Clearfield - Area, 1130 square miles; population in
1880, 43,408. The Laurel Hill anticlinal ranges up the eastern side-
the Chestnut Ridge anticlinal through the western half- and a third
great anticlinal past the extreme north-west corner of this county,
which, therefor, spreads across the Second and Third Bituminous Coal
basins of western Pennsylvania, holding not only the Lower Productive
coal series, but extensive uplands of the great Mahoning sandstone
and the lower part of the Barren Measures. The whole county is very
elevated- 1500` to 2000` A.T. the Susquehanna River flowing north-east
through it, in a gorge-like valley, and Clearfield creek flowing north
form Cambria county meet at an elevation of 1144`; and the Moshannon
creek, which flows northward along the east boundary of the county,
meets the river at 845` A.T. Steep and often vertical cliffs, 500`
high, wall in these water channels, and those of their innumerable
tributary streams. The Conglomerate No. XII occupies the bed and sides
of the whole length of the Susquehanna River, except for a short distance
in Bell township; Clearfield Creek from Knox township north; the Moshannon
from Morrisdale north; all the valleys on the north side of the river;
a belt of high land 3 or 4 miles wide from the north-east corner of
Bloom township northeastward into Elk county; and most of northern
Girad, and northern Covington and Karthaus townships. The shales of
XI and the upper most sandstones of X appear in the water beds of
Morris, Graham, and Bloom, and where the head waters north of Clearfield
cut through the Chestnut Ridge axis. The quantity of coal preserved
to Clearfield county in the two Freeport coal beds lying, here, only
from 25` to 40` feet apart, and in the four Kittanning coal beds,
occupying a space of only 70` or 80`, is immensely large; but the
Clarion series is not productive. The Freeport lower coal is the famous
"Moshannon bed" of the First Basin, outside of which it is small.
The other principal bed is the Kittanning lower coal, with a regular
fire-clay under its thin top bench. The Freeport upper limestone is
thin, often absent, or only represented by ball ore shales. The F.
lower limestone varies from 2` to 4`; is occasionally 6` or 8` thick;
and is often wanting. The Johnstown Cement bed, underlying the K.
upper coal runs from 1 ½` too 2 ½`, and is persistent. The Ferriferous
limestone is hardly to be found. Iron ore shales occur, but have remained
unmined; the red carbonate iron stone, under the Conglomerate, presents
its outcrop here and there. The fire-clay beds worked at Sandy Ridge,
Blueball, Woodland, and Clearfield are rich and important, lying at
the base of the Productive coal series, on top of the Conglomerate
No. XII. It is remarkable that this clay contains 2 ½ percent of titanic
acid. The clay bed at Clearfield is 13` thick. (See Reports H, and
H7 .)
From: A geological hand atlas of the sixty-seven
counties of Pennsylvania :embodying the results of the field work
of the survey, from 1874 to 1884. By J. P. Lesley. (Report of
progress (Geological Survey of Pennsylvania), v. X ) Harrisburg, PA
: Board of commissioners for the second geological survey, 1885.
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