Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 14

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930

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Surface Relief .- Chestnut Ridge is the most pronounced topographie feature of the Indiana quadrangle. The ridge enters in the south central part and extends northeastward across the quadrangle. It is a narrow highland belt, the distance from valley to valley on either side being only about five miles. The west- ern slope is the steeper, there being a change

Dias Ridge, sometimes called Nolo Ridge, occupies a small area in the southeast corner of the quadrangle. It is similar to Chestnut Ridge, from which it is separated by a gently undulating valley formed in shale and drained by Brush creek.

West of Chestnut Ridge the country is more open and the topography is less rough. The region is occupied by three southwestward flowing streams, Twolick and Crooked creeks, which have cut broad and well-pronounced valleys in the general upland surface, and the south branch of Plum creek, which drains the northwest corner of the quadrangle. The divides between these creeks form low, ill- defined ridges, the tops of which are marked

corner of the quadrangle the hilltops range between 1,250 and 1,400 feet in elevation. The divide between Twolick and Crooked creeks is a higher area, much of which is above 1,500 feet, and a number of hilltops reach 1,600 feet. Between Crooked creek and the south branch of Plum creek the surface is lower, the hills averaging only about 1,400 feet.

The area adjacent to the town of Indiana is characterized by gently undulating topog- raphy, marked by a few low, rounded hills. This open stretch contrasts strongly with the rougher surrounding country, and doubtless accounts for the fact that this part of the country was settled early, the relatively fertile, gently rolling country being naturally more attractive than the ridges.

Drainage .- The drainage of the Indiana quadrangle passes entirely into the Allegheny river. The main waterways are Twolick, Yel- low and Brush creeks, which flow southward to join the Allegheny by way of Blacklick creek and Conemaugh river, and Crooked creek, with its tributary, the south branch of Plum creek, which, flowing westward, reaches the Allegheny by a more direct route. The northeast corner of the quadrangle is but a few miles from the divide between the Atlantic

in altitude of 800 feet from the top of the and the Gulf of Mexico, where the headwaters ridge to Twolick creek, while on the east the of the West Branch of the Susequehanna fall to Brush valley is only about 500 feet. river approach those of Twolick creek. The ridge is dissected, but within the limits of An interesting feature of the local drainage the quadrangle is crossed by only one stream, is the abnormal direction of flow of the head-

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

waters of McKee run and Crooked creek. Farther along the same horizon the sandy Branches of McKee run heading near Grove phase may reappear, so that the horizon may Chapel have courses which suggest that they again be marked by a prominent sandstone. have not always flowed into Crooked creek, The strata therefore frequently occur as lenses, and some tributaries of Crooked creek in the and just as a sandstone merges into a shale, so limestones and shales pass by transition into one another from point to point. Any phase may be strongly developed locally and else- where may fade out or merge into something Upper Carboniferous rocks. vicinity of Tanoma and Onberg likewise are reversed. Between Onberg and Tanoma, Crooked creek flows northward, while its branches flow southward. These facts sug- gest that in an earlier stage of stream devel- else. Such changes are characteristic of these opment in this region the drainage of the area between the towns of Indiana and Dixonville

Too much emphasis, however, must not be was different from the existing system. There laid upon this irregularity. Over widely ex- seems to have been a reversal of drainage, in consequence of which certain streams which formerly were tributary to Twolick creek now flow into Crooked creek. For some reason, streams draining into Crooked creek had the advantage over those which flowed into Two- lick, whereby the Crooked creek drainage was enabled to cut back the divides at the ex- pense of the Twolick drainage until finally the headwaters of certain branches of Two- liek were tapped and their drainage was turned into Crooked creek. tended regions uniform conditions prevailed and sedimentation resulted in strata which occur without much variation at the same horizon in large areas, and which can be traced many miles. Such horizons serve very useful purposes in determining the geologic position of a series of rocks, and they make convenient division lines in mapping. The Pittsburg coal, the Upper Freeport coal, and the Pottsville sandstone are examples of strata that are persistent and distinguishable over wide areas.

GEOLOGY

STRATIGRAPHY, CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM

Some idea of the character of the rocks which underlie the Indiana quadrangle, but which do not outerop within it, is furnished by the records of deep wells that have been sunk in search of gas. It must be borne in mind, however, that the holes were churn-drilled and that the value of such records varies with the care exercised by the recorder. The in- only tentative.

Character and Thickness .- The rocks ex- posed at the surface in the Indiana quad- rangle, except the alluvium found in the creek bottoms, are all of Carboniferous age. The terpretation of these records is accordingly surface rocks belong chiefly to the Cone- maugh and Allegheny formations, but where All the wells which go deep enough show a conspicuous series of red shales and sand- stones, the top of which lies between 1,400 and 1.500 feet below the Upper Freeport coal. Their average thickness in this region is about 350 feet. These rocks probably constitute a part of what formerly was called the Red Catskill, but as a distinet bed they are not known in outerop, and consequently they have not received a specific name. Twolick and Yellow creeks and Allen run cut through Chestnut Ridge the Pottsville for- mation is exposed, and on Yellow creek, for a short distance probably, the Mauch Chunk shales also outerop. From the lowest geologie horizon to the highest, only about 1.100 feet of rock in the vertical thickness intervene. These rocks are shales, sandstones, thin lime- stones and coals.

The different sections illustrate the varia- An interval of about 550 feet above the top of the Devonian red beds is shown by the different records to be occupied by a series of rocks which is largely shaly, but which in- eludes several beds of sand. In one of these sandstones, lying about 1,100 feet below the Upper Freeport coal, natural gas in paying quantities has been found, a fact which will bility of the sucession. Though a section in one part of the quadrangle may have approx- imately the thickness and general character of a corresponding section in another part, it is likely to show many minor variations. This is very apparent in the field. On attempting, for instance, to trace a sandstone which at one locality is thick and prominent, it may be be referred to more fully under the heading found that it soon becomes more shaly and "Mineral Resources." The exact stratigraph- less prominent, and finally may lose its dis- ic horizon of this series can not now be tinctive features and pass into a sandy shale, stated, but is near the base of the Carboni- or even into a shale with no sand admixture. ferons and the top of the Devonian.

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Mauch Chunk Shale .- Of the rocks exposed hillslopes from the top of the formation down at the surface of the Indiana quadrangle the to the creek are strewn with huge blocks of a fine-textured, compact, whitish sandstone.

Mauch Chunk shale is the oldest, though very little is known of it within this area. The Here the Pottsville measures about 100 feet. records of deep wells show an interval of shale Allegheny Formation .- Overlying the Pottsville is the Allegheny formation, which is widespread in its occurrence and distinct in its definition. The Allegheny formation has been called the Lower Coal Measures, but in conformity with the custom of denoting for- mations by geographic names it has been named the Allegheny formation, from Alle- gheny river, where it is prominently exposed. The top of the Allegheny formation is marked by the Upper Freeport coal and the formation at the Mauch Chunk horizon between the Pottsville formation and the Pocono sand- stone. In some records these shales are re- ported red and in other no mention of the color is made. The thickest occurrence re- corded in this vicinity is in the Pickels well, on Chestnut Ridge, in Burrell township, where 114 feet of red sands and shales are reported at the Mauch Chunk horizon. Northwestward the thickness diminishes considerably.

Along Yellow creek where it crosses the is delimited below by the Pottsville sandstone. Chestnut Ridge anticline there is sufficient Next to the Conemaugh the Allegheny is the most widespread formation of this quad- rangle, and its outerop is important because of the associated coal beds. The map shows these rocks to outerop in areas crossed by an- tielinal axes along Chestnut Ridge, Rayne run, Crooked creek, McKee run, and the south branch of Plum creek. interval for the Mauch Chunk to occur unless the Pottsville is unusually thick, but the rocks underlying the normal thickness of Pottsville in the Yellow creek gorge are concealed by a talus of heavy sandstone blocks. Inasmuch as in the region immediately south and south- west of the Indiana quadrangle the Mauch Chunk shales are well represented, and be- The thickness of the Allegheny formation in the Indiana quadrangle is about the same as in the adjoining regions. Although there are striking differences in stratigraphy, yet the total thickness of the formation is rather uniform. About 300 feet is the average, as the following well records show: The Win- cause within this area some red material has been reported at the Mauch Chunk horizon in · deep-well records, the presumption is that these rocks do outerop in the Indiana quad- rangle. This was the determination of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, and the Mauch Chunk is mapped accordingly. sheimer well, two and one half miles west of

Pottsville Formation .- The Pottsville for- mation in this general vicinity consists of two beds of sandstone separated by an interval of shale which sometimes carries a bed of coal. But within the Indiana quadrangle, because of poor or incomplete exposures, no exact sections can be measured. Most of the records of deep wells within the quadrangle do not show distinctly this threefold division, but they give a general thickness of about 100 feet for the formation.

The Pottsville formation outerops in three localities in the Indiana quadrangle-along Twolick creek where it emerges from Chestnut Ridge, in Allen run, and along Yellow creek where it crosses the Chestnut Ridge anticline.

Homer, gives a thickness of 285 feet, while the diamond-drill hole near Graceton records 318 feet without certainty that the top of the Pottsville was reached. A diamond-drill hole near Gettysburg, about seven miles northeast of the quadrangle, shows a thickness of 303 feet for the Allegheny formation; the gas wells on the south branch of Plum creek below Willet, about 300 feet; the St. Clair well, a mile south of Indiana, 301 feet; and the Law- rence well, in Blacklick township, a few miles southwest of the quadrangle, 300 feet.

The formation consists of shales, sandstones, a few, thin limestones, and several beds of coal, some of which are of considerable economic importance. The Upper Freeport coal lies at the top of the formation and is rather per- . sistent in its occurrence. This stratum is, how- ever, subject to variation, which will be dis- cussed under the heading "Mineral Re- sources." Below this coal at an interval vary- ing from 0 to 40 feet the Freeport limestone and Bolivar fire elay members are often pres- ent, and these also will be referred to again.

On Twolick creek the Pottsville occupies a small area near water level, the presence of the formation being made conspicuous by large blocks of sandstone in the creek. On Allen run for about a mile large blocks of sandstone near water level are thought to mark the out- crop of the Pottsville. Along Yellow creek the outerop of this formation is greater. A heavy sandstone is there well developed, but the Then, after an interval of from 20 to 80 feet exposures are poor for detailed study. The of dark shales, another coal sometimes occurs,

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

which is called the Lower Freeport. Below outerop along Conemaugh river. The Cone- are drab or dark-colored shales or sandy shales, maugh formation is widespread in its occur- sometimes a thin bed of limestone, and occa- rence and is well defined. It is delimited above by the Pittsburg coal and below by the Upper Freeport, both coals being excluded from the formation. sionally a heavy sandstone. This sandstone shows a thickness of 63 feet in bore hole No. 1, near Graceton, where its top occurs 100 feet below the Upper Freeport coal.

About the middle of the Allegheny forma- tion sometimes occur two or three beds of coal which are called the Kittanning coal. Only one of these, so far as known, is well developed in the Indiana quadrangle. This occurs about 200 feet below the Upper Free- port and is called the Lower Kittanning coal. Drill records show in places a heavy sand- stone above this coal, and also one below. Thus, in a drill hole north of Yellow creek. near the east side of the quadrangle, a heavy sandstone was encountered whose top is 165 feet below the Upper Freeport coal ; and drill hole No. 1, near Graceton, shows 54 feet of sandstone about 30 feet below the Lower Kit- tanning coal.

In places limestone occurs associated with these coals. A bed of impure limestone S feet, 9 inches thick was found in a drill hole on Ramsey run 175 feet below the Upper Free- port coal ; and in the same hole 4 feet, 5 inches of gray limestone occur 238 feet below the Upper Freeport. The former occurrence is noteworthy because the limestone appears in the horizon of the Vanport (Ferriferous) limestone member. West of the quadrangle this limestone is well developed and is an im- portant key rock. Eastward it thins out. In the Indiana quadrangle the presence of the Vanport limestone member is recorded in only this diamond-drill hole, and its outerop is found at only one locality-along the axis of the Chestnut Ridge antieline, on the northi slope of Yellow creek. Here fragments of limestone were found 80 feet above the top of the Pottsville and 20 feet below the Lower Kittanning coal.

From the horizon of the Vanport limestone member to the base of the formation the rocks are usually shales, among which one or two thin and unimportant layers of coal some- times occur.

Conemaugh Formation .- The rocks belong- ing to the Conemaugh formation, which di- rectly overlies the Allegheny, have been called the Lower Barren Measures because they rarely carry workable coal and they lie be- tween formations which do contain valuable coal heds. But for the sake of uniformity in geologic nomenclature the rocks have been named the Conemaugh formation, from their

The Conemaugh formation, as shown by the geologic map, extends over most of the Indiana quadrangle. Except in the Chestnut Ridge region and a few other districts where the Allegheny formation outerops, Conemaugh rocks are everywhere exposed at the surface. The entire thickness of the formation is 1101 present in the Indiana quadrangle. In the region to southwest of the area under con- sideration these rocks have a rather constant thickness of from 600 to 700 feet, but there is evidence that this thickness increases some- what northeastward. The best interpretation that can be given to several diamond-drill rec- ords in the southwestern part of the Indiana quadrangle, toward the center of the Latrobe syneline, places the Upper Freeport coal at an elevation of 650 to 680 feet, while adjacent hills on which the Pittsburg coal has not been found rise to a little more than 1,300 feet. These figures call for a thickness of over 600 feet for the Conemaugh formation, an estimate which is borne out by facts in the territory to the south. A deep well at the Columbia Plate Glass Works at Blairsville gives an approxi- mate thickness of 675 feet for the Conemaugh. The Lawrence well on Greys run, about a mile south of the southwest corner of the Indiana quadrangle, shows a thickness of at least 680 feet for the Conemaugh formation when there is added to the well record the thickness of rocks ou an adjacent hill on which the Pitts- burg coal does not outerop.

As a whole the Conemaugh formation is composed largely of drab and reddish shales, but it is also characterized by the occurrenee of important beds of sandstone. Minor beds of limestone and some coal are also included within the formation.

There are four prineipal sandstones, but these occur as lenses or beds of limited extent and of local thickness instead of uniformly persistent strata. They therefore form mem- bers of the Conemaugh formation rather than distinct formations by themselves. The names given to these sandstones are those adopted in other localities where the Cone- maugh formation occurs, and their relative positions are approximately the same. Actual identity in correlation can not be established because of the noncontinuity of the deposits as traceable beds. In lithologie eharacter

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

these sandstones resemble one another so Upper Freeport coal the position of the Ma- closely that they can not be distinguished, but honing can be easily followed on the map. their stratigraphie position serves to identify them. They range from hard, compact, fine- textured white or buff sandstones to friable and coarser-textured, much iron-stained sand- stones. Locally these rocks become conglom- eratie, the pebbles of quartz occasionally at- taining the size of beans. The sandstones vary in thickness from a few feet to 60 or 70 feet. A common measurement when they are well developed is between 20 and 30 feet. This sandstone is prominent on Chestnut Ridge, about McKee run, and between Cham- bersville and Gaibleton. It is poorly devel- oped or not present at its horizon in Dixon run and in the south branch of Plum creek. It is recorded in several diamond-drill rec- ords, though in others it is absent. A strik- ing example of change in sedimentation, characteristic of the Coal Measures, is well shown by the distribution of the Mahoning sandstone member. It is strongly developed as a massive conglomeratic sandstone on the ridge north of Penn run and east of Twolick creek, but in the nearby valley of Dixon run

The Connellsville sandstone member in this quadrangle is thin bedded, drab, and mica- ceous. It occurs about 80 feet below the Pittsburg coal, though in the type locality this interval is only about 50 feet. The Con- is scarcely recognizable.

Drab shales and sandy shales, occasionally Indiana quadrangle on only a few hills in interbedded with bluish and reddish shales, the southwest corner, adjacent to the Pitts- burg coal area.

nellsville sandstone member outerops in the

are the most abundant rocks of the Cone- maugh formation. They occur between the The Morgantown sandstone member occurs about 500 feet above the Upper Freeport coal and is usually well developed. It is present on the hills west of Homer, on White, Cole- sandstones that have just been mentioned and replace them where they are not developed. Locally the reddish shales attain prominence. For instance, the small hill east of the freight man and Warner hills, and between Grove station in Indiana shows such a local devel- Chapel and Tanoma.

opment. These shales are about 350 feet above the Upper Freeport coal.

The top of the Saltsburg sandstone mem- ber is about 200 feet above the Upper Free- port coal. This sandstone outcrops at sev- eral localities in this quadrangle and occa- sionally is strongly developed, but at several places where its presence would be expected

Only a few ontcrops of limestone were ob- served in the Conemaugh formation. On the hillside east of the road between Cherry run and Twolick creek, about one and one half miles southwest of Homer, is a thin bed of the sandstone phase is not present. The limestone carrying brachiopods. This bed oc- Saltsburg sandstone member occurs at Homer. curs about midway in the Conemaugh forma- oidal) limestone member. Another exposure of what is believed to be this limestone occurs near the road forks at the head of Mudlick run. In Brushvalley, about three quarters of a mile northwest of Rico, underlying a coal which is there locally developed, is a limestone which has been quarried. This coal and limestone are thought to belong to the Elk Liek horizon and to be somewhat over 300 feet above the Upper Freeport coal. at Edgewood, and along the road crossing the tion and probably represents the Ames (Crin- hill northwest of Ideal. It is also well devel- oped on Dias Ridge, in the southeast corner of the quadrangle. It appears at the bend in the road between Indiana and Mechanicsburg just south of Twolick creek, and again on this road a little lower down the dip of the east flank of the Latrobe syneline, a short distance north of the creek. Thence south- westward it forms a bench along the hillside to the railroad cut south of Reed station. It shows in the western limb of the Latrobe The Conemangh formation carries several coal beds, some of which within the Indiana quadrangle locally attain workable thickness. These coals are not persistent and their oc- currence is most irregular. They will be considered under the heading "Mineral syncline on the road along McCartney run a half mile west of Reed, where it has been quarried. This occurrence of the Saltsburg sandstone member is mentioned in detail be- canse it gives a surface demonstration of the existence in this region of the Latrobe syn- Resources." eline.

The Mahoning sandstone member occurs at QUATERNARY SYSTEM the base of the Conemaugh formation. It is generally present within this quadrangle, and Alluvium .- The flood plains of the stream> its outerop being contignous to that of the are composed of alluvium, consisting of sand.

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

clay and silt. This material is made up of mine data giving instrumentally determined disintegrated rock particles which have been elevations of the coal. Structure contour washed down from the hillsides and deposited lines constructed on this basis are very ac- in their present positions in times of high water. The most conspicuous occurrences are along the larger creeks and are mapped, but similar deposits too small to be shown on the map occur along all the streams. The allu- vium is fine-grained and where well developed makes valuable farm land.

STRUCTURE

The Indiana quadrangle, situated as it is in the northeastern part of the plateau region not far from the Allegheny Front, conforms in geologie structure with the Allegheny Plateau. The rocks are bent into a series of low folds, which decrease in magnitude westward.

The structure contours are drawn with ref- erence to the Upper Freeport coal, the con- tour interval being 100 feet and the datum plane sea level. Ideally everywhere along any contour line the coal is at the same eleva- tion, and everywhere along the next contour above the elevation of the coal is 100 feet higher. The intersection of surface contours and structure contours of the same elevation marks the position of the outerop of the Upper Freeport coal. Where the elevation of the surface at any point is greater than the elevation of the coal at that point, as shown by contiguous structure contours, the approximate depth of the coal below the sur- face may be found by subtraction. Where the elevation of the surface is less than the corresponding elevation of the coal the latter has been removed by erosion and the con- tours simply show structure.

Suppose. for instance, the position of the Upper Freeport coal is desired at the bridge crossing Twolick creek in the northern part of the town of Homer. It will be seen by the map that the elevation of the surface at this point is a little under 1.020 feet and that the bridge is a little above the 800-foot structure contour. The Upper Freeport coal, there- fore, is here about 1.020 minus 800 feet, or about 220 feet, below the surface.

curate and show that the main folds are com- plicated by many minor variations. In the Indiana quadrangle there are no such avail- able data, and the broadly curved contour lines illustrating the structure of this region represent only the main features. Doubtless here, as in the region farther south, the rock structure is intricately warped, but the de- tails of these fluctuations can be determined only by actually following any one stratum over a considerable area as in coal mining.

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Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 14

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930