

Sandstone and shale, brownish-red,' 

hard (Abo sandstone)

i i

1 1

 -.. .- - 

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10+

110

10 

50 

15

75

>°

\

150

Y# 

,i

25

1*h10

20'

'no

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J60

20 

20 

15

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Limestone ----- ,....._.>

Sandstone, grayGypsum . .......>

Uimestone--- _.......>

Sandstone, gray ->

'Limestone, hard' ^Sandstone, gray" 

le and soft sandstones, 

Sped,, wath gypsuin """

 EEimelFtone »v it 

Sandstone, buff, soft >

Sandstone and shale, .brown-'

ih red, hard "----------

(Abo sandstone)

FIGURE 18. Section of strata' in west 

face of Chupadera Mesa, 25 miles east 

of Carthage, N. Mex.

PIGUEE 19. Section of gypsum and 

associated strata near Abo siding 

in the northwest face of Chupadera 

Mesa, N. Mex.

thick beds of gypsum similar in relations to those in Chupadera Mesa. 

These beds have an aggregate thickness'of 200 feet in much of the area 

biit are separated by sandstones and limestones. The thickness and 

stratigraphic relations vary greatly from place to place. The exposures are extensive, but many faults traverse the region and interrupt the continuity of outcrops. In general the width of the outcrop is from 8 to 10 miles. It extends from the ridges rising a few 

miles north of Carthage to the west side of Chupadera Mesa, 40 miles
NEW MEXICO. 167

Earnest/one 

Sandstone.!- ffrayr --------

Sandstone,.limo6tone, anfl.

Limestone capped.by<-cfeat of yello\v sandstone v 

Sandstone, soft./buff or.red--- ' 

Gy.psum$.some.saiid and limestone -- --» 

Qypsntn and 'Soft-red sandstone - ---- *.

Limestone - - 

Gypsum; mostly ------------ - 

Ximcstone - - --- 

gypsum -- - -- ------- -

Sandstone,.red to white--- -._-___. 

Eimestone., slabby - - - _____-.

Sandstone,~white on'red--- -- - - - ---

Gypsum _- __-_-. _._-__.__. Sandstone, soft, red "" ~" -----

pandstone, buff-with.12 feetrof limestone - >

Sandstone,.red, soft-- - - - >- 

Sandstone., yellow with 12_fect ofjimestouc-. 

northeast of Socorro. There are many billions of tons of gypsum 

and anhydrite in this area, and practically pure selenite is abundant. 

In Mesa del Yeso and vicinity, 12 miles northeast of Socorro, 

there is one principal bed of gypsum from 60 to 80 feet thick in a 

succession of soft red sandstones lying below gray sandstone and 

limestone. In the ridges east of Mesa del Yeso, 15 miles northeast 

of Socorro,. are many deposits of gypsum with a large aggregate 

thickness. The succession and thickness of beds are variable. In 

the large butte 2 miles

southeast of Mesa del Feot.|

Yeso the principal bed of 

gypsum is 60 feet thick. 

It lies between soft red 

sandstones. In the slopes 

of the high mesa 8 miles 

east of Mesa del Yeso 

there is, below the thick 

cap of limestone and gray 

sandstone, 250 feet of 

strata, largely composed 

of gypsum in thick beds 

but interbedded with red 

shale and many thin layers of limestone. In Cibola Pyramid, a conical 

peak 4 miles east of Mesa 

del Yeso, there is a similar succession below the 

limestone and gray sandstone cap but apparently 

with thicker bodies of soft 

red sandstone between the 

gypsum deposits. Most of 

the beds of gypsum here 

are 10 to 25 feet thick.

In the long ridge 2 miles northeast of Mesa del Yeso the amount 

of gypsum in the upper part of the Manzano group increases greatly. 

There is at least 300 feet of thick gypsum beds separated by tKin 

bodies of limestone and soft red sandstone.

In the Coyote Buttes, 10 miles northeast of Socorro, the gypsum 

beds are much thinner than in the adjoining regions, and they are 

broken by several faults.

In the Lomo de las Canas, east-southeast of Socorro, the gypsum 

beds aggregate 200 feet thick. Their succession as exposed in an 

arroyo in this ridge is shown in figure 20.

Sandstone, soft,rod.i-yellowattop---- - 

IJinjfiStpne______-_ 

Sandstone, soft, irefl;;, jiollow at-top 

Hmestoae -- - 

150

30

GO±->

35

18

58

iO 

20 

10 

15 

25 

30 

25

r

35

BO

70 ir

Sandstone, soft,-red: -- - * 

limestone at Ojo do las Canas - ->

FIGURE 20. Columnar section of gypsum and associated beds in Arroyo de las CaSas east of the 

spring, 7 miles east-southeast of Socorro, N. Mex.
168 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

In the ridges 2 miles north of'Prairie Spring, 12 miles northeast 

of Cartilage, there is a similar succession' in which the gypsum beds

aggregate about 280 feet. The section is as follows:

Section of gypsum and associated beds .1.2 miles northeast of Carthage, N. Mex.

Feet. 

Limestone ________________..________________ 15

Gypsum with thin limestone layers-^_______________ 85 

Limestone ________________________ _ 14

Gypsum ___________________________. 30

Limestone, hard, dark________________________ 15 

Gypsum with limestone and shale layers_____________ 110 

Limestone, hard, dark_________________________ 12

Gypsum _____ , __ _____ _ ___ 40

Limestone _______________________________ 15 

Gypsum ________________________________ 20 

Limestone, dark, hard_________________________ 45 

Gypsum _ _ _____________ 40

Sandstone ____________________^___________ 5 

Limestone at base of exposure.

Phillips Hills. The upper members of the Manzano group rise 

on the east side of Tularosa desert in Phillips Hills. These hills

Fe.e* form a ridge 7 miles long, lying 

between the railroad and the Malpais, southwest of Oscuro. The 

beds dip at a small angle, generally about 10° E., and pass beneath red beds, which, however^ 

are mostly -concealed by the sand 

and gravel of the bolson. Sand and 

gravel also cover the rocks at both 

ends of the ridge, hiding-the connection with Chupadera Mesa on 

the north and the slopes of Sacramento Mountains on the south. The 

top and most of the east slope of 

the Phillips Hills consist of thick 

beds of limestone with which are 

intercalated thick deposits of gypsum. (See fig. 21.)

Much of the gypsum in the Phillips Hills is well situated for development and only 3 or 4 miles 

from, the railroad. The greater 

part is white and evidently of good 

quality.

Limestone - ------ - »

Gypsum - --> 

Limestone -- -- ..... ^.

Gypsum-.-...-...-- ......^,

, Limestone...- --- >-

GypsumGypsum, wilh.iimesfone layers - 

JJimestone ------- - ---

"Diorite sill - - --

Gypsum and limestone.____-. 

Sandatane, yellow -- --

Sandstone and, shale, .red. - - - >- 

Gypsum -- - 

Limestone and gypsum*

^

200+

'Base, of exposure.__ _ ___^,

FIGURE 21. Columnar section showing 

relation of gypsum (and associated 

beds in Phillips Hills, 6 miles southwest of Oscuro, N. Mex.
NEW MEXICO. 169

Sacramento Mountains. The great gypsum-bearing series of the 

Manzano group, which passes under the Tularosa desert southwest 

of Carrizozo and outcrops in the Phillips Hills, appears prominently 

in the ridges a short distance 

east of Tularosa, It also extends 

along the upper slopes of the east 

face of the Sacramento Range 

and thence south to Texas.

J Sandstone, soft, red, and >->i<> _>> 

60 feet of gypsum,^

Limestone and some buff........^., 

sandstone

\ Limestone ....'.». 

Sandstone, buffi .. ..->.

Sandstone, soft, red, with many 

beds of gypsum and limestone

(top of Abo sandstone)

n ~i -T i i i i i i i

i i .1 i i i

i i

i i i

\ \ i i i i i i i

i i i i

7/j7777*//W7.

'/yqsss/f/tq&t

mmmm*

Feet 

100*

78 " 

60 

80

100 

150

200

%}so

200 v

I

FIGUKE 22. Columnar section of gypsum 

and associated strata about 2 miles 

southeast of SalLnas siding, 10 miles 

north of Tularosa, N. Mex.

\ f

Sandstone - .. >

(Limestone . ____ .___ __ _>

Gypsum ^

Sandstone, buff, and limestone >J 

Shale, red, and limestone ~*-4

jShale, ned, with limestone *-j 

Gypsum __ . _ .. _ .._......... ^.

Ehale, red -J >.

Sandstone, and shale, browjilsh rod . 

(Abo sandstone)

Limestone; (Magdaleua group) V *

1 i n

1 1

i / i T-H-SH

1 .1 1 1 I 1 1 WJW'

!V«V"\ f'

i i i

=--==:

1 ,_!_! 1 1

.V-A.J. '.SjC..*.:.

ipwzzm

1 1 1

~v.::H :*::**; 

 - 

vii-jsitTJ^jJivS- .-~J_: Liif:

xns.T^^ns-

-~'"- 

 ' 

 TS>i"'"'"'''ff'""

 ~

=£=

_ 1 1 1 .

*eeo 

200

100

76' 

75

illO

f I"

30

20 

20

16'

CO 

50

10 

10

25 

30i 

10

60

FIGUUE 23. Columnar section of gypsum 

and associated strata east of Tularosa. 

N. Hex.

In figure 22 is given a section in a bluff 10 miles north of Tularosa, 

in which the beds first rise above the bolson east of the railroad.

A similar succession appears in the slopes northeast and east 

of Tularosa, as shown in figure 23.

In the slopes west of Cloudcroft, on the higher part of the 

range, talus and landslides conceal the gypsum and limestone cliffs
170 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES. "

preponderate. Farther south, however, the gypsum appears again, 

so that doubtless the deposits are continuous under the Cloudcroft 

region. The structural relations are shown in figure 24.

There are exposures of these beds in Grapevine Canyon and adjoining slopes 25 miles southeast of Alamogordo, but in this locality 

the gypsum is much thinner than in the exposures east of Tularosa. 

In the cliffs 15 miles northeast of Oro Grande the following section 

is exposed:

Section of beds of Mansano group 15 miles northeast of Oro Grande, N. Hex.

Feet. 

Limestone ________________________ _______ 200

Sandstone, slabby; mostly red, some buff______________ 80

Gypsum, mostly pure _______________________ 125 

Shale, red _______________________________ 20 

Sandstone, red, slabby; some shale (Abo sandstone)_____:. 200 

Gypsum (not ^A ell exposed) ________________ 100

Limestone (probably of Magdalena group).

VERTICAL.SCALE

FIGURE 24. Approximate section across Sacramento Mountains east from Alamogordo, 

N. Hex. Or, Orclovician limestones ; Cm, Mississippian limestone.

These cliffs are along the west face of a southern continuation of ^ 

the Sacramento Mountains, and the beds have the same low dip to 

the eastward as in that range. Just west of its foot, however, there 

is a low arch in which limestones, apparently of the Magdalena 

group, dip to the westward and present a long dip slope toward the 

bolson in that direction^ The lower gypsum bed appears to be in 

the base of the Abo sandstone.

The westward-facing cliff continues far south, but its height gradually decreases. At a point 20 miles southeast of Oro Grande the 

limestone in the Magdalena group is overlain by a thick body of 

gypsum not well exposed. It is overlain by ,30 feet of red shale, 

above which limestone 250 feet thick caps the ridge and extends 

east in a long dip slope. At the base of the limestone are some buff 

sandy layers.

Vaughn region. Near Vaughn, in Gwadalupe County, and in the 

wide ridge constituting the divide east of that place there are many 

thick beds of gypsum. In the old stone quarry half a mile north of 

Vaughn station, on the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad, there is
NEW MEXICO. 171

Gypsum - ---- >

Ruff sandstone - _-------.».

!Red sandstone -- - ->-

Gypsum with some red sandstone 

and thin limestones - - ->

Gypsum. 

Gypsum; some red sand and 

limestone ""

Gypsum - 

Limestone . - -------

Red shale, thin gypsum, and 

sandstone neat top

Buff sandy E

Slobby* sandstone and. shale. ..> 

Men ced-trown (Abossaudstone)

Limestone at-top of 

Magdalena group

TTeefc

200

100

an extensive exposure of a1 bed of gypsum, about 20 feet thick with 

15 feet of limestone above and below it.

The deep boring at Tony, near Vaughn, is reported to have penetrated 100 feet of gypsum, partly white and partly of red and yellow tints, and the 341-foot well at 

Pastura passed through alternations 

of thick beds of limestone, sandstone, 

and gypsum, the gypsum aggregating more than 100 feet. In the plains 

east of Yaughn there are many sink 

holes which connect with underground passageways for water in the 

gypsum, on the edges of which the 

mineral is exposed. Ledges are exposed in the railroad cut at Winkle 

and near Aragon and Pastura.

Gypsum undoubtedly underlies 

much of the plateau, which is capped 

by nearly horizontal limestone that 

extends southward irom Vaughn beyond Corona, and the mineral was 

reported in borings at Varney and 

Duran. These beds appear at the 

surface at the foot of the south side 

of the plateau at Ancho..

Ancho. At Ancho, in Lincoln 

County, there is a plaster mill where 

gypsum is ground and burned in 

moderate amounts. In the vicinity 

of the plaster mill the strata are considerably disturbed by flexures and 

cut by faults and igneous rocks.

The gypsum is extensively exposed 

in the slopes near the railroad, especially in the cuts east of the plaster 

mill, half a mile north of the railway 

station. There are several deposits 

interbedded with layers of limestone 

and red sandy shale and clay. The most valuable bed is 35 feet 

thick, and others are 10 to 15 feet thick. The principal material used 

in making plaster here is gypsite or pulverulent material weathered 

or washed out of the main ledges: Some quarrying also has been done.

8cm Andres Mountains. The upper .formations of the Manzano 

group, which extend for many miles along the west slope of the

coo

FIGURE 25. Columnar section showing relation of gypsum deposits in 

Rhodes Canyon, San Andres Mountains, 25 miles east-southeast of 

Engle, N. Mex.
172 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

San Andres Mountains, contain numerous thick beds of gypsum. 

The stratigraphic relations are similar to those in Chupadera Mesa 

and Sacramento Mountains namely, an alternation of red shale, 

sandstone, gypsum, and limestone, the limestone capping ridges of 

considerable prominence. (See fig. 25.)

In general the beds form a monocline that dips gently to the 

west, and most of the gypsum is on the steep east slopes of ridges 

capped by the harder limestone. The cross section (fig. 26) shows 

the structure which prevails. The geologic section in the center 

of the mountains shows a typical succession of beds, but the order 

and thickness differ greatly from place to place. The outcrop

JOHNA DA 

DEL MUERTO

. VERTICAL SCALE .

0 1000 feet

26. Section across San Andres Mountains 18 miles northeast of Englc, N. Mex.

ceases at the south end of the San Andres Mountains, northeast of 

Las Cruces, and near the north end of the range, at a point about 

35 miles northeast of Engle.

i Caballos Mountains. The upper part of the Manzano group extending along the east slope of the Caballos Mountains consists of 

an alternation of limestone and gypsum, whose aggregate thickness 

is about 800 feet. Of these rock strata about 325 feet is gypsum 

in beds 10 to 40 feet thick. The bodies of limestone intervening 

are 5 to 40 feet thick, and there are also some thin beds of sandstone 

and sandy shale. The succession differs from place to place, but 

the section shown in figure 27 is fairly representative. Figure 28 

shows the structural relations.

It will be seen from the cross section that the beds dip gently to 

the east and are cut off on the east by a fault by which sandstones 

of Cretaceous age are dropped against the limestones which overlie 

the gypsum.

The outcrop of the gypsum beds extends for several miles along 

the slopes, parallel to the railroad and about 12 miles west of it. The 

nearest stations are Cutter and Aleinan.

Sierra Fra Cristobal. The south end of the Fra Cristobal Kange, 

northwest of Engle, Sierra County, has extensive outcrops of red 

beds, gypsum, and limestone of the Manzano group. No detailed 

examination was made of the beds exposed, but there is an alternation of about 700 feet of gypsum and limestone, with an aggregate 

of nearly 300 feet of gypsum in beds 10 to 40 feet thick. The stratigraphic and structural relations are clearly similar to those in the 

Caballos Mountains, of which this range is a detached continuation.
NEW MEXICO. 173

Rincon Colorado to Lamy. Sev-

. Sandstone (.Cretaceous)- eral beds of gypsum are exposed in

the cliffs of red beds on the east Limestone -->

side of the plateau east of Pedernal Peak, in the northeastern part -OJjJj., isd 

of Torrance County. These cliffs

are on the slopes adjoining the \\\\ \\\ so 

headwaters of the middle branches 10 

of Pintada Canyon. A view of a

portion of them is shown in Plate Gypsum and-Ume8tone aiteEnations < 

XX, A. The principal bed of gyp- . ( 

sum is 20 feet thick, and not far _____M 

above it is another bed 5 feet p^^s^io 

thick. No detailed examination ,.,,,. 

was made of this region, and therefore it is not known how far to the 

north and east these exposures ex- 

 tend. As the beds of gypsum at 

this horizon outcropping along the 

west side of the plateau northeast 

of Pedernal Peak and near Cuervo 

Butte are thin, there are probably 

no extensive deposits in the plateau <--. ~. < -- 

Sandstone and sbale, brownish red ^

extending north from Pedernal Ubo sandstone; 

Peak to Glorieta Mesa. A thin bed 

of considerable value for local use 

outcrops in Jaspe Canyon 15 miles 

southeast of Lamy.

Pecos Valley. A large part of 

the Pecos Valley has been developed in " Ked Beds " which contain

deposits of gypsum at many -places ^^ , 

from the vicinity of Fort Sumner L *t top of Magdaiena group. - ->

to the Texas State line. Some of FIGURE 27. Columnar section showing 

., , ., j.1 relations of gypsum and associated these deposits are near the river, beds ln cabaiios Mountains, is miles 

but most of them are in adjoin- southwest of Engie, N. Mex.

FIGURE 28.- -Section across Caballos Mountains 15 miles southwest of Engle, N. Mex., 

. showing structural relations of gypsum.
174 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES. '

ing slopes or in lateral valleys. Well records show also that there 

are thick beds intercalated among the limestones and other strata 

underlying the valley. Many features of the geology of the region 

have been -described by C. A. Fisher,1 and the following material is 

taken from his report:

The so-called Permian series of this [the Roswell] district consists of an 

upper red bed member of gypsum, red sand, limestone, and clay 600 to 800 

feet thick, forming the high bluffs along the east side of Pecos River and underlying the recent deposits of Pecos Valley, and a lower member of massive 

limestone, clay, and gypsum of undetermined thickness, which constitutes high 

rugged slopes to the west. Overlying the red bed division east of Pecos River 

is a reddish-brown sandstone about 100 feet thick, which may be of Cretaceous 

age. No subdivisions have been made of the probably Permian rocks in this 

region in the present reconnaissance.

Red lied division. These rocks consist of alternating beds of gypsum, red 

sand, and clay, with an occasional layer of dark-gray, compact limestone. 

The gypsum predominates and usually occurs in beds about 10 feet thick. It 

is often found, however, in thinner layers, interbedded with 'clay and limestone. The red beds are provisionally placed in the Permian, although no 

fossils have been found in them. * * * The upper part oZ the beds is well 

exposed in the bluffs along the east side of Pecos River, where a number of 

sections have been measured. These sections are as follows:

Sections of gypsum bluffs along the east side of Pecos Rwer, N. Mex. 

East of Roswell: Feet. 

Alternating layers of gypsum and red sand, locally containing layers of limestone ___________________ 50 

White gypsum _______ _ __ ____ 6

Red sand _________ _ __ _____ 6

White, thin-bedded gypsum_ _ _ _ _ ____ 10

Red sandstone containing thin layers of limestone__'__ 24 

White gypsum __________________________ 5 - 

Red sand ____________________________ 13

Gypsum __ _ _ : _ 10 

Red sand _________ _ _________________ 3

Gypsum __ _ _ -_- ' 8 

Red sand __________ _ _ 8

Gypsum ________ _ _ _ 4 

Greenish-gray sandstone _ _ ____ _ __ 25 

Gypsum _ 6

178

At Dimmit Lake: - ' - 

Gray sandy limestone_ 20 

Alternating layers of gypsum and red and green clay,

locally containing beds, of porous limestone_ _ 100 

Gypsum _ 4 

Red clay __________ _ __ 2$ 

Gypsum_______________ _______ 18

Alternating layers of gypsum and red clay 6 

Gypsum_____________________ _ 11

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 158, pp. 6-8, 1906.
NEW MEXICO. 175

At Dimniit Lake Continued. Feet

Alternating layers of gypsum and red sandstone_____ 6

Gypsum______________________________ 9

Red clay_____________________________ 1

Gypsuru_______________________________ 10

Alternating layers of gypsuni and red clay_________ 15

Gypsum______________________________ 5

Red clay______________________________ 1£

Gypsum _____ _______________________ 10

Red clay _____________________________ 7

Alternating layers of gypsum, and red clay_________ 8

Gypsum ______________________°_______ 6

Red clay, with thin layers of gypsum________ ___ 3

Gypsum ____ _____ _______________ ft

249

Eight miles northeast of Artesia: 

Gray compact limestone________1____________ 5 

Gypsum and red sandy clay in alternate succession___ 65 

Red sandy clay________________________ 10 

White massive gypsuni _ ___________ _______ 15

 Red sandy clay________ __________________ 5

White gypsum._ _ _ _ _____ ___.. 10 

Gray limestone _________________________ 5 

Gypsum _______________ __ ________ __ 18

Red clay ______________________________ 12

Gypsuni ________________________________ 5

150

About 2 miles southeast of the mouth of South Fork of Seven 

Rivers:

Massive gray limestone____________________ 35 

Gypsum and red sandstone in alternate layers, locally

containing limestone ledges.________________ 50 

Gypsum, thin-bedded porous limestone, and red sandstone

arranged alternately, the gypsum predominating._ _ 150 

Gypsum, with thin layers of gray limestone_______ 50

285

Limestone division. The massive limestone beds underlying the so-called 

Permian red beds of this region consist mainly of gray compact limestone, 

with layers of soft sandstone, clay, and gypsum. In the upper part the limestone is more or less thin bedded and porous and contains many sandy layers.

Much gypsum in this series of " Eed Beds " has been quarried and 

made into gypsum plaster at Acme, a small village in Chaves County, 

18 miles northeast of Roswell, and also at Oriental, a station in Eddy 

County halfway between Artesia arid Carlsbad. The beds included 

in the foregoing sections are all in the series of red shales overlying 

the thick succession of limestone, sandstone, and gypsum constituting 

the great dip slope that extends continuously from the summit of the 

Sacramento and Guadalupe mountains to Pecos River. (See p. 169.)
176 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Gypsum. 1-. 

Red sand, cavy- 

'Lime','soft, "white, (water)--* 

Clay, light, sandy 

with 2 foot bed of anhydrite

Salt (108 feet)- -- -> 

Anhydrite ,

Salt (.with 10 feet anhydrite)-*. 

155 feet

Saudstone.dark, hard 

Limestones, dark in middle -* 

Sandstone -

.Trace of oil

Limestone

Sand, light, mostly fine ? 

^Limestone, dark »

FIGURE 29. Record of boring in NE. 

I sec. 4, T. 22 S., R. 28 E., east of 

Carlsbad, N. Mex.

Some of the many deep valleys and 

canyons on this slope cut through 

tlie limestone and expose beds of gypsum, but the area has not yet been 

examined in sufficient detail to show 

the places of occurrence and succession of beds. Some of the deep 

borings in the Pecos Valley penetrate 

this series of rocks and pass through 

very thick beds of gypsum and salt. 

The record of a well 2 miles east of 

Carlsbad is given in figure 29. 

' E. E. Lyder and W. A. Whittaker, 

of the University of Kansas, made 

many tests of samples as boring progressed. The presence of 1,327 feet 

of gypsum (anhydrite) from 1,118 

to 2,455 feet and 563 feet of salt between 510 and 1,118 feet are the most 

remarkable features in this record.

A boring at McMillan, a few miles 

northwest of Oriental, penetrated 

gypsum in beds 5 to 6 feet thick 

from 49 to 80 feet; pure white, moderately hard gypsum, 135 to 200 feet; 

and very hard white gypsum, 200 to 

450 feet.1 In a record of a near-by 

well, however, through the same beds 

the continuity of the gypsum deposit 

is stated to be interrupted by much 

clay and sandstone.

FIGURE 30. Section showing relations of gypsum deposit east of Rosario siding, 7 miles 

west of Los Cerrillos, N. Mex. a, Massive sandstone, buff above, red below (Wingate?) ; ft, thin-bedded limestone; c, gypsum bed ; d, purplish to chocolate clays ; e, gray 

to buff sandstone ; /., light clays, some sandstone; g, dark shale.

1 Fisher, C. A., op. cit., p. 19.
NEW MEXICO. 177

GYPSUM OVERLYING THE WINGATE SANDSTONE.

Los Cerrillos. The " Red Beds " that come to the surface in the 

great monocline west of Los Cerrillos in Santa Fe County contain a 

thick bed of gypsum, which outcrops very conspicuously along the 

bank of Galisteo Creek as shown _____«Feotin Plate XX, B (p. 178). This lo- sandstone 

cality is at a point about a mile Shale' dark " 

east of Rosario siding, on the . ........ inft .

. . , . _, ° _._.. Sandstone, buff, massive- » .' .'.''..' 100* Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail- (Dakota)

way. The exposure extends along Shale, grayi maroon) ^^h ,.,.....:^r^1100

the side of the railroad for nearly nnd 8ands(Mn0erruo"nf"'

half a mile and then trends off to Gypsum...__ 

the north, finally passing under Llme9tono, th-in beddedthe Santa Fe marl. The section a , ^j^fj^ ?.

exposed is presented in figure 30. ' °

The gypsum bed is 60 feet thick, 

but it appears to thicken locally; 

in one place this is due to faulting

and Slipping. | Bhaletrea-~. -v|=^r=^ 350*

i - O

A small but apparently representative sample of gypsum from 

this outcrop was tested by A. A. 

Chambers in the laboratory of the sandstone, gray, i 

United States Geological Survey 

and found to contain about 96.22 

per cent of CaS04.2H2 0.

m mi i -i San'dstone, red --- -- -# ...................... 300i- lonque. Ihe same gypsum bed (Abo) - 

as that near Rosario reappears 

again near Tonque Creek, in the

, n rv i "limestone, (top of Mudera) -* ' I

southeastern part of Sandoval

r< ' i ,, "i , < -n Tn FIGURE 31. Columnar section showing

County, 6 miles east of Bemallllo, relations of gypsum deposit on east

and extends Southward for about bank of Ton<l«e Creek, 2 miles below

., A -1 TI ^ -i -i the brick works. Sandoval County, 10 miles. Its ends are covered by N. Hex.

w SANDIA MTN,

\Granite, schist, quartzlte^T^-*<^

32. Cross section showing relations of gypsum in Tijeras Canyon east of Albuquerque, N. Mex. a, Keel beds, with T), sandstone and limestone member ; c, Wingate ( ?) 

sandstone overlying gypsum ; d, Morrison shale; e, Dakota (?) sandstone; /, Mancos 

shale and overlying coal measures m, Madera limestone.

124567° 20 12
MESA P

SECTIO

FIGURE 33. Outline map and section of part of the valley of Rio Chama, in Rio Arr

the gypsum bed.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XX

A. GYPSUM IN NORTH WALL OF RINCON COLORADO, EAST OF PEDERNAL PEAK, 

TORRANCE COUNTY, N. MEX., LOOKING NORTHEAST.

Photograph by N. II. Darloo.

B. OUTCROP OF GYPSUM NEAR ROSARIO SIDING, WEST OF LOS CERRILLOS, 

N. MEX., LOOKING NORTH.

This great outcrop extends along the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway on the south bank 

of Galisteo Creek. The gypsum is underlain by the bedded limestone on Wiiigate (?) sandstone (a). Photograph by W. T. Lee.
TT. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXI

A. GYPSUM ON WINGATE SANDSTONE ON BANK OF GALLINA UIVEIl, It MILES 

NORTH-NORTHEAST OF GALLINA, N. MEX., LOOKING SOUTH-SOUTHWEST.

Photograph hy N. H. Darton.

B. GYPSUM CAPPING CERRO BLANCO, 1 MILE NORTHWEST OF PLAZA OF 

GALLINA, N. MEX., LOOKING NORTH.

Photograph by N. H. Darton.
NEW MEXICO. 179

Shalo (Mancos)_

Sandstone, gray, massivij, hard, 

 with included shale member_.v 

(Dakota)

180

Shale, light gray, greenish, 

iirownish 

Sandstone, brown to gray, soft; 

some rod shale ---

Gypsum. 

Limestone, thin-bedded - --

Sandstone, fine, massive, buffi, 

white and pink to red.___ 

(Wingate)

65 

4+

Tertiary deposits. The thickness is about 80 feet, and although the 

beds dip eastward at moderate angles and the outcrop zone is narrow, there are many places where the deposit could be easily worked. 

At one or two places, notably at Tejon, the gypsum does not appear, 

probably on account of cover or a slight fault. The succession of 

rocks is shown in figure 31.

Tijeras Canyon. The bed of gypsum described above reappears 

in the upper part of Tijeras Canyon, 15 miles east of Albuquerque,

where it is traceable for about 5 

miles to faults, which cut it off at 

each end. Its structural relations 

in this area are shown in figure 32. 

The bed of gypsum is GO feet thick. 

It lies on 3 feet of very thin bedded 

limestone, which caps massive finegrained sandstone (Wingate?) as 

in the region north and west. This 

exposure is the southernmost of 

these three beds.

Rio Chama-G-alUna region. A 

thick bed of gypsum is exposed for 

many miles along the canyon of 

Chama River in Rio Arriba County 

and in the slopes of the high mesas 

extending north and south.' To the 

west the exposures extend along the 

south side of'Mesa Prieta to the 

Mexican plaza of Gallina and 

thence south along the west slope 

of the Sierra Nacimiento, as described on page 181. The outcrop 

is terminated to the east by the 

Santa Fe marl, dropped by a great fault which crosses Rio Chama 4 

miles northwest of Abiquiu. The outcrop and general structural relations are shown in figure 33. The cross section shows that the gypsum bed passes laterally under the mesa and is revealed by the valleys 

cut below the old plateau surface. A typical exposure is shown in 

Plate XXI, A. In most of the area the beds lie nearly level, but on 

Gallina River, in the northwestern part of the outcrop, they present a 

sharp anticline, and west of Gallina they are upturned on the west 

slope of the Nacimiento uplift.

The success ion of rocks shown in the columnar section (fig. 34) 

is uniform throughout, but there are local variations in the thickness of the beds. The beds of gypsum, so far as observed, range;

Shale, red.

300

Sandstone, gray (top) 

FIGURE 34. Columnar section of rocks 

in Rio Chania-GaUinu region, N, Mex.
180 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

in thickness from 50 to 65 feet. At Gallina the thickness is about 

50 feet, but at most places it is 55 feet. The mineral is massive,, 

pure white, and evidently of very high grade. Though most of

20 Miles

FIGURE 35. Map showing outcrop of gypsum bed along the west side of the Nacimiento 

uplift from Rio Gallina to Rio Salado, Sandoval County, N. Mcx. (After M. K. Shaler.)

the outcrops are in cliffs or steep slopes, in places the deposit spreads 

out in broad areas convenient for quarrying. The gypsum at Cerro 

Blanco (PL XXI, B] is an occurrence of this sort, the bed here hav-
NEW MEXICO. 181

ing a long, gentle slope to the west. The gypsum has been worked 

in small amount for use at Gallina. Most of this region is in the 

Jemez and Carson forest reserves.

Nacimiento upU/t. From Gallina the outcrop of the great gypsum bed extends 45 miles nearly due south along the west slope of 

the Sierra Nacimiento. Its thickness ranges from 50 to 100 feet, 

the amount gradually increasing to the south. This area has been 

described by Shaler,1 and the following facts are condensed from 

his statements. The beds dip steeply to the west and in places are 

vertical. The outcrop is .almost continuous, but locally there is 

covering of talus or wash and Tertiary deposits. To the south the 

bed passes down the south side of the Rio Salado valley and is 

cut off by a fault as described on page 184. The map (fig. 35) shows 

the course of the outcrop and the section (fig. 36) shows the structure.

FIGURE 36. Sketch section at Senorlto, N. Mex., showing relations of gypsum bed.

(After data by Shaler.)

The sketch section (fig. 36) is at Senorito, where the gypsum bed 

is 54 feet thick and is underlain by 50 feet of white crystalline limestone which has been burned for lime. The gypsum outcrops extensively one-fourth of a mile west of the post office. Half a mile farther west the San Miguel Copper Co. has opened a 6-foot coal bed 

which parallels the gypsum outcrop for several miles, an association 

which may be important when the deposit is utilized.

In the slopes 3 miles west of the San Miguel mine the gypsum 

is 60 feet thick and dips nearly due west at an agle of 40°. The 

following section shows the succession of beds: 

Section 3 miles west of San Miguel copper mine, Sandoval County, N. Mex.

Feet. 

Sandstone (Dakota) on shale_I_____________ 100+

Liniestoue, crystalline____ _ _ 40

Gypsum, massive, white _ 60 

Sandstone, light pinkish ; red shale at base _ _ -. 80 

Sandstone, light pinkish, copper bearing __________ 40

Sandstone, red, with some red shale interbedded__I 30+ 

Granite.

- 1 Shaler, M. K., Gypsum in northwestern New Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 315, 

pp. 260-265, 1907.
182 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

This gypsum has been worked to a small extent at this place for 

local use.

A partial analysis of a surface sample of the gypsum from this 

locality by W. T. Schaller, of the U. S. Geological Survey, is as 

follows:

Analysis of gypsum from the deposit west of the San Miguel copper mine, 

Sandoval County, N. Hex.

Calcium oxide _________ .. 34.24

Sulphur trioxide _ _ _ _ 46.61

Water _______ _ 18.89

Insoluble residue- . .18

Loss_______ .08

s This analysis shows that the mineral is about 97 per cent pure, 

the remainder being mostly calcium carbonate.

South of the San Miguel mine the bed of gypsum continues to 

thicken gradually to a maximum of about 100 feet at a point about 

3 miles southeast of Ojo del Espiritu Santo, or opposite Jemez Peak, 

beyond which it thins somewhat. At the place just mentioned the 

beds are tilted at an angle of 70° W., but in a short distance from 

the foot of the mountain they flatten out, widening the outcrop 

greatly so that the gypsum is at or near the surface in an area of 

considerable extent. It is white and doubtless as pure as near San 

Miguel mine, described above. The gypsum is underlain by 250 feet 

of shales and soft sandstone not well exposed and 200 feet of red 

sandstone extending to the granite.

The gypsum outcrop extends south some distance along the valley of the Rio Salado to the Cabezon-Albuquerque wagon road, in 

the area shown on the west side of the map (fig. 37). At one locality 

there is a broad area in which the beds dip west-northwest at a low 

angle, and the gypsum is covered by shale which could be readily 

stripped. It is underlain by soft, massive yellow Wingate sandstone.

The gypsum in this region is too remote from transportation and 

market to work, for it is 25 miles to Bernalillo, the nearest railroad 

station, and the long wagon haul is out of the question. If a railroad line goes through this region the deposit may be used if the 

demand is sufficient to pay freight. The great purity of the mineral 

and the presence of coal near by are advantageous.

Jemez region. The outcrop of the bed of gypsum extends along 

the west side of the Nacimiento uplift and passes over the uplift 

where the axis of the fold pitches down at Rio Salado, a few miles 

southwest of Jemez Pueblo. The features at this place are shown 

on the map (fig. 37). The succession of rocks in this region is 

closely similar to the one presented in Gallina-Chama region, El
NEW MEXICO. 183

Elto, and Los Cerrillos. The gypsum lies on the massive Wingate 

sandstone and is overlain by shales of supposed Morrison age. 

Figure 38 shows the succession southwest of Jemez.

TufE.

Sandstone (Dakota)

and s> verl y'ing.shale

I. ' I Shale

Wingato sandstone 

Red.s'hale (-BriassJe) 

|°o°o °0°|Sandatone (S3 on sections)

XXdRed shale and sandstone

FIGURE 37. Map and sections of the south end of the Nacimiento uplift southwest of 

Jemez, N. Mex., showing outcrop and relations of gypsuin bed.

In part of this area the gypsum extends along high slopes or 

caps buttes, as in the extensive area 3 or 4 miles southwest of San 

Ysidro (PL XXII, J.), but farther up Rio Salado it extends down 

to lower lands and could be easily mined over a large area. Small 

wedge-shaped masses appear in slopes 4 miles northeast of Jemez 

and along the fault 1£ miles west of San Ysidro. The southern
184. GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Sandstone, gray. - ~>- 

Unconformity

200

extension of this fault cuts off-the gypsum 3 miles south-southwest 

of San Ysidro, and it does not appear again between that point 

and the San Jose Valley at Suwanee.

San Jose Valley. A high cliff of 

gypsum -extends along the north 

slope of the San Jose Valley in the 

vicinity of El Eito Pueblo near Rito 

siding on~ the Atchison, Topeka & 

Santa Fe Railway. As shown in 

Plate XXII, #, it extends along the 

north side of the railroad track for 

some distance. The relations of 

this bed of gypsum to adjoining 

rocks are represented in the section 

(% 39).

This bed of gypsum crosses the 

San Jose Valley a short distance 

west of the pueblo but thins' out a. 

few miles south of El Rito. On 

the north slope of the valley it gradually rises to the east and outcrops 

for 16 miles to a point 5 miles north 

of Suwanee, where a great northsouth fault, which drops on the east 

side, cuts off all the beds. The relations in this vicinity are shown in

Clay, massive, maroon, gray, 

greenish, some sandstone >-

Gypsum.,__.

Sandstone, massive - 

(Wmgate)

Shale, red, some sandstone > 

(Triassic)

Sandstone, hard, mostly gray:>

Shale and sandstone, r_e5 ;

Sandstone ... ._____ ---> 

Limestone (Madera). .

I I

I . I

300 +

Shale, gray, greenish, red;

some sandstone"----> 

Sandstone, gray, massive; 

of Laguna and Acoma"""*'

Sandstone', red --------- j

Gypsum --& 

Limestone, thin bedded 3

Sandstone, gray al>ove, 

;ed below (Wingate) "

FIGURE 38. Section showing relations of gypsum bed southwest of 

Jemez, N. Mex.

.the section (fig. 40) and the map (fig. 

41), in which also are'indicated other 

faults, along one of which the gypsum 

is uplifted for a short distance in the 

slope a half mile northeast of Suwanee.

DEPOSITS OF QUATERNARY AGE.

White sands. In the bolson of Tularosa Desert, between the Sari Anclres 

and Sacramento mountains, there are 

extensive deposits of wind-blown gypsum sand known as the white sands. These sands lie mainly in Otero 

County but extend a short distance into the east side of Dona Ana 

County. They extend 28 miles from north to south and range from

i Shale, red -

.Feet 

200

FIGURE 39. Section of rocks associated with gypsum bed at El Rito, 

N. Mex.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXII

A. CLIFFS OF GYPSUM AT EDGE OF MESA 3 MILKS SOUTHWEST OF SAN YSIDRO, 

N. MEX., LOOKING SOUTH, RIO SALADO IN MIDDLE GROUND.

The gypsum is underlain hy soft massive sandstone (Wingate). Photograph by W. T. Lee.

*»' '.«, j

B. OUTCROP ill lll.l) OK GYPSUM 50 FEET THICK ON NORTH BANK OF SAN JOSE 

RIVER OPPOSITE PUEBLO OF EL RITO, ON ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE 

RAILWAY, 63 MILES WEST OF ALBUQUERQUE, N. MEX., LOOKING NORTH.

Gypsum is overlain by bed of sandstone and underlain by tliin limestone (a-a). Pbotograph by

N. H. Darton.
V. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Till; WHITE SANDS, WIND-BLOWN GYPSUM IN DESKKT 
NEW MEXICO. 185

6 to 15 miles in width; they cover an area of about 270 square miles. 

Their eastern edge lies !!£ miles west of Alamogordo station. Most 

of the deposit is in dunes 10 to 30 feet high, the average thickness

W E

MESA GIGANTE

Vw^^C^W******.' *« <>>>.- .- - .. Vr-V-.'-.i.'/! ff AlinCT.

I I

Minor faults

:

FIGURE 40. Section along north side of San Jose Valley near Suwanee, N. Mex., showing 

relatious of great gypsum bed in faulted blocks. Looking north, a, Dakota sandstone 

and overlying beds; b, shale; c, buff massive sandstone; d, red sandstone; e, gypsum on 

thin-bedded limestone ; /, Massive pink sandstone (Wingate) ; g, red shale and sandstone (Triassic). 

probably being nearly 20 feet. A large part of the material is snowwhite, resembling snowdrifts. In places a small amount of quartz 

sand is included. A typical view is given in Plate XXIII. The

 > .$ U5.'

E^' NATION f\ 4^ 

I'/:5X| Sand and gravel '"f^^"

(^Basaft . " "y/!*«* ..^

p^^rq Sandstone and.shale ^ .-; ' V^Si1 , .,.

I l( Dakota to Mesaverde) 'v""^* =-:> t ' \

^^Hi,oi«- \« a<2< >*"; \-\ 'i "'S-'t 1' *'" "*' 

limestone(,5^ii S\' ' -^"^fc

_________SCALE________

Shalemi, MI,iii. Sandstones buff and red 

xx xxx Gypsum overlying thii

 Sandstone (Wingate)

 - Fault

/f-i\>otf

:&

io Puerco.

''

0 2 1 0 8 10 miles 

FIGURE 41. Map showing outcrop of gypsum bed in the San Jose Valley, N. Mex.

extent of the deposit in relation to county and township lines and 

other features is shown on the map (fig. 17, p. 165).

Some of this gypsum sand has been hauled to Alamogordo from 

time to time, but owing to the slight demand and the distance to 

the .larger markets the industry is very small and intermittent.

The following two analyses of these sands have been published.
186 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Analyses of gypsum of the white sands, Otero County, N. Mex.

Lime (CaO). ....................................................................

Sulphuric radicle (S03 ) .........................................................

Chlorine (01) ..... 1 ....'..........................................................

Silica (Si02 ). ....................................................................

Water (H2O).. ..................................................................

1

33. 30

44. 85

.82

3.32

82.29 

17.71

100.00

2

30. 8

44.2

.4

2.7

20.8

1.1

100.0

1. Arthur Gross, State chemist of Indiana, analyst. Brady.F.AV. Mines and Minerals, vol. 25, pp. 

529-530, 1905.

2. W. J. Gies. analyst. MacDougal, D. T., Botanical features of North American deserts: Carnegie Insl. 

of Washington Pub, 99, p. 16, 1908.

Analysis No. 1 is believed to indicate that 96.43 per cent of gypsum is present, and No. 2, 95.8 per cent. 

In a report on the Tularosa Basin, Meinzer says:

Gypsum underlies the southern part of the large alkali flat, all of the white 

sands area, and a section of the low desert plain extending southward to 

T. 22 S., Rs. 5 and 6 E., eastward to Dog Canyon and .within a few miles of 

Alamogordo and Tularosa and northward to a point beyond Malpais Spring. 

It outcrops along most of the alkali flats in the outliers that project above 

the flats, in erosion remnants of the white sands, in the, banks of the midslope and low-level arroyos, in many open wells, in sink holes, and in the 

knolls and hummocks produced by sink holes and wind work throughout the 

gypseous portion of the desert plain. Its distribution is shown not only by 

outcrops and well sections but also by the existence of sink holes and hummocky topography.1

Some of the benches and low outlying buttes show gypsum horizontally bedded, "indicating deposition from concentrated waters of 

an ancient lake." Crystals more than a foot long are found at one 

locality.

Pinos Wells. According to Meinzer 2 there are deposits of gypsum sand in the Pinos Wells basin, in the southeastern part of 

Torrance County. They are similar to the white sands but of 

much less extent, and though in places the sand is pure, much of 

it is mixed with fine clay. No facts are available as to its extent 

or availability for plaster manufacture. The locality is about 10 

miles west of Duran, on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Bailway, and 15 miles southwest of Encino, on the cut-oil of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.

1 Meinzer, 0. E., Geology and water resources of Tularosa, N. Mex.: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 343, p. 69, 1915.

2 Meinzer, O. E., Geology and water resources of the Estancia Valley, N. Me:s., with 

notes on adjacent portions of central New Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply 

Paper 275, p. 83, 1911.
NEW YORK.

By D. H. NEWLAND and HENRY I^EIGHTON. 

HISTORY OF THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK.

Gypsum has been mined in New York for more than a century. 

The present development of the industry dates back, however, about 

two decades. During this period the production has grown to many 

times its former proportions, and from a relatively insignificant position the State has advanced into prominence with regard to both 

the mining and manufacture of gypsum. The basis of this progress 

is supplied by great natural resources combined with unexcelled 

market advantages.

The discovery of the gypsum deposits must have been practically 

coincident with the first permanent settlement of central and western New York, which followed close upon the termination of the 

War of the Revolution. The earliest mention that is still a matter of 

record relates to an occurrence oil lot 9.0, Camillus Township, Onondaga County, said to have been discovered by W. Lyndsay in 1792. 

In 1808 a stock company was organized to exploit this deposit for 

land plaster. The beds in Sullivan Township, Madison County, 

were worked during the War of 1812, and the output was shipped 

to Hudson River and as far away as Philadelphia. It appears that 

gypsum was quarried at Union Springs as early as 1811, and by 

1822 several thousand tons are reported to have been shipped each 

year from that place to Pennsylvania. The sole use of the product 

was for agricultural plaster.

At the time of the first geologic survey (1836-1841) the quarrying of gypsum was actively pursued along the belt of Salina strata 

from Madison to Genesee counties. The reports of that survey mention operative quarries in the towns of Wheatland, Leroy, Seneca 

Falls, Union Springs, Phelps, Manlius, Camillus, and Sullivan; and 

their output was then nearly as large probably as at any time in the 

succeeding 50 years.

Though the deposits were under active exploitation long before 

those of Michigan, Ohio, and the Central States had become productive, they have played little part in the development of the 

trade in calcined plasters or their technology. It was only after this 

branch of the industry had become firmly established in other parts 

of the country and American practice had become fairly perfected 

that the local deposits began to receive attention as a source of 

material for calcined plaster. The first production of plaster of 

Paris was reported in 1892 and amounted to 75 tons. With the successful issue of the early undertakings the natural advantages of

187
188 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

the State for manufacture and marketing contributed a powerful impetus to this branch of the business, which is now the most important 

of all.

Though the production for the years previous to 1889 can not be 

stated definitely, it is estimated that the aggregate output since the 

beginning of the industry in the State has been more than 9,000,000 

tons: The production probably did not average over 10,000 tons a, 

year previous to the opening of the Erie Canal, for until then the 

facilities for shipment were small. From the year of its opening 

(1826) until 1889 the average was probably about 35,000 tons. For 

the period 1810-1888 the production may be estimated accordingly at 2,400,000 tons, and the actual output in the period 1889-1918 

has been 7,226,135 tons. The combined total in round numbers is 

9,626,000 tons

METHOD OF MINING.

The extraction of gypsum by open cutting is necessarily confined 

to the eastern and central areas. The pocket deposits are worked 

only in a small way after the simple methods of early days. More 

systematic operations are carried on in connection with the rock 

gypsum of Onondaga and Cayuga counties. The beds are exposed 

along the sides of hills with a thickness of 20 to 60 feet. The 

quarries at Lyndon, Jamesville, and Union Springs are opened on 

such natural exposures. The overlying limestones and drift are 

stripped off or allowed to fall into the excavation left by the removal of the gypsum. As the work advances into the hill an 

increasing amount of overburden is encountered and in the course 

of time this becomes a serious problem, necessitating a change to 

underground mining or the abandonment of work altogether. There 

are many abandoned quarries around Fayetteville. At Union 

Springs the drift covering is stripped ;by steam shovels, and the 

material is loaded on cars for removal to a dump. The breaking 

of the gypsum rock is effected by drilling and blasting with black 

powder or dynamite.

In the western area the gypsum is mined underground, and this 

practice has also been introduced recently in some of the quarries 

around Fayetteville to obviate the handling of the overburden. 

Entrance to the workings is through an adit where the gypsum 

approaches sufficiently near the surface; otherwise a vertical shaft is 

used.

The main adits which serve for haulage are driven from 5 to 8 

feet high and from 6 to 10 feet wide. The larger dimensions refer 

to the mines near Jamesville, where the gypsum is excavated in 

large rooms and removed by two-horse wagons that are loaded 

directly at the working face. In thin beds the rock is hauled
NEW YORK. 189

out on mine cars attached to a cable. A foot or so of the floor 

rock may be removed to provide- the necessary head room, but 

this is generally unnecessary. The maximum size of the rooms 

is 30 feet square. The overlying limestone makes a firm roof, and 

little support is heeded in addition to that given by the pillars; 

timbering or backing is only rarely necessary.

The mines at Akron and Oakfield, as well as those of the Consolidated Wheatland Co. at Wheatland, and the Garbutt Gypsum 

Co., at Garbutt are entered through vertical shafts from 50 to 70 

feet deep. The shafts have either two or three compartments, one 

of which serves for a ladder and airway. The underground workings follow the room and pillar system but are more regularly 

planned than those of the adit mines and are based on accurate 

surveys. The mines are electrically lighted, ventilated by forced 

draft, and when necessary are drained by pumps, which raise the 

water from a sump at the shaft bottom. Electricity and steam are 

used for power. Electric locomotives have been introduced in one 

or two mines for underground haulage, but in others the cars are 

either pushed by hand or drawn by mules. The hoisting is accomplished in different ways. At the Garbutt mine a derrick and 

boom raised the rock, which was loaded into a metal scoop. The 

American Gypsum Co. has installed at Akron a bucket elevator. 

Single and balanced platform hoists, which raise the gypsum in the 

mine cars, are most generally employed.

The rock is broken by drilling and blasting. Auger drills are 

used in some mines and percussion drills in others, the former being 

employed where the rock is sufficiently soft. With hard or tough 

rock they are apt to become heated and to bind in the holes. Some 

companies prefer to let the mining on contract, but others maintain the wage system. The miners represent many nationalities but 

are mainly from southern Europe. A few Indians from the New 

York reservations are employed in the western district.

The mines are usually connected with the milling plants by 

tracks. In the Fayetteville district, however, the rock is hauled in 

wagons. Much of the output of this section is shipped in lumps or 

ground form to cement and plaster mills outside the district.

GENERAL GEOLOGY. 

AGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The workable gypsum deposits occur only in the Salina formation 

of the Silurian system. The Salina includes also the rock-salt beds 

of the State and is the equivalent practically of the " Onondaga salt 

group," as described in the early reports by Hall and Vanuxem.
190 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Salina strata occupy two main areas within the State. The. 

larger area, and the more important one economically, is represented 

by a belt that extends uninterruptedly from Albany County on tha 

east through central and western New York to Niagara Kiver and 

thence into the Province of Ontario. Its approximate limits are 

shown on the map (fig. 42).

The belt terminates within or near the town of Knox, Albany 

County, by the thinning out of the strata, which in this part consist 

of only a few feet of shale. From Albany County westward the 

Salina beds follow the range of hills that borders the Mohawk Valley

79°

FIGURE 42. Map of New York showing distribution of Saliua formation, 

described in this report is indicated by the shaded section.

The area

on the south, their outcrop being at first well up the slopes and at a 

distance of about 15 miles from the river itself. They parallel the 

Mohawk as far as Oneida County, where, owing to increased thickness of the members and the flatter topograph}^ they begin to spread 

out so as to occupy a surface from 1 to 3 miles wide. Their course 

thus far is sinuous, owing to the numerous deep north and south 

.valleys tributary to the Mohawk, which produce long upstream deflections. Beyond Oneida County their outcrop broadens greatly in a 

short distance; it is about 12 miles wide at the west end of Oneida 

Lake and fully 20 miles on the line of Cayuga Lake, where it attains
NEW YOBK. 191

the maximum width for the State. The outcrop in western New 

York is more regular, maintaining an average of 7 to 10 miles and 

running almost in a straight line parallel to the shore of Lake 

Ontario.

The Salina of this area is mainly a shale formation. The other 

elements are gypsum, which occurs in the upper shale beds; salt, near 

the middle of the section; and an impure limestone, which forms a 

thin capping to the shale in the central and western parts and discontinuous bands within the shale" itself. The great mass of shale, 

except for a few feet at the base, is devoid of fossils.

The second area within which the Salina beds appear is in southeastern New York,-and here they show a quite different development. 

They are found in two principal belts, one of which begins in Ulster 

County near the Hudson and follows the Sha-wangunk Mountain 

uplift in a southwesterly direction across the State line into New 

Jersey; the other is in Orange County, beginning near Cornwall and 

running parallel to the first along the Skunnemunk Badge.

The main members of the Salina here are conglomerate at the base, 

overlain by shale and sandstone, with some limestone at the top. 

The shales have a thickness of several hundreds of feet, so as to 

predominate over the other members. They are reddish and pyritic 

and in places graduate upward into sandstone. With their exception, the strata of the region present a coarser phase of sedimentation 

than that, inherent in the Salina of central and western New York.

It is highly improbable that any valuable deposits of gypsum occur 

in Ulster County, where conglomerates and sandstones are the prevailing strata. . If present at "all, they will be found in the extreme 

southern part near the New Jersey border, in association with the 

shales, which are here much thicker and even become the predominant member of the series. None, however, has been discovered.

STRATIGRAPHY OF THE SALINA FORMATION.

General relations. The Salina formation as developed in central 

New York is divisible into five members. These members are in few 

places sharply delimited by physical features, and owing to the 

scarcity of fossils throughout the beds their demarcation on the map 

is possible only in a general way. -They are usually connected by 

zones of gradation, though in some places the transition from on.e 

member to another is marked by a sequence of alternating layers. 

The alternating layers, for example, occur in the passage from the 

water lime that caps the formation to the underlying shale.

The full series is found only in the part of the belt that lies west 

of Madison County. To the east they overlap upon the lower for-
192 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

but mainly near the top.

mations and gradually thin out 

and disappear. " The general relations of the members are shown in 

figure 43.

Bertie limestone member. The 

Bertie limestone member is an 

argillaceous, more or less magnesian limestone which forms the 

top member of the Salina formation. It is a persistent division 

of quite uniform character. It extends from the* Province of Ontario, where the type locality is 

found, eastward as far as Schoharie County. In field exploration it serves as a very useful indicator, for the main gypsum beds 

are usually not far below it in the 

shales.

As a rule the limestone contains 

numerous small cavities, which 

may so abound as to lend the appearance of a porous lava or slag. 

The cavities or cells are rounded 

or irregular in shape; some of 

them are elongated like worm 

tubes; and"many are lined with a 

^ g calcareous deposit. 

.3 § The limestone possesses hydrau- 

| lie properties and has been burned 

 for hydraulic cement. Its thick- 

's ness ranges from 60 feet in Canada 

1 and 50 feet in Erie County to 10 

.S feet or less in eastern New York. 

o Camillus shale member. .Underg neath the Bertie limestone occurs 

| the Camillus shale, which includes 

g a considerable thickness of soft 

I shale, containing intercalated lay3 ers of magnesian limestone. The 

g workable gypsum beds are found 

fa in this shale at different horizons, 

The color of the shales is commonly drab

- _

or gray but it varies to olive-green and in places to red.
NEW YORK. 193

The thickness of the shale, together with the gypsum beds, averages perhaps 300 feet in the central part of the State.

The gypsum deposits are seamed more or less with shale which 

divides them into separate beds, though there is little regularity in 

the number or thickness of the beds from place to place. TKe shale 

intercalations range all the way from mere films to layers several 

feet thick. Though the main body of gypsum is usually found near 

the top of the Camillus shale, in some places directly beneath the 

water lime there are nodules, veins, and layers of gypsum distributed all through the mass.

Syracuse salt member. The Syracuse salt member is a variable 

body of alternating beds of rock salt and shale, which occupies a 

position between the Camillus and the Vernon shales.

From the records of deep wells, the salt horizon is recognizable 

in the Salina from Madison County westward to Erie County.

. Vernon shale member. The thickest member of the Salina formation is the Vernon shale. It is a soft shale which, as a rule, can be 

distinguished by its deep-red color from the shales above the salt 

horizon. The strong ferric-oxide color is particularly prevalent 

in the eastern section, where the beds can be traced across thei 

country by the red greasy clays that result from their decomposition. In the western part they are banded with greenish and grayish layers arid bear some resemblance to the shales of the Medina! 

group. They are exposed from Herkimer County westward across 

Oneida, Madison, Onondaga, and Cayuga counties but beyond Genesee River are generally buried under the drift, and as their color 

is no longer uniform their line of outcrop is not so readily determined in that part. Thin layers of limestone also appear in the 

western counties, as shown in well sections.

The thickness of the Vernon shale reaches a maximum in Onondaga and Cayuga counties, where it probably averages about 500 

feet. At Syracuse the salt-well section shows 525 feet. Toward 

the east the shale thins rather abruptly and apparently disappears 

entirely in Herkimer County. Westward its thickness also diminJshes, but from the information afforded by the few wells that have 

penetrated the Salina the shale seems to persist as far as Genesee 

County at least.

Pittsford shale member. In a few localities the base of the 

Salina formation is marked by a bed of dark shale, the Pittsford 

shale, which, rests upon the Lockport dolomite.

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE SALINA FORMATION.

The Salina strata, which outcrop from Albany County to Niagara 

Kiver, have been little disturbed since their emergence from the sea. 

124567° 20 13
.194 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

They are nowhere involved in local folds, and if at all faulted the 

displacement must be so slight as to escape general observation. 

They dip uniformly toward the south, the direction ranging1 from 

due south to a few degrees east or west of south.

Within the central and western parts their inclination averages 

about 40 or 50 feet to the mile, or roundly 1 foot in 100 feet. This 

dip is probably no more than the slope of the sea floor on which 

they were laid down. In the eastern section the dip is somewhat 

higher. The main part of the belt hag the structure of a broad, 

shallow syncline with an axis running north and south and with 

its eastern wing rising well above the western,

NATURE OF THE GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The gypsum forms regularly stratified beds, which are usually 

heavy. and range from several inches to 5 feet or more in thickness. 

The impure argillaceous gypsum is, however, rather thinly bedded, 

the individual layers being separated by shale intercalations. The 

'strata are not, of course, absolutely continuous along the Salina 

belt but have the shape of elongated lenses which succeed each other 

along the strike and dip, perhaps after intervals occupied only by 

the accompanying shale and limestone. The workable deposits are 

thus separated into more or less well-defined areas, on the borders 

of which the gypsum diminishes or entirely disappears, and considerable intervals may occur between adjacent areas that are barren of minable rock.

Tlie lenticular form of the deposits is well illustrated by the area 

near Akron, which has been fairly well delimited by exploration 

underground and by numerous test holes. (See fig. 46.) The bed 

averages about 4 feet thick and extends for nearly 2 miles from east 

to west before it thins out. On the north or outcrop side it apparently diminishes very slightly and then terminates abruptly, 

a feature which is due probably to removal of the gypsum by 

erosion. The extension of the bed-on the dip has not been thoroughly explored, though the available evidences indicate a gradual 

thinning in that direction.

LOCALITIES,

HERKIMEK COUNTY.

The most easterly occurrence of gypsum that was ever worked 

commercially is a deposit in southeastern Herkimer County. It was 

discovered previous to 1837 in an adit run into the hillside on the 

James Grill -farm in the western part of Starke Township. The 

gypsum is said to have been found in a roundish mass and to have 

had a white color. About 20 or 30-tons were removed by Mr. Grill.
NEW YORK. 195

It seems probable that the deposit, which lies in a white sandstone 

of Clinton age, is of secondary character, derived from scattered 

inclusions of gypsum in the Camillus shale above.

ONEIDA COUNTY.

The shales of the Salina formation have a small areal distribution 

in Oneida County, and there are no records to show that gypsum has 

ever been worked within its limits, though the occurrence of small 

deposits seems very likely, especially toward the western boundary 

of the county, in Vernon, Augusta, and Kirkland townships.

MADISON COUNTY.

The gypsum beds of Madison County, so far as known, all lie near 

the upper or southern part of the Salina outcrop in a belt running 

east and west across the northern portion of the county.

.The gypsum occurs in the form of lenses, pockets, or irregular 

masses in the shales of the upper part of the Salina, in many places 

immediately underlying beds of water lime. The pockets are rarely 

very extensive, few of them exceeding 25 feet in length and 10 or 20 

feet in depth.

The gypsum consists of a mixture of clear selenite plates and a 

dark, loose, earthy mass, consisting of clay and organic material.

The quarrying and grinding of gypsum for agricultural uses have 

been carried on in the county from early times. In the first part 

of the nineteenth century it was a much more important industry 

than now. Quarries were then in operation along Cowaselon Creek 

in the town of Lincoln (formerly Lenox); on Clockville Creek; south 

of Chittenango, 'between Sullivan and Clockville; and the old Sullivan bed, to the east and north of Chittenango, which was 'worked 

during the lie volution'and its plaster shipped as far as Philadelphia. 

In recent years pockets of gypsum have been quarried and milled 

intermittently at Hobokenville and about 1 mile south of Cottons.

The gypsum at Clockville is as favorably situated as any in the 

county for extraction and shipment. The bed, about 1001 feet long 

and 5 to 7 feet thick, outcrops along the Lehigh Valley Railroad 

about one-fourth mile northeast of the Clockville station, 200 feet 

north of the railroad bridge crossing the creek. Another bed outcrops just south of the bridge, and the surrounding hills contain 

numerous other deposits. The gypsum is the typical friable admixture of selenite and impure gypseous clay. It is underlain by 

shales and overlain by clay. It averages about 70 to 75 per cent 

gypsum and can be easily and cheaply mined and loaded directly 

on cars.
196 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UKTITED STATES.

About 5 miles farther west are gypsum beds of similar character 

and also easily accessible. Other deposits are found near the Erie 

Canal, such as those between Chittenango and Sullivan. They are 

in many places very heavily topped with a shale and limestone cap, 

which must be stripped in quarrying, as it appears to be too badly 

broken up to allow tunneling.

Owing to their somewhat irregular character and to their relatively low percentage of gypsum, the more inaccessible deposits in 

this region have little present value, and even the more favorably 

situated and larger lenses are of little utility.

ONONDAGA COUNTY.

Geology. The Salina outcrops in Onondaga County in an eastwest belt ranging in width from 10 to 12 miles. The gypsum-bearing Camillus shale occupies a belt 2£ to 3 miles in width and is 

bounded on the south by the ridge which is a prolongation of the 

Helderberg escarpment. It also extends in long tongues "to the south 

through the escarpment in the valleys of Limestone, Butternut, Onondaga, Marcellus, and Skaneateles creeks. The gypsum series consists 

of gray, drab, or mottled shales with interstratified layers of finegrained dolomite and contains many thick beds of grayish to black 

gypsum and gypsiferous shale. The gypsum beds seem to be most 

persistent where overlain by the escarpment of the Bertie, Cobleskill, 

Manlius, and Onondaga limestones and for this reason are found 

mainly in the low hills capped by these limestones and' along the 

stream valleys cutting through the escarpment.

The beds of massive gray gypsum occur beneath small hills between Fayetteville and Jamesville. (See fig. 44.) The first area is, a 

group of wooded hills ranging in height from 40 to 100 feet. These 

lie 2 miles southwest of Fayetteville and 1 mile south of Lyndon, a 

station on the trolley line. They are capped by Helderberg limestone, 

and the gypsum outcrop forms a belt around each hill.

Clifford Miller quarry. This quarry is situated three-fourths of a 

mile directly south of Lyndon, to the east of the road. It has been 

worked from early times. The gypsum bed is about 60 feet thick and 

consists of a number of alternating layers, varying in purity, color, 

and grain, the individual layers having, local names such as the " cap 

rock," the " 9-foot," the " 11-foot," etc. They range in color from 

very light drab in the cap rock to dark or almost black, and in places 

have a brownish color from the presence of iron. Despite its varied 

appearance the rock runs rather uniform in gypsum, and no attempt 

is made to sort the material in the quarry operations. (See PL 

XXIV, B.)

The gypsum here is overlain by 2 feet of marlite or weathered 

shale, followed by 5 feet of thinly bedded -blue limestones (Bertie),
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIX 697 TLATE XXIV

1

A. ROCK GYPSUM SHOWING BANDING AND SELENITE CRYSTALS, AKRON, N. Y.

B. GYPSUM QUARRY NEAR LYNDON, ONONDAGA COUNTY, N. Y.
FEW YORK. 197

then 15 or 20 feet of massive porous Cobleskill limestone with many 

small cavities. A. varying thickness of glacial drift and soil caps the 

whole. The heavy mass of overburden becomes more troublesome as 

 the quarry is carried farther into the hill, and stripping becomes 

difficult. The quarry lias been idle a number of years, but when 

last in operation the gypsum was hauled in 20-ton wagons by a traction engine to a dock on the Erie Canal 1£ miles north.

The gypsum was all shipped in crude state to Mr. Miller's plaster 

mill in New York City.

.Quarry of the National Wall Plaster Co. This quarry is situated 

south and west of the Miller quarry on the same knoll. The gypsum 

bed is continuous with that in the Miller quarry but is not so thick.

LIST OF WORKINGS

I Quarryl Clifford 

ZDocK /Miller .Co.

5,6,7,8 Abandoned workings

3 Mill 

T.W.Sheedy

10 Mill

Bangs SGaynor

II, 12- Mines 

I3,W,I5 Abandoned .workings

16 Mill \ Thomas

17 Mines/MiHenCo.

la.Mill

E.B.AIvor<! Co.

The proved gypsum areas , 

.arc shownjby dots

PIGUUB 44. Map showing Jamesville-Fayetteville district, Onondaga County, N. Y.

Quarrying was carried on intermittently, and at present no work 

is being done. The overburden is similar to that of the other quarry, 

but stripping was accomplished by excavating the gypsum in such a 

way as to undercut the limestone beds, which are then allowed to fall 

into the vacant space. The rock was formerly hauled to the canal 

and to the mill on the canal bank, but the mill now stands idle.

There are several other idle quarries in this immediate vicinity.

At Fayetteville there were two gypsum mills. Each was equipped 

with jaw crusher, nipper, and burrstone mills. Their mineral W7 as 

purchased from the neighboring quarries. The ground gypsum was 

sold as land plaster or to fertilizer companies.

Quarries at Jamesville. The second area in which operations have 

been conducted is 1 mile north of Jamesville and east of the road 

leading to De Witt. As in the quarries near Lyndon, the gypsum 

outcrops on the slope of a hill capped with Helderberg limestone.
198 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The north and west faces of this hill are abrupt slopes, of which the 

lower portion is composed of gypsum.

A quarry of the Thomas Millen Co. is about half a mile east of 

Reals station on the Jamesville trolley road. The gypsum is very 

similar to the Lyndon product and occurs in the same manner. It 

averages about 30 feet in thickness and is overlain by 50 feet of limestone. Until about 1908 quarrying 'was carried on in the usual manner, but subsequently the gypsum was mined underground by means 

of a tunnel driven along a 6-foot layer of the best rock. About 2,000 

feet of underground work was done before mining ceased at this 

opening. Much timbering is needed. The rock was quarried by 

electric drills, and the mine was equipped with electric lights. The 

broken rock was loaded into 1-ton side-dump metal cars, which werei 

hauled by wire cable from the working face to the entrance and up 

an inclined trestle, the cable being operated by a small engine and 

drum. Owing to the grade of the tunnel, the cars returned to the 

face by gravity. From the cars the rock was dumped directly into 

3-ton wagons and hauled by a team to the mill. The mill is situated 

about half a mile north of Jamesville station, on the Delaware, 

Lackawanna & Western Railroad. No plaster of Paris is made, the 

rock being shipped.crude or after a preliminary crushing in a jaw 

crusher. This mill has lately been supplied from a quarry beside the 

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad tracks 1 mile northwest 

of Jamesville.

Half a mile east of the Milieu tunnel, on the same escarpment, is 

the mine of E. B. Alvord & Co. The gypsum is overlain by a few 

feet of thin shale, 15 feet of massive limestone, and 20 feet of thinly 

bedded limestones. The company some years ago began mining the 

rock by means of a tunnel driven in an old quarry, but the mine was 

worked only a short time. A 5-foot layer was utilized. The mine 

was lighted by electricity and the drills were operated by the same 

power. No mine cars or track were used, but the wagons and horses 

were driven directly into the mine and to the working face, which 

necessitated wide gangways and large rooms, but no trouble was 

experienced with the roof. The mill of this company at Jamesville, 

across the river from the post office, is now supplied with raw material brought from other quarries. The power is furnished by a 

70-horsepower turbine, and the equipment consists of a jaw crusher, 

cracker, and burrstone mill, as well as an unused kettle. The rock is 

sold with only preliminary crushing to cement factories or is ground 

in the burrstone mill and sold as land plaster.

The gypsum bed appears at several places around the western 

flank of the hill where there are abandoned quarries, and in an 

abandoned tunnel near Fiddlers Green, a station on the Jamesville 

trolley line.
NEW YORK. 199

The close proximity of the railroad to this area is a feature that 

should bring about its greater development.

Other quarries in Onondaga County. The deposits in other sections of the county are mainly of the pockety type and -consist of 

mixtures of white gypsum, flakes and crystals of selenite, and fibrous 

gypsum veins with shale. Like those in Madison County few of 

them are over 10 feet in thickness and 25 feet in diameter.

In the eastern part of -the county the deposits are quite numerous 

in the town of Manlius, particularly in the hilly area between Chittenango, Mycenae, and Fayetteville. Many of the knolls have been 

opened up from time to time and the gypsum worked for land 

plaster, 'but at present no production is made. Westward there are 

no beds, with the exception of those in De Witt Township, already 

discussed, until the Onondaga Valley is reached. The heavily glaciated area between Butternut Creek and Syracuse probably contains gypsum beds, but as yet they are undiscovered.

In the construction of the railroad from Syracuse to Auburn large 

quantities of gypsum were uncovered along the south side of Ninemile Creek between Camillus and Martisco (formerly Marcellus station). Thousands of tons of the material were taken out and the 

deposits attracted great attention. The gypsum bed consists of a 

mixture of limestone, shale, and selenite, or in places a whitish gypsum with wavy markings. At no part of the extensive cut was gypsum, in pure masses observed, and if quarrying were undertaken the 

whole impure mass would need to be excavated and the percentage 

of gypsum would run low. The ease of mining and its accessibility 

to the railroad may render it of some value in the future. Other 

outcrops occur farther to the west, at Martisco. One outcrop is at 

the prominent point or hill northwest of the station, where a 10-foot 

layer has been quarried. The material is similar to that already described. On a branch of Ninemile Creek another outcrop is seen 

just south of Martisco station, on the Marcellus & Otisco Railroad. 

It is about 20 feet in thickness and extends for 150 feet along the road.

A few miles to the west the Auburn Railroad runs through a steepsided valley, and on either bank gypsum deposits are common. 

Probably the purest deposit of gypsum noted in the county was 

encountered in this ledge in an old quarry about midway between 

Halfway and Martisco. It is situated just off the road about onequarter of a mile south of the Auburn track on the face of an escarpment at an elevation of about 100 feet above the railroad. The 

quarry shows about 15 feet of gypsum in all, of which 4 feet is of 

much better grade than the average for Onondaga County. It is 

a grayish to white crystalline mass clotted with 'brown cleavable 

crystals and resembles the rock found at Oakfield, Akron, and Garbutt. It is overlain by 20 feet of limestone, and the expense of strip-
200 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ping is the probable cause of idleness. No other outcrops were found 

in the vicinity, so that no idea of the extent of this stratum could 

be formed. . .

The abundance of gypsum outcrops on the sides of the deep-cut 

valleys between Camillus and Halfway would seem to indicate the 

former presence of a persistent and continuous gypsum bed in that 

region, and it is probable that underlying the Helderberg limestones 

on most of the hills, gypsum beds would be found.

CAYUGA COUNTY.

The area underlain by Salina rocks in Cayuga County ranges from 

14 to 20 miles in width.

The topography of the northern portion o'i the surface of the 

Salina permits but few outcrops. The area bordering Seneca River 

is low and marshy, and in other areas bedrock is completely obscured by a heavy covering of glacial drift. On this account very 

little is known of the gypsum deposits in that portion of the county. 

About 1-| miles north of Throopsville, along the river, pockets of 

gypsum were worked in 1837. Other impure deposits have been reported in the vicinity of Montezuma.

Along the southern border of the Salina and immediately underlying the Bertie and Cobleskill limestones are the extensive gypsum 

beds of the county, in early times the most valuable in the State. 

These beds are exposed at three localities: In the town of Springport north of Union Springs; at Cayuga Junction, one-half mile 

east of Crossroads station; and on the boundary of the township 1^ 

miles north of Crossroads. The gypsum in these localities ranges 

from 10 to 40 feet in thickness-and is gray or bluish, firm, and massive, with plates and veins of selenite" coating some of the blocks or 

mixed with the more impure material. In a few places it is overlain 

by water-lime rock but usually has an immediate covering of till 

from a few feet to 25 fe.et in thickness. The occurrence, as well as 

the character of the rock, is very similar to that at Jamesville and 

Lyndon.

In the early days many quarries were in operation in the Cayuga. 

Junction area, 2 miles north of Union Springs (then Springport), 

and land plaster was shipped by canal all over the country. It is reported that plaster was used there as early as 1811, and by 1842 the 

quarries were producing 10,000 tons yearly, the price delivered by 

boat to Ithaca being $1.50 to $2 per ton. From Ithaca it was transported by the Ithaca-Oswego Railway and Susquehanna River to 

points in Pennsylvania. -

Up to 1916 and for some years previously the only active quarry 

was that of J;he Cayuga Gypsum Co. The "mill is situated along
IsTEW YORK. 201

the Ithaca branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, about 2 miles 

north of Union Springs at Cayuga Junction. It is equipped with a 

cracker and nipper and five burrstone mills. The rock is sold in lump 

or ground form to cement factories and others; none is calcined. The 

quarry is about one-eighth of a mile back from the mill. The 

gypsum ranges from 20 to 30 feet thick and is overlain by as much 

.as 25 feet of glacial drift that contains many water-lime boulders. 

Stripping is effected by means of a steam shovel, and the earth is 

carried to a convenient dumping place at one side. The gypsum is 

worked by quarry methods and by means of a tunnel driven into the 

lower course of the gypsum. Steam drills are used, and on the open 

face the rock is blasted off in benches.

Another gypsum deposit was formerly worked at Cayuga, the 

-gypsum occurring both aboye and. below the bridge. This deposit 

was in small pockets, however, and was soon abandoned for the better 

material south of it.

SENECA COUNTY.

The gypsum area in Seneca County is almost devoid of rock exposures. Where Seneca River has cut its channel through the Cobleskill and Bertie limestones, however, the Camillus shales have been 

uncovered and their gypsum masses exposed. These masses are 

small, at most a few rods in length, and although the plaster industry a half century or more ago on Seneca River had an output of 

5,000 tons annually, it has long been abandoned, and there is little 

prospect of its resumption. The deposits are all, no doubt, of the 

impure "mixed" type, and any that may underlie the drift of Junius 

or Tyre townships would require shaft mining and that, too, under 

unfavorable conditions, such as wet ground.

WATNE COUNTY. »

Only the northern or lower portion of the Salina formation outcrops in Wayne County and that portion only along the southern 

border in a1 belt averaging perhaps 6 miles wide. Gypsum is said to 

be exposed at various places along the line of the Erie Canal and the 

New York Central Railroad. At Clyde it is found in wells at a 

depth of 25 feet, at Lyons at 40 feet, and at Palmyra at the same 

depth. Gypsum was at one time quarried at a point 2 miles west 

of Newark, where the railroad and canal pass between two hills. 

North of the canal quarries were opened as early as 1832, and 2,000 

to 3,.000 tons had been extracted by 1839. The gypsum is described 

by Hall 1 as being "mostly lamellar, transparent, and of that variety 

which receives the local name of isinglass plaster." It was said

York Geol. Survey Second Ann. Kept, for 1837, p. 326, 1838.
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

to occur with, varicolored gypseous marl and to have the form of 

"large, round, irregular masses."

South of the canal was Blackmar's quarry, which was worked at 

the same time and contained plaster of similar quality. Gypsum, 

has also been quarried around Port Gibson (see p. 203), and undoubtedly many similar pockets underlie the area northeast of Port 

Gibson in Wayne Count}7 . As they occur in the lower part of the 

Vernon shale, the deposits are not likely to prove of commercial 

value. The gypsum is all of the quality known as " mixed " that is, 

it consists of selenite plates and reddish granular and fibrous gypsum 

interstratified and seamed with clay shales, marlites, impure shaly 

gypsum, and other materials and it is found in small irregular 

deposits.

ONTARIO COUNTY.

The Camillus shale occupies the entire northern portion of Ontario 

County and ranges in width from 6 miles in the eastern portion to 

2 miles in the western. In character it varies but little from its 

general type, a greenish or dark shale that becomes light gray on 

exposure. Where exposed it commonly contains the pockety beds of 

gypsum so characteristic of the beds to the east. In the greater 

portion of the area, however, actual exposures are rare, owing to the 

heavy mantle of drift.

Beginning in the eastern part of the county, the first exposures of 

gypsum are between Phelps and Gypsum. The best grade of rock 

is in the Empire Plaster Co.'s quarry, 1 mile north-northeast of 

Phelps Junction, near the bridge. The rock is a gray impure 

gypsum, heavily seamed with fibrous white gypsum in layers ranging 

from one-fourth to H inches in width. The material is hauled by 

wagons to the mill, 1 mile to the west. This mill is equipped with 

a cracker, &ipper, and burrstones and is run by lA^ater power. The 

mill has been idle for several years but formerly carried on an 

active business in land plaster.

Across the road from the mill is an abandoned quarry from 

which masses of- gypsum from 26 to 3,000 tons in weight were 

formerly extracted. In early times a number of mills were in operation in and around Phelps and Gypsum, and the annual production 

of land plaster in the early forties was 6,000 tons.

From Manchester to Victor the Salina beds are lieavily covered or 

swampy, and no gypsum has been reported, although well drilling 

may bring some to light. The cuts made by Ganargua Creek northeast of Victor have uncovered several gypsum masses of the pockety, 

type, and quarrying was at one time undertaken. A mill and quarry 

were operated on the Conover farm 1£ miles east of Victor on the 

north side of the <jreek. The .gypsum, for its kind, was of good
NEW YORK. 203

.grade, 40 feet thick, and had a la.rge sale for land plaster. The 

quarry has been idle for 25 years. In the later years of quarrying 

,, the stripping became such a troublesome feature, because of the 

30 to 40 feet of drift, that a tunnel was driven at the base of the hill, 

with a breast of 14 feet. Gypsum was also quarried at one time in 

the Goose Egg, an oval hill about 1£ miles north of this locality.

On the Conover farm there have been found by core drilling two 

layers of gypsum resembling in appearance that seen at Garbutt. 

The drill holes were put down in the flat area near Ganargua Creek 

about 1908, after going through 19 feet of soil and 16 feet of water 

lime, the first gypsum bed, 8 feet thick, was encountered. At 104 

feet a second bed, 6 feet thick, was struck. The cores were..examined 

by the writers, and the gypsum appeared to be of fairly good quality. 

The lower bed is light colored and fine textured, resembling the gypsum at Oakfield, but the upper one is less pure and dark colored, 

though firm and massive, resembling the rock at Garbutt.

Irregular pockets of gypsum occur near Port Gibson and have 

been worked for land plaster for years but are no longer productive,

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

No gypsum beds have been recorded in Livingston County, probably because they are heavily covered with limestone. The northern 

border of the county is occupied by the drab limestone of the Bertie 

member, which overlies the gypsum 'beds. The Garbutt and Wheatland gypsum bed lies at an elevation of about 570 feet above sea 

level. With an assumed dip of 40 feet to the mile, a fair average 

inclination, the bed on the border of the county would lie about 490 

feet above sea level, so that at a surface elevation of 600 feet the bed 

would be pierced at 110 feet. There is reason to believe, however, 

that in the region between Caledonia and Mumford and in the area 

north and northeast of Maxwell, the horizon of the "gypsum approaches nearer to the surface. Though the prospect of finding gypsum within these regions seems good, it will require exploration with 

the drill to determine the matter definitely, for in all probability the 

beds are not absolutely continuous with the Camillus shale.

MONKOE COUNTY!

Distribution and general character of the gypsum deposits. The 

Camillus shale crosses Monroe County from east to west. Tts northern limit is uncertain, owing to the heavy drift covering and to its 

merging gradually into the Vernon shale below. Its southern limit 

is the outcrop of Bertie limestone.
204 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The valuable gypsum deposits seem to be limited strictly to the 

town of Wheatland, in the southwestern corner of the county. Here 

the Bertie beds, underlain by gypseous shales and the gypsum 

layers, are exposed for a distance of several miles along Alien Creek, 

between Garbutt and Mumford, and small gypsum deposits have 

been exploited along its banks as far west as Fort Hill, in Genesee 

County. The deposits in Wheatland Township are among the most 

productive in the State. The area at present worked occupies about 

3 square miles. (See fig. 45.)

The gypsum at present developed occurs in two*, continuous layers 

below 40 feet or more of soil and water lime. Tike upper layer lies 

above the .level of the stream; but the lower layer is probably at the 

stream's level. The upper layer ranges in thickness from 5 to 7 or 8 

feet, but in few places can good rock be obtained with a thickness 

of more than 5-| feet. The second layer, or "second bottom," as it 

is locally termed, has been found in practically all the workings. It 

is separated from the upper layer by a hard bluish limestone, ranging in thickness from 6 to 12 feet. The gypsum in this layer also 

ranges from 5 to 7 or 8 feet in thickness and in some mines contains 

from 1 to 2 feet of whiter gypsum than that of the upper layer. At 

present the upper layer alone is being developed, although the lower 

layer has been exposed and its qualities are known. Descriptions of 

the individual properties follow.

Empire Gypsum Co. This company owns the most eastern mill 

of the group, situated southeast of Garbutt station. The gypsum, 

which is mined from a slightly inclined tunnel, averages 5 feet 5 

inches in thickness. The middle 2 feet of the bed appears to be of 

the best quality, and the lower 2 feet is harder. -The bed is overlain 

by a gooH limestone Toof and underlain by 10 feet of limestone, 

below which is a second gypsum bed not" yet "developed.

The workings extend about one-fourth of a mile in a southwest 

direction and are based on the room and pillar method. Drilling is 

done with hand auger drills, and blasting with dynamite. The rock 

is loaded on wooden mine cars and hauled by mules to the surface. 

At the mill the rock is crushed with a jaw crusher and then by one 

of the usual nippers. It is then dried in a rotary cylinder and 

ground in a Universal pulverizer. After grinding the dust is collected by a fan, which saves screening the whole product. The 

remainder is screened on inclined shaking screens. The ground 

material is then calcined at a temperature of 280° to 350° F. in three 

11-ton kettles with solid bottoms. Material calcined at this temperature is said to be " first settling " and is " greasier and smoother " 

than that calcined at a higher temperature. Some of the material is 

calcined at 450° F., or second settling, and is sold for bedding plate
NEW YOBK. 205

glass. The mixing room is equipped with Broughton mixers, 12-tube 

bagging machines, and a fiber shredder of the type in which the log 

of wood is pivoted and the knives revolve against it. This machine 

is capable of grinding 2,500 pounds a day. The fiber is blown by a 

blast of air into the bins, the aeration also separating the dust from 

the fibers and loosening the mass. The wood used is mainly willow 

and bass wood. Some' of the crude rock is shipped directly, being 

dumped from the mine cars on the trestle into the gondolas below; a

LIST OF WORKINGS

I. Abandoned adit 

' McVane farm

Z Mill 1 Empire 

8 Mine/Gypsum Co.

4 Mill \ Lvcoming 

5,6,7 Mines/Caiciningcp.

3 Mill 1 Garbutt 

9,10 Shafts/GypsumCo.

II Gypsum deposit 

M.Rogcrsfarm

IZ Shaftand crusher 

Monarch PlasterCo.

 13 Adit 1 Consolidated

14 Mill \ Wneatland

15 .ShaftJ PlasterCo.

16,17 Abandoned workin§s

The proved gypsum areas 

are shown by dots

FIGURE 45. Map showing Wheatland district, Monroc County, N. Y. >

switch runs directly under the trestle from the Buffalo, Rochester & 

."Pittsburgh Railway. O ,

Gcwbutt Gypsum Co. This company, one of the oldest in the 

district, has a mill west of the Empire mill on the north bank of 

Alien Creek. The mines are located about a mile southwest of the 

mill, on the top of the south bank of the creek. In former days 

entrance was had to the gypsum bed by a tunnel driven into the 

north face of the hill, but this has been abandoned, and at present 

the bed is reached by two small shafts, 68 and TO feet deep. The 

covering consists of 40 feet of soil and 22 feet of limestone, the gypsum layer being from 5 to 8 feet thick. The gypsum appears to be 

of remarkably good quality for the region and resembles the rock in 

Genesee and Erie counties. The purest, whitest layer occupies about 

2 feet in the middle of the bed. This mine and mill have been idle 

several years.
206 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OE THE UNITED STATES.

The rock was hauled by wagons more than a mile to the mill. 

The mill is equipped with one 15-ton kettle, one nipper and cracker, 

a burrstone mill for grinding gypsum, and .a.mixer."

Lycoming Calcining Co. The mines of this company are located 

west of the Garbutt mill on the south bank of Alien Creek. Previous to 1900 the bed at this point was worked by means of a vertical 

shaft on the top of the bank, -but when the property -was acquired 

in 1900 by the present company a tunnel was driven into the creek 

bank. There are now three tunnels for working this bed of gypsum, 

which ranges from 6 to 7 feet in thickness.

The rock is a light-gray to brown gypsum with thin veins of 

satin spar running*through it. The lower 2 feet are harder and of 

poorer quality. The mine has a good limestone roof, separated from 

the gypsum by a thin parting of shaly rock. The second " bottom " 

or layer of gypsum is 12 to 15 feet below the first and is separated 

from it by limestones. It appears to be of a grade equal to the 

upper rock. The mining operations have been conducted systematically, with pillars left every 21 feet. The mines are equipped with 

electric lights. Drilling is done with auger coal drills and blasting 

with low-grade dynamite. The whole face of gypsum is utilized, 

with no sorting, but care is taken to so arrange the cars that the poor 

and good grades alternate at the mill.

The cars are drawn up an incline by cable to the second floor of 

the mill and automatically dumped. After crushing, the material 

is sold, to Portland cement mills or converted into stucco. Cummer 

rotary kilns are used instead of vertical kilns, the more usual type 

of calciner in the district.

Monarch Plaster Co. The next mill in order is that of the 

Monarch Plaster Co., a little over a mile west along the Buffalo, 

Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway. The mine and mill have been idle 

since 1910. The mine endft-y is a tunnel driven into the hill to the 

north. Drilling was done by auger electric drills and" the mine was 

lighted by electricity. The gypsum bed is 6 feet thick, but owing to 

poor quality the lower 2 feet is left as a floor and only 4 feet of 

gypsum extracted in the rooms. The mine is dry and the roof solid, 

so that large rooms can be made, and open spaces 30 feet square are 

numerous. Mules were used for hauling. Six feet below the bottom 

rock is a second layer of gypsum, which is 6 feet in thickness, comprising 1 foot of exceptionally white gypsum. Nothing has as yet 

been done with this lower layer. The product of this company was 

all sold as 1-inch or lf-inch material to cement factories.

Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co. Halfway between Garbutt 

and Mumford, along Alien Creek, is the property of the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co. A tunnel driven from the north bank 

ol the stream on a 6-foot layer has been abandoned, and a shaft has
NEW YORK. 207

been sunk at the mill. The shaft is 35 feet deep and reaches the 

same 6-foot layer that was mined by the Monarch Plaster Co. The 

thickness and character of the gypsum are the same as at the Monarch 

mine.

Possible occurrences of gypsum elsewhere in Monroe County. 

Aside from the localities described, the gypsum beds have not been 

much explored in the county. North of Alien Creek, pockety impure 

gypsum has been found at Beulah, on the Harman farm near Belcoda, and on the Rogers and McVane farms 1 mile north, of Garbutt. 

In the Rogers farm the gypsum was found at a depth of 40 feet, being 

overlain by 27 feet of soil and 13 feet of limestone. On the McVane 

farm gypsum was at one time extracted from the hill by a tunnel, 

now abandoned. The farm of Mr. Skivington, north of Mumford, 

was explored for gypsum in 1912, but no further developments were 

undertaken, although the results were reported to be favorable. 

Gypsum was also encountered in a well on the farm of Mr. Clapp in 

North Rush. In. the region south, of the outcrop gypsum has been 

encountered in wells at Mumford and Caledonia at 60 feet depth, and 

Mr. Jenkins, a well driller of Scottsville, says that an apparently 

good belt of gypsum runs from Wlieatland to Maxwell, 4 miles southeast, and that it lies about 45 feet deep across the whole belt. He 

also says that gypsum was encountered in a well at the State industrial school.

GENESEE COUNTY.

Distribution and development. The gypsum-bearing formation 

extends across the northern part of Genesee County. Its principal 

, development is at Oakfield which now produces more gypsum than 

any other town, in the State. Near the eastern boundary of Genesee 

County gypsum has been uncovered on the banks of Alien Creek, and 

at one time large quantities were quarried,near Fort Hill.

Three miles northeast of Fort Hill, or midway between Fort Hill 

and South Byron, large amounts of gypsum were quarried about 

1840.

The pioneer in the Oakfield district was Mr. Olmstead, who for 

some years previous to 1892 carried on a business in land plaster. 

In 1892 he installed a kettle, the first one in the State, and began the 

manufacture of calcined plaster. At present the industry at Oakfield is in control of two firms. (See fig. 46.)

United States Gypsum Co. This company, which owns gypsum 

mills and mines in several States, entered the Oakfield district about 

1903 and bought up or leased the properties of a number of the 

former companies. The company abandoned all but one of the many 

shafts, consolidated the mill equipment, and installed electric power.
208 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The present. mines and mill are situated about 1^ miles west of 

Oakfield on the West Shore Railroad. The mine shaft is equipped 

with a two-compartment electric hoist. The rock is automatically 

clumped into large hoppers, is weighed, and then falls into a steellined storage bin from which it is loaded directly by chutes'into large 

cars, which are drawn by a locomotive to the mill.

The mine has a capacity of about 1,000 tons of crude gypsum daily, 

a considerable part of which is shipped to cement factories and the 

trade. Rock entering the mill passes through a large horizontal 

cylindrical revolving drier and then goes by belt conveyer to crushers 

and mills. The pulverized material is raised by bucket conveyer to 

bins, which discharge to six calcining kettles aiid to two rotary kilns, 

both 67 feet long. The plaster of Paris or stucco is cooled and then 

raised to bins from which it goes to different parts of the mill. Some

1. Mill

2. Shaft.American

Cement Plaster 89 shafts

10. Mill, Niagara 

3,4. Shafts, American Gypsum Co.

Gypsum Co. _ shafts 

5, . Test holes 12,13. Mills, U.S.Gypsum Co.

FIGUKE 46. Map showing Oakfield and Akron districts, Genesee and Erie counties, N. Y.

goes to the mixing room; where different brands of plaster are made 

by mixing with sand, hair, or wood fiber; some to the block shop, 

where hollow gypsum blocks are made; and some to the plaster-board 

mill. Plaster board one-quarter, three-eighths, and one-half inch 

thick is made in sheets 32 by 36 inches. Sheets of larger size are 

made also.

Niagara, Gypsum Co. The mine and mill of this company are 

situated one-half mile west of the United States Gypsum Co.'s plant, 

or 2 miles west of Oakfield, on the West Shore Railroad. The mine 

is entered through a two-compartment shaft about 50 feet in depth. 

Electric power is used for drilling and mine traction, and an electric 

hoist raises the rock from the mine. At the mill the rock is crushed, 

elevated, cracked, and elevated again to the bins over the calciners. 

From the bins it passes into two large rotary Cummer calciners, 

each with a capacity of 15 tons an hour. The dust from the cal-
NEW YORK. 209

ciners is collected in overhead .bins and, together with the finished 

product from the calciners, is elevated and passes into the bricklined cooling bins. After remaining1 in these bins 24 hours the material is ground. It is then elevated and carried to the mixing room 

or to the board or block mill. In the mixing rooms several brands 

of plaster are made. This company makes 2-ply plaster board and 

hollow plaster blocks for interior partitions. The mill and mine 

are operated day and night and have a capacity of 500 tons for each 

24 hours.

Other occurrences in Genesee County.- Eight miles west of Oakfield and 1 to 2 miles west of Indian Falls a 6-foot layer of gypsum 

is exposed along Tonawanda Creek. Abo.ve.it lies an 8-foot layer 

of more impure and harder gypsum.

The deposits are included within .the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. In 1901 the Standard Plaster Co. secured the mineral right 

to the whole tract and began mining. Tunnels were driven into the 

6-foot layer. The rock mined was loaded on flat mine cars and 

pushed by hand to the tunnel entrance, where the good gypsum was 

loaded on cars and the waste rock thrown on the dump. From the 

mines the rock was carried by a railroad switch to the main line 

of the West Shore Railroad, near Alabama, the switch being about 

4 miles long. The rock was then sent to Black Rock, Buffalo, where 

the company had-a mill equipped with a gyratory crusher and screen, 

one Cummer calciner, one cooling bin, and five Sturtevant emery 

mills. The power was electric. The mines are now abandoned. 

Underground water and the presence of mud pockets are said to have 

been the main difficulties in the way of success.

The known gypsum beds of the Akron district begin 2 miles 

west of this locality. These will be discussed under Erie County.

ERIE COUNTY.

Distribution of the gypsum deposits. Although gypsum beds of 

good quality no doubt occur below the Bertie limestone in Erie 

County, no definite information can be obtained of such deposits 

with the exception of those at Akron and those penetrated in the 

wells of the Buffalo Cement Co. at Buffalo.

The occurrence of gypsum at Buffalo was well established by 

the work of the Buffalo Cement Co. described by Ashburner.

The Buffalo Cement Co. drilled a series of wells near the Main 

Street crossing of the Belt Line in search for gas. Well No. 1 was 

drilled to a depth of 490 feet 6 inches with a diamond drill. Well 

!No. 2 was drilled 6 feet from well No. 1 with a 5f-inch jump drill to 

a depth of 1,305 feet. The core of well No. 1 was placed in the cus124567° 20 14
210 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

tody of the Buffalo Academy of Natural Sciences. The record of 

well No. 2 is given b}^ Ashburner as follows :

Record of well No-. 2 of Buffalo Cement Co. at Buffalo, N. T.a

Shale....... ....................................................................

Shale...........................................................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

25 

5 

13 

4 

2 

12 

1 

4 

7 

58 

2 

4 

3 

580 

5 

35 

25 

520

Depth.

Feet. 

25 

30 

43 

47 

49 

61 

62 

66 

73 

131 

133 

137 

140 

720 

725 

760 

785 

1,305

" Ashburner, C. A., Petroleum and natural gas in New Pork: Am. Inst. Min. Bng. Trans., 

vol. 16, pp. 924-927, 1888.

A shaft 20 feet square was sunk on the premises later, for the purpose of determining the feasibility of mining the gypsum, but the 

rush of water through the gypsum layer at 43 to 47 feet was so strong 

that a pump with a capacity of 2,000 gallons a minute failed to make 

any impression upon it, and the attempt was abandoned.

Since then no further effort to exploit the gypsum has been made, 

though by reason of its quality and situation it seems to offer an 

attractive field, which would warrant more thorough investigation 

than has been given to it.

About 2 miles southwest of Akron a test hole was put down a few 

j^ears ago, which encountered a bed of white rock. The locality of the 

hole is the Flint farm, near the crossing of the West Shore and New 

York Central (Batavia branch) railroads.

The Akron gypsum "basin," as it is locally termed, is situated 

northeast of the village of Akron or 20> miles east of Buffalo. The 

productive area lies- south of the West Shore Railroad, Math which 

connections are made by long, switches.

The boundaries of the workable bed or beds of gypsum have been 

rather well defined by the sinking of shafts and core-drill holes. The 

basin is 2 miles long and its greatest width is 1 mile. The deposit 

is pear shaped, and the small end lies just west of the American 

Cement Plaster Co.'s shaft and the large end east of the American 

Gypsum Co.'s plant.

The bed of gypsum as mined consists of a 4 to 5 foot bed of lightcolored crystalline or granular gypsum.. It is overlain by 25 to 50
NEW YORK. 211

feet of thinly bedded impure limestones, and these in turn are rather 

heavily covered by a mantle of glacial clay ranging from a few feet 

up to 25 feet in thickness.

Two firms have operated mines and mills at Akron in recent 3^ears.

American Gypsum Go. This company operates a large crushing 

plant and mines 2-| miles northeast of Akron on the boundary line 

between Genesee and Erie counties, the lands on which it owns mineral rights being situated on both sides of the line. The mine is 

entered by means of a shaft 60 feet deep. This shaft is divided into 

three compartments, one- o by 8 feet for air passage and stairway; 

one 6 by 8 feet for passenger elevator; and one 6 by 8 feet accommodating the bucket elevator. Mining is carried on underground much 

as in coal mines, the most approved methods being employed to secure economy and safety. The gangways are carried 6 feet high and 

are wide enough to admit of using the 2 feet of barren rock taken 

from below the gypsum bed for a supporting wall on either side of 

the gangway.. The rooms are driven 24 feet wide by 300 feet long, 

and their height is simply the thickness of the vein, or 4 feet. Pillars 

24 feet wide and alternately 40 or 60 feet long are left, each 'being 

separated by a 20-foot crosscut. Good ventilation is afforded by the 

use of a 9-foot exhaust fan. Air drills are used. The air compressor also furnishes power for the pump at the bottom of the shaft.

The mine is- lighted by electricity. At the foot of the shaft the 

mine cars are dumped into a steel hopper from which the rock is 

raised in a bucket ekvator to the mill overhead. The elevator is 110 

feet long, has 175 buckets, and travels 80 feet per minute. The rock 

is thus hoisted into the mill built directly over the shaft, and is discharged into a, crusher. After crushing it is screened and all material 

over 1 inch in size is reelevated to the crusher. The crushed rock is 

then ready for shipment, the whole product being, sold crude to cement factories. The dust arising from the grinding is carried by 

suction through pipes into a series of long vertical cloth sacks, where 

the air escapes and the dust remains on the inner surface of the sack. 

At intervals the bags are shaken and the dust allowed to collect at 

the bottom. No use has been made of the dust, though it seems 

adapted for certain purposes by reason of its fineness and nearly. 

pure-Avhite color.

All machinery in both mine and mill is driven by electric power 

from Niagara Falls. In 1909 a second shaft 64 feet deep had been 

sunk 1,420 feet west of the working shaft.

American Cement Plaster Co. The mill of this company is situated 1 mile northeast of Akron on the Bloomingdale road. The mine 

shaft is southeast of the mill and is connected with it by a narrowgage gravity railroad. Active operations were begun in the fall of
212 GYPSUM 'DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

1908. The mine is entered by a two-compartment shaft 84 feet deepDrilling is done by compressed air. The mine is worked by a system that is based on the old method of extraction by means of radiating gangways which center at the shaft. Pillars are left 30 feet 

apart and about 10 feet thick. The mine cars are pushed to the bottom of the shaft by hand. The gypsum, bed as mined ranges from 

2£ to 5 feet thick.

When first opened 4,000 gallons of water a minute were pumped 

from the'shaft, and although the flow has been greatly reduced, 

the mine is quite wet. No forced ventilation is employed, a small 

airway on the east side of the shaft giving sufficient air. 'The mine 

cars brought to the bottom of the shaft are run directly on the platform of the hoist and are raised to the surface by a small drum 

hoist working in balance and driven by a steam engine. 'The carsare raised to a level above the ground and are dumped either 

directly into 2-ton steel cars on a gravity track or are dumped on 

the reserve pile. These cars are run by gravity to the mill and are 

hauled back in a string by a horse. At the mill, which is just north 

of the Bloomingdale road, the cars are hauled up an incline and 

dumped automatically into a jaw crusher. From this crusher the 

material passes directly to a cracker of the usual type, which reduces it to pieces the size of hickory nuts. It is then elevated and 

distributed to five 42-inch French burrstones, where it is ground to 

a fine powder. It is then screened on a 60-mesh brass shaking 

screen inclined at an angle of 45°, and all material above 60 mesh is 

returned and reground. Screw conveyers carry the ground material, 

to three 10-ton kettles. The dust arising during calcining is caught, 

in steam-filled chambers and returned to the kettles. From the kettles the plaster is conveyed to a large storage bin holding 900 tons. 

Some of this 60-mesh stucco is sold to outside companies for mixing*, 

and some is reground on three 36-inch Munson burrstone mills, sothat it is practically of 100 mesh and is thus sold for fine finishing plaster. The plant is equipped with two five-compartment 

mixers and makes wall plasters with hair. and wood fiber. Thecompany manufactures its own supply of wood fiber, obtaining the wood, mostly poplar, willow, arid basswood, from the neighboring farmers. The wood is shredded on an improved wood-fiber 

machine. The hair used is washed goats' hair and is purchased in 

bales. The sand is obtained from the company's pit situated close 

by the mill. The wood fiber made is mixed in the proportion of 1 

ton of stucco to 30 pounds of wood fiber and' 10 pounds of retardeiv 

The wall plaster containing hair is mixed in the proportion of 1 ton 

of stucco to 3 pounds of hair and is then ready for the sand. Eaw
NEW YORK. 213

ground gypsum from the burrstones is also sold as land plaster to 

nurseries, experimental stations, and fertilizer firms. Power for the 

entire plant is furnished by. engines run with natural gas. The 

capacity of the mill is 300 tons of plaster a day.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF THE GYPSTJM.

. Within the, long stretch of Salina strata from Madison County 

to Erie County are included gypsum deposits of different physical 

and chemical characters. These variations are conditioned mainly by 

the relative proportions and nature of impurities present and to a 

lesser extent by the different conditions in which the gypsum itself 

is found.

Though the deposits all belong to the general class of rock gypsum, 

from the descriptions of the individual deposits already given it is 

possible to distinguish two types that seem to be separate in their 

occurrence and may have originated under somewhat different conditions. The first of these types is represented by the dense firm 

gypsum in which the impurities are evenly distributed so as to give 

the appearanc& of a more or less homogeneous mass. This type 

comprises the usual rock gypsum, which forms the basis of the calcined plaster industry in New York and in most places elsewhere. 

It consists of a grpuhdmass of finely divided gypsum fibers or 

elongated acicular crystals in felted arrangement, with a few larger 

individuals that stand out prominently by their brilliant cleavage 

surfaces (PL XXIV, A, p. 196). The other type is characterized 

by a loosely cemented aggregate of gypsum and shale, the two constituents being plainly discernible. The gypsum occurs usually in 

large, crystals or crystal aggregates, which by themselves are transparent and quite free from impurities. The deposits of this type 

are built up of successive thin layers of the selenite and shale. 

When the mass is exposed to the weather the shale decomposes 

quickly and falls away from the gypsum, so that in outcrops it may 

have the semblance of a high-grade deposit. This type is known 

to the gypsum miners as "ashes," owing probably to the grayish 

color and powdery nature of the shale. It was quite extensively 

worked at one time for land plaster but is evidently unsuitable for 

calcination.

The chemical composition of the gypsum found in different sections of the Salina outcrop is shown by the accompanying detailed 

analyses of samples, which represent the run-of-mirie gypsum % as 

now utilized, having been collected from the stock bins of the different mills. The analyses were made by G. E, Willcomb,
GYPSUM DEPOSITS. OF T.HE UNITED STATES.

Analyses of- gypsum 'from Erie, Genesce, Monroc, ami Onondciga counties, N. Y.

SiOa-- ...............................................

AliOs.. .................................. ^.. .........

FeaOs.. ..............................................

CuO.. ...............................................

MgO..... ....... ............... ......... ........................

so3 ... ..............................................

C02 ... ..............................................

H3O.......... ..........................................

1

 0.51

1.19

.79

30.62

1. 20

43.59

1.02

20:52

99.44

QQ 7A

2

: 1.03

.41

1.27

30.74

2: 01

4.9 30

2.20

18.19

98.2*

01- 97

3

0.40.

2.97

.77

30.76

' 1. 53

43.78

2.80

17.53

100..54

Qd 9«

' 4

 2; 93

1.92

1.10

26.27

8.29

33.83

11.02

14.87

100.23

79 5H

5

. &..31

4.53

1.34.

21.50

7.20

30.47

9.50

14.53

97.38 

65.49'

 6

4.00

1.74

1.11

29.36

; 2.81

35.79

6. S3

17.93

99.42 

77.06

1. Akron, Erie County..

2. Oakfleld, Genesee County.

3. Oakfleld, Genesee County.

4. Gar-butt, Monroe County.

5. Lyndon, Onondaga County.

6. Lyndon, Onondaga County.

The following incomplete analyses are from the paper by Arthur 

L. Parsons,1 with the exception of the last one, which is taken from 

a report by EK H. Newland: 2

Incomplete analyses of gypsum from Monroe, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Madison

counties, N. Y.

Do.... ......^.... ..............

Do

Union Springs, Cayuga County..... 

Fayetteville, Onondaga County.... 

Do.............................

Jamesville, Onondaga County. .....

Gypsum.

82.5:

70..3

94.03;

74,09 

64.53 

73.92

82.66

87.48

Silica, and insoluble 

matter.

6.05;

11.17 

4.62

3.86

3.34

Other 

matter.

17.5

. 5.97

19.86 

24.27 

21.44

13.48

8.93

Remarks.

"Other matter" includes CaCO3 , 1.75

MgCO3 , 3.6. 

Analysis furnished by. Iroquois Portland

Cement Co. 

Analysis furnished by Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co.

1.84; CaCOs-, 6.57; Mg.C03, 5.07.. 

"Other matter" includes AlaOs+FeaOg, 

2.92; CaC03 , 3.33; MgC03, 2.69.

The analyses indicate that the gypsum content of the rock ranges 

between the general limits of 64 or 65 per cent and 95 per cent. 

The grade apparently improves toward the western end of the section, in Grenesee and Erie counties, where the average is above 90 

per cent. The rock in this part is also the lightest -in color and 

yields nearly white plaster;.

The impurities of the rock are such as might be expected from 

the stratigraphic associations. The principal foreign ingredients 

are lime and magnesia carbonates, clay, and quartz. Most of the- iron 

shown by the analyses is probably present in the clay. The high 

percentage of magnesia in the rock of the eastern section is a striking 

feature, since it appears to be greatly in excess of the proportions 

found in dolomites. The presence of free carbonate is thus indicated.

1 New York State Geologist Twenty-third' Ann. Rept., 1904.

2 The mining and quarry industry of New York State; report of operations and production during 1907 : New York State Mus. Bull. 120, p. 34, 1908.
NEW YORK. 215 

FUTURE OF THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY.

The supply of gypsum available can not be calculated from the 

data at hand. Little exploration has been undertaken outside the 

areas mined, the resources of which within moderate distances of the 

outcrop have so far been ample to meet the demands. In no place 

have the deposits been followed for more than a mile from their 

Northerly limit or under such cover that they could not be worked by 

vertical shafts 100 feet or less in depth.

On the assumption that the yield of gypsum to the acre is approximately 2,000 tons for each foot of thickness of the bed, the total 

production since the outset of mining operations in the State, about 

9,000,000 tons, represents the approximate equivalent of 125 acres 

of the thickest beds in central New York, and a little more than 

1,000 acres of the average bed that is worked in the western counties. 

For a district that extends over 100 miles in length, the area thus 

represented seems rather insignificant.

A somewhat different aspect of the matter is presented,-however, 

if the later period of 'production and development, covered by the 

growth of the calcining industry, is alone considered. Practically 

one:half of the total production of the State has been made in the 

last fifteen years, and the present annual production is more than 

500,000- tons. Nearly all this material has been mined in the western 

part of the district, in Monroe, Genesee, and Erie counties, where the 

gypsum is more suitable for the manufacture of calcined plaster. In 

that section probably about 75 acres of gypsum land is worked out 

each year. If this production is continued for many years it will 

seriously affect the resources of rock along the outcrop and compel 

the extension of exploratory work to the south, down the dip of the 

beds. Just what conditions will be found in that direction can not 

be forecasted with certainty. It is safe to say, however, that the costs 

of mining will be measurably increased.

In general, at short distances from the outcrop the gypsum beds in 

the western area dip below the ridge or escarpment formed by the 

Onondaga limestone, and their depth increases rapidly to 300 feet 

or. more. So far as the writer is aware, little attention has been given 

to exploration south of this escarpment, and until some systematic 

work of that character has been carried out it is impossible to estimate the available supplies. Many gas and salt wells have been put 

down in this area, but their records apparently do not attempt any 

discrimination between anhydrite and gypsum. Careful examination 

of the material excavated from some of the salt shafts 10 or 15 miles 

or more to the south of the outcrop has shown that owing to the 

heavy overburden the deposit has the composition of anhydrite.
216. GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF ^THE JJNITED STATES. 

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS.

There is no doulSt that the gypsum of the Saliria formation has 

been deposited by evaporation of surface waters and is an integral 

part of the stratified succession. This view is advocated or tacitly 

implied in most descriptions of the New York gypsum deposits that 

have already been published, though it has not escaped criticism. 

The evidence in favor of this mode of- origin to the exclusion of 

others may be summarized under the following heads: (1) Form 

and structure of deposits; (2) Associations of the gypsum; (3) Biologic conditions in Salina time. .

(1) The. occurrence of the gypsum in thin lenses which are of the 

same degree of continuity as the inclosing strata indicates an accumulation concordant with the salt, shales, and limestone of the 

Salina. The lenses, in most places at least, thin out very gradually; 

showing only moderate changes of thickness as they are traced from 

place to place and few irregularities not common to sediments in 

general. If the gypsum was formed by the reaction of acid waters 

upon limestone, variations in form like those found in replacement 

deposits of metallic minerals would be expected. The type of deposits in which the gypsum occurs as nodular masses with a thickness 

nearly equal to the horizontal dimensions, as figured by Hall and 

represented in Dana's "Manual of mineralogy," is certainly the 

exception and not the rule and is the result probably of solution of 

the larger masses by underground waters.

The undisturbed condition of the beds as generally observed is 

also against any theory of secondary deposition either by reaction 

upon limestone or by precipitation from ground waters. The change 

from limestone to gypsum involves an increase of 90 per cent in 

the volume, which would hardly occur without general disturbance of the adjacent strata. The- beds, also, are not faulted or fractured so as to permit the easy circulation of waters in the vertical 

direction.

(2) The close relation of the gypsum to.the salt deposits is such as 

would be expected from the evaporation of sea water. Though the 

fact that the salt underlies the main gypsum 'beds, whereas the reverse is the natural order, seems to controvert. this view, an explanation of the occurrence may be found without recourse to extraordinary conditions of evaporation and supply of the sea water. 

If the waters of that time held approximately the same relative proportions of salts in solution as the ocean of the present day, their 

evaporation would afford 1 part gypsum to more than 20 of 

salt. As gypsum occurs interbedded with the salt and probably 

distributed more or less through the Vernon shale below the salt, 

this relative amount may well be present in its normal order. The
NEW YORK. . 217

relations indicate, however, that the process of evaporation while 

the first gypsum and salt were laid down was subject to frequent 

vicissitudes from the influx of new supplies of sea water into the 

basins. After the salt had been precipitated by repeated evaporations the process was suspended for a time, during which the basins 

were probably invaded by land drainage and shales were accumulated in considerable thickness. A renewal of the early conditions 

with a fresh supply of sea water started the precipitation.of gypsum 

again, but this time the process was not continued long enough 

apparently to bring down salt, or if it was precipitated it was redissolved before the overlying strata were formed.

.Both the salt and the main gypsum beds occur at the same respective horizons throughout their extent. The main gypsum beds are 

found only in the Camillus shale and are generally limited to the 

upper section. In the western, part of the State they are capped 

by limestone which shows ho evidence of alteration by ground waters, 

and there are layers of unchanged limestone intercalated in the shale. 

There seems to be no adequate explanation for any selective action 

on the part of the limestone whereby certain, beds were more prone 

to alteration than others.

(3) Variations in the character of the Salina strata are accompanied by marked fluctuations in the abundance of fossil remains. 

The preceding Niagara group is characterized by a fairly prolific 

and varied fauna which has, however, a peculiar development that 

is connected by paleontologists with changes of physical surroundings. The Pittsford shale at the base of the Salina contains a very 

different fauna that is characterized by eurypterids. Throughout 

the succeeding intervals represented by the Vernon shale, Syracuse 

salt, and Camillus shale, there is little or nothing to be found in the 

way of fossil remains, and only in the Bertie limestone, at the close 

of the Salina, do they reappear and are then represented by an assemblage related to that of the Pittsford shale. The lack of fossils 

in the gypsum beds may be explainable, perhaps, as the result of 

solution and breaking down of the strata by underground circulations, but this theory fails to account for their absence in the shales 

and Unchanged limestones, which aggregate many hundreds of feet 

in thickness. This circumstance as well as the other facts regarding 

the fauna of Salina time becomes intelligible, however, when connected with the vicissitudes that life must encounter in sea waters 

of fluctuating salinity,
OHIO.

By J. A. BOWNOCKEB. 

LOCATION AND THICKNESS OF DEPOSITS.

For many years Ohio has been a large producer of gypsum and 

in 1918 ranked fourth among the States in quantity ,and also in 

value of gypsum produced. The extent of development and the 

growth of the industry are shown by the following figures: In 1885 

the value of the gypsum produced was $27,652; in 1895 it was 

$71,204; in 1915 it was $772,520; and in 1918 it was $1,239,649.

The production in 1917 was 270,538 short tons, most of which was 

calcined and sold for wall plaster. In 1918 the production was only 

199,456 short tons. Four companies were operating gypsum quarries 

and mills in Ohio in 1918..

Gypsum deposits underlie a broad area in Ohio but are restricted 

to one Silurian formation, the Monroe, which consists primarily of 

dolomitic limestone with interbedded layers of sandstone and in 

places of gypsum.

Although the only deposits of gypsum ever worked in Ohio are 

along the north and south shores of Sandusky Bay (PL XXV), 

Orton 1 says:

At various other points gypsum is found in the outcrops of the [Monroe] 

formation, arid notably in the vicinity of Sylvania, Lucas County, while in the 

deep wells recently drilled through northern and central Ohio, it is the exception to miss deposits of gypsum in the samples of drillings. The last case 

reported is 3 feet of pure fibrous gypsum from a depth of 150 feet at Upper 

Sandusky. . .

Orton reports gypsum also at different distances from 30 to 190 

feet below the surface at Port Clinton, and it has since been found 

in a shaft on the Barnes farm at Locust Point, north of Oak Harbor. 

In a deep well drilled in 1886 at Sandusky, the driller reported 9 

feet of gypsum at a depth of 272 feet and thinner beds " at many 

other points in the next 800 feet." Samples of drillings from wells 

in central and southeastern Ohio have not thus far disclosed gypsum, 

and Prosser states that he has not found this mineral in the outcrops 

of the Monroe formation in southern Ohio. Though it appears that 

the area underlain by gypsum is large, it seems probable that the

1 Orton, Edward, Gypsum or land plaster in Ohio: Ohio Geol. Survey Ecpt., vol. 6, p. 

697, 1888.

218
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXV

MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF GYPSUM DEPOSITS IN OHIO.
OHIO, 219

 . o

deposit is too thin or at too great depth to be mined except along 

or near the lake shore west of Sandusky, and even there only two 

comparatively small areas have been actually tested. The following 

records show the succession of gypsum and limestone in this locality:

Section measured ~by Orton in old "plaster" qiiarri/ near shore of Sanctusky 

Bay, J.TZ miles southwest of Gypsum, Ohio.1

Ft. in.

Drift clays (level of bay, & feet below surf-nee) ______ 12-14 

Grny rock carrying land plaster________________ 5 

-Blue shale_____________________________..- 6 

. Boulder bed carrying gypsum in separate masses embedded in shaly limestone___________________ 5 

Blue limestone in thin a,nd even courses___________ 1 

Main plaster bed________________________ 7 

Gray limestone in thin courses_________ ____ 1 

Lowest plaster bed, variable________________ 3- 5 

Mixed limestone and plaster, bottom of quarry; water 

enters here in quantity.

About 1 mile due west of Gypsum the gypsum has been found at 

several places, and a test hole on the land of N. W. Payne shoAvs the 

following section:

Record of test hole on land of N. W. Payne, 1 m/ile west of Gypsum, Ohio.

. Ft. in.

Glacial drift _________. _________________ 25

Limestone __ _ _. _ _ _ _ ___ _ T

Gypsum_____ __ ..__ ________ _ 6

Limestone_____________________________ 1 S

Gypsum__ _ _ __ ___________ 7 2

Limestone__________________^_________ 4 11

Gypsum __ _ __ ________________ 2

Limestone_____________________________ 2 9

Gypsum and limestone_______________®______ 11

Limestone_ ~ ___.. ______ 2

Gypsum ___ _ _ _ __:______ 6

Limestone _ _ _ _.. _________ _ 1 0

Gypsum______________________.;_________ 1 6

Limestone___ ______ _____ _________ 1 10

Gypsum_____ ___-___ ______._______ _ 2

Limestone^________.____________________ 1 2

The bed 7 feet 2 inches thick that lies less than 10 feet below the 

glacial drift is quarried extensively in this vicinity. The G-foot bed 

near the base of the test hole may be quarried if the upper bed ever 

is exhausted.

1 Orton, Edward, op. cit, p. 698..
220 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The following records also show the thickness of the bed near

Gypsum:

t

Record of a core-drill hole on a farm about half a mile northwest of Gypsum,

Ohio.

 ' ' .Ft. in. 

Drift___________________________1____ 30

Limestone_______.____'. __: ________.______ 7 G

Gypsum _____:_______ ..________________ 1 8 -

Limestone_____________^._______ _-_______ 3 ,- 

Gypsum______:.______________._________'_ 27 ^

Limestone-_____________________________ 14 ±

Gypsum_________ _ __ _____ 5 6

Limestone_________ _ : ; ___________ 6 7

The following record of a drill hole south of Sandusky Bay on the ?' 

Alfred Meggett farm, 3 miles northwest of Castalia, is furnished by 

S. C. Kelly: - **

Record, of a drill hole 3 miles northwest of Castalia, Ohio. '

	Ft. in.

Glacial drift____________________________ 23

: Limestone_______________ ___________ 12 5 YWhite gypsum ___________________________ 3 6

Gray gypsum___________________.___... ______ 17 *'

White gypsum (mined)______________________ 4 7

Limestone________;_________,_ _ ______ 1 6

White gypsum (mined) _ :. , _ _ 7 10

Limestone______ .. ________ 4

White gypsum_______________.._..________ 3 6

' The deposit of gypsum which is shown in this record ap- 4. 

pears to be local, for one test on the Clara Meggett farm, which joins 

the Alfred Meggett farm on the north, found no gypsum, and the it' 

same is true on the Peter Altrater farm, which joins the Alfred V 

Meggett farm on the southeast. The beds mined are exceptionally 

thick at this place. °

The sections given show the general succession and thickness of _/, 

the gypsum beds. These features vary in short distances, and in 

some localities the beds can not be correlated with those shown in sec- ~** 

tions a short distance away. Within the space of a few rods gypsum 

may be reduced one-half in thickness and in places it is cut out entirely. The limestones make an excellent roof, and little or no timbering is necessary. Likewise the limestone makes a first-class floor, 

so that work is conducted under the maximum conditions of safety. 

The gypsum is fine grained and massive. Its color varies from "^ 

snow-white to gray, and both kinds are calcined together. The process of manufacture is similar to that in other States and the 

product is used for like purposes. The market extends east into 

Pennsylvania, west to Illinois, and south as far as Georgia. ^
r

OHIO. 221 

HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT.

When gypsum was first discovered in Ohio is unknown, but it 

was probably about 1849, and the location was along the north shore 

of Sandusky Bay. Marsh & Co., of Cincinnati, investigated the 

subject and later purchased the " plaster beds " located at Gypsum, 

near the present mill of the United States Gypsum Co. and built a 

mill at the foot of Wayne Street, Sandusky, where they made the 

gypsum into land plaster and plaster of Paris. In 1866 this mill was 

destroyed by fire but was rebuilt and operated until 1885. In 1872 

Marsh & Co. built a mill at Gypsum just across the tracks from 

the railroad station and operated it until 1885, when they erected 

a plant at the " plaster beds " and abandoned the mills at Sandusky 

and Gypsum.

Another pioneer firm was that of Lockwood & Smith, who began 

work on land of Lockwood & Boss, adjoining that of Marsh & Co., 

and quarried the gypsum on a small scale. The principal business 

of both companies for a long time is said to have been supplying 

rock to a. number of small gypsum mills in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The plate-glass factories began calling for 

large supplies of gypsum, which of course stimulated the industry. 

About 1885 the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. made a contract with 

J. W. Lockwood to take gypsum from his property, and the rock 

was shipped by water to Cleveland, where it was distributed by rail 

to the different plants of this company. Later the plate-glass companies purchased the calcined gypsum, and that plan is followed by 

most of the companies at the present time.

Marsh & Co. worked an open quarry until 1902, when underground mining began. This plant is still in operation, and since

1901 has been the property of the United States Gypsum Co. Formerly this company worked three beds of gypsum at the same time. 

The higher one was operated as a quarry, but thfe two lower beds 

were worked by underground methods. The upper bed has been 

worked out except a small area east of the old Marsh farm. The 

bed now mined lies about 50 feet below this horizon. Deeper drill 

holes made in this vicinity show that at about 100 feet below the 

surface calcium sulphate occurs in the anhydrous form.

On the shore of the bay, about 2 miles west of the plant of the 

United States Gypsum Co., there were formerly two mills. The 

Granite Hill Plaster Co. began work in 1889 and at first procured 

its rock from a quarry but in 1901 began underground mining. In

1902 this plant passed into the hands of the United States Gypsum 

Co. The Consumers Gypsum Co. began work in the same locality 

in 1902. About 1904 mining in the first plant had extended so near 

the bay that water entered freely and stopped the work. Two years
222 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

later the adjacent plant was closed for the same reason. The bed of 

gypsum mined by these companies is reported to have ranged in 

thickness from 5 to 8 feet.

The American Gypsum Co. erected a plant about 1 mile west of 

Gypsum and began operations in January, 1907. In 1910 the 

Fishack Gypsum Co. built a mill half .a mile northwest of Gypsum, 

and in 1914 it became the property of the American Cement Plaster 

Co. The last mill of this kind established in Ohio is the property of 

the Kelly Plaster Co, and is located abo.ut 3 miles north of Castalia, 

on the south side of Sandusky Bay. The company reports having 

had 40 acres tested with the core drill and in this manner has proved 

an adequate supply of the rock. This is the first and only mill built 

on the south side of the bay and hence marks a real extension of the 

field.

DEVELOPMENT IN 1918. 

By R. W. STONE.

Gypsum was quarried and milled by four companies in 1918, three 

working on the north side of Sandusky Bay and one on the south 

side.

The American Cement Plaster Co. has a mine and mill half a mile 

north of Gypsum, a station on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern 

Railway. A bed of gypsum which lies 46 feet below the surface and 

runs very evenly about 6 feet thick is being worked by a slope. Cars 

are gathered by mules and hauled to the surface by a cable. The 

usual method of milling is followed, and the product is mainly wall 

plaster. .

The American Gypsum Co.'s plant is 1 mile west of Gypsum on the 

south side of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. The 

mine, which is at the mill, is entered by a vertical shaft. Two gypsum beds are being worked. The upper bed, 34 feet below the surface, is Y feet thick, and the lower one is 11 feet thick but includes 

a little hard shale or limestone. These two beds are separated by 

8 to 10 feet of limestone, including a thin bed of gypsum. Practically all the mine haulage is by electric motor. This company is 

making gypsum tile as well as wall plaster.

The United States Gypsum Co.'s property is on the shore of Sandusky Bay, 1 mile south of Gypsum. . Old quarries, along the shore 

on the upper bed are full of water. Part of this bed was mined from 

entries driven from the quarries. The present work is on a second 

bed 42 feet below the first. This lower bed is 10 to 15 feet thick and 

divided near the middle by 6 to 18 inches of limestone. The upper 

bench of this bed is gray mottled gypsum and the lower bench is for 

the most part pure white, though it contains some mottled rock. The 

white and gray rock are mixed in mining. .
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXVI

A. MINE OF UNITED STATES GYPSUM CO. AT GYPSUM, OHIO.

View shows abandoned workings on upper bed and incline to lower bed. Photograph by R. W.

Stone.

B. ROCK GYPSUM QUARRY OF AMERICAN CEMENT PLASTER CO. AT WATONGA,

OKLA.

Photograph by E. F. Burchard.
OHIO. 223

The cars are gathered by mules and moved up the slope to the top 

of the crusher house by an automatic rope haulage system. (See 

PL XXVI, A.) The mill is at the mine, and is making gypsum 

plaster and tile. -

The Kelly Plaster Co. is the only one on the south side of Sandusky Bay. The mine and mill are 2J miles northwest of Castalia. 

The shaft, which is 73 feet deep, passes through more than 30 feet of 

gypsum, as shown in the record of a drill hole given on. page 220. A 

bed of gray gypsum 17 feet thick is left, and 12 to 14 feet of white 

gypsum lying below it is mined. This white gypsum contains an 

irregular lenticular layer of shale or flinty rock 18' inches in maximum thickness, which has to be gobbed. The rock which is mined is 

very white and granular. A small quantity of alabaster has been 

found here but no selenite or satin spar. A 3^-foot bed of gypsum 

lying just below the floor of the mine is as yet untouched.

The mine has been opened so short a time that it is small. Haulage 

is by mules;. electric and air drills are used.. The product of the mill 

is sold both crude and calcined.
OKLAHOMA.

By L. C. SNJDEB. 

CHARACTER AND EXTENT.

The gypsum deposits of Oklahoma are in the western part of the 

State in the " Red Beds " area, which extends into Texas to the south 

and into Kansas to the north. The gypsum attains its maximum 

development in the portion of this area that lies in Oklahoma, where 

beds which reach a thickness of 60 feet can be traced for considerable distances. There are also large deposits of gypsite.

The gypsum occurs in different forms. Rock gypsum probably 

predominates, but the ledges grade into selenite gypsum, locally very 

coarsely crystalline. Veins of satin spar and selenite are abundant 

in the red clays near the heavy gypsum beds, and irregularly shaped 

concretions are found at horizons considerably below the heavy beds. 

The gypsite deposits are commonly on low-level lands or in valleys 

near the thick beds of rock or selenitic gypsum. Anhydrite is fairly 

abundant. It is present for the most part as irregular masses in the 

gypsum, but in some places forms definite bands or layers. In only a 

few places is the anhydrite sufficiently abundant to interfere with the 

utilization of the gypsum.

GEOLOGIC RELATIONS.

The gypsums of Oklahoma form a part of the great series of 

rocks which are generally known as the "Red Beds." The greater 

portion of the "Red Beds" in Oklahoma are of Permian age and 

all the gypsums occur in rocks of that age.1

The section of the Permian rocks, as worked out by Gould,2 is as 

follows:

Section of tlie Permian rocks in Oklahoma.

Quartermaster formation, soft, red sandstones with

arenaceous clays and shales___________L _ 300 

Greer formation, red clays, shales, and sandstones 

with beds of gypsum and magnesium limestone or 

dolomite _________________________ 150-300 

Woodward formation:

Day Creek dolomite ________________ 3± 

Whitehorse sandstone _______________ 175-200

Dog Creek shales__________________ 30±

____________Q______________________

J The age of the "Red Beds" is further discussed in Oklahoma Geol. Survey Bull. 11, 

pp. 107-114, iai3.

2 Gould, C. N., Geology and water resources of Oklahoma: U. S. Geol. Survey. WaterSupply Paper 148, pp. 34-77, 1905.

224
IT. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXVH

F^d^ - 4 -=-

HU?HE<i>^ [HAiKELLH C^'j

OWA r^SiM "^! ^ -^^^l^vT^H PJTTS'BURO -LAflMER-' ^3^1

i T ^Wlv ^t^^^f--~' j o ^j_ __-! I I Ri \

o i | m ?* ra A^ i N po>-ToT°?_r\ i_ . l-r^j==hir^- ?__JCOM^CHE^V -J G V--l-.^--K°^-i L~i-^r^" -J

MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF GYPSUM DEPOSITS IN OKLAHOMA.
OKLAHOMA ' 225

Feet

Blaine formation, three gypsum members, the Ferguson, Medicine Lodge, and Shinier, with intervening, 

shales __________'________________ 75-100 . Enicl formation, red shales and clays with thin, lenticular red sandstones and bands of white sand__ 1, 200 1, 500

Of these formations the Blaine and the Greer contain the gypsum deposits. The distribution and stratigraphy of these formations is given in some detail under the description of the localities.

LOCALITIES.

For convenience of discussion the gypsum deposits in Oklahoma 

are considered to occur in three areas (1) the main line of gypsum 

hills, along Cimarron River, in the northwestern portion of the 

State; (2) the second line of gypsum hills, in the west-central 

portion; and (3) the southwestern gypsum hills, in the extreme 

southwestern portion. These areas are shown on the map (PL 

XXVII).

MAIN LINE OF GYPSUM HILLS. 

GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The main line of gypsum hills is produced by the outcrop of 

the Blaine formation, which consists of three beds of gypsum separated by red shales. Of the three beds Ihe lowest one is known, 

as the Ferguson gypsum member; the middle as the Medicine 

Lodge gypsum member; and the uppermost as the Shinier gypsum 

member.

The line of hills enters Oklahoma from Kansas along the south 

side of Salt Fork of Arkansas River; then crosses Cimarron River 

near the Kansas line and extends southeast along the south side, 

gradually falling back from the river until the hills and the gypsum beds die out in Canadian County. The extreme southeastern extension of the hills lies nearer to the North Fork of Canadian River 

than to the Cimarron, but the escarpment faces the Cimarron.

Near the Kansas line, in Woods, Harper, and Woodward counties, the three gypsum beds are present, but the shales between 

them are thin, and the outcrop commonly gives the impression that 

there are only one or two beds. All three gypsums are entirely 

selenitic, the individual crystals reaching about 2 inches in dimension. This coarsely crystalline texture renders the beds porous 

and easily penetrated by water. Consequently the effects of solution are very marked. Sink holes and caverns are oommon, and in 

many places one or more of the beds is entirely removed at the 

surface and does not outcrop for considerable distances. As a result

124567° 20 15
226 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of solution the outcrops are very irregular and patchy. (See PI. 

XXVIII, A.) The thickness of the Blaine formation in this vicinity is between 50 and 75 feet, of which half or more is of gypsum. ^

To the southeast, in Major County, the gypsum changes in character, becoming finer grained from northwest to southeast, so that 

at the Blaine County line the selenitic phase is almost, entirely replaced 'by dense rock gypsum. With this change the effects of solution become less prominent and the outcrops of the three beds are 

much more distinct and regular.

The outcrop continues to the south and east 'across Blaine County 

with little change in the stratigraphy. The gypsum beds thin somewhat, and the intervening clays are a little thicker. The Medicine 

Lodge gypsum contains considerable anhydrite. Near tiie eastern 

boundary of Blaine County the gypsums thin and become lenticular, 

finally dying out in northern Canadian County, north of El Keno. __ ^

The nature of the Blaine formation is shown in the following sections, given in order from northwest to southeast:

Section on Yelloivstone Creek 1\ miles soiitheast of Kingman, Woods County,

Okla.

Feet. / 

6. Gypsum (Shimer), top eroded__ _ ______________ 8

5. Covered, probably red and green shale____ _______ 12 '"*'

4. Gypsum (Medicine Lodge)_______,_____________ 8 

3. Covered, probably red and green shale_____________ 7 

 2. Gypsum (Ferguson)_________________________ 18

I. Covered, probably shale____._________________ 34

Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, make up the Blaine formation. All the 

gypsum is selenitic. ^

Section on West Barney Creek, Major County, Okla. ~f

Feet.

13. Gypsum (Shimer), top eroded_______________- 8 

12. Honeycombed dolomitic sandstone_______________ 2

II. Covered, probably shale________________ 17

10. Gypsum (Medicine Lodge) with about 6 inches of anhydrite near middle _________ _ _ 10

9. Covered, probably shale____________:_______ 13 . 

8. Gypsum (Ferguson)___ 11 

7. Greenish dolomitic sandstone _________________ £ 

6. Green sandy shale_______________________ 3£ 

5. Red shale with many thin- bands of green shale and 

satin spar __.______,___,____________ 14

4. Selenitic sandstone__.____________._________ $ 

3. Red and green shales______________________ 8 

2. Shale and soft sandstone, red and green, cross-bedded, '^ 

gypsiferous _______..____________ ___ 8£

1. Covered, probably shale ____________________ 41

Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, make up the Blaine formation.
tl. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXVIII

A. GLASS MOUNTAIN, WOODS COUNTY, OKLA., CAPPED WITH MASSIVE

GYPSUM.

B. ESCARPMENT CAPPED WITH GYPSUM LEDGES, RED RIVER VALLEY, GREER

COUNTY, OKLA.
OKLAHOMA. . 227 

Section near Rick-ford,. Bla-in.c County,

Feet.

6. Gypsum (Shinier), top eroded _________________ 14 

5. Red and green shale ________________________ 32 

4. Gypsum (Medicine Lodge) : 

Gypsum4 - ____________________________ 9

Anhydrite ___ ____ - ___________ _ _________ 2

Gypsum _____ _ 6

3. Red and green shales _______________________ 32

2. Gypsum (Ferguson) ___ . _ ' ___ i ______________ 5-6

1. Red shales _________ _ _______ ,. __ ... _____ 70

Nos. 2 to 6 inclusive make up the Blaine formation. The gypsum is fine-grained rock gypsum, and the anhydrite division of the 

Medicine Lodge is quite constant in this vicinity.

Section 2 miles west of Altona and 1 tnile west of line between Blaine and

Kingfisher counties, Okla.

Peet.

7. Gypsum (Medicine Lodge), top removed: by erosion _ ___ 3

6. White dolomitic sandstone _______________ _ _ 2

5. Red and green shales ______________________ 16

4. Gypsum and anhydrite, with satin spar beneath _ ___ __ 3

3. Red and green shale ________________________ 18

2. Gypsum (Ferguson), selenitic __________________ 3

1. Red and green shale ___________ __________ 21

The Shimer gypsum is absent in this region, but the dolomitic 

sandstone, which occurs beneath it to the northwest, is continued as a 

thick blue and white magnesian limestone, locally fossiliferous.

GYPSITE DEPOSITS.

tt

Gypsite deposits are common along the first line of gypsum hills, 

but most of those so far known are very small. The only ones 

developed as yet are in Blaine County, north of Watonga. These 

beds in the aggregate cover more than 100 acres, and the gypsite 

averages 6 to 8 feet thick. The material has been utilized by mills 

at Watonga, Bickford, and Okeene.

SECOND LINE OF GYPSUM HILLS. 

GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

Although generally spoken of as a line of hills, the gypsum outcrops of this region do not form a single prominent escarpment, like 

the outcrop of the Blaine formation just described, but rather a 

series of low, rounded knolls and ridges. The gypsum beds are 

present in the lower part of the Greer formation. The rocks of this 

formation are principally soft clay shales, with some soft sandstones and lenticular masses of gypsum. Some of the lenses of gypsum are of considerable extent and thickness, but there are no welldefined beds which can be traced for many miles like those in the
228 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Blaine formation. The gypsum varies from fine-grained rock gypsum to coarsely selenitic gypsum, and from white to red and green 

in color.

The area here called the second line of gypsum hills includes 

parts of Dewey, Ell is, Roger Mills, Custer, Washita, Caddo, Comanche, Grady, and Stephens counties.

In the northern part of the area, in Dewey County, and in the 

small portions of Ellis and Roger Mills counties which contain 

gypsum, the beds are, for the most part, thin and lenticular.. Though 

the total amount of gypsum present is great there is probably very 

little which can be considered as' available under present conditions of transportation and markets. The only locality observed 

in these counties where conditions seem at all favorable for development is at Camargo, where a bed about 4 feet thick outcrops 

along the Wichita Falls & Northwestern Railway.

The important deposits in this area are in the eastern portions of 

Custer and Washita counties. Beginning at Weatherf ord, in southeastern Custer County, and extending southward along Washita 

River, in Washita County, is an area that contains thick beds of gypsum. Near Weatherf ord the outcrops of beds which are as much as 

50 feet in thickness and which would require very little stripping can 

be reached by short spurs from the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 

Railway.

In eastern Washita County the gypsum occurs at two horizons, 

but the beds at both horizons are more or less lenticular. In many 

localities, however, beds .40 to 60 feet thick may be traced fop 1 or 2 

miles. The gypsum is mostly massive rock gj^psum, but selenitic 

gypsum is not uncommon. The lowest beds are hard and in places 

contain anhydrite. Several localities in this area can be reached by 

spurs, 2 to 4 miles in length, from the St. Louis-San, Francisco 

Railway. In the westward extension of the gypsum area in the 

southern part of the county three distinct ledges occur. These ledges 

range in thickness from 15 to 20 feet. The upper and lower ledges 

are massive rock g}7 psum, and the middle one contains anhydrite.

The deposits in Caddo, Comanche, and Grady counties are the 

southeastward extension of those in Washita County just described. 

The beds become thinner and more lenticular to the southeast, so 

that there are very few5 if any, localities in these counties where the 

deposits of, rock gypsum are commercially valuable.

GYPSITE DEPOSITS.

Important deposits of gypsite occur at Indianapolis, in Custer 

County, at Cement, in Caddo County, and at Rush Springs, in Grady 

County. The bed at Indianapolis is between 60 and 90 acres in
OKLAHOMA. ' 229

extent and has a maximum thickness of 18 feet. This bed has not 

been developed. The beds at Cement originally covered about 40 

acres and had a maximum thickness of about 12 feet. The gypsite 

from these beds was used in a plaster mill at Cement, which was 

burned in 1911. The greater part of the deposits has been used, and 

there is probably not enough material remaining to justify rebuilding the mill. The deposits at Rush Springs cover more than 50 acres 

and have an average thickness of about 8 feet. The material has been 

utilized for plaster at a large plant hear Rush Springs.

SOUTHWESTERN AREA. 

GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The southwestern gypsum area lies in the extreme southwestern 

portion of the State, in Beckham, Greer, Jackson, and Harmon counties. The area is probably the southwestward continuation of the 

second line of gypsum hills, and the gypsum beds seem to lie at the 

same horizon as those to the east that is, in the Greer formation. 

However, the beds form well-defined, continuous ledges, especially 

in the northern part of the area. The outcrop forms a steep escarpment, rising above a plain of red shales (see PI. XXVIII, /?), and 

is more like the outcrop of the gypsum beds of the Blaine formation, the first line of gypsum hills, than it is like- the eastern portion of the outcrop of the Greer formation, the second line of hills. 

The transition from the eastern portion of the outcrop of the 

Greer formation, in which the lenticular gypsum beds form low, 

rounded knobs, to the western portion, in which the well-defined gypsum beds form a steep escarpment, probably takes place in the belt 

along the south side of Washita County, where there are three beds 

which are continuous for a considerable distance.

In southern Beckham County, in northern Greer County, and in 

the northernmost township of Harmon County there are five distinct gypsum members in the Greer formation. From the base'up 

these are the Chaney, Kiser, Haystack, Cedartop, and Collingsworth 

gyPsum members.

The Chaney gypsum member in the western part of Greer County 

is a hard, massive layer 3 to 5 feet thick, generally white but locally 

gray or blue, and in places distinctly cross-bedded. To the east the 

bed thins and finally becomes only a gypsiferous band in the red 

shale.

The Kiser gypsum, member is variable in character and thickness. 

Locally it is selenitic, but in other places it is quite shaly. The color 

is generally drab or bluish. The thickness ranges from 1 to 3 feet.

The Haystack gypsum member is massive, is white to gray, and 

ranges from 18 to 25 feet in thickness. Thin bands of gypsiferous
230 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE .UNITED STATES.

sandstone occur locally. The bed is. so jointed that it weathers into 

rectangular blocks, which in places cover the slopes for considerable 

distances below the outcrop of the bed. ^

The Cedartop gypsum member is a massive white gypsum 18 to 20 

feet thick and very similar to the Haystack.

The Collingsworth gypsum member is of practically the same 

thickness as the Cedartop and very similar to it and to the Haystack 

gypsum. In many places its outcrop has been eroded.

These gypsum beds outcrop conspicuously on the north side of ^ 

North Fork of Ked River, in southeastern Beckham County, cross the 

river, and also the divides between North Fork and Elm Fork, and v 

form a deep canyon in which Elm Fork flows eastward from the 

Texas line for about 13 miles.

Farther south the gypsum ledges lose their identity, and the southern portion of the area more nearly resembles the second line of ; 

gypsum hills. In southern Greer County the only notable outcrops 

are those on Salt Fork of Red River opposite Mangum. The greater 

part of Harmon County is very level, and exposures of gypsum are 

too rare to give an idea of the extent or thickness of the beds. Their 

presence is shown, however, in sink holes and in wells. /"

In western Jackson County the gypsums are more prominent than ^ 

in southern Harmon County but much less so than along North and 

Elm forks of Red River. The stratigraphy is very irregular. The 

best exposures are on Horse Branch and Boggy Creek.

The following sections give the details of the stratigraphy in different parts of the southwestern gypsum area:

Section of bluff on north side of NortJi Fork of Red River, 8 miles south of

. Carter, Beckham County, Okla. "i* 

Greer formation: Feet.

Rough, weathered, sandy dolomite capping the high hills

(Mangum dolomite member)_..____________.._ 3 

Red and green gypsiferous shale___________ -___ 24 

Massive white gypsum (Collingsworth) _______.___ 23 

Red and green shale __ _ 6 

Massive white gypsum (Cedartop)-_________.___ IS .j 

Red and green shale_______.____________.._ 15 

Massive white gypsum, in places containing thin ledges of

sandstone (Haystack) ___.. .. 25 

Reddish and green shale _________ __ 24 

Greenish gypsum layers and gypsiferous shale, becoming 

hard locally (Chaney) ________ __ 5

Red and green gypsiferous shale from the base of the hill- 30 ,

__ ~4.

173
OKLAHOMA, i 231

Section on Elm Fork at mouth of Hackbcrrij Creek, Greer County, Olda.

Greer formation.: Feet.

«^ Hard cap rock, dolomite (Ma-ngnm) _____________ 3

Red clay_______________._____________ 20

'Massive white gypsum (Collingsworth)__________ IS

Red and blue clay ________________________ 8

Massive white gypstam (Cedartop) ______..___ 20

Red: and blue clay __ _________________ 5

White gypsum, separated into thin beds by sandy dolomite

/> (Haystack) _____ ___________ 18

Red and blue clay _______________________ 12

Bluish stratified gypsum (Kiser) !_______________ 4

Red and blue-clay __ ______________ 15

White and bluish gypsum (Chaney) _____________ 4

Red and blue clay ________ 8

4_, 135

Section of bluff on Mm Fork in sec. 10, T. 6 N., R. 26 W., Hannon County, Okla.

Greer formation: Feet.

Dolomite (Mangum)______________________ 1-3

_,- . Red clay _______ _____ ______ 1C

Gypsum (Collingsworth) _ _________ 14

-4- Red and blue clay_ _________ 6

Gypsum (Cedartop)___ __-______________ 16

Red and blue clay___ _____ 5

Gypsum '(Haystack)__ _ _______________ 20

* Red and blue clay____ - ________ 15

Gypsum (Kiser)_____ __________________ 2

Reel clay ______ , _ 12

1 Gypsum* (Chaney)________..______________ 3

Gypsiferous red and blue clay _______.___ 60

^ ' . 

172

Section of bluff betioeen Salt Fork and H-orse Branch near Ohistee, Jackson

County, Okla.

Feet.

Hard dolomite, forming the cap of the hill___.______ 3

Red and blue clay ___ .-..______ 12

^ Massive white gypsum _.._ . _ 8

Red clay with ledges of gypsum . 24

Massive white gypsum ___ .. ._. 12

Red and blue clay _____ .__. 15

Red and blue soft shaly rock and gypsum ___._______ 5

Red and blue shaly clay _____ __.______ _ 22

Bluish gypsiferous rock _ 10

^ Red and blue clay _ - - 8

Massive white gypsum ___ .. . 3

Red clay slope from Horse Branch _. '..___ 100
232 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

GYPSITE DEPOSITS,

No deposits of gypsite are known in Beckham Cowity. In Harmon County only two small beds 3 to 6 feet thick, whose combined 

area is about 25 acres, are known. In Greer County, about 4 miles 

west of Willow, a station on the Wichita Falls & Northwestern 

Eailway, one of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas lines, is a bed covering 

about 300 acres and ranging from 4 to 14 feet in thickness. This 

material seems to be an original deposit of very gypsiferous shale 

and fine sand rather than true gypsite. It is reported to have been 

tested and to have made good plaster.

The gypsite beds of Jackson County are among the most valuable 

in the State. They are of large extent and are well situated in regard to transportation. The largest bed known in the county covers 

an area of about 400 acres, just north of the town of Eldorado. 

The thickness of the gypsite ranges from 8 to 20 feet with little or 

no overburden. The Eldorado plant of the United States Gypsum 

Co. is situated >at the bed and is reached by a spur from the St. 

Louis-San Francisco Railway. The company owns this bed and also 

controls another bed in the same township. This second bed is 

about 140 acres in area and is 6 to 12 feet thick. The railroad passes 

near its east end. Several smaller beds having an aggregate area 

of 100 acres or more and thicknesses of 4 to 8 feet occur in the same 

portion of the county.

A gypsite bed approximately 376 acres in area lies 1 mile east 

of Duke, on the Wichita Falls & Northwestern Railway. The 

gypsite is 6 to 8 feet in thickness, and its cover is 2 feet in greatest 

thickness. In considerable areas the gypsite lies at the surface. 

The gypsite is light gray near'the surface but grades into pink and 

reddish-brown in the lower parts of the bed.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. 

GENERAL CONDITION OF THE GYPSUM INDUSTRY.

The development of the gypsum industry in Oklahoma has been 

greatly retarded by poor transportation facilities, the high price of 

fuel, and the remoteness of important markets.'

Though the resources of, gypsum are enormous, in only a comparatively few places are the deposits near enough to railroad lines 

to render them immediately available. However, sufficient quantities of gypsum are near enough to railroads to sustain an immense 

production for many years, and the lack of transportation is only a 

minor feature in retarding the growth of the industry.

 None of the natural fuels occur in the gypsum area, and coal 

must be obtained from the fields of eastern Oklahoma or from Colorado and New Mexico. The fuel expense is necessarily high and
OKLAHOMA. ' ' 23$

makes the cost of the gypsum products much greater than in; regions more fortunately situated in respect to fuel supply.

By far the most important hindrance to the development of the 

industry, however, is the distance to the principal building centers. 

None of the cities near the deposits are large enough to provide 

markets for a large production. The freight rates to the, cities of 

the Eastern and Central States are prohibitive, and in most of these 

cities the demand for gypsum products can be supplied from deposits much nearer than those in Oklahoma.

 The great amount of building in Oklahoma following its admission as a State in 1907 furnished a good local market for plaster. 

Several mills were built to supply this demand. Since then some 

of the mills have been idle and others have made only.small and 

intermittent production. Few, if any, have run to full capacity

.in the last few years.

MILLS AND QUARRIES.

In 1915 there were nine mills operating or in condition to operate 

in Oklahoma two at Watonga, and one each at Bickford, Darrow,, 

Southard, Okeene, Alva, Eldorado, and Rush Springs.

The mill at Eldorado is in the southwestern gypsum area, the one 

at Rush Springs at the southeastern end of the second line of gypsum hills, and the others along the first line of gypsum hills. Five 

of the nine mills are in Blaine County. All the mills use the kettle 

process except the one near Darrow, which uses the Cumner rotary 

kiln or continuous process.. Four mills operated in 1918.

The mill of the American Cement Plaster Co. at Watonga is located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. The capacity 

of the mill is about 200 tons of plaster each 24 hours. The rock 

gypsum is obtained from a quarry in the Medicine Lodge gypsum 

7 miles northeast of the plant. The gypsum bed is 12 to 15 feet 

thick, and there is practically no anhydrite. (See PI. XXVI, B.) 

The rock is crushed at the quarry and run into railroad cars in which 

it is conveyed to the mill. Gypsite is obtained from a large bed 

less than a mile distant from the rock quarry. The bed covers about 

80 acres, and its maximum thickness is 8 feet. Not over half the 

deposit has been used. The principal products of the mill are different grades of wall plaster. A large part of the output is used at 

the mill in the manufacture of partition blocks.

 A plant which has been idle since 1912 is also located at Watonga. 

It was formerly operated by the Monarch Plaster Co., was sold to 

the Oriental Cement Plaster Co., and is now owned by the National 

Cement Plaster Co. It is equipped with the ordinary power plant, 

crushing and grinding machinery, and two 10-foot kettles. The
23;4 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

quarry is northeast of the plant,, only a few rods from that of the 

American Cement Plaster Co.r and gypsite was procured from the 

eastern portion of the bed utilized by that company.

The mill and quarry of the Koman Nose Gypsum Co. are located 

at Bickford, about 8 miles north of Watoaga, on the Chicago, Rock 

Island & Pacific Railway. The mill is at the foot of the escarpment of the gypsum beds of the Blaine- formation, and only a short 

haul by wagon is necessary to> transport the rock to the mill. The 

Medicine Lodge gypsum is quarried. The entire bed is about 15 

feet thick, but the middle portion-, about 3 feet in thickness, contains anhydrite. Only the 6-foot la}'er above the anhydrite has 

been used, but the lower portion can be obtained easily by stripping 

the anhydrite. The mill has three 8-foot kettles for calcining. 

.Power is furnished by a gas engine. Partition blocks and wall 

plasters were the principal products. This plant has been idle since 

1914.

The Southwest Cement Plaster Co. had a mill with two 10-foot 

kettles at Okeene, on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The rock 

gypsum was crushed at the quarry, 7£ miles southwest of Okeene, and 

hauled to the mill in railroad cars, The portion of the Medicine 

Lodge gypsum above the anhydrite was quarried. Gypsite was taken 

from a bed near the quarry. This mill burned down in August, 1918.

The mill of the Oklahoma Gypsum Cchy which is west of Barrow, on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, is idle. The quarry is 

in the Ferguson gypsum, which is 6 feet thick and very pure.. The 

portion of the Medicine Lodge gypsum above the anhydrite is also 

available. It is 10 feet thick and requires little stripping.

The mill of the Oklahoma Plaster Co. at Alva, on the Chicago, 

Rock Island & Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railways, 

has been torn down, and the company is out of business. The quarry 

is at Belva, in Woodward County,; on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 

Fe Railway. The Ferguson gypsum, which in this locality is 25 

feet thick and coarsely selenitic, was quarried.

The Southard plant of the United States Gypsum Co. is located 

at Southard, on the St. Louisa-San Francisco' Railway. Two 10-foot 

kettles are used for calcining, and a 2'5-foot circular kiln is used for 

making Keenes cement.. Both the Shimer gypsum and the Medicine 

Lodge above the anhydrite have been quarried.. The Shimer gypsum 

averages 17 feet thick in the quarries and is exceptionally pure. 

The stripping is generally less than 2 feet. The rock is hauled about 

one-fourth of a mile to the mill in.wagons.

The Eldorado plant of the same company is located at Eldorador 

in Jackson County,, on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The 

mill has four 10-foot kettles,' Gypsite alone is- used as the raw ma-
OKLAHOMA. 235

terial. This is procured from a 400-acre bed immediately north of 

the mill.

The mill of the Acme Cement Plaster Co. is at Acme, west of 

Bush Springs, in Grady County. Gypsite is used as the raw material. The mill is a modern fireproof concrete structure and has 

two 12-foot kettles, which are fired with fuel oil. THis company 

quarries rock gypsum at Grady's Switch, near Cement, Caddo County, 

to supply Portland cement mills.

The Oklahoma Portland Cement Co. began to operate a mill at 

Primm in 1918 and sold its product crude. !

In addition to. the plants described others have been operated in 

the past. Plants at Cement and Marlow have been burned. Theso 

plants were succeeded by the plant at Rush Springs, The United. 

States Gypsum Co.'s mill at Okarche was abandoned in 1912 on account of the exhaustion of the gypsite beds and the difficulty of 

procuring a sufficient supply of rock gypsum. A small mill was 

operated at Peckham, in Kay County, several years ago but was removed when the small gypsite beds, from which the raw material 

was obtained, were exhausted. A 2-kettle mill still standing 4 

miles west of Ferguson, in Blaine County, made a small production 

but has been idle for many years. On account of its distance from, 

the railroad there is no probability of its resuming operations.
OREGON.

By R. W. STONE.' 

LOCATION AND CHARACTER.

Gypsum in commercial quantity occurs in two localities in Oregon. 

One of these is at Gypsum, Baker County, and the other is in 

Crook County 30 miles east of Bend, in sec. 29, T.. 18 S., R. 17 E. 

It is reported that the material in Crook County consists of crystals 

of gypsum mixed with clay, probably gypsite, and that it has been 

used as a fertilizer. It lies at the surface without cover over many 

acres and can be dug with scraper or pick and shovel. A shaft 15 

feet deep did not reach the bottom of the deposit.

Minor occurrences in Oregon have been reported from Grant 

County, in the John Day region; Jaqkson County, at the Alton or 

Baron mine, Ashland district; Josephine County, at the Alameda 

mine and Galice district (as a gangue mineral); and Wheeler 

County, at Bridge Creek. Nothing is known of the character or 

extent of the deposits at these places.

The only developed deposit of gypsum in Oregon is at Gypsum, 

near the middle point of the eastern boundary of the State, on a 

ridge that forms the divide between Burnt River and Snake River. 

Elongated lenses of rock gypsum occur on the ridge, but they have 

a limited geographic extent. A continuation of this deposit is reported to occur in the ridge on the opposite side of the river in' 

Idaho. The gypsum lenses are from 10 to 40 feet thick. Some of 

the deposit is white crystalline gypsum of good quality, but part of 

it is rendered almost valueless 'by the inclusion of thin strata and 

films of a greenish chloritic mineral and by brecciation and inclusion of angular fragments of limestone and other rock. There is, 

therefore, a large percentage of waste in quarrying.

GEOLOGIC RELATIONS.

The lower portion of the ridge between Burnt River and Snake 

River k composed of a series of old lavas, largely rhyolitic in composition. Above these is a sedimentary series, in which the gypsum 

is interstratified. Thick beds of limestone and also shales, with intercalated strata of volcanic tuffs, occur in the series.

1 Compiled from Lindgren, Waldemar, Gypsum deposits in Oregon : U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 223, p. Ill, 1904 ; Plaster mill of the Pacific Lime & Gypsum Co., by staff correspondent, Pacific Builder and Engineer, July 5, 1913; and other sources.

236
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXIX

A. GYPSUM QUARRY AND LOADING PLATFORM OF AERIAL TRAMWAY,

GYPSUM, OREG.

Photograph by E. F. Burchard.

B. GYPSUM OUTCROP 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF MINNEKAHTA, S. DAK. 

a, Location of mineral claim. Photograph by J. G. Hutton.
OREGON. 237

The period to which, the gypsum beds belong is probably early 

Miocene, as seen* to be indicated by the geologic relation of the 

sedimentary beds of the region, but the evidence is not wholly clear.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Although the gypsum deposit on Snake River has been known for 

40 years, it was long undeveloped. Remoteness from market probably retarded its use. The first development was not successful, for 

a mill erected in 1890 was burned the same year. Another plant was 

built and operated for some time. This was at Lime, a station on 

the line of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co., 4 

miles northwest of Huntington. The gypsum occurs about 200 feet 

below the summit of the ridge, 1,500 feet above and on the slope 

facing Snake River, and the deposit was reached from Lime by a 

winding road ascending the ridge. On account of the northwestward dip of the strata, development of the deposit was undertaken 

by means of tunnels. The elevation of the lower opening is approximately 3,900 feet above sea level. A tunnel 170 feet long, connecting 

with an upraise 100 feet long, exposed gypsum rock of good quality 

20 feet thick. This enterprise did not prove successful, however, 

although there was a market for gypsum products in Oregon, Washington, and southern Idaho, a territory to which it naturally was 

the source of supply.

Several years ago the Pacific Lime & Gypsum Co. erected a plant 

at Gypsum, on the Oregon Short Line Railroad, about 5 miles 

northeast of Huntington, to use the same deposit as that worked 

from Lime. The mill is on the bank of Snake River and the quarry 

is on the ridge about 1,800 feet above it. (See PI. XXIX, A.) Rock 

gypsum is brought from quarry to mill by a 6,100-foot aerial tramway.

The gypsum is quarried by the open-bench system, and it is reported that a quarry face has been developed 250 feet wide and 

nearly 100 feet high. Dump cars, whose capacity is 1 cubic yard, 

convey the rock to bunkers at the outer edge of the quarry floor, 

where it is passed through a large jaw nipper and a gyratory 

crusher operated by electric motor. The rock thus broken to pass 

through a 1-inch ring runs by gravity into bi-ns at the upper end 

of the aerial tramway. This conveyer operates under gravity with 

36 buckets of 600 pounds capacity each. The weight of the loaded 

buckets going down is utilized to develop horsepower at the quarry 

for operating an air compressor and pneumatic tools.

From the storage bin at the lower end of the tramway a belt 

conveyer takes the rock to the hopper of a horizontal rotary drier, 

where practically all the mechanically included moisture is driven
238 GYPSUM 'DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

off. This drier is 60 feet long, 8 feet in diameter, and oil fired. 

Steel bucket and screw conveyers take the hot rock to steel bins 

over the pulverizers. Air separators carry the pulverized gypsum, 

most of which will pass a 200-mesh sieve, to bins near the roof of 

the kettle room. Calcining is done in two 14-foot kettles of 20-ton O

capacity. Fuel oil is used for heating the kettles. From the concrete hot pits the stucco is taken by steel bucket and screw conveyers 

to bins on the upper floor of the mixing department. Mixing machines and valve baggers insure uniform preparation and weighing 

of the product. From each weigher a package conveyer delivers, the 

bag to the car.

The main building of this plant is 525 feet long by TO feet wide, 

has a steel frame, and is entirely covered with corrugated iron.

Electric power for driving all machinery at the plant is developed 

from fuel oil, which is stored in four 25,000-gallon cylindrical tanks. 

Most of the product of this plant is wall plaster and is sold in the 

Pacific Northwest. This Oregon deposit has been producing gypsum continuously for a number of years, with the exception of 

1911-12, when no production was reported. It is now operated by 

the Acme Cement Plaster Co., of St. Louis, Mo.
"VSOUTH DAKOTA.

By J. C4. HUTTON. 

STBTJCTURE AND STEATIGBAPHY.

Beds of gypsum are exposed in the Black Hills in the western 

part of South Dakota. These mountains are on the boundary 

line between South Dakota and Wyoming, but much the larger 

portion of the area lies within South Dakota. Structurally the 

region is marked by an elliptical uplift about 125 miles long and 

60 miles wide. The longer dimension lies nearly northwest and 

southeast. The rocks underlying' the Great Plains in this area 

have been uplifted and eroded so that a complete section is exposed 

of all the strata from the Middle Cambrian to the Upper Cretaceous. 

The strata dip away from the central mass of crystalline rocks of preCambrian age. Owing to the domed structure of the region the formations outcrop in concentric belts surrounding the central mass of 

pre-Cambrian rocks. The harder rocks everywhere present a rugged 

aspect, but the softer formations have a more subdued topography. 

The following general sections by Darton give the characteristics, 

range in thickness, and order of succession of the formations:

General section of Mesozoic and Paleozoic rocks in- the northern Black Hills.a

Age.

*

Carboniferous:

Pennsylvanian-Mississippian (?.) c.

Cambrian ( Acadian)<J .

Formation.

Laramie (?) formation!)

Benton group:

Greenhorn limestone

Graneros shale......

Dakota sandstone. . . . . 

 Fuson formation ......

Lakota sandstone .....

fMinnekahta limestone.

\Opeche formation ..... 

Minnolusa sandstone. .

(Pahasapa limestone . . .

\Englewood limestone. .

Deadwood formation. .

Principal characters.

Massive sandstone and shale, with lignite. .

cretions. 

Impure slabby limestone. .................

Dark shale with local sandstone in lower 

part. 

Gray to buff sandstone, mostly massive. . . 

Shale, mostly massive, white to purple, 

with sandstone layers. 

Buff sandstone, mostly hard, coarse, crossgrained.

thin limestones.

buff, purple.

sandy shale.

Thin-bedded gray limestone. ..............

Red slabby limestone and sandy shale. . . . 

Sandstone, mainly white, buff, or red; 

also limestone. 

Massive gray limestone. ........ ^...........

Pink to buff slabby limestone. ............

Brown sandstone, partly conglomeratic, 

mostly massive; greenish gray sandy 

shales, slabby dolomitic limestone, and 

limestone conglomerate.

Thickness.

Feet. 

2, 500+ 

250+

1, 200-1, 400

120- 225

COO- 800

50- 80

900-1, 150

10- 100 

10- 100

25- 300 

40- 220

5- 150

200- 350

450- 695

25- 45

60- 100 

350- 600

100- 700

25- 65 

0- 100

200- 500

o Darton, N. H.. Geology and water resources of the northern portion of the Black Hills and adjoining 

regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 65, p.' 12,1909. 

6 Now. referred to Lance formation.

c Now referred to Pennsylvania!!. . OQf. 

<* Now referred to Upper Cambrian or Saratogan series. . 43 J
240 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

. General section of Mesozoic and Paleozoic rocks in the southern Black Hills.a

Forma ticn.

Fox Hills. ......................

Pierre shale ......................

Benton group : Carlile formation ............

Character.

Dark-gray shale. . .........................................

tionary layers.

part at some places.

purple.

stone at base.

Includes some thin limestone.

partly massive.

Average 

thickness.

Feet. 

2,500

250-500

1,200

225

500-750

50

900

35-150

30-100

0-30

200-350

0-150

0-250

6<MOO

350-500

30-50

90-130

400-450

250-500

25

4-150

-L.

o Darton, N. H., Preliminary description of the geology and water resources of the southern half of the 

Black Hills and adjoining regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. 

Rept., pt. 4, pp. 503-504, 1901.

b Now known to ba the Morrison formation.

The Spearfish formation, in which the gypsum deposits occur, is 

of Triassic (?) age and consists of a red, sandy shale, ranging in 

thickness from 350 to 700 feet. The gypsum beds are present almost 

throughout the exposure of this formation in the Black Hills region. This formation has been called the " Red Beds," but it 

must not be confused with the red Jurassic sandstone or older 

Permian Opeche formation. Physiographically it is marked by an 

almost treeless valley extending entirely around the Black Hills 

uplift. The later formations in many places, capped by Cretaceous 

sandstone, form a steep escarpment facing the valley on its outward 

side, and the Minnekahta limestone dipping in most places somewhat steeply from the central mass of the hills forms its inner boundary. Rather low divides separate the basins of the streams which 

now across the valley as they descend radially from the central area, 

but to the observer the valley appears continuous and without any 

notable interruption in its somewhat subdued relief. The area 

in which the Spearfish outcrops is known as the Red Valley, from the 

red color of the shale and the soil which has weathered from it. The 

distribution of the red beds in the Black Hills is shown in figure 47.

The Red Valley, in South Dakota, ranges in width from a few rods 

in Alabaugh Canyon, south of Hot Springs and on the west side of
SOUTH DAKOTA. 241

.FIGURE 47. Map showing the area (shaded) that contains the gypsum-bearing formation 

in the Black Hills, S. Dak. (After N. H. Darton.)

the Cascade anticline, to 3 miles in Martins Valley northeast of Hot 

Springs and to a similar width in Centennial Prairie between WhiteAvood and Spearfish. West of Minnekahta it is about 3 miles wide. 

124567° 20 16
242 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Bed Valley landscape would be monotonous were it not for the 

outcrops of gypsum, which are indicated in many places by barren 

areas in the floor of the valley. At the summit of many cliffs and 

buttes the gypsum forms a conspicuous layer of snowy whiteness, 

or it has a banded appearance where more than one layer exists. (See 

PI. XXX, A.) Along Centennial Prairie the gypsum outcrops for 

miles as snow-white bands in a bright-red background. (See PI. 

XXXI, A.) A few miles northwest of Minnekahta, where trees are 

more abundant, the red, green, and white appear in marked contrast 

for several miles to the northwest.

At some points Red Valley is occupied by Tertiary deposits which 

cover the gypsum. This condition prevails west of Hermosa and 

Fairburn, and between Hermosa and Rapid City. The red beds are 

also covered somewhat in the area just west of Minnekahta. The 

places where the Spearfish formation is covered are Shown as blank 

spaces on the map of the gypsum areas.

According to Darton 1 the thickness of the Spearfish formation 

varies considerably from place to place. For example, along the 

east side of the Black Hills the thickness appears to be between 350 

and 400 feet; in a deep well at Fort Meade, 695 feet; in Redwater 

Valley, near the mouth of Crow Creek, 680 feet; near Whitewood, 

450 feet; in Alabaugh Canyon, 420 feet; west of Fanny Peak, 450 

feet.

The gypsum occurs at different horizons in the Spearfish, and 

the thickness of the layers ranges from a fraction of an inch to 30 

feet. There is some variation in the thickness of particular beds, 

although the principal beds are of nearly uniform thickness for long 

distances. In addition to the beds of gypsum there are secondary 

veins, which cut through the red shale in different directions. These 

veins have evidently been formed by water" percolating from the 

adjoining beds and have been deposited in narrow fissures in the 

shale. There has been more or less solution in some of the thicker 

ledges, which give forth a hollow sound to the tread. In places 

there is folding or crumpling of layers, and the parting layers of 

red shale vary in thickness, having been squeezed out between the 

harder layers of gypsum. This condition is well illustrated in the 

region west of Minnekahta.

LOCALITIES. 

WEST OF MINNEKAHTA.

Just west of Fanny Peak and across the Wyoming line a measurement made by Darton 2 showed 450 feet or more of red beds which 

contain two thick beds of gypsum near the middle. The lower bed

1 Darton, N. H., U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. Kept, pt. 4, p. 517, 1901.

2 Idem, pp. 517-518. -
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXX

A. BLUFF SHOWING GYPSUM BED 1 MILE NORTHWEST OF HOT SPRINGS,

S. DAK.

Photograph by N. H. Darton.

B. THREE GYPSUM BEDS IN HELL CANYON, 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CUSTER,

S. DAK.

S> Gypsum. Photograph by N. H. Darton.
TT. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXI

A. GYPSUM IN SPEARFISH FORMATION ON EAST SIDE OF SPEARFISH VALLEY,

S. DAK.

G, Outcrop of gypsum bed. Photograph by N. H. Darlon.

B. CLOSE VIEW OF GYPSUM BED AT SPEARFISH, S. DAK. 

Photograph by J. G. Huttou.
SOUTH DAKOTA. 243

of gypsum lies about 150 feet above the Minnekalita limestone. 

Above this bed are about 40 feet of red clays, a 2-foot bed of gypsum, 

15 feet of red clays with two thin beds of gypsum near the top, a bed 

of gypsum which locally attains a thickness of 30 feet, and above it 

about 200 feet of red sandy shale, followed by the buff sandstone at 

the base of the Sundance formation.

About 5 miles northwest of Minnekahta, at the junction of an unnamed canyon with Bull Pen Creek, a tributary to Red Canyon 

Creek, the following section is exposed:

Section on Bull Pen Creek near Minnekahta, S. D&k.

	Ft. in. 

Bed shale ___________________1_________ 6

Gypsum _____________ ___ ______1 ____ 4

Keel shale _____________._______________ 3

Gypsiim ____________ ______-- _________ 10

Red shale _________ ___________________ 4

Gypsum ______________________________ 1 6

Bed shale ____________________________,_ 2

Gypsum _____________.__ ___ _________ 4 '

Bed shale _____________________________ 6

Gypsum _____________ __ ________ 2

Bed.shale _____________________________ 6

Gypsum ________ __ _______________ 6

Bed shale _____________:_______________ 2

Gypsum _____________ i________________ 4

Bed shale ___________-_______________ 6

Gypsum ____________- _______________________ 6

Bed shale :_______________________________ 4

Gypsum (base concealed)___________________ 5

- All the strata are somewhat folded, and the thickness of the layers 

differs greatly within short distances. The exposure at this locality 

is exceptionally fine. The gypsum is pure and, where not weathered, 

snow-white. A mineral claim has been established at this plade, 

and at the point marked " a " in Plate XXIX, B, work has been done 

in accordance with the local requirements applying to such claims. 

A number of other claims have been located in this vicinity and 

" assessment work " is being done. About 2 miles northwest of the 

locality described above there are fine exposures of gypsum. One 

divide about 65 feet in height is capped by a layer 8 to 10 feet thick. 

Higher ridges are capped by a layer of high-grade gypsum, which 

generally ranges from 8 to 10 feet thick but in places is about 20 

feet thick. The lower bed ranges from greenish to brown in color, 

the individual laminae being commonly only a fraction of an inch in 

thickness. Northwest of this region, toward the Wyoming line, the 

Spearfish formation includes several beds of gypsum, notably near 

Hell Canyon, as shown in Plate XXX, B.
244 . GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

MINNEKAHTA TO HOT SPRINGS.

Between Minnekahta and Hot Springs gypsum outcrops as far 

east as the vicinity of Erskine station, appearing at the surface in 

many places as dark-gray barren areas. At Erskine an effort has 

been made to utilize the gypsum, but no work is being done at present. Near Erskine the Red Valley turns south along the Cascade 

anticline and is known as Alabaugh Canyon. Gypsum appears at 

the surface and continues without perceptible variation into that 

portion of the valley which lies east of Minnekahta. Throughout 

the greater part of Alabaugh Canyon the beds dip steeply to the 

west and the Red Valley proper is in places only a few rods in 

width, the gypsum outcrop being inconspicuous. Darton 1 reports a 

total thickness of red beds in this locality of 420 feet. The strata 

comprise at the base 150 feet of red beds and a bed of gypsum in 

places 20 feet in thickness, overlain by 250 feet of red beds containing a few thin layers of gypsum.

South of Cascade Springs the Red Valley passes around the south 

end of the Cascade anticline into a broader valley drained by Sheps 

Canyon. This region is deeply gullied and gypsum outcrops are 

common, giving rise to the characteristic gray barren areas. These/ 

gypsum beds apparently increase in thickness northward and are 

shown to their best advantage in the vicinity of Hot Springs. (See 

PL XXX, A.)

Darton's section 2 on Cold Brook in the vicinity of Hot Springs 

shows the following beds at the top:

Section on Cold Brook near Hot Springs, S. Dak.

	Feet. 

Red shales and thin beds of gypsum___ ___________ 5

Pure gypsum ____________ ______________ 15

* Red shale with thin beds of gypsum________________ 10

Pure gypsum __________ __________ 4£

Red clay __________________________________ 1

Pure gypsum _ ___________________________ 14

Red clay ________________________________ 2

Gypsum with clay partings_____________________ 5

Red shale with gypsum veins___ ______________ 10

Gypsum, some of it pure_____________________-_ 3

Red clay with gypsum vein and nodules_____________ 7

Irregular breccia of gypsum_________:__________ 2

Red clay with gypsum veins_____:_______________ 13

Red clay with a thin gypsum bed_________________ 3

Banded red and white gypsum__________________ 4

1 Darton, N. H., op. cit, p. 517.

2 Darton, N. H., Gypsum deposits in South Dakota: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 76, 

1904.
SOUTH DAKOTA. 245

A gypsum mill was formerly operated at Hot Springs, but it was 

destroyed by fire several years ago and has never been rebuilt. The 

deposit from which gypsum was removed to supply the mill extends 

north along the left side of Cold Brook Canyon, and about 4 miles 

north of Hot Springs a. layer of snow-white gypsum caps a bluff 

about 100 feet in height. This layer ranges from 6 to 10 feet or more 

in thickness and extends as a conspicuous band for a considerable 

distance along the valley. Below this bed are thinner layers of varying thickness, and near the base at some points a layer of harder 

shale with intercalated layers of gypsum appears. This layer attains 

a thickness of 20 feet in places but is not continuous. On the terrace 

on which the State Soldiers' Home is located is a butte capped with 

gypsum.

Northeast of Hot Springs the outcrop of red beds widens in the 

area known as Martins Valley. Gypsum is conspicuous in this 

vicinity, appearing in many places as new cliffs or'clay barren areas.. 

West of Fairburn there is little gypsum, but west of Hermosa it. 

reaches a thickness of about 15 feet. Tertiary deposits cover the red 

beds in places in the region southwest of Hermosa and also between 

Hermosa and Rapid City.

EAPID CITY TO STURGIS.

Fine exposures of gypsum are seen a short distance northwest of 

Rapid City along the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. TheUnited States Gypsum Co. operated a mill at this point from 1908 

to 1915, when the mill burned. The principal bed of gypsum ranges, 

from 6 to 12^ feet in thickness and is of good quality, although it is. 

considerably broken.

The Rapid City Gypsum, Lime & Portland Cement Co. has a plant 

3 miles northwest of Rapid City, and though no gypsum products 

have been manufactured, borings on its property are said to show 

about 35 feet of gypsum in three beds of nearly equal thickness separated by layers of red shale.

From this point to Blackhawk gypsum is almost continuously exposed in small ridges.

At Blackhawk the Dakota Plaster Co. operated a plant which was 

for a number of years supplied from a bed of gypsum that ranges 

from 11 to 30 feet in thickness. This bed, like all the strata in this 

part of the Black Hills, dips east. The gypsum is said not to be 

broken up, as it is in some localities in this region. The mill was 

burned in the spring of 1916 but has been rebuilt and is using gypsite..

North of Blackhawk the valley widens, and gypsum' appears on 

both sides of the railroad. North of Piedmont all the way to Til-
246 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ford the ridges capped by gypsum are higher and more conspicuous 

than they are south of that place. At a creek about a mile south of 

Tilford the red shale is interbedded with layers of gypsum, none of 

which attains a thickness of more than 18 inches. Many veins a 

fraction of an inch in thickness appear in the stream cut immediately 

below the culvert under the railroad.

From Tilford to Sturgis the gypsum outcrops continue, and at 

Sturgis a bed about 10 feet thick appears. An outcrop along the 

railroad cut just west of the town shows marked variation in the 

thickness of the bed. The ruins of an old " stucco mill," destroyed 

by fire years ago, record an attempt to utilize the deposit at Sturgis. 

About 2-| miles west of Sturgis another gypsum mill was operated 

for a time, but only the foundation remains to mark its site.

STURGIS TO SPEARFISH.

From Sturgis to Whitewood gypsum outcrops are common. A 

short distance from Whitewood along the railroad leading to Deadwood there is a gypsum bed which attains a maximum thickness of 

about 10 feet but which becomes thinner toward the town of Whitewood. Very little gypsum is seen along the valley from Whitewood 

to a point beyond old Crook City, where the Red Valley widens out 

into Centennial Prairie.

Along the north side of Centennial Prairie, the name by which this 

portion of the Red Valley is known, from a point west of Whitewood 

to Spearfish, gypsum appears as snow-white bands in the red shale. 

Where creeks cross the Red Valley the gypsum has been eroded or 

has been covered by alluvial deposits.

The following sections by Darton 1 indicate the general character 

of the red beds and gypsum deposits in the vicinity of Spearfish:

Section of upper part of Spearfish formation in Redvoater Valley, S. DaJc.

Feet. 

Greenish-gray sandy shale_ '._____________________ 14

Red sandy shale 1__________________________ 14 . Massive white sandstone, merging into gypsum___,_..___ 3 

Green sandy shale, mottled reel________________.__ 2 

Red sandy shale -______,_________________ 20 

Gypsum_______________:____________;_____ 2

Red sandy shale and soft red sandstone_____________ 225

Below this are 395 feet of red sandy shale and soft sandstone, containing a 

5-foot bed of gypsum 120 feet above the base of the formation. In places the 

gypsum is in two or three heels, separated by thin bodies of red shale. East 

and northeast of Spearfish the upper beds increase in thickness, and one bed is 

18 or 20 feet thick on the slopes near Lookout Peak.

1 Darton, N. H., Geology and water resources of the northern Black Hills and adjoining 

regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 65, pp. 28-29, 

1909. » '
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXII

A. GYPSUM AT SPEARFISH, S. DAK.

B. GYPSUM QUARRY 2 MILES EAST OF NEPHI, UTAH.

rising 500 feet above valley is gypsum, and quarry extends to top. Mill is just beyond 

waste dump. Photograph by R. W. Stone.
SOUTH DAKOTA. ' 247

Section of upper beds of Spearfish 'formation cant of Spear fish, S. Dak.

Ft. in.

Pink and green shales, with some gypsum _________ 12 

Light-red sandy shales_____.._____________'_ 2 

Massive gypsum_________-________________________ 2

Light-red. and green sandy shales____________- 4

Gypsum __ . _ ____ __ __ 8

Light-red sandy shales ________.___________ 3 

Gypsum_.- __ ..__ __ ________ __ 4

Light-red sandy shales_____________________ 4 

Massive gypsum___'__.__._ __ _ ._._______ 12

Deep-red shales down to alluvial flat____________ 100

In .the lower beds in this section there are several thin beds of gypsum, one of 

which reaches a thickness of 2 feet on the northeast side of Lookout Peak.

Plates XXXI, A and #, and XXXII, A, show the characteristic 

appearance of the gypsum at Spearfish.

A partial section by Kichardson,1 which is quoted by Darton,2 is 

as follows:

Section of upper beds of Spearfish formation on east side of Lookout Peak,

8. Dak.

Sundance formation. Ft- inMassive white gypsum ____________________ 2 

Clayey sandstone _______________________ 12 

Massive white gypsum ____________________ 20 

Red sandy shale, with a few green streaks________ 50 

Gypsum on red and green clay__________ ______ 3 

Chocolate-brown sandy-shale, a few gypsum veins_____ 20 

Red sandy shale under 1 inch of green clay________ 2 

Gypsum _ _ _ "___ __ 2 

Red sandy shale, more massive below____________ 8 3 

Chocolate-brown sandy shale with streaks of green.__ 1 

Thin-bedded red sandy shale with specks of green_____ 10

Chocolate-brown sandy shale with many gypsum veins. 

\

One of the gypsum beds in the upper part of the red beds has 

an average thickness of 12 feet in an area of several square miles 

in the region east and northeast of Spearfish, .and a bed about 5 

feet in thickness and 120 feet above the base of the red beds outcrops on the slopes adjoining the limestone ridge, northwest of 

Spearfish. The gypsum is nearly pure.3

Gypsum was once quarried about 4 miles north of Spearfish and 

was made into plaster in a mill located about half a mile farther 

north and operated by power obtained by diverting the water of 

Spearfish Creek. This plant has not been in operation for several 

years.

1 Richardson, G. B., Upper Reel Beds of the Black Hills : Jour. Geology, vol. 11, pp. 

373-375, 1903.

2 Darton, N. H., op. cit. (1'rof. Paper 65), p. 29.

3 Darton, N. H., and O'Harra, C. C., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Belle .Fourclae folio 

(No. 164), 1909.
248 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SHALE AND GYPSUM OF SPEABFISH:

FORMATION.

From, estimates based on a microscopic examination and an analysis made by George Steiger, of the United States Geological Survey,. 

Richardson * gives the following mineral composition of the Spearfish shale:

Mineral composition of the shale of the Spearflsh formation of So^lth Dakota..

Quartz _________________________________ 41

Muscovite _______________________:_______ 20

Kaolin ___________________________________ 10

Calcite _________________________________ 9 '

Magnesite _______________^___________ 8

Feldspars ______________________ 5

Hematite _______________________________ 3

Gypsum ___________________________ 2

Magnetite, ilmenite, chlorite______________ _ 2

100

It was shown that the red color of the shale is due to an amorphous, 

red pigment (anhydrous iron oxide) which irregularly coats and 

spots the minerals and is included in some of the quartz and kaolin.

Gypsum from a point near Cascade Springs, S. Dak., analyzed by 

George Steiger, of the United States Geological Survey, shows the. 

following chemical composition;

Analysis of gypsum from vicinity of Cascade Springs, S. Dak.2

Lime (CaO).___.____.___._i___________ 32. 44

Magnesia (MgO)______________1__________ .33

Alumina (A12O3 )________________________- .12

Silica (SiO2 ) ^___________________________ .10

Sulphuric anhydride (SO3 )__________________.._ 45.45

Carbon dioxide (002) ___________ __ .85

Water (H,Q) ___________________________________________ 20.80

100.09 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

At present there are only two gypsum mills in operation in. 

South Dakota. One of these mills is at Piedmont and is operated by 

the United States Gypsum Co. The mill which was started in 1908 

at Rapid City and had a capacity of about 150 tons of plaster a day 

was burned in 1915. The new mill at Piedmont produces plaster and 

hollow building block from rock gypsum and gypsite dug at the

i Richardson, G. B., op. cit., p. 380.

a Dartou, N. H., Preliminary description of the geology and water resources of the 

southern half of the Black Hills and adjoining regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. Kept., pt. 4, p. 585, 1901.
SOUTH DAKOTA. 2491

plant. The other mill is at Blackhawk and is operated by the Dakota Plaster Co. It is owned by local stockholders and is capitalized 

at $150,000. It has a capacity of about 200 tons a day and produces 

plaster exclusively, both for castings and common wall use. The 

original mill was burned in the spring of 1916 and the new mill was 

in operation early in 1917.

The number of gypsum plants proposed or actually constructed, 

that have failed for one reason or another to pay a profit indicates 

a considerable loss of money in the gypsum business in this section. 

Two mills in the vicinity of Sturgis, one near Spearfish, one at Hot 

Springs, one near Erskine, one at Whitewood, and perhaps others 

are examples. The gypsum industry under present conditions in the 

Black Hills region appears not likely to be profitable to small operators without the advantage of thorough organization. There are 

extensive deposits of high-grade gypsum, which can be utilized to 

supply mills cheaply, so that the industry may be further developed 

as the population of the Northwest increases or when more favorable 

freight rates can be procured.
TEXAS.

By K, W. STONE.* 

DISTRIBUTION.

Gypsum deposits of great extent were discovered in Texas by 

expeditions sent out by the War Department in 1852 and 1855. 

Northern Texas and the region between Pecos River and the Guadalupe Mountains were said to contain great bodies of the mineral. 

In the reports of the Geological Survey of Texas from 1889 to 

1892 many observations were made on the gypsum deposits, especially by "A. F. Cummins. Notwithstanding the early discovery, 

no adequate description of the gypsum deposits of Texas has been 

published. In this paper, the writer,- without special field work, 

has drawn largely on other observers for the data and acknowledges 

the indebtedness.

Rock gypsum occurs in the areas shown in the accompanying 

map of Texas (fig. 48). Gypsite or gypsum earth is associated 

with the rock gypsum at some localities and is used at Acme. Gypsum crystals are abundant in a number of geologic formations in 

eastern Texas and are frequently mistaken for mica or assumed 

to be indications of valuable gypsum deposits. These individual 

crystals have no value, and thick beds of rock gypsum are so extensive in Texas that those distant from a railroad have no present 

commercial value. The principal gypsum-bearing areas are (1) 

in the north-central part of the State from Acme southward 150 

miles to Colorado River; (2) in Hudspeth and Culberson counties, 

in Gypsum Plain and Malone Mountains; and (3) in southeast 

Texas.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Three plants are manufacturing gypsum products in Texas. Two 

are at Acme, near Quanah, Hardeman County, on the north 

border of the State. They are operated by the Acme Cement Plaster Co. and the American Cement Plaster Co. The third plant, owned 

by the Texas Cement Plaster Co., is at Plasterco, Fisher County, 

a few miles from the mine at Hamlin, which supplies the raw 

material. The total quantity of gypsum mined in Texas in 1918 was 

157,388 short tons, and the value of gypsum products was $834,560.

1 Compiled from reports by C. L. Baker, B. F. Hill, G. B. Richardson, C. H. Wegemann 

W. E. Wi-ather, and others.

250
TEXAS. 

LOCALITIES.

251

NORTH-CENTRAL TEXAS. 

CHARACTER AND GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The largest area of gypsum deposits in Texas lies east of the 

foot of the Staked Plains, in the northern part of the State. The 

beds have a northeasterly strike and extend from Red River near 

Quanah to Colorado .River in an irregular line, the sinuosities of

: FIGURE 48. Map of Texas sbawing location of principal deposits of rock gypsum.

V which are produced by the valleys of the eastward-flowing streams. 

This belt of gypsum beds is from 20 to 50 miles wide, and is a 

continuation of the deposits in Oklahoma that occur in the Greer 

County region. The beds are of different thicknesses, ranging from 

a thin layer to 20 feet. 

Near Acme, only a few miles south of the Oklahoma-Texas bound-

"i- ary, gypsum is being quarried and milled by the Acme Cement Plaster Co. and the American Cement Plaster Co. The Acme Co. 

makes Keene cement in one of its mills. The gypsum is exposed 

in nearly horizontal ledges along a narrow creek. It is closely 

associated with dolomite and occurs here in two beds, the lower -^ *
252 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

one nearly 22 feet thick and lying 19 feet below a 10-foot bed. Gypsite also is 'used at Acme.

The rocks exposed at the surface in the vicinity of Quanah ^ 

belong to the Clear Fork formation of the Permian series.1

About 11 miles southwest of Quanah and 7 miles south and a little 

west of Goodlet, in the " breaks " of Pease Elver, all the strata which 

reach the surface in the Quanah area are well exposed, the detailed 

rock section being as follows: o

Section at wooded bluff half a mile west of the west line of see. 287. ^

Ft. in.

Limestone, coarse grained, soft___ __________ 5 

Shale, red and blue______________________ 26 

 Gypsum, soft, granular _________________ 3 

Shale, red and blue_:____________________ 25 -r 

Gypsum, base soft, upper part hard, white ____ 10 

Limestone, fossiliferqus____________________ 8 ^ - 

Shale, red at base, gray above_______________ 11 

Gypsum ____.: ___L_l ______ 9 

Shale, calcareous, gray, containing some thin limestone layers that weather white_____________ 6 

Limestone, hard, light gray, weathering white; prominent over much of field__________________ 3 

Shale, gray and green ______ 56 y

Gypsum, white and blue", hard______________ 9 

Shale, gray and red________________ _____ 8

Limestone, white, fine grained, perforated with innumerable small holes about one-sixteenth of an inch in 

diameter ___________:________________ 4 

Shale, blue and greenish gray_______________ 3 6 

Gypsum; soft and granular in lower part; hard, blue,

tinted with red in upper part 21 

Shale, red____________________________ 5+ *+

Base not exposed. ' 

154 8+

In the section given above the bed of gypsum 21 feet thick appears 

to be the same as that which is mined at Acme.

The following sections from Mr. Cummins's report 2 will give an . 

idea of the quantity of gypsum to be found at certain localities and ^ 

the mode of its occurrence:

Section at Kioiva Peak, in the northeast part of Stonewall County, Tex.,

beginning at the bottom. Feet. 

Gypsum ________ . ___________________ 60

Red clay_________________________________ 20 

. Gypsum __________________________________._ 20 

Red clay_________________________________ 35 -V 

Gypsum ________________________________ 19

__ ______154

1 Wegemann, C. H., A reconnaissance for oil near Quanah, Hardeman County. Tex.: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 621, p. Ill, 1915.

2 Texas Geol. Survey Second Ann. Kept., p. 458, 1891.
TEXAS. 253

Section at Salt Creek, Kent County, Tex., beginning at the bottom.

Feet.

Spotted red clay___________________________ 3 

White massive gypsum___ _ __ _ ________ 10

Red clay_________________________________ 30 

Gypsum _______________ _ _ 1 

Red clay_________________________________ 30 

Gypsum _____________ _ _ _ _ 6 

Red clay_________________________________ 20 

Limestone _________ _ _ - 1

101

The following 'notes concerning localities south of Quanah are 

contributed by W. E. Wrather:

Along Double Mountain and Salt forks of Brazos Eiver, west of 

Aspermont, Stonewall County, there is a bed of massive white gypsum ranging in thickness from 20 to 30 feet or more. Within a few 

hundred feet stratigraphically above it there are several other beds 

of pure gypsum from 2 to 12 feet thick, which are exposed in Double 

Mountain. The thick bed is exposed likewise, along Sweetwater 

Creek, in Nolan County, where it is more than 20 feet thick, and outcrops of it or of another thick bed of gypsum are found for many 

miles north and south of these localities. The stratigraphic succession and number of gypsum beds in Haskell and Stonewall counties 

is shown in figure 49.

The principal beds of workable gypsum lie near the base of the 

Double Mountain formation. Observations made at perhaps a dozen 

.widely separated localities along the outcrop of the Double Mountain beds in Te^as show that the beds generally include a massive 

stratum of gypsum that is much thicker than other strata of gypsum either above or below it. This massive bed of gypsum, which 

is 20 to 30 feet or more thick, outcrops along Sweetwater Creek, in 

Nolan County, about 500 feet above the top of the dolomite exposed 

at Merkle, which immediately underlies the sandstone of Blowout 

Mountain and is taken as the base of the Double Mountain formation. 

Along the Double Mountain and Salt -forks of Brazos Eiver the 

massive gypsum is about 250 feet above the dolomite and is of approximately the same thickness as along Sweetwater Creek.

At Medicine Mounds, in Hardeman County, the exact interval 

could not be accurately measured, though it is thought to be about 

150 feet.

Until more detailed work has been done it can not be stated with 

certainty whether or not the massive gypsum represents a single, 

continuous horizon. It seems probable, however, that it does not, 

for it has been observed that the beds thicken from north to south 

in the Double Mountain formation, which is in keeping with the in-
Double Mountain formation (Permian)

U

Y
TEXAS. 255

creasing interval from I?ed River southward between the main gypsum horizon and the dolomite described.

In places along the range of the Gyp Hills, which lie as a rule 

just west of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Eailroad, gypsite 

has been noted, though in the absence of any prospecting to determine the amount present it is impossible to draw any conclusion as 

to its commercial value. It is reasonable to assume, however, in view 

of the great amount of gypsum, present, that tremendous quantities 

of gypsite will be found in this section when the demand for its 

utilization shall have arisen. *"*

GEOLOGIC EELATIONS OF THE GYPSUM BEDS. 

By W. E. WBATHEB.

The gypsum-bearing beds of the north Texas Permian are the 

southward continuation of the Greer formation.1 These beds extend in a direction west of south from Red River near Quanah, in 

Hardeman County, for a distance of about 150 miles, to the valley 

of Colorado River, south of which they are covered 'by the Cretaceous 

deposits. They were included by Cummins in the Double Mountain 

formation of the Permian.

It seems that the Blaine formation, in which three of the important gypsum beds of Oklahoma are found, does not extend south 

of the Wichita Mountains, As observed above, the Greer formation, 

which overlies the Woodward formation in Oklahoma, can be traced 

far into Texas in continuous outcrop. On paleontologic evidence it 

appears that the time intervals represented in Oklahoma by the Enid, 

Blaine, and Woodward formations, which have a total thickness of 

over 2,000 feet, according to Gould's estimate, is represented in Texas 

by the Clear Fork formation alone. The thickness of the Clear 

Fork formation along Red River has never been accurately determined because of the prevailing soft character of the sediments, 

which weather down into a rolling plain, across which the thickness 

of beds can scarcely be computed. Along the Texas & Pacific Railway, east of Sweetwater, 125-miles south of Red River, the thickness 

of the Clear Fork is not more than 750 feet. It seems, however, that 

there is a thinning of this formation from north to south.

Near the base of the Double Mountain formation in Texas a 

massive cross-bedded gray or red coarse-grained sandstone is found. 

On Blowout Mountain, southwest of Merkle, in Taylor County, this 

sandstone is over 100 feet thick. Its outcrop has not been traced 

continuously the entire distance southward from Red River to the 

Texas & Pacific Railway, but it is reasonably certain that the sand1 Gould, C. N., Geology and water resources of Oklahoma: U. S. Geol. Survey WaterSupply Paper 148, 1905.
256 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

stone capping a prominent scarp at milepost 175 on the Fort Worth 

& Denver City Railway, near the west edge of Wilbarger County, is 

the northward continuation of the sandstone of Blowout Mountain. 

It thickens from Red River southward from not more than 5 or 10 

feet to over 100 feet in the area where it finally disappears under the 

Cretaceous in Taylor County.

Gypsum is found throughout the Double Mountain formation to 

the point of its disappearance under the Tertiary deposits of the 

Llano Estacado, though by far the most promising commercial 

deposits of gypsum occur in the lower portion of these beds. The 

upper beds, of the Double Mountain formation have been traced by 

Cummins, Gould, and others through the valley of Canadian River, 

and have been found to connect with the Permian beds of eastern New 

Mexico. Near Red River gypsum is most prominently exposed in a 

stratigraphic interval of about 200 feet in the vicinity of Medicine 

Mounds, in southeastern Hardeman County. The beds which are 

quarried at Acme outcrop here, and the section is not dissimilar to 

that made by Wegemann in the breaks of Pease River, southwest of 

Quanah, though the main gypsum bed seems to be somewhat thicker.

The columnar section (fig. 49) was made along the Double Mountain Fork of Brazos River from the base of Flattop Mountain, in 

southwestern Haskell County, to the top of Double Mountains, in 

Stonewall County. It shows a total thickness of 1,170 feet of the 

Double Mountain formation, and this section probably falls nearly 

1,000 feet short of representing the total thickness of the Double 

Mountain beds exposed east of the foot of the High Plains. It will 

be seen that thick beds of gypsum occur throughout the lower 600 

feet of this section.

From the lithologic character of the beds it is evident that two 

divisions may be made in this section a lower division, from 500 

to 600 feet thick, in which varicolored clays relatively free from 

sand predominate, with thick beds of white massive gypsum and 

thin beds of fossiliferous dolomites; and an upper division that is 

marked by sands and sandy clays, which, where freshly exposed, 

are characteristically blotched with spherical greenish spots, ranging in diameter from that of a pinhead to one-half inch, supposedly 

due to the presence of iron in a ferrous state. This marking was 

aptly described by F. W. Cragin, who named similar beds in northern Oklahoma and Kansas, presumably of about the same age, the 

"polka-dot" beds. These sands are commonly cross-bedded and 

very massive, though they readily weather down into a soft, deep,, 

sandy red soil, typical of this region. Southward they are more indurated, and around Sweetwater they outcrop in massive strata, a 

typical exposure occurring at Lake Trammel, south of that place.
TEXAS. 257

The two divisions that ha.ve been described are probably very 

nearly the equivalents of the Greer and Quartermaster formations 

of Oklahoma. If this is true, there is a corresponding thickening 

in these beds southward from Eed River in the same or even a 

greater ratio than the thinning in the same direction in the Clear 

Fork beds. Gould estimates the thickness of the two divisions at not 

more than 500 feet in the eastern part of the Panhandle of Texas, 

near Red River, 1 whereas the section given on Brazos River, 100 

miles farther south, shows 1,170 feet, which is known to be considerably less than the total of the Double Mountain formation at this 

place.

CULBERSON AND IIUDSPETH COUNTIES.

In Culberson County east of the Guadalupe Mountains there is an 

area of gypsum approximately 50 miles in length and averaging 15 

miles in width. 2 At the State boundary it is 25 miles wide and it 

extends northward into New Mexico. This gypsum, known as the 

Castile gypsum, outcrops in Texas over 600 square miles. In a few 

places this great gypsum plain north of the Texas & Pacific Railway 

and west of Pecos River is overlain, by beds of later limestone and 

conglomerate. Good sections exposing 50 or 60 feet of gypsum are 

shown along Delaware Creek and Cottonwood Draw. Another exo

posure of the same beds is on the Southern Pacific Railroad east of 

Finlay, in Hudspeth (formerly part of El Paso) County, This deposit is now worked on a small scale.

The entire section of these Castile gypsum beds is from 300 to 500 

feet thick, and the beds contain gypsum in a variety of forms and 

different degrees of purity. On the surface generally the gypsum is 

disintegrated and earthy. Besides the massive white granular variety there is grayish or dark gypsum, and in some places blue or red 

tints prevail. In places also thin strata of gypsum are highly impregnated with bitumen to such an extent that they have a sooty 

black color. The presence of these beds on the surface can often be 

detected on a hot day by the odor, which is noticeable for a distance 

of several yards. In purity the gypsum ranges from pure material 

to mixtures with sand, pebbles, sulphur, limestone, and other substances.

Locally selenite is abundant. Commonly the massive gypsum is 

considerably cracked and jointed, and in places there are many underground channels and caverns in it. All the streams and springs

1 Gould, C. N., The geology and water resources of the eastern portion of the Panhandle 

of Texas : U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 154, 1906.

2 Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance in trans-Pecos Texas: Texas Univ. Min. Survey 

Bull. 9, p. 22, 1904.

124567° 20 17
258 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

within the gypsum plain are strongly impregnated with gypsum and 

many of them with salt and sulphur.

The exact geologic age of the Castile gypsum was for a long time 

undetermined, owing to the scarcity of determinative fossils, though 

from its association with Permian beds G. B. Richardson and others 

assumed it to be Permian. Later J. A. Udden presented evidence, 

based on the presence of minute fossils, principally Foraminifera, 

which he thought tended to show that the gypsum was of Cretaceous 

. age.1 Subsequent observations made at the request of J. A, Udden, 

of the University of Texas, by Emil Bose and C. L. Baker, show 

conclusively that the formation is of Permian age.2

The locality mentioned above as being east of Finlay, in Hudspeth 

County, is in the Malone Mountains. It has'the advantage of being situated near the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the outcrops are extensive and are favorable for working. J. A. Taff.8 in his paper describing this locality, says:

The Malone bed is so named because of the great development of gypsum it 

includes which occurs in the. Malone Mountains. * * * The main gypsum field 

extends from the center of the mountain to the northwest end. * * * The lowest rock exposed of the Malone Mountain horizon is a band of pale-yellow flaggy 

limestone. AboAre this limestone occurs the first horizon of white, fissile, granular gypsum, having a thickness of 45 feet. Succeeding this gypsum there is 175 

feet of massive blue granular limestone. * * * AbOAre this limestone comes a 

second horizon of gypsum of a thickness of 110 feet. It is the same, lithologically, as the first horizon, a stratified, nearly pure, friable, granular gypsum. It 

contains comparatively little earthy matter. On the east side of the southeast 

end of Malone Mountain there is a development of gypsum with a surface area 

of about 40 acres.

- Gypsum is quarried in the Malone Mountains near Finlay for use 

in Portland cement made at El Paso.

F. W, Cragin and T. W. Stanton have studied these rocks and on 

paleontologic evidence refer them to the Jurassic.4

SOUTHEASTEim TEXAS. 

DEEPLY BURIED DEPOSITS.

Great deposits of gypsum have been encountered in wells drilled 

for oil in southeastern Texas. At Spinclletop, Jefferson County, 3 

miles south of Beaumont, it is reported 5 that a salt dome buried 

to a depth of 1,650 to 1,950 feet is covered by perhaps 600 feet of

1 Udden, J. A., The age of the Castile gypsum and the Rustler Springs formation: Am. 

Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 40, pp. 151-156, 19.15.

a Udden, J. A., letter of Feb. 6, 1917.

a Taff, J. A., The Cretaceous deposits : Texas 'Geol. Survey Second Ann. Kept., pp. 721- 

722, 1891.

4 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 206, 1900.

5 Harris, G. D., Oil and gas in Louisiana, with a brief summary of their occurrence in 

adjacent States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 429, p. 24, 1910.
TEXAS. 259

gypsum. At High Island, Chambers Comity, 1 mile from the coast 

and halfway between Sabine Pass and Galveston, several wells record 

very thick deposits of gypsum.1 One well passed through 600 feet 

of gypsum extending from 600 to 1,200 feet below the surface, and 

another well passed through gypsum from 900 to 1,300 feet and then 

through rock salt to 2,600 feet, the bottom of the well. A well in 

Duval County passed through 300 feet of gypsum lying between 515 

and 815 feet below the surface. Pumpings taken from the well when 

drilling in this bed show fragments of pure-white and gray finegrained gypsum and a considerable proportion of glassy selenite. 

These deposits are so deeply buried as to be commercially valueless 

so long as gypsum is abundant at the surface in other parts of the 

Southwest and the market is small.

BROOKS COUNTY.

By (1 L. BAKER,

South of Falfurrias, at the terminus of the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway, gypseous sand and selenite form a southwardfacing bluff 25 to 30 feet high, extending for several miles along 

the northern margin of a lake.

About 6 miles east of Falfurrias there is a mound called Loma 

Blanca which covers an area of probably 50 acres and has an elevation of approximately 75 to 100 feet above the level of the lake. Its 

northern side rises somewhat abruptly from a point near the water's 

edge and is covered with a soft gypseous sand that contains numerous blocks or boulders of selenite. About 6 miles south and a little 

west there is another mound of the same general form and height 

knoAvn as Alto Colorado, which is also said to consist of the same 

kind of gypsum.

The gypseous sand on Loma Blanca thins out toward the crest of 

the mound, and near the summit on the southern side a deposit of 

clear transparent selenite covers an area of several acres. The surface of this bare spot is rain pitted to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, and 

near the middle there is a cave or shaft about 36 feet deep.

The selenite exposed in the cleared portion of the Loma Blanca 

is in layers from 2 to 6 inches thick and is perfectly transparent. 

Blocks free from rain pitting can be obtained through which ordinary printed letters can be easily read. The thickness of the deposit 

is unknown, but it is over 1,000 feet. Recently the Producers Oil 

Co. drilled four wells to depths exceeding 1,000 feet and found practically the same material in each well throughout the whole depth. 

The deposit appears from the drilling records to be more or less 

cavernous. In. two of the wells, which were approximately 500 feet

1 Harris, G. D., op. cit, p. 18.
260 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

apart, the drill passed through a cavity over 20 feet in depth. This 

cavern lies about 600 feet below the surface. Smaller cavities were 

found at different depths.

Mining of the gypsum deposits in Brooks County would not be 

difficult. They lie about 6 miles from the terminus of the San 

Antonio & Aransas Pass Hallway and 14 miles from Sarita on the 

St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway. A branch of either line 

could easily be constructed to the mound. An open face of at least 

60 feet may be obtained on any side of Loma Blanca.

The overlying gypseous sand is sufficiently pure to be used as land 

plaster, and much of it might be used in the manufacture of cement 

plaster and other structural materials. The main body of selenite 

is pure enough to be used for any purpose for which gypsum may be 

required.

OTHER LOCALITIES. 

By B. F. HILL.

The clays and marls of the Cretaceous system are gypsiferous in 

many places, though no deposits of economic- importance have been 

found. Some of the occurrences of this nature are mentioned here, 

as the content of gypsum, is important in its relation to the soils 

derived from the beds. The Del Rio clay normally contains large 

quantities of iron pyrites. Where it has been subjected to the process 

of weathering the oxidation of the pyrite has set free the sulphuric 

acid that it contains, and this in turn has combined with the lime 

in the clay to form gypsum. Crystals of selenite thus formed are 

often conspicuous in the outcrops. In the marls and clays of the 

Upper Cretaceous in the trans-Pecos region, especially in Brewster 

County, there are extensive beds containing selenite. In the Lower 

Cretaceous limestones, especially those of the Washita group in the 

neighborhood of the Terlingua mining district, extensive caves have 

been formed. Many of the caves have-subsequently been filled with 

gypsum in a variety of forms, including massive gypsum, selenite, 

and satin spar.

In that portion of Texas lying'to the east of Brazos River there are 

numerous localities where the presence of gypsum has been noted. 

The geologic formations are of Tertiary and Quaternary age. 

R. A. F. Penrose, jr., and William Kennedy, in their reports on this 

region, note the presence of gypsum in some places in considerable 

quantities in the clays. In the Midway ("Wills Point") formation 

in particular, in Brazos County, gypsum occurs chiefly in the form 

of selenite, some crystals of which are 6 inches long and have

attracted considerable attention, although they are of no commercial 

importance.
UTAH.

By R. W. STONE :uul C. T. LUPTON. 

DISTRIBUTION.

Commercial deposits of gypsum are abundant and widespread in 

central and southern Utah. Their distribution is shown on the map 

(fig. 50). Plaster mills have been operated at Nephi, Levan, and 

Sigurd, and plaster has been made by crude methods for local consumption at St. George and other places.

The known deposits of great extent are as follows: Juab County, 

near Nephi and Levan; Sanpete and Sevier counties, from Mayfield 

to Sigurd; Millard County, at White Mountain, near Fillmore; 

Emery County, east and south of Castle Dale: Wayne County, near 

Notom and in South Wash; Kane County, near Kanab; Grand 

County, between Grand River and La Sal Mountains; Iron County, 

southeast of Kanarraville; Washington County, several localities, 

particularly in the northeastern part of the county.

Several of these deposits are so far from a railroad or any market 

that there is no demand for their exploitation.

The gypsum area on the west flank of the San Eafael Swell is 

described by Mr. Lupton. ' Much of the information concerning 

other localities was obtained by Mr. Stone on a hasty reconnaissance 

of readily accessible gypsum localities which he made in August, 1916.

LOCALITIES IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN UTAH.

By R. W. STONE.

NEPHI, JUAB COUNTY.

The gypsum deposit at Nephi is at the mouth of the canyon of 

Salt Creek, 2 miles east of the railroad station (No. 1, .fig. 50). It 

was discovered many years ago, before, the town of Nephi was settled. 

A claim 600 by 1,500 feet was patented by John Hague and others 

in 1882 under the name of the Juab Plaster & Mining Claim. During 

the next few years rock gypsum was quarried and calcined in sorghum 

pans, and the plaster was used locally and shipped to Salt Lake City. 

In 1888 Messers. Hyde, Hague, and Whitmore incorporated their 

company and erected a mill. Operations at this point continue to the 

present time, the property being owned and worked by the Nephi 

Plaster & Manufacturing Co., W. L. Ellerbeck, president.

261
262 'GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The body of gypsum exposed in. the south wall of Salt Creek (see 

PL XXXII, #, p. 246) extends from the track level, 5,450 feet above 

sea level, to 6,000 feet and the quarry face is more than 400 feet 

high. The quarry face, a great white scar on the mountain side, can

Scale

Gypsum 

Numbers referred to in text

FIGUJIB 50. Map showing distribution of principal gypsum deposits in Utah.

be seen from the railroad for several miles north of Nephi. Tho 

gypsum is 250 feet thick at the bottom of the quarry but widens 

above to 300 feet or more. Formerly the rock was taken out by 

quarrying, but the very high quarry face became dangerous, and a
UTAH. 263

combination of quarrying, glory holes, and underground mining is 

now in use. A large shoulder of gypsum at the top of the quarry is being removed by shooting the rock into a glory hole which is tapped below by a tunnel that lies wholly in gypsum. In winter or inclement 

weather rock is mined in the tunnel. The gypsum is loaded in small 

steel mine cars, which are pushed by hand to the loading house at 

the top of a steeply inclined gravity tram. The loaded tram car, 

which carries the contentsiof three or four mine cars, in descending 

to the mill 400 feet below pulls up the empty car. The load is dumped 

automatically into a storage bin in the mill.

The present mill is of modern concrete and steel construction, 

made fire resistant with partitions of metal lath and gypsum plaster. 

From the storage bin the rock slides by chute to a nipper, from 

which it falls into a gyratory crusher. The "gravel" is elevated 

and run over Newaygo screens to steel storage bins, from which it 

is carried by screw conveyers to the kettles. The present equipment 

for calcining includes two 10-foot kettles and one 8-foot kettle. The, 

kettles dump direct to hot pits, from which the calcined plaster is 

elevated to Newaygo screens. After passing these screens it is pulverized in either a Raymond roller mill or a vertical burr mill. 

Three mixers are in use, one of them an especially designed tumbler 

mixer.

Water which is taken from Salt Creek 2 miles above the mill and 

conducted to it in a side-hill ditch has sufficient head at the turbine 

to make ample power.

The mill output includes land plaster, "gravel" for Portland 

cement mills, casting, finishing, hard wall, and dental plaster. Specially colored plaster for casting and for exterior and interior walls 

was prepared in large quantity in 1914 for building at the PanamaPacific International Exposition at San Francisco, and the PanamaCalifornia Exposition at San Diego. Keenes cement is made also 

in a specially designed kiln.

A branch line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad passes the 

mill.

The geologic structure in the immediate vicinity of the Nephi 

gypsum deposit seems to be comparatively simple, for a ledge of 

shaly limestone about 100 yards west of the gypsum is easily traced 

up the hillside, its strike being N. 10° E. and its dip 75° W., and a 

similar ledge about one-fourth mile east of the deposit also ascends the 

hill, its strike ranging from N. 35° E. to N. 15° W., and its dip from 

35° to 50° E. This ledge seems to be continuous to a point almost 

directly above the gypsum or 800 feet above the river, where it flattens. The western ledge, however, at an .elevation of 50 feet above 

the top of the quarry seems to stop abruptly and red shale occurs 

in the line of strike. A ledge on which the tram is built on the east
264 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

side of the gypsum appears to strike N. 55° W. and dip 65° W. under 

the gypsum, but it terminates 100 feet below the top of the quarry. 

(See fig. 51.) "

Furthermore, the tunnel driven from the mill 250 feet through 

bedrock to the lower part of the quarry passes through shale in 

various attitudes, and the outcrop along the face of the hill between 

these two points shows complex structure. (See fig. 52.)

FIGURE 51. Diagram showing geologic structure at gypsum quarry, Nephi, Utah.

The shale in the tunnel in contact with the gypsum appears to be 

conformable and to clip west at a high angle. In other words, there 

seems to be a conformable series from gray shaly limestone on the 

west through 200 feet of drab limy shale and through 250 feet of 

gypsum and a few feet of shale below it to a disturbed area on the 

east.

On the north side of the creek a limy ledge at the mouth of 

the valley strikes N. 20° E. and clips 85°W. On the hillside its

FIGURE 52. Cross section of strata that lie between gypsum mill and quarry, Nephi, Utah.

strike changes to N. 60° E. and its dip to 55° N. Opposite the 

mill and 200 feet above it this ledge strikes N. 35° E. and dips 

45° N. From the mill or quarry this ledge is seen to form part 

of a northward-plunging anticline. . It is not regular, however, or 

at least there seems to be a displacement of about 150 feet by a 

small fault or very acute downfold near the top of the arch.

Gypsum is not found under this arch on the north side of the creek. 

Just above the upper ledge of limy shale that outlines the structure 

there is green and red shale. Half a mile farther east there are
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXIII

A. POLISHED BLOCK OF GYPSUM FROM NEPHI, UTAH, SHOWING MOTTLED 

CHARACTER OF THE ROCK.

One-third natural size.

S. POLISHED BLOCK OF GYPSUM FROM NORTH HOLSTON, VA., SHOWING GRANULAR 

CHARACTER AND SELENITE PHENOCRYSTS.

Natural size.
II. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXIV

A. GYPSUM QUARRY 1^ MILES EAST OF LEV AN, UTAH. 

Photograph by R. W. Stone.

S. GYPSUM BED IN HORN SILVER GULCH, SOUTHEAST OF FERRON, UTAH. 

Photograph by C. T. Lupton.
UTAH. 265

several small ledges of gypsum and shale. If the gypsum is a 

regularly bedded deposit, as it appears to be, it would not show 

on the north side of the creek because of the sharply plunging1 

anticline. The gypsum may be cut off at the top of the quarry by 

a fault, or :there may be a very sharp small fold here, which is 

represented on the north side of the creek by the dent near the top 

of the structural arch. No evidence was found of folding within 

the gypsum or to support the idea that it is a tightly compressed 

fold. It would seem to be either a chunky, abruptly terminated 

lens or a body cut off at one or both ends by a curving fault. Gypsum is reported to outcrop in a canyon 1 mile south and is found 

at a number of points between Nephi and Levan. Whether there 

is a continuous bed has not been determined.

The greater part of this deposit, including a thickness of 250 

to 300 feet, is first-class plaster rock, massive and free from impurities; the remainder is somewhat fractured but usable, though 

on the margins it is interbedded with shale. Near the middle of 

the bed and high up in the quarry there is a block of anhydrite, 

which is easily recognized in mining and so avoided. Gypsum from 

the Nephi quarry, like that at Levan, is distinguishable from that 

of many other localities by its mottled light-brown color. The rock 

is dense and lusterless; its mottled character is shown in Plate 

XXXIII, A. Two analyses of the rock are given in the table on 

page 29.

The sedimentary origin of this deposit is shown by its bedded 

structure, which agrees with that of the country rock, by the interbedding of gypsum and shale, by the presence of calcium carbonate, 

magnesium carbonate, and small quantities of potassium and sodium 

salts, and by the occurrence of rock salt near by in the same sedimentary formation. It is probable that the gypsum was deposited 

from the water of an inland lake or lagoon. The geologic age of 

the gypsum is believed to be Jurassic, but this point has not been 

settled definitely for lack of paleontologic evidence. The red color 

of the overlying sedimentary formation is conspicuous and suggests 

that it belongs to the well-known " Bed Beds " of the Western States. 

The Wheeler Survey mapped the rocks of this area as Jurassic and reported in their text that" the Jurassic rocks are everywhere found to 

be very gypsiferous, and in some places good workable beds of gypsum are seen. One of these beds occurs at jSalt Creek, near Nephi." 1

LEVAN, JUAB COUNTY.

In the lower end of Levan Canyon there are several exposures of 

massive gypsum, the first one being \\ miles east of the village of

1 Howell, E. E., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer., vol. 3, p. 264, 1875.
266 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Levan at the mill and quarry formerly operated by the Utah Consolidated Plaster Co. This property, now owned by J. H. Moyle, of 

Salt Lake City, has been idle for a number of years. The gypsum 

is exposed in the steep valley wall in a triangular outcrop.about 200 

feet high and 250 feet wide at the base. The gypsum is massive, mottled, light brown, like that at Nephi, and is thought by some to be a 

continuation of that deposit. Gypsum can not be traced continuously over the 11 miles between the two quarries, although it is 

said to. occur at a number of places. Faulting complicates the problem, and the known change of color in the red beds from place to 

place at the same geologic horizon leaves correlation dependent on 

paleontologic evidence. Fossils, however, are very scarce in the 

strata closely related to these gypsum deposits. The disturbed and 

faulted character of the geologic structure at this quarry is shown 

in Plate XXXIV, A.

This deposit may be a short, thick lens bunched up by folding and 

faulting, but definite evidence as to its origin was not obtained. It 

is believed that the structure of this deposit is the same as that of the 

Nephi gypsum deposit.

Gypsum from the hillside quarry was dumped into a bin from 

which it was drawn into steel tram cars that moved by gravity down 

to the top of the mill. The 2-kettle mill is completely equipped, including Newaygo screen and sacker. Power was furnished by turbine, water being brought from the creek in a hillside ditch.

About one-fourth of a mile farther up the canyon there is a small 

body of gypsum in the north wall, and three-fourths of a mile above 

the mill there is a larger deposit, about 400 feet long at the base; 

and 250 to 300 feet high. Two 10-foot adits in the base of this deposit show light-brown, mottled gypsum. There is a small body of 

gypsum about 400 feet above the creek, on the south side of the canyon, at this point.

MANTI, SANPETE COUNTY.

According to Mr. O. Billings, of Manti, there is a flat-lying bed 

of gypsum 20 to 40 feet thick at the head of Manti Canyon, about 

13 miles east of the town. The bed is said to be exposed for about 

4 miles. Gypsum is reported to be abundant in Lowrys Mountain 

in the Wasatch Plateau, east of Manti.

MAYFIELD, SANPETE COUNTY.

A band of light-colored rocks is very conspicuous on the east side 

of Sevier Valley from Mayfield nearly to Richfield (No. 3, fig. 50). 

This formation, which is believed to be of Jurassic age, carries beds 

of gypsum.
UTAH. 267

«v*-

Two miles northwest of Mayfield and only a few rods south of 

the road leading to Gunnison there is a bed of gypsum about 30

^ feet thick. It is exposed along a low ridge which trends N. 35° E. 

The gypsum is massive white and mottled and is well exposed 

where a small wash cuts through it 150 yards from the road. The

y bed clips 50° E. and is underlain by gray to buff shaly sandstone and 

overlain by 50 feet of paper-thin beds of gray sandy shale. This 

shale is overlain by red beds. The gypsum rests on an uneven sur-

' face at the one place examined; between the gypsum and the underlying regularly bedded strata there is a block of shaly sandstone, 

which lies with its bedding planes at a high angle to the contact.

+ The writer .was informed at Mayfield that this ledge has been 

traced about 4 miles to the south. Whether it is exposed north of the 

Mayfield-Gunnison road was not determined, but the same formaA tion was seen for several miles in that direction and is indicated on 

geologic maps as terminating west of Manti.

> SALINA, SEVIER COtTNTY.

An officer of the United States Forest Service, stationed at Salina,

r informed the writer that a ledge of gypsum that dips at a high angle

is exposed on a ridge 3 miles east of Salina and extends north at

least 3 miles to a small creek, where it has been quarried and burned.

A rough stone kiln about 10 feet in diameter is used for making

plaster. This ledge of gypsum was well exposed on the old twist

road (now abandoned) in the northeast part of T. 21 S., R. 1 E.

'- It has been stated 1 that gypsum was at one time quarried and

, ground in a small mill near Salina, but that active operations have

' been suspended. The writer made inquiry of several old residents

of Salina regarding this statement and found them .all in agreement

that there never had been any kind of a gypsum mill near Salina.

r A small quantity of plaster is made intermittently by crude methods,

as noted above.

V SIGURD, SEVIER COUNTY.

The southernmost extensive exposure of gypsum in the 30 miles

^ of nearly continuous outcrop of gypsum-bearing beds in Sevier

Valle}7', and the only place in the valley where the rock is being

utilized on a commercial scale, is at Sigurd. Two plants of the Ameri-

^ can Keene's Cement Co. and the Jumbo Plaster £ Cement 'Co. are

quarrying rock gypsum and making plaster. The rock is quarried 2

miles northeast of the mills and hauled to them by wagon. It is

^ reported locally that the gypsum was deposited as lenses, because

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 103, 1904.
268 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

it is now found in small patches, tipping spurs, and capping knobs. 

An examination shows, however, that the original- flat-lying beds 

have been upturned, faulted, and eroded. The seeming discontinuity 

is due to the outcrop between spurs being hidden by wash. At least 

three beds of gypsum are present. The lower one is 10 to 20 feet 

thick, the middle one 10 feet or less, and the upper bed appears to 

range from 20 to 50 feet in thickness. Both the upper and lower beds 

are quarried. Much of the rock is pure white finely granular gypsum, and some is light gray. Both white and gray rock are used. 

In some places the gypsum beds contain masses, of coarse radiating 

selenite.

The gypsum beds outcrop around .an anticline, which is several 

miles long, apparently terminating on the south near Glenwood 

and on the north about 2£ miles from Sigurd. The anticlinal 

structure is complicated by minor folds and faults.

W. P. Paine, manager of the Jumbo Plaster & Cement Co., 

reports that abundant gypsum is exposed a few miles east on Lost 

Creek, where there are many acres of plaster rock with no overburden. The gypsum-bearing formation is gray and limy shales, 

with here and there a small band of red beds, overlying the gypsum. 

Lithologically there is a close resemblance to the formation at Nephi.

The red shales and sandstones in which the gypsum beds occur were 

mapped by the geologists of the Wheeler Survey as Jurassic.1 The 

writer made a fruitless search for fossils and therefore has no new 

data concerning the age of the gypsum.

Beds of impure gypsum, unsuitable for plaster, occur in the same 

formation. One of these beds outcrops in the first smalL ridge east 

of the valley and along the road from the mills to the quarries.

The mills are operated by water power but have an auxiliary 

steam plant. One mill calcines pulverized gypsum in 10-foot kettles 

and the other burns lump gypsum in kilns.

WHITE MOUNTAIN, MILLARD COUNTY.

About 8 miles west of Fillmore gypsum occurs in deposits of three 

types gypsiferous clay, gypsum sand, and loose crystals (No. 2, fig. 

50). The gypsiferous clay covers an oval area approximately 3 by 

5 miles in extent. Gypsum sand dunes occur in two areas, one of them 

a mile long and a third of a mile wide, the other an irregular area approximately half a mile square. Mounds of loose small crystals cover 

an area about 2 miles long and half.a mile wide. (See fig. 53.) The 

gypsum is believed 'to have been derived from the mountains on the 

east and to have been transported by streams to the White Mouna U. S. Geog. Surveys W. 100th Her. Atlas Sheets 50 and 54.
UTAH. 269

tain playa. where it was redeposited with detritus. This accounts 

for the gypsiferous clay. Desiccation of this deposit has formed 

small gypsum, crystals at the surface, which have been swept up by 

the wind and collected into dunes of gypsum sand, estimated to contain about 450,000 tons of pure gypsum.

It is well known that in late geologic time a considerable portion 

of Utah was submerged beneath a great lake. This lake was loAvered 

by drainage over the rim and by desiccation until the bottom was 

exposed and the great Bonneville basin was divided into a number 

of separate basins. The 

existing lakes and 

play as occupy the bottoms of these basins. 

Concerning; the origin

of the

g Gypsum

gs GypSum sand

gc Gypsum clay

r Rhyoltte

Ct Calcareous tufa gypsum in 

White Mountain playa, 

Gilbert.has written as 

follows:*

In the southeastern 

angle of the Sevier Desert, 

there is a tract partially 

partitioned from the general plain by a series of 

coulees of basaltic lava 

extravasated during the 

Bonneville epoch. This 

contains several playas, 

marking localities where 

the drainage is checked 

but not completely imprisoned. The highest and 

most southerly of these 

differs from all the others 

in that its material is gypsum. It is probable that 

the deposit is independent

of any special chemical reaction and is due simply to discharge by evaporation 

of a mineral dissolved from the rocks. The streams whose waters occasionally 

flood the playa rise amongst strata of Jurassic and Triassic age, and such 

strata in the neighboring range are known to be highly gypsiferous. The 

heads of the streams were not examined. It was ascertained by digging in 

the playa that a portion of the deposit is amorphous and another portion 

crystalline. One phase of the precipitation results in the formation of small 

fi-ee crystals, which the wind sweeps from the surface of the playa and gathers 

into dunes. The dunes do not travel to a great distance but are arrested by 

a low rhyolitic butte near by, to which they have given the name of White 

Mountain.

FIGURE 53. Map showing extent of gypsum deposit 

at White Mountain, Utah.

1 Gilbert, G. K, Lake Bonneville : U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 1, p. 223, 1890.
270 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

/r» 

CEDAE CITY, IKON COUNTY, TO GLENDAJLE, KANE COUNTY.

In Iron, Washington, and Kane counties extensive deposits of gyp- < 

sum have been noted in strata underlying coal beds. A bed of 

white rock gypsum more than 100 feet thick is recorded by Lee 1 in 

Coal Creek canyon, east of Cedar City, Iron County. This bed 

is in red sedimentary rocks about 500 feet above a great thickness 

of red sandstone that makes a conspicuous cliff. In a report on the 

same area Eichardson 2 says that in a series of rocks composed of i 

reddish and varicolored shale and sandstone of Jurassic age intercalated beds of white gypsum occur abundantly for many miles. 

Mr. Richardson has furnished the following1 three sections from , 

his unpublished notes (measurements were made with aneroid 

barometer):

Section // miles east of Kanarraville, Utah. >T

Feet. 

Conglomerate __________ ______.__ ______ _ 25

Sandstone, red-brown, and shale__________________ 150 

Limestone, gray ____________________________ 20 *

Gypsum, white __________ - _,___________ 200 

Limestone, massive, gray, including thin beds of gypsum____ 500

About 200 feet below the top of this massive limestone there is a 

25-foot bed of gypsum, and another bed, of unknown thickness, occurs near the base. This measurement, made with an aneroid, is 

part of a long section exposed southwest of the Union coal mine, 

in sec. 29, T. 37 S., R. 11 W. The 200-foot gypsum bed is 7,300 to y 

7,500 feet above sea level and dips 15° E. (No. 5, fig. 50).

Section 8 miles southeast of Kanarraville, Utah.

Feet. T

Limestone, massive _________________________ 25 

Gypsum _________________1______________ 200. 

Limestone, massive ____ _ _-__-_ _-_____ 400

The measurement was made in the SE. I sec. 23, T. 38 S., R. 11 W., 

where the gypsum is 7.600 to 7,800 feet above sea level.

-f 

Section on North Fork of Virgin River.

Feet.

Conglomerate _______ ____ _-___________ 15 

Sandstone, white, with streaks of red sandstone and shale_ 150 ^ 

Gypsum __________________________________ 160 

Limestone, massive ___________________._____ 225 

Limestone and shale _____..___ _______ __ _____ 83 ,^ 

Sandstone, massive, scarlet.

1 Lee, W. T., The Iron County coal field, Utah : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 310, [>. 362, 

1007. * - ^

a Richardson, G. E., Harmony, Colob, and Kanab coal field, Utah-: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 341, p. 381, 1909.
UTAH. 271

This section is exposed near Levi Walker's ranch, in sec. 34, T. 

39 S., R. 9. W.

Mr. Richardson reports that gypsum in thick beds is common 

from Kanarraville southeast at least as far as the valley of Kanab 

Creek east of Glendale, Kane County. These great deposits are in 

the midst of a sparsely settled region remote from a railroad and 

source of demand, so that doubtless they will long be undeveloped.

The writer was informed by Mr. Dennet, of Rockville, that there 

is a thick bed of massive white gypsum near the Dennet homestead 

on Short Creek, in T. 39 S., R. 10 W. Others stated that gypsum 

is very abundant in thick beds near Mount Carmel, and Mr. Richardson's notes verify its occurrence in the valley of Muddy Creek at 

that place.

A large bed of gypsum is reported east of Toquerville in the 

valley just in front of the Hurricane fault. At La Verkin pure-white 

gypsum float is conspicuous in talus between the bridge over Virgin River and the warm sulphur spring in the river bank. The 

float up the canyon wall leads to a 12-foot bed of massive white 

gypsum in the bank of the Hurricane irrigating ditch, about 300 

feet above the river. On the opposite side of the river and half 

a mile farther upstream the La Verkin irrigating ditch is reported 

to cut through gypsum in several places, especially about onequarter of a mile above the 800-foot tunnel by which the water is 

conducted from the canyon wall to the settlement. One of these 

gypsum ledges exposed by the ditch is said to be 30 feet high.

The road west from Hurricane that crosses the lava and fords 

Virgin River near the north line of T. 42 S., R. 14 W., zigzags 

through several low ridges of tilted green and red sedimentary 

strata on the \vest bank of the river. In these beds, along this 

crooked stretch of road called Purgatory, there is considerable 

gypsum, but the rock is so deeply weathered that it may not be 

noticed by the casual observer.

' ST. GEORGE, WASHINGTON COUNTY.

In the midst of red beds on both sides of Virgin River near 

Bloomington, 5 miles south of St. George, there is a green shale series, 

Avhich contains several beds of white gypsum of a sugary texture. 

This shale is believed to be the same formation as that at Purgatory, 

a locality on Virgin River 10 miles northeast of St. George. There 

has been no development or prospecting, and because of their soft 

weathered character the thickness of the individual gypsum beds 

could not be determined. There seem, however, to be several beds 

from 5 to 15 feet thick. The road from Bloomington through Curly 

Hollow to the Apex mine passes through these beds, as does also
272 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

the road on the east side of the river from Blooming-ton to the 

Sullivan ranch. In Curly Hollow, west of Bloomington, some of 

the red beds exposed along the road appear to be gypsiferous shale, 

but close examination shows that they are composed of layers of 

gypsum one-half to 2 inches thick, with interlayers of shale a small 

fraction of an inch thick. Some of the gypsum layers are wavy, 

but those immediately, above and below them are not.

Several old residents at St. George agree that the best exposures 

of rock gypsum in thick beds near that town are in South Mountain, 

about 15 miles to the south, and in Quail Canyon, south of Mokaich 

Spring. Both of these localities are a few miles over the State line 

in Arizona and were not visited by the writer. The writer was told 

at St. George that gypsum is exposed abundantly and for a long 

way on the road from Gunlock up Santa Clara River.

The Mormon temple and tabernacle at St. George are notable 

examples of frontier plaster work. The writer saw the interior b'f 

the tabernacle, which is ornamented with molded plaster work in 

strong relief, and was told by Mr. T. B. Cottam, of St. George, how 

the plaster was made 40' years ago. At a locality several miles from 

town loose blocks of gypsum weighing 300 to 400 pounds were pried 

out with a crowbar. These blocks were broken with sledges and run 

through a horizontal burr mill, which reduced the rock to the size 

of acorns and corn. It was then cooked in a rectangular sheet-iron 

molasses pan, with constant stirring by hand. The plaster was 

drawn after the first settle.

SOUTH WASH, WAYNE AND- GAEFIELD COUNTIES.

The gypsum of this locality is better known than the locality itself, 

which is difficult of access. J. E. Talmage, of Salt Lake City, discovered huge geodes of selenite or crystallized'gypsum in the deserts of 

Wayne and Garfield counties, and under the auspices of the Deseret 

Museum had 20 tons of these great crystals transported to Salt Lake 

City. They are now to be found in many museums in this and in 

foreign countries. The occurrence of the crystals has been described 

by Prof. Talmage as follows: 1

Here and there along the gorges are outcrops of gypsum varying in degrees of 

purity, and seams of this material cut through the country rock in all directions. 

In places veins of satin spar, as thin as a sheet of note paper, or even an inch 

in thickness, can be traced for many hundreds of yards upon the surface of 

the ground in uninterrupted course, except for intersecting planes of the same 

material. On the walls of the ravines and canyons places are seen where spar 

veins cross and recross each other with bewildering profusion. * * * Gypsum 

in all varieties may be found within a short radius. Fibrous and scaly laminae,

1 Talmage, J. E., A remarkable occurrence of selenite.: Science, vol. 21, pp. 85-87, 1893. 

Moses, A. J., One of the gypsum crystals from the cave at South Wash, Wayne County, 

Utah : Idem, pp. 230-231.
UTAH. 273

M

, plaster stone or rock gypsum in masses, lumps of pure alabaster, and fragments 

of selenite crystals are scattered along the washes and strewn upon the bench

j la Qd s. * * *

The crystals occur in a cave, and this is inclosed by a thick shell forming a 

mound. This seleuite mass seems to have been left exposed by the weathering 

of loosened friable sand and clay, of which the hill whereon the mound is sity uated is composed. * * * . Prisms of perfect form and varying in length from 

1 to 5 feet and in weight from 10 to 100 pounds are of frequent occurrence. One 

of the most regular yet taken out' is 4 feet long and the widest faces are 6

/ inches across. Cleaved slabs are obtainable 6 feet in length and 2i feet in 

breadth. One of the longest perfect prisms yet obtained extends 51 inches, and 

from one of its faces 19 smaller crystals sprout. Twins are common, as are also 

compound terminations of very complicated structure.

71 In 1871 G. K. Gilbert (then geologist on the Wheeler Survey) described occurrences of rock gypsum, seen by him in these counties

; as being so extensive that a person could walk in one direction for 

about 2 miles without stepping off of gypsum. Geologists of the 

Wheeler Survey mapped the sedimentary rocks of this region as 

Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. The age of the gypsum is uncertain and will remain so until detailed geologic field work is done 

in this region.

MOAB, GRAND COUNTY. 

By F. L. HESS.

At the edge of the village of Moab, in the southern part of Grand 

County, there is a deposit of rock gypsum of unknown extent. 

Weathering has formed a dingy white spongy secondary deposit, 

about 40 feet thick, which hides the gypsum bed. Poor outcrops 

along Grand River suggest that the deposit is at least half a mile 

long; its thickness is unknown but probably is considerable. It is 

believed to be an interbedded deposit in rocks of Triassic age.

The spongy gypsum has been crushed and put on the road at MoaJb 

with good result. In fact, an outcrop of gypsum in this region may 

be recognized at once wherever a road crosses it, by the smooth, hard 

surface of the highway.

GYPSUM ALONG THE WEST FLANK OF THE SAN RAFAEL SWELL,

UTAH.*

By C. T. LUPTON.

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

- The San Rafael Swell, along the west flank of which outcrop the

gypsum deposits here described, is an irregular, somewhat elliptical

 : '. 

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 530, pp. 221-231, 1913. 

124567° 20 18
274 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

dome extending northeast and southwest in the east-central part of 

Utah, east of the Wasatch Plateau and west of Green River. (See 

PI. XXXV.)

The San Rafael Swell is 60 to SO miles long and 20 to 30 miles 

wide.

The gypsum-'bearing rocks in this area outcrop in a belt ranging 

in width from a few hundred feet in the vicinity of Cedar Mountain or Red Plateau, at the north end of the area, to 3 or 4 miles near 

the center of the west flank, along the road leading from Emery eastward to the Globe copper mine. ,

The gypsum exposures can be most easily visited by, leaving the 

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at Price, from which town a daily V 

stage traverses approximately .the entire length of Castle Valley to 

Emery, 63 miles to the southwest. At any of the towns between 

Price and Emery (Cleveland, Huntington, Castle Dale, and Ferron) A-j 

conveyances may be obtained for a trip to the gypsum beds, which 

outcrop several miles to the east. Probably the most convenient point 

from which to visit the gypsum-bearing rocks is Cleveland, about 6 ^ 

miles east of Huntington. A good road leads from Cleveland in a 

southeast direction to Buckhorn Flat, located directly south of Cedar 

Mountain or Red Plateau. At the east side of Buckhorn Flat the r 

gypsum beds have been prospected and are reported to be well 

exposed. A good road has been built from Emery eastward across the 

outcrop of the gypsum to some copper prospects known as the Globe 

copper mine, on the west flank of the Swell. Next to the wagon road 

leading from Cleveland to Buckhorn Flat, this road would be the best 

one over which to haul the gypsum should it be mined.

Travel by rail may be terminated also at Salina, on the Rio Grande 

Western Railway, on the west side of the Wasatch Plateau, where 

conveyance can be obtained across this plateau to Emery, in Castle 

Valley, The gypsum exposures situated near the south end of the 

Swell in the vicinity of Caineville, and also those near the north end 

of the Water Pocket Flexure, near Notom post office, can be visited 

most easily 'by taking the stage from Salina to Loa, in Rabbit Valley, _< 

where conveyance can be obtained for the trip down Fremont River 

to Notom and Caineville.

TOPOGRAPHY. '"*

The topography of the area is rugged. Mesas and buttelike forms 

cut from massive sandstone, approximately 800 feet thick, undeiiy- * 

ing the gypsum-bearing formation and outcropping east of it, are 

the most striking features. In many places the walls of these mesas, f 

buttes, and scarps are almost vertical cliffs 300 feet or more high. *" 

The outcrop of this sandstone surrounds the central part of the
UTAH. 275

Swell, which is locally known as Sinbad. The topography of the 

areas of gypsum-bearing rocks is in most places comparatively 

smooth, except along the streams, where badlands are common,

GEOLOGY.

The gypsum-bearing rocks are of Upper Jurassic age and are the 

approximate equivalent of the Flaming Gorge formation of Powell.1 

They rest with apparent conformity on a massive cross-bedded sandstone, which is the Gray Cliff sandstone of Gilbert's Henry Mountains section, and is regarded as the same as the White Cliff sandstone (Upper Jurassic) of southern Utah and the Uinta Mountains. 

There are about 1,350 feet of strata, mainly reddish in color, with 

two gypsum-bearing zones, one 200 feet below the top and the other 

200 feet above the base. Between the two gypsum zones there is a 

series of red and gray sandstone and sandy shale about 950 feet 

thick. The beds thus described correspond closely with the Flaming Gorge formation described by Gilbert 2 as occurring in the 

Henry Mountains region, a comparatively short distance south of the 

San Eafael Swell, where he determined the thickness to be approximately 1,200 feet.

The strata along the west flank of the Swell dip 3°-8° NW., but 

the strata along the east flank are in places much more steeply inclined, ranging from almost flat to approximately 70° SE.

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE GYPSUM DEPOSITS.

The gypsum of this area is an interbedded deposit, precipitated in 

a shallow sea into which a large amount of sediment was carried, 

especially at the beginning and end of the gypsum-forming period. 

The greater part of the deposits take the form of alabaster. The 

gypsum of the upper zone has a reddish tint and is not quite so pure 

as the lower deposits, which are white. The gypsum of both zones is 

so compact and firm that it can be readily carved. The upper and 

lower portions of both gypsum belts in most places contain considerable sandstone and sandy shale interbedded with the gypsum. These impure portions probably will never be of value for 

mining, in view of the large amount of pure gypsum in the main 

parts of the beds.

At several places near the outcrop of the gypsum beds the overlying strata are contorted and deformed. This condition is probably

1 Powcll, .T. W., Report on the geology of the eastern portion of the Uinta Mountains 

and a region of country adjacent thereto': TJ. S. Gcol. am! Geog. Survey Terr., 2d div., 

pp. 40,. 50, 51, 68, 92, 146, 151-153, 157, 1876.

- Gilbert, G. K., Geology of the Henry Mountains, Utah : U. S. Geog. and Geol. Survey 

Rocky Mtn. Region, p. 6, 1877.
276 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

due to the removal of portions of the underlying gypsum in solution 

by ground water, and the consequent sinking of the covering strata. 

The lower beds are purer and thicker than the upper. Sections of 

the exposures examined, given below in the discussion of the gypsum 

at the different localities, illustrate this point. Very little selenite 

or crystalline gypsum was noted.

In most places the upper gypsum bed outcrops in the face of 

cliffs. This position is due to the character of the overlying and 

underlying rocks, which are in most places fairly resistant sandstone. 

The lower beds containing gypsum usually outcrop in a monoclinal 

valley in a broad belt, which corresponds closely to a true dip slope. 

The rocks that underlie the gypsum are harder than those strati - 

graphically above it, and, as the gypsum is comparatively soft, it is 

eroded with the softer sandstone and shales. East of Emery, along 

the Globe Copper Mine road, the lower gypsum bed outcrops for 

more than a mile on one of these dip slopes.

LOCALITIES. 

SOUTH OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN".

A gypsum prospect directly south of Cedar Mountain or Eed 

Plateau, at locality No. 1 (see PI. XXXV), near an unused roadbed 

of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, in the NW. £ SW. | sec. 6, 

T. 19 S., R. 11 E. Salt Lake meridian, is a pit about 8 feet deep 

and 8 feet in diameter. Only unconsolidated conglomerate was to be 

seen in this pit, on account of caving. On the dump was a large 

amount of grayish-green sandy shale and some pieces of glistening porous gypsum. It is reported by Parian McFarlane, of .Cleveland, Utah, that the gypsum is at least 30 feet thick and that a number of claims have been staked and recorded in this locality. From 

the stratigraphic position of the prospect pit this is the lower gypsum horizon. It is quite probable that when the mining of gypsum 

is begun in the San Rafael region the first shipment will be made 

from this locality, as there is a fairly good road leading through 

Cleveland to the railroad at Price and also a fair road leading to 

Green River on the railroad to the southeast. The gypsum can be 

mined and moved to the railroad from this place at probably a 

smaller cost than from any other locality hereinafter described.

SAN RAFAEL VALLEY.

On the north side of San Rafael River, at the east end of Fullers 

Bottom, at locality No. 2 (see PL XXXV), the lower gypsum-bearing zone was examined and the following section was measured:
TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXV

ZOMiles

, 

* GLOBE COPPER M/NE \Q

INDEX MAP

MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF GYPSUM DEPOSITS ON WEST FLANK OF SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH.
UTAH. 277

Section of gypsum-bearing rocks at the east end of Fullers Bottom along San

Rafael River, Utah.

Sandstone, grayish, thin bedded, locally has a greenish tint.

In many places these strata are much contorted and the Feet.

strata at the outcrop have a wavy appearance______ 50+ 

Gypsum, fairly pure, becoming less pure at top and base__ 30-35 

Sandstone, reddish, contains thin veins of gypsum______ 10 

Gypsum, very pure ____ _ _ 7 

Sandstone, reddish, contains thin veins of gypsum______ 5 

Sandstone, thin bedded, greenish gray __ ____ 12-15

Total gypsum _______________________ 37-42

The route from Castle Dale to this locality is down Cottonwood 

Creek and San Rafael River. The trip is easily made on horseback, 

but for Avagon or 'buggy the road is very poor.

A sample of gypsum taken near the center of the upper bench at 

this locality was analyzed by J. G. Fairchild in the chemical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey, with the following result :

Partial analysis of gypsum from east end of Fullers Bottom along San Rafael

River, Utah.

Lime (CaO) ____________________________ 32.47 

Sulphur trioxide (SO8 ) ___ - 45.63

Water driven off at 300° C___________________ 20. 54 

Chlorine (01)___________________________ .32 

Iron oxide (Fe2 0a)_______ Trace.

This analysis shows an equivalent of 97.3 per cent of gypsum. 

Practically no anhydrite is present. The percentages of lime, sulphur trioxide, and water given in the analysis approach very closely 

those of pure gypsum, which contains 32.6 per cent of lime, 46.5 per 

cent of sulphur trioxide, and 20.9 per cent of Avater. A striking 

characteristic of this gypsum is the unusually large amount of 

chlorine it contains, which is about 10 times greater than that in the 

gypsum from Alabaster, Mich. (See analysis, p. 29.)

HORN SILVER GULCH.

In Horn Silver Gulch (N'o. 3, PI. XXXV), approximately 10 miles 

southeast of Ferron along the wagon road leading from Ferron to 

Green River Desert, the upper gypsum-bearing rocks are well exposed. The thickness of the only bed of gypsum noted in this immediate region was measured across an outcrop on the south side of the 

gulch. (See PL XXXIV, B.) As noted in the general discussion of 

the gypsum, this 'bed has a slightly reddish tint and is much thinner 

than the beds at the lower horizon. The following section shows the 

character of the overlying and underlying rocks as well as the thickness of the gypsum at this place.
278 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Section of gypsum-bearing rocks in Horn Silver Gulch about 10 miles southeast

of Perron, Utah.

Feet. 

Sand and clay, gray, fine grained; sandstone, conglomerate at

top _________________________________ 14 

Sandstone, yellowish gray to brown; upper \\ fget very hard

and forms a ledge _______________^_________ 4 

Gypsum, very slightly reddish, comparatively pure; contains

nodules of variegated chert___________________ 11 

Sandstone and sandy shale, in places ripple marked, thin 

bedded; some very resistant beds 2 to 3 feet; mainly reddish 

in color with a few thin bands and streaks of greenish-gray 

fine-grained sandstone (base unexposed)___________ 210

Total gypsum _________________________ 11

 A' sample of the gypsum near the center of the bed was analyzed 

by J. G. Fairchild in the chemical laboratory of the United States 

Geological Survey, as follows:

Analysis of gypsum from Horn Silver Gulch, 10 miles southeast of Perron, Utah.

Lime (CaO)____________________________ 32. 49 

Sulphur trioxide (S08 ) _____________________ 45.88 

Water driven off at 300° C_.________:______..__ 20.58 

Chlorine (01) __J_________________________ .39 

Iron oxide (Fe2O3 )__________^..____________ Trace.

This analysis shows an equivalent of 97.9 per cent of gypsum. 

Practically no anhydrite is present. The chlorine content is slightly 

more than that of the sample collected at locality No. 2 along San

Rafael River.

COLD WASH.

In Cold Wash (No. 4, PL XXXV and fig. 50), 20 miles east of 

Emery, gypsum which belongs to the lower horizon outcrops along 

the road from Ferron to the Green River Desert. A detailed section 

measured a short distance northwest of Dripping Spring, on the west 

side of Cold Wash, is as follows: .

Section of c/ypsum-bearing rocks on Cold Wash abvut 20 miles east of Emery,

Utah.

Feet. 

Sandstone, thin bedded, grayish in places, tints of red and

green _________ _____________________ 50+ 

Gypsum _______ _ _____.______ _______ 35+ 

Sandstone, greenish gray, thin bedded_____________ 60± 

Shale and sandstone, reddish, thin bedded__________ 18 

Sandstone, yellowish brown, thin bedded _______. 15 

Sandstone, yellowish brown., massive:___....____ _ 10 

Sandstone, maroon and yellowish buff, .thin bedded - 15

Total gypsum 35+
UTAH. 279

y

In many places it is impossible to obtain an accurate measurement

of the gypsum on account of its soluble character, the ground waters 

having dissolved part of the bed. At the locality above-mentioned 

conditions were such that it was impossible to determine whether the 

total thickness of the gypsum was seen.

, Dripping Spring issues from thin-bedded sandstone about 40 feet 

beloAv the base of the gypsum bed and naturally it carries a great 

amount of gypsum. The water, which is cold, has a bitter taste

/ that is emphasized when the water is heated. The bitterness possibly 

is due to the presence of epsomite, the sulphate of magnesium.

w COLT GULCH.

About 8 miles east of Emery, in an intermittent stream course 

^ known locally as Colt Gulch (No. 5, PI. XXXV), the following sec: 

tion of the upper gypsum-bearing rock was measured:

Section of gypsum-bearing rocks in (Jolt Gulcli, about 8 miles east of Emery,

-^ . Utah.

Ft. in.

' Conglomerate, gray, fine grained; pebbles consist of chert 

and limestone, ranging from sand grains up to pebbles 3 

inches in diameter; contains a fe\v lenses of soft friable 

sandstone ____________________________ 8± 

Sandstone, gray______ ____ _ ____ _ 4

Gypsum, sandstone, and limestone, with some red, gray, and

-**1 white sandy shale._____-_-_____________ 16 6 

Gypsum, pinkish, impure, and very shaly at base, fairly 

pure at top; contains chert fragments. (This portion of

,, the bed probably corresponds with the section measured

at locality No. 3 in Horn Silver Gulch)__________ 22 

Shale, salmon red, in places greenish gray___________ 10 4

Gypsum, almost pure white__________________ 10

vc Shale, reddish, sandy______________________ 1 3 

Gypsum, somewhat impure________________ ___ 4

Clay shale, sandy, salmon-red _ _ _ 11

Total gypsum_____ ^ _ 36

This section, which was measured on the south side of Colt Gulch, 

shows that there is much more gypsum here than in the section 

measured 8 or 10 miles to the northeast, in Horn Silver Gulch.

MUDDY CREEK.

On the west side of Salt Wash, north of Muddy Creek (No. 6, PL 

XXXV), 15 miles southeast of Emery and 6 to 8 miles south-south-
280 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

west of Colt Gulch, a detailec] section of the upper gypsum rocks was 

measured as follows: .-

Section of gypsum-bearing rocks on the west side of Salt Wash, north of Muddy 

Creek, about 15 miles southeast of Emery, Utah.

Feet.

. Conglomerate _ _ _ _ _____________ 5 

Gypsum; in places has a slightly reddish tint__________ 52 

Shale, iuterbedded with gray sandstone_____________ 29

Total gypsum _________ ______________ 52

It is probable that the gypsum shown in this section may contain sandstone and shale partings, and portions of the bed may be 

somewhat impure, as the exposure was not good. The gypsum from 

this locality can be shipped with little difficulty, as an excellent road 

has been graded from Emery to a point a short distance east of the 

outcrop. At this locality the road, which follows an approximate 

dip slope of the strata, is on the gypsum for at least half a mile. Considerable deposits of quartz and gypsum sands cover the surface near 

the outcrop.

LAST CHANCE CREEK.

Very little is known regarding the details of the gypsum beds for 

a distance of 15 to 18 miles to the south from the locality last 

described. Sections of the gypsum were not measured, but the presence of the upper zone is assured by the " float" and the character 

of the water in Last Chance Creek where it is crossed by the wagon 

trail connecting Caineville and Emery, which is stratigraphically 

above the lower gypsum horizon. The water of this creek is so 

thoroughly saturated with gypsum and possibly some epsomite that 

it is practically unfit for the use of man or beast. A few miles 

south of Last Chance Creek, also known as Starvation Creek (No. 7, 

PI. XXXV), a piece of gypsum "float" from the lower horizon was 

found near the Caineville-Emery wagon trail. The main bed was 

not seen, but the undulating, contorted character of the strata at 

this place suggested that as much gypsum lies a short distance beneath the surface as that measured at the exposure on San Kafael 

River (No. 2). A number of igneous sills and dikes were noted here 

and some of the pieces of gypsum suggest that it had been slightly 

metamorphosed by the heat from these intrusions.

CAINEVILLE.

About 3 miles northwest of Caineville post office, approximately 

in the center of T. 28 S., R. 8 E. Salt Lake meridian (No. 8, PI. 

XXXV), the upper gypsuin bed outcrops for 2 miles along the can-
"UTAH. 281

yon through which the Caineville-Emery wagon trail extends. The 

bed was not measured in detail but is approximately 8 feet thick 

and seemed to be very pure.

NOTOM.

Along the east flank of the Water Pocket Flexure, near the north 

side of T. 30 S., R 7-E. Salt Lake meridian, about 2 miles west of 

Notom post office (No. 9, PL XXXV), a bed of gypsum undoubtedly 

representing the lower horizon is exposed near the wagon road extending from Fruita to Notom. This outcrop, the exact thickness of 

which was not measured, is about 75 feet strati graphically above the 

massive cross-bedded sandstone to .which Gilbert applied the name 

Gray Cliff. Although the horizon of the upper gypsum bed was 

crossed in the vicinity of Notom it was not seen at any place. It is 

probably present, however, as it outcrops a few miles to the north in 

the vicinity of Caineville.

. OTHER EXPOSURES.

Along the road leading from Emery eastward to the Globe Copper 

mine both gypsum horizons were noted. The upper or pinkish bed 

has apparently the same thickness as that noted in Horn Silver 

Gulch. It was impossible to obtain a measurement of the lower 

bed, as it outcrops on an approximate dip slope for a distance of 

more than a mile. Gypsum deposits were not observed elsewhere 

along the west flank of the Swell, but the writer believes that the 

beds of both horizons are continuous from the north to the south 

end of the Swell and that they may some day be valuable should 

transportation become less expensive.

CHARACTER OF THE GYPSUM.

The gypsum of both horizons is comparatively pure. The lower 

bed, however, probably contains less impurity than the upper. The 

upper bed, in addition to the slight discoloration, contains numerous small chert nodules of various colors. These undoubtedly would 

cause some difficulty in the preparation of the gypsum for plaster of 

Paris. The lower deposits contain very little chert and are almost 

white. From these deposits gypsum which would make white plaster 

could probably be obtained. Certain portions of the upper pinkish 

bed, which is compact and fine grained, might be used as alabaster, 

giving a varied effect from the pure white.. The lower bed could 

also be used in this way, as it is apparently as solid as the upper bed. 

The two analyses of samples taken in this area, together with the 

analyses of gypsumf; from other localities in the United States are 

given in the table on page 29.
282 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

DEVELOPMENT.

Gypsum is not yet being mined in the San Kafael Swell. Except 

at the prospects south of Cedar Mountain or Eed Plateau, the gypsum of this district has not been prospected. On account of the 

excellent natural exposures, however, prospecting is unnecessary, as 

in most places the entire thickness of the beds is well exposed. It is 

possible that small quantities of gypsum have been used by ranchers 

and others desiring plaster of Paris or land plaster, but the quantity 

removed from the field is insignificant. From the description given 

it is evident that the San Rafael Swell contains an enormous supply 

o'f gypsum, but probably no great quantity will be mined until better 

transportation facilities are available. It would be a comparatively 

easy matter to extend a railroad spur from either Green Eiver or 

Price to these gypsum-bearing rocks. A railroad grade has been 

made through the northern part of the San Rafael region connecting 

Green River'with Price; and although the road has never been used, 

it could be repaired with little labor and expense. As this grade 

crosses the gypsum beds in T. 19 S., R. 10 E., and as the gypsumbearing rocks occupy a monoclinal valley, a railroad spur could be 

very easily projected through the center of the gypsum belt for its 

entire length. The raw product then could be mined and transported cheaply. Such a railroad would probably induce coal mining 

in the Cretaceous beds east and south 'of Emery along Muddy Creek 

and its tributaries.

Gypsum of the massive variety has a specific gravity of approximately 2.32. This is equivalent to about 145 pounds to the cubic 

foot. The following estimates are based on the considerations that 

the gypsum could be mined under cover to a distance of 2 miles 

from the outcrop, which, with the dip of 3° to 5°, would carry the 

bed about 800 -feet below the surface, and that the gypsum-bearing 

beds are 60 miles in length on the west Hank of the Swell. To be 

conservative, the upper bed is assumed to average 10 feet in thickness, and the lower beds to- contain an average of 30 feet of gypsum. 

These assumed thicknesses probably represent 25 to 50 per cent less 

than the true average. On this basis the beds of gypsum, on the west 

flank of the San Rafael Swell are estimated to contain 9,701,600,000 

tons 2,425,400,000 tons in the upper bed and 7,276,200,000 tons in 

the lower bed.
VIRGINIA.

By G. W. STOSE. 

LOCATION.

Large deposits of gypsum and salt occur in a district 20 miles 

long, extending northeastward from the village of Plasterco, Va., 

and lying in Washington and Smyth counties. Much of it is in 

or near the valley of North Pork of Holston Kiver, and is accessible to railroad transportation by the Saltville branch of the 

Norfolk &' Western Railway, which joins the main line at Glado

82 "30' 82°00' ai°3o'

50 Miles

FIGURE 54. Index map of southwestern Virginia, The area described and mapped in this 

* " report is indicated by the shaded rectangle. Railroad connections for this area only 

arc shown.

Spring. The location of this area is shown in figure 54. The location 

of two gypsum plants now in operation and of several gypsum workings and prospects some of which at present are not commercially 

workable because of lack of transportation facilities, are shown on 

^ the geologic map in figure 55.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The area represented on the map (fig. 55) comprises a mountain

ridge 1,000 feet high, separating parallel valleys and rising above

an adjacent deeply dissected plateau. The ridge, named Pine Moun-

'"' tain at the southwest and Brushy Mountain at the northeast, trends

283
284 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.
VIRGINIA. 

' 285

in general N.-70° E., and its elevation ranges from 2,500 to 3,000 

feet. It is cut nearly at right angles by several deep water gaps 

through which pass the waters from Clinch Mountain that drain 

into Nortli Fork of Holston River, which flows southwestward. The 

plateau to the southeast ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 feet in altitude, 

and its surface is dissected into narrow transverse ridges and rounded 

hills.

GEOLOGY.

THE ROCKS. 

The rocks in which the gypsum occurs are of Mississippian (lower 

Carboniferous) age. A generalized section of the Carboniferous 

rocks derived from several detailed sections in the vicinity of the 

mines is as follows:

'

Generalized section of Carboniferous rocks in the vicinity of Saltville, Va.

Xewmau limestone: -

Hard argillaceous limestone weathering to calcareous Feet, 

shale, including a few beds of crystalline limestone__________._______.__._______ 400+

Red calcareous sandstone and coarse crinoidal 

limestone, and a few beds of argillaceous limestone. ___ __1_ _ _ _ _ 75

Light-blue laminated argillaceous limestone and 

calcareous shale, and a few thicker, purer, fossiliferous limestones- ______________ 1,150

Massive gray and blue fossiliferous limestone, in

part granular and crystalline, and containing * 

some chert : _ _ ____ 250

1,875+

Maccrady formation:

Earthy limestone and dark-gray shale, weathering 

light gray to green and crumbly, abundantly 

fossiliferons _______..______________ 125

Gray calcareous sandstone and some shaly argillaceous or earthy limestone; harder fossilifevous 

sandstone at the top_!____________ ____ 120

Largely soft rocks, including shaly limestone and 

earthy sandstone, mostly concealed; apparently

 represented in places by red, green, and blue plastic clay, gypsum, and salt beds _ ___ 335+

Rod sandy stnle and red and gray shaly sandstone 

and in lower part soft light-buff shale, and thin 

black carbonaceous shale containing coal seamlets 

and plant remains ___ ._». 120

700+
286 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Price sandstone:

Hard, irregular-bedded, rusty-gray sandstone, with Feet.

some heavier beds_i.___._____________ 150-165 

Largely shaly sandstone, with, a few harder bedis_ 150-205 

Massive gray to reddish-gray sandstone,, thin-bedded:

toward top, and fine conglomerate with scattered 

white quartz pebbles generally at base_______ 30- 55

330-425 

Devonian rocks:

Thin-bedded, sandstone and sandy shale containing

brachiopocls of Chernung age, 536 feet. 

Platy sandstone and slaty shale.

^k -

The Price sandstone is a hard, ridge-making rock which forms the 

ridge known as Pine Mountain and Brushy Mountain. The Maccrady formation consists of soft and easily disintegrated material 

that is generally deeply eroded and poorly exposed and therefore 

forms valleys. The best exposures of this formation occur in the 

valley of North Fork of Holston River from Maccrady southwest, 

although they are there largely covered by the terrace and floodplain deposits of that stream. The black shale and red sandy beds 

at the base are commonly exposed on the lower slopes of Pine Mountain, but the higher earthy limestones and shales of the formation 

are to be seen in few places. Northeast of Maccrady and southwest 

of Saltville red and olive to bluish plastic clays with jyypsum occur 

in the midst of the Maccrady formation. The exact position in the 

formation of this clay and gypsum has not been fully established, 

because in the broad flats where the gypsum occurs only soft clay is 

seen and no key rocks outcrop. However, the gypsum seems to replace the middle earthy shales and sandstones, for to the northeast 

it lies above the lower red siliceous beds of the formation, 120 feet 

or more thick, and at Saltville it lies below the sandstone that is 125 

feet from the top.

The Newman limestone,, although massive at the base, is composed largely of calcareous shales which weather readily to clay 

and soil. The formation forms high rounded hills.

The distribution of the rock is shown on the map (fig. 55).

STRUCTURE.

The rocks of the southeast side of the area shown on the map are 

part of a great mass of Cambrian dolomite and limestone which 

was thrust over the Carboniferous rocks on the northwest along 

a flat fault plane, as shown in-the structure sections (figs. 56 and 

57). The Cambrian strata dip rather uniformly 30° to 40° SE.,
VIEGIFIA. 287

F-F'

B B

A - A*

FLGUJIB 56. Structure sections across Holston Valley, Va., along lines indicated by letters 

oii the margins of t^ geologic map (flg. 55). Cn, Newman limestone; Cmc, Mficcrady 

formation^' Cp, Price sandstone; SD, undifficrcntiated Silurian and Devonian rocks; 

 &, uudifferentiated Cambrian rocks, mostly dolomite. Scale, double tbe scale of figure 55.
288 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

successively older Cambrian strata appearing at the northwest. 

Massive gray dolomite and magnesian limestone of Cambrian age 

is adjacent to the fault throughout most of its course in the mapped 

area. A still lower Cambrian formation of red argillaceous shale 

and sandstone is exposed over part of the area northeast of Broad 

Ford, apparently on the axis of an overturned anticline, the breaking of which may have commenced the overthrust faulting.

The rocks northwest of the fault, except those immediately adjacent to it, dip uniformly 25°-40° SE., and range from Carboniferous at the fault to lowest Silurian in Clinch Mountain, northI - I'

H-H- ^

FKJURE 57. Structure sections across Holston Valley, Va., along lines indicated by letters 

on the margins of the geologic map (fig. 55). Cn, Ncwman limestone; Cmc, Maccrady 

formation ; Cp, Price sandstone ; .SD, undifferentiated Silurian and Devonian rocks;

' -6, undifferentiated Cambrian rocks, mostly dolomite. Scale, double the scale of figure 55.

west of the area mapped. The soft Carboniferous rocks near the 

fault are bent into an overturned syncline. The sections in figures 

56 and 57 show that the beds in the syncline gradually rise and the 

fold flattens and shallows from southwest to northeast. The Newman limestone, which has a thickness of about 2,000 feet in the 

most southern section, is gradually reduced in thickness by erosion 

in the shallowing syncline until northeast of Saltville it is entirely removed. The soft Maccrady formation which underlies the
VIRGINIA., 289

Newman outcrops along the southeast side of the syncline for only 

a few miles in the vicinity of Saltville and Plasterco, being faulted 

out in the southwestern part of the area. The observed dips on the 

south side of the syncline are mostly vertical.

The fault plane is exposed at several places in the area, dipping 

at angles ranging from 20° to 60° SE. The trace of the fault plane 

on the surface is very crooked in the northeastern part of the area, 

owing to the fact that the plane probably has a low southeast dip 

and is somewhat folded along the strike, so that .erosion to the 

surface level has produced promontories of the overthrust rock at 

the downfolds and reentrants at the upfolds.

This fault is not a local or minor fault, for it has been traced 

southwestward in the Appalachians into the Kome fault, which has 

been proved to have a horizontal displacement of at least 5 miles 

in the vicinity of Rome, Ga.

It is concluded from a broad study of the structure that this fault 

of great magnitude and length did not originate in a broken fold 

but is of deeper-seated origin and is a shear plane that cuts diagonally across the strata to a great depth, the beds locally at the contact, 

however, being folded and crumpled by the friction and drag of the 

overriding mass. Thus the overridden Carboniferous beds on the 

northwest are bent into an overturned syncline from Saltville southwest and the overriding Cambrian beds on the southeast show an 

anticlinal structure in places.

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS.

Explanations of the origin of these gypsum deposits published by 

.W. B. Rogers, J. J. Stevenson, and E. C. Eckel were given by the 

author elsewhere,1 together with his own interpretation of the origin, 

which may be summed up as follows: The gypsum deposits of 

southwestern Virginia were probably derived from calcareous-argillaceous sediments which originally contained disseminated gypsum 

that was precipitated by the partial evaporation of sea water in a 

temporarily inclosed arm of the sea. The gypsum has since been 

concentrated in favorable layers in the same formation by underground waters which circulated chiefly along the fault contact between the Carboniferous and Cambrian rocks, dissolved the calcium 

cai-bonate from the adjacent earthy limestones, and segregated the 

gypsum in the more gypsiferous beds by chemical selection. Such 

transportation and concentration of gypsum are known to have taken 

place on a small scale in the satin spar veins in the adjacent clay, and

1 Stose, G. W., Geology of the salt and gypsum deposits of southwestern Virginia: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 530, pp. 232-255, 1913; Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 8, pp. 

51-73, 1913.

124567° 20 19
2.90 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF. THE UNITED STATES.

^-f

the "domes-" of salt and gypsum-in the Gulf States, if correctly 

interpreted by Harris and others,, are examples of the process on a 

gigantic scale. (

This conclusion seemed warranted because the gypsum deposits 

have so far been, found only in soft shales of the Maccrady formation adjacent to the fault and descending southeastward beneath < 

the fault plane... Under this hypothesis the black rock in the gypsum 

is regarded not as a sedimentary layer but as the segregated insoluble 

impurities of the original deposit concentrated in- a. concretionary 

ball-like form during the purification of the gypsum by recrystallization, and the alternating bands of pure and impure gypsum surrounding these rounded masses would represent, a, stage in the' process of '~~~ 

purification by this method. The thick layers of pure gypsum in the 

gypsum mines would be regarded not as original deposits of pure 

gypsum but as more or less gypsiferous beds that have been purified >r 

by the removal of lime by solution and of argillaceous matter by its 

concentration in the concretionary balls,, and by the addition of gypsum derived from the disseminated particles in adjacent beds..

An alternative explanation of the origin of gypsum that will 

also account for the close association of the gypsum beds' with the 

fault plane is that conditions favorable to the deposition of gypsum increased toward the southeast; that while marine conditions 

accompanied by deposition of fossiliferous limestone and clay prevailed on the northwest side of the area which is now the Saltville 

syncline, represented by the barren Maccrady formation along North _^ 

Fork of Holston River southwest of Saltville, the southeast side of 

this area was occupied by an estuary or lagoon partly inclosed by a 

barrier and in this lagoon gypsum and red clay were being deposited, 

represented by the gypsum deposits southwest and northeast of Saltville. Under this hypothesis the western edge of'the gypsum deposits 

is just being exposed, and the gypsum will be found to extend south- ^ 

eastward beneath the overthrust Cambrian dolomites, just as under 

the hypothesis of concentration along the fault zone. The thick beds 

of pure gypsum would thus be original deposits in which beds of ^ 

argillaceous sediments had been so closely infolded that they appear 

as balls of black rock surrounded by bands of impure gypsum... the 

banding representing original sedimentation. The chief objection 

to this hypothesis is the abruptness of the change from thick marine 

sediments to equally thick nonmarine sediments, as displayed at 

Saltville and Maccrady, but this objection can be overcome by the ^ 

assumption of extensive enrichment of the gypsum and salt beds by 

secondary concentration by circulating waters. A generalized record 

of one of the typical wells of the Mathieson Alkali Co. at -Saltville ^ 

is ns follows:'
V

VIRGINIA.

Generalized section of a well at Saltville, Va.

291

Thickness. Depth.

Limestone and shale................................

Shale and gypsum...................................

Mostly shale with gypsnm and some rock salt.......

Mostly limestone witn shale, gypsum, and rock salt. 

Mostly shale with gypsum and rock salt-............

Mostly rock stilt with little shale....................

Feet. 

26 

195 

359 

215 

100 

197

Feet.

20 

221 

580 

795 

895 

1,092

The section at the river cliff southwest of Maccracly is as follows: 

Section of ]\[accrady formation west of Naocraa-y, Va.

Dark impure massive limestone (Newman). * FeetDark-gray to green crumbly fossiliferous shale and earthy

gray limestones (upper part concealed) ___________ 65 

Alternate thick earthy limestone, calcareous shale, and thin

crystalline fossiliferous limestones______________ GO 

Massive-bedded bluish tough calcareous and argillaceous

sandstone with fossiliferous calcareous layers_______ 25 

Gray sandstone, weathering brown_______________ 5 

Shaly earthy contorted sandy limestone____________ 34 

Hard thick-bedded bluish calcareous sandstone_______ 20 

Softer shaly earthy sandstone_________________ 30 

Thick bed of earthy sandstone_________________ 6 

Hard impure limestone, with chert nodules_________ 8 

Thick soft earthy sandstone___________________ 10 

Shaly earthy limestone______________________ GO 

Thick-bedded to shaly earthy sandstone_____________ 45 

Covered, probably shaly earthy limestone and soft earthy

sandstone _____ ________________________ 200 

Covered, probably red siliceous shale at top (seen olsewherc) 2G 

Red shaly sandstone and shale, mottled yellow_______ 10 

Red shale in part, rest covered_________________ 25 

Red shaly sandstone, mottled yellow______________ 7 

Shaly gray sandstone, with phosphatic fish plates______ 10 

Sandy shale, in part covered__________________'_ 20 

Soft shale, light buff to dark drab; light-gray lire clay with

rootlets, leaves, and twigs at base_______________ 20 

Black coaly fissile shale______________________ 2 

Slabby blue even-grained irregular-bedded sandstone, weathering buff (top of Price sandstone). 6SS

It is not reasonable to believe that while several hundred feet of 

marine sediments were accumulating near Maccrady, nonmarine 

conditions prevailed a mile away, around Saltville, where hundreds 

of feet of clay, gypsum, and salt were deposited. It is possible that a 

minor thrust fault cuts the section at a small ravine just southwest of 

Maccracly and passes southwestward along the belt of the Maccracly 

formation, whereby the gypsum-bearing beds and the marine beds
292 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

of the Maccrady formation, once much farther apart, were brought 

close together. The thickness and sequence of the middle portion of 

the Maccrady formation given in the preceding section would therefore be incorrect. The abrupt change in character of beds is more 

reasonably explained by assuming secondary concentration of the 

salt and gypsum.

GYPSUM INDUSTRY. 

EARLIER DEVELOPMENT.

In 1835 Rogers mentioned the great possibilities of this gypsum 

deposit as a source of fertilizer for the agricultural lands of Virginia, In 1836 he described these deposits as great detached masses 

of gypsum distributed along the Holston River belt for 40- miles. He 

reported that an almost solid mass of gypsum 25 feet deep, 50 feet 

long, and 15 feet wide was opened at McCall's quarry (probably one 

of the pits on the Robertson place), borings indicating that it ex-. 

tended to a depth of 100 feet, and stated that small openings had 

been made in the extensive exposures at the Buchanan banks in 

Walker Valley (Locust Cove), which indicated a great abundance 

of gypsum there.

Stevenson in 1885 reported extensive mining on the Robertson 

tract at the southwest end of the Saltville Valley, where some large 

masses close to the surface had at that time been worked out. He 

also' reported that plaster had been dug for five years to a depth of 

60 feet at Pierson's and under the limestone bluff south of the river 

on the Miller farm (at North Holston), in a'deep shaft in the river 

bottom on the Taylpr farm, and in a shaft north of the road on the 

same property (2 miles east of Broad Ford) ; and that extensive 

mining had been done by open pits and shafts on the Buchanan 

property, on Cove Creek, and in the small adjacent valley 3 miles 

Avest of Chatham.

Old caved-in pits where gypsum or "plaster," as it is commonly 

called, was mined from the surface in earlier days, are scattered 

along the belt of lowland from a point a mile west of Plasterco to 

the vicinity of Chatham Hill. Near Plasterco large pits, abandoned 

shafts, and caved-in ground mark the place where the Buena Vista 

Plaster Co. and the Robertsons formerly mined the gypsum and 

removed much of the available material close to the surface. Smaller 

openings were made by the same operators in the embayment about 1 

mile to the south west, but the deposits there have been only slightly 

explored. This tract is owned by the Buena Vista Plaster Co. and is 

at present leased to the United States Gypsum Co. In the broad flat 

at Saltville, where salt is extracted by the Mathieson Alkali Co., thick 

deposits of gypsum are reported in all the wells drilled for salt, and
VTBGINIA. 293

some beds at the surface were formerly mined for the manufacture 

of a kind of cement. The tract is owned by the Mathieson Alkali 

Co., which extracts brine but does not at present mine the gypsum.

At North Holston and in the embayment to the east several old 

gypsum pits on the Pierson and Miller farms were formerly worked 

for plaster but are now nearly obliterated. Several old pits are 

still visible near Broad Ford, most of them in the broad embayment 

to the east. One in the river bank on the Taylor farm, about a mile 

east of Broad Ford, still exposes gypsiferous shales beneath over-. 

thrust Cambrian dolomite. There are other pits on the Taylor 

farm and the adjacent Barnes place among the low hills north of the 

river. A large deposit was there opened by shaft and drifts but 

has long been abandoned and the workings filled with water.

Northeast of the Taylor farm the outcropping rocks continue to 

appear favorable for the occurrence of gypsum, but the exposed area 

of the Ma.ccrady formation, which carries the gypsum, is narrow, 

and gypsum is not known to occur in quantity in the next 3 miles. 

Beyond to the northeast, however, on the Buchanan property, extensive deposits occur and were mined on a large scale. The gypsum 

was crushed in a mill on the property, which was in operation about 

1907. The smaller pits have caved in, but some of the larger pits 

are full of water and are reported to be very deep. The embayment 

widens at this point and numerous pits are scattered over Locust 

Cove Creek bottom and adjacent small valleys. Several pits were 

worked north of Chatham Hill, and the crude gypsum was crushed 

in a water-power mill on the river at Chatham Hill.

PRESENT OPERATING MINES.

Two gypsum companies are operating in the area at the present 

time. The United States Gypsum Co.j with offices in Chicago, has 

leased the Robertson tract from the Buena Vista Plaster Co. since 

1909. This tract adjoins on the southwest the Mathieson Alkali Co.'s' 

property at Saltville. The plant is located at Plasterco, in the narrow southwestward extension of the broad flat at Saltville. The 

workings are reached by two main shafts, which are reported to 

be over 200 feet deep. The two sets of workings seem to be in 

distinct bodies of gypsum. A third abandoned shaft leads to another mass of the deposit, and other isolated bodies have been 

located by drilling over the bottom land. Large shallow deposits of 

gypsum on the eastern edge of the tract directly adjoining the Mathieson property were previously worked ont by surface openings and 

shallow drifts by the owners.

The gypsum in this mine seems to be in partly or wholly detached 

masses, some of great size, and not in continuous beds. The gypsum
294 GYPSUM. DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

is mostly a white to gray granocrystalline rock .inclosed in clay, the 

gray variety being streaked with fine dark argillaceous material. In 

the material on the dump of one of the. abandoned shafts numerous 

small anhydrite crystals are scattered through the gypsum. The 

gypsum is brought to the surface by elevators and conveyed by tram 

cars to the mill, where it is roasted and pulverized for wall plaster 

and other purposes. Plaster bricks, tiles, and hollow blocks are also 

manufactured.

The Southern Gypsum Co.'s plant and office, which are at North 

Holston, are reached by the company's branch railroad from Saltville. The mine is located at an embayment of the lowland similar 

to that at Saltville, though not so large. The shaft to the mine in 

the lowland is connected by an aerial bucket tram with the main 

roasting and grinding plant at the railroad on the hillside to the 

north, where wall plaster and finishing plaster are made from the 

purer lump gypsum. A part of the crude product is ground directly 

at the lower mill near the shaft for land plaster, much of the gypsiferous clay being of the right mixture to be used in this way.

The bulk of the gypsum is granular and crystalline (see PI. 

XXXIII, #, p. 264), like that at the United States Gypsum Co.'s 

plant. Some large sheets of selenite have been encountered, and 

small veinlets of satin spar are common in the associated clay. Some 

masses of anhydrite occur in the gypsum in the deeper workings. 

Some of the gypsum is finely banded with dark gypsum and in 

places fine dark argillaceous layers surround and merge into large 

rounded masses of black argillaceous material called "black rock." 

The banding of the gypsum, suggests original bedding of the sediments, but some of it may have a different interpretation. (See p. 290.) 

The extent, thickness, and purity of the gypsum have been carefully 

determined by numerous borings over the river bottom in the embayment, and it has been demonstrated by the company that the gypsum 

here occurs in thick beds of wide extent, although they vary greatly 

in thickness, being apparently lenticular.

The gypsum was formerly mined for land plaster in open cuts 

at outcrops along the river. It is now mined from a shaft in the 

bottom land from which run several levels along the strike of the 

beds and inclines down the dip toward the southeast to a maximum 

depth of 200 feet. Eooms 100 feet across and 50 feet high have been 

stoped out; large gypsum pillars are left to support the roof.
WYOMING.

By R. W. STONE. 

CHARACTER AND EXTENT.

'The workable gypsum deposits in Wyoming are confined to the 

Chugwater, Embar, and Spearfish formations ("Red Beds"). The 

Chugwater formation, the greater part of which is apparently represented by the Spearfish formation in the Black Hills, is presumably for the most part of Triassic age, although in some areas it includes beds of Permian and Pennsylvanian age. It is 600 to 1,600. feet 

thick and consists of soft massive red fine-grained sandstones, merging 

into red shales, and including extensive gypsum deposits and a few 

thin limestone beds. The formation as a whole is brilliant red, which 

renders it a conspicuous feature in most portions of the outcrop area. 

The gypsum beds lie from 15 to 120 feet below the top o;f the formation and near the bottom. The Chugwater in part overlies and in 

part is contemporaneous with and grades horizontally into the marine 

Embar formation. The Embar formation, which ranges in age from 

Pennsylvanian to early Triassic, consists of beds of gray, greenish, 

and yellowish shale, gypseous shale, and shaly limestone, including 

near their middle a persistent layer of nodular chert. 'The Embar 

rests on the Tensleep sandstone and is in part overlain and in part 

replaced by the lower red beds of the Chugwater formation. Where 

shaly its soft character, like that of the Chugwater formation, is 

commonly expressed by a valley. !

The red beds (Chugwater formation), which are one of the most 

conspicuous geologic 'features in the Rocky Mountain region, outcrop 

along the base of most of the mountain ranges in Wyoming and are 

exposed as the core of a number of secondary folds. The total length 

of outcrop in the State in which there are one or more beds of gypsum over 4 feet thick is over 800 miles. Beds of gypsum. 10 to 20 

feet thick are common, and beds 30, 40, and some even 60' feet thick 

extend for miles. /

Gypsite occurs in a number of localities, particularly in the southern part of Albany County. This impure gypsum, or gypsum earth, 

is a secondary surficial deposit, usually occurring in depressions 

below rock gypsum. It is rarely more than a few acres in extent 

and as a rule is not more than 15 'feet thick.

295
296 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The outcrops of red beds known to be gypsum bearing are shown 

on the map (PL XXXVI)., which was compiled by L. W. Trombull, 

former State geologist of Wyoming.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

Gypsum was first developed in Wyoming about 1890, at Red 

Buttes, on the Union Pacific Railroad, 9 miles south of Laramie. A 

small plant for the manufacture of plaster of Paris and wall plaster was erected, and this has since been in operation. The mill is 

located near the quarry. . Below a thin cover of surface material 

there is a pure, almost white deposit of rock gypsum, which is worked 

to a depth of 15 feet. This depth, however, does not represent the 

entire thickness of gypsum.

Just south of the town of Laramie a very large bed of gypsite was 

discovered about 1895. A Kansas company -purchased the ground 

and erected a large plant, in 1896, which, after operating a few years, 

was then taken over by another company. This mill and another 

at the same place were making wall plaster from gypsite at Laramie 

in 1918.

The deposit at Laramie is covered with about a foot of soil, which 

is removed by means of plows and scrapers. Next below the overburden there is 9 feet of gypsite that is free from extraneous matter. It is plowed, taken up in wheeled scrapers, and hauled to the 

storehouse of the mill. The material as delivered by the scrapers 

is so pulverulent that it is cooked without being ground. . At Basin, Big Horn County, a small mill has been operating for 

several years on rock gypsum quarried on the Chicago, Burlington

6 Quincy Railroad 8 miles north of Greybull. The deposit here is 

massive gypsum with a few red shale layers which are discarded by 

hand picking after shooting off the solid. The rock is taken by rail 

to Basin, where it is broken in a gyratory crusher, pulverized between French burrstones, and calcined over a coal fire. Coal has. 

proved more economical than natural gas from wells in the vicinity. 

A large part of the plaster made at Basin is molded into building 

blocks for exterior use. The appearance of buildings made of these 

blocks is pleasing, and the weather seems to have no bad effect on 

them. Blocks that have been in walls exposed to the weather for

7 years show no checking. This is due to the aridity of the climate, the annual precipitation in this valley being only 5 inches, most 

of which falls during the warm months.

In a country where wood for building purposes is scarce the inexpensive plaster blocks can be sold. The mill at Basin supplies only 

the local market.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXVI

MAP OF WYOMING SHOWING AREAS KNOWN TO CONTAIN GYPSUM. 

Shading indicates gypsum areas. Pick and hammer symbols indicates gypsum quarries.
WYOMING. 297

A small quantity of gypsum was quarried and calcined at Greybull in 1915 and made into building blocks, and in 1916 a new mill 

at Stucco, a few miles north of Grey bull, began calcining local 

gypsum.

At Dayton, 16 miles west of Sheridan, a quarry has been opened 

and also one at Alcova, but these localities are too far from the railroads at present to warrant the erection of plants, except to supply 

the local demand.

The gypsum beds in Wyoming are so numerous and of such extent and purity that with proper facilities for transportation an 

enormous industry could be supplied.

LOCALITIES.

The following description of localities is compiled from the writings of N. H. Darton, C. A. Fisher, C. E. Jamison, C. T. Lupton, 

D. D. Condit, G. B. Eichardson, C. E. Siebenthal, and L. W. Trumbull. Acknowledgment of the writer's indebtedness to these geologists is here made, and specific references to their work will be found 

in the following pages. The description begins with the gypsum in 

the Black Hills, folloAvs the deposits in order across the northern 

part of the State, and thence southeast across the center of the State 

to the Colorado boundary.

BLACK HILLS.1

Gypsum is abundant in the broad belt of red beds (in this area 

known as the Spearfish formation) encircling the Black Hills. The 

deposits on the east side of the Black Hills are described under the 

gypsum deposits in South Dakota (pp. 242-243).

East of Newcastle there are thick beds of gypsum in the lower portion of the Spearfish formation and a thick deposit at its top, which 

extends over a large area. The lower beds are 40 feet thick at some 

localities, and the upper bed is 30 feet thick. Extensive exposures of 

gypsum are found 5 miles southeast of Newcastle, a short distance 

northeast of the L A K ranch, in the middle of the formation, and 

gypsum beds underlie part of the alluvium in the valley of Stockade 

Beaver Creek for several miles north of the L A K ranch.

1 Darton, N. H., Preliminary description of the geology and water resources of the 

southern half of the Black Hills and adjoining regions In South Dakota and Wyoming: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. Rept, pt. 4, p. 518, 1901. GJeology and water resources of the northern portion of the Black Hills and adjoining regions in South Dakota 

and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Taper 65, 1909. U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, 

Newcastle folio (No. 107), p. 9, 1904; idem, Aladdin folio (No. 128), p. 8, .1905.

Richardson, G. B., Upper Red Beds of the Black Hills: Jour. Geology, vol. 11, p. 373, 

1903.
298 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF. THE UNITED STATES.

111 a deep bore hole at Cambria the Spearfish. red beds were 492 

feet thick, and the following subdivisions were recognized;

Section of Spearfish formation at Cambria, Wyo.

Feet. 

Gypsum _________ ___________________. __.__ 8

Light red shale____________'.________________ 237 

Gypsum ____________- _____ _____________ 7 

Heel shale ____________..__..____________..___ 58 

Gypsum_______.._.._____ ______ _________ 4

Reel shale and gypsum ___ _____ ____.._____ 78 

Gypsum______________________ ________ 12 

Red shale lying on Minnekahta limestone_____________ 88

492

These deeply buried beds at Cambria need not be considered a 

future resource because of the extensive s'urface deposits near the 

main line of the railroad southeast of Newcastle.

In the valley 2 miles southeast of Mount Pisgah and 10 miles north 

of Newcastle there are extensive exposures of gypsum not far above 

 the basal beds of the Spearfish formation, and on the north side of 

Mount Pisgah a 30-foot bed at the top of the formation caps Red 

Butte, a prominent outlier 6 miles northeast of Cambria. A view of 

this thick bed capping Eed Butte is shown in Plate XXXVII, A.

In Oil Creek valley, T. 47 N., R. 62 W., a massive white gypsunl 

bed 25 feet thick is conspicuous. A few miles farther north gypsum 

beds extend partly around Inyankara and Strawberry mountains, 

and in the vicinity of Sundance exposures of them encircle Green 

Mountain and Gypsum Buttes. The main 'bed at these localities is 

about 5 feet thick.

A few miles south of Aladdin a gypsum bed which averages 15 

feet thick outcrops continuously through Government and Redwater valleys. It occurs about 100 feet above the base of the 

Spearfish formation. Two miles northwest of Beulah, in Redwater 

Valley, there are two beds of massive white gypsum, one of them 2 

feet and the other 4 feet in thickness.

Several thin beds of gypsum occur near the top of the Spearfish 

formation along Belle Fourche River northwest of the Black Hills, 

near Devils Tower, but their thickness in few places exceeds 2 feet.

The gypsum deposits on the .west side of the Black Hills are 

relatively pure and if nearer to good markets would be valuable.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 697 PLATE XXXVII

A. BUTTE OF RED BEDS OK SPEARFIS1I FORMATION CAPPED WITH A 30-FOOT 

BED OF GYPSUM EAST-NORTHEAST OF CAMBRIA, WYO.

Photograph by N. H. Darton.

S. METHOD OF MINING GYPSITE, LARAMIE, WYO. 

Photograph by E. F. Burchard.
WYOMING. 299

BIG HORN MOUNTAINS.1 

DISTRIBUTION.

As red beds (Spearfish formation) encircle the Black Hills and 

form the Red Valley, so similar red] beds (Chugwater formation) 

surround the Big Horn Mountains, and by their softness make another though not so conspicuous red valley. The Chugwater formation extends along the base of the steeper portions of the slopes of 

the Big Horn Mountains. Along the east side of the mountains, 

where the beds are nearly vertical, the outcrop is narrow, but on 

the western slope of the range the beds for the- most part dip gently 

and accordingly have a wider and more conspicuous outcrop. On 

the east side the beds can be' traced, with few interruptions, from 

the Montana line across Sheridan and Johnson counties into Natrona County, a distance of 200 miles. On the west side of the 

mountains the red beds are almost continuously exposed for 175 

miles from the Montana line to the1 southeastern part of Washakie 

County. Around the southern end of the Big Horn Mountains 

Eocene deposits conceal the older formations.

EAST SLOPE.

/Sheridan County. Information is meager concerning the gypsum 

beds in Sheridan County. Two beds 50 and CO feet thick are exposed 

near Lodge Grass Creek, a few miles north of the State line in Montana 

(p. 137), but according to Darton the principal gypsum bed in Sheridan County is near the base of the Chugwater formation and averages from 3 to 5 feet thick at most places. It outcrops almost continuously from Pass Creek to Little Goose Creek. A quarry was 

. opened several years ago near Dayton, west of Sheridan, but it has 

not been operated and no information is at hand regarding the deposit at that place. Gypsum is well exposed on the head of Beaver 

Creek, a few miles southwest of Sheridan, and to the southeast as 

far as Big Horn.

Buffalo. On the south fork of Bock Creek, which is tributary to 

Clear Creek at Buffalo, limestone is overlain by 200 feet of soft red 

sandstone containing much impure gypsum, and this is capped by a 

20-foot bed of pure gypsum. Near the head of Sand Creek southwest of Buffalo, where the beds are nearly vertical, there is over 100 

feet of gypsum, some of it pure.

1 Darton, N. H., Geology of the Big Horn Mountains : U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 

til, 1006. U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Bald Mountain-Dayton folio (No. 141), p. 15,

Lupton, C. T., and Condit, D. D., Gypsum in the southern part of the Big Horn Mountains, Wyo. : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 640, pp. 139-157, 1916.
300 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The continuity of outcrop of the red beds is interrupted west of 

Buffalo by faulting and also where the beds cross the north forks of 

Powder River.

Crazy Woman Creek. On Middle Fork of Crazy Woman Creek, 

in T. 47 N., R. 83 W. 5 there are a number of beds of very fine textured 

white gypsum, which, with 14 thin partings, amounting to about 

32 feet, make a total thickness of 125 feet. An analysis of gypsum 

from this locality is given in the table (p. 29).

Near Beaver Creek, a tributary of South Fork of Crazy Woman 

Creek, gypsum in beds 25 to 40 feet thick occurs locally near the top 

of the Chugwater formation, and exposures in a ravine show a large 

amount of gypsum in the Embar formation both above and below 

the purplish chert member.

On South Fork of Crazy Woman Creek the variable and discontinuous character of the gypsum beds is evident. Rock exposures 

along the main valley are not good, but it seems probable that gypsum is not present. Half a mile farther north, however, in T. 46 N., 

R. 83 W., there is about 90 feet of gypsum beds in the Embar formation. This thickness includes several shale layers, none of which is 

over 3£ feet thick.

Powder 'River. On North Fork of Powder River, near the Webb 

ranch, in T. 45 N., R. 83 W., there are beds of white and pink banded 

gypsum alternating with red shale which have a thickness of about 

40 feet. This locality is northwest of Mayoworth and south of The 

Horn, a prominent projecting ridge on the front of the range. Near 

the Phillips ranch, on Red Creek, there is much gypsum along the 

base of the main mountain., front and southward for several miles. 

The deposits are found to be discontinuous when traced along the 

outcrop. The gypsum beds are in the Embar formation, and those 

above the purplish chert member have a greater thickness than those 

below, being as much as 100 feet when the intercalated red shale layers are included.

In the vicinity of Barnum, in T. 43 N., R. 84 W., little gypsum is 

exposed, but the distorted attitude of the red shales supports the 

belief that gypsum beds probably of considerable thickness exist 

under the surface. If so they were once present and exposed at the 

surface but have been removed by solution. South of Barnum, along 

the valley of Buffalo Creek, there are numerous thick beds of gypsum. They are well exposed near Hole in the Wall, which is about 

4 miles north of the Johnson-Natrona county line.

WEST SLOPE. !

From the canyon of Big Horn River near the State line southeast 

along the Avest slope of the mountains to Shell Creek the outcrop of 

the Chugwater formation is narrow. Detailed information is not
WYOMING. 301

at hand regarding the gypsum. A bed several feet thick is reported 

near Cleverly, and it is said that gypsum from 10 to 15 feet thick is 

common along this side of the range. It is abundant south of Shell 

Creek as shown below.

Shell. At the mouth of Shell Creek canyon, a few miles east of 

Shell, there is a bed of gypsum 12 feet thick. This may be the 

same as the bed near Cloverly and northward to the State line.

Hyattville. On Paintrock Creek east of Hyattville there are 

several beds of gypsum, one 10 feet thick, in the Chugwater beds. 

At a point about 5 miles southeast of Hyattville and one-half mile 

west of the Hyattville-Tensleep road; gypsum occurs in seven beds, 

ranging in thickness from 1 foot 8 inches to 13 feet, with a total 

thickness pf 4.3 feet of gypsum exposed in less than 60 feet of strata. 

Most of the gypsum at this place is pure white, but some of it is 

brownish gray and has a red stain. In this same neighborhood, near 

Zeisman's ranch, in sec. 34, T. 49 N., R. 89 W., gypsum beds 4 to 10 

feet thick alternate with red shale probably belonging in the upper 

part of the Embar formation. Two analyses of gypsum, from these 

places are given in the table (p. 29).

Tensleep. The gypsum near the top of the Chugwater formation 

at a point about 2 miles northwest of Tensleep, on the north side of 

No Wood Creek, is thicker than at any other outcrop of the Chugwater beds here described. It is Y4 feet thick, and the upper 20 

feet is impure. Near Burke's ranch, on the north side of Tensleep 

Creek, two gypsum beds, 2 feet and 4 feet thick, occur in the midst 

of red shales in the lower part of the Embar formation, but the 

principal beds lie about 240 feet above the Tensleep sandstone. 

They consist of many layers interbedded with insignificant shale 

beds, the total thickness being about 90 feet, of which the shales 

constitute about 24 feet. The outcrops are stained reddish brown, 

but beneath the surface the gypsum is snowy white. The gypsum 

exposures in this vicinity in some respects rank among the most 

favorable deposits seen in the Big Horn Mountain region.

Bigtrails. At the mouth of Buffalo Creek, a western tributary of 

No Wood Creek, the gypsum is in one bed 48 feet thick, lying 50 

feet below the top of the Chugwater formation. It is mainly white 

and quite pure.

Redbank. Near the base of the mountain, along the valley of 

Cherry Creek, about 2 miles southwest of Redbank, there is about 

30 feet of gypsum with a few thin reddish shale layers in the Embar 

formation. Beneath this bed there are about eight gypsum beds, 

each 2 to 4 feet thick, scattered through an interval of 50 feet of red 

shale. The beds differ in thickness and disappear in a short distance 

along the outcrop, giving place to conglomeratic limestone, but a little 

farther along there appear other gypsum beds similarly stratified.
GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE- UNITED STATES.

4

No Wood. About 3 miles northeast of No Wood, where No Wood 

Creek enters the canyon, the upper portion of the Embar formation 

consists largely of massive white gypsum bedsr many feet thick, * 

with a, few interbedded shale layers. About a mile southwest of the 

canyon the upper pail of the formation shows almost no gypsum, 

but about 1-J miles southwest of No Wood the Embar again contains « 

prominent gypsum beds. A thickness of 42 feet of gypsum with 

interbedded layers of red shale is exposed. This is the most southwesterly locality where gypsum beds of notable thickness were observed by Lupton and Condit. \

BIG HORN BASIN.1 ^

Gypsum occurs at a number of places in and around Big Horn 

Basin. Perhaps the most notable of these places, because the gypsum there is being utilized, is Sheep Mountain, a topographic emi- ^ 

nence and structural anticline in the northern part of the basin, ^ 

through which Big Horn Biver has cut a shorts canyon. Sheep 

Mountain is encircled by red beds carrying, gypsum, which is quar- ~* 

ried near Stucco.and Greybull.

Stucco. Gypsum is being quarried from the upper part of the 

Chugwater formation about one-half mile west of Stucco, a station 

on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad 8 miles northwest 

of GreybulL The gypsum occurs in 8 beds which are 1 to 6^ feet 

thick, a total of 26 feet of gypsum in 70 feet of strata. The rock ' * 

is calcined in a, mill 'Completed in 1916 at Stucco. An analysis of the , 

gypsum is given in the table on page 29.

Greybull. Gypsum at' the top of the Chugwater formation .is 

fairly well exposed near the south end of Sheep Mountain, about 

2 miles north of Greybull. on the north .side of Shell Creek. In all, 

47 feet of gypsum is exposed in two beds, the upper one, which is ^ 

34 feet thick, is separated by 2 feet of shale from the lower one,, 

which is 13 feet thick. The total amount may be greater, as the 

section is partly concealed. A few beds of gypsum 3 to 4 feet thick, 

in the Embar formation, are exposed along the southwest base of ^ 

Sheep Mountain about 2 miles from the mouth of Shell Creek.

Cody. Fisher reports the occurrence of an 8-foot bed of white V 

massive gypsum 10 miles south of Cody in the upper part of the 

Morrison formation and a 30-foot bed of similar character 12 feet, 

below the top of the Chugwater formation on Trail Creek a few 

miles northwest of Cody. A little farther northwest the red beds j.

outcrop again and continue in a nearly straight course to the State

 (..

1 Lupton, C. T., and Condit, D. D., Gypsum in the southern part of the Big Horn Mountains, Wyo. : .U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 640, pp. 139-157, 1916. ^

Fisher, C. A., Mineral resources of the Big Horn Basin : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 285, 

p. 313, 1905. Geology and water resources of the Big Horn Basin, Wyo.: V. S. Geol. 

Survey Prof. Paper .53, p. 18, 1906.
WYOMING, . 303:

line. They are reported to contain gypsum, but the thickness of 

the deposits is not known. Along the east front of the Absaroka 

Range 500 to 600 feet of red sandstone is capped by 20 to 30 feet 

of white gypsum.

' Tkermopolis. Within a few miles north and west of Thermopolis' 

pure-white gypsum in beds 5 .to 25 feet thick occurs 30 to 50 feet 

below the top of the Chugwater formation. About 9 miles east 

of Thermopolis, in the Red Spring' anticline, there is a 16-foot 

bed of fairly pure gypsum near the top of the Embar formation, 

and in the upper part of the Chugwater formation there are two 

beds. The upper bed, 10 feet thick, lies about 33 feet above the 

lower bed, which is 42 feet thick. An analysis of gypsum from the 

north flank of Red Spring anticline is given in the table on page 29.

OWL CREEK MOUNTAINS. 1

The mountains in Hot Springs County south of Owl Creek are a 

westward continuation of the Bighorn Mountains. The structure 

is an uplift or fold with Paleozoic rocks exposed at the core. Chugwater red beds outcrop around the base of the mountains and contain 

a thick bed of gypsum. This bed, which is 100 feet beloAv the top 

of the Chugwater and above a prominent orange-colored sandstone, 

is 30 feet thick south of Embar and on Red Creek southwest of 

Thermopolis. It is very extensively exposed and 40 feet thick on the 

head of Muddy Creek in and near T. 7 N., R. 2 W.

GROS VENTRE RANGE.

It was stated in an earlier report 2 that gypsum of excellent grade 

occurs in very thick beds at many places around the Gros Ventre 

Mountains. The writer has not traced the source of this information, 

but finds it controverted by recent geologic work. Eliot Blackwelder, who examined these mountains for the United States Geological Survey in 1910, asserts in an unpublished land-classification 

report that no important beds of gypsum have been found in the 

many excellent sections of the red beds along the north slope of the 

Gros Ventre Range. In his report on, T. 41 N., R. 113 W., Blackwelder says that "Very thin laminae of gypsum have been found 

in the lower part of the Chugwater formation in this township^ but 

no layers more than a small fraction of an inch thick." He says 

further that because of the many excellent exposures of the rocks 

thick beds of gypsum would have been seen had they been present. 

He found no gypsum in T. 41 N., Rs. 115 and 116 W., which are at 

the west end of the range.

1 Barton, N. H., Geology of the Owl Creek Mountains : 59th Gong., 1st, sess., S. Doe. 219, 

p. 19, 1906.

2 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 84, 1904.
304 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

SALT KIYER RANGE.

The Salt River Eange is in Lincoln County south of the Gros i 

.Ventre Range. Although it was stated in the earlier report 1 that 

the red beds, which are extensively exposed in several north-south ^ 

folds in this region, contain plentiful deposits of gypsum, inquiry of ,, 

A. R. Schultz and G. R. Mansfield, geologists of the United States 

Geological Survey, who have worked in the area recently, elicited 

the information that gypsum was nowhere observed and, if present 

at all, must be in very thin and inconspicuous beds. »

WIND RIVER RANGE AND VICINITY. 2

J.

Along the northeast slope of the Wind River Range for a distance 

o'f 100 miles the red beds are exposed almost continuously. No 

information is at hand as to the occurrence of gypsum other than -, 

that it is abundant and in thick beds. The red beds are exposed also 

in three areas along an anticline which passes east of Fort Washakie, '* 

Lander, and Dallas. The upper beds are pinkish and "contain much 

gypsum.

Fort Washakie. In the bank of Little Wind River, in sec. 34; T. 

1 N., R. 1 W., there is a deposit of gypsum 61 feet thick. It consists 

of massive beds several feet thick, interlaminated with thin shale 

layers and all upturned at a high angle. Near by in the Sage Creek 

district gypsum beds range from 30 to 70 feet thick. -*

Lander. Red beds, brought up and exposed by an anticlinal fold 

north and east of Lander, contain an abundance of gypsum, as shown ^ 

by the beds 40 feet or more thick near the Lander Experiment Farm.

Hailey. Unpublished notes made by a United States Geological 

Survey field party, under the direction of C. J. Hares, show that the 

red sandstone near the. top of the Chugwater formation contains gyp- * 

sum beds of various thicknesses near Hailey on Beaver Creek southeast of Lander. The maximum thickness about 2 miles west of 

Hailey is 12 feet. Southwest of Hailey, about 50 feet below the 

Sundance formation, there is 10 feet of white gypsum, with thin red 

shale partings.

CENTRAL WYOMING. 3 ^-

Conant Creek. It is reported that gypsum beds of sufficient thickness to be valuable for working outcrop for several miles around 

the end of an anticline on Conant Creek, a tributary of Muskrat 

Creek northeast of Lander. In view of the location of this deposit ^

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 84, 1904. . «.

2 Jamison, C. B., Geology and mineral resources of a portion of Fremont County, Wyo.: 

Wyoming Univ. Bull. 2, ser. B, p. 84, 1911. Knight, W. C., Gypsum deposits in Wyoming: ; 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 84, 1904. ^"

3 Knight, W. C., op. cit., p. 83.
WYOMING. 305

and of the abundance of gypsum in Wyoming, the commercial importance of gypsum on Conant Creek, no matter how thick, is questioned.

RattlesnaJce, Green, and Ferris mountains. Gypsum has been reported in the slopes on the northeast side of the Rattlesnake Eange, 

but no information is at hand regarding the thickness of the beds, except that no large deposits appear to be present. Gypsum beds are 

exposed in gulches and -canyons along the southern base of Ferris 

Mountains and are reported in Green Mountains. All these localities are remote from any market and 25 miles or more from a railroad.

Alcova. In the vicinity of Alcova, which is on North Platte 

River below the canyon and 30 miles above Casper, there is .much 

gypsum in the lower part of the Chugwater formation. It is exposed, in two areas, each 5 or 6 miles long, where a broad valley 

transverse to the river has been carved out of the Tertiary rocks. 

One area is at Alcova and the other 3 or 4 miles up the river at 

the mouth of the canyon.

SOUTHEASTERN WYOMING. 1

Casper-Douglas area. At the east end of Casper Mountain on 

Muddy Creek, in the upper part of the Chugwater formation, there 

is a 20-foot limestone member which makes a prominent wall in the 

steep-dipping beds. In the sandstones overlying this limestone there 

is an 8-foot gypsum bed. Outcrops of the Chugwater are continuous to the east for a few miles to the area where Tertiary deposits 

cover the older formations south of Glenrock. South of Douglas 

the Chugwater is again uncovered, and its conspicuous red outcrop 

extends up Wagon Hound and Labonte creeks. On both these creeks 

there is considerable gypsum near the base of the formation.

Seminoe Mountains. Red beds outcrop around the eastern end of 

the Seminoe Mountains and along the south side for about 20 miles. 

North Platte River has cut through the mountains about midway of 

their length, so that the exposures on the two sides of the river are 

of nearly equal length. There are many outcrops of gypsum beds 

of considerable thickness, but measurements of them have not been 

made.

1 Darton, N. I-I., Paleozoic and Mesozoic of central Wyoming: Geol. Soc. America Bull., 

vol. 19, pp. 403-470, 1908.

Darton, N. II., and Siebenthal, C. E., Geology and mineral resources of the Laramie 

Basin, Wyo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 364, 1909.

Knight, W. C., Gypsum deposits in Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 79-85, 

1904.

Siebenthal, C. E., Gypsum deposits of the Laramie district, Wyo.: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 285', pp. 404-405, 1906.

Trumbull, L. W., Cement plaster industry in Wyoming: Min. World, vol. 26, p. 387, 

1907.

124567° 20 20
306 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Shirley Mountains and Freezeout Hills.-^A. range in the northeast. 

part of Carbon County known as the Shirley Mountains is not over 

10 miles long. Its eastward continuation, the Freezeout Hills, is a 

broad anticlinal arch about 15 miles long. Red beds are exposed 

around the Freezeout Hills and along the southwest base of the Shirley Mountains, the total length of outcrop being fully 30 miles. 

Gypsum is abundant in thick beds. The only measurement is by 

Darton, who found a 30-foot bed in the Freezeout Hills.

Rawlins. Rawlins is at the southern end of an uplift about 15 

miles long, on the east and southwest sides of which the Chugwater 

formation occurs. A fault on the northwest side of the uplift makes 

the encircling outcrop discontinuous. For many miles the gypsumbearing beds are concealed by later deposits, but at a point 12 miles 

north of Rawlins and on the southwestern slope of the uplift, where 

the beds dip steeply to the west, good gypsum has been found. The 

thickness of the gypsum is not known.

Medicine Bow. The Chugwater formation is exposed for several 

miles in the valley of Little Medicine Bow River, north of the town 

of Medicine °Bow. A section of the formation measured at the west 

end of Flat Top Mountain about 3 miles northeast of the mouth of 

Little Medicine Bow River, by C. F. Bowen. of the United States 

Geological Survey, and heretofore unpublished, is given below.

Section of Cliuffu'ater formation, T. 23 N., R. 7.9 11"., Wyo.

	Feet.

Sandstone, yellow to gray, cross-bedded __!________ 110

Shale, red _______________________________ 20

Shale and sandstone, mostly red ____.___________ 297

Gypsum __________ _______________ 4

Shale, red, and concealed beds _________________ 201

Gypsum _______________________________ 4A

Shale, red and variegated ________^____________ 54

Gypsum _______________________________.. s

Shale, red, contains thin -beds of gypsum________;___ 14

Gypsum _________ _ _ ________ ___.___ 10

Shale, red, with a few thin beds of gypsum_ ________ 15

Gypsum, contains a few thin sandy beds_ _______ 19

Limestone _______-_ _ _--________ 2

Gypsum _ _ 6

Shale, blue ____________________________ . _

Gypsum ___ _ _ _ __ 1

Shale, red, sandy, ________________ _ _ _____ 44

Gypsura _______ _______ __ _ _ 8

Shale, red, sandy, and limestone _ __ ____ 115

Limestone, arenaceous, top crystalline __ _____.__ 14

Total ____________-_ _ _______ 1,007 

Total gypsum _ _ 60+
WYOMING. 307

Elk Mountains. Around the northern end of the Elk Mountains, 

a small group south of Hanna and at the northern extremity of the 

Medicine Bow Range, the Chugwater formation is exposed in a curving line. There are extensive beds of gypsum here, but to the south 

along the flank of the Medicine Bow Range the gypsum-bearing 

beds are concealed or obscured by mountain wash or by Tertiary 

deposits.

Laramie Basin. About 12 miles east of Medicine Bow is the western extremity of a series of exposures of red beds which can be 

traced along the west slope of Laramie Mountains south to the Colorado line. Wherever the red beds are uncovered gypsum is found 

in workable thickness. The only development of gypsum deposits 

in the basin, however, is at Laramie and Red Buttes. Gypsite is 

used at Laramie and rock gypsum at Red Buttes.

Gypsite deposits are known at several places in the Laramie district. The principal one is that which is being worked just south 

of the city of Laramie. It has a depth of 9 feet and covers several 

hundred acres. The gypsite is dug with horse scrapers and goes directly to the calcining kettles without grinding or screening. 

(See PI. XXXVII, B.) Other gypsite deposits in the vicinity are in 

sees. 3, 4, and SE. £ sec. 28, T. 16 N., R. 73 W.; on Soldier Creek, 1 

mile below and 2 miles above the site of Fort Saunders; NE. £ sec. 

21, T. 14 N., R. 73 W.; at the junction of Willow and Lone Tree 

creeks; and in sees. 33 and 34, T. 14 N., R. T4 W.

One mile east of Sportsmans Lake, in sec. 7, T. 13 N., R. 73 W., 

a bed of pure rock gypsum has been exposed to a depth of 4 or 5 

feet in a small pit. The full thickness of the deposit has not been 

determined.

Red Mountain shows the greatest thickness of rock gypsum, in 

Laramie Basin. Just north of the Wyoming-Colorado line, in sec. 

9, T. 12 N., R. '76 W., at the north base of Red Mountain, the following section was measured by C. E. Siebenthal:

Section a,t base of Red Mountain, Albany County, Wyo.

Feet.

Gypsum, reel, nearly pure______________.________ 6

Shale, red ________ _____________________ 35

Gypsum __ _ _____________________ 3

Shale, red ______________________________ 10

Gypsum ___ _______ 4

Shale, reddish ____________________________ 55

Limestone, gypsiferous, banded ____..____________ 5

Shale, red, sandy __________._______________ 88

Gypsum, massive ___ __ ________________ 67

Limestone, fossil if erous ________________________ 1

Total _______________________________ 274 

Total gypsum _______________________ 80
308 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

The bed of gypsum, at the bottom of the section has a thickness of 

30 feet or more along 5 miles of outcrop in the vicinity of the 

mountain, which is about 12 miles east of Wyocolo, a station on the 

Colorado, Wyoming & Eastern Railway.

Rock gypsum does not outcrop in the immediate environs of 

Laramie but shows a thickness of 9 or 10 feet at the north base of 

a small hill in the SW. f sec. 2, T. 16 N., R. 73 W. At Red Buttes 

it has been quarried for many years,! mile south of the station and 

made into plaster. Two beds are present, about 10 and 20 feet thick, 

and there is a gypsite deposit near the mill which also is used.

Laramie Mountains. The Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks on the 

east side of the Laramie Mountains dip to the east at high angles 

and were at one time covered with sediments of Tertiary age. Erosion has removed some of the cover and the old rocks are exposed 

in a few places along the west boundary of Laramie County. The 

red beds contain some gypsum, but so far as known not in notable 

quantity or thickness.
PART III. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following bibliography contains the principal publications of 

interest as supplementary reading in connection with this report:

GENERAL REFERENCES. 

UNITED STATES.

ADAMS, G. I., Gypsum deposits in the United States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

223, 1904.

BURCHABD, E. F., The gypsum industry: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral-Resources) 

1909, pt. 2, 1910; idem, 1910, pt. 2, 1911; idem. 1911, pt. 2, 1912.

LOUGHLIN, G. F., The gypsum industry in 1914: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1914, pt. 2, 1915.

STONE, R. W., The gypsum industry: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 

1912, pt. 2, 1913; Mem, 1913, pt. 2, 1914; idem, 1915, pt. 2, 1916; idem, 

1916, pt. 2, 1917; idem, 1917, pt. 2, 1918; idem, 1918, pt. 2, 1919.

CANADA.

BAILEY, L. W., and ELLS, R. W., Lower Carboniferous belt of Alberta and Westmoreland counties, New Brunswick; Canada Geol. Survey Rept. for 1876-

77, pp. 351-401, 1878. 

COLE, L. H., Gypsum in Canada: Canada Dept. Mines, Mines Branch, Bull. 245,

256 pp., 1913. 

FLETCHER, H., Explorations and surveys in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: Canada

Geol. Survey Rept. for 1875-76, pp. 369-418, 1877. 

JENNISON, W. F., Gypsum deposits of the maritime provinces: Canada Dept.

Mines, Mines Branch, Bull. 84, 1911.

TECHNOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY.

ECKEL, E. C., Cements, limes, and plasters, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1905. 

HODGSON, F. T., Mortars, plasters, stuccos, Chicago, F. J. Drake & Co., 1906. 

HTJNT, T. S., Origin of gypsum, in Chemical and geological essays, ch. 8, 1875. 

STONE, R. W., Gypsum products, their preparlition and use: Bur. Mines Tech.

Paper 155, 66 pp., 1917. 

WILDER, F. A,, Properties and uses of mineral gypsum: Appalachian Eng.

Assoc. Trans., Bull. 33, 1909.

REFERENCES BY STATES. 

ALASKA.

BURCHABD, E. F., Gypsum in Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources,

1913, pt. 2, p. 363, 1914. 

WRIGHT, C. W., Nonmetallic mineral resources of southeastern Alaska: U. S.

Geol. Survey^Bull. 314, pp. 79-SO, 1907.

309
310 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

ARIZONA.

BLAKE, W. P., Gypsum deposits in Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp.

100-101, 1904 

LEE, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. <S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 352, p. 36, 1908.

ARKANSAS.

HILL, R. T., The Neozoic geology of southwestern Arkansas: Arkansas Geol. 

Survey, vol. 2, pp. 119, 241, 257, 1888.

CALIFORNIA.

AUBURY, L. E., The structural and industrial materials of California: California 

State Min. Bur. Bull. 38, pp. 281-288, 1906.

BBADLEY, W. W., HTOTJENIN, E., LOGAN, C. A., and WAKING, C. A., Mines and 

mineral resources of the counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, 

Santa Barbara, Ventura, Calif.: California State Min. Bur. Bienn. Rept., 

1915-16, pp. 44, 142, 167, 1917.

CRAWFORD, 3. J., Gypsum (localities in California) : California State Mineralogist Twelfth Ann. Rept. pp. 323-325, 1894.

 State Mineralogist Thirteenth Ann. Rept., pp. 503-504, 1896.

EAKLE, A. S., Minerals of California: California State Min. Bur. Bull. 67,

pp. 184-186, 1914. 

FAIRBANKS, H. W., Gypsum deposits in California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223,

pp. 119-123, 1904. ' ' . 

GRIMSLEY, G. P., Gypsum and cement plaster industry in California : Eng. and

Min. Jour., vol. 71, p. 724, 1901. 

HARDER, E. C., The gypsum deposits of the Palen Mountains, Riverside County,

Calif. :°U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 430, pp. 407-416, 1910. 

HESS, F. L., A reconnaissance of the. gypsum deposits of California: U. S.

Geol. Survey Bull. 413, 1910.

 Gypsum deposits near Cane Springs, Kern County, Calif.: U. S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 430, pp. 417-418, 1910. 

SURR, GORDON, Gypsum in the Maria Mountains of California: Min. World, pp.

787-790, Apr. 15, 1911. 

WARING, C. A., and HUGUENIN, E., Mines and mineral resources of Alpine, Inyo,

and Mono counties, Calif.: California State Min. Bur. Bienn. Rept., 1915-16,

pp. 81-82, 1917. 

WATTS, W. L., California State 0 Min. Bur. Eleventh Ann. Rept., pp. 233-238,

1893.

 The gas and petroleum yielding formations of the central valley of 

California: California State Min Bur. Bull. 3, pp. 35, 63, 1894.

COLORADO.

BURCHARD, E. F., Gypsuni deposits in Eagle County, Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey

Bull. 470, pp. 354-365, 1911. 

BUTTERS, R. M., Permian or " Permo-Carboniferous" of the eastern foothills of

the Rocky Mountains in Colorado: Colorado Geol. Survey Bull. 5, pt. 2,

pp. 74, 82, 1913. 

GILBERT, G. K., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Pueblo folio (No. 36), p. 6,

1897.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 311

LAKES, A., Gypsum deposits in Colorado: IT. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 

86-88, 1904.

 Gypsum and clay in Colorado: Mines and Minerals, vol. 20, Dec., 1899.

LEE, H. A., Larimer County gypsum: Stone, vol. 21, pp. 35-37, 1900.

PEALE, A. C., U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr. [Eighth.1 .Ann. Kept., for 1874,

pp. 178-179, 1876. 

RANSOME, F. L., Ore deposits of the Rico Mountains, Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey

Twenty-second Ann. Kept., pt. 2, pp. 273-280, 1901. 

SIEBENTHAL, C. E., Gypsum deposits of the Uucompahgre region, Colo.: U. S.

Geol. Survey Bull. 285, pp. 401-403, 1906. 

SPENCEK, A. C., Geology of the Rico Mountains, Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey

Twenty-first Ann. Rept, pt. 2, pp. 48-54, 1900. 

S.VUJJB, J. E., Geology of Aspen mining district: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon.

31, pp. 239-241, 1898.

FLORIDA.

DAT, D. T., Gypsum in Florida: U. S. Geol. Survey Twentieth Ann. Rept, pt. 

6, pp. 662, 663, 1899.

 Gypsum deposits in Florida: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, p. 48, 1904. 

STOKE, R. W., Gypsum in Florida: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 

1918, pt. 2, pp. 293-296, 1919.

 Florida gypsum deposit explored: Rock Products, vol. 23, No. 2, pp.

30-31. 1920. 

WILDER, F. A., Gypsum: Mineral Industry, 1917, p. 117, 1918.

IDAHO.

BUKCHAKD, E. F., Gypsum industry in 191.0: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1910, pt. 2, p. 727, 1911.

IOWA.

KAY, G. F., A new gypsum deposit in Iowa: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 580, pp.

59-64, 1915. 

KEYES, C. R., Gypsum deposits in Iowa: Iowa Geol, Survey Rept., vol. 3, pp.

257-304, 1895.

 Iowa gypsum: Mineral Industry, vol. 4, pp. 379-396, 1896.

 Geological age of certain gypsuin deposits [Kansas and Iowa]: Am.

Geologist, vol. 30, pp. 99-102, 1902. 

WILDEB, F. A., Geology of Webster County, Iowa: Iowa Geol. Survey Ann Rept.

for 1901, pp. 65-191, 1902.

 The age and origin of the gypsum of central Iowa: Jour. Geology, vol. 

11, pp. 723-748, 1903.

 Gypsum deposits in Iowa: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 49-52, 1904.

KANSAS.

BAILEY, E. H. S., Special report on gypsum and gypsum cement plasters: Kansas Univ. Geol. Survey Rept.,. vol. 5, 1899.

 On the chemical composition of some Kansas gypsuin rocks: Kansas

Univ. Quart., vol. 6, pp. 29-34, 1897.

CBAGIN, F. W., The Permian in Kansas: Colorado Coll. Studies, vol. 6, 1896. 

. CBANE. W. R., Mining and milling of gypsum in Kansas: Eng. and Min. Jour.,

Nov. 9, 1901.

 : The gypsuin plaster industry of Kansas: Eug. and Min. Jour., vol. 77, 

pp. 442-445, 1904.
312 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

GBIMSLEY, G. P., Special report on gypsum and gypsuni cement plasters: 

Kansas Univ. Geol. Survey Kept., vol. 5, 1899.

 Gypsum deposits of Kansas: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 8, pp. 227-240, 

1897. ....

 Gypsum in Kansas: Kansas Univ. Quart, vol. 6, pp. 15^27, 1897.

 -Technology of gypsuni; Mineral Industry, vol. 7, pp. 388-394, 1899.

 Gypsum deposits in Kansas: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223; pp. 54-59,

1904. 

HAWOBTH, ERASMUS, Mineral resources of Kansas for 1897: Kansas Univ.

Geol. Survey Ann. Bull. pp. 59-65, 1898.

 Mineral resources of Kansas for 1898: Kansas Univ. Geol. Survey Ann.

Bull., pp. 54-55, 1899. 

HAY, ROBERT, A geological reconnaissance in southwestern Kansas: U. S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 57, pp. 22-24, 48, 1890. 

PBOSSEE, C. S., The upper Permian: Kansas Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 2, pp.

55-95, 1897. 

SHEBWIN, R. S., Theories of origin of gypsum: Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans., vol.

28, pp. 85-88, 1903.

LOUISIANA.

HABBIS, G. D., The geology of Louisiana: Louisiana Geol. Survey Rept. for 

1899, p. 137, 1899.

 Oil and gas in Louisiana: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 429, 1910.

MICHIGAN.

GBEGOBY, W. M., Gypsum in Arenac and adjoining counties: Michigan Geol. 

Survey Ann. Rept. for 1901, pp. 15-18, 1902.

 The Alabaster area: Michigan Geol. Survey Rept,, vol. 9, pt. 2, pp. 60-77,

 1904. 

GBIMSLEY, G. P., Preliminary report on the gypsum deposits of Michigan:

Michigan Geol. Survey Ann. Rept. for 1902, pp. 4-10, 1903.

 The gypsum of Michigan and the plaster industry: Michigan Geol. 

Survey Rept., vol. 9, pt. 2, 246 pp., 1904.

 Gypsum deposits in Michigan: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 45-47, 

1904.

 A theory of origin for the Michigan gypsum deposits: Am. Geologist, vol. 

34, pp. 378-387, 1904.

 Origin of gypsum, with special reference to the origin of the Michigan

deposits: Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 19, pp. 110-117, 1905.

MONTANA.

FEEEMAN, O. W., Gypsum and lime industry in central Montana: Min. and Eng.

World, vol. 45, pp. 663-664, 1916. 

ROWE, T. P., Montana gypsum deposits: Am. Geologist, vol. 35, pp. 104-113,

1905.

 Montana gypsum deposits: Mines and Minerals, vol. 28, pp. 59-60, 1907.

 Gypsum deposits of Montana: Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 85, p. 1243, June

20, 1908. 

WEED, W. H., Economic value of hot springs and hot-springs deposits: U. S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 260, pp. 598-604, 1905.

 Gypsum deposits in Montana: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 74-75, 

1904.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 313

NEVADA.

JONES, J. C.,. The origin of the anhydrite at the Ludwig mine, Lyon County, 

Nev.: Econ. Geology, vol. 7. pp. 4.00-402, 1912.

LOUDEBBACK, G. D., Some gypsum deposits of northwestern Nevada: Jour. Geology, vol. 11, p. 99, 1903. ..

 Gypsum deposits in Nevada: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 112-118, 

1904.

ROGERS, A.'F., The occurrence and origin of gypsum and anhydrite at the Luclwig mine, Lyon County, Nev.: Econ. Geology, vol. 7, pp. 185-189, 1912.

NEW MEXICO.

BRADY, F. W., The white sands of New Mexico: Mines and Minerals, vol. 25, pp.

529-530, 1905. 

HERRICK, C. L., The geology of the white sands of New Mexico: Jour. Geology,

vol. 8, pp. 112-128, 1900; New Mexico Univ. Hadley Lab. Bull., vol. 2, pt. 1,

1900.

 Lake Otero, an ancient salt-lake basin in southeastern New Mexico: 

Am. Geologist, vol. 34, pp. 174-189, 1904.

 Gypsum deposits in New Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 89-99,

1904. 

MEINZER, 0. E., Geology and water resources of Tularosa Basin, N. Mex.: U. S.

Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 343, pp. 69-71, 1915. 

NEWELL, F. H., The gypsum plains: U. S. Geol. Survey Twelfth Ann. Rept, pt.

2, pp. 281-282, 1891. 

SHALER, M. K., Gypsum in northwestern New Mexico: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull.

315, pp. 260-266, 1907.

NEW YORK.

BECK, L. C.. Mineralogy of New York, pp. 61-67, 237-238, 1842.

CLARKE, W. C., The gypsum industry in New York State: New York State Mns.

Bull. 11, pp. 70-84, 1893. 

CONRAD, T., First annual report on the geological survey of the third district of

New York, p. 179 (2d ed., p. 181), Albany, 1837.

DANA, J. D., Origin of gypsum deposits, in Manual of geology, p. 554, 1895. 

ECKEL, E. C., Gypsum deposits in New York: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp.

33-35, 1904.

HALL, JAMES, Geology of New York, pt. 4, pp. 421-457, 1843. 

HOPKINS, T. C., Mineral resources of Onondaga County: New York State Geologist Twenty-second Ann. Rept., pp. rl09-r!14, 1904; New York State Mns.

Fifty-sixth Ann. Rept., vol. 1, pp. rl09-rl!4, 1904. 

LEIGHTON, HENRY, Gypsum deposits of New York: New York State Mus. Bull.

143, 94 pp., Oct. 1, 1910. 

LINCOLN, D. F., Report on the structural and economic geology of Seneca

County, N. Y.: New York State Geologist Fourteenth Ann. Rept., pp. 60-125,

1806. 

LUTHER, D. D., The economic geology of Onondaga County, N. Y.: New York

State Geologist Fifteenth Ann. Rept., vol. 1, pp. 238-303, 1897; also New

York State Mus. Forty-ninth Ann. Rept., vol. 2, pp. 238-303, 1898. 

 The brine springs and salt wells of the State of New York: New York

State Geologist Sixteenth Ann. Rept., pp. 171-226, 1809; New York State

Mus. Fifteenth Ann. Rept., vol. 2, pp. 171-226, 1S99.
314 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

V

MEBK.ILL, F. J. H., Salt and gypsuni industries in New York State: New York 

State Mus. Bull. 11, 89 pp., 1893.

 Mineral resources of New York State: New York State Mus. Bull. 15, 

1895; also New York State Mus. Forty-eighth Ann. Kept., Vol. 1, pp. 359- 

595, 1895. ^

NEWLAND, D. H., and LEIGHTON, HENRY, Gypsuni deposits of New York: New 

York State Mus. Bull. 143, 94 pp., 1910.

NEWLAND, D. H., The mining and quarry industry of New York State; report of 

operations and production during 1904: New York State Mus. Bull. 93, pp. 

930-932, 1905; idem, 1905: Bull. 102, pp. 78-82, 1906; idem, 1906: Bull. 112, 

pp. 27-29, 1907; idem, 1907: Bull. 120, pp. 31-34, 1908; idem, 1908: Bull. 

132, pp. 29-33, 1909; idem, 1909: Bull. 142, pp. 38-44, 1910; idem, 1910: j^ 

Bull. 151, pp. 30-33, 1911; idem, 1911: Bull. 101, pp. 34-86, 1912; idem, 

3912: Bull. 166, pp. 33-36, 1913; idem, 1913: Bull. 174, pp. 36-39, 191.4; ^ 

idem, 1914: Bull. 178, pp. 35-36, 1915; idem, 1915: Bull. 190, pp. 31-34, 

1916; idem, 1916: Director State Mus. Thirteenth Kept, pp. 263-265, 1917.

PARSONS, A. L., Piecent developments in the gypsum industry in New York State:

New York State Geologist Twentieth Ann. Kept., pp. r!77-rlS3, 1902; New ^ 

York State Mus. Fifty-fourth Ann. Kept., vol. 1, pp. r!77-rl83, 1902.

 Notes on the gypsum industry of New York State: New York State '"

Geologist Twenty-third Ann. Kept., pp. 89-157, 1904; New York State Mus.

Fifty-seventh Ann. Kept., vol. 1, pp. 89-157, 1905. 

POHLMAN, J., Cement rock and gypsuni deposits in Buffalo: Am. Inst. Min.

Eng. Trans., vol. 17, pp. 250-253, 1889. 

SABLE, C. J., Economic geology of Monroe County, N. Y.: New York State ;

Geologist Twenty-second Ann. Kept., pp. r75-r!06, 1904; also New York

State Mus. Fifty-sixth Ann. Kept., pp. r75-r!06, 1904. 

VANTJXEM, LABDNEB, Geology of New York, pt. 3, pp. 98-102, 1842. 

WILLIAMS, S. G., Geological relations of the gypsum deposits in Cayuga County,

N. Y.: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 30, pp. 212-218, 1885. i

OHIO.

GILBERT, G. K., Geology of West Sister Island: Ohio Geol. Survey, vol. 1,'pp.

589-590, 1873. 

ORTON, EDWABD, Gypsum or land plaster in Ohio: Ohio Geol. Survey, vol. 6, <_

pp. 696-702, 1888. 

PEPPEL, S. V., Gypsum deposits in Ohio: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 38-44, -S-~

1904.

OKLAHOMA.

GOTJLD, C. N., Oklahoma gypsum: Oklahoma Dept. Geology Second Bienn. >f 

Kept., pp. 75-137, 1902.

 Gypsum deposits in Oklahoma: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 60-67, ^ 

1904.

 Extent and importance of Oklahoma gypsuni deposits: Min. Sci., vol.

56, pp. 542-543, 1907, and pp. 583-584, 1907.

 Geology and water resources of Oklahoma: U. S. Geol. Survey WaterSupply Paper 148, 1905.

 Preliminary report on the structural materials of Oklahoma. Oklahoma

Geol. Survey Bull. 5, pp. 98-113, 1911. 

SNIDEB, L. C., The gypsum and salt of Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geol. Survey

Bull. 11, pp. 214, 1913. 

 Oklahoma gypsum deposits and industry: Eng. and Min. Jour., vol.

95, pp. 931-933, 1913.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 315

OREGON.

LINDGREN, WALDEMAE, Gypsum deposits in Oregon: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223,

p. Ill, 1904. 

Anonymous, Plaster mill of the Pacific Lime & Gypsum Co.: Pacific Builder

and Engineer, July 5, 1913, pp. 3-4.

SOUTH DAKOTA.

DABTON, N. H., Preliminary description of the geology and water resources 

of the southern half of the Black Hills and adjoining regions in South 

Dakota and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. Kept., pt. 

4, pp. 510-518, 584-585, 1901.

 Gypsum deposits in South Dakota: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 

76-78, 1904.

Preliminary report on the geology and underground water resources

' of the central Great Plains: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 32, pp. 392-

394, 1905.

RICHARDSON, G. B., Upper Red Beds of the Black Hills: Jour; Geology, vol. 11, 

pp. 365-393, 1903.

TENNESSEE.

SAFFORD, J. M., Geology of Tennessee, p. 503, Nashville, 1869.

TEXAS,

ADAMS, G. I., Oil and gas fields of the western interior and northern Texas 

coal measures and of the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary of the western 

Gulf coast: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 184, pp. 49-53, 1901.

CUMMINS, W. F., Geology of northwestern Texas: Texas Geol. Survey Second 

Ann. Kept., pp. 455-459, 3891.

GOULD, C. N., Geology and water resources of Oklahoma: U. S. Geol. Survey 

AVater-Supply Paper 154, 1906.

 The geology and water resources of the western portion of ^ the Panhandle of Texas: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 191, 1907.

HARRIS, G. D., Oil and gas in Louisiana, with a brief summary of their occurrence in adjacent States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 429, 192 pp., 1910.

HILL, B. F., Gypsum deposits in Texas: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 68-73, 

1904.

MARCY, R. B., Exploration of the Red River of Louisiana: 32d 'Coug., 2d sess., 

S. Ex. Doc. 54, pp. 52, 91, 171-174; 1853; 33d Cong., 1st sess., H. Ex. Doc. 

15, pp. 52, 91, 148-151, 1854.

RICHARDSON, G. B., Reconnaissance in trans-Pecos Texas: Texas. Univ. Min. 

Survey, vol. 9, pp. 43-44, 1904.

 Salt, gypsum, and petroleum in trans-Pecos Texas: U. S. Geol. Survey

Bull. 260, pp. 573-585, 1905. 

SIMONDS, F. W., The minerals and mineral localities of Texas: Texas Univ.

Min. Survey, vol. 5, pp. 36-37, 1902. 

UDDEN, J A., The deep boring at Spur: Texas Univ. Bull. 363, 1914.

UTAH.

Anonymous, The gypsum deposits and plants at Gypsum, near Nephi, Utah:

Rock Products, vol. 10, p. 37, April, 1911. 

BOTTTWELL, J. M., Gypsum deposits in Utah: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp.

102-110, 1904.

 - Rock gypsum at Nephi, Utah: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 225, pp. 483-487,

1904. 

GILRERT, G. K., Lake Bonne.ville: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 1, pp. 222-223, 1890.
316 GYPSUM DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES.

LUPTON, C. T., Gypsum along the west flank of the San Rafael Swell, Utah:

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 530, pp. 221-231, 1913. 

TALMAGE, J. E., A remarkable occurrence of selenite: Science, vol. 21, pp. 85-87,

1893.

VIRGINIA.

BOYD, C. R., Gypsum in southwestern Virginia: Resources of southwest Virginia, pp. 104-108, 1881.

ECKEL, E. C., Salt and gypsum deposits of southwestern Virginia: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 213, pp. 406-416, 1903.

 Gypsum deposits in Virginia : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223, pp. 36-37,1904. 

STONE, W. H., Gypsum plant in southwestern Virginia: Manufacturers Rec.,

pp. 51-52, Aug. 20,. 1908. 

STEVENSON, J. J., Notes on the geological structure of Tazewell, Russell, Wise,

Smyth, and Washington counties of Virginia: Am. Philos. Soc. Proc., vol. 22,

pp. 114-161, 1885. 

STOSE, G. W., Geology of the salt and gypsum deposits of southwestern Virginia:

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 530, pp. 232-255, 1913.

WYOMING.

BRANSON, E. B., Origin of Red Beds of western Wyoming: Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., vol. 26, pp. 217-230, 1915.

DARTON, N. H., Preliminary description of the .geology and water resources of 

the southern half of the. Black Hills and adjoining regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Twenty-first Ann. Rept., pt. 4, pp. 

516-518, 584-585, 1901.

 U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Newcastle folio (No. 107), p. 9, 1904.

 Preliminary report on the geology and underground water resources of 

the central Great Plains: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 32, pp. 392-394,1905.

 and O'HARRA, C. C., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Aladdin folio (No. 

12S), p. 8, 1905.

 Geology of the Owl Creek Mountains: 59th Gong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 219, 

p. 19, 1906.

 Paleozoic and Mesozoic of central Wyoming: Geol. Soc. America Bull., 

 vol. 19, pp. 403-470, 1908.

 and SIEBENTHAL, C. E., Geology and mineral resources of the Laramie

Basin, Wyo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 364, 1909. 

FISHER, C. A., Mineral resources of the Big Horn Basin: U. S. Geol. Survey

Bull. 285, p. 313, 1905. 

 Geology and water resources of the Big Horn Basin, Wyo.: U. S. Geol.

Survey Prof. Paper 53, p. 18, 1906. 

JAMISON, C. E., Geology and mineral resources of a portion of Fremont

County, Wyo.: Wyoming Univ. Bull. 2, ser. B, p. 84, 1911. 

KNIGHT, W. C., Gypsum deposits in Wyoming: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 223,

pp. 79-85, 1904. 

LUPTON, C. T., and CONDIT, D. D., Gypsum in the southern part of the Big Horn

Mountains, Wyo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 640, pp. 139^-157, 1916. 

MOULDY, R. B., and SLOSSON, E. E., The Laramie cement plaster: Wyoming Agr.

Coll. Tenth Ann. Rept., 1900. 

RICHARDSON, G. B., Upper Red Beds of the Black Hills: Jour. Geology, vol. 11,

pp. 365-393, 1903. 

SIEBENTHAL, C. E., Gypsum deposits of the Laramie district, Wyo.: U. S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 285, pp. 404-405, 1906. 

TRUMBULL, L. W., Cement plaster industry in Wyoming: Min. World, vol. 26,

p. 387, 1907.
INDEX.

A.

Page.

Abbott & Hickox, deposit worked by- 68

Absaroka Range, Wyo., deposit iri__ 303

>*L- Acknowledgments for aid______ 142, 297

Acme, Calif., deposits near____ 63

-Vv Acme, Okla., mill at -_____ 235 

Acme, Tex., mills at__________ 250 

Acme Cement Plaster Co., operations by________ 237-238 

l^ Age of deposits ____________ 26-27

Akron, N. Y., deposits at__- 209, 210-213

specimen from, plate showing . 196

"^ Alabaster, Mich., alabaster at____ 124

deposit at, discovery of-____ 129

quarrying at __ 127

Alabaster, occurrence of_____ _ 84,

124,223, 272-273, 281

properties of 17

^ use of _____ 33,43

Aladdin, Wyo., deposit near-____ 298

Alamo Creek, Calif., deposits on___ 84

Alamogordo, N. Mex., white sands

near _______..__ 184-186

 ** Alaska, bibliography of __ 309 

deposit in _ _________ 47

-/ mining in _____________ 47-48

Alcova, Wyo., deposits at and near_ 305 

quarry at _ ________ 297

Alpine Plaster Co., deposit worked

by _ _____ 75-76 

Alteration, gypsum produced by_ 22, 25-26 

Altona, Okla., section near 227

- Amboy, Calif., deposit in a lake bed

at, plate showing-_ 77 

ir' deposits near 81-82 

American Cement Plaster Co., operations by__ 211-213, 222, 233 

quarry of, at Watonga, Okla., 

, , plate showing--____ 222 

American Gypsum Co., operations

by_____________ 222

^» Analyses of gypsite __ _ 60,

61, 67, 68, 71, 72, 76, 97

j, Analyses of gypsum 27-29, 74, 82, 99,

182, 186, 214, 248, 277, 278

errors in _____________ 30-32

Aneho, N. Mex., deposits at _-_ 171 

Anhydrite, alteration of, to gypsum. 157

* occurrence of___ 19-2.1, 93,108-110, 

150, 152, 154, 156, 167, 224

 ^ properties of _ _ _ ___ 18-19 

Antelope Valley, Calif., deposits in_ 65

 ~s Arden, Nev., deposit near____ 155-158 

geologic section at _ 155

Page.

Arizona, bibliography of _ _-__ 310 

deposits in___ ___ 49-56 

Arizona Gypsum Plaster Co., mill

of, plate showing___ 50 

Arkansas, bibliography of _ - 310 

deposits in ______ _ _ 57 

Arkins, Colo., deposit near-^. ___ 87-88 

Artesia, N. Mex., section near _ 175 

Aspermont, Tex., deposits near 253 

Anbury, Lewis B., cited- 80 

Augusta, Ark., deposit at 57 

'Avawatz Mountains, Calif., deposits

in_____________ 82-83

B.

Bailey, E. H. S., Grimsley, G. P.,

and, cited_____ 111-120 

Baker, C. L., on deposits in Brooks

County, Tex_____ 259-260 

Bakersfleld, Calif., deposits near__ 70-73 

Banding in rock gypsum, plate showing____________ 196 

Bar hypothesis, Branson's, outline

of_____________ .23 

Barnum, Wyo., deposits near _ 300 

Basin, Wyo., milling at________ 290 

Bear Creek, Kans., natural bridge

on_____________ 118 

Bear Island, Fla., deposit on ___ 95-98 

Beaver Creek, Wyo., deposits on_ 299, 300 

Beckham County, Okla., deposits

. in___________ 229,230 

Belcoda, N. Y., deposits near_____ 207 

Belle Pourche River, Wyo., deposits

on____________ 298 

Belle Isle, La., deposits at______ 121

Bellevue, Mich., deposit at_ _ 124 

Belva, Okla., quarry at________ 234 

Benson, Ariz., deposits near_ _ 50 

Bertie limestone member of the Salina formation, nature 

and distribution of, in 

New York________ 192 

Best Bros, quarry, Kling, Kans _ 118, 120 

gypsum bed in, plate showing 120 

Beulah, N. Y., deposits at_____ 207 

Beulah, Wyo., deposit near_ _ 298 

Beycr, S. _W., analyses by________ 28,109

Bibliography..____________ 309-316 

Bickford, Okla., quarry and mill at_ 234 

section near________ _ 227 

Big Gypsum Valley, Colo., dfposits

in_____________ 94 

Big Horn Basin, Wyo., deposits in_ 302-303

317
318 INDEX.

K

V

Pago. 

Big Horn Mountains, Wyo., deposits

encircling ______ 299-302' 

Big Snowy Mountains, Mont., deposits encircling____ 134 

Bigtrails, "Wyo., deposit near_____ 301 

Bitterwater Valley, Calif., deposits

in____________ SO 

Black Hills, S. Dak., deposits in__ 239-242 

sections in.___________ 239, 240 

Blackhawk, S. Dak.; deposits near 245 

mill at________________ 249 

Blake, W. P.. cited_________ 53, 54-55 

Block, polished, of granular gypsum, 

from North Holston, 

Va., plate showing_ 264 

polished, of mottled gypsum, 

from Nephi, Utah, plate 

showing______ 264 

Blowout Mountain, Tex., sandstone

of ________ 253,255-256 

Blue Rapids, Kans., deposits near_ 112-113 

Boards, gypsum plaster _ _ 43-44 

Bowen, C. F., cited________ 133,136 

section hy______________ 306. 

Bowler, Mont, deposit near_____ 137 

Bownocker, J. A., on deposits in

Ohio___________ 218-223 

Branson, E. B., cited_________ 23 

Brawley, Calif., deposit west of 63 

Brazos County, Tex., deposits in__ 260 

Brazos River, Double Mountain Fork

of, deposits on___ 253-255 

Salt Fork of, deposits on____ 253 

Brewstcr County, Tex., deposits in_ 260 

Bridger, Mont., deposit near__ 137 

Brinkman, H. F., cited________ 69-70 

Buckskin, Nev., deposit near_____ 154 

Buena Vista Lake, Calif., deposit

near_________ 73 

Buffalo, N. Y., record of well at__ 210 

Buffalo, Wyo., deposits near__ 299-300 

Buffalo Cement Co., operations of- 209-210 

Buffalo Creek, Wyo., deposits on_ 300, 301 

Bull Pen Creek, S. Dak., section on. 243 

Burchard, E. F., on deposits in

Alaska__________ 47-48 

Burnt Island, Fla., deposit on___ 96-98 

Butte capped with a bed of gypsum, 

near Cambria, Wyo., 

plate, showing __-_- 298

C.

Caballos Mountains, N. Mex., deposits in _______ 172

Caineville, Utah, deposit near__ 280-281 

Calcasieu Parish, La., deposit in__ 121 

Calcined gypsum, production of_ 34, 35-37 

Calcining, methods of______ 39-40 

Caledonia, N. Y., deposits at_ 207 

Calhoun, F. H. H., cited_______ 96,98 

California, bibliography of____ 310 

deposits in__________ 19, 58-86 

southern, climate of_______ 58-59 

map of, showing distribution of gypsum deposits 58

Page. 

California Gypsum & Mineral Co.,

deposit worked by__ 67-68 

Cambria, Wyo., butte capped with 

gypsum near, plate 

showing_________ 298 

section at _____________ 298 

Camillus, N. Y., quarry near____ 199 

Camillus shale member of the Salina 

formation, nature and 

distribution of, in New 

York__________ 192-193 

Canada, bibliography on_____ 309

Cane Springs, Calif., deposits near 73 

Cantua Creek, Calif., deposits on 61 

Cardiff giant, origin of______ 104 

Carrizo Plain, Calif., deposits in__ 83 

gypsite quarry on, plate showing 76 

Carter, Okla., section near_____ 230

Casper Mountain, Wyo., deposits

near ___________ 305

Castaic, Calif., deposit near____ 75. 77 

Castalia, Ohio, mine and mill near_ 222, 223 

Castile gypsum, occurrence of, in

Texas_________ 257-258 

Cave Creek, Kans., deposit on____ 118 

Cavern, Mont., deposit at_______ 136 

Caverns, occurrence of, in Texas- 259-260 

Cayuga Junction, N. Y., quarry and

mill at_________ 200-201 

Cedar City, Utah, deposits near__ 270 

Cedar Mountain, Utah, prospect

south of_________ 276 

Cement, Okla., deposit at__ 228-229, 235 

Centennial Prairie, S. Dak., deposits in__:__ _ 246 

Centerville, Iowa, deposit at____ 307-110 

well at, record of_____ 107 

Cerro Blanco, N. Mex., gypsum capping, plate showing 179 

Charley Canyon, Calif., deposit in_ 75 

Chemistry of gypsum, bibliography

of_____________ 309 

Cherry Creek, Wyo., deposits on _ 301 

Chichagof Island, Alaska, deposit

on __ _ 47 

mining on_ _______ 47-48 

Chugwater formation, Wyo., section

of_____________ 306 

Chupadera Mesa, N. Mex., deposits

in_____^____ 164-166 

Cibola Pyramid, N. Mex., deposits

in_____________ 107 

Clifford Miller quarry, near Fayetteville, N. Y., bed in__ 196-197 

Clockville, N. Y., deposit at______ 195

Cloudcroft, N. Mex., deposits near. 169-170 

Cleverly, Wyo., deposit near_ 301 

Clyde, N. Y., deposits at____!___ 201 

Coaldale, CQ!O., deposit worked at_ 91 

Coalinga, Calif., deposit near, plate

showing_______ 66 

deposits near ______ 61-63

Cody, Wyo., deposits near_____ 302-303

Cold Brook, S. Dak., section on 244

Cold Wash, Utah, deposit on___ 278-279

section on______________ 278
INDEX. 319

Page.

Colorado, bibliography of______ 310-311 

deposits in, localities of- 19-20, 87-94 

nature of ___________ 87 

Colorado City, Colo., deposits worked

near_________ 89 

Colorado Desert, Calif., deposits in_ 79 

Colorado Springs, Colo., thick bed of 

gypsum at, plate showing____________ 89 

Colt Gulch, Utah, section in____ 279 

Composition of gypsum______ 16, 27-29 

Conant Creek, Wyo., deposits on__ 304-305 

Consolidated Pacific Cement Plaster 

Co., deposit worked 

by_____________ 82 

Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co., 

mine and mill of, near 

Mumford, N. Y__ 206-207 

Consumers Gypsum Co., operations

by___________ 221-222

Corona, Calif., deposits near _ 77

Cost of gypsuin plaster____ 41-42

of plaster mills__________ 40-41

Cottonwood Creek, Calif., deposits

on____________ 70-71 

Coyote Buttes, N. Mex;, deposits in_ 167 

Cramer, Colo., deposit near _ 90 

Crazy Woman Creek, Middle and 

South forks of, Wyo., 

deposits on__ 300 

Crystallization of gypsum. 16,17 

Crystals, impure, plate showing _ 18 

occurrence and origin of, in

Kansas_____1 118-119 

Culberson County, Tex., deposit

in___________ 257-25S 

Culin, Prank L., jr., cited_______ 55 

Cummins, A. F., cited________ 252-25o 

Custer, S. Dak., gypsum beds southwest of, plate showing- 242

D.

Darrow, Okla., quarry and mill near_ 234 

Darton, N. H., cited_____ 239, 246-247 

oil deposits in New Mexico- 161-186 

Day, D. T., cited________-___ 95 

Dayton, Wyo., quarry at______ 297, 299 

Death Valley, Calif., deposits in__ 82-83 

Dehydration by grinding___.___ 30-32 

by intruded rock, results of_ 145-146 

Deposition of gypsum, methods of__ 21-26 

Deposits, age of_____________ 20-27 

efflorescent, nature and distribution of, in California-- 85-86 

formation of, by alteration_ 22, 25-26 

by disintegration and mechanical reaccumulation ____________ 22, 26 

by ground water__ 21, 22, 23-25 

l>y sea or lake water. 21-22, 22-23 

interbedded, nature and distribution of, iu California. 86

Deposits, localities of, in California, Page, 

map showing 58 

in Kansas, map showing_ 112 

in New Mexico, map showing____________ 162 

in Ohio, map showing___ 218 

in Oklahoma, map showing ___________ 224 

in the United States, map

showing_________ 34 

in Wyoming, map showing- 296 

on San Rafael Swell, Utah, map 

showing distribution 

of_____________ 276 

periodic-lake, nature and distribution of, in California___________ 86 

See also under Map and names

of States.

De Queen, Ark., deposit at_____ 57 

Des Moines River, Iowa, deposit on_ 101-

103,104-106

Dickinsou, W. 0., analysis by___ 28 

Dlmmit Lake, N. Mex., section at_ 174-175 

Domes, deposition of gypsuin in__ 24-25 

Double Mountain formation, Tex.,

deposits in_____ 253-257 

Douglas, Ariz., digging and calcining

of gypsite at_____ 49-50 

gypsite deposit at, plate showing 50 

manufacture of products at__- 50 

Douglas, Wyo., deposits near_____ .°>0r> 

Dudley, Calif., deposits near_____ 64-65 

Duke, Okla., deposit near_______ 232 

Dunes, formation of__________ 22, 26 

Duran, N. Mex., deposit at______ 171 

Duval County, Tex., deposits in___ 259

E.

Eagle River, Colo., deposits on___ 92-93 

East Paradox Valley, Colo., deposits

in _______ 94 

Eaton Rapids, Mich., deposit at 124 

El Rito, N. Mex., thick bed of gypsum 

opposite, plate showing____________ 184 

Eldorado, Okla., deposit near____ 232 

mill at______________. 234-235 

Elin Fork, Okla., sections on.____ 231 

Elk Mountains, Wyo., deposits in__ 307 

Emery, Utah, deposits near____ 279, 281 

Empire Gypsum Co., mining and milling by, at Garbutt. 

N. Y__________^ 204-205 

Empire Mountains, Ariz., deposit in_ 52-53 

Erosion of gypsum by rain, plate

showing_________ 16

F.

Fairchild, J. G., analyses by__ 29, 277, 278 

Fairplay, Colo., deposits near____ 92 

Falfurrias, Tex., deposits near____ 259 

Fayetteville, N. Y., quarries and mills

near ______ 196-197
320 INDEX.

Page.

Feldman, Ariz., deposits near____ 55-56 

Ferguson, Okla., mill at_______:__ 235 

Ferris Mountains, Wyo., deposits in_ 305 

Ferron, Utah, gypsum bed in Horn 

Silver Gulch near, plate 

showing_______:_ 265 

Fillmore, Calif., deposit near____ 85 

Fillmore, Utah, deposits near 1_ 268-269 

Finlay, Tex., quarry near_____ 258. 

Fire Pulp Plaster Co., deposit

worked by_______ 75 

Fishack Gypsum Co., operations by 222 

Fisher, C. A., cited_________ 174-175 

Florida, bibliography of________ 311 

deposits in ___ 95-98 

Forest Grove, Mont., deposit at __ 134 

Fort Apache Reservation, Ariz., deposit in____ _ . 51 

Fort Dodge, Iowa, deposit at__ 101-103,

104-106

mining at ____________ 103-104 

plate showing_ 104 

outcrop near, plate showing__; 80 

Fort Hill, N. Y., quarries near____ 207 

Fort Washakie, Wyo., deposits near_ 304 

Fountain Creek, Colo., deposits on__ 89 

Freeman, O. W., cited_________ 134 

Freezeout Hills, Wyo., deposits in___ 306 

French Point, Calif., alabaster on__ 85 

Froeling, Henry, analysis by 29 

Fryingpan Creek, Colo., deposits on_ 92 

Fuel, expense for, in Oklahoma- 232-233 

Fullers Bottom, Utah, section in_ 277 

Future of production in New York 215

Gallina, N. Mex., deposits ne°ar 179-181 

deposits near, plates showing .179 

Gait, Nev., deposit near______ 158-159 

Garbutt, N. Y., quarries and mills

near _____ 204-207 

Garbutt Gypsum Co., mine and mill

of, at Garbutt, N. Y_ 205-206 

Garden of the Gods, Colo., deposits

in ____________ 89 

George, R. D., on deposits in Colorado___________ 87-94 

Gerlach, Nev.,-deposits near 150 

Gies, W. J., analyses by___ 28,186 

Gilbert, G. K., cited_______ 89-90, 269 

Glass Mountain, Okla., cap of massive 

gypsum on, plate showing_________ 226 

Glen Eyrie, Colo., deposit near 89 

Glendale, Utah, deposits near 271 

Goodman, Mont., thin deposit at_ 132-133 

Gould, C. N., cited_____ 224-225 

Government Valley, Wyo., deposit in_ 298 

Grand . Rapids, Mich., mining and

milling at______ 124-126

Grand River, Colo., deposits on 92, 93

Grandville, Mich., discovery at 129

quarrying at__ _ 126-127

Granite Hill Plaster Co., operations

of____-__ 221

Page.

Granules in polished block of gypsum, plate showing__ 264 

Grapevine Canyon, N. Mex., deposits

in ___________ 170 

Greer County, Okla;, deposits in__ 229-232 

Green Mountain, Wyo., deposits encircling _________ 298 

Green Mountains, Wyo., deposits in_ 305 

Greenacre ranch, Colo., deposits

near ___________ 88

Greenhorn, Colo., deposit near____ 90

Greybull, Wyo., deposits near_ 302

quarrying and milling at__ _ 297

Grimsley, G. P., and Bailey, E. H. S.,

cited__________ 111-120 

Grinding of gypsum, loss of water

from _________ 30-32 

processes of ___.___ 38-39 

Gros Ventre Range, Wyo., deposits

not found in______ 303

Gross, Arthur, analysis by_______ 186

Gunnison River, Colo., deposits on_ 93-94

Gyp "Hills, Tex., gypsite in___ _ 255

Gypsite, analyses of__________ 60,

61..63, 67, 68, 71, 72, 76, 97

deposition of __________ 21, 23-24

deposits of, in California____ 58-86

digging and calcining of____ 38-40

mining of, at Laramie, Wyo.,

plate showing __ 298 

properties and occurrence of _ 17 

Gypsum, Colo., deposit near ____ 93 

Gypsum, Kans., deposit near _ 115-116 

Gypsum, N. Y., quarries near _ 202 

Gypsum, Ohio, mine at, plate showing _ _ 222 

sections near __ ___ 219-220 

Gypsum, Oreg., deposit at- __ 236 

quarrying and milling at__ 237-238 

quarry and loading platform at,

plate showing___ 236 

Gypsum, fibrous. See Satin spar. 

Gypsum Buttes, Wyo., deposits encircling _________ 298 

Gypsum Canyon, Calif., deposits in_ 77 

Gypsum Hills, Kans., deposits in_ 117-118

H.

Hackberry Creek, Okla., section at

mouth of________ 231 

Hackberry Island, La., deposit on_ 121 

Hailey, Wyo., deposits near__._ 304 

Hanover, Mont., deposit at____ 135-136 

Harmon County, Okla..deposits in_ 229-232 

Hatcher, Carpenter & Andrus, analysis by_________ 28 

Haworth, Erasmus, on deposits In

Kansas ________ 111-120 

Hawthorne, Nev., deposit near__ 155 

Heath, Mont, deposit at_____ 134-135 

Hell Canyon, S. Dak., three gypsum

beds in, plate showing, 242 

Henquenet cave, Kans., deposit exposed in________ 116 

Hermosa, S. Dak., deposit near-_ 245
INDEX. 321

Page.

Hermosa Creek, Colo., deposits on__ 94 

Hess, F. L., on a deposit at Moab,

Utah __________ 273

on deposits in California____ 58-86

High Island, Tex., deposits at____ 259

Hilgard, E. W., cited__________ 61 

Hill, B. F., on deposits in Texas 260 

Holston River, North Fork of, Va.,

deposits on_____ 283-294 

North Fork of, Va., structure

of rocks on_____ 286-289 

Hope, Kans., deposit at_ 115 

Horn Silver Gulch, Utah, deposit

in ___________ 277-278

deposit in, plate showing _ 265 

section in ______________ 278 

Hot Springs, S. Dak., deposits

near__________ 244-245 

gypsum bed in bluff near, plate

showing_________ 242

Howard, Colo., deposits near 91 

Hudspeth County, Tex., deposit in_ 257-258 

Humboldt Range, Nev., deposits in_ 146-149 

geologic section in_______ 142-143 

Hunters Hot Springs, Mont., deposit

forming at__ _ 138 

Hutton, J. G., on deposits in South

Dakota________ 239-249 

Hyattville, Wyo., deposits near 301

I.

Idaho, bibliography of________ 311 

deposits in____________ 99-100 

Imports, quantity and value of___ 38 

Indian Falls, N. Y., deposit near 209 

Indianapolis, Okla., deposit at__ 228-229 

Information, sources of _____ 15 

Inyankara Mountain, Wyo., deposits

adjoining___ _ 298

Iowa, bibliography of 311

deposits in_________ 20, 101-110

J.

Jackson County, Okla., deposits in_ 229-232 

Jamesville, N. Y., quarries and

mills near ______ 197-199 

Jones, B. D., deposit worked by__ 73-75 

Jones, J. C., on deposits in Nevada__________ 139-160

K.

Kanarraville, Utah, sections near__ 270 

Kansas, bibliography of 311-312 

crystalline gypsum in, occurrence of__-_____ 118-119 

deposits in, geography of 111-112 

geology of 112 

localities of________ 112-120 

origin of _____,______ 120 

map of, showing localities of 

gypsum deposits and 

limits of the Permian 

series___-_ _ 112 

quarrying and milling in __ 119-120

124567° 20 21

Page. 

Kay, G. F., on deposits at Centerville, Iowa _____ 107-110

Keenes cement, production of__ 119,120

Kelley Plaster Co., operations by_ 222, 223

Kern Lake, Calif., deposit near___ 71-73

Kettleman Plains, Calif., deposit in_ 73-75

Kibbey, Mont, deposits near_____ 133

Kiowa Peak, Tex., section at____ 252

King City, Calif., bed of gypsum on

mesa north of, plate

showing_________ 80

deposits near __________ 80

Kling, Kans., deposit at_______ 118

bed in quarry at, plate showing- 120

L.

L A K ranch, Wyo., deposit near 297 

La Verkin, Utah, deposits near__ 271 

Labonte Creek, Wyo., deposits on__ 305 

Lamy, N. Mex., deposits near___ 163,173 

Land, Ariz., deposit near______ 50-51 

Land plaster, use of ______ 33, 42

Lander, Wyo., deposits near____ 304 

Laramie, Wyo., milling of gypsite

at __ _____ 296 

mining of gypsite, at, plate

showing _____ 298 

Laramie Mountains, Wyo., deposits

in___________ 307-308 

Las Vegas, Nev., deposits near 159-160 

Last Chance Creek, Utah, indications on _____ 280 

Lee, W. T., cited____________ 51 

Leighton, Henry, D. H. Newland 

and, on deposits in 

New York______ 187-217 

Levan, Utah, deposit at .____ 265-266 

quarry near, plate showing___ 265 

Lime, Oreg., mill at_________ 237 

Little Fountain Creek, deposits on_ 89, 91 

Little Goose Creek, Wyo., deposit on_ . 299 

Little Gypsum Valley, Colo., deposits

in ___________ 94 

Little Medicine Bow River, Wyo., deposits on_ ____ 306 

Little Wind River, Wyo., deposit on_ 304 

Localities of gypsum deposits. See

names of States.

Lockwood & Smith, operations by 221 

Lodge Grass Creek, Mont., deposit

near________1__ 137 

Lodge Grass Creek, Wyo., deposits

near-___________ 299

Loma Blanca, Tex., deposit in__ 259-260 

Lomo de las Canas, N. Mex., deposits in __ 167 

Lone Tree Creek, Wyo., deposit on 307. 

Lookout Peak, S. Dak., section on__ 247 

Los Cerillos, N. Mex.' deposit near 177 

outcrop near, plate showing 178 

Lost Hills, Calif., deposits in___'.. 65-67 

mound of gypsum in, plate showing ___________ 6Q

Louderback, G. D., cited___ 147-148,151
322 INDEX.

Page.

Louisiana, bibliography of _ 312 

deposits in _ ____ __ 20, 121 

Loveland, Colo., gypsum quarry at,

plate showing. ___ 88

Lovelock, Nev., deposits near _ 146-149

Ludwig, Nev., deposit at__ __ 153-155

geologic section at__ _ 153

Lupton, C. T., on deposits on the San

Rafael Swell, Utah. 273-282 

Luxor Peak, Nev., deposits at the

base of________ 150 

Lycoming Calcining Co., mining and

milling by, at Garbutt,

N. Y__________ 206 

Lyndon, N. Y., quarry near, plate

showing____ ___ 196 

Lyon, Mont., deposit near__ ___ 138 

Lyons, N. Y., deposits at__ ____ 201

M.

Maccrady, Va., section of the Maccrady formation near _ 291 

McKittrick, Calif., deposits near__ 67-70 

McLure Valley, Calif., deposits in 64-65 

McMillan, N. Mex., deposits at___ 176 

Malone Mountains, Tex., deposits in- 258 

Manlius, N. Y., quarries in_ ____ 199 

Mansfield, G. R., acknowledgment to_ 99 

Manti, Utah, deposit at_______ 266 

Map of area in Ohio, showing location of deposits___ 218 

Kansas, showing localities of deposits__________ 112 

New Mexico, showing localities

of deposits _______ 162 

Oklahoma, showing localities of

deposits_________ 224 

San Rafael Swell region, Utah, 

showing distribution of 

deposits in____^- 276 

southern California, showing 

distribu tion of deposits_____ ___ 58 

the United States, showing localities which produce 

gypsum ____ ___ 34 

Wyoming, showing areas known

to contain gypsum__ 296 

Maria Mountains, Calif., deposits in_ 78-79 

Maricopa, Calif., deposits near___ 70 

Marsh & Co., operations by_____ 221 

Martisco, N. Y., deposits near.___ 199 

Massive gypsum. See Rock gypsum. 

Maxwell, N. Y., deposit near _ » 207 

Mayfleld, Utah, deposits near___ 266-267 

Mayoworth, Wyo., deposits near__ 300 

Mecca, Calif., deposits near ___ 79 

Medicine Bow, Wyo., deposits near_ 306 

Medicine Bow Range, t Wyo., deposits

in ___'_________ 307 

Medicine Lodge, Kans., deposits near_ 117 

Meinzer, O. E., cited__________ 186 

Mendota, Calif., deposits near____ 59-61 

Mesa del Yeso, N. Mex., deposits in

and near ___ 167

Page.

Mesa Jumanes, N. Mex., deposits in, 166

Mesa Lucero, N. Mex., deposits in 164

section of______________ 164

Messers Creek, Ark., deposit near__ 57

Metz, Calif., deposits near______ 80

Michigan, bibliography of_______ 312

deposits in, development of 124-129

geology of __ __ 122

nature and extent of_ 20,122-124

Midway, Calif., deposits near 70

Millegan, Mont., deposits near_ _ 131

Mill, gypsum, first built in the United

States_______ - 101 

Mills, plaster, arrangement and cost

of ____________ 40-41 

Mining, methods of_________ 38

methods of, plates showing 104,. 298 

Minnekahta, S. Dak., deposits west

of ___________ 242-243 

outcrop near, plate showing 236 

Miser, H. D., on deposits in. Arkansas ______ - 57 

Mississippi, occurrence in 130 

Mississippian rocks, deposits in 108-110 

Moab, Utah, deposit at_____ 273

Moapa, Nev., deposit near 159 

Monarch Plaster Co., mine and mill

of, at Garbutt, N. Y__ 206 

Montana, bibliography of-__ _ 312 

deposits in, age and distribution

of____________ 131 

localities of_________ 131-138

Montezuma, N. Y., deposits near_ _ 200 

Montpelier, Idaho, deposit near_ 99 

Morrison, Colo., deposits near 88 

Mottling in polished block of gypsum, plate showing 264 

Mound House, Nev., deposits near. 150-153 

Mount Carmel, Utah, deposits at 271 

Mount Pisgah, Wyo., deposits near 298 

Muddy Creek, Utah, deposit near. 279-280

Mumford, N. Y., quarries and mills

near _________ 204-207

Muttleberry Canyon, Nev., deposits

near __________ 147-149

N.

Nacimie'nto uplift, N. Mex., deposit

in ___________ 181-182 

National Wall Plaster Co., quarry of,

near Fayetteville, N. Y_ 197 

Nephi, Utah, deposit at, development

of ___________ 261-263 

deposit at, geology of 263-265 

quality of________ 265 

polished block of gypsum from,

plate showing_____ 264

quarry near, plate showing 246

Nevada, bibliography of___ 313

deposits in, development of 141-142

geology of 142-144

localities of______ 20,146-160

nature and distribution

of-___________ 139-141 

origin of__________ 144-146

JL.
INDEX. 323

 H

-X

Page.

New Mexico, bibliography of 313 

deposits iii. distribution of, map

showing- 162 

geology of________ 161-163 

localities of___ 20,161,163-186 

relations of generalized 

columnar section, 

showing _________ 162 

New York, bibliography of 313-314 

deposits in, geology of 189-194,196 

localities of______ 194-217 

origin of_____-__ 216-217 

physical and chemical

nature of______ 213-214 

gypsum resources in_ , 215 

mining in, history of__ 187-188 

method of_______ _ 188-189 

Newark, N. Y., quarries near___ 201-202 

Newcastle, Wyo., deposits near_ 297-298 

Newland, D. H., cited-____ 214 

Newland, D. H., and Leighton, 

Henry, on deposits in 

New York_____ 187-217 

Niagara Gypsum Co., manufacturing

by__________ 208-209 

No Wood Creek, Wyo., deposits on_ 301, 302 

North Holston, Va., mining and milling at__________ 294 

polished block of gypsum from,

plate showing- 264 

North Rush, N. Y., deposit at____ 207 

Notom, Utah, deposit near 281

0.

Oakfleld, N. Y., operations in___ 207-209

O'Brine, D. B., analysis by 29

Ohio, bibliography of _ 314

deposits in, development of_ 221-223

distribution of ____ 20, 218-220

localities of, map showing. 218

Oil Bubble mound, Calif., deposit in_ 66

Oil Creek valley, Wyo., deposit in^. 298

Oil lands, holding of, as gypsum

claims ________ 83, 86

OJal Valley, Calif., deposits in 85

Okarche, Okla., mill at________ 235

Okeene, Okla, quarry near____"_ 234

Oklahoma, bibliography of 314

deposits in, development of_ 232-235

distribution and nature of__ 20,

224, 225-232

geology of__________ 224-225

localities of, map showing 224 

Olustee, Okla., section near______ 231

Oregon, bibliography of_______ 315

deposits in, development of__ 237-238

geology of_____ 236-237

nature and occurrence of_ 236 

Origin of the deposits. See under

names of States.

Oro Grande, N. Mex., deposits near_ 170 

Oro Junta, Colo., deposit near, 90 

Orton, Edward, cited______ __ 218 

Oscuro, N, Mex., deposits near 168

Owl Canyon, Colo., deposit in____

Owl Creek Mountains, Wyo., deposits

in_______________

P.

Pago.

303

Paintrock Creek, Wyo., deposits on_ 301 

Palen Mountains, Calif., deposits in_ 19, 78 

Palmdale, Calif., deposits near.__ 75-77 

deposits near, plates showing_ 76, 77 

Palmer, Chase, analyses by_____ 28, 97 

Palmyra, N. Y., deposits at _ 201 

Panasoffkee, Fla., deposits near 95-98 

Paoli mine, location of________ 59-61 

Parsons, Arthur L., cited-______ 214 

Pass Creek, Wyo., deposit on___ 299 

Pease River, Tex., section on_____ 252 

Pecos Valley, N. Mex., deposits in_ 173-176 

Pedernal Peak, N. Mex., deposits

near._______ ___ _ 173

Perry Park, Colo., deposits in_ _ 88-89 

thick bed of gypsum in, plate

showing _______ 88 

Phelps, N. Y., quarries near____ 202 

Phillips Hills, N. Mex., deposits in__ 168 

Piedmont, S. Dak., quarrying and

milling at ______ 248-249 

Pinos Wells, N. Mex., white sand

near __________ 186 

Pittsford shale member of the Salina

formation, nature and

position of, in New

YoVk __________ 193 

Plaster, gypsum, preparation and

cost of-_________ 38-42

gypsum, uses of- _ __ 33, 34, 43-45

Plaster Bluff, Ark., deposit at -__ 57

gypsum bed at, plate showing_ 51

Plaster boards, types ana uses of 43-44

Plaster Creek, Mich., discovery and

development on__ 128-129 

Plaster of Paris, setting of 40 

Plasterco, Va., deposits near __ 283-294 

Plasterco, Tex., mill at_ _ 250 

Point Aux Chenes, Mich., quarry at- 129 

Point Sal, Calif., deposits on 84 

Port Gibson, N. Y., deposits near- 202-203 

Powder River, North Fork of, Wyo.,

deposits on___ _- 300 

Prairie Spring, N. Mex., deposits

near__________ 168 

Primm, Okla., mill at______ ___ 235 

Production of gypsum- _ 33-37 

Properties of gypsum _ 16-17 

Pueblo, Colo., deposits near 89-90

Q.

Quail Canyon, Ariz., deposit in _ 51 

Quanah, Tex., deposit near 251-253 

Quarrying, methods of-. 38

R.

Rapid City, S. Dak., deposits near. 245-246 

Rattlesnake Range, Wyo., deposits

in____________ 305
INDEX.

Page.

Bawlins, Wyo., deposits near. -306 

Eed Butte, Wyo., '.deposit on____ .298 

.Red B.uttes, Wyo., .guarry and mill

at_____________ 296

quarrying at __________ 307, 308

Eed Creek, Wyo., deposits'on 300

.Bed Mountain, Wyo., deposits on c307-308

.section .on__ .__ .307

Bed Plateau, Utah, .prospect .south,

of____________ 276

Bed Biver, Okla., .escarpment capped 

with gypsum.ledges ion, 

plate showing-- 526 

North Fork of, section on___ .230 

Bed Valley, S. Dak., deposits in__ ,240-242 

Bedbank, Wyo., deposits .near- __ '301 

.Bedington, Ariz., deposit .reported

near___________ ,55

Eedwater Valley, S. Dak.-Wyo., deposit in_________ .298 

section in_____________ 246 

Behydration of ground ,gypsum 30-31 

Bhodes farm, Kans., deposit at _ 116 % 

Biceville, Mont,, deposit at____ T31-132 

Bichardson, G. B., cited______ 247, 248 

Bico quadrangle, Cdlo., deposits in_ 94 

Eincon Colorado,, "N. Mex., gy^psum 

in north rwall of, p'late 

showing_________ 1.78 

Bio Chama, N. Hex., deposit on_ '179-181 

Bio Ga'llina, !N. Mex., deposits on_ 179-181 

Bio Salado, N. Mex., deposits on__ 182-184 

Boads, surfacing of, with .gypsum__ 2.73 

Bearing Fork, Colo., deposits on___ '92, 93 

Bock ;Creek, South Fork of, Wyo.,

deposit on________ 299 

Bock gypsum, comparison of, with

anhydrite ________ 18-19 

properties and occurrence of__ 17,19 

Kockville, Utah, deposit near_ 271 

Bogers, A. F., cited__________ 19 

Bogers, G. S., cited___________ 24-25 

Bogers, W. B., cited__________ 292 

Tloman Nose Gypsum Co., quarrying

and milling by_____ 234 

Hoofing, tile and monolithic_ __ 44-45 

Bosario siding, N. Mex., outcrop 'of 

gypsum near, plate 

showing________ 178

Boswell, N. Mex., section near___ 174

\Ruedi, Colo., deposit worked at___ 92

Bush Springs, Okla., deposit -at__ '228-229

mill at______________ 229, 235

S.

Sacramento Mountains, N. Mex., deposits in_______ 169-170

St. George, Utah, deposits near__ 271-272 

making and use of plaster at___ 272

St. Ignace, Mich., quarry at__ '128

St. Ignace Peninsula, Mich., deposit

on_____________ 122

St. Martin Islands, Mich., deposits

on______:_____ .122, .129

St. Thomas, Ney,, deposits near 160

Page.

Salina, Utah, .deposit -at__-_~ 267 

Salina .formation, -geology of, in New

York______ 189^194,196 

Salt (Creek, Tex., section at_____ 253 

Salt 311 v.er:Bange, Wyo., deposits not

found in________ 304 

Salt Wash, .Utah, section on____ 280 

Saltville, Va., deposits near____ 283-294 

.generalized section of a well

at___________ 291,. 

generalized section of Carboniferous rocks near__ 285-286 

San Andres Mountains, N. Mex., deposits in _____ 171-172 

San Jose Biver, N. Mex., deposit on_ 184 

outcrop on, .plate showing __ 184

 San Miguel copper mine, N. Mex.,

 section west ,of_ .181

 San Pedro Biver, Ariz., deposits on_ 54-56 

San Bafael Biver, Utah, deposits

on ________'. ___ .276-277 

San Bafael Swell, Utah, deposits on,

access to_______ 244,282

deposits .on, development of 282

-general features of___ 275-276

.geology .of______ __ 275

localities of.________ 276-281

map showing 276

quality of ______ 281

' location of.___________ 273-274

tomography of ________ '274-2.75

San Ysidrq, N. Mex., cliffs of gypsum 

s o u t h w e st of, plate 

showing__ _ ___ 184 

Sand Creek, Wyo., deposit on____ 299 

Sands, white, analyses of_______ 186 

white, formation of_______ 22, 26 

occurence of_____- 81, 184-186 

west of Tularosa, N. Mex.,

.plate showing 185 

Sandusky Bay, Ohio, deposits near- 218-220 

Santa .Barbara Creek, Calif., deposits

of alabaster on .- 84 

Santa Catalina Bange, Ariz., deposit

in _____________ 53-54 

Santa-Bita.Mountains, Ariz., gypsum

not known in ____ 52 

Satin spar, formation of________ .22 

from a fissure in clay, plate

showing _ 17 

.occurrence of __ _ _ 18, 

83, 115, 224, 260, 272-273 

properties of___ - - 18 

Scandinavian Coal Co.'s hole, correlation of________ 108 

Schaller, W. T., analyses by__ -28,182 

Secondary deposit of spongy gypsum,

plate showing-_ 18

 Seepage of water, mound of gypsum deposited by, plate 

showing_____ ; _ 66 

Selenite, crystals of, plate showing- 16, 196 

formation of _ 22 

phenocrysts of, plate showing- 264 

properties .of_ _ - 18
INDEX. 326

 Page.

Selenite, occurrence of 18, 93, 

109, 114, 118-119, 130, 138, 141, 

151, 156, 159-160, 167, 195, 202, 

224, 225, 257, 259, 260, 272-273 

split and bent, plate showing 16 

transparency and incipient 

cleavage of, plate 

showing 17 

Seminoe Mountains, Wyo., deposits

in ____________ 305 

Seneca River, N. Y., deposits on 201 

Senorito, N. Mex., deposit at 181 

 Serritas Mo'untains, Ariz., deposit reported in 52 

Seven Rivers, N. Mex., section near_ 175 

Shale, deposition of, upon gypsum_ 156 

Shaler, M. K., cited_________ 181-182 

Shead, A. C., analyses by 29 

Sheep Mountains, Wyo., deposits encircling __ 302 

Shell, Wyo., deposit near 301 

Shirley Mountains, Wyo., deposits

in_________.__. 306 

Shoemaker, W. V.-, cited________ 135 

Siebenthal, C. E., cited________ 307 

Sierra Fra Cristobal, N. Mex., de-

. posits in _______ 172 

Sigurd, Utah, deposits near_____ 267-268 

quarrying and milling at____ 267, 268 

Sinbad Valley, Colo., deposits in___ 94 

Smith, J. P., cited__________ 142-143 

Smith, R. A., on deposits in Michigan___________ 122-129 

Smoky Hill River, Kans., gypsum

crystals on 119 

Snake River, Colo., occurrences on_ 92 

Snake River, Idaho, deposit on__ 99-100 

Snake River, Oreg., quarries and

mills on_________ 237 

Snider, L. C., on deposits in Oklahoma _________ 224-235 

Soapstone Island, Fla., deposit on__ 96-98 

Socorro, N. Mex., deposits east of- 166-168 

Soldier Creek, Wyo., deposits on__ 30f 

Solomon, Kans., deposits near__ 114 115 

Solution, effects of, on rock gypsum,

plate showing_____ 16 

South Dakota, bibliography of- _ 315 

deposits in, development of __ 248-249 

geology of_________ 239-242 

localities of________ 242-247 

South Mountains, Ariz., deposit in 51 

South Mountains, Calif., deposit in_ 85 

South Park, Colo., deposits near 92 

South Wash., Utah, crystalline deposit at ___ 272-273 

Southard; Okla., quarries and mill

at___________^__ 234 

Spearfish, S. Dak., deposits near_ 246-247 

deposits near, plates showing- 243, 246 

Spearfish formation, shale of, mineral composition of 248 

Spindletop, Tex., deposit at_____ 258-259 

Sportsmans Lake, Wyo., deposit

near 307

Page.

Spring Mountain Range, Nev., sectron 

of carboniferous birata 

in____________ 158 

Springport, N. Y., deposits at 200 

Spruce Creek, Colo., deposits on__ 93 

Starke, N. Y., deposit in______ 194-195 

Steiger, George, analyses by ___ 28, 29, 

68, 76, 82, 248

on Errors in the chemical analysis of gypsum 30-32 

Stevenson, J. J., cited________ 90, 292 

Stockade Beaver Creek, Wyo., deposits on 297 

Stone, R. W., Analyses of gypsum 27-29 

Arizona ________ ______ 49-56 

Florida________________ 95-98 

Gypsum industry, The______ 33-46 

Idaho______________ 99-100 

Introduction____,______ 15-16 

Louisiana 121 

Mineralogy and geology of gypsum _____'________ 16-26

Mississippi ____________ 130

Montana ____________ 131-138 

Ohio: Development in 1918 222-223 

Oregon_______________ 236-238

Texas-__- ________ 250-260 

Wyoming_____________ 295-308 

Jones, J. C., and, Deposits in

southern Nevada__ 155-160 

and Kay, G. F, Iowa______ 101-110 

and Lupton, C. T., Utah___ 261-282 

Smith, R. A., and, Michigan: 

Economic development__________ 124-128 

Stone City, Colo., deposits near__ 89,91 

Stose, G. W., on deposits in Virginia__________ 283-294 

Strawberry Mountain, Wyo., deposits 

adjoining _______ 

Structure, banded, in massive gypsum, plate showing__ 

mottled, in massive gypsum,

plates showing 16, 264

Stucco, Wyo., deposits near __ 302

mill at________________ 297

Sturgis, S. Dak., deposits near^__ 246

Sullivan, E. C., analyses by____ 60, 63,

67, 71, 72, 74

Sulphur City, La., deposits at_____ 121

Sunflower Valley, Calif., deposits in_ 64-65

Suwanee, N. Mex., deposit near___ 184

Sweetwater Creek, Tex., deposits on_ 253

Swissvale, Colo., deposits near___

-Syracuse salt member of the Salina

formation, nature and

distribution of, in New

York____ __ 

298

16

91

193

T.

Table Mountain, Colo., deposits near. 88 

Table Mountain, Nev., deposit at_ 150 

Taff, J. A., cited____________ 258 

Talmage, J. E., cited_______ 272-273 

Technology, bibliography of______ 309
326 INDEX.

Page.

Tennssse?, bibliography of_ _ 315 

To'^slecy.. T7yo., deposits near. 301 

Teras, bibliography of _ 315

deposits in, development of__ 250, 253

distribution of_______ 20-21,

250, 251-255, 257-260

geology of_________ 255-257

Thermopolis, Wyo., deposits near 303

Throopsville, N. Y., deposits near 200

Tijeras Canyon, N. Mex., deposit in 179

Tile, building, manufacture of 50

building, uses of _____ 44-45 

Tilford, S. Dak., deposits near__ 245-246 

Tomey Creek, Calif., deposits near 59-61 

Tonawanda Creek, N. Y., deposits on_ 209 

Tonque Creek, N. Mex., deposit on_ 177,179 

Toquerville, Utah, deposit near_ 271 

Trail Creek, Mont, deposit on_____ 138 

Tree Creek, Mont., deposit on_ 133 

Trinidad, Colo., deposits near :.__ 89 

Tony, N. Mex., deposits at___ 171 

Tucson, Ariz., deposit reported near_ 53 

Tularosa, N. Mex., deposits near 169 

Tula'rosa Desert, N. Mex., white sands

in____________ 184-186 

Turkey Creek, Colo., deposits near__ 90-91 

Turner, Mich., deposit at_'___ 127

U.

200

34

222

79

Union Springs, N. Y., quarries near_ 

United States, map of, showing localities which produce 

gypsum _____________

United States Gypsum Co., mine of, 

at Gypsum, Ohio, plate 

showing _______

operations by, in California___

at Oakfleld, N. Y.____ 207-208 

at Gypsum, Ohio__ 221,222-223 

in Oklahoma___ 234-235 

in Virginia________ 293-294 

quarry of, at Alabaster, Mich.,

plate showing 120

Uses of gypsum________ 33-34,42-45

Utah, bibliography of_______ 315-31(5

deposits in_________ 21,261-282

V.

Varieties of gypsum. _ __ 17-18 

Varney, N. Mex., deposits at 171 

Vaughn, N. Mex., deposits near_ 170-171 

Victor, N. Y., quarries near____ 202-203 

Vinton, La., deposit near____ 121 

Virgin River, Utah-Ariz.-Nev., deposits on___.__ 51,160, 271 

North Fork of, section on_ 270

Page.

Virginia, bibliography of 316 

deposits in, development of__ 292-294 

geology of_________ 285-289 

location of__________ 21, 283 

origin of__________ 289-292 

topography of_______ 283-285

W.

Wagon Hound Creek, Wyo., deposits

on____________, 305 

Water, determination of, in gypsum ___________ 30-32 

Water Pocket Flexure, Utah, deposit on_________ 281 

Watonga, Okla., gypsum quarry at,

plate showing_____ 222 

mills at_____________ 233-234 

West Humboldt Range. See Humboldt Range.

Wells, R. C., analyses by_______ 67 

West Barney Creek, Okla., section on. 226 

West Paradox Valley, Colo., deposits:

on____ _ __________ 94

Wheatland, N. Y., quarries and mills

in___________ 204-207 

Wheeler, W. C., analyses by__ 28, 29, 99 

Whetstone Mountains, Ariz., deposit

reported in_____ 51 

White Mountain, Utah, deposits at_ 268-26,9 

White sands. See Sands, white. 

Whitewood, S. Dak., deposits near_ 246 

Willcomb, G. E., analyses by_ 29, 213-214 

Willow, Okla., deposit near_____ 232 

Willow Creek, Wyo., deposit on___ 307 

Wind, gypsum carried by, plate showing.____________ 185

Wind River Range, Wyo., deposits

in_____________ 304 

Wingate sandstone, gypsum on, plate

showing___ _ 179 

Winn Parish, La., deposit in_____ 121 

Winslow, Ariz., deposits near____ 51-52 

quarry near, plate showing__ 51 

Wrather, W. E., on geology of the 

gypsum beds of northcentral Texas-___ 255-257 

Wyoming, bibliography of_______ 316 

deposits in, development of_ 296-297 

geology of______; __ 295-296 

map of, showing areas known to

contain gypsum 296

Y.

Yellow-stone Creek, Okla., section on 226 

Yerington, Nev., deposit near____ 155

o