Abstract The frontispiece of the symposium on Gulf Coast Oil Fields is a mosaic of parts of 40 photographs which were taken at elevations of approximately 12,000 feet. The successful reading of an aerial photograph, such as this one of the Barbers Hill salt dome requires special training and skill. The significance of various elements of aerial pictures is pointed out so that the reader may recognize the cultural and physiographic features and determine the nature of the geologic structure underlying the surface.

Abstract Barbers Hill is a moundlike elevation in the extreme northwestern portion of Chambers County, Texas, 26 miles northeast of Houston. It is oval in shape, covers an area of 1,718 acres, and rises 45 feet above the surrounding prairie. This elevation is the result of an intrusive salt plug which has raised the surface above its normal position. The salt plug is composed of almost pure rock salt and is capped by deposits of gypsum anhydrite and limestone. Formations surrounding the salt plug are inclined at steep angles dipping away from the salt plug. Numerous indications of geologic disturbance are present on and about the dome. The most prominent of these are mineralized water-and-gas seepage in shallow water wells, paraffin dirt, and gas seepage on the surface. Prior to 1924, 120 wells were drilled, of which 26 produced oil and 91 were failures. The total production for this period is 784,520 barrels, all of which was obtained from an area of 100 acres on the southwestern side of the dome. The average production of producing wells has been 30,174 barrels, and the average depth 2,251 feet. The oil has an asphaltic base with gravities ranging from 17° to 39°7 Baumé; the oil produced from cap rock averages about 20° Baumé. Production around the periphery of the dome is obtained from sands and limestones of the Fleming formation.