Page:The South Staffordshire Coalfield - Joseph Beete Jukes - 1859.djvu/36

As a more easily remembered key to the structure of the district than that of the general section it may be as well to give the following abstract list of the principal workable coals in the southern district in descending order:—

			FT.
	Upper measures, maximum thickness	about	800
1.	Brooch coal	about	4
	Intermediate measures varying in 25 pit sections from 87 to 218 feet	mean	130
2.	Thick coal	about	30
	Intermediate measures varying in 33 pit sections from 7 to 35 feet	the mean being	20
3.	Heathen coal	about	4
	Intermediate measures varying in 33 pit sections from 56 to 144 feet	the mean being	109
4.	New Mine coal	about	8
	Intermediate measures varying in 43 pit sections from 2 feet to 35 feet	the mean being	16
5.	Fire-clay coal	about	7
	Intermediate measures varying in 40 pit sections from 18 to 52 feet	the mean being	30
6.	Bottom coal	about	12
	Lower measures	maximum proved thickness	140
			1,310

This total of 1,300 feet is probably greater than the thickness of Coal-measures that ever existed at any one place in the southern half of the South Staffordshire coal-field.

General Section of the Central and Southern Part of the Coal Field.

											FT.	.	FT
1.	[1]Beds above the Upper Sulphur coal				$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	1a.	The Halesowen sandstone group	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$			600	to	800
						1b.	The Red, coal-measure clays
2.	[2]Upper Sulphur coal										about		1
3.	Intermediate measures												140
4.	[2]Little or Two-foot coal												2
5.	Intermediate measures									from	2	to	48
6.	(I.)			Brooch Coal							about		4
7.	(I. 1.)			Brooch binds, ironstone measures						from	7	to	20
8.	[2]Herring coal[3] (not known north of Dudley										about		1
9.	(I. 2.)			Pins and Pennyearth ironstone measures[4]						from	7	to	30
10.	Intermediate measures containing the sandstone known as the Thick coal rock									from„	38	to	157

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1. Each group of beds is numbered in consecutive order, the workable coals having an additional number in Roman figures, and the ironstones an additional number with I, before it.
2. The coals thus marked are not numbered, as they have never yet been worked.
3. So called from containing many dorsal spines of fish, called herring bones by the colliers.
4. These ironstones are occasionally rich in the remains of fishes.