Geology Reports⌕ Search

Geology topics

Farrell F. Barnes

Publications and source records attributed to Farrell F. Barnes.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1955

Notes on a coal deposit on the Beluga River, Alaska

This report is based on a brief examination of a locality on the Beluga River, about 50 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska (fig. 1), that had been reported to contain a coal bed of exceptional thickness and quality, possibly suitable for large-scale strip mining. I visited the locality on August 21-22, 1954, accompanied by Mike Goggans, of Anchorage, who volunteered to guide me to the locality, and by Joe Schneller, of the Two Joe Fish Co. on the Beluga River, who furnished a boat and outboard motors and served as boatman. I wish to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of both men in making the trip possible and in assisting in the field work.

Alaska↗
USGS1955

Subsurface exploration for stripping coal on Lower Deep Creek, Homer district, Kenai coal field, Alaska

The area described in this report is on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, near the mouth of Deep Creek, a stream of moderate size that enters Cook Inlet about 2 miles south of the village of Ninilchik (pl. 1). It is 37 miles by highway north of Homer and 51 miles south of Kenai, the two principal towns of the region (fig. 1). The localities studied are in sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, T. 2 S., R. 14 W. (Seward meridian), south and west of Deep Creek within 2 miles of its mouth, and were easily reached by cutting about a mile of tractor trail from a dirt road connecting with the Sterling Highway (pl. 1). This area was chosen for detailed study because geologic mapping had indicated the presence of at least one coal bed of minable thickness and quality that appeared to be favorably situated for strip mining and was reasonably accessible to the highway. This report presents the results of drilling and trenching with a bulldozer and power-auger unit in areas along Deep Creek that had been mapped by Cobb (1952) and briefly examined by Barnes in 1953. The reader is referred to Cobb's report for a general description of the geology and coal resources of the Homer district, of which this area is a part. These earlier investigations showed that the coal-bearing Kenai formation, of Tertiary age, is generally covered by Quaternary glacial and stream deposits, except in steep bluffs and parts of the creek bed, so that subsurface data were needed to supplement the surface data in evaluating the coal reserves. The field work for this report was done in the period August 130, 1954, by the writers, assisted by A. E. Burford and W. S. Hopkins, geologists, and J. W. Dawson, operator-mechanic. It involved the use of a small crawler tractor, equipped with a 4-1/2 inch power auger for boring through the overburden to test concealed coal beds, and with a bulldozer for building access roads and opening cuts and trenches to permit direct observation and measurement of the coal at favorable localities. A more detailed description of the equipment and its use is given elsewhere (Barnes and Sokol, 1955). Work was done at two localities on Deep Creek, about 1 mile and 1-1/2 miles, respectively, above the highway bridge. These areas were mapped topographically and tied in with the land net by plane-table surveys.

Alaska↗
USGS1954

Subsurface exploration in the Little Susitna district, Matanuska coal field, Alaska

Preliminary geologic mapping of the Little Susitna district in 1952 showed that an area of at least 140 square miles is underlain by coal-bearing rocks of Tertiary age, and indicated that coal beds of minable quality and thickness might be present at several localities. Detailed exploration with a bulldozer and power auger was done at these localities in 1953 and 1954 with special attention to strip-mining possibilities. All the beds examined at the four localities tested were judged to be either too thin or too dirty to be minable under present conditions, and none of them are favorably situated for strip mining.

Alaska↗
USGS1953

Preliminary report on the Little Susitna district, Matanuska coal field, Alaska

The Little Susitna district, as defined in this report, occupies an area roughly 25 miles long and 3 miles wide on the north side of the lower (western) extremity of the Matanuska Valley in south-central Alaska (fig. 1). The district is bounded on the north by the Talkeetna Mountains, on the south and east by the Little Susitna River, and on the west by the broad lowland of the Susitna River. (See pl. 1.) This report is based on field work done in the summer of 1952, in which the writer was assisted by Alfred Oestreich, Lewis Ladwig, and Richard Pack. Prior to the present investigation very little was known geologically of the district, except that it was largely covered with alluvial and glacial deposits and that coal-bearing rocks were exposed at three widely separated localities. The purpose of the investigation was to determine, if possible from scattered outcrops and shallow test pits, whether any parts of the district offered sufficient promise of containing minable coal deposits to warrant a more detailed investigation using sub-surface methods. As a result of this preliminary investigation, plans are being made to explore more thoroughly, by trenching and drilling, some of the more promising parts of the district.

Alaska↗