Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-10-23
The Geological Survey.


The work Of The State Geological survey
in thi, vicinity j. being pushed Vigorously
with the intention Of completing the field
observations, if possible, before cold weather
sets 10.
Prof. Marbut has been detailed to join the
force already III the fie Ia, and last SATURDAY.
the party, III charge of Prot. Ladd, left for
the neighborho0d Of the Silver Mines, where
it has gone into camp. Mr. x. f. Bum
gardener Of Irontnu accompanied the party,
in charge Of the cuisine department.
With horse and wagon and d good camp
outfit II Is thought that the work viii pro-
gress much more rapidly than If it were nee
essary to depend upon the hospitality Of the
scattered settlers Of this thinlv populated
part Of the county.
The map which the survey i making vi i'll
include, on one sheet, the nine townships IS,
81 and 81 north, range 3, and . east The
greater part of this area i now finished.
The map, when completed, viii illus rate
accurately the topography OF the Included
area, showing the elevations and contours Of
all the hills and valleys, and the entire drain
age system. Bv coIors and conE entiopal
signs on the map the local geology vii be
shown, and the position Of All known miner
al. kaOIin and building stone occurrences IN
dicated. a descriptive and explanatory re-
port viii accompany the map when it Is is
sued for the public.
II our readers viii glance ST one Of the
maps of the The Mineral Region Of south
east Missouri" " hich were published ST this
office, they viii at once see the importance
Of geological work 10 hi neishhorhood, and
how happily the area for the first map mas
been selected by Jbt State GeoIogist.
geographically it j. the she'd which dis
vides the waters Of the Black, Big and It.
Francois rivers. all Of which have their head
waters among the hills near Graniteville.
GeoIogicaHy, it has the oldest known rocks.
IL porphyrg and granite hills countless
&ges ago lifted their heads, as islands, above
the waves Of d sea which was depasitinc Oh
their sides, ana throughout their ancient
valleys, sandstnues aud iImEsiones probably
eotem pnrane0u> with the eaFiiest dawn OF
animal life upon the earth. Later, viii
many osciIiatious,th these volcanic hills and the
ocrap beds Of sandstone and limestone were
elevated far above the water>; the streams,
the rain. the frost and Ihe atmosphere have
since carried on their eea~ele>s work Of land
destruction, and new valleys have been go;
nearly to the level the old ones had before
they were filled with the sncieu, ocean ssdi-
ments.
In connection with the scientific study of
such points there i offered the problem Of
he origin ana extent Of many valuable ores
and minerals. For iron deposits the region
is already world-famed by the names Of Iron
Mountain and Pilot Knob. Its beautiful
and durable GRANTEES are widely appreciated
and locally, al least, II is known that there
are good marble beds There are also large
deposits OF kaolins, and interesting and oe-
casipnaliy valuable deposits OF silver, lead,
copper. manganese. asbestos and asases.
Another problem presented sjshsn this
area i thar Of The possibility C CREST v.-t-
er power 70 b found IN The =. Francois
River. II there i natural provision Tor Stor-
age Of sufficient water for summer Use,