The Western Middle anthracite field is one of four structural basins containing anthracite in eastern Pennsylvania. This report describes the geology of the part of the Western Middle field that lies in the western half of the Ashland quadrangle. (See index map, sheet 2.) The mapped area covers about 19 square miles in Columbia and Schuylkill Counties. The town of Centralia is in the northern part of the area, and the town of Ashland is in the southern part.

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USGS1951

Geology of anthracite in the east-central part of the Mount Carmel quadrangle, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania anthracite fields, the principal source of anthracite in North America, are in the eastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The coal occurs in four elongate areas - Northern, Western Middle, Eastern Middle, and Southern fields - that trend northeastward and lie in echelon arrangement. The fields range in length from 24 to 66 miles and in width from a fraction of a mile to 10 miles, and include about 484 square miles of coal-bearing land. The area covered by this report is in the Western Middle field.

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USGS1951

Geology of anthracite in the southwestern part of the Mount Carmel quadrangle, Pennsylvania

This report is the second to be prepared as a result of a geologic investigation of the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania begun after consultation with the Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Surveys of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This report and others in preparation will show (1) the location of coal outcrops, (2) the depth, pitch, and other structural features of representative coal beds, (3) the natural and artificial barriers between mines and the structural relationships between the various coal basins, and (4) the correlation of the beds, the stratigraphic intervals between them, and the thickness, continuity, and other physical characteristics of the coal. The reports will bring up to date and amplify the Grand Atlas of the Anthracite Fields published by the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania in 1884-1885, and the reports that supplemented that atlas. It is expected that the reports will aid operators who are mining either on the surface or underground, or who are formulating plans for control of mine water. It is hoped that these reports will also direct attention to overlooked or unutilized reserves of coal. A preceding report described the west-central part of the Mount Carmel quadrangle (Rothrock et al., 1950) and it is planned to publish similar reports on other unit areas as they are completed.

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