Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-02-02

Iof this age !, furnish hydraulic, ce
ment. The quarries of Rondout
N. T., and Louisville, Kentucky, be
long to this horizon. go, s e
The "carboniferous limestone O
the geologists follows, being sepa
rated from the "water lime" grour
by a belt of sandstone, which has
no economic value. The carbonif
ferrous limestone furnishes q larger
portion Of the lime and building
stone of the State than any of the
varieties named. The State quarries
near Columbus, from which the
State Capitol was built, belong to
this series. There are also eXten-
sive quarries of this rock at San.
dusky. In composition, this rock
is magnetism limestone. Many
lportions of this series are crowded
with fossils, and fact of great in
terest has been demonstrated by
Prof. Orton that this series holds
the earliest vertebrated animals that
have been met with in the rocks of
Ohio. The greatest thickness of
this rock is 50 feet. 1t is found in
Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Craw-
ford, Wyandotte, Seneca, Sandusky,
Erie, Logan, Van Vert, Paulding,
Defiance, Henry, Wood and Lucas.
THE States AND LIMEsToNEs.
The aHuron slates,r7 familiarly
known, as 'sblack slates," follow the
carboniferous limestones in geolog-
ical age and order. Beginning in
Adams county, on the Ohio River,
they stretch directly northward
through the whole State to the shore
of Lake Erie, with an average width
Of 20 miles, and an average thick
of $50 feet. A similar formation is
found in the northwest corner ofthe
State, in what is known as the
'black swamp region, occupying
the counties of Williams and Full
ton, and portions of Lucas, Henry,
Defiance, and Wood. These rocks
are devoid of mineral wealth the
most solid variety of the states,
when exposed to the weather, crnb-
ling into shade, or clay. This forma-
tion contains about 10 per cent. of
bituminous substances. Prof. Or
ton ventures the opinion that the
greater part of petroleum is derived
in processes of slow distillation from
rocks of the same general age and
character, as the Huron shales."
The agricultural characteristics of
this formation are very marked, ex-
cept where buried too deeply be-
meath the drift deposits. 1t yields
in its decomposition a light, porous,
naturally underdrained soil, which
shows itself naturally adapted to
many valuable forest trees. The
chestnut and chestnut oak, entirely
unknown upon the limestone lands,
grow in full force to the edge of the
shales. 1t is predicted that these
shale lands will furnish the best fruit
growing region of the State. The
comments thus far have been con-
fined entirely to the west half of the
State. 1t will be seen that this sec
ton is principally composed of
limestone formations. These lime
stones are outspread in nearly hori-
zontal sheets, and upon these soils
Of various depths have accumulated.
This portion Of the State has been,
under the supervision of Prof. Or
ton. In commenting upon the soils
Prof. Orton remarks: These lime.
stone plains constitute, beyond ques-
ton, the finest agricultural portion
of the State. While especially
adapted to tillage and the produc-
tion of the cereals they do not re-
fuse generous returns to intelligent
labor in any department of husban-
dry" = '- 1-.'- '''-''
Passing east from the 'sHuron
shales," we come to the Erie sbales,'
Immediately adjacent, which, strecth
eastward from Sandusky, along the
Lake tier of counties, attaining a
maximum thickness of 4OO. feet. 9f
The next succeeding group is the
"Waverly sandstones." These are
the first and lowest imbedded of the
sandstones and conglomerates, and
occupy, with the 'coal measures
nearly all of Eastern and all of
Southeastern They contain,
beside sandstone, many heavy beds
of shale and clay. - This group
stretches northward- through the
State, from the Ohio river to Lake
Erie, its outcrop being parallel to
the Huron shales.' 1T is found in
the following counties: Scioto, Pike,
Ross, Vinton, Hooking, Fairfield,
Delaware, Knox, Morrow, Richland,
Ashland, Wayne, Huron, Lorain,
Medina, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Ashta-
bula, and Trumbull. Under the ap-
portionment of the labor of the sur
vey, the northeast quarter of Ohio
was under the immediate direction
of Prof. Newberry, and the south
east quarter under Prof. Andrews.
In Southern Ohio, the "Wayerly"
formation, according to Prof. An
drews, is GAO feetin thickness, com
posed mostly of states and sochery
sandstone. 1t derives its name from
Waverly, Pike Co., where its most
noted quarry is located. The band
of building stone at this point is
some five feet in hickness, with a
stratum Of highly bitnminous shale
just below it, 16 feet thick. In the
northern part of the State, however,
it is much less Homogeneous Prof.
Newberry 5giyes Its elementsI in
Northern Ohio as follows:
Cuyahoga shale dove -eolorcd shsle Feet.
and line blue sandstone .....!! ~. $50
Berea grit (drab sandst one9 49,. - 30
Bedford shaic (red and blue clay shale) ... 60
Cleveland shale (back bituminous shale. 2O-6o
Prof. Newberry says; "Of these
the Berea grit is one Of the most
valuable elements in our geological
series, inasmuch as, quarried at Am
herst, Berea, Independence, &c, it
is a source from which we derive, in
the form of grindstones, building
stones, &c., at least 100000 an
nually." ''- '''
The 'carboniferous conglomerate'
rests upon the "Waverly' group, and
form the floor of the coal measures.
1t represents narrow belt encircling
all the coal area. The average thick
ness of the conglomerate is 100 feet.