Clay County is located in central West Virginia in the Appalachian coal field. It is underlain by Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian coal-bearing sedimentary rocks that total about 2,070 feet and consist of the Kanawha, Allegheny, Conemaugh, and Monongahela Formations. The stratigraphic relations and distribution of coal beds in the county were studied by the U.S. Geological Survey in conjunction with the low-sulfur coal program of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
The rocks are light gray to grayish red, and are composed mostly of interbedded shale, siltstone, sandstone, underclay, and coal. Conglomerate occurs, also, in the Allegheny Formation. There are 28 coal beds of high-volatile A or B bituminous rank, the thickest of whichis as much as 82 inches. Twelve of the coals are minable and consist chiefly of bright-banded and splint varieties. Four coal beds contain an average of less than 1.0 percent sulfur, and two others contain anaverage of between 1.1 and 3.0 percent. Analyses are unavailable for the remaining six beds, and their sulfur content is unknown.
The rocks are light gray to grayish red, and are composed mostly of interbedded shale, siltstone, sandstone, underclay, and coal. Conglomerate occurs, also, in the Allegheny Formation. There are 28 coal beds of high-volatile A or B bituminous rank, the thickest of whichis as much as 82 inches. Twelve of the coals are minable and consist chiefly of bright-banded and splint varieties. Four coal beds contain an average of less than 1.0 percent sulfur, and two others contain anaverage of between 1.1 and 3.0 percent. Analyses are unavailable for the remaining six beds, and their sulfur content is unknown.
