Bituminous sandstone near Vernal, Utah

Asphalt Ridge, a series of low discontinuous hogbacks, 3 to 4 miles southwest of Vernal, Utah, contains beds of bitumen-saturated sandstone, most of which are of Eocene age and belong to the Uinta formation, but a few may belong to the Mesaverde formation, of Cretaceous age. At seven localities along a strip of outcrop about 11% miles long the thickness of the bituminous beds was measured and their relative richness estimated. Samples collected from one locality were analyzed chemically and mechanically to determine the character and quantity of the bitumen and the distribution and proportion of the various sizes of the sand grains. The analyses showed that the bitumen content of the sandstone ranges from about 8 per cent to a little more than 15 per cent by weight. On the basis of these data and the assumption that the mining can be carried back 1% miles from the outcrop it is estimated that the whole area examined should contain about 1,175,000,000 cubic yards, or about 1,970,000,000 tons, of bituminous rock. Of this amount 1,030,000,000 tons is in one tract about 2% miles long at the northwest end of Asphalt Ridge. The bituminous sand has been successfully used as it is mined for paving the streets of Vernal. The bitumen may lend itself to hydrogenation so as to yield motor fuels and related products.