Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Proceedings of the Illinois Fuel Conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana, March 11, 12, 13, 1909
In the region of Duquoin, Christopher, and Herrin, there would seem to have been, at the time of deposition of coal No. 6, nearby land sur faces - perhaps small irregular exposed areas - occupied by the coal forming types of vegetation. The mines in}, this district, which lie nearly midway across the basin, frequently show abundant fragments of fossil ferns and other delicate plant types in a condition of preserva tion which absolutely precludes far transportation or long suspense in water. It is probable that the old soil areas which supported this vegeta tion at the time of the marine submergence of the bog swamps were iden tical with some of the hummocks, or barren rises, which interrupt the continuity of coal N o. 6 in this region. The plants in the roof of coal No. 6 do not on closer examination appear to disclose any paleobotanical obstacle to the reference of the bed to the Freeport group, in the upper part of the Allegheny formation, with which it appears to offer a satisfactory agreement. The flora of No. 6, in southern Illinois, also agrees fairly well with that of the Grape Creek coal in the Danville region, which accordingly is, I believe, also to be referred to the same horizon. I therefore do not hesitate to refer these coals to the Allegheny formation. This reference conforms to the opinion expressed in the Danville folio, though the presence of one or two peculiar species seemed, at the time of their study, to favor a somewhat higher level. It is, in my judgment, not wholly improbable even that the Grape Creek coal may lie as low as the lower Freeport coal of the Appalachian trough. The roof of coal No. 7 or its supposed equivalent, the Danville coal, has not as yet afforded any fossil plants in Illinois, and I am therefore unable to o'fier any paleobotanical evidence bearing directly on its cor relation. I may, however, venture the Opinion that the. Grape Creek coal may be old enough to permit the inclusion of the Danville coal also within the Freeport group, and I would suggest that it be so mapped. The relatively small interval between these coals suggests a. Tentative reference of the Danville to the horizon of the Upper Freeport coal if the Grape Creek coal be provisionally correlated with the Lower Freeport coal as would seem to be permissible. It is interesting to note that. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
