The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-27
LOTS Of COAL
IN BOOK CLIFFS
Billions of Tons of Commercial
Black Diamonds Available in
Southeastern Utah.
ONE TO TEN MILES WIDE
MANY SEAMS FOUND AT VARY
ING ELEVATIONS.
ONE TO TEN MILES WIDE

The Book Cliffs coal field is part of an
Immense basin in western Colorado and
eastern Utah around which the outcrOp
of coal-bearine rocks can be traced for
more than 500 miles. On the southwest,
from the vicinity of Mount Hilgard, Utah,
northward TO Castle Gate, the coal meas
ufeS form the eastern escarpment of the
WaSatch plateau. Thence they trend
SoutheaStward to Grand river, constitut-
ing IN the Book Cliffs the southern rim
of the Uinta basin. Beyond Grand river
the coal measures continue eastward,
forming the southern base of Grand mesa
and extending 10 the vicinity of Crested
Butte From that place the outcrop trends
northward and, crossing Grand river
again in the vicinity Of Newcastle, con-
tinues nOrthward along the Grand hog
back to the Danforth hills. Thence the
coal measures turn westward and out
crop along the southern flank of the Uin-
Ia mountains. This great coal field has
been but partially prospected and mines
are in operation at only a few localities,
but enough of the area has been explored
TO prove that it is one of the most i'm
portant coal reserves of the Rocky noun
tains.
Coal has long been known to be pres
ent in the Book Cliffs. The geology of the
region was first studied by A. c. Peale,
OF the Hayden Survey, in 1876. The field
is mentioned by r. c. Hills in his report
on the Coal Fields of Colorado" and by
Il. .. IN paper on the RUGBY
Mountain Coal Fields" Arthur Lakes has
also referred to part of the area and has
described the Book Cliff mines. But the
coal was not examined in detail until 1905,
when j. A. Taft, of the United States geo
logical survey. studied the western part
of the field from the vicinity of Sunny
side to Castle Gate, Utah, and its south
ern continuation along the escarpment of
the Wasatch plateau.
Belt One to Ten Miles Wide.
In the summer of 1906 another party
from the national survey, consisting of
Messrs. G. B. Richardson, w. d. Neal,
i. j. Pepperberg and G. d. Perrin, made
part of the Book Cliffs field from the
point where Mr.. Taff's work terminated 10
Grand river, Colorado, and a brief report
on this survey, prepared by Mr.. Richard
son, who was the geOlOgist in charge, has
just been published in Bulletin No. SIG.
which forms Part ii of the surveys Con
tributions TO Economic Geology, 1906"
The more detailed report of which this is
an abstract will soon be published.
The Book Cliffs extend from Grand
river, Colorado, to Helper, Utah, at the
east edge of the WaSatch plateau. They
occupy a belt from one mile to ten miles
wide, in which the elevation rises from
1000 to 5000 feet. In places the rise is
abrupt, in one sharp, precipitOus slope,
but usually it is accomplished by series
of cliffs and intervening benches. The
rocks composing the cliffs are alternating
beds of sandstone and shale, lying almost
flat. and the edges of the strata exposed
in the cliffs have the appearance of the
leaves of book when lying on one side;
hence the name. In the area discussed by
Mr.. Richardson the sliffs extend in an
S-shaped belt from Palisades to Sunny
side.
Many Seams of Coal.
Coal of commercial Importance occurs
at a number of horizons, but no single
he'd haE haa fr9a a1 saf1Far irarrf rrelx- Fr.r-
more thar few miles. In one locality
several beds are present while in other
places only one or two have been found.
The thickness ranges from tWenty-One
feet down TO mere films of carbOnaceous
matter. Analyses made at the fuel-te testing
plant of the survey at St Louis. by +.
NJ. Stanton, the chief chemist, indicate
that these Goals are medium grade bitum-
inous and compare faVOrably with the
product from the Rocky mountain region
and the Mississippi valley.
No systematic tests of the coking quail
ties of the Goals have been made. At
tempts to coke the Cameo and Palisades
Goals have thus far met with but poor
success; but On the other hand, the coal
from the Sunnyside mine, at the west end
of the area described by Mr. Richardson,
is cooked. Attention is called to the fact,
however, that the coking of a given coal
depends largely on the methods used.
Goals that have been considered non-cok-
ing have been cooked under proper treat
ment.
Billions of Tons Available.
a close estimate can not be made of the
total amount of coal available because
of incomplete knowledge of the field
rough approximation may be reached
however. by assuming that the practical
limit of the field is six miles back from
the outcrop and that the total thickness
of the coal may be represented by a single
bed seven feet thick extending through
out the area. The latter figure introduces
an element of much uncertainty mas
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