Reports
Report on the Coals of Maryland
1905, Clark, W.B., Martin, G.C., Rutledge, J.J., Randolph, B.S., Stockton, N.A., Penniman, W.B.D., and Browne, A.L.
Special Publications 1905
Introduction
The coal deposits of Maryland are confined to the western part of the State where for more than half a century they have afforded the basis of the most important mineral industry in Maryland. They have been studied by geologists shoe the eaHy days of geological investigation in Maryland and a copious literature has resulted in which both the geological and economic conditions have been extensively discussed. The proximity of the coal areas of western Maryland to those of Pennsylvania on the north and of West Virginia on the south and west has likewise led to the incorporation of the Maryland district in the discussions of those two regions, and a study of the geological literature of those states will, therefore, afford much information regarding the coal deposits of Maryland. Many of the names employed for the formations and. coal seams of Maryland have, moreover, been proposed by the geologists of these neighboring commonwealths, while, on the other hand, the great economic importance of the Georges Creek basin and its early study led in some instances to the employment of terms there which have likewise been adopted in neighboring areas. The relations of the Maryland deposits to those of adjacent states will accordingly form an important chapter in the discussion which follows.
No question has more fully occupied the attention, of the present State Geological Survey than the coal deposits of Allegany and Garrett counties, both on account of their present commercial importance and the possibility of their greatly increased development in areas that are at present unworked. Maps of the geology showing the several formations and their contained coal beds have been prepared on a large scale and have already been issued in the volumes dealing with Allegany and Garrett counties. Less attention will be paid to the geological features in the present paper, most of the report being devoted to the distribution, character, and availability of the coal beds.
