DEPABTMENT OF THE INTEEIOR f . /" At t

BULLETIN

OF TDK

UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

No. 84

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1892

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

J. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR

NEOCENE

WILLIAM HEALEY DALL

AND

GILBERT DENNISON HARRIS

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1892

/</-: **?

CONTENTS.

Page.

Letter of transmittal, by G. K. Gilbert....................................... 11

Outline of this paper........................................................ 13

Introduction.,.............................................................. 15

CHAPTER I. General considerations................................. ....... 18

Early classification of American Cenozoic beds........................... 18

Boundaries of the subdivisions of the Cenozoic........................... 20

Eocene.............................................................. 20

Miocene............................................................ 21

Pliocene............................................................. __ 22

Geographic provinces of American Neocene.............................. 22

Principles of classification........................................... 22

Table of zones with census of fauna................................. 25

Conclusions from the table.......................................... .27

Difficulties in correlating faunas'.................................... 30

Conclusions. ......................................................... 31

CHAPTER II. Summary of our knowledge of the Neocene of the Atlantic and

Gulf coasts of the United States, considered by states ..................... 32

Submarine strata off Newfoundland and southward to Capo Cod.......... 32

Maine.................................................................. 32

New Hampshire......................................................... 33

Vermont................................................................ 33

Ehode Island ........................................................... 34

Massachusetts .......................................................... 34

Mainland........................................................... 34

Deposits on the islands off the mainland............................. 35

Nantucket. ..................................................... 35

Marthas Vineyard............................................... 35

Naushon........................................................ 38

New York............................................................... 38

Long Island ........................................................ 38

New Jersey.... ......................................................... 39

The Miocene marls.................................................. 39

Cenozoic sands ..................................................... 43

Pennsylvania........................................................... 44

Delaware............................................................... 45

Maryland................................................................ 49

Eastern-shore Miocene.............................................. 49

Western-shore Miocene.............................................. 49

Post-Miocene deposits .............. ................................ 55

Virginia ..^-............................................................ 55

Eiver sections ...................................................... 56

General considerations.............................................. 65

Pliocene rocks....................................................... 66

Lafayette formation............................................. 66

5
6 CONTENTS.

Paga 

CHAPTER II. Summary of our knowledge of the Neocene of the Atlantic and

Gulf coasts of the United States, considered by States Continued.

North Carolina.......................................................... 68

Miocene rocks...............................-.«...................... 68

Pliocene rocks...................................................... 74

South Carolina............. ............................................. 74

Neocene marls ...................................................... 75

Pliocene rocks...................................................... 80

Georgia................................................................. 81

Miocene rocks. ........................................................ 81

Pliocene rocks ..................................................*.... 84

Florida................................................................. 85

Introductory........................................................ 85

Topography of the Florida peninsula......................... s ........ 86

Origin, character and decay of rocks................................ 87

Profiles from lines of railway levels................................. 89

Central lake region................................................. 93

Northwestern Florida............................................... 95

Southwestern Florida............................................... 95

Eastern coast of Florida............................................. 97

Perezonal formations................................................ 98

The Everglades..................................................... 99

The Keys........................................................... 101

Stratigraphy of Florida............................................... 101

Eocene rocks........................................................ 101

Miocene rocks....................................................... 105

General distribution of the Floridian Miocene................... 126

Pliocene deposits................................................... 127

Phosphatic deposits................................................. 134

Marine Pliocene beds ............................................... 140

Pleistocene and recent deposits...................................... 149

Recent rock formation .......................................... 152

Scheme of the Floridian Cenozoic rocks............................. 157

Thickness and dip of the strata...................................... 158

Alabama................................................................ 159

Grand Gulf group................................................... 159

Lafayette formation ................................................ 159

Mississippi.............................................................. 160

Grand Gulf group................................................... 161

Lafayette formation................................................. 166

Louisiana.. .............................................................. 167

Grand Gulf group................................................... 167

Lafayette formation................................................. 170

Tennessee .............................................................. 170

Lagrange group.................................................... 170

Kentucky ....................................'.......................... 171

Lagrange group.................................................... 171

Illinois................................................................. 172

Missouri................................................................ 172

Texas...... ............................................................ 172

Grand Gulf group.................................................. 172

Lake beds of the Interior........................................... 175

CHAPTER III. General considerations on the later Atlantic Tertiaries........ 178

Correlation of American and exotic Neocene.... : ........................ 178

Classification by Lyell and Deshayes.................................... 178

Growth of the Continental border....................................... 180
CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III. General considerations on the later Atlantic Tertiaries Continued.

The Eocene island of Florida........................................... 381

The Great Carolina ridge ............................................... 182

Contact of Eocene and Miocene......................................... 183

Warm and cold water Miocene.......................................... 184

Grand Gulf perezone.................................................... 187

Lafayette perezone..........................-.....:......-............. 189

Pliocene deposits....................................................... 191

Table showing the vertical range of the Neocene formations of the Atlantic coast.............................................................. 193

CHAPTER IV. Summary of our knowledge of the Neocene of the Pacific coast

of the United States and Canada, considered by States.................... 194

California ............................................................... 194

The Great Valley of California...................................... 194

The Liverniore valley............................................... 198

Stratigraphy, Coast Ranges......................................... 200

Division north of the Golden Gate.............................. 200

Division south of the Golden Gate.............................. 203

The Sierra Nevada.................................................. 217

The Auriferous gravels ............................................. 219

Human remains in the Auriferous gravels....................... 221

Oregon ................................................................. 223

Pacific border...................................................... 223

Columbia River..................................................... 223

Williimette River................................................... 22(!

Washington ............................................................ 227

Pacific border...................................................... 228

Central basin....................................................... 228

British Columbia....................................................... 230

Neocene of the coast............................................... 230

Neocene of the region east from the coast ranges.................... 231

Alaska................................................................. 232

 General notes on the rocks .......................................... 232

Miocene of the Kenai group......................................... 234

Lignitic beds of the Aleutian islands ................................ 242

Cape Beaufort coal-measures ........................................ 249

Correlation of the Kenai series ...................................... 249

Miocene of the Astoria group........................................ 252

Table showing distribution of the fauna of the Astoria group........ 253

Enumeration of special localities.................................... 255

Pliocene............................................................ 259

Beds of marine origin........................................... 259

The Ground Ice formation....................................... 260

The Kowak clays............................................... 265

Distribution of fossil vertebrates................................ 266

Origin of the ice and clay formations ........................... 266

Volcanic phenomena................................................ 268

Notes on the map................................................... 268

Pleistocene......................................................... 268

CHAPTER V. General considerations on the Cenozoic epoch on the Pacific

coast of North America................................................... 269

California, Oregon, and Washington..................................... 269

British Columbia......4................................................ 273

Alaska.... ............................................................. 276
8 CONTENTS.

Page. 

CHAPTEK V. General considerations on the Ceuozoic epoch on the Pacific

coast of North America Continued.

Table indicating conditions existing during Cenozoic time in regard to 

changes of level and the prevalence of volcanic emissions on the northwest coast............................................................ 278

Table showing the vertical range of the Neocene formations of the Pacific

coast ................................................................. 279

CHAPTER VI. Summary of our knowledge of the supposed Neocene of the

Interior region of the United States, considered by States.................. 280

Oregon................................................................. ^280

. Fresh-water Tertiaries............................................... 280

Pliocene lake beds.................................................. 282

Idaho.-.. .............................................................. 285

Truckee group...................................................... 285

Salt Lake group.................................................... 280

Montana..:.....................................-...................... 287

Neocene lake beds.................................................. 287

North Dakota.......................................................... 288

White River beds........................... 1....................... 288

South Dakota.......................................................... 289

White River group.................................................. 289

Loup Fork group................................................... 292

Nebraska............................................................... 293

Tertiaries of White and Niobrara rivers.........'.................... 293

Loup Fork group................................................... 296

Pliocene Equus beds ................................................ 298

Paleontology.................. ..................................... 299

Kansas................................................................. 299

Indian Territory........................................................ 301

New Mexico...... ...................................................... 301

Colorado............................................................... 304

Loup Fork and White River groups...... ........................... 304

Pliocene beds....................................................... 305

Monument Creek group............................................. 308

Wyoming............................................................... 309

Cenozoic eruptives....................... ........................... 309

Sweetwater Pliocene................................................ 310

Wyoming conglomerate............................................. 311

White River group ................................................. 311

Utah................................................................... 312

Humboldt group.................................................... 312

Wyoming conglomerate............................................. 313

Nevada................................................................. 313

Truckee group...................................................... 313

Humboldt group.................................................... 315

Table showing the vertical range of the Neocene formations of the interior

region................................................................ 317

Notes on the map....................................................... 318

CHAPTER VII. List of names applied to Cenozoic beds and formations of the

United States, excluding the Laraniie..................................... 320

Index........................ .............................................. 339
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Pago.

PJ.ATK I. Geologic map of Florida......................................... 156

II. Map showing the known distribution of the Neocene formations

in the United States........................................... 178

III. Map showing the known distribution of the Neocene formations

in Alaska..................................................... 268

Fid. 1. Section of artesian well at Wiuslow, Salem County, New Jersey...... 41

2. Section of well at Atlantic City, New Jersey......................... 42

3. Section of well near Blackbird, New Castle County, Delaware........ 46

4. Section at WaJes's mill dam near Smyrna, Delaware .................. 47

5. Generalized section on Tydbury branch and Jones Creek, Kent County, 

Delaware .........................................................

6. Section at Spring-mills, Frederica, Kent County, Delaware............

7. Section along the Patuxciit, after Conrad ............................

8. Diagram showing cavities in shell marl filled with sand, near Yorktown, Virginia.................................................... 60

9. Section on Roanoke River, North Carolina ........................... 68

10. Section 011 Tar River, North Carolina................................ 69

11. Section on Tar River, North Carolina ................................ 69

12. Section on Neuse River, North Carolina.............................. 70

13. Section on Cape Fear River, North Carolina.......................... 70

14. Section above Brown's Landing, Cape Fear River, North Carolina.... 70

15. Section at Brown's Landing, Cape Fear River, North Carolina........ 70

16. Section at Black Rock, Cape Fear River, North Carolina. ............ 71

17. Profile from San Pablo Beach, Duval County, westward to the Suwanee River, Florida................................................. 90

18. Profile across Florida from Indian River, Brevard County, to Tampa

Bay............................................................... 90

19. Profile across Florida from Fernandina, Nassau County, to a point near

Cedar Keys, Levy County ......................................... 91

20. Profile from Callahan, Nassau County, to Plant City, Hillsboro County,

Florida ....................................................'....... 92

21. Section i n central Florida, illustratiAre of Hawthorne beds............ 108

22. Section on the south bank of the Caloosahatchie River, Florida ...... 144

23. Section at Grand Gulf, Mississippi................................... 162

24. Section one-half mile north of Terry, Mississippi .................... 162

25. Section at Loftus Heights, Fort Adams, Mississippi .................. 163

26. Section at "Barnes's white bluff," Mississippi........................ 163

27. Section at Harrisonburg, Louisiana.................................. 16$

28. Section at the Chalk Hills, Louisiana................................ 169

9
10 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

FIG. 29. Section at month of Barton Creek, Colorado River, Texas .... ...... 173

30. Section at Sulphur Blurt', Brazos River, Burleson County, Texas..... 174

31. Section along southern shore of San Pahlo Bay, California........... 203

32. Section from near Pacheco to the Canyon del Hambre ............... 204

33. Section near San Miguel, California................................. 210

34. Section from Santa Margarita Valley to San iLnis Bay............... 211

35. Section of Santa Lncia Range somewhat south of Fig. 34............ 211,

36. Section across Santa Inez Mountains...........'..................... 212

37. Section across Santa Inez Mountains^............................... 212

38. Section across Santa Inez Mountains................................ 212

39. Section from the Pacific to the Santa Inez chain at Santa Barbara... 213

40. Section at San Emidio Canyon...................................... 213

41. Section across the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna ranges extending

northwest from the plain of Los Angeles.......................... 214

42. Section across the Sierra Monica.................................... 214

43. Section in eastern Colorado......................................... 304
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

DIVISION OF GEOLOGIC CORRELATION,

Washington, D. C., July 12, 1891.

SIR : I have the honor to transmit herewith a memoir by Messrs. 

William H. Dall and Gilbert D. Harris 011 the Neocene of the United 

States, prepared for publication as a bulletin.

The Division of Geologic Correlation was created for the purpose of 

summarizing existing knowledge with reference to the geologic formations of North America, and especially of the United States; of discussing the correlation of the formations found in different parts of the 

country with one another and with formations in other continents; and 

of discussing the principles of geologic correlation in the light of American phenomena. The formations of each geologic period were assigned 

to some student already well acquainted with them, and it was arranged 

that he should expand his knowledge by study of the literature and by 

field examinations of classic localities, and embody his results in an 

essay. The general plan of the work has been set forth on page 16 of 

the Ninth Annual Report of the Survey and on pages 108 to 113 of the 

Tenth Annual Eeport, as well as in a letter of trausmittal to Bulletin 

No. 80 of the Survey.

The present essay is the fifth of a series, having been preceded by 

essays on the Carboniferous and Devonian, the Cambrian, the Cretaceous, and the Eocene, prepared severally by Messrs. Williams, Walcott, 

White, and Clark, and constituting Bulletins 80, 81, 82, and 83.

Besides assembling and systematically outlining the published material available for the correlation of the Neocene formations, the memoir 

makes important original contributions based on personal investigations 

by Mr. Dall in the field and in the laboratory. In respect to Florida 

these contributions are so important that it has seemed best to expand 

the chapter on that State so as to include practically all that is known 

of its geologic history.

While using freely the terms of the Lyellian classification of the 

Ceuozoic, the authors are of the opinion that the correlation of individ11
12 LETTER OF TEANSMITTAL.

ual American formations is impracticable; that all the present classifications and correlations are provisional merely; and that in the nature 

of the case it is not to be expected that even the major divisions of 

European Cenozoic classification can be paralleled with synchronous 

divisions in America. Their use of the terms Eocene, Miocene, and 

Pliocene is analogous to that defined by Huxley as homotaxial. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. K. GILBERT,

Geologist in charge. 

Hon. J. W. POWELL,

Director U. S. Geological Survey.
OUTLINE OF THIS PAPER.

This paper, after discnesing general principle^ connected with the study and description of the Tertiary or Cenozoic rocks and fossils contai ned in them, takes up 

the Neocene deposits of the United States in particular.

A chapter is devoted to a summary of what is known in regard to the Neocene 

of the eastern coast of the United States, each State in geographical order being 

separately considered, beginning at the north. The State of Florida, in regard to 

which much unpublished information was available, being entirely composed of 

Cenozoic rocks, and therefore as a type of such structure peculiarly interesting, is 

treated of in greater detail and more at length than in other cases. The part of this 

essay relating to the State of Florida is really a preliminary geological report on 

that^State, of which the structure has hitherto been very little known. The important fact that until the Pliocene period Florida, so far as it was elevated above the 

sea, Avas an island separated from the mainland by a wide strait, is here first demonstrated. It is also shoAvn that the strata are probably gently folded lengthwise of 

the peninsula, and that in the trough now occupied by the "lake region" of Florida 

in Pliocene time a large la>ke probably existed, to which the name of De Soto has 

been applied. The age of the remains of fossil vertebrate animals, which in south 

Florida are associated with the so-called "pebble phosphates," is here definitely determined.

After discussing by States the character and distribution of the Atlantic Neocene, 

a chapter is devoted to the consideration of the general geological movements and 

fluctuations of land, sea. currents, and water temperatures which appear to have 

been concerned in producing the characteristics described.

In like manner the Neocene geology of the Pacific Coast has been treated, 

and in addition to that of California, Oregon, and Washington, a synopsis of data 

relating to British Columbia has been included, together with a summary of Avhat is 

known in relation to Alaska during this epoch. The latter discussion contains a 

large amount of material extracted from unpublished notes covering some fifteen, 

years' study and exploration by W. H. Dall in the Alaskan region, and therefore adds 

materially to the sum of our knowledge in regard to that part of the United States.

The Great Interior region of the West is then taken up, and a summary of our 

knowledge in regard to its Neocene geology is brought together for the first time. 

While this is necessarily far from perfect, the very fact that such gaps exist will 

stimulate the collection of information to supply the missing links.

The essay closes with a list of names proposed for geological beds, groups, and 

formations in the American Cenozoic strata and °a description of the data upou 

which the coloration of the general map is based.

13

THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA.

BY WILLIAM H. BALL AND GILBERT D. HARRIS.

INTRODUCTION.

This paper has been prepared at the request of the Director of the 

U. S. Geological Survey as one of a series of essays on American geologic systems, with the view of presenting a summary of the state of 

our knowledge of the Neocene of the United States. This summary 

being needed by a stated time, it has been necessary to attempt only 

what could be done in a satisfactory manner within that period, rather 

than what might have been practicable with unlimited time at one's 

disposal. It will be understood, therefore, that absolute completeness, 

however desirable, was neither attained nor sought. It is believed, 

nevertheless, that reference has been made to all facts of serious importance within the scope of the paper as planned.

It will be understood, to begin with, that the scope of this essay is not 

intended to include matters lying within the field of paleobotany, vertebrate paleontology, or the vulcanology of the American Neocene.

To sketch, from researches into the literature, the extent and character of the Neocene deposits on the coasts and in the interior regions ot 

the United States; to point out the sequence of the chief modifications, 

faunal and physical, of the regions concerned during the periods stated; 

to enumerate the names applied to geologic formations, beds, etc., 

included in the American Neocene; to refer to the chief sources of 

information bearing ou the subject; and to indicate the work most 

urgently needed to be done in order to supply deficiencies in our knowledge; these have been the objects kept in view.

It has been found impracticable at the present time to do more for 

the Interior region than to summarize the literature. Any attempt to 

correlate fresh-water deposits of limited extent with each other or 

with the marine beds laid down in the coast regions, presents such 

difficulties that authors differ greatly among themselves. The information, especially the knowledge of the fauna of these various beds, 

notwithstanding all that has been done and the extensive literature 

which exists, is extremely fragmentary and imperfect when the whole 

field is considered. It has been found impossible to map some formations of which the age is pretty well determined from the vertebrate

15
16 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

fauna, for the reason that authors have frequently refrained from stating 

the exact provenance of the fossils which they have described.

The small scale of the map available for use in this connection has 

also tended to give this part of the present work a general rather than 

a detailed character. This, perhaps, would have been advisable at any 

rate on account of the imperfection of our present knowledge.

Time has not been available for researches into the literature of 

such extra-limital regions as Mexico, the Antilles, Gree iland and the 

Dominion of Canada, which might very properly have fc sen correlated 

with those relating to our own territory.

Nearly all the literature of importance in the gen« ral history of 

research into the geology of the Neocene of America ha; been referred 

to by footnotes in the course of this essay. This litera .ure is hardly 

to be separated as a class by itself from the general lit mature of the 

American Oenozoic. The names of Say, Conrad, In ell, Lea, and 

Eogers are eminent among those who have contribute . most to the 

progress of knowledge in this direction, to say nothing of others who 

are still living. The same names would hold a similar j reeminence in 

a discussion of the Eocene. To separate the history of research into 

the Neocene from the other geological investigations with which it*was 

originally associated and is more or less firmly linked, has appeared a 

work of too little interest or importance to occupy time which could be 

otherwise profitably employed; and therefore it has not been attempted.

The character of the topography associated with the rocks of this 

series is referred to in the local discussions of particular regions. The 

rocks of the system, as a whole, have no such topographic distinctness 

from lithologically similar rocks of other epochs as would make it practicable to diagnose them without a knowledge of their fossil fauna. 

Indeed, one of the most necessary reforms in Cenozoic nomenclature is 

the elimination of such mineralogical designations as "White limestone", "Botten limestone", "Lignitic", "Buhrstone", etc., for geological formations. However applicable they may be in describing single 

strata of a single section, the belief in their distinctiveness as applied 

to larger areas is responsible for much confusion. It has happened 

that strata ranging all the way from the Cretaceous to the Upper Miocene have been correlated and discussed as a single stratigraphic unit 

because they were all suitable for use in building chimneys. While 

this may be regarded as an extreme case, yet the principle is applicable 

to all the names above cited, and numerous others.

Publications like the present are useful much as are milestones on 

public roads. They show us approximately how far we have gone and 

suggest by implication how far we still have to go. Fully aware of 

the inevitable imperfections of the present summary, reflecting as it 

does both the imperfection of our knowledge and the limitations of 

those concerned in its preparation, the writers hope that its very faults 

may stimulate new and more thorough investigation leading to wider
INTRODUCTION. 17

and more accurate knowledge ot the rich and interesting system of 

which it treats.

From the perfection of its fossils and their close relationship to existing faunas the paleontology of the Neocene has for the biologist a 

unique interest. Nowhere is there a more perfect succession of fossiliferous beds of this epoch than on the Atlantic shores of the United 

States. We may therefore anticipate the inscription of a really epochmaking page in the history of organic evolution when the record of 

these faunas shall have been perfected.

As regards the division of labor between the senior and junior 

authors of this paper, it may be stated that the work of searching the 

literature and bringing together the scattered data relating to particular States or regions has been largely performed by Mr. Gilbert D. Harris. For the revision and correlation of this material and for the whole 

of the chapters on Florida, British Columbia and Alaska, and the general discussions embodied in the essay, Mr. Ball is responsible. The 

list of formations, which, short as it is, has cost much labor and correspondence with authors who have proposed the names, has been prepared by Mr. Harris, who has also prepared the chapter on the Interior 

region.

Bull. 84 2
CHAPTER I.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

EARLY CLASSIFICATION OP AMERICAN CENOZOIC BEDS.

The original division of the Tertiary formations into Eocene, Miocene, 

and Pliocene by Deshayes and Lyell on the basis of the supposed percentage of living forms in their fossil contents was, early in the history 

of American geology, applied by Lea1 and Conrad to the Cenozoic beds 

of the Atlantic coast.

The discrimination of the Chesapeake Miocene from the Eocene, as 

soon as the beds and fossils were studied, followed as a matter of course. 

The ga,p between them, which farther south is partly bridged by strata 

of the Tampa and Chattahoochee groups, sufficiently emphasized the 

distinction thus drawn. Lea, in the publication above cited, doubting 

whether any Miocene in the European sense had been observed in 

America, referred the Miocene of Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey 

to the "Older Pliocene" of Lyell, a term equivalent to Pliocene of our 

present notation; the "Newer Pliocene" being Avhat we now term Pleistocene.

About the same time Conrad2 had divided the Tertiary into Upper 

Marine (Miocene), Middle Tertiary (Eocene), and Lower Tertiary, following the system of Conybeare and Phillips; but in the second edition 

of his cited work (part 4, p. 36) he adopts the nomenclature introduced 

by Lea. Three years later3 he substituted for "Older Pliocene" the 

term "Medial Tertiary" (p. vi) which he still regarded as the equivalent of Pliocene (cf. p. 45). The use of the term Miocene as applied 

to the American strata now known as such was established by Conrad in 

1841, in a communication4 to the National Institution of Washington,

1 Contributions to Geology, hy Isaac Lea, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard. 1833. 8°. pp. 

227, 0, pi.; cf. pp. 18-21.

." Fossil shells of the Tertiary formations of North America, hy T. A. Conrad, Philadelphia, the author, 1832, 8°. Introduction, pp. 9-14; 2d edition. Mar., 1835.

3 Fossils of the Tertiary formations of the United States, Philadelphia: J. Pobson. 1838. 8°.

4 Observations on a portion of the Atlantic Tertiary region. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1841, 2d bull., p. 177; 

published in 1842. Isaac Lea, in his Contributions to Geology, 1833, p. 158, places the "Upper Tertiary 

(Conrad) of Virginia" in apposition to " the Miocene of Lyell." In the same work, however, on page 

211, he refers the fossils at St. Marys, Md., to the "Older Pliocene" of Lyell.

Conrad used the term Miocene in the first edition of the introductory part to the republieation of 

No. 3, Fossil Shells of the Tertiary Formations, 1835, p. 30, in designation of that portion of the now 

eo-oallcd Miocene which outcrops at Stow Creek, N. J., Charlotte Hall, and Choptank River, Maryland, 

and is characterized by Perna maxillata Lam. In the second edition of this introduction these localities are placed among those of the Older Pliocene.

W. B. Rogers used the word Miocene as now understood April 8, 1841, before a meeting of the Association" of American Geologists. See Silliman's Journal, 1841, volume 41, p. 175.

18
EARLY CENOZOIC CLASSIFICATION. 19

in which he gives a table of the supra-Cretaceous deposits of the Atlantic coast. In this the absence of the Pliocene between the Miocene 

or Medial Tertiary and the Pleistocene or Upper Tertiary is duly indicated. Similar conclusions were announced by Lyell1 in 1842, as a result of which the nomenclature of the chief divisions of the American 

Cenozoic series was definitely fixed: The marine strata of the Atlantic 

coast, which are Pliocene as now understood, were first definitely referred to that epoch by Prof. Michael Tuomey in 1846. He found 

the percentage of living forms in certain beds of South Carolina to be 

nearly 50 per cent and, on that ground, referred2 the Carolinian fauna 

to the Pliocene of Lyell. This fauna was afterward beautifully illustrated in the well known publication by Prof. Tuomey and Dr. F. S. 

Holmes.3 It has since proved to be, as will be shown later, a mixed 

assemblage, containing numerous Upper Miocene species, together with 

others properly referable to the Pliocene.

Realizing the impracticability of a rigid application of the system of 

percentages employed by Lyell, Dana proposed4 for the American 

epoch referred to the Miocene by Lyell and Conrad the alternative 

term "Yorktown epoch," and for the American Pliocene the term 

" Sumter epoch." In 1884 Prof. Heilprin prepared a convenient summary5 and discussion of the existing knowledge of the Atlantic coast 

Tertiaries, in which he refers Tuomey's Pliocene to the uppermost part 

of the Miocene, leaving the question open as to the existence of genuine Pliocene on the Atlantic border. Assuming that the mixed assemblage of Tuomey was a natural fauna, this course was justified by the 

presence in it of several characteristic Miocene types.

In this publication Prof. Heilprin classified the Atlantic Miocene as 

follows:

(1) CAROLINIAN (Upper Atlantic Miocene), comprising deposits of 

North and South Carolina, equivalent to the Sumter epoch of Dana.

(2) VIRGINIAN (Middle Atlantic Miocene), comprising deposits of 

Virginia and of the " newer " group of Maryland, equivalent to part of 

Dana's Yorktown epoch.

>Proc. Geol. Soe. London, 1842, vol. 3, pp. 735-742; also 1845, vol. 4, pp. 547-563.

'Final report on the Geology of South Carolina, 1840.

'Pliocene fossils of South Carolina, containing descriptions and figures of the Polyparia, Echinodermata, and Mollusca. Charleston, S. C., Kussell &, Jones, 1857. This flno work appealed in quarto in 

bi-monthly numbers, as follows: Nos. 1 to 6 in 1855, Nos. 7 to 15 in 1856, the title page and index and 

pp. i-xvi in 1857. Each number, comprised two plates and accompanying text; Nos.-3 and 4, 5 and 6, 

9 and 10,11 and 12, 13 and 14 were double numbers. The total comprised pp. i-xvi, 152, and 30 leaves 

unpaged explanatory of the plates. Each number had a printed title on the cover, with date.

4 Manual of Geology, by James D. Dana, Philadelphia: .Bliss & Co. 1863. 8°. pp. xvi, 798; cf. pp. 500-507. 

The author remarks, in relation to the Lyellian percentages, "These proportions are not capable of 

genera] application. It is possible that beds in America containing all extinct species maybe synchronous with those of Europe in which there are 10 or 15 species of recent shells. Moreover, not oven 

the subdivisions in different parts of Europe can be made to correspond to these epochs; still they are 

convenient terms for Lower, Middle, and Upper Tertiary, and with proper caution may be used to the

vantage of the science, op. cit., p. 500.

8 Contributions to the Tertiary Geology and Paleontology of the United States, by Angelo Heilprin; 

Philadelphia, the author, 1884, pp. (vi) 118, 4° and map. Thin work is in part an expansion ancj 

reissue of articles previously published by the author,
20 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOTJ-. 84.

(3) MARYLANDIAN (Lower Atlantic Miocene), comprising deposits of 

the " older" group of Maryland and possibly the lower Miocene beds 

of Virginia, equivalent to that part of the Yorktown epoch not included in the Virginian.

Prof. Heilprin further correlates the " Virginian " with the " Second 

Mediterranean" of the Austrian geologists, and with the faluns of 

Touraine. The " Marylandian" he correlates to a greater or less extent with the "First Mediterranean" and with the faluns of Leognan 

and Saucats (op. cit., p. 67).

In the course of explorations in Florida, undertaken at the instance 

of Mr. Joseph Willcox, of Philadelphia, a fine series of Pliocene beds 

on the Caloosahatchie was explored in 18S6-'87 and identified as true 

marine Pliocene by Prof. Heilprin in an extensive report1 on the expedition. This identification completed the series of the Atlantic Tertiaries, excluding all contested deposits.

Beds of all three divisions of the Cenozoic were early recognized on 

the Pacific coast of the United States,2 and the fauna has been summarized by Gabb in the Paleontology of California, volume n, 1869, 

and more lately by Dr. J. G. Cooper.3

These notes comprehend the chief points of interest in the history 

of the nomenclature of the marine Neocene of the United States. 

That of the fresh-water beds and strata containing terrestrial vertebrates of the great Interior region is still in an unsettled and more or 

less contested state, as will be pointed out in detail later in this essay.

BOUNDARIES OP THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE CENOZOIC.

Preserving to some extent the Lyellian nomenclature for the chief 

divisions of the Neocene of America, while rejecting the method of 

percentages upon which it was originally based, it seems advisable to 

substitute provisional definitions for the chief subdivisions in place of 

those we have discarded.

EOCENE.

The end of the Mesozoic in America was for the most part marked by 

such physical changes that on the Atlantic coast' at least little difficulty has been experienced in determining the fundamental boundary 

of the Cenozoic. The presence of sundry species of nearly world-wide 

distribution, like Venericardia planicosta, enables a certain correlation 

between the Eocene of Europe, of eastern and of western America to 

pass unchallenged. During the Eocene, or, at all events, the latter part

1 Trans. Wagner Free Inst. of Science, Philadelphia, vol. 1, Philadelphia', the Institute, 1887; cf. p. 

31.

2 Cf. Report on the Geology of the Coast Mountains and part of the Sierra Nevada by Dr. John B. 

Trask; legislative document No. 9, Assembly, session of 1854, Sacramento, B. B. Bedding, 95 pp. 8°, 

1854. See pp. 35, 39.

3 Catalogue Inv. fossils of the western slope of the United States. San Francisco: Bacon & Co. 

1871, vi, 39 pp. 12mo., printed on one side only, for labels. Also, continued in Seventh Ann. Eep. 

§ta^e Mineralogist, Cal. State Mining Bureau, Sacrauujpto, J. D. Young. 1888; pp. 223-3Q8,
BOUNDARIES OF CENOZOIC SUBDIVISIONS. 21

of it, it is known that a fauna indicating warm temperate or subtropical conditions extended on the Atlantic coast nearly to the Hudson, and on the Pacific to Oregon. At the same time a more or less 

free communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans existed in 

the present Central American region. Toward the end of the Eocene 

a movement in elevation affected the equatorial and Gulf regions of the 

two Americas and the Antillean area between them. One result of this 

disturbance was the elevation of Yucatan and part of Florida above the 

sea and the serious diminution, though not complete closure, of the 

passages connecting the Atlantic and Pacific.

MIOCENE.

For present purposes, therefore, the Miocene may be defined as that 

period of geologic time which began with the culmination of a vertical 

movement which terminated the Eocene and first raised central Florida 

above ttie sea.

As might be expected from, the vertical range of this movement, the 

greater part of the littoral invertebrate fauna perished in the change, 

only those forms belonging to deeper water surviving. Among the 

forms which seem to have suffered total wreck at this time several large 

foraminifers, Orbitoides, 1 (?} Nummulites, etc., are conspicuous.

A second and analogous vertical movement brought the Miocene to 

a close and appears to have been marked by the definite and permanent 

connection of the Eocene island of Florida with the mainland to the 

north and west, and probably by the union of North and South America.

The Miocene, as thus defined, is distinctly separable into two epochs, 

recognizable by their faunal facies.

The first or Older Miocene presents a warm-water fauna, the invertebrates being such as might, so far as temperature is concerned, have 

existed in the preceding Eocene. The warm temperate conditions exhibited by the supposed Miocene leaf beds of Greenland were perhaps 

synchronous with the spread of this fauna, which can be traced as far 

as New Jersey, the conditions there being then similar to those now 

exhibited in the vicinity of the Isthmus of Panama.

Tire second or Newer Miocene is characterized by the extension 

southward of a relatively cold-water fauna which took the place of the 

warm-water assemblage. This fauna extended to Florida and to the 

Appalachicola River.

The first period is typified by.the Chipolabeds and the second period 

by the Ecphora bed or the Chesapeake Miocene in general.

If the invasion of the cold-water fauna was consequent upon an elevation of the sea-bottom at the south deflecting off shore the gulf and 

equatorial currents and allowing a cold polar stream to find its way

1 Mr. J. C. Purves states, on the authority of Rupert Jones, that Orbitoides mantelli extends "jusq'au 

sommet du Miocbne dela Jamalque." Bull, du Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique. Tome 

m, 1884, p. 290.
22 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. * [BULL. 84.

southward inshore, the changes which mark the inception of the Pliocene might equally harmonize with a subsidence such as is called for 

by the deposition of the Lafayette formation.

PLIOCENE.

The marine Pliocene of the eastern United States is marked by a 

return to the Floridian region of a warmer, chiefly Antillean, invertebrate fauna. Many of the Chesapeake species survived the change 

and still persist in the Gulf region, indicating that the change, though 

obvious and well marked, was not sudden or cataclysmal. That the 

subsidence which permitted this influx from the south did not separate 

the two Ainericas or Florida from the mainland, is proved by the appearance, in mid-Pliocene, of South American terrestrial vertebrates 

in great numbers on the shores of Florida, and also in the interior of 

the continent.

By common consent the Glacial Period is taken as closing the Pliocene epoch. Yet we may be confident that its end was gradually attained and there seems to be no obvious reason why the great Pliocene 

mammals might not long have enjoyed in Florida a peaceful existence, 

undisturbed by the northeastern ice sheet. The rocks show that no 

very great or very violent changes took place there, whatever may have 

happened on the borders of the Appalachian region.

The minor divisions of the Neocene of the eastern United States will 

be found discussed in another place. 

GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES OF THE AMERICAN NEOCENE.

The deposits of this age divide themselves naturally into three principal geographical, faunal and dynamic regions, each of which has, for 

physical reasons, a certain individuality.

These are the Atlantic and Pacific coast regions, offering marine fossils, and the Interior or terrestrial and fresh-water basins, offering an 

appropriate fauna and flora. At present we are unable to correlate 

the Interior with the Coast regions in any general and satisfactory way, 

but with the increase of our knowledge of the stratigraphy and of the 

vertebrate remains, it can not be doubted that this desirable result will 

be within our reach.

To what extent these regions, when sufficiently studied, will admit of 

being subdivided into more limited natural areas, is yet quite uncertain. 

In fact, few paleontologists of America seem to have fully grasped the 

principles upon which such subdivisions must be based. For this 

reason it is perhaps advisable briefly to consider them.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION.

Apart from purely petrologic characters the Cenozoic formations exhibit several dynamic types marked by special features which distinctly
DHA"KIUS D } PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION. 23

characterize them, but which are not to be regarded as evidence in discussing their time relations. These are:

(1) Marine sedimentary deposits, either littoral or deep water, characterized by the presence in either case of an appropriate fauna, and 

the greater or less amount of included terrigenous material which in 

deep-sea deposits may be entirely absent.

(2) Perezoual deposits-; terrigenous, with a sparse fauna, if any, 

characteristic of the conditions of deposition, totally different from 

faunas of the preceding class, yet often absolutely synchronous with 

them.

(3) Lake beds of the interior; and, lastly,

(4) Subaerial and fluviate deposits.

All these varieties, corresponding to as many types of dynamic action, 

not only may have been, but must have been, in process of formation 

simultaneously. Every marine bed must have had its contemporary 

perezoue, its river bottoms, its Jake beds, its contemporary abyssal 

fauna, with all their intermediate phases or diversities.

From this it obviously follows that diversities in the fossil fauna of 

different beds do not, in the absence of stratigraphical evidence, necessarily indicate any want of geologic synchrony, unless the beds belong 

to a single dynamic type.

It is now in order to consider how-far in beds of the same type faunal 

differences may be relied upon to indicate time relations. Where there 

is no aid afforded by the stratigraphy, identity of fauna may fairly be 

regarded as establishing a presumption of synchrony. Is the reverse 

true, as has generally been taken for granted?

In showing that it is only relatively true, we shall be establishing 

only what is admitted by all biologists. This might be thought unnecessary, but as a matter of fact paleontologists have seldom tested 

their conclusions by biological rules or even, if we may judge from the 

literature, indicated in any way their cognizance that such tests were 

applicable, still less that they were needed.

Taking any synchronous and continuous invertebrate fauna, such as 

exists on either coast of the United States, let us consider by what it 

is characterized, and to what influences its diversities are due.

Temperature is well known to be a potent factor in such cases. On 

the eastern coast of the United States we shall find that certain genera 

occur in cold northern waters as a characteristic feature of the fauna, 

and that as we trace their distribution southward they disappear from 

the coast absolutely, if they are littoral species, or, if they are not by 

their habits necessarily littoral, by following the isotherms into the cold 

water of the deeps. The limits^f the endurance of the species are probably fixed by the capacity of the embryos. A very few degrees of cold 

below the normal at the time of spawning will absolutely prevent the 

development of embryos, and in a single generation may exterminate 

a whole species. A temperature inhibitory of their habitual food,
24 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84.

whether plant or animal, may be similarly destructive. Equally tender species, which have a different spawning time, may escape if the 

depression of temperature' is not too prolonged. Another way in 

which the existence of a species is affected through its embryos is connected with the specific gravity of the water. If the species like the 

common oyster should have embryos of less specific gravity than that 

of the water in which they are spawned, being free-swimming during 

the short embryonic period, they would float, and if unable to reach 

the bottom would perish for want of a place of fixation. Thus an 

oyster reef accustomed to slightly brackish water, by a small subsidence surrounding it constantly with pure sea water (in whi^h the 

adults might flourish admirably, but through which the embryos could 

not sink to the bottom) might be wholly exterminated in one generation. 

From these illustrations the student will perceive that cataclysms are 

by no means necessary to exterminate or seriously modify a fauna. 

The tolerance in the direction of heat is apparently greater than that 

for cold, but this point has been less investigated.

As the sea currents greatly influence the sea temperatures, so those 

features of the shore which deflect or modify the course of currents 

indirectly affect the fauna. Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras more or less 

influence the direction of the polar current and Gulf Stream circulation. 

They are, consequently, landmarks indicating notable changes in the

fauna, To Cape Hatteras, and perhaps still farther south, cold water

creeps along tlie shore. Off shore a few miles, though, the water is not 

deep, the influence of this current is not felt, and numerous West Indian 

species, unknown along the shore, flourish in abundance. In shore 

from them various northern species maintain a precarious foothold, so 

that an east and west line would cut two faunas, one of southern and 

the other of northern facies, yet absolutely synchronous and closely 

adjacent.

From the point of view of temperature, therefore, we note that a 

continuously distributed synchronous coast fauna of invertebrates is 

modified as regards its constituent organisms; (1) gradually, as the 

latitude; (2) suddenly, as by changes due to currents; (3) in batliymetric station, or depth inhabited, by tending to follow the isotherms 

into deeper water.

As we are considering only a shore fauna, or one which might exist

between low-water mark and twenty fathoms, it is not necessary to 

consider the interesting series of influences peculiar to the station of 

deep-sea organisms.

In the matter of food there are modifications of distribution due to 

geologic structure of the bottom. On The Alaskan coast I have noted 

that the red seaweeds grow only where granite or syenite rocks occur.

The green seaweeds occur with them and also on the sandstones. On 

the basaltic shores and bottoms only olive-colored algae appear. The 

fauna associated with the latter is different from that which frequents
CENSUS OF FAUNA. 25

o

the region of green and especially of red algse. These differences 

appear not only among the phytophagous animals, but also among the 

carnivorous forms which prey upon them and those which use the beds 

of algse merely as a refuge. If in the midst of basaltic areas were some 

small islets of granite, there inevitably, and only there, would the familiar species of the granitic or red seaweed area be found. Ordinarily 

abundance of food is manifested in the fine development and abundance 

of individuals rather than in any change in the number of species or the 

nature of the assemblage.

The influence of the mechanical character of the bottom has been 

more fully recognized by paleontologists than by others, partly because 

it is reflected in the fauna and partly because the matrix of the fossils 

itself brings the question directly under the eye even of the' closet philosopher. Very much more remains to be learned in regard to the 

details of these influences, and this must perforce be left to the biologist who can study the matter in the field, since the conditions under 

which fossils are found rarely admit of the determination of all the 

factors in the problem.

 o

TABLE"OF ZONES, WITH CENSUS OF FAUNA.

It now becomes necessary to consider the general effect of those influences which may be summed up under the term "difference of latitude." 

This is best determined by an inspection of known recent faunas of 

which the folio wing table will give a fair idea. The species which would 

be absent in a fossil state, such as Nudibranchs, naked cuttlefish, etc., 

have been eliminated. As mollusk faunas are the best known, and, 

whether recent or0 fossil, most characteristic, they have been chosen to 

illustrate the argument. The number of'species contained in each 

fauna, the date and the authority for the enumeration, and the particular fauna referred to are stated in parallel columns. It is, of course, 

understood that these estimates are approximate only, some of the 

faunas being known less thoroughly than others, and the estimate of 

what constitutes a species differing with different naturalists. The estimates used here are, it is believed, rational and conservative, and, on 

the whole, are taken from much the same point of view, none of the 

absurdly exaggerated estimates which have been indulged in of late by 

certain amateurs having been admitted. The zones adopted in the 

table correspond approximately to the following ranges of the minimum, 

temperature of the coldest winter month for the surface of the sea: 

boreal, to a range of from 32° to 40° F.; cool temperate, 40° to 60°; 

warm temperate, 60° to 70°; tropical, 70° to 80°. These figures are not 

exact, but our knowledge of the Sea temperatures is too imperfect to 

justify other than round numbers. The fluctuations of the maxim a 

at the same stations are, of course, much greater than the minima, but 

they do not have the same important relation to the welfare of the 

species.
26 THE NEOCENE OP NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Table showing the number of shell-bearing marine species of molluski contained in recent 

faunas of different temperature zones.

Fauna.

1. Boreal zone.

2. Cool temperate zone. 

Britain ...........................

North and South Carolina. .........

3. Warm temperate, zone.

Adriatic ..........................

Sicily.............................

West Florida. . ....................

4. Tropical zone.

Cuba .............................

Average mollusk-fauua iu the 

Boreal zone ....................

Cool temperate zone ............

Warm temperate zone ..........

Tropical temperate zone ........

Enumerator.

O. A. L. Morch........

A. E. Verrill ..........

A. E. Vorrill ..........

A F VWrill

G. O. Sars.... .........

J. G.Jeffreys..........

Dall ..................

R. A. Philippi. ........

Dall ..................

Dall ..................

P "P O O TTlP 11 "^I"*T*

C. B. Adams ..........

Date. 1

1875

1879

1871

1888

1878

1870 

1878

1885

1889

1875

1885

1867

1840

1866

1830

1848

1889

1889

1863

1857

1852

1858

1842

1869

Species.

180

277

177

296

332

436 

444

305

198

429

439

598

405

536

587

383

2GO

681

530

654

517

560

595

818

252

407

483

629

1 Of publication of list.

Of these faunas it may be said that that of Greenland is extremely 

well known, but very sparse, other areas equally arctic having a much 

richer fauna as regards species. The other boreal faunas are also 

quite thoroughly known, unless we except the deep-sea fauna oft' the 

coast of New England. There is, therefore, no reason to suppose that 

the average for this zone is far from the truth.

Of the second, the British and French faunas are probably the best 

known of any in the world. The enumeration for the Carolinas is defective by underestimation to some extent. Bermuda has probably more 

species, but the variety of station is small and the fauna is more concentrated than any of the others cited. The others mentioned under 

this head, of which. Upper California is the best known, may be regarded 

as fairly representative.
5 CENSUS OF FAUNA. 27

Of the warm temperate faunas that of the Adriatic is probably the 

most thorough; that of Sicily is old and perhaps somewhat deficient, 

but the lists of Mediterranean species have been of late years artificially 

expanded so as to have little value for scientific purposes, and it became 

necessary to go to the older literature to find an enumeration which 

should be comparable with the others used in this table. The "east 

Florida deep-water fauna represents the number of species obtained 

from an examination of about a bushel of gravel from two or three casts 

of the dredge in about 300 fathoms off Fernandina. There were no 

large shells in the gravel, but it represents much such an assemblage 

of specimens as might be obtained from sifting an equal quantity of fine 

shell marl. The West Florida fauna includes some deep-water species 

which in that region appear in quite moderate depths, as well as the 

littoral species.

Of the tropical fauna cited, all probably err on the side of underestimation. That of Mazatlan is probably the best known. Doubtless 

there are localities in the Indo-Pacific region which would largely exceed any of the estimates above cited in a complete enumeration of their 

shell-bearing mollusks, but none of these seemed sufficiently authenticated to be worthy of citation, and for a discussion of the fossils of our 

Tertiaries they would not be especially relevant.

It will be noted that nearly all these citations are of faunas sufficiently 

diffused, or, rather, of areas sufficiently large to eliminate differences due 

to station within the 100-fathom line.

It is not probable that within the narrow limits of a single collecting 

spot or beach all the species of any cited fauna could be found, but in 

collecting fossils access to the original sea bed is so much facilitated and 

the possibility (as from our Neocene marls) of making a complete collection at any one spot so much more favorable, that it is quite certain 

that the fauna will be more adequately represented than any recent 

fauna could be by much more extended work. This is abundantly 

proved by recent collections made under the writer's direction in the 

southern marl beds, where the number of species collected in a single 

locality in each case closely approximates the average for the warm 

temperate zone above described. Peculiarities of station may limit 

a fauna to a comparatively small number of species, but in such a case 

the nature of the matrix and the specific assemblage will discover the 

reason when properly studied.

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE TABLE.

We may then conclude that that part of the average mollusk fauna 

which is capable of leaving traces in the shapeof fossils, under conditions 

not greatly differing from those of the present day, if situated in the 

arctic or boreal region, would comprise about 250 species; in the cool 

temperate region about 400 species; in the warm temperate, about 500 

species j and in the tropical region, not less than 600 species. In re-
28 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BTOL. 84.

gions where the conditions have greatly changed, as for instance, in 

Greenland since the old Miocene, during a period corresponding by the 

character of its fauna and flora to a different temperature zone from 

that in which it is now classified, the fauna should correspond in number of species to that which would be normal to the temperature as it 

was, not as it is. To illustrate, if we couM discover old Miocene marl 

beds with well preserved fossils in Greenland, they "Should contain a 

mollusk fauna of 400 species normal to the cool temperate zone, rather 

than of 180 species, as is normal to Greenland at present.

Allowing 150 species as equivalent to the boreal species not represented 

south of New York, we have on the eastern coast of North America, 

from the Rio Grande to the arctic regions, 1,772 recent species by actual count.1 Summing up the averages of our table we find that for a 

coast extending from the boreal region to the tropics (allowing the tabular figures to be exclusive for each zone) we should have 1,771 species 

for the whole range. This coincidence is accidental, for the tabular figures are deficient in the enumeration of the deep-sea forms. Deducting 

from our actual enumeration of east North American forms those which 

appear to live exclusively in the deeps beyond 100 fathoms, we have left 

1,364 species.

" But the species credited to the zones are, as we know, not exclusive, 

many of them being included in more than one faunal zone. The difference between the 1,771 theoretically present along the whole line and 

the 1,364 actually enumerated may be approximately a measure of the 

overlapping. In this case we should have 1,364 species of potential fossil shells represented by the existing faunas from the Rio Grande to 

Greenland. If the present sea bottom were elevated the paleontologist 

who might examine the beds should find, according to the region which 

he searched, a number of species approximating to the number assigned 

to that region in the preceding table, provided his estimate of the differences which indicate a species did not differ essentially from ours.

As he proceeded southward he would find a change in the fauna. 

Species would drop out, but a large number would appear which he 

had not observed before. Where cold currents have crept along the 

shore he would find a sparser and more boreal fauna; yet traveling 

eastward oh the continuous strata he would find the more numerous 

and chiefly different warm water fauna of the edge of the Gulf Stream, 

in absolutely synchronous deposits.

An interesting confirmation of these views is found in the Ecphora. 

marl bed of northwest Florida, a cold water fauna which was preceded 

and succeeded by a warm water fauna. In the same bluff collections 

show the much smaller number of species in the Ecphora bed.

It should be noted that in geological changes species of the warmer 

region are more likely to persist from one formation into another than

'TJ. S.National Museum, Bull. No. 37. A preliminary catalogue of the shell-bearing marine mollusks 

and brachiopods of the southeastern coast of the United States, by W. H. Ball, Washington, 1889, 221 

pp., 8vo, 74 pi. Cf. p. 176.
CONCLUSIONS FROM TABLE OF FAUNA. 29

those of colder regions. This is accounted for by the greater liability 

to injurious changes in regions which may be buried in or torn up by 

ice or visited by exceptional winters, while the conditions in the south 

are less uniform, and the greater area of the tropics gives more 

chance for widely distributed tropical species to escape destruction 

from local changes of level or from volcanic activity. Small species 

have more chances of escape than large ones, being able to hide from 

enemies in crannies, and, as they offer less food, they are less attractive to hungry prowlers. Species inhabiting moderate depths are 

safer than those whose station is between tides, from the action of sudden elevation or the visitation of frost, fresh water or water charged 

with noxious gases, such as break out at intervals on the Florida coast 

and other shores built of porous lime-rock. Thus it happens that the 

forms in the recent fauna which can be traced back to the Eocene are 

all warm-water species of small size; living seaward from low tide as a 

rule. We should also expect to find, as we do find, that southern beds 

Avill contain a larger percentage of still living forms than northern beds 

of the same age.

The lesson which is to be learned from these facts is not obscure. It 

is, in brief, that in correlating the fossil contents of different strata 

with a view of extracting the geological information they can yield, it is 

necessary to contemplate the growth and evolution of the continent as 

a whole, to recognize the interrelation of the details, and especially the 

fact that they can not be scientifically treated by any method which assumes their isolation and fails to take account of the factors we have 

indicated.

Such treatment is less easy than the old-fashioned way of basing an 

elaborate discussion on supposed faunas of fifty or a hundred species, 

but it is capable of yielding results which will stand the test of time 

and will express with some approximation to accuracy the truths which 

are the province of paleontology.

Thp conclusion to which present study seems to lead is that which 

in thu main derives each successive fauna, in an area of reasonable extent, from that which preceded it, though the imperfections of the 

record in most cases leave this to be inferred. In those rare cases 

where the record is not greatly interrupted (as in part of the Floridian 

region) the characteristics, in a general sense, persist from one bed to 

another. If, owing to changes in temperature, a fauna is replaced by 

one not related to it, as in the case of the Chipola and Ecphora Miocene beds, with the recurrence of the original, conditions the original 

types show themselves again, as in the Pliocene marl of the Caloosahatchie.

In the above case the Ecphora bed, or Chesapeake fauna, can be 

traced northward whence it came; while the Chipola types, during their 

temporary extinction in Florida, were preserved in some undisturbed 

Antillean area and reappeared by migration in Florida when conxli-
30 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. IBULL. 84.

tions favored. Both groups of species are essentially American and 

recall recent American types, just as the Neocene of southern Europe 

is of a genuine European type. In the imperfect state of our knowledge it is rash to speak of species common to them, but it is certain 

that there are more species common to the recent fauna referred to 

than have been yet recognized in their fossil remains. Occasionally 

a type appears which seems out of place and recalls some distant region where it still lingers, as in the case of Batissa of the Oregonian 

Neozoic, which now is known only from the Indo-Pacific region. But 

in this case, as in general, when the history of such groups is studied, 

it is found that Batissa is merely a slight modification of Cyrena, which 

is abundant, recent and fossil, in America; such a modification as might 

have been expected to occur sporadically anywhere where Cyrena 

abounded during several geological periods or was represented by 

numerous species.

It may be as well to add, for fear of misconception, that it is true that 

in older geologic epochs the differentiation of faunas and of zones of 

temperature was certainly less marked than in Neozoic and recent tilllfy 

and the methods we have recommended for the latter are less applicable to the former. Still it is possible in some cases to trace special 

characteristics in successive faunas for long periods; as in the faunas 

of the Californian coast, where, from the Cretaceous to the recent period 

inclusive, every marine fauna has included a large species of Nucula 

(e. g. Acila) with strongly marked divaricate sculpture, a certain type 

of Cancellaria, of T^rritella, and of Natica,. Something of the same 

sort will probably be found true of the successive faunas of the north 

shore of the Gulf of Mexico.

DIFFICULTIES IN CORRELATING FAUNAS.

In correlating contemporaneous faunas which are geographically 

separate, it is but seldom that one may have the aid of many identical 

species. This is especially the case with shallow-water or littoral species 

of the tropical or warm temperate regions. From the polar regions, 

owing to the polar circulation and uniformity of conditions, certain 

species are, as it were, centrifugaily distributed to several adjacent 

faunas. On account of the long persistency of analogous conditions 

near the poles these species have little value as indications of minor 

divisions of geologic time. It is rather by the parallelism in stages of 

development by homologous groups in widely separated regions that a 

correlation of the Neozoic beds of such regions may eventually be 

reached, if at all. On the other hand, we do occasionally find a widely 

distributed yet little modified form like Venericardia planicosta of the 

Eocene; and it is not improbable that more thorough study and careful comparison of Neocene faunas of different parts of the world may 

reveal a larger number of such species,
' SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS. 31

CONCLUSIONS.

The conclusions to which the above considerations point at the present 

time may be summarized as follows:

1. The final correlation of the different beds of Atlantic Neocene 

will depend on a rational study of their fauna, which is now too imperfectly known to form the basis of satisfactory conclusions.

2. Correlation of these beds with those of Europe is wholly impracticable at present.

3. Faunal division of the known fossil contents of the different formations Avould be at present premature.

4. While paleontology holds the key to the problems of local and 

comparative stratigraphy, yet no study of paleontology that neglects 

the broad and general stratigraphic changes which accompanied the 

development of the continental border as a whole is calculated to 

afford results of permanent value.
CHAPTEE II.

SUMMARY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE NEOCENE OF THE 

ATLANTIC AND GULF COASTS OF THE UNITED STATES, CONSIDERED BY STATES.

SUBMARINE STRATA OFF NEWFOUNDLAND, AND SOUTHWARD TO CAPE

COD.

Remains that have been supposed to belong to the "Miocene or Later 

Tertiary" formation, have been dredged from the Grand Banks off 

Newfoundland (lat. 44° 30', long. 50° 15'), at a depth of 35 fathoms. 

Of these, Cyprina islandica only has been definitely determined.1 At 

Banquereau, Nova Scotia, have been found Fusus decemcostatus, Latirus 

albus f and a species of Furritella. Again, on Georges Bank, at a depth 

of from 35 to 70 or more fathoms, fragments of rocks were dredged up, 

containing, among other things, Isocardia resembling Cyprina islandica, but differing in hinge structure; Myatruncata, Solen americana, Cyprina, Natica, Venericardia, allied to V. borealis, but with smaller ribs, 

and Cardium islandicum.

From these facts Verrill is led to infer that there is an extensive bed 

belonging to the Tertiary formation, which extends beneath tide from 

Cape Cod to the Banks of Newfoundland. Mr. C. H. Hitchcock 2 had a 

somewhat similar idea in mind when he wrote, "Possibly Sable Island 

off Nova Scotia and the Great Banks off Newfoundland may indicate 

the position of the place of these (Tertiary and Alluvium) Cenozoic deposits at the close of the Tertiary period."

MAINE.

Both Jackson and Hitchcock have mentioned the occurrence of Tertiary deposits in this State. The former says 3 that nearly all the river 

valleys below 150 feet A. T. are filled with marine deposits, and abound 

in marine shells, some recent, some extinct. At Kittery, 4 a deposit 

was found containing Saxicava rugosa, Mytilus edulis^ Macoma, and Astarte castenea. A similar deposit was found at Lubec. These beds, 

however, are now regarded as Quaternary. Hitchcock at one time held5

1 A. E. Verrill: Am. Jour. Sci., October, 1878, 3d ser., vol 16, pp. 323-324.

2 Geol. of New Hampshire, Chas. H. Hitchcock, 1877, vol. 2, p. 21.

3 Maine State Geol. Eeport, No. 3,1839, C. T. Jackson, p. xiii.

4 New Hampshire State Geol., Final Report on Geology and Mineralogy, 1844, Chas. T. Jackson, 

p. 94.

* Prelim. Eeport on Nat. Hist, of the State of Maine (Geology, hy C. H. Hitchcock), in "Agriculture 

and Geology of Maine," by the Sec. of Board of Agriculture, 1861, pp. 256-257, 

33
__ f NEW HAMPSHIRE VERMONT. 33

that certain hematite breccias, found at Blackington Corner, belong to 

the Tertiary, since Miocene fossils had been found in similar material 

in Vermont. a Later, however, he asserts 2 the absence of all Cenozoic 

deposits northeast of Massachusetts.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Jackson3 mentions the discovery of a Tertiary deposit of blue plastic 

clay in the southeastern part of Portsmouth, in which w.ere found Nucula, Sanguinolaria (Macoma) and a few recent forms. Hitchcock, however, makes no mention of any such deposits in this State. Moreover, 

he implies by a statement in Vol. n of the Geology of New Hampshire 

that none such exist.4 The stratum in question is doubtless of the same 

age as the Quaternary beds previously mentioned as occurring on the 

coast of Maine.

VERMONT.

In 1853 Prof. Edward Hitchcock gave 5 a description of a brown coal 

deposit at Brandon, Vermont, with an attempt to determine the geologic 

age of the principal hematite ore beds in the United States. Though 

figures of fossil plants are given from the above named locality, he 

seems to have drawn no conclusions from them as regards the age of 

the deposit; for he says,6 in substance, that the Brandon deposit belongs 

to a Tertiary formation, for (1) it lies below the drift and is not consolidated; (2) it contains all the varieties of rocks of the Tertiary formation: white clay, variegated clay, water-worn beds of sand and grave,!, 

carbonaceous and bituminous matter, iron, and manganese. Moreover, 

he states 7 that this deposit is probably Pliocene or newer Tertiary, for 

(I) it lies immediately beneath the drift, (2) is not consolidated, and (3) 

similar brown coal of Europe is of the newer Tertiary.

In Vol. i of the " Geology of Vermont" 8 the above statements are 

repeated together with those of other eminent specialists. J. P. Lesley a 

is quoted as opposing the idea that the deposit is of Tertiary age, 

maintaining that it represents simply a mass of disintegrated Paleozoic 

rock. J. W. Bailey,10 after examining the fruits microscopically, concludes, or rather intimates, that one may be that of a palm. Leo Lesquereux10 states that none of the species are living, hence it can not be

! Geol. of Vermont. In two vols. Published under the authority of the State legislature by Albert D. Hager, 1861. The "Scientific Geology " by Prof. Edward Hitchcock, vol. 1, pp. 226-240. 

2 Geol. of New Hampshire, 1877, vol. 2, p. 21.

3 Final Eep. jjeol. and Min., New Hampshire 1844, by C. T. Jackson, State geologist, p. 121. 

4 Geol. of New Hampshire by C. H. Hitchcock, 1877, vol. 2, p. 21. 

8 Mass. Report on Geol., 1853, by Edward Hitchcock, p. 22. 

8 Ibid., p. 31. 

7 Ibid., p. 33. f

8 Geology of Vermont. In two volumes. Published under the authority of the State legislature by 

Albert D. Hager, 1861, vol. 1, pp. 226-237.

9 Ibid., p. 237-238. 

""Ibid., p. 240.

Bull. 84 3
34 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

riioceue, and lie likeus the flora to that of " Oeuingen, the upper lignitic bed of the Tertiary." 1

In an abstract of aii article by Mr. H. Carvill- Lewis,2 in which he 

treats of the iron ores of the " Brandou Period," this deposit is discussed 

in connection with others of a similar character in southeastern Pennsylvania. Feeling assured of the identity of the deposits in the two 

States, he concludes that the lignitic clays of Pennsylvania are probably Oligocene, though he suggests that they may be Wealden.

RHODE ISLAND.

Certain deposits of clay and sand in this State were once supposed by 

Jackson 3 to belong to the Tertiary system ; but there seems to be no 

evidence recorded in support of his views.

The cliff of " plastic clay " on Block Island is probably composed of 

beds referred with some doubt to the Tertiary, by Mr. Aug. F. Foerste.4 

The beds are said to " lie at such an angle as to make their dislocation 

by mountain-building forces almost certain."

MASSACHUSETTS. 

MAINLAND.

Various deposits of clay in this State were at one time considered by 

Hitchcock5 to be of Tertiary age; but in his final report 6 on the geology 

of Massachusetts, he concludes that none of these clay deposits are of 

Tertiary age except " the plastic clay of Marthas Vineyard."

Though no undisturbed Tertiary deposits have as yet been positively 

identified on the mainland of this State, fossils recognized as Eocene 

species 7 have been found in bowlders in the drift on the east side of 

Cape Cod. These fossils 8 are found most abundantly about one-half mile 

south from Highland Light, where a bluff rises to a height of 150 feet. 

At this place the fossiliferous fragments are not found imbedded in the 

modified drift, but are scattered about on the slope of the bluff. Farther to the south, however, one mile south from the head of Pamet 

River, Mr. Warren Uphamhas observed them so imbedded; and hence 

he concludes that they were probably brought there by glacial action 

from a Tertiary deposit in the bottom of Massachusetts Bay.

1 For distribiition of the Bramlon beds, see vol. 2 of the above report, map, p. 989. 

2 H. C. Lewis: Proc. Am. Assot. Adv. Sci., 1880, vol. 29, p.427.

3 Kept. Geol. Survey R. I., by Chas. T. Jackson, 1839, p. 129. For distribution of these so-called 

Tertiary deposits see "Geological and Agricultural Survey of Rhode Island," 1840, by Chas. T. Jackson 

(map at end of volume).

4 Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 1890, vol. 1, p. 447.

B Mass. Geol. Surv. Seport, 1832. vol. 1: Edward Hitchcock. See map (frontispiece).

6 Op. cit., 1841, vol. 2, p. 360.

7 W. O. Crosby:Proc. Boat. Soc. Xat. Hist., vol. 20, pp. 130-140,1878; and W. TJpham, Am. Nat. 

Sept. 1879, vol. 13, p. 502.

8 Tenericardiaplanicosta Lain; Venericardia probably parva Lea; Tenericardia alticosta ? Con., Young; 

Ostrea apparently divaricata Lea;0s£rea possibly sellceformis Con.; Ostrea virginiana; Anomia resembling tellinoides ;PKcatula ne&Tfilamentaria, Con.; Axineastaminea, Camptonectes, Yoldia, Corbufa, 

Cardium, Natica, Turritella,!
"HARMS?} NANTUCKET MARTHAS VINEYARD. 35

DEPOSITS ON THE ISLANDS OFF THE MAINLAND OF MASSACHUSETTS.

The announcement of Tertiary deposits on Georges Bank has already 

been referred to.

NANTUCKET.

The next area to be considered, proceeding in a general southwesterly course along the Atlantic border, is the island of Nantucket.

This island has been made the subject of a special study by Shaler,1 

and as there seems to be no good reason for believing that any of its 

beds 2 are of Tertiary age, it need here receive but little attention. 

Nevertheless, since Shaler has suggested 3 the possible identity of the 

clays observed by Messrs. Desor and Cabot at Sankaty Head with 

those which occur on the southern shore of Chilmark, and since he has 

recently intimated 4 that the latter may be Pliocene, it may be well 

briefly to review the opinions that have been expressed in regard to the 

age of these clays by various scientists. In 1849 Messrs. E. Desor and 

Edward C. Cabot published in the proceedings of the Geological Society 

of London a letter written to Sir Charles Lyell 5 " On the Tertiary and 

more recent deposits in the island of Itfantucket." The bed termed by 

these gentlemen " Tertiary" was probably seen by Mr. S. H. Scudder 

in 1874,6 and it was considered by him to be of great thickness. He 

observes, moreover, that it contains no fossils, and dips strongly (17°) 

to the southwest. On account of the present superincumbent debris, 

Prof. Shaler failed to find, with certainty, the beds described by the 

foregoing writers. The fossiliferous post-Pliocene strata conformably 

overlying these clays have been fully discussed by Prof. A. E. Verrill 7 

in the American Journal of Science.8 *

MARTHAS VfNETAHD.

From the facts thus far obtained it appears that the deposits which 

form this island may be classified under the following heads, viz: Cretaceous, Miocene, Pliocene, Glacial, or Eecent. Of these the last mentioned has by far the greatest areal distribution. In fact, there are but 

two localities where any considerable outcrops of the pre-Glacial deposits appear, viz: At Gay Head 9 and at Chilmark (or Nashaquitsa) 

cliffs.

' Bull. TJ. S. Geol. Survey No. 53,1889.

2 Ibid., p. 15.

3 Ibid., p. 34.

4 Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 1890, vol. 1, p. 445-446.

6 Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, 1849, vol. 5 (proceedings), p. 340. (For this reference see Bull. TJ. S. 

Geol. Survey, No. 53,1889, p. 31).

6 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1875, vol. 10, pp. 304-375.

7 Ibid.

8 These have been referred to the Columbia formation by McGee. See Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1888, 

vol. 35, p. 450.

9 N. S. Shaler: Eeport on the Geology of Marthas Vineyard. Seventh Annual Kept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 1888, p. 327.
36 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84

Cretaceous. Though the gorgeous colored clays, sands, and lignites 

at Gay Head and Chilmark cliffs have been regarded by various writers 

as Cretaceous/ Eocene,2 Miocene, 3 and even Alluvium,4 it now appears 

that they can not all belong to one and the same system, but that at 

Gay Head at least two different ages are represented. Omitting, therefore, all details relating to the lower or Cretaceous 5 portions of these 

bluffs, suffice it to say that at Gay Head these beds 6 are more or less 

folded and faulted, but have a general northeasterly dip of from 15° 

to 50° or even 7 90°, having the so-called Miocene superimposed conformably, whereas at Chilrnark cliffs 8 an anticlinal axis causes the beds 

to have a northeasterly dip of from 15° to 25° east of the axis, and a 

southwesterly dip of from 20° to 45° west of the same, while the Miocene beds are wanting.9

Miocene. Very little evidence has been brought forth to prove the 

existence of Miocene deposits on this island 5 nevertheless, that there 

are Tertiary deposits of a horizon " above the base of the Eocene and 

below the summit of the Miocene" 10 can scarcely be doubted.

Fear the northern end of the section at Gay Head 11 there is a 

series of beds, comprising brown and greenish clays and sands, which 

have commonly been termed " Greensand." Beneath or to the south of 

these are sands, clays, and lignites of the Cretaceous, 12 as well as others 

of doubtful horizon, while above and to the east-northeast are the socalled Pliocene 13 sands.

This Greensand deposit has furnished the greater part of the animal 

remains that have been mentioned in connection with this locality.

The Testacea, sharks' teeth, etc., mentioned by Edward Hitchcock in 

his Final Eeport 14 on the Geology of Massachusetts are scarcely characteristic enough to be of any particular value in determining the age 

of this series.

The statements of Lyell 15 are somewhat more definite, yet by no 

means conclusive. The fossils he enumerates are as follows : A 

tooth of a seal allied to Cystiphora proboscidea; a skull of a walrus

i Wm. Stimpson: Am. Jour. Sci., 2d sar., 1860, vol. 29, p. 145.

2 Ed. Hitchcock: Keports on the Geology of Massachusets, 1832, 1833, and 1841.

*Chas. Lyell: Am. Jour. Sci., Istser., 1844, vol. 46, pp. 318-320.

«F. J.H. Merrill: Trans. N. T. Acad. Sci., 1885, vol. 4, p. 79.

&D. White: On Cretaceous Plants from Marthas Vineyard. Am. Jour. Sci, 3d ser., Feb. 1890, vol. 

39, pp. 94-101, pi. 9.

6 ~N. S. Shaler: Tertiary and Cretaceous deposits of eastern Massaclnisetts. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 

vol. 1, pp. 443-452, pi. 9.

'Seventh Annual Eep. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., 1888, p. 331.

sibid., p. 327, Pig. 59.

9 Mr. D. White, of the TJ. S. Gool. Survey, has very recently furnished us with specimens of Greensand from this locality containing sharks' teeth, crab remains, fragments of shells, etc., similar in 

every respect to those of the Greensand of Gay Head.

i° See Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. l,p. 446. 

' " TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Ann. Eep., 1888, p. 329.

"Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 1890, vol. 1, pp, 445-446.

13 TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Ann. Eep., 1888, pp. 329-332.

'« Vol. 2, p. 432, pi. xix, figs. 16,17,18,1841. The fossil'' Testacea" here figured are casts of a Venut, 

Tellina, and Turbo.

"Lyell: Am. Jour. Sci., 1st ser., 1844, vol. 46, pp. 318-320,
MARTHAS VINEYARD. 37

somewhat different from any living species; bones of a whalebone 

whale and of a bottle-nosed whale (Hyperoodori) ; shark teeth, some of 

which were like those found in the Miocene, near Evergreen, on the 

right bank of the James Biver; two crustaceans; casts of a Tellina, 

allied to T. Uplicata, and one allied to T. lusoria; casts of a Cytherea, 

resembling Sayana; three casts of a Mya, one of which bears a close 

resemblance to M. truncata.

The numerous remains of Cetacea of the genera Balcena and 

Hyperoodon, the author contends, are adverse to the supposition that the 

bed is Eocene, while such fossils abound in the Miocene of America.

In 1863, Dr. William Stimpson l discussed the crab remains in these 

beds, and found them generally referable to two types. One of these, 

Archceoplax signifera, a new genus and species, he describes and figures; 

but, on account of its distant relationship to other crabs, recent and 

fossil, it gives no clew in regard to the age of this deposit.

Other Tertiary deposits of doubtful age later Miocene or Pliocene. 

Between Gay Head and Indian Hill there is a series of deposits which 

resemble lithologically the various beds at Gay Head, but whose fossil contents are unknown. Shaler has estimated 2 the thickness of this 

series at no less than 15,000 feet. This estimate, however, was made 

under the supposition that between the localities mentioned above the 

northeasterly dip is constant and equal in amount to that at Gay Head. 

This supposition, it appears, must be somewhat in error, for in a later 

publication 3 he represents the Cretaceous and Tertiary in a section from 

the valley of Tisbury Eiver to Vineyard Sound as having a northwestern dip of .at least 45°.

f Nothing more definite than what is implied in the preceding statements is known regarding the distribution of this series.

The series of deposits termed by Shaler 4 the Weyquosque, Nashaquitsa or Chilinark series is typically exposed at the bluffs on the southwestern coast of the island which bear these various names. Beds 

resembling lithologically those at Gay Head are imperfectly disclosed5 

near the base of these cliffs at certain stages of erosion. The Weyquosque series rests unconformably upon these beds 6 and is entirely 

different in its physical characters. Its various deposits consist of gray 

and blue clays and whitish sands, and in the latter are occasional hypogene pebbles. There are no traces, however, of the red and white sands 

and the lignites so characteristically exposed at Gay Head. The total 

thickness of this series has been estimated7 at over 1,500 and possibly 

over 2,000 feet. On account of the absence of organic remains the geological horizon of these beds is unknown. Shaler8 is inclined to refer

1 On the fossil crab at Gay Head: Bost. Jour. Nat. His., 1863, vol. 7, pp. 583-589, PI. xii.

2 U. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Aim. Rep., 1888, p. 332.

"Bull. Geol. Soc. Am.,1890, vol 1, p. 451, PI. ix, Fig. 1.

*N. S. Shaler: TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Ann. Kep., 1888, p. 340.

6 Ibid., p. 327.

6 Ibid., p. 320.

7 TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Ann. Hep., 1888, p. 341.

»Ibid., p. 320.
38 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

them to the Tertiary system on account of their various small contortions and plications, as well as their general inclination, which often 

amounts to 15°. These dislocations show evidences of such mountainbuilding forces as have not been displayed in this region since the close 

of Tertiary times.

These deposits are mainly confined1 to the limited areas to the south 

and east of Menemsha and Squipnocket ponds, though several small 

patches of apparently similar material have been noted around the 

northern border of the island. Moreover, there are reasons2 for suspecting that the lower clays of Nantucket,3 others on No Man's Land, 

and possibly certain others in Duxbury may belong to this series.

NAUSHON.4

Immediately to the northwest of Marthas Vineyard is the island of 

Naushon, composed for the most part of reddish and yellowish sands, 

with occasional water-worn pebbles. The surface of these great arenaceous deposits is worn into forms characteristic of glacial erosion and is 

strewn with glacial debris. The time of their deposition may, therefore, 

be supposed to antedate the last glacial period, though to what extent 

is unknown. Similar deposits, however, have been noted about the 

shores of Marthas Vineyard, which lie unconformably upon the upturned edges of the Weyquosque series. Shaler is inclined to believe 

that these sands are more nearly related to the deposits of the glacial 

age than to those of the preceding series.

NEW YOKE.

LONG ISLAND.

Both Hitchcock5 and McGee 6 have mapped the southern portion of 

this island as belonging to the Neocene or post-Eocene Tertiary. 

Very few facts, however, have been given m proof of this view. The 

island is little more than a glacial moraine, a mass of debris, both unmodified and in every stage and form of modification. Judging from 

the character and position of the brown and red plastic clays of Huntin gton and Gardiners Island, Mr. Merrill 7 has been led to surmise that 

they may be of Tertiary age. The paleontological evidence brought 

forward in support of this view consists of a shark tooth, which might 

indicate an Eocene or Miocene period.

If the reported find of an Exogyra costata8 between Brooklyn and 

Flatbush be authentic, there would seem to be little doubt as to the

1 ¥. S. Geol. Survey, 7th Ann. Eep.. pi. xx, opp. p. 308.

2 Ibid., p. 341.

3 Ibid., and Bull. 53, TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 1889, p. 34.

4 U. S. Geol. Survey, 1888,7th Ann. Eep., pp. 342-343.

« Geol. map of the United States, compiled by C. H. Hitchcock, 1860.

6 Ibid., W. J. McGee, 1884.

»F. J. H. Men-ill: Ann. IS".T. Acad. Sci., 1886, vol. 3, p. 356.

 Cozzen's GeoL History of L. I., 1843, p. 51.
niumns.D i TOPOGRAPHY OF NEW JERSEY. 39

existence of Cretaceous beds on this island. Between these bedsaud 

the Columbia 1 and glacial deposits above, Tertiary deposits do perhaps exist.

NEW JERSEY.

Though very few localities have yielded fossils characteristic of the 

Miocene beds, there is good reason to suppose that such beds are extensively developed in the southeastern portion of the State.

Their northern limit can not be accurately determined,2 on account 

of the superincumbent superficial deposits, but it may be supposed to 

extend in a general way from Asbury Park, southwest, to the mouth 

of Salem Creek; south of this line none but Miocene and Quaternary 

deposits appear.

Tomography. That portion of the State included within the limits 

referred to above consists, for the most part, of level, sandy plains covered with forests of pine. The streams meander through flat valleys 

and are usually bordered by impenetrable swamps, of white cedar, often 

miles in extent. The sea and Delaware Bay shores are fringed by an 

intricate network of creeks and are broken by numerous bays.1* In 

this section of the State there are but two considerable areas whose 

mean elevation exceeds 100 feet above tide. The more northerly of 

these occupies the western part of Ocean County, together with a portion of Woodland township in Burlington County. It contained two 

points which respectively rise to the height of 208 feet above tide, the 

one 4 miles northwest of Cedar Bridge, the other 3 miles southwest of 

Shamong Station, called Applepie Hill.4 The more southerly elevated 

area occupies the southeast central portion of Camden and Gloucester 

counties, together with the central portion of Salem and the extreme 

northern part of Cumberland counties. The highest point in this area 

is 2 miles north of Berlin, on the line between Camden and Burlington 

counties, where an altitude of 214 feet A. T. is attained.

These two more elevated areas are separated by a marked depression which extends across the State in a northwesterly direction from 

Great Bay to Burlington. Along this line of depression the watershed 

between the Delaware Eiver and ocean systems of drainage is very 

low,5 reaching a minimum of 85 feet A. T.

THE MIOCENE MARLS.

In the southwestern part of the State the erosive action of Stow Creek 

has exposed the upper portion of a bed of gray marl containing typical 

Miocene fossil remains. It is from this horizon that the fossils enu1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1888, vol., 35, pp. 383, 453, 455, et sell.

2 Cope states (Proc. Phila. Acad, Nat. Sci., 1872, p. 14) that a thin stratum of loamy sand containing 

terrestrial vetehrate remains of the Miocene period overlies the Eocene marl on Shark Eiver. 

s Geol. Survey N. J., Ann. Rep., 1887, p. 18. 

« Geol. Survey, N. J., 1888, vol. 1, Topog. Magnet. Glim., p. 170. 

6 Geol. Surv.if, J. (Geo. fL Cook, State Geol.), 1888, vol. 1, p. 170.
40 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

merated in various publications as u frorn Jericho and Shiloh, near 

Bridgeton, K. J.," are obtained.

The Shiloh marls. A visit made by W. H. Ball in June, 1888, to the 

classic locality at Shiloh and its vicinity, afforded the following observations:

Section at Skiloh, New Jersey.

6 inches vegetable mold.

10 feet drift gravels rather fine and sandy.

2 feet yellow marl.

2 to 3 feet black marl.

8 to 10 feet shell marl.

Blackish sand not marly and of unknown depth.

Above the barren black sand which underlies the marls are three 

distinct successive unconformable marly strata, locally known as the 

"Shell marl," the «Black marl," and the << Yellow marl."

The lower stratum, or Shell marl, when moist, as it lies in the bed, 

is blackish, becoming grayish green when dry, with numerous rolled 

fragments and broken pieces of white fossil shells scattered through it. 

With these fragments are occasional perfect valves or complete specimens of Turritella, Astarte, Crassatella, and Balanus, with occasional 

sharks' teeth and other vertebrate remains.

The upper surface of this bed is very irregular, with small and large 

rounded hummocky hillocks separated by lower areas or channels, the 

whole bearing evidence of having been deposited in disturbed water 

subject to strong and irregular currents.

Above the Shell marl and unconformably filling its cavities is the 

Black marl, destitute of fossils and clayey or unctuous to the touch. 

The layer of this is two or three feet thick and its upper surface is worn 

into irregular rounded lumps, like that of the Shell marl surface below, 

but not conformably to the latter.

Above the Black marl is the Yellow marl, also destitute of fossils for 

the most part and unconformable with the surface below it. It is less 

unctuous than the Black marl, but rather greasy, of an orange brown 

color and does not average over two feet in thickness. It is sometimes 

absent in spots or indicated only by a narrow yellow line, and also has 

an irregularly worn, lumpy surface.

About 10 feet of sandy drift gravel, capped with some 6 inches of 

vegetable mold, overlies the marls.

The areas in which these marls occur are patches of comparatively 

limited extent, not indicated by any surface features, so that exploration is always required to determine whether there is any marl under 

a given field or not. The succession of the beds at Marlboro, Shiloh, 

and Jericho was essentially the same in all the pits and sections examined.

The appearance and contents of the beds strongly recall the condition 

of the sea bottom off Hatteras at the present day, where Miocene and
D ML AND 

HAKK1S,

r.D S MARLS OF SHILOH AND JERICHO. 41

Pliocene sharks' teeth are being mixed with those of recent species and 

Miocene fossil shells coine up in the dredge with living forms. The 

turbulent and irregular whirls and currents which are characteristic 

of the sea off Hatteras were paralleled in the waters in which these 

marls were laid down, and the genera represented in the latter are the 

same as those of the recent shells dredged off Hatteras.

It may be added that the ferruginous matter, to which the Yellow 

marl owes its color, sometimes settles to the bottom of the stratum and 

forms a thin hard layer over the upper surface of the Black marl below

it. The latter is occasionally absent, so that the Yellow marl rests 

directly over limited areas upon 

the surface of the Shell marl bed. 

The area in which these marly 

deposits are found is very limited. 

Its most northerly portion now 

known is about 3 miles north of

5' 

20'

115'

150'

257'

300'

335'

Sand and loam. 

Blue and black clays.

95' White sand (glass sand).

35'

107' Micaceous sand.

42' Dark clay.

20' 

15'

Dark clay (Miocene marl?), gj^ wnence it extends in

row belt in a southwesterly direction to a point about 1£ miles southwest of Jericho. The average 

thickness of the beds has been estimated1 at from 10 to 15 feet, though, 

on account of the undulations of 

both upper and under surfaces, 

these figures must be understood as

Greenland marl, shells, and only approximate. The nature Of

Pure greensand no fossils, the formation beneath the mail is

FIG. 1. Section of artesian well at Winslow, Salem not Well exhibited in the vicinity

county, IT. J. referred to by Prof. Cook. Immediately above it, he states, there lies a bed of Black marl, varying in 

tliickness up to 6 feet; upon this in turn rests a yellow earthy deposit 

of from 1 inch to 3 feet in thickness; above the latter appear the surface 

gravel and sand. The order of superposition, however, is not constant 

on account of the absence of some of the above-mentioned strata or 

the interpolation of others.

The stratigraphic relations of this bed to others of presumably Tertiary age can best be seen by referring to the section of the artesian 

well at Winslow, Salem County.2 (See Fig. 1.)

The bed termed "Miocene marl" in this section is probably the same 

that appears on the branches of Stow Creek.

Its thickness is here represented as being 35 feet when taken in connection with the clays above. Beneath this there is a deposit of "micaceous sand" 107 feet thick, that appears not to have been identified 

at any place on the surface. Below this stratum of sand there is a

1 George H. Cook: Geol. of N. J., 3868, p. 200. 

2 See Geol. N. J., 1808, pp. 291-292.
42 THE NEOCENE OP NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

285'

f 416' 

435'

131' Blackish clays and sand.

19' Bluish clay.

235'

claydeposit of "dark clay," evidently identical with the "astringent clays" 

of later reports. 1 The " Greensand marl, with white shells and teeth,"

below the " dark clay," is evidently 

the Eocene marl bed that appears 

at the surface about Deal and 

Shark Eiver in Monmouth County.

285' Superficial sands, ffravels, Ab°V6 the " dark clay>" that r6sts

atthSse Wo°'lfound immediately upon the "Miocene 

marl" is a stratum of " Glass sand" 

95 feet thick. This sand forms the 

surface rock of no less than onefourth of the whole Tertiary porvalley of Mullica Eiver it is for 

the most part obscured by later 

deposits, except along the valleys 

of the Great Egg Harbor and 

Maurice rivers. North of Mullica

670' 

691'

722'

806'

Section of the well at Atlantic 

City, N. J". In 1886-'87 a well was 

sunk at Atlantic City to the depth 

of 1,150 feet, which proved beyond 

all doubt the general and wide distribution of Miocene deposits in

i20' Sand, mostly yellowish -1

gray, and f'uii of bama- this part of the State. The section2

clcs 2- white sand. Water. here given (Fig. 2) is compiled from 

an article by Mr. Woolman in the 

Proceedings of the Philadelphia 

Academy of Natural Sciences. Many fossils were obtained from the 

borings of this well3, but unfortunately the depths from which they 

respectively came were not recorded, with perhaps three exceptions, viz: 

Turritella plebeia came from a depth of 450 feet. 

Corbula elevata came from a depth of 730 feet. 

Perna maxillata came from a depth of 800 feet.

939'

of6 brittle "marly Eiver thestrips of Glass sand alter - 

nate with those of later deposits, 

21< BS5£h and brownisl1 each extending in a general south3r chocoiate-coiored clays, easterly direction from the Greta84' Fossiiiferous clays, sands, ceo-Tertiary boundary line to the

shells, andsharks'teeth.

60' Blackish, whitish, and 

reddish brown sand.

73' Dark marls, and clays.

60' Green and black marl.

1119' 

1121' 

FIG. -2. Section of well at Atlantic City, N. J.

1 See Eept. of 1886, Geol. Snrv. N. J.

"Lewis Woolman: Proc.Phila. Acad. Sci. for 1887, pp. 339-341.

3 Prof. Angelo Heilprin identifies the following species : Anomia (prob. ephippium), Area centenaria 

A.subrostrata, A. (idoneat),A. (lienosa?), Artemis (acetabuluin),Astarte compsonema, A. abrupta, A. 

perplana, A. thomasii, Cardita granulata, C. arata, Crassatella, melina, Corbula idonea, 0. elevata, 

Gardium (prob. laqueatum), Oytherea, Discina lugubris, Donax (variabilis?), Fulgur, Ludna tritulcata, 

Mactra lateralis?, M. ponderosa, Mytiloconcha incurva, Mytilus incrassatus, Mysia, Natica catenoidea, 

Nassa trivittata, Nucula obliqua, Ostrea, Pecten madisonius, P. humphreysii, P. vicinaria, Tettina 

subreflexa, T. declivis, Turritella, cumberlandiana, T. cequistriata, Turbinella woodii. Also siiark 

teeth, barnacles, etc.
WELL SECTION AT ATLANTIC CITY. 43

The division of that portion of the section below 400 feet into "Middle" 

and " Lower " Miocene is said to be based upon " paleontological evidence," but the propriety of the division is certainly questionable while 

so little is known in regard to these deposits.

A second well was drilled in 1888, on which Mr. Woolman has given 

some notes l in regard to the diatoms and Foramrnifera. These occur 

in a series of clay beds, separated by sand beds, the whole aggregating 

250 feet in thickness and extending from a depth of 387 feet to 638 feet. 

The clays contain diatoms in abundance, though they are almost absent 

from the sand. Samples from 406 feet and 550 feet are especially rich. 

About 100 species have been catalogued by 0. H. Kain. Nearly all the 

forms occurring in the diatomaceous outcrops of Maryland and Virginia 

have been recognized, except two or three regarded as characteristic of 

the outcrop near Nottingham, Maryland, on Lyons Creek. Mr. Woolman regards these diatomaceous beds as belonging collectively to the 

Miocene, though referable to various separate horizons, of which that at 

Nottingham is probably the lowest.

Five forms of Foraminifera were found at 435 feet and fifteen forms 

at 1,125 feet, those of the upper horizon recurring in the lower level, 

and all practically the same as species described by d'Orbigny in 1840 

from the Miocene clays of Vienna, Austria.

A Nonionina, is now the common recent foraminifer in the Atlantic 

City sands, an ounce of which has been computed to contain 18,000 

specimens. This, which is almost the only form now found on the New 

Jersey coast, does not occur in the samples obtained from the wells.

CENOZOIC SANDS. ^

Above the so-called " glass sand" 2 of this State there is a deposit of 

coarse white sand of more than 100 feet in thickness, which forms the 

base of the highest hills southeast of the marl belt. It may be seen in 

the Hominy Hills east of Freehold, and also in Apple Pie, Bear Swamp, 

and Governors Hills, as well as in the high ground of the plains, and 

especially near Lakewood and in the Forked Eiver Mountains. This 

deposit Prof. Cook 3 has classified as Tertiary, though for want of paleontological evidence its geological horizon is not known with any degree 

of certainty.

Above this deposit of coarse sand, a series of beds of blue or 

light colored clays 4 may be seen at Winslow, near Wheatlands, Mount 

Misery, Vineland, Millville, and elsewhere. Whether these beds are 

Upper Pliocene or Pleistocene is uncertain. Besting unconformably 

over all these beds is a deposit of " yellow gravel." This is presum1 Microscopical Bulletin of Queen & Co., Phila., Dec., 1888, vol. 5, No. 6, p. 41. 

2 Geol. Surv. New Jersey, Ann. Rep. for 1880, Ly Geo.H. Cook, p. 133. 

8 Idem. 

4 Idem.
44 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

ably post-Pliocene1 and will accordingly receive no further attention 

here.

Dip. By calculations based upon the depths at which the various 

marl beds were found2 in the " Ocean Grove" well, together with the 

position of their respective outcrops, it has been found that the dip 

of the Tertiary beds here represented is about 25 feet per mile in a 

southeasterly direction. From various observations and calculations 

Prof. Cook3 concludes that the dip in the southern part of the State 

varies from 20 to 40 feet per mile in the same general direction as stated 

above.

PENNSYLVANIA.

In accordance with the results of the most recent and trustworthy 

investigations, there appear to be no deposits belonging to the Tertiary 

system in this State. But since certain clays, lignites, ores, gravels, 

and conglomerates have been supposed by various authors to belong to 

this system it may be worth while briefly to consider the reasons that 

have led to these suppositions, together with those by which they have 

been opposed.

Cenozoic gravels. At an average distance of 5 miles from the Delaware Biver, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, roughly parallel to it, there 

extends a prominent gneissic elevation, termed by Lewis4 the " upland 

terrace." Within this terrace, and resting upon its slopes there is a 

deposit of gravel, termed5 " fossiliferous gravel" by the same author, 

and identified by him with the " yellow gravel" of New Jersey.6 This 

he regards as " probably of newer Pliocene age,"7 drawing his conclusion from facts substantially as follows: Unlike the Quaternary gravels 

and clays this deposit is not limited in extent, but occurs all along the 

Atlantic seaboard of the Southern States. It is therefore of oceanic 

origin. It is characterized by small water-worn pebbles of quartz and 

quartzitic rocks. There are also occasional pebbles of flint and fossiliferous hornstone and chert. It contains no bowlders, and its pebbles 

nearly all have a water-worn, eaten appearance. The great amount of 

erosion it has suffered and the decomposed state of the beds upon 

which it lies point to the conclusion that it is an ancient deposit of 

marine origin, made during a submergence in preglacial times. The 

glacial drift overlies and is consequently more recent than this yellow 

gravel. To these various arguments it is only necessary to say that 

they are equally applicable to the beds of the Columbia formation j

1 Geol. Surv. "N. J. Ann. Eep. for 1886, p. 133; see also McGee's article on the Columbia formation in 

Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser.. 1888, vol. 35, pp. 383, 452-453, etc.

2 Geol. Surv. N". J. Ann. Eep. for 1883, p. 19.

3 Geol. Surv. ]ST. J. Ann. Eep. for 1886, p. 129.

4 H. C. Lewis: Jour. Frank. Inst., 3d ser., May, 1883, vol. 85, pp. 359-372.

8 Proc. Phila. Acad. Sci. for 1880, p. 267.

6 Geol. Surv. N. J., Ann. Eep. for 1886. p. 127.

i Jour. Frankl. Inst., 3d ser., May, 1883, vol. 85, pp. 370-371.
PENNSYLVANIA. 45

and that, according to Lewis's own statement, this deposit is but a continuation of the " yellow gravel" of New Jersey, whose post-Tertiary 

age has already been proved.

Back of the upland terrace there are isolated patches of two surface 

deposits, which from their elevated position and peculiar lithological 

characters are evidently more ancient than the gravels just described. 

In 1878 Mr. Lewis 1 named these deposits the " Branchtown clay" and 

"Bryn Mawr gravel," noted the identity of their contained bowlders, 

and assigned them to a Tertiary period.

In subsequent discussions2 he seems to have discarded the first-mentioned name, but discusses the "Bryn Mawr gravel" in great detail, 

giving its peculiar lithological characters and geographical distribution, 

and reiterated his views as to its Tertiary age. The antiquity of the 

deposit, as stated above, is proved by its elevated position and its lithological characters, entirely different from the Columbian and Glacial 

formations below. Nevertheless, these arguments would be equally 

applicable to pre-Tertiary or even pre-Cretaceous deposits; so that, 

with no other evidence to the contrary, there appears to be no reason 

for doubting McGee's identification3 of this "gravel" with his "Potomac formation." It is, however, worth while to note that Lewis 4 finds 

that " a precisely similar formation caps some of the hills in New 

Jersey. On top of the hill at Mount Holly, N. J., is an identical conglomerate of gravel, similar in appearance and composed of the same 

materials as the formation in Pennsylvania. The conglomerate has the 

peculiar ferruginous glaze already noticed. It here overlies Cretaceous 

marls and sands." 5

Iron ores and lignites, supposed to ~be of Cenozoic age.6 The stratigraphy of the various " Tertiary" lignitic and iron-ore deposits of southeastern Pennsylvania, especially of Montgomery County, has been carefully studied by Mr. Lewis, who has found them severally of the Bryn 

Mawr gravel horizon,7 or stratigraphically beneath it.8 Owing to the 

probable age 9 of this gravel, these lignites and ores will not be discussed here.

DELAWARE.

Geographical distribution of Cenozoic deposits. The Cenozoic as well 

as the older deposits in this State are covered to such an extent by the 

Columbia10 formation that their geographical distribution is as yet but

i Proc. Phila. Acad. Sci. for 1880 pp. 268-272.

*Ibid., p. 277, 288, 289. Jour. Fraukl. lust., 3d ser., May, 1883, vol. 85, p, 371. 

3 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1888, vol. 35, p. 130.

* Jour. Prankl. Inst., 3d ser., May, 1883, vol. 85, p. 372.

5 Recent observers have informally expressed the opinion that these gravels would prove to be 

Lafayette.

" Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. for 1880, vol. 32, pp. 281-291. 

'Ibid., p. 288. 

"Ibid., pp. 288-289.

*Upper Jurassic; Am. Jonr. Sci., 3d ser. 1888, vol. 35, p. 138.

10 The "Delaware gravels " and ' Estuary sands " of Chester. See Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1885, vol. 29, 

p. 36. The "Lower clays" of "recent (post-Tertiary) origin.' Booth,Mem. Geol. Surv.Del., 1841,p, 94.
46 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

indefinitely known. According to the interpretation of Mr. F. D. 

Chester, 1 the boundary line between the Cretaceous and Cenozoic systems extends across the State in an ENE. and WSW. direction, passing in its course about 3 miles south of Middletown. From this line 

south as far as Murderkill Creek a belt of Miocene clays occupies the 

whole width of the State, jnst beneath the Columbia formation. Still 

farther to the south the pre-Columbia sands and clays are, according 

to the same author,2 presumably of "later Pliocene" age.

Judging from the general trend of the Tertiary outcrops in adjacent 

States, it seems probable that the foregoing statements approximately 

represent the truth, provided only that the " glass sand " of New Jersey and this State be regarded as Pliocene, a supposition for which 

there appears to be no paleontological evidence.

Stratigraphy. The uppermost layer in the Cretaceous system is, according to Booth,3 a sandstone or conglomerate which separates the

fossiliferous sands below from the Tellow clay formation of the Appoquinimink hundred above.

The last-named formation consists for 

the most part of yellow clay,4 though 

beds of coarse gravel and bluish and 

whitish clays are not uncommon. Not 

far from Blackbird, on the north bank 

of a creek of the same name, a well was 

dug to the depth of 15 feet and a boring made 7 feet deeper. A section is 

given in Fig. 3 of the various bedspassed 

through, together with their respective 

thicknesses.5 The Yellow sand contains numerous particles of green sand, 

and hence has been supposed to be derived from .Cretaceous deposits. 

Not far from the same locality fragments of silicified wood are frequently seen, which belong, perhaps, to the genus Pinus.6 No other 

fossils seem to have been noted in this " Yellow clay formation."

Just how much of the section here represented Mr. Chester would 

consider Miocene and how much Columbia 7 is a difficult question to 

settle; yet, from his brief characterization of the Miocene bed of this 

State, it may be presumed that at least the lowest 4 feet of the boring 

penetrates into Miocene clay.

Farther to the south, along the branches of Old Duck Creek8, perhaps 4 miles below Smyrna, a stratum of blue clay appears, proved to

1 Proo. Phila, Acad. Nat. Sci., 1884, p. 240. Map.

2 Ibid.

8 James C. Booth: Memoir of the Geological Survey of Delaware, Dover, 1841, pp. 53, 88,

«Ibid., p. 89.

8 Ibid., p. 90.

 Mem. Geol. Surv. Del., 1841, p. 89.

7 Cf. McGee. "Delaware Gravels " of Cheater's nomenclature.

 Mem. Geol. Surv. Del., 1841, p. 81,

1' 6" Soil.

3' 6" Black sand.

6' 6" Yellow sand.

Pebbles.

5' 6" White and yellow clays.

Blue clay.

FIG. 3. Section of well near Blackbird, 

New Castle County, Del.
DATJ, AND 

HARRIS, NEW JERSEY, KENT COUNTF.

Creek 

level.

Soil and conglomerate. 

6'-10' lieddish yellow 

saud.

1' Sandstone, very foasiliferous.

.. Bluish clay.

be of Miocene age by- the fossil shells it contains. The clay is mixed 

with white sand in such proportions as to crumble without difficulty, 

when dried, to a leaden gray, pulverulent mass. In some instances the 

upper layer of this stratum consists of a ferruginous sandstone, averaging a foot in thickness, and abounding in casts of shells. Among these 

have been noted 1 Venus alveata, V. inocer olden, Nucula laivis, Myoconcha incurva ?, Pecten madi-sonius, Mactra, Gardium, and Serpula. The

blue argillaceous layers below contain 

casts of apparently the same genera 

and species. The thickness of the whole 

stratum is known to be at least 12 feet j 

and, like the Miocene clay of New Jersey, becomes somewhat arenaceous in 

its lower parts. Above it reposes a bed

FIG. 4.-Section ^ TWtort mill-dam, near Qf reddigll yellow ^&, passing at times

into a similarly colored clay and capped

by a gravelly layer cemented into a conglomerate by oxide of iron, 

while this in turn is covered by a light, loamy soil. The order of superposition, together with the thickness of the various strata, is represented in Fig. 4.

Farther to the southwest, near the headwaters of Ghoptank Creek, a 

blue clay has been observed * at " Smith's mill," rising a few feet above 

tide, differing in no respect from that on Old Duck Creek except in the 

absence of fossils. It is also overlain by a yellow gravel sand and loam 

and capped by gravel. This clay, according to Booth, appears to be 

continuous with Miocene clays lower down the Choptank, and it may 

therefore be a continuation of that at Old Duck Creek.

For several miles southward from these creeks the substratum of 

clay3 observable in nearly all the streams seems to be without fossil remains. On Jones Creek, east of the 

Statehouse 4 the clay rises a little above 

water level and appears to be of a general yellowish color, though streaked 

with. & few white seams. Upon it rests 

a reddish gravelly loam 8 or 10 feet 

thick, and upon this in turn a yellow-

., , , . /» ./ j.' J.-L i FIG. 5. Generalized section on Tydbury ish sandy loam 4 or 6 feet in thickness. brailoll and Jones Creek) Kent

4'-6' Yellowish brown loam.

8'-10' Eeddish gravelly loam.

15' Yellow clay.

Yellow sand.

The greatest known thickness of the Dei.

Yellow clay stratum (15 feet) was obtained by a boring near the junction 

of Tydbury branch and Jones Creek. The yellow sand at the bottom, 

however, may be only a subordinate bed in the clay. The accompanying 

section (Fig. 5) represents graphically the sequence, character, and 

thickness of the above-mentioned deposits.

1 Mem. G-eol. Snrv. Del., 1841, p. 81, 82. P. madisonius is on Ball's aiithority. 

*Ibid., p. 83. 

"Ibid., pp. 91-94, 

4Ibid., p. 92,
48 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

It is evident from the statements of Chester l that he regards this 

stratum of clay as a continuation of the fossiliferous deposit on Old 

Duck Creek. Booth2 is inclined to think it stratigraphically above 

this deposit, and below that of Murderkill Creek to be described hereafter.

Little is known definitely regarding the dip of the various Tertiary 

and Quaternary deposits of this State, but upon general principles it 

has been assumed that there is a general low dip toward the southeast.3 

The observations of Booth, 4 however, tend to show that the city of 

Dover is located in a general depression of the subjacent strata. The 

slight northern dip for some distance southward from Dover tends 

to prove that the stratum of clay under consideration merges into the 

blue fossiliferous clays of Murderkill Creek.

Along the confluents of this creek, in the neighborhood of Frederica, the Miocene is again fully developed, abounding in fossil remains. A typical section of the rep1' 2' Sand and ferruginous resentative bedg of tnis vicinity AvaS 

conglomerate. . , , ,/c« -n M i_ T» j.i «

3- Brownish yellow sand, obtained at "Sprmgmills" by Booth,5 

which is here represented graphically

3' 6' light gray sand with _.. _ //mi j_ j_ j

casts? (Fig. 6). "The uppermost stratum is 

ironstone-pecten. loose sand, below which is a ferruginous 

Blue ciay. conglomerate of sand and pebbles, 1 to 

water level. 2 feet thick; next a brownish yellow 

Bine ciay. sand, containing a large portion of oxide 

of iron, 3 feet, at the bottom of which

light gray, somewhat argillaceous sand, 

partially indurated, and abounding with casts of shells, from which the 

carbonate of lime has been wholly removed and sometimes replaced 

by a thin coating of brown oxide of iron, excepting in one instance, 

in which a part of a single shell remained; its thickness is from 3 to 

6 feet,- below it is a stratum of hard ironstone, 1 foot; and the lowest 

stratum visible is a blue clay similar in every respect to that of the 

Northern Tertiary (at Old Duck Creek), consisting of more or less white 

sand imbedded in a highly tenaceous blue clay and abounding in impressions of the same shells that characterize the upper white sand. The 

hardest shell-casts are found in the ironstone, and among these we 

recognize a large scallop shell, probably the Pecten madisonius. A 

boring made to the depth of 5 feet below tide- water offered no variation in the nature of the blue stratum." 

The series of sands and clays termed Pliocene by Chester,6 occupies

> Proo. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci. for 1884, p. 240.

2 Mem. Geol. Surv. Del. 1841, pp. 91, 93.

3 Ibid., p. 93, and Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. for 1884, p. 240.

*Ibid., pp. 92-93.

* Ibid., p. 86.

6 Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci. for 1884, p.240.
NEOCENE AREA OF MARYLAND. . 49

that portion of the State to the south of Murderkill Creek. That some 

of the sand beneath the Columbia formation may represent the G-lass 

sand of New Jersey seems very probable ; but, admitting this, their 

Pliocene age, as before stated, is not proved for want of paleontological 

evidence. Booth 1 includes all these beds under " Recent Formations."

MARYLAND.

The terms Eastern Shore and Western Shore have been used to designate those portions of the State lying respectively to the east and 

west of Chesapeake Bay. For the sake of convenience and perspicuity, the Miocene deposits of'these two divisions will here be considered 

separately.

EASTERN SHORE MIOCENE.

According to Mr. Uliler 2 the southeastern boundary of the Eocene 

in this part of the State begins " near the head of the Andover branch 

of Chester River, next the Delaware line,3 and extends, in an interrupted order, west of southwest past Sudlersville, Churchill, and Center - 

ville, and, taking in Kent Island, crosses to Chesapeake Bay."

Several characteristic Miocene fossils have been found at Easton, on 

Treadhaven Creek.4 The southern limit of the Tertiary series has been 

defined5 as extending from near the head of the Little Choptank eastward to the Delaware line. The evidence upon which this limitation 

is based is wholly lithological and very unsatisfactory.

WESTERN SHORE MIOCENE.

On this side of the Chesapeake the southeastern boundary of the 

Eocene is said 6 to begin at the mouth of West River; thence it passes 

in a general southwesterly direction, above Lower Marlboro, to near 

Ludlows Ferry on the Potomac. To the south of this line the peninsula is mainly composed of Miocene beds, overlaid by the Columbia 

formation.7

The knowledge hitherto acquired in regard to the Miocene of this 

state has been obtained almost exclusively from examinations made 

along the low banks and escarpments of Chesapeake Bay and the 

Patuxent and Potomac rivers. In the following discussion, the formation as it appears along the above-mentioned bodies of water will be 

considered as constituting three sections, extending from the Eocene

1 Mem. Geol. Surv. Del., 1841, p. 94.

* Trails. Md. Acad. Sci., 1888, p. 30.

3At "Wye," doubtless the modern Wye mills in the extreme northern part of Talbot County, 

Prof. J. W. Bailey found the "Infusorial Stratum" of Rogers " with all its usual characteristic species." Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1851, vol. 11, pp. 85-86.

«Second Bull. Proe. Nat. Institution, 1841-'42, p. 176, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.Phil. for 1880, p. 25.

* First Kept, of State Agric. Chemist, Md., 1860, p. 44, map.

*Trans. Md. Aoad. Sci., 1888, vol. 1, p. 30.

'Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1888, vol. 35, p.380, 383, 449.

Bull. 84 4
50 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

on the north to the Pleistocene beds on the extreme end of the peninsula.

Section along the west shore of Chesapeake Say In accordance with 

Conrad's observations,1 the northernmost outcrop of Miocene deposits 

along this section is that near Fair Haven, Anne Arundel County.2 

The bluffs in this vicinity generally rise to the height of about 50 feet 

above tide, while their continuity is interrupted by numerous valleys 

of bayward-flowing streams. The lowest stratum, level with the tide, 

is composed of clay, containing a layer of Ostrea percrassa, Vola 

humphreysii, and various other species. The top of this stratum is 

about 5 feet above the level of the bay. Above is a light-colored clay, 

containing great numbers of siliceous casts of small shells, chiefly Turritellasj to this succeeds a whitish clay without fossils.

Section at Fair Haven, Anne Arundel County, Md., after Conrad?

Feet.

50

Character of strata.

Whitish, clay.

Bones of cetacea.

Clay, with siliceous casts of marine shells, and fragments of bones.

Clay, with Ostrea percrassa and Vola

This locality is " interesting from the occurrence of joints which traverse all the strata without interruption, and which were evidently 

produced by the same cause as those in Paleozoic formations.4"

About 20 miles south of Fair Haven (" near Col. Blake's" 5 ) the escarpment is at least 150 feet high. At its base the clay stratum is replete with 

a species of Tellina, and above this, at about 6 feet elevation, there is a 

thin stratum of Ostrea percrassa. The upper portion of the cliff consists of sand and clay, apparently destitute of .fossils. At a point a 

few miles farther to the south ("Capt. Hance" G )a small stream has 

worn a channel in the bank and exposed the beds of a mixture of sand 

and clay, in general very incoherent, with numerous fossil remains. Its 

elevation is but a few feet above the level of the bay. From it Conrad 

cites thirty-seven species of Mollusca.7 Three or 4 miles farther to the

1 Second Bulletin, 1841, Proc. Nat. Inst., p. 181.

2 Prof. J. W. Bailey discovered (Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1849, vol. 7, p. 437) the "Infusorial 

stratum" of the Lower Miocene, at Herring Bay, on the west coast of Chesapeake Bay. 

8 T. A. Conrad, Second Bull. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1841-'42, p. 181. 

"Ibid. 

6 Ibid, 

e Ibid. 

'Ibid.
"HABHJS"} CALVERT CLIFFS, MARYLAND. 51

south (Capt. Beckett's1 ) tliere is another vertical cliff, perhaps 35 feet 

in elevation, whose basal portion is formed of a brown mixture of sand 

and clay, and contains the same fossils as those found at "Capt. 

Hance's"; above, the fossils occur, but less frequently; then succeeds 

a 20-foot stratum of sands and clays apparently without fossils; above, 

and resting on this, is a stratum of quartzose sand, very incoherent and 

filled with shells, among which are Dosinia acetdbulum^ Discina lugubris, and Pecten madisonius.

Cliff near "Capt. Becketi's," Calvert Couniy, Md. 2

Feet.

5

3

20

Character of strata.

Sand, without shells.

Sand, with innumerable shells.

Mingled sand and clay, without fossils, or very rare.

Same as below; less numerous.

Sand and clay, with a group of shells like that at Hance's.

From this place to the mouth of the Patuxent, escarpments containing Miocene fossils are numerous. It is not, however, till Cove Point is 

rounded that they have received any scientific investigation. In the 

vicinity of Cove Point, both Conrad 3 and Clark 4 have noted the occurrence of cetacean bones; and between this point and the mouth of Patuxent Eiver each has noted the occurrence of a great number of fossil 

mollusca. Concerning the geology of this section between the mouths 

of the Patuxent and Potomac no observations seem yet to have been 

recorded.

Section along the Patuxent River. On the Calvert County side of the 

Patuxent Eiver, about three-quarters of a mile below Lyons Creek, an 

abrupt bank rises to the height of 44 feet.5 In the lower portion typical 

Eocene materials and fossils appear, while in the upper part there is a 

stratum of diatomaceous earth, or u Tripoli," about 3 feet thick. From 

this point to Hollands Cliffs, 2£ miles below Lower Marlboro, the upper 

surface of the Eocene approaches nearer and nearer the level of the 

river, Avhile the stratum of Tripoli increases to a thickness of 30 feet. 

This in turn is here overlain by a slightly ferruginous sand, about 6

1 T. A. Com-ad, 2il Bull. Proc. Nat. lust., 1841-'42.

 Ibid, p. 182. 

8 Ibid., p. 183. 

4 Johns Hopkius University, Giro. 'No. 05. April, 1888, p. 3.

 P. E. TJhler: Tram. Md. Acad. Sci., 1888, pp. 22, 23.
52 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

feet thick, holding an abundance of Miocene shells, Perna maxillata 

and Ostrea percrassa. At a short distance above Coles Creek, Miocene 

blue sandy clay appears.

Miocene beds very similar to these have been noted by Conrad at 

some distance away from the river, but which can be most conveniently 

discussed in this section. At Huntington 1 in the northern part of Calvert County, about 4 miles east of the river, he found Perna maxillata 

at the bottom of the race-way excavation, in a quartose sand, above 

which rests a " blue marl, with shells similar to the group at Captain 

Hance's. Three miles from here, at the bottom of a ravine, great numbers of Perna maxillata and Discina lugubris are imbedded in a leadcolored clay. At Charlotte Hall,2 between the Patuxent and Potomac, 

Mr. Conrad found Perna maxillata at the bottom of a ravine, in a matrix 

of sand, above which rested a 30-foot bed of " diluvial." 3

Eeturning again to the Patuxent river,4 at a point not far from Benedict where the cliffs are very high, their upper portions are formed of an 

arenaceous fossiliferous bed some 15 or 20 feet in thickness; beneath 

this, as is known from observations farther down the river, are Perna 

maxillata beds. Two or three miles farther down the river the arenaceous bed becomes thinner, is filled with Scutella alberti, is overlain by 

a thin bed of Ostrea virginica, and beneath it, to the water's edge, is a 

bed replete with Perna maxillata. Six miles farther to the south (" at 

the landing of Dr. Gilliams") the Scutella rock reaches the water's 

surface. At a distance some 12 miles from Benedict a range of cliffs 

begins that continues to the mouths of the Cuckold and St. Leonard's creeks. Near the base of the bank, at the mouth of the last-mentioned creek, a rock appears which resembles in its lithologic character 

the Scutella rock before mentioned, and is characterized as follows: 

" This rock has originally been a stratum of coarse sand, full of fragments of Balanus proteus, mixed with many whole specimens of the 

same, and of Pecten madisonius, which abounds on the upper surface." 

Much of the sand has been washed out, and the remainder of the 

stratum has become cemented by carbonate of lime and oxide of iron. 

It is a very porous rock, with an exceedingly craggy or irregular surface.

Eesting upon this is a stratum of fine, siliceous sand, cemented by 

carbonate of lime, in which are imbedded innumerable casts of Perna 

maxillata, with many Pholas ovalis. At the mouth of Cuckold Creek, 

on the opposite side of the river, these fossiliferous beds appear at the 

water's edge, but on account of the southeastern dip they soon disappear beneath stratigraphically higher deposits. To the northward they 

extend along the range of cliffs referred to above.

»2d Bull. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1841, p. 183.

2 Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1st series, 1830, vol. C, p. 212.

»Tn Cope's article " Vertebrate Fauna of the Miocene period," etc., Proc. Acnd. Nat. Sci. Phila., for 

1867, pp. 138, 139, a list of about 50 species of molluscan forms is given from near J. T. Thomas's residence, not far from the Patuxent Eiver; Charles County, Md., Conrad's identifications.

«2d Bull. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1841, p. 183-184.
} SECTION ON ST. MARYS RIVER. 53

For some distance toward "Point Patience," from St. Leonard's 

Creek, the Balanus rock appears along the shore. When last seen it 

rises to a height of 6 feet above the water, overlain by a stratum of friable sand 4 feet thick; then follows a bed of gravel a foot thick with 

an occasional pebble, and the highest stratum consists of a clay without fossils 7 feet thick.

Section along the Potomac River. A short distance above the mouth 

of Port Tobacco Creek the Eocene deposits *grade upward into drab 

clayey sands. Near Ludlows Ferry this sand is overlaid by diatomaceous earth as on the Patuxent. That the Miocene series extends along 

the banks of the Potomac from this point to St. Marys river can not 

well be doubted, but unfortunately this region has never been examined^ 

by a geologist.

In the right bank of St. Marys River, near the water's edge, innumerable fossils are exposed. Here it is that Conrad and others have 

made extensive collections. According to Conrad the stratigraphy of 

this bank near the mouth of the river is as follows: l

Section on St. Mary's River, Maryland.

Feet.

10

2

5

Character of strata.

Mixed sand clay, without fossils.

Sand and clay, with the same shells as below.

Lead-colored clay with, 3, group of shells as given in the lists, 2, veins of 

Turritella jjZe&eifl, 1, Panopcea.

From the fragmentary, comminuted state of the shells and from the 

occurrence of separated valves, Mr. Conrad concludes that this deposition was made near enough to the sea beach " to be influenced by the 

currents along the shore, or perhaps by the undercurrent of the surf, 

during the prevalence of violent tempests." 2 Some of the large univalves are most common in the arenaceous stratum, but none are limited to it. The eastern bank of the river presents a cliff of nearly the 

same elevation, 15 or 20 feet. The clay rises about 3 feet above tide, 

containing the same group of shells which prevails on the opposite 

shore. Xear the southern end of the cliff the fossils disappear, having 

been converted into masses of selenite, many of which are 12 inches in 

diameter, and which are profusely imbedded in the clay near the level 

of the beach.

The predicament in which Conrad leaves the stratigraphy of the Miocene beds of this state is very remarkable. From his study of the 

Chesapeake section he is led to conclude 3 that the beds in the northern

1 2d Biill. Proc. Nat. lust., 1841, p. 185. 

3 Ibid., p. 186. 

* Ibid., p. 176.
^4 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. lBULt.84,

part of the section are contemporaneous with those of the southern, 

that, in fact, they extend horizontally along the coast line. Strongly 

contrasted with these statements are those referring to the stratigraphy 

of the Patuxent Eiver section. In several places he refers to the dip 

along this river carrying beds beneath those of higher formations to 

the south and causing them to rise toward the north. l The following 

diagram is a graphical representation of the ideas conveyed in his 

text.

FIG. 7. Section along the Patuxent, after Conrad.

Chesapeake group. Heilprin has endeavored to show, chiefly by paleontological evidence, that there are two well denned divisions in the 

Miocene formation of this state, as well as in others to the south.

That the fossiliferous beds exposed in the northern part of the Miocene area of the peninsula are stratigraphically lower, and hence older 

than those of the southern part, is probably true. One would accordingly expect to find a larger number of recent species in the southern 

beds than in the northern ones; this Heilprin has shown to be the case. 

But there is no evidence characterizing two or any other particular number of subdivisions. It is for the present better to regard them as 

a continuous series of beds, in which some species keep dropping 

out and new ones appearing, instead of two distinct groups of 

deposits. The finding at St. Leonards Creek in the same bed of what 

have been regarded as fossils typical of the lower and upper beds 

respectively2 goes far toward proving a continuity of deposition in the 

Miocene as represented in this state from the base to the uppermost 

deposits. For-this series of beds the name of Chesapeake formation 

has been proposed by Darton.3

12d Bull. Proc. Inst., 1841, p. 184.

2W.B. Clark: The Johns Hopkins TJniv. Giro. No. 65, 1888, p. 3; and T. A. Conrad: 2dBull. Proc. 

Nat. Inst., 1841, p. 184. Recent collectors have found Perna maxillata and some other species to be 

by no means confined to or characteristic solely of the older beds. See also discussion of the Chesapeak*e group under " Florida" of this essay. Darton is of the same opinion.

3 For a discussion of the nomenclature of this series see under "Chesapeake group 1 ' in the section 

devoted to Florida.

Cf. Darton, Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 2, pp. 431-450. This publication was issued after the present 

work was practically complete. Mr. Darton has found the Chesapeake foimation to be much more 

extensively developed in some parts of Maryland than earlier writers had supposed.
CALL AND 

1IAHBUJ.

ITT r> n TVTT A ' VIRGINIA. 00

POST-MIOCENE DEPOSITS. 1

From observations made on the Chesapeake and Potomac, Conrad concludes that the upper Tertiary borders the lower part of the peninsula 

from near the mouth of Town Creek, on the Patuxent, to a point on the 

Potoinac about half way between St. Marys Eiver and Brittains Bay.

The-most common fossils of this formation 2 are Ostrea mrginica, Mytilus hamatus, Pholas costata, and Area transversa. Some of the species 

retain their colors and nearly all are known to exist in a living state. 

Heilprin does not state his reasons for regarding this formation as belonging to the Pliocene epoch, but he probably relies on the presence of 

a few supposed extinct species.3 McGee seems to regard it as synchronous with the beds of Delaware, containing several recent species, which 

Chester, tracing them inland, found to be continuous with the Delaware gravel.

VIRGINIA.

For our knowledge of the Neocene beds of this State we are mainly 

indebted to the labors of W. B. Eogers and T. A. Conrad. The latter 

described or identified molluscan forms from nearly all the more important exposures, while the former by a series of investigations, ex* 

tending from 1834 to 1841, examined and described in detail the stratigraphy and lithology of this as well as other formations in the State. 

The work of Eogers4 will therefore form the basis of this brief discussion, though the material has been rearranged and, in some instances, 

slightly modified for the sake of clearness, and to bring it into harmony 

with the results and methods of more recent investigations.

The final disappearance of the Eocene formation with its gentle dip 

eastward may be roughly defined as on a line extending in a southerly, 

direction from Mathias Point on the Potomac, past City Point on the 

James, to the North Carolina line. To the east, the state is traversed 

by numerous large rivers, from whose banks our knowledge of the Tertiary deposits has been chiefly derived. Of these, the four most important are the Potomac, Eappahannock, York, and James. Sections 

along each of these will now be considered, beginning with the most 

northern.

'"Upper Tertiary formation, Post-Pliocene period. Conrad, 2d Bull. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1842, pp. 187-188. 

Post- Pliocene (Pliocene?), Pleiocene, Heilprin, Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci. for 1880, pp. 21-23. 

Columbia formation, McGeo, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d Ser., 1888, vol. 35, p. 449.

2 Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1st ser., 1830, vol 6, pp. 205 et seq.; also 2d Bull. Proc. Nat. Inst., 1841, 

pp. 187-188.

3 This fauna should be reexamined. The congregation of species as identified by flonrad is in general of a type resembling the present or a slightly colder water fauna, but it is remarkable for the 

presence of Gnathodon or Uangia cuneata Gray, which is no\v confined to the brackish estuaries of 

the Gulf of Mexico.

4 Most conveniently consulted in the octavo reprint of [his] papers on the Geology of the Virginias, 

New York, Appleton, 1884, pp. xvi, 832, with many maps and illustrations.
56 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

RIVEK SECTIONS.

Section along the southern bank of the Potomac. As before stated, the 

Eocene beds disappear beneath the waters of this river not far from 

Mathias Point, bnt their contact with the beds known to be of Miocene 

age is nowhere shown. The reddish and yellowish clays incumbent on 

the Eocene just above the point disappear just below it, and the " shore 

becomes low and retiring."

We are left, by the statement of Rogers,* somewhat in doubt as to 

the exact distance down the river from Mathias Point to the first appearance of the Miocene, but it is certain that beds of this age do 

appear four miles above the mouth of Chantilly Creek, Westmorland 

County.2

A bluish sandy stratum 5 feet in thickness here appears in the face 

of Stratford cliff at an elevation of about 50 or 60 feet above tide. This 

is filled with numerous and well preserved specimens of Perna maxillata 

(small size), Turritella plebeia, Mactra modicella, Area idonea, and other 

large shells. This bed dips gradually to the east and at a distance of 

a mile and a half below its first appearance it is but 15 feet above the 

river. Hearer the mouth of Chantilly Creek 3 the fossils exist only 

as impressions in a blue sandy clay matrix that occupies the base of the 

bluff to a height of from 50 to 70 feet. The species here noted were 

Pecten madisonius, Venus mercenaria^ V, cortinaria, and Mactra modi' 

cella.

Chantilly cliffs, situated below the mouth of the creek of the same 

name, form, according to Rogers,4 a continuation of the Stratford cliffs 

just described. The fossiliferous stratum rises from the water's edge 

to a height of 25 feet. It contains few Pernas, but Mactras and Pec* 

tens are abundant.

Still farther down the fiver, at Cole's Point, on the south side of the 

mouth of the Lower Machodoc, a low bluff appears "which is prolonged 

for about !£ miles down the river at a pretty uniform elevation of 14 

feet, A few paces below the point the following strata occur:

1. A layei1 2 feet thick, consisting of a bright yellow mixture of sand and clay, 

abounding in shells of various kinds, among which are Perna maxillata, Ostrea oompressirostra [as identified by Rogers], Venus mercenaria, V. Cortinaria, V. paphia, 

Isocafdia fraierna, Pecten madisonius, P. jeffersonius, Pectunculus pulvinatus, Corbula 

inequale, and Turritella variatilis.

2. Next a layer 6 feet thick, composed of mottled ferruginous sand with a small 

admixture of clay, containing no shells, but abundant markings, as if shells had once 

been present in great numbers.

3. A band of iron sandstone 3 inches thick, and

4. A dark mold, extending to the top.

1 Geology of the Virginias, p. 422,1884.

* Ibid., p. 428.

* Dr. Leidy mentions the occurrence of Salcena prisea and Orocodilus antiquus with Pecten je/ertonius in Weatmoreland County, Virginia, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. 5, p. 308.

* Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 429.
RAPPAHANNOCK RtVER SECTION. 57

In proceeding down the Potomac the yellow marl is seen gradually rising higher 

in the bank. A stratum of blue marl lying beneath it next comes in view, and this 

continues along the base of the bank extending some distance out upon the beach, 

until the shore sinks into a low sandy flat at Ragged Point. 1

By this it wcmld seem that the general southeasterly dip is h'ere reversed, at least for a short distance. Similar reversions will be frequently referred to in connection with the sections along the rivers 

farther to the south.

Farther to the southeast, in Northumberland County, Miocene fossils 

occur in the banks of Hull Creek about 2 miles above its mouth. The 

lowest stratum here exposed consists of a ledge of ferruginous rock, 

containing immense numbers of Perna maxillata, with Venus and Pecten, firmly cemented together. The bed is 2 feet thick. Above it rises 

a stratum of yellowish sandy clay of the same thickness, abounding in 

Perna maxillata in a very friable condition. Incumbent on this, is a 

10-foot bed of light blue marbled clay, capped by course diluvium.

From the foregoing detailed description of what is recorded of the 

various Miocene exposures along, or near the southern bank of the 

Potomac it may be seen that the stratigraphy of the section is as yet 

almost wholly unknown.

. Section along the Rappahannock River. The Eocene strata finally 

disappear beneath the level of this river 2 not far from the mouth of 

Chincoteague Creek. The bluffs, such as border the river in this vicinity, 

give place to low sandy shores farther down the river, as did those on. the 

Potomac at Mathias Point. No Miocene outcrop has been definitely mentioned above Belmont, Lancaster County. Here the cliffs are made up of 

heavy beds of clay and sand, overlain by the ordinary diluvium and 

resting upon a stratum of soft ferruginous sandstone. No fossils are 

mentioned up to a distance of 1£ miles below this place. Here a rocky 

layer is met consisting entirely of shells, converted into brown oxide of 

iron, situated at the base of the cliff. This continues in the same direction for a distance of 1| miles. The following is the order of the strata 

composing the bank at a point near its eastern termination:

1. Six feet of diluvium.

2. Five feet of sand.

3. Ferruginated shelly rock, 4 feet thick, with the same shells as in No. 4.

4. Blue marl, containing numerous Venus, Natica, and Oliva, extending beneath, 

the base of the bluff into the water.

Below this, and withia a short distance of Curratoman River, marl 

beds occur below the level of the flats, consisting chiefly of a peculiar 

elongated variety of Ostrea virginica.

Below the mouth of the above-mentioned river may be seen, extending from half a mile to 1 mile above Cherry Point, a cliff which consists 

of the following strata: 

1. Ten feet of diluvium.

2. Ferruginous sandstone.

1 Geology of the Virginias, p. 430.

s Bogers: Geology of the Virginias, p. 422.
58 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

3. A bed of partially decomposed Serpula, containing few other fossils, 1 foot 

tliick.

4. Chocolate colored clay, with vast numbers of the 0. virginica referred to above, 

3 feet thick.

5. Blue clay marl, extending from beneath water level to a height of 3 feet.

Miocene niarl, clay, and shelly rock continue at intervals from here to 

Mosquito Point, below which the shores become flat and sandy. Here, 

as well as on the Potomac, there is a slight syucline, causing a reversal 

of the direction of the dip near the most eastern exposures of the two 

sections. The finding of marl with characteristic Miocene fossils near 

Kilmarnock indicates * "the prolongation of the Miocene strata to the 

very extremity of the peninsula." Finally, it must be admitted here, as 

in the case of the section along the Potomac, that the stratigraphic 

relations of the various beds exposed are as yet wholly unknown.

Section along the York Ewer and its tributaries. Though there may 

be a few Miocene outcrops along the Mattapony, the northern fork of 

the York Eiver, none seem to have been recorded by Eogers in any of 

his various publications. But on the Pamunkey, the south ern fork of the 

York Eiver, numerous sections have been made in the vicinity of and 

above Piping Tree 2 that show the Eocene beds overlaid by those of 

Miocene.

At the place just referred to the strata taken in a descending order as 

follows:

Ft. In. 

Miocene. 1. White friable sandy clay, containing fossil impressions ....... 10 0

2. "White sandy marl with broken shells ........................ 6

3. Ferruginous stratum, abounding in casts, and occasionally containing the shells themselves.............................. G

4. Thin band of black pebbles ..................................

Eocene. 5. Dark greensand stratum, no shells ........................... 4 0

6. Rocky shell of cemented shells of Ostrea sellceformis ........... 6

7. Dark greensand stratum, with small shells.......:........... 2 0

Total............................................................... 17 6

The precise point at which the Eocene finally disappears " occurs at 

^orthbury, 3 and directly opposite at the plantation of Dr. Charles Baxton."

From this point bayward no references of any importance are made 

to Miocene beds until a point is reached about 6 miles above YorktoAvn, 

termed by Eogers 4 "Jones's Plantation." At this place the shelly 

stratum similar to those nearer Yorktown is overlain by a thin and interrupted layer of a siliceous rocky mass, " approaching in its porous 

character and harsh, gritty texture to the nature of the buhrstone of 

France. Associated with this is a more compact rock, containing some 

carbonate of lime, with much silex, and exhibiting very perfect casts

1 Rogers: Geol. of the Virginias, p. 433.

8 Geol. of the Virginias, p. 5H.

s Ibid., p. 51.

4 Geology of the Virginias, p. 38.
SECTION ALONG YORK RIVER. 59

and impressions of Pecten, Cardium, etc. Over these strata is the 

usual layer of ironstone, and the general aspect of the upper bed is 

somewhat ferruginous."

From Kings Creek to Wormleys, numerous Miocene beds are exposed 

in the banks of the river. These were examined in a cursory manner 

by Rogers and described in his first annual report of 1835. 2 More recent investigations by G. D. Harris, of the TJ. S. Geological Survey, have 

shown that the stratigraphy is by no means so simple as Rogers's description would imply, but that there are numerous local anticlines and 

synclines together with lines of uncomformability. Following, then, 

our more recent investigations, these various beds may be described 

as follows: Between Kings and Filgates creeks a bluff rising to the 

height of from 15 to 30 feet may be seen extending along near the 

margin of the river. The lower portion, to an altitude of from 10 to 

20 feet, is composed of a grayish sandy marl, literally packed with 

large bivalve shells, of which those in the lower part are mostly 

Pecten jeffersonius, while above, Venus tridacnoides, Venus rileyi, Ostrea, dispariUs, Pectunculus subovatus, and Dosinia acetcibulum prevail. 

Here, too, various forms of Cr&pidula as well as Fissurella are abundant; Striarca centenaria is -occasionally met with. Below Filgates 

Creek, and extending over a mile toward Torktown, is the famous 

Bellefield Cliff, from which great numbers of fossils have been obtained. Its lower portion is mainly composed of gray fossiliferous marl, 

save in one instance where a local syncline carries the marly portion 

beneath tide level, and the incumbent (Columbia 1?) clay bed alone 

forms the bluff'. The other irregularities of the upper surface of the 

Miocene seem to be due to two causes, viz, erosion and disintegration. 

The effect of the first is plainly seen at the southern extremity of the 

bluff, near the mouth of Indianfield Creek. Here the marl bed slants 

abruptly beneath tide level, and is overlain by loamy sand. Nothing 

in the lamination of the marl indicates that this incline of the marl bed 

is due to dip; .and, from the wholly different character of the incumbent material, it is evident that the marl suffered extensive erosion before the latter was deposited upon it. The effects of the second cause 

of irregularity, i. e., disintegration, are plainly marked by sinks wherever the marl owes its rigidity to calcium carbonate, and is overlain by 

no impervious layers. They are formed in somewhat the following 

manner: Surface water that possesses slightly acid properties percolates through the overlying sand till it reaches the bed of marl. Its 

calcium carbonate is attacked and dissolved. The water thus charged 

passes into subterranean veins and is at length discharged into the river. 

The rigidity and part of the component material of the marl being removed, it gradually sinks down in the particular locality thus acted 

upon till finally great holes or channels are formed in the marl, filled, 

of course, with the residuum of disintegration and the overlying sands.

1 Geology of the Virginias, p. 87,38.
THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. (BULL. 84.

Fig. 8. Diagram showing cavities in Shell 

marl filled with sand, near Torktown, Va.

The sides of the cavities are often very irregular, sometimes perpendicular, and sometimes even overhanging.

The diagram below (Fig. 8) shows the general features here mentioned. 

That these cavities were not produced by the denuding action of water

upon the surface of the marl before the 

overlying sands were deposited (as suggested by Rogers) 1 is proved beyond all 

doubt, considering the comparative softness of the marl; by (1) the perpendicularity or even overhang of the walls; 

(2) their great depth (being in some 

instances at least 10 feet); and (3) the 

material with which they are filled. 

This is evidently a marly product, from 

its color and ingredients,2 though the fossils it once contained are wholly 

obliterated.

Marked examples of irregularities thus formed can be seen in the 

Bellefield cliff west of the bed of blue clay, as well as in the bluff 

already described that extends from Filgates to Kings Creek.

At the western extremity of the Bellefield cliff " the marl" rises to a 

height of at least 17 feet, and forms nearly the whole perpendicular 

height of the bluff. It is here a gray sand full of fairly well preserved 

fossils. These are essentially the same as those mentioned above, with 

a greater abundance of Dentalium, Murex, Natica, and numerous 

smaller forms. The great abundance of huge Pectens, extending along 

the base of the cliff for perhaps one-eighth of a mile, is one of its most 

pronounced features. Just west of the local syncline before mentioned 

a marked change takes place in the appearance of the marl. The shells 

are often finely comminuted and cemented together by calcium carbonate. Though large Pectens are very abundant at the base of the cliff, 

they do not occupy it to the exclusion of all other forms as they do farther west. In this cemented fragmentary rock, a few specimens of 

Perna maxillata were found.

All along in this portion of the Bellefield cliff the lamination of the 

marl is very oblique. To this structure Eogers refers in his report for 

1835,3 likening it to "appearances described by Lyell and others as 

existing in the Crag of England." The angle of lamination varies, 

sometimes amounting to 30° but generally not over 20°, and sometimes 

closely approaching zero; the direction is approximately east.

The Miocene, as exposed in this cliff to the east of the local syncline, 

contains fewer fossils than do the more western beds just described; it 

consists of a yellowish sandy marl, without the peculiar, regular, and 

well defined oblique lamination. It contains numerous remains of 

Cetaceans.

1 Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 32. 

"Ibid., p. 31. 

8 Ibid., p. 3o, 39.
DalJRHAisD 5 BELLEFIELD YORKTOWN. 61

The same marly bed appears in the right-hand bank of Indianfield 

Creek at its mouth, though it is here but 5 feet above the water level 

and soon passes entirely below it. It reappears in low cliffs toward 

Berrys Landing, but contains feAv well preserved fossils.

Judging from the steep westerly dip in the strata well exposed in a 

bluff about 200 yards below Berrys Landing, it is probable that the marl 

we have been describiug is at this place wholly or mostly absent, and 

that the strata exposed here represent a loiver horizon. The fauna is 

widely different, though containing many of the larger forms already 

mentioned; the abundance of Astartc symmetrica, A. conccntrica, A. abbreviata? Lucina crenulata, Gouldia lunulata, etc., is here quite noticeable. Diplodonta acelinis, too, puts in an appearance at this place. 

In a second bluff, about one-half mile below Berrys Landing, the same 

beds are exposed, though higher up in the bluff, owing to the western 

dip. They are at least 15 feet thick, and as they appear in cliffs nearer 

Yorktown they rise higher and higher and become fragmentary and 

consolidated into a rock of considerable hardness.

In the extensive cliff that stretches along the shore from about a mile 

above Yorktown, the beds just mentioned can be seen for but a short 

distance at the western extremity. The fossils soon disappear and the 

sands become mingled with those of the Columbia formation above. 

Below it, at this place, however, there is a bed of gray marly matter 

14 feet thick, containing few fossils. Still below this, and reaching to 

the water's edge, is a stratum of blue marl Whose upper portion is often 

stained brownish by iron oxide. In its upper portions Dosinia acetabulum and Panopcva reflexa are fairly abundant, but are very tender and 

fragile; below, in the more purely blue portions, Yoldia limatula, Cytherea sayana, Pandora crassidens, Maetra delumbis Solen, Tellina, Scaphilla, Dentalium, Cadulus, etc., are very common, but owing to the softness of the shelly material, a perfect specimen can rarely be found. 

Near the Yorktown end of this cliff these fossils are replaced by Crepidula, Pecten, Venus, etc., and the marl becomes more arenaceous and of 

a yellowish gray color. Beneath it, at the eastern extremity, about 

half a mile above Yorktown, another fragmentary bed appears containing Pecten jeffersonius and other large bivalves. This is the top of a 

series of fragmentary rocks which appear in bluffs to a point a.t least 1 

mile below Yorktown. The fragmentary structure is a more or less 

variable and local feature, being developed, as a rule, more commonly 

near the lower portion of the cliffs. The fossils in this series include 

nearly all that have been mentioned as occurring in the beds between 

Yorktown and Kings Creek, except, perhaps, those characteristic of the 

blue clay or Yoldia limatula bed. About one-half mile above Temple 

Place this fragmentary series is underlain by a stratum of blue clay 

marl, very similar in character to the Yoldia limatula bed. Its thickness 

is not far from 5 feet on an average; its color becomes brownish upon long 

exposure. Just above Temple Place the base of this bed may be seen,
62 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

appearing in detached patches along the top of the niarl and just beneath the Columbia sands. It is here about 25 feet above tide, thus 

giving a westerly dip of about 25 feet in one-half mile. The fragmentary series in the meantime disappears, its various members, having been 

brought up to a height of 25 or 30 feet by this westerly dip, have all 

been planed down to this height by pre-Columbia erosion. Immediately 

under the 5-foot stratum of blue clay appears a stratum 10 to 15 feet 

thick, literally packed with Crepidula. Inasmuch as this genus is so 

abundantly represented throughout the whole of the upper portion of 

the Miocene, this bed is most easily identified by Striarca centenaria, 

which it contains in great abundance. The usual representatives of 

Ostrce, Venus, Pectunuulus, Pecten, Fulgur, etc., are fairly abundant. 

Owing to the westerly dip its lowest layers are brought up to the Columbia sand a short distance below Temple Place. The superior hardness of this rock to the one below is very manifest just above Temple 

Place, where it protrudes beyond or overhangs the underlying bed. 

This last, though mostly hidden, appears to extend perhaps a quarter 

of a mile below Temple Place, is probably 12 feet thick, and contains 

few well preserved shells. The bed just beneath this is slightly more 

argillaceous and contains Turritella alticosta in great abundance. When 

the Miocene finally disappears, about half a, mile below Temple Place, 

it presents the section described by Eogers l as at Wormleys Creek, 

though its component parts are by no means so separate and distinct as 

one might imagine from his description. The marl bank is here only 

about 8 feet high. Farther to the east it is absent, the bluffs being 

formed wholly of Columbia sands.

Section along the James River. The Eocene finally disappears beneath stratigraphically higher formations three-quarters of a mile below 

the mouth of Powells Creek, but the Miocene extends back, in detached 

areas, over the Eocene for some distance west of this point, and even 

appears in and about Richmond. Near that city Eogers first discovered 

the existence of an "infusorial stratum" in Virginia.2 Its relations to 

the adjoining Eocene and Miocene beds are typically presented in the 

principal ravine on the west side of the valley of Shockoe Creek.3

Feet,

1. Sandy stratum of mottled gray and yellowish brown clay, vegetable impressions and prints of Pecten.s...... .............................. MIOCENE.. 14

2. Greenish, brown and lead colored less sandy clays, with, vegetable impressions .........................................................MIOCENE .. 6

3. INFUSORIAL STRATUM ....................................................... 20

4. Lead colored heavy clay of a greenish tinge................................. 3

5. Brownish black, containing a few prints of fossils and a large amount of carbonized vegetable matter, to which the color of the stratum is owing ......... 5

i Geolo gy of the Virginias, 1884, p. 37.

tprocamelus virginiensis Leidy, was found in this vicinity. It is described by Leidy, vol. 1, TJ. S. 

Geol. Survey Terr., 1873, p. 259, Ain. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 621.

Regarding this species Dr. Leidy informs us that he has modified his original opinion that it belongs 

to Procamelus and now thinks it " more nearly related to the living Auchenia " (Nov., 1890). Its stratigraphic position can hardly'oe regarded as definitely ascertained.

3 Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 453.
SECTION ALONG JAMES RIVER. 63

Feet.

6. Lighter colored bed, with yellowish blotches, and streaks, very friable 

even when moist, being more sandy than the succeeding. A few impressions...... .................... ................................EOCENE.. 8

7. Dark olive and bluish stratum, tenacious whilemoist but becoming mealy and of 

a grayish tint when dry, and in that condition showing an efflorescence of 

gypsum upon the surface. Impressions of Cardita, etc........... EOCENE .. 4

8. Felspathic sandstone, Upper Cretaceous..................................... 4

Eogers includes the infusorial deposit in the Miocene Tertiary. It 

rests either upon or but little above the top of the Eocene, J is composed 

largely of diatoms, and contains occasional casts of Miocene shells.

From Bichinonddown the James Eiver for some distance Miocene beds 

are occasionally seen lying upon the Eocene. After the latter dips beneath tide level, the banks of the river present no point of particular interest until the vicinity of Williauisburg is reached. The cliff at Kings 

Mills is abrupt and has a height varying from 20 to 45 feet above the 

water. The strata of shells extend along the river with slight interruptions, when the cliff sinks nearly to the level of the water for a distance of between 2 and 3 miles, and they are found in a somewhat 

similar order of superposition for some distance inland. Their general 

direction is horizontal, but the outline of any one is frequently very irregular. This irregular outline is particularly remarkable with the beds 

of Chama which are very thick at some points, and then thin out rapidly 

 and again thicken. A detailed account of the Miocene and Quaternary 

beds at King's Mills will be found on p. 36 of the Geology of the Virginias.

At Days Point, the most eastern exposure of marl immediately on the southern 

bank of the James Eiver, at a short distance above the mouth of Pagan Creek, the 

shelly stratum that first emerges from the beach, consisting of the overlying bed of 

ferruginous marl, is seen gradually rising to a higher level as AVC ascend the river. 

A quarter of a mile above, and in a direction northwest from the point at which the 

marl first came in view, we see the blue stratum beginning to show itself beneath 

the other, and soon, with a gentle slope rising to the height of several feet above the 

base of the river bank.2

Here, as in the various exposures on Pagan and Nansemond rivers, 

the yellow ferruginous upper marl layer is often fragmentary and 

cemented together at the top.

The only remaining point of interest to be considered in connection 

with this section is one on the north bank at the mouth of the river, 

namely, Fortress Monroe. Here an artesian well was sunk to the depth 

of 907 feet, penetrating Miocene, Eocene, and Cretaceous strata. The 

infusorial stratum was encountered at a depth of 558 feet below the 

parade ground, and the base of the Miocene Eogers considered to be 

betAveen the depths 577 and 583 feet. The importance of these determinations will be discussed elsewhere.

Cenozoic district south of James River. But little detailed descrip1 Notes from Macfarlane's Geological Kailway Guide, 1879. .Reprint iii Geology of the Virginias,1884, 

p. 725.

2 Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 258.
64 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

tion is given by Eogers of this district. The line of contact between 

the Tertiary and older rocks passes in a general way, meridionally south 

from Richmond. But in its course it presents most complex sinuousities.

Indeed, islands and peninsulas of the sandstone (secondary) are met with some 

distance eastward of the general boundary, while inlets of the Tertiary strata are 

seen penetrating beyond it to the west. Thus on a branch of the Appomattox just 

above the fork near Broadway, on a meridian several miles to the east of that of 

Petersburg these layers of coarse and fine sandstones and conglomerates are seen lying horizontally, one npon the other, forming a cliff about 50 feet in height, while 

in the vicinity of Petersburg the greenish sandy strata of the Eocene are found. 1

South of this place " no unequivocal indications of the continuation 

of this lower member of the Tertiary series can be found."2 The Miocene and later formations therefore abut directly upon the primary 

rocks to the west.

High up along the Nansemond Eiver, and along the BlackAvater, Nottoway, and 

Meherrin, as well as their branches, a striking constancy is remarked in the position 

of that portion of the series of marl deposits called the blue marl, the lowest of the 

series as exposed in this and other parts of the area occupied by the Miocene Tertiary of the State. * * * This stratum may be seen skirting the water line in a 

slightly undulating band and rarely rising to the height of many feet above the 

stream. In the southern portion of the tract this feature is most uniformly displayed, while near the James River a decided rise of the strata may be seen as wo 

trace them westward. * * * The general parallelism thus maintained between 

the plane of the marl and that of the rivers throughout most parts of the southern 

tract distinctly indicates a gentle declination of the marl in a southerly direction or 

that in which the Blackwater, Nottoway, and Meherrin flow, and indeed it might 

with some reason be maintained that the sloping of these beds in that direction, as 

well as the comparatively unyielding nature of the tenacious clays of which they 

are principally made up, have exerted an important agency in determining the drainage in that direction, as well as preventing the streams from forming a deeper channel than is furnished a few feet below the upper surface of these beds.3

In Norfolk and Princess Anne counties diligent inquiry, aided by shallow borings at several places, has been made along the canal and feeder 

and at other points within the Dismal Swamp, but no unequivocal deposit 

of marl has yet been found excepting in the vicinity of the Great Bridge 

in Norfolk County and 4% miles northeast of Suffolk near the western 

margin of the swamp. Of these thelatter consists of blue marl, identical 

in character with the upper portion of that formation west. The former 

was of more ambiguous character, and owing to the small number ot 

species obtained, its exact horizon in the Miocene could not be determined.4 However, in 1889, Prof. Shaler obtained a small collection of 

fossils in the northern part of the Dismal Swamp, immediately below 

the vegetable soil, containing 29 species of which 24 are known in the 

recent state and, of the others, one is known only from the Caloosa1 Geol. of the Virginias, 1884, p. 261. 

2Ibid., p. 262. 

8 Ibid., p. 256. 

«Ibid., p. 257.
GENERAL SECTION OF ROGERS. 65

hatchie Pliocene and the 4 remaining extinct forms are common to the 

Miocene of Maryland and Virginia, and the Pliocene of Florida. This 

would indicate a position, if not Pliocene, at least very high up in the 

Miocene system.

GENEKAL CONSIDERATIONS.

Kogers's generalized section1 along the James Kivcr, from Primary to 

Quaternary rocks, is as follows:

A-B. Represents the beds of sand and gravel, usually lying immediately below the 

soil, which from their oblique position and the general coarseness of the materials, indicate a deposition under the influence of strong currents. This 

overspreading the region extensively, and evidently due to some general 

cause, is properly to be regarded as Diluvium.

B-C. Horizontal beds of sand and clay, prior to the diluvium and partially and sometimes entirely removed at the time of its deposition.

C-D. Upper portion of the yellow marl a conglomerate of fragments containing in 

its lower parts nearly entire but water-worn shells.

D-E. Lower portion of the yellow marl shells contained in a friable sand, and near 

the bottom is a tenacious clay; numerous species above, Mavlra modicella almost exclusively beneath.

E-F. Upper blue marl a blue clay of fine texture; rich in Mactra modicella; shells 

becoming more varied as we descend.

F-G. Lower blue marl a more sandy material, abounding both in number and variety of its shells. 

G. Thin band of pebbles, separating the Miocene from the Eocene Tertiary.

G-H. Eocene on the James River clays and sands usually of a grayish tinge, containing shells and their impressions, often presenting a considerable proportion of green sand and some gypsum.

H-I. Sandstone formation deeply channeled above, before the deposition of the 

Eocene.

I- K. Granite and other Primary rocks, upon which the sandstone rests.

There seem to be two discrepancies in Rogers's views of the stratigraphy of the Miocene: first, flie supposition that these strata everywhere preserve such horizontality as is stated by this author is opposed 

by the finding of the infusorial stratum which crops out at the surface 

near Richmond, at a depth of 558 feet below the surface at Fortress 

Monroe; second, not all the blue marl exposed at the base of the bluffs 

along the principal rivers can be considered as belonging to a loAver 

bed in the Miocene formation. These beds of a bluish clayey marl are 

frequently interpolated in grayish and yellowish marl beds, as has 

recently been proved in the case of those exposed about Yorktown. 

Again, the borings from the Fortress Monroe well do not show the Upper 

Miocene as consisting of yellow marl and the lower of blue marl.

That the blue marl nearly always appears at the base of the bluffs 

instead of higher up is due to the fact that when the dip brings the 

stratum up from the lower part of the bluff it is so weathered and oxidized that it loses its characteristic blue tinge and is not readily dis1 Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 204.

Bull. 84 5
66 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. lnuLL.84.

tinguished from the ordinary yellow marls, except by careful examination of its dips and fossils.

It is probable that nearly the whole of the Miocene of the state when 

better known will prove to belong to the beds of the Chesapeake group.

PLIOCENE ROCKS.

The uppermost Miocene or lower Pliocene fossils found by Shaler in 

the marl of the great Dismal Swamp have been already referred to, 

(p. 64), and, if Pliocene, appear to form the first recognized fauna of 

that age in the state. But if the conclusions of McGreebe correct, this 

horizon is well represented by a perezonal formation, that first makes 

its appearance on Potoinac Creek and expands rapidly toward the south. 

Its distinctive characteristics, geographical distribution, and probable 

age will appear from the appended quotations, from the description 

given by McGee,1 who applied to it the name (since replaced by the 

term Lafayette) of the Appomattox formation.

THE LAFAYETTE FORMATION.

Character and distribution. Near the summits of the bluffs overlooking the Rappahaunock River from the southward a mile or two west of Fredericksburg, a distinctive, stratified, orange-colored, sandy clay is found reposing upon Potomae sandstone, from which it is readily distinguishable by its greater homogeneity, the more 

complete intermingling of its arenaceous and argillaceous materials, its more regular stratification, and its more uniform and predominantly orange color. It is as 

readily distinguishable from the Columbia deposits, on the other hand, by its A'ertical homogeneity, its comparatively regular stratification, its distinctive color, and 

its greater range, of altitude, extending, as it does, from tide-level to the highest 

eminences of the Piedmont escarpment between the Rappahannock and Roanoke. 

At Fredericksburg the deposit is commonly thin and confined to limited isolated 

areas, especially at the higher levels, and it appears at but a single locality (Potomae 

Creek) north of the immediate valley of the Rappahanuock; but it rapidly increases 

in thickness and continuity *o the southward. About the confluence of the Ny, Po, 

and Ta Rivers it forms the surface over a meridional zone fully 10 miles wide. It is 

well exposed in the bluffs of the Tapony, along which it reposes on the fossiliferous 

Eocene, and in the bluffs of the Mattapony and the Anna rivers, as well as over the 

intervening divide, it is the prevalent surface formation, maintaining the characteristics exhibited at Fredericksburg, save that it is frequently gravelly. In the vicinity of Richmond it is occasionally exposed toward the summits of the river bluffs, 

but is there less conspicuous than the subjacent Miocene, Eocene, and Potomae deposits, while still farther southward it continues to thicken and expand.

The distinctive orange-colored sand and clays of the formation are typically exposed on and near the Appomattox River from its mouth to some miles Avest of 

Petersburg. A mile below Petersburg they are found at tide-level in the river banks. 

In the eastern part of the city they appear overlying the fossiliferous Miocene beds 

midheight of the bluff; and at the "Crater," a mile and a half east, in the railway 

cuttings in the southwestern part, and on the upland, 2 miles west of the city, they 

occupy the highest eminences. The zone of outcrop here is at least 30 or 40 miles 

wide. As at Fredericksburg, the deposit is a regularly but obscurely stratified 

orange-colored clay or sand, sometimes interbedded with gravel or interspersed with 

pebbles. Perhaps the best exposure is at the "Crater" (a pit formed by the explo-

»Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1888, vol. 35, p. 328.
LAFAYETTE FORMATION IN VIRGINIA. 67

sion of 8,000 pounds of powder iu a mine carried by Federal engineers beneath a 

Confederate fort July 13, 1864). Hero the principal material is a dense, tenacoous 

clay, orange, gray, pink, reddish, and mottled in color, plastic yet firm when wet, 

and so hard and tough when dry that medallions stamped from it as souvenirs are as 

durable as rock; indeed, the Avell known strategic measure to which the "Crater" 

is due was rendered successful by the firmness and tenacity of the clay through 

which the entire mine was excavated save where it barely touched the subjacent fosKiliferouR glauconitic sands of the Miocene. At Butterfiold's bridge, in the southwestern part of Petersburg, the railway cutting exposes some 20 feet of plastic clay 

(like that found at the "Crater"), pebbly and sandy clay, and cross-laminated 

clayey sand, all predominantly orange-colored, iu alternating beds, and it is noteworthy that here, as at some other points, flakes and lines of white, plastic clay, 

similar to those of the Potomac arkose, are occasionally included in the formation.

The formation continues to thicken and expand south, of the Appomattox River, 

until it forms the surface everywhere in the vicinity of the fall line, save where it is 

cut aAvay by erosion or concealed beneath the Columbia deposits. * * *

In the brief inland margin of the Appomattox .formation, as exposed north of 

Roanoke river, is a moderately regularly stratified sand or clay, with occasional intercalations of fine gravel, generally of pronounced orange hue and without fossils; 

it reaches a thickness of probably 50 to 100 feet and forms the predominant surface 

formation over a zone 40 or 50 miles wide on the Roanoke, but attenuates and narrows northward, finally disappearing at Potomac Creek, 4 or 5 miles north of Fredericksburg; and although it appears to thicken seaward it soon disappears beneath 

tide level and newer deposits.

Straliyraphiu relations. At Fredericksburg the formation reposes, sometimes unconformably and again without visible unconformity, upon the lower member of 

the Potoinac, and like relations are frequently exhibited in the vicinity of Richmond 

and Petersburg; in the bluffs of the Tapony generally, and of thePamunkey, 2 or 3 

miles north of Hanover court-house, it rests unconformably upon fossiliferous 

Eocene beds; at the "Crater" and at a number of other localities in the vicinity of 

Petersburg it rests without visible unconformity upon fossiliferous Miocene beds; 

iu the western part of Petersburg it lies directly upon the Piedmont crystallines; 

2 miles northeast of Belletield it can not be clearly demarked from the fossiliferous 

Miocene. * * *

The formation is overlain only by the alluvium of small streams, seolian sands, 

etc., on the broad plain between Petersburg and Welclon, by occasional accumulations of wave-washed debris derived from its own mass in the extensive Quaternary 

terraces prevailing in its area, and by the characteristic clays, sands, and gravels of 

the Columbia formation in the vicinity of the larger streams.

Taxonomy.* No fossils have thus far been found in the Appomattox formation, except at Meridian [Mississippi], where Johnson has found it to contain well preserved 

magnolia leaves apparently identical with those of trees now growing in the same 

vicinity. Its stratigraphic position, unconformably below the Pleistocene and unconformably above the (probably) Miocene Grand Gulf formation, indicates an age 

corresponding at least roughly with the Pliocene.

The formation represents a considerable part of a more or less vaguely defined 

series of deposits variously called "Orange sand, 1 ' "Drift" or "Quaternary," 

"Southern drift," etc., by many geologists; but since this vaguely denned series included not only the Appomattox, but also the basal gravel beds of the Pleistocene 

loess, parts at least of the Cretaceous or Jurassic Potomac (Tuscaloosa) formation, 

and other deposits of various ages, none of the old designations can be retained 

without material modification in definition. It therefore seems wise to extend the 

term applied to the formation in the region in which it was first studied and clearly 

defined.2

' ' Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 33.

2 See discussion of the nomenclature farther on and also in the list of formations.
68 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. 

NORTH CAROLINA.

[BULL. 84.

In this state, as in Virginia, two entirely distinct classes of deposits 

have been included in the Tertiary system, viz, the marine and the perczonal. Those of the first class include both Eocene and Miocene beds, 

and are exposed along river bluffs, in ditches, wells, etc., for a distance 

sometimes not less than 75 miles inland from the ocean.

t^£l>r-r*

mm

Gray sand aud loam.

MIOCENE ROCKS.

Chesapeake formation. The Miocene has a much greater horizontal 

extent than the Eocene, and is thicker, reaching sometimes as much as 

20 feet or more and averaging about 5 to 8 feet in thickness. It is less 

continuous than the Eocene according to Kerr, and often exposed in 

small and disconnected patches. Yet it is probable that its continuity

has really been underestimated, since 

Clark regards it as forming a tolerably continuous sheet over Eocene 

and Cretaceous alike. Its distribution is perhaps best ascertained by 

consulting Kerr's map, prepared to 

illustrate his report for 1875.

The Miocene strata, consisting 

mainly of various colored marls, are 

generally exposed on the south side 

of the large rivers and on the north 

slopes of the divides or swells of land

between the rivers. This formation

thickens, deepens toward the northern 

border of the State, the beds being 

much thicker on the Tar and Koanoke 

than on the rivers farther south. They are in fact of such thickness 

here as to conceal both the Eocene, if it exists, and the Cretaceous, 

with a few local exceptions. The shell beds are rich in fossils, which 

are often in very perfect preservation. 1

The principal exposures along a few of the more important rivers will 

now be considered, beginning with the most northerly.

Chowan River and its tributaries. At Murfreesboro, on the south side 

of the Meherrin, there are numerous small gorges, excavated by streams 

in beds of sand, at whose base a stratum of Miocene marl is distinctly 

exposed. From these, fossils shells, especially Ostrea and Pecten, have 

been washed out in great profusion.2 Other limited exposures have 

been noted farther down the same river.3 

Roanoke River. A section given by Emmons in his report for 1852,4

'Rep. Geol. Survey N. C., by W. C. Kerr, 1875, vol. 1, pp. 149-151.

* J. T. Hodge: Am. Jour. Sci., 1st ser., 1841, vol. 41, p. 333.

9 W. C. Kerr: Rep. Geol. Survey N. C., 1875, vol. 1, frontispiece.

* Op. cit., p. 67.

20' Gravel, fine and coarse.

2' Reddish clay.

10'-15' Blue clay.

8'-10' Green marl, few fossils.

5' Marl, fossils very abundant.

Layers of decomposed rock;

a coarse mica slate,

Fia. 9. Section on Roanoke River, North 

Carolina.
I RIVER SECTIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

probably from the vicinity of Halifax, is here represented diagraminatically ('Fig. 9). The marl beds are probably of Miocene age. Another 

limited exposure of beds of this age is represented near Palmyra on the 

map accompanying Kerr's report of 1875.

Tar River. Beginning in Nash County, 5 or 6 miles above Kocky 

Mount, we find the shelly marl at intervals as far down as Washington. 1 

The marl from a locality 4 or 5 miles above liocky Mount is more or less 

consolidated.and breaks up into masses. Both the brown or red and 

blue varieties are here noted, the former of which is a little stronger in 

calcium carbonate than the latter. "The appearance of granite and 

syenite at Rocky Mount has produced a series of falls in the Tar Eiver j 

and sometimes the marl is found resting immediately upon those pyrocrystalline rocks." It is more or less sandy, with its upper portion filled 

with small shells, while below are large scallops and clams ( Venus tridacnoides). Upon this rests a stratum of sand and rounded pebbles, 

which is 10 feet thick.

Marl appears at Tarboro at many points, sometimes on the river 

banks and sometimes in the banks of creeks. Sections of the marl and 

its accompanying strata, shown in Figs. 10 and 11, have been compiled 

by Prof. Ernmons.

Sand, gravel, and soil.

Sands and clay, without fossils.

3'-4' Clay, with lignite.

10' Yellow sand.

4' Greenish clay.

6' Shell marl.

4' Shell marl, with lignite and 

pyrites.

Sand.

Fio. 10. Section on Tar River, North Carolina. Fro. 11. Section on Tar Eivor, North Carolina.

The marl is intermixed with coprolites, a few bones, and water-worn pebbles 

mostly at the bottom of the bed.2 There is the same tendency to consolidation as at 

Rocky Mount, and at other places on the Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. The same 

shells are found in it comprising large Pectens (Pectcn madisonius), Venus tridacnoides, 

and two or three species of Pectunculus. Marl beds appear in numerous places along 

the river as far down as Washington, notably at Sparta and in the vicinity of Greenville. In each bluff there is usually but one bed, and it varies somewhat in thickness, though apparently averaging from 7 to 8 feet. 3

Neuse River. The principal localities on this river where the Miocene 

marl is well exposed are about Goldsboro and Newbern; at the former 

place the bed is from 12 to 15 feet thick, and consists of shells imbedded 

in a green marly clay. At the latter, beds have frequently been brought

' Emmons's Rep. Geol. Survey, N". C., 1852, p. 51.

2Ibid., p. 55.

»Einmons. Geol. Surv. N, G, 1852, pp. 62-04.
70 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULT,. 81.

to light by accident in various favorable spots, thus proving a fairly 

general distribution of the Miocene in this vicinity. In 1858, Ermnons' 

published the following diagram (Fig. 12) to show the relations of the 

shell marl to the white Eocene beds of the Neuse.

FIG. 12. Section on Neuse Hiver, North Carolina.

Cape Fear Elver. The recent investigations of Prof. W. B. Clark2 

along this stream have thrown some light on the way in which the Neozoic beds of this state have been laid down. The Eocene, according 

to this author, "occupies wide basins or hollows within the Cretaceous."

Sand with pebbles. 

Brown earth.

Sand.

Shell marl, 3 feet.

Sand with lignite,manyfosais.

FiQ. 13. Section on Cape Fear Kiver, North 

Carolina.

.Sand. 

Brown earth.

4'-5' clay.

Sand and pebbles. 

3' shell marl.

Sand, lignite and fossils consolidated.

Blue clay.

Clay. 

Sand. 

Clay. 

Sand.

Fid. 15. Section at Brown's Landing, Cape 

Fear River, North Carolina.

20' Sand; yellow, brown, and 

white.

20' Blue marl, more or less 

sandy and calcareous at the 

base.

8" Blue'clay. 

Sand.

Sand, yellow and brown.

Blue marl containing a single 

species of oyster and extending far below the water.

Fro. 14. Section above Brown's Landing, 

Cape Fear Kiver, North Carolina.

"Widely extended over Eocene and Cretaceous alike is an incoherent 

shell marl that may be referred to the Miocene." The rise and decline 

of the shore line, of a character and extent sufficient to produce this 

arrangement of deposits, is briefly discussed. He dwells also at SOlilG

1 Eep. Geol. Surv., p. 87.

*Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 1, 1890, p. 537-540.
DAIX AND 

IIAIUUSro j EXPOSURES ON CAPE FEAR RIVER. 71

length on the commingling of the Cretaceous and Eocene faunas near 

Wihnington, and the occurrence of Exoyyra. costata in Miocene beds, 

observed by Emmons in 1858, a and since confirmed and explained by 

Stanton in 1891.

Kerr represents,2 on the geological map accompanying his report for 

1875, the Miocene formation as extending along the right flank of this 

river valley at least 20 miles above Elizabethtown. According to Emmons,3 " The first [marl] beds which appear upon the river are about 

10 miles above Elizabethtown in Bladen County." It here presents 

three varieties: viz, sandy, argillaceous, and cemented. Just below 

Elizabethtown, perhaps half a mile, a marl stratum from 2 to 3 feet 

thick is exposed in the bank on the south side of,the river. Fish teeth, 

coprolites, bones, and rounded pebbles are frequently found at the base 

f»f the stratum.4 The marl with its associated strata are shown in 

Fig. 13.5

" Below Elizabethtown, in Bladen County, the marls continue to be 

exposed at intervals. One exposure is at Walkers Bluff, 9 miles below

Elizabethtown. It is the highest upon

Marine sand. the river. It presents a steep escarpPebbiy brown soil. meiit, Avhich con sists of different colored 

sands, with a thick layer of shelly marl."6

Loose sand. One mile above Browns Landing, or 11 

shell mari. miles above Black Bock, the following 

Green sand. beds may be seen:

" At Brown's Landing, 10 miles above 

Black Bock, there are numerous distinct

FIG. 1C. Section at Black Rock. Cape 3Tear -u ,3 T ± -LI i i ^

Eiver, North Carolina. beds- ln arrangement they belong to 

two distinct dates: First, the upper,

which is Miocene, and the lower, which is probably Eocene." 7 The beds 

here exhibited are shown in Fig. 15.

Below the shell marl horizon there are at least 60 feet of sand and 

clay beds considered by Emmons 8 to be of Eocene age, though they 

may prove to belong to the Miocene.

The shell bed itself contains Uxogyra, Belemnites, and coprolites 

which were derived from the Cretaceous formation. At Black Bock 9 

the beds shown in Fig. 1C occur.

The bed of shell marl represented is, according to Emmons, identical 

with that at Browns Lauding, and here it rests directly upon the 

Greeusand, while there at least 60 feet of sand and clay intervene.

1 Geol. Surv. N. C., 1858, p. 85. His locality was Browns Landing, Cape iFear Hi ver. The mixture is 

entirely mechanical. 

"W. C. Kerr: Rep. Gool. Surv. N. C., 1875, frontispiece.

8 Rep Geol. Surv. IS". C., 1852, p. 44.

«Ibid, p. 46.

6 Emmons: Rep. Geol. Surv. N. C., 1858, p. 86.

0 Emmons: Rep. Geol. Surv. N. C., 1852, p. 47.

7 Emmons: Rep. ::858, p. 84.

» Rep. Geol. Surv. N. C., 1858, p. 85.

9 Ibid., pp. 81-85.
72 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

In the vicinity of Wilrnington, Mr. J. T. Hodge made a collection of 

Miocene fossils, which were identified and published by T. A. Conrad 

in 1841.1 Kerr maps a limited Miocene area in this district, but makes 

no reference to it in his text.

Lyell, in writing of the Eocene limestone, states 2 that "on the shore 

at the town of Wilmington it is 12 feet thick, covered with a shelly 

Miocene deposit 6 feet thick."

Mr. Stanton, of the U. S. Geological Survey, also found Miocene beds 

at this place during a visit made in 1891. They contain the ordinary 

fossils of the Chesapeake group, like the Yorktown beds of Virginia.

Natural Well, Duplin County- There is one more Miocene locality in 

this state that deserves special mention on account of the extensive 

collection made at that place by Mr. Hodge. This he designates 3 as 

the "Natural Well," of Duplin County, North Carolina. The sink, so 

called, is a circular basin, partly filled with water, with steep banks 

presenting the following section:

Section at Natural Well, Duplin County (after Hodye).

Feet.

3^

4

6-8

Character of strata.

Soil, loam.

Shell marl.

Tough blue clay.

Blue sandstone.

The marl consists entirely of shells and fragments of shells, with a 

small proportion of fine white siliceous sand, more or less discolored by 

peroxide of iron. The shells are mixed together in great profusion, are 

soft and friable, and show signs of having been massed together by 

strong currents. Conrad enumerates about 80 species from this locality.

This locality has recently been visited by Mr. Frank Burns, of the 

TJ. S. Geological Survey, who reports the " well" or sink to be situated 

in the midst of a hard-wood "hammock" covering a feAv acres. The 

surrounding country is low and level. The whole seems to be underlain by the shell bed, the commoner Miocene fossils fairly paving the 

bottom of the small rivulets, ditches, and streams over a radius of several miles. The section at the sink shows 10 feet of reddish sandy clay 

covering the marl bed, which on the west side of the sink is about 5 

feet thick. The sink known as the " Natural Well" is one of several

'Am. Jour. Sci., 1st ser., 1841, vol. 41, p. 344.

»Geol. Journ., 1845, vol. 1, p. 431.

*Am. Jour. Sci., 1st ser., 1841, vol. 41, pp. 335-343.
DAI.L AND ' HARRIS. ' NATURAL WELL OF NORTH CAROLINA. 73

which are grouped in this vicinity. It appeared to Mr. Burns to be 

about 200 feet in diameter, circular, and with perpendicular sides rising 

about 30 feet above the water, which is popularly supposed to be bottomless. On the west side part of the bank has caved in so that, on 

the bank thus formed, the water can be reached. On the south and 

east sides of the well the superficial loam diminishes to some 4 or 5 feet 

in thickness and the marl bed to about the same number of inches. 

Below them on all sides is a tenacious bluish clay mixed with sand, 

which at the time of Mr. Burns's visit extended underwater to a depth 

of 4 feet, where it rests upon the sandstone of Hodge's section. Much 

of the marl has been removed for use as a fertilizer and good specimens of fossils are now rare. But better exposures of the marl can be 

found in the immediate neighborhood of Magnolia, a village about 2 

miles northeast from, the well. On the farm of Mr. Stricklaud, 1£ miles 

northwest from Magnolia, the same bed afforded better preserved fossils 

than at the well, while on the farm of Mr. Hollingsworth, 2 miles northeast of Magnolia, the marl is cemented into a comparatively solid rock, 

hard enough to burn for lime.

Mr. Burns obtained a very large collection from the vicinity of Mag. 

nolia and the well, but the fauna appears t6 be remarkably similar to 

that of the beds at Yorktown, Virginia.

Vertebrate remains. Bones of six cetaceans, one Sirenian, and Mastodon obscurus Leidy, beside a large number of fishes, have been enumerated by Prof. Cope1 from the Miocene of North Carolina*.

Submarine beds. Among the dredgings made on the coast of t^ie 

Carolinas in 1885 by the U. S. Fish Commission, were hauls at the following stations:

No.

2505

2596

2C15

261C

2617

2619

Latitude.

o /

35 8

35 8

33 45

33 43

33 37

33 38

Longitude.

o /

75 5

75 10

77 25

77 31

77 36

77 36

Fathoms.

63

49

18

17

14

15

General location. 

f

22 miles ESE. from Cape Eatteras.

17 miles ESE. from Cape Hatteras.

27 miles ESE. from Cape Fear.

25 miles ESE. from Cape Fear.

25 miles SE. from Cape Fear.

Do.

In the gravel brought up at these stations were numerous Miocene 

fossils, mostly in a worn condition^ including about twenty species of 

shells and nearly as many fishes, among which Prof. Cope recognized 

Galeocerdo egertoni Ag., Nemipristis serra Ag., and a Lamna known to 

be Miocene. The indications are that a considerable part of the submarine plateau extending eastward from the shores of the Carolinas is 

composed of rock of Miocene age.

1 Rep. Geol. Surv. N. Carolina, vol. 1,1875. Appendix B, by E. D. Cope, pp. 29-52, pla. 5-8.
74 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. lnuLL.84.

PLIOCENE ROCKS.

Lafayette formation. This formation belongs to the second class of 

deposits into which the Tertiary system of this state is divided i. e., 

the perezonal.

In the eastern central part of North Carolina the formation1 is notably variable and 

heterogeneous over the thinly covered eastern extension of the Piedmont crystallines 

now culminating in the continental projection of Cape Hatteras (which has been 

during past ages an even more conspicuous geographic feature than to-day), and 

its features are evidently connected with the proximity of the crystalline strata. 

Thus, at Wilson there is the usual partition into several regular and rather heavy 

(2 to 5 feet) strata, the usual orange hue, and the usual distribution of quartzite and 

quartz pebbles either throughout the several strata or in bauds or pockets; but the 

lowermost stratum exposed in the northern part of the town is largely composed of 

arkose, slightly rearranged and sparsely intermixed with fine quartz pebbles, and 

there is some admixture of arkose in the superior layers. Then, half a mile south of 

Wilson a 9-foot railway cutting displays the usual heavy and moderately regular 

bedding, and the usual hues both in weathered and unweathered strata, while the 

lowest exposed bed (4 or 5 feet thick) is made up of inter laminated gray or white 

clay and orange or reddish loani, the clay being fine and plastic; the loam Hither 

Sandy and massive Witllill each lamina, and the laminae sensibly horizontal and ranging from an eighth of an inch to half an inch thick for the clay, and quarter of an 

inch to an inch or more for the loam. Both of these exceptional aspects of the formation are exhibited in various exposures in this region; both resemble in some 

measure characteristic aspects of the Potomac formation seen in eastern Virginia, 

and it is significant that the Potomac is not found here (probably by reason of removal through degradation), that crystalline rocks approach and in the immediate 

vicinity reach the surface, and so that the Appomattox probably rests immediately 

j^ipon the eastward extension of the ancient Piedmont crystallines.

Nearer the coast the formation is frequently exposed in railway cuttings and displays the features characteristic of the contemporaneous deposits north of the 

Roanoke, save that the orange tints are less pronounced and mixed with browns and 

grays in some strata, that the bedding is thinner and more pronounced, and that the 

pebbles are small and rare. It is significant that the aspect of the formation here 

approaches that displayed by the phosphate-bearing Pliocene beds of the South Carolina coast.

The latter, it may be added, are also of a perezonal nature.

Marine Pliocene. While it is highly probable that marine Pliocene 

strata were deposited along the shores of this state at the same epoch 

as those known to exist farther south, yet their presence in that part of 

the state now above the sea has never been demonstrated. A very 

considerable addition to our knowledge will be required before it can be 

definitely stated that such beds are totally absent from the Atlantic 

border of the state, where it is by no means unlikely that they may 

have been confounded with beds of the Chesapeake group, as in South 

Carolina, and for the same reason.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

At present the literature on the geology of South Carolina indicates 

that there are two classes of deposits or formations which, though

'McGee: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser.,vol. 40, pp. 19-20. Appomattox is the name used by McGee in this 

article.
^Itm ! SOUTH CAROLINA. 75

V,

widely differing from each other in all paleontological, lithological, and 

structural features, are, nevertheless, bo'th regarded as having been 

laid down in Neocene time. The one consists of " a series of predominantly orange-colored, nonfossiliferous sands and clays, resting unconformably upon Miocene and older formations, and unconformably overlain by the Columbia formation." 1 This MeGee regards as a southern 

extension of his Appomattox (=Lafayette) formation, and assigns to it 

" an age corresponding at least roughly with the Pliocene."2 It will 

be described hereafter.

NEOCENE MARLS.

The other consists of isolated patches of marl,3 filling depressions in 

the underlying Eocene or Cretaceous strata.

Mineralogically this marl 4 differs from that of the Miocene beds in 

Virginia in that it contains a much greater percentage of calcium carbonate. Paleontologically the difference is equally marked; for both 

Tuomey 5 and Heilprin6 maintain that the proportion of recent to extinct 

species is more than double that in the Miocene of the Old Dominion. 

These facts led Tuomey, in 1846, to refer 7 the beds in question to the 

Pliocene rather than the Miocene, a view which was reasserted in 

Tuomey and Holmes' " Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina," 8 though 

Holmes,9 Buffin,10 Lyell,11 and Conrad 12 had previously regarded them as 

Miocene. More recently Dana 13 has seemingly followed Tuomey's interpretation, though he substitutes the name Sumter for that of Pliocene. 

Heilprin 14 correlates these with the North Caroliana Miocene beds, and 

styles them " Carolinia'n" or "Upper Atlantic Miocene." Since the 

discovery 15 of undoubted Pliocene deposits in Florida with their abundant and characteristic fauna it has become possible to state with certainty that some of the South Carolina forms are typical Pliocene species. Dall concludes that these marly patches probably consist for the 

most part of Miocene material that has, in some places, a certain mechanical admixture of true Pliocene forms incorporated subsequently 

to their original deposition.

In South Carolina, as in North Carolina, paleontologists have been

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 15; ibid., 1888, vol. 35, p. 328. 

»Ibid, p. 33.

3 M. Tuomey: Geol. S. C., 1848, p. 171; Agric. Surv. S. C., by E. Kufliu, 1843, pp. 27-28; Contr. Tert. Geol. 

and Paleont. U. S., by A. Heilprin, 1884, p. 21.

4 M. Tuomey: Geol. S. C., 1848, p. 171; E. Kuflin, Agric. Surv. S. C., 1843, p. 29. 

"Geol.S. C., 1848, p. 183.

 Contr. Tert. Geol. and Paleont. U. S., 3884, pp. 51-53 and 60-61. 

»Geol. of S. C., p. 171. 

»Op. cit., 1857, p. 9.

 Notes on the Geol. of Charleston, S. C., Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1849, vol. 7, p. 191.

 o Agric. Stvrv. S. C., 1843, p. 27.

1' Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. Lond., 1845, vol. 1, p. 413.

"Medial Tert. Intr., 1843, p. 5.

" Dana: Man. Geol., 1863, p. 506.

"Contr. Tert. Geol. and Paleont. U. S., 1884, p. 66.

16 Trana. Wagner Free lust. Sci. Philadelphia, 1887, 1890, vols. 1, 3.
76 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. |Butt.84.

confronted with a difficulty arising from the alleged coexistence in the 

same beds of fossils mollusks elsewhere characteristic of different 

formations. In the fine work on the Pliocene of South Carolina by 

Messrs. Tuoniey and Holmes, both. Miocene and Pliocene species are 

included, with the result that, by some authors, the whole fauna has 

been regarded as Miocene, and by others, including the writers of the 

work in question, as Pliocene. Both conclusions rest on the assumption that all the species referred to have been derived from the undisturbed matrix of a single horizon, although collected at a number of 

different localities. This assumption appears insufficiently supported 

by the facts, since no critical stratigraphic investigation of the beds in 

question has ever been made, and especially no researches directed to 

the solution of this particular series of discrepancies. It may, however, be assumed that no very obvious, if any, strati graphical differences 

exist, since otherwise it would seem as if they must have compelled 

recognition before now. The shell marl, from which the fossils in question have been derived, in part, at least, exists as patches of relatively 

small extent occupying shallow depressions in older deposits, which, as 

well .as the marl and the superincumbent sands, are uuconsolidated, 

loose, and liable to more or less shifting. The action of the torrential 

rains which annually visit this region, the influences at work in subaerial denudation, freshets, and floods, as well as the earthquakes which 

occasionally disturb the soil, offer means not at all inadequate to the 

confusion of thin, superficial, incoherent strata of similar constitution 

already in contact with one another; at least to an extent which would 

make it extremely difficult to recognize any distinction of age or stratification on a casual examination. There is, of course, no reason why in 

this state, as elsewhere, some species originating in the Miocene should 

not persist to the Pliocene, or even to the present fauna, essentially 

unchanged, as they are known to do in Florida, for instance. If this 

were all, no question need be raised as to the synchronous existence of 

species which have been collected from these beds. But this is not the 

real question; on the contrary, it is entirely beside the point. What 

we find in the supposed fauna of Messrs. Tuomey and Holmes is an 

aggregation of species of which some have (both north and ^south of 

the state) a definite stratigraphical position in certain Miocene beds, 

where they have never been found associated with certain others as in 

the South Carolina deposits. These others, again, are known to be mutually associated in beds of Pliocene age, from which the above-mentioned Miocene types have never been collected. Lastly, the known 

order of development, deduced from the succession of these forms in 

regions where, as in Florida, the stratigraphical succession is unquestioned, complete, and distinct, is violated by their alleged contemporaneous existence in a locality so nearly adjacent. The annexed tables 

illustrate the kind of discrepancies alluded to.
PLIOCENE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 77

I. South Carolina species exclusively belonging to the Miocene (Ecphora zone) in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

Scapliclla trenholmii, Fla.-, N. C., Md. 

Mitra carolinensis, Fla., N. C. 

JFasdolaria rhomboidea, Fla., N. C.,

Va. 

Fasciolaria sparrowi, Fla., N. C.

Fulgur incile, Fla., N. C., Va., Md. 

Ucphora 4-costata, Fla., N. C., Va.,

Md.

Cyprcea caroUnensis, N. C. 

Area centcnnaria, Fla., N. C., Va., Md.

II. South Carolina species exclusively belonging to the Pliocene or 

later in Florida:

Mitra lineolata. 

Fasciolaria fjigantea. 

Fasciolaria distans. 

Pisania auritula.

Astyris lunatq. 

Area rnstica. 

Janira hcmicylica. 

- Ostrea raveneliana.

These tables are given as illustrations merely, and comprise conspicuous and characteristic members of the particular faunae. With a single exception they are of large size and distinctive appearance. With 

a better knowledge of the Tertiary fauna a complete list of such species 

Avould probably be a long" one, but we have taken only those which happened to be conspicuous and thoroughly investigated. Now, it seems 

to the writer 1 that the supposition that the so-called Pliocene of South 

Carolina represents a mechanical mixture of species of two horizons, 

is more in harmony Avith what is known and with paleontological experience than the view that these species, elsewhere diversely distinctive, are, in this locality and for this occasion only, biosynchronous. At 

least it would seem as if the onus probandi lies with those who would 

claim a nominally transitorial character for these beds.

The Great Carolinian ridge. Another fact bearing directly on this 

question is the lesser Pliocene and Pleistocene change of level in South 

Carolina. The level of the Columbian (Quaternary) perezone above the 

sea is here less elevated than it is either north or south of South Carolina. The off-shore deep sea soundings show that the sea bottom rises 

in an east-west general direction off that state, so that the Gulf stream 

flows up and over a hill or ridge transverse to its course. This indicates a relatively stationary axis or wide fold here (for Avhich in this 

essay the term Great Carolinian ridge has been used), over which the 

Miocene beds are thin because it was not greatly depressed, and the following Pliocene beds also may be supposed to have been extremely 

thin, a state of affairs, considering the incoherence of the beds, which 

would greatly have facilitated subsequent confusion of the fossils and 

mixture of the material beds.

Stratigraphy. These fossiliferous deposits are mainly confined to the 

northeastern part of the State. In Horry district slight exposures were 

noted by Tuoniey on Little Eiver; better ones were seen along the

»W.H.Dall.
78 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Waccamaw, for some distance from Conway borough. At Potters Landing and at Harpers the strata appear as follows:

Feet.

30-40

8-12

8

Character of strata.

Yellow sand.

Yellow fossiliferous marl.

Cretaceous beds.

On the right bank of the river, not far from Mxonville, the beds as 

exposed stand thus: 1

Feet.

30

10

2

Character of strata.

Loose sand and clay.

Marl.

Cretaceous. Exogyracosiaia.

From these and other less important exposures on the Waccamaw 

Tuomey enumerates 47 molluscan species, 21 of which he regards as 

recent.

In the southeastern part of Marion County several marl beds have 

been noted in the banks of or near the various rivers by which this district is crossed. The most easterly of these 2 is exposed on the Marion 

road, 2 or 3 miles from Galovants Ferry on Little Peedee River. It 

is 6 feet in thickness, is laid bare for a distance of 100 yards, and 

contains Peoten eboreus, Ostrea mrginica, and 0. disparilis. On the 

Great Peedee three localities are worthy of special mention, viz, Witherspoons Bluff, Giles Bluff, and Godfreys Ferry. At the first of these 

marl is seen rising from the water's edge, in a bed 10 feet thick, the 

upper portion of which is more siliceous than the rest. Modiola ducateli 

and Panopcea reflexa have here been identified. At Giles Bluff3 the 

marl bed is from 8 to 10 feet thick, and is underlain by Cretaceous deposits at least 20 feet thick. The lower part of the marl is soft and of 

a light ash color, and contains fine specimens of Pecten mortoni. Above 

the structure is coarser, of a ferruginous color, and made up principally 

of casts of shells, among which Chama congregata predominates. The

iM.Tuomey, Geol. S. C., 1848, p. 173. 

3 Ibid., p. 175.

3 E. Kuffin gives the thickness of the Miocene at this place as 12 feet and the underlying Cretaceous 

bed 14 feet. Agric. Surv. S. C., 1843, p. 24.
DARLINGTON DISTRICT. 79

upper, firmer portion of the marl is again seen at Godfreys Ferry,1 which 

is its southern limit on the Peedee.

Leaving the river and proceeding toward Darlington Oourt-House, 

marl occurs at wide intervals and is rarely exposed except in artificial 

excavations. Immediately about the village localities are quite numerous. The marl is usually found in the beds of creeks and their branches, 

though sometimes met in digging wells. Above it are superficial incoherent beds of sand, clay, and the accumulating organic matter of swamps. 

The most important exposure in this vicinity is that at " Col. Ervin's," 

on a small stream one mile east of the court-house. The marl is here 10 

feet in thickness. The fossils are in a fine state of preservation, and, oAving 

to extensive excavations that were being made at the time of Tuomey's 

visit to this locality, he was able to make an excellent collection. 

This assisted him materially in his conclusions in regard to the age of 

these marl deposits. In a southwesterly direction from Darlington, as 

far as the Black Eiver, in Sumter County, Immerous exposures of marl 

may be seen 5 one of these has yielded 2 fragments of deer horns, together 

with Gnathodon and Cyrena; from another a tusk of Mastodon has been 

reported.3 Below EutaAV, in St. John Berkeley, marl 4 is dug from pits 

for agricultural purposes, though there are no natural exposures. From 

these, Tuomey has obtained Ostrea disparilis, Pecten septenarius, Venus 

rileyi, and Hcphora quadricostata. Again, at Grove,5 on the left bank 

of Cooper Eiver, the Miocene marl has been cut into during the construction of a canal. This marl is lithologically like the Eocene, and can be distinguished only by its fossil remains.. Very similar to this marl bed is 

one on Goose Creek;6 the latter, however, is somewhat more ferruginous 

and harder.

On the Edisto, 7 below Givharn's. Ferry, - Ostrea disparilis and other 

fossils of this formation have been detected.

In th% vicmity of Oakley Inlet, Georgetown District, Euffin 8 collected " Venus rileyi, V. alveata, Corbula inequale, Area limosa, a variety of Ostrea virginiana," and others, all in an excellent state of 

preservation. They were evidently thrown up by the waves and " must 

have formed part of a submarine bed of Miocene marl, which still 

exists and perhaps has always remained under the sea." Moreover, a 

shark's tooth " precisely similar to those of large size found in. the Miocene of Virginia" was u drawn up by an anchor from the bottom of 

Charleston harbor, in water 45 feet deep, off Fort Sumter."

1 Ruffin states that the Miocene marl has a visible thickness of over 25 i'eet above water the and on 

Cretaceous marl was seen beneath it. Agric. Surv. S. C., 1843, p. 24. 

2 Gcol. S. Car., M. Tuomey, 1848, p. 177.

8 Ibitl p. 178. These remains are hardly Miocene in character. 

4 Ibid p. 178. This deposit, on the other hand, is characteristically Miocene. 

"Ibid p. 179. Lyell mistook this for Eocene: Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., 1845, vol. 1, p. 432. 

6 For the history of the discovery of this deposit, see Ruffin's Agric. Surv. S. C., 1843, p. 28. 

 > Geol. S. C., M. Tuomey, 1848, p. 179. 

8 Affric. Surv. S. C., 1843, p. 34.
80 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [DULL. 84.

PLIOCENE ROCKS.

Lafayette formation. This formation, as has already been stated, 

consists of a perezonal series of predominantly orange-colored, nonfossiliferous sands and clays, resting unconformably npon Miocene and 

older formations, and unconformably overlain by the Columbia.

Unfortunately, little has as yet been published concerning the geographical distribution, thickness, lithological features, etc., of this 

formation in South Carolina. McGee says in substance that it forms a 

terrane 40 or 50 miles wide on the Eoanoke, thence extends southward 

in a broad zone at first widening but afterward narrowing with the 

encroachment of the overlapping coast sands upon its area, quite across 

the Carolinas.1 Hypsographically it extends from an elevation of from 

25 feet to 650 feet above tide 2 level. South of the Eoanoke 3 it is subject 

to local variations in its lithological and stratigraphical features. In 

some instances it approaches in appearance the phosphate-bearing 

Pliocene beds 4 of the South Carolina coast, into which it perhaps 

merges.5 He says: 6

Another distinctive but hardly distinct aspect of the formation is extensively displayed in central South Carolina, notably about Columbia. Here the usual moderately regular and rather heavy but always inconspicuous bedding of the formation 

is displayed; but the prevailing colors are richer and darker than in other parts of 

the terrane, commonly ranging from orange red to chocolate brown. Moreover, 

certain of the strata exhibit a peculiar mottling (which is better displayed farther 

southward); certain other strata exhibit a distinctive cross-stratification defined by 

gray or white plastic clay in laminae, irregular sheets, and lines of pellets ; the 

various strata are more uniform in composition than in the north, consisting rather 

of loam than of sand and clay in alternating beds, and the deposit as a whole takes 

on a solid, massive, and rock-like appearance, and gives origin to a distinctive 

topography. So conspicuously diverse in color, textiire, and habit of erosion are 

the prevailing formations of central South Carolina that over thousands of square 

miles the surfaee is popularly divided into " red hills " and " sand hills " the former 

representing the Appomattpx, the latter the southern interfluvial phase of the Columbia formation. 7 The distribution of pebbles in this vicinity is especially interesting; northeast of the Congaree River, on the line of the Richmond and Danville 

Railway, pebbles are rare to within 2 miles of the present water way; there they 

suddenly increase in abundance, and in some sections within a mile from the river 

form a considerable and sometimes the principal part of the deposit; while south of 

the river they quickly become rare, being abundant only within a mile or less of the 

river bluffs. The pebbles are predominantly of quartz, though partly of quartzite, 

and comprise a few gneissoid fragments. They range in size from two and a half

' Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 28.

'Ibid., p. 30.

8 Ibid., p. 19.

« Ibid., p. 20.

«Ibid., p. 33.

«Ibid., p. 20.

'This expression needs modification to avoid misconception. The " red hills," as above used, means 

merely the superficial debris rearranged from the subjacent formations; the same is true of the " sand 

hills." The "red hills" and "sand hills " formations of South Carolina local usage are the red Buhrstone (or Claiborne Eocene) beds of Tuomey and the white siliceous Buhrstoue which lies below it. 

The material derived from them and used in the Lafayette and Columbia perezones ia that to which 

the words of McGee relate.
GEORGIA ALTAMAHA GBIT. 81

inches downward. Commonly they are accumulated in lines or pockets, sometimes 

t,1 the base of the formation; but a few also occur disseminated throughout the ill 

defined strata.

About the fall line on the Santee Eiver system the Appomattox (Lafayette) loam 

is in part overlain unconformably by the Columbia formation, though it has been 

severely degraded; and in an admirable section on the Richmond and Danville Kailway immediately east of the state house, where both upper and lower contacts are 

displayed, the Appomattox rests unconformably on the Potomac. Farther up river 

the Appomattox resta directly upon the Piedmont crystallines, Avhich here give origin 

to residuary products of dark red and brown color, and so the origin of the exceptionally rich hues of the formation in this region are not difficult to trace.

As our note (p. 80) shows, there is a liability to misconception in tho 

language of McGee's account of tlie deposits included in the Lafayette 

formation. He seemingly includes in it beds of much greater age than, 

that to which the Lafayette can be referred. But we understand that 

his intention was to indicate, as part of his Lafayette, only that superficial portion of these older beds which has been remanie by the perezonal forces at a later time.

GEORGIA.

The distribution of the Tertiary deposits of this state is still but imperfectly understood, and the information brought together here, though 

fuller than, elsewhere published, is still only roughly approximate.

MIOCENE.

Altamaha grit. Descending the Ocmnlgee Hiver from Hawkinsville, 

Pulaski County, the main body of the country rock composing the bluffs 

along the river is the Orbitoides or Vicksburg limestone, often silicified and occasionally surmounted by a still more cherty layer, corresponding to the foraminiferal beds which form the culmination of the 

Eocene in Florida. These rocks rise to some 80 feet above the river, 

and at House Creek, Willcox County, are covered by a thin sandy bed 

containing the same silicified oyster shells, and presenting much such a 

petrologic character as .the Hawthorne beds of Florida. Below this 

point the bluffs recede from the river but near the middle line of Coffee 

County appear again, exhibiting at Eocky hammock the first example 

on the river of a formation to which the name of AJtamaha grit may be 

applied. The preceding notes are from observations by Mr. Frank 

Burns, of the U. S. Geological Survey, but the first reference we have 

found to this formation is by Loughridge 1 who describes it as follows:

Included between the Savannah River and the Atlantic and Gulf water divide, 

there seems to have been once formed a large shallow basin, which is now tilled Avith 

a sandstone composed for the' most part of coarse angular grit and clay partly 

cemented with silica, and resembling in character the Grand Gulf sandstone of the 

Gulf states. The area is marked on the map by the deep green color of the pine barren 

region, whose soil overlies the formation. The rocks have a slight dip to the southeast, have been traced by Capt. M. T. Singleton for 60 miles along Ocoiiee River, and

he estimates the thickness to be 200 feet.

^______________________________________________4*____

1 Dr. R. H. Longhridge: The Cotton Product of Georgia, in Tenth Census, vol. 0, part u, pp. 15,10.

Bull, 84 6
82 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.81.

Outcrops have been observed in Irwin, Dodge, Ware, and other counties. Paramore 

hill, in the western part of Screven County, is of this sandstone, which has a thickness 

of 50 feet or more. Its grains of quartz are partly clear and translucent and partly 

white and opaque, and the rock is highly aluminous.

The southern limit of the sandstone is apparently at the edge of the second terrace, near the coast and along the Sntilla River north of Okefinokee swamp, but the 

formation (represented by blue clays underlying the sandy land) extends probably 

still farther southward, inclining in its area the country near the Florida line, between Allapaha River on the west and the ridge on the eastern side of the swamp, a 

part of the main Atlantic and Gulf Avater divide of the state.

Iii order to define more closely the limits of this formation and determine, if possible, its age, Mr. Frank Burns, of the U. S. Geological Survey, was requested to follow the river from Hawkinsville to the point 

where it emerges from the highlands upon the flats of the Coastal plain. 

This point is approximately marked by the Atlantic Coast Eailroad, as 

the last bluff of the grit is only a few rods above the bridge across the 

Altamaha Eiver at Doctor Town, the piers of the bridge resting upon a 

newer formation.1 Between Eocky hammock and Doctor Town all the 

bluffs (which are mostly on the right bank of the river) are composed 

of the grit, somtimes extremely hard and flinty and at others more disposed to crumble, but always composed of angular grains of slightly 

worn quartz mixed with more or less clay as a matrix and with waterworn quartz pebbles. The Altamaha grit is well exposed in these bluffs, 

which sometimes, as at Tillmans Ferry, Tatnall County, reach an elevation of 70 feet above the river, the beds being nearly horizontal or 

dipping slightly to the south and east.

The soil above them is sour and sterile, the decomposed quartz grains 

allowing the finer vegetable mold or any applied fertilizer to leach away 

rapidly. The district under which they occur has the local name of the 

"wire-grass section," and from an agricultural standpoint has only its 

healthfulness to recommend it. It is but sparsely settled and has few 

attractions.

These grits are obviously of a perezonal nature and represent, for the 

Georgian ernbaymeiit, the operation through the agency of the southeastern drainage of Georgia of the same forces and analogous circumstances, to those which on the borders of the Mississippi embayment 

produced the Grand Gulf perezone. Though the contact with the oyster-bearing Hawthorne beds of House Creek was not observed by Mr. 

Burns, there can be little doubt that the latter are overlain by the 

grit where they join, and that the grits which contain no fossils except a 

little silieified wood are consequently of Miocene age. Seaward from 

them marine Miocene beds of the Chesapeake series were doubtless laid 

down, since Conrad records the washing up on St. Simons Island of a 

specimen of Ucphora.2

1 Mr. Burns learned tliat iu digging for the foundations of these piers a bed of marine shells was cut 

through about 21) feet below the surface. At Jesup, not far west on the railroad, at 20 to 23 feet, 3D 

arteshm well passed through a bed of oyster shells, below which was only yellow sand, and the well 

after being driven 500 feet without reaching water was abandoned. These shell beds are probably 

Pliocene or Pleistocene, but without much labor could not bo reached at the present time.

2 Proc. Acad. Nat Sci., Phila., 1852, vol. 6, p. 1U9.
DHARWS.D } CHATTAHOOCHEE GROUP. 83

Ghattahoovliee group. Eocks of this age are known to occupy at least 

a narrow strip along the southern border of the southwestern tier of 

counties, being probably more or less continuous with the belt of Hawthorne beds observed by Burns on the Ocmulgee Eiver and regarded 

by him as extending over a considerable area to the southwest. A large 

silicifted coral, similar to those found in the clay of the Hawthorne beds 

in Alachua County, Florida, was, according to L. C. Johnson (letter of 

May 11, 1885) obtained by State Geologist Little at Thomasville, Georgia. Very recently from Barrows and Campbell Hill, Decatur County, 

Georgia, in the vicinity of Bainbridge, Prof. E.Pumpelly has forwarded 

specimens of silicified corals belonging to the same species as those, 

found in the Hawthorne beds of Florida, together with fragments of 

rock containing fossils of the Chipola marl.

The latter, according to Prof. Pumpelly, come "from broken-up siliceous beds in the great mass of clays which are the residuum of the 

shrinkage by dissolution of, I think, a great thickness of strata." " Underneath them is limestone" belonging to the Vicksburg group, containing Orbitoides mantelli and Pecten poulsoni, in place at Eussells Spring 

on the Flint Eiver.

This evidence confirms the former existence of Miocene sediments, 

forming the link between Altamaha grits and the Miocene of the Chattahoochee Eiver in Florida, which bordered on the north the Miocene 

strait connecting the Georgia embaynient with the Gulf of Mexico. 

These sediments ha,ve here, as in many other places, disappeared under 

the solvent influence of percolating waters; leaving only the harder fragments, silicified fossils, and insoluble clays to indicate their presence. 

Subsequently, probably in early Pliocene time, the processes which 

formed the La Fayette perezone have rearranged to some extent the 

residual materials of the older Miocene rocks without, apparently, 

transporting them from their original site.

Jaclcsonboro limestone. A locality near the northeastern border of 

the state has recently afforded evidences of Miocene strata apparently 

belonging to a horizon near that of the Chipola series. Near the confluence of Brier Creek and Beaver Dam Creek, which together form a tributary of the Savannah Eiver, and 3 miles below Jacksonboro, Scriven 

County, Georgia, is a stratum of limestone containing very numerous casts of shells and occasionally a silicified specimen, on the whole 

not unlike the Tampa limestone. This stone was formerly burned for 

lime. It Avas visited by Lyell, 1 who referred to it on several occasions 

and supposed it to be of Eocene age. This locality was recently visited by Prof. W. B. Clark, who found the quarry and ruins of the kiln 

spoken of by Lyell. An examination of the material collected there 

showed the presence of Stromlms chipolanus ; Fissurella like Marylandica; Infundibulum perarmatum Con"?; Xenophora liumilis; a C&rith1 See Lyell, Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. 3, pp. 735, 742; vol. 4, pp. 547,503, and reprints of the same papers in 

Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., 1845, vol. 1, pp. 413 and 429.
84 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [uui,T,.84.

ium, much like C. Mllsloroensis ; a species of Vertagus, recalling one 

from the Caloosahatchie Pliocene; Gapulus^ like one in the Tampa 

silex beds; .Bullapetrosa ? Pecten septenarius, a small Macoma like one 

from the Tampa silex beds; a Cardium and an Ampullina, resembling 

the Chipola species, besides a number of forms which might be Eocene 

or later, but had a Miocene aspect. There were, as in the Chipola 

beds, several forms known from the Upper Eocene, such as JSburna sp., 

Serpula sp. The section here showed 5 feet of ferruginous sand and 

over 12 feet of compact marly rock with fossils. Until a more thorough 

examination and study of the species has been made the matter can 

not be said to be finally settled, but at present the presumption is obviously in favor of the early Miocene age of this deposit, from which 

Lonsdale has described l several corals collected by Lyell. The uppermost fossiliferous layer at Shell Bluff, while probably Eocene, presents 

indications of a modification of the fauna in the direction of that following it in the Miocene epoch. Cerithium, Cardium, and Yoldia closely 

resembling Y. limatula, were found by Prof. Clark in Eichmond County 

west of Augusta, in a pit at McBean, on the land of E. W. Knight. A 

similar silicified layer was observed by Frank Burns capping the softer 

Vicksburg along the Ockmulgee Eiver between Hawkinsville and House 

Creek.

PLIOCENE ROCKS.

Marl beds. Two very different deposits in this state have been referred to the Pliocene age. The one is described by Loughridge as 

follows:

The Savannah region along the coast, which occupies the first terrace at an elevation of from 10 to 15 feet above tide-water, is assigned to the Pliocene formation. 

Marls or shell beds of this age are found on the Savannah River near the Effingham 

and Chatham County lines. On Satilla River a white marl bed outcrops at Burnt 

Fort, the head of tidewater, which is mostly devoid of fossils. In the sand and clay 

beds of the coast region in Glynn, Chatham, and other counties have been dug up 

the remains of gigantic quadrupeds, such as the mastodon, and along its borders are 

buried stumps of cypress and other trees still standing upright.

The Lafayette formation. This, according to McGee? forms " t&Q 

most conspicuous terrane of central Georgia, where it stretches from 

the fall-line to the inland margin of the coast sands all the way from, 

the Savannah to the Chattahoochee.2 It is in this state that the formation appears best developed. " At many points it overlaps far upon 

the Piedmont crystallines. On the seaward side of the fall-line it is 

unquestionably overlapped in turn by the pine-clad sands of the Columbia formation over many thousand square miles. It evidently 

reaches a considerable thickness, perhaps 100 feet or more." Good exposures may be seen at Augusta, Green's Cut, Munnerlyn, Sun Hill, 

and especially at Macon, where it is typically developed. " Above the

1 Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., 1845, vol. 1.

* Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 23.
OAKLAND) FTHPTTU * 8^ HARRIS. 5 1<.LUK1JJA. 00

reach of modern alluvium, and above the vaguely defined and poorly 

exposed i second bottoms' it forms the prevailing surface;1 and in every 

street and suburban road, in every storm-carved runnel and road-side 

gulley, and in every cutting of the seven railways radiating from the 

city its materials are exposed." Here it displays its usual orange-yellow and orange-red tints, its cross-bedded structure, and its indefinite 

and irregular stratification. Here, too, near the fall-line the formation 

abounds hu>small pebbles, arranged in lines, accumulated in pockets or 

disseminated throughout the deposit. At Macon, as at Columbia, the 

Appomattox (Lafayette) is intercalated between the Columbia and 

Potomac formations. It is noteworthy that although the Appomattox 

(Lafayette) and the Potomac are here, as elsewhere, strikingly unconforinable, they sometimes merge so completely that no line of demarcation can be drawn with precision. Of these three formations, the 

finest southern exposures may be seen just below the falls of the Cuattahoochee in the villages of Girard and Lively, Alabama, opposite Columbus.

Vertebrate remains. In the American Naturalist, 1878 (vol. 12, p. 129), 

it is stated that Prof. Little, director of the geological survey of Georgia, 

has accumulated a valuable collection of the vertebrate fossils of the 

state, of Cretaceous and Tertiary age. Among these there have been 

identified the dinosaur!an Hadrosaurus tripos, and the turtles, Taphraspliys strenuus and AmpMemys oxysternum, a new genus and species related to Adocus. Mr. Loughridge, of the Survey, also discovered a very 

fine specimen of that rare propilurid, Peritresius ornatus.

FLORIDA.

INTUODUCTOUY.

The state of Florida presents the most complete succession of Tertiary and post-Tertiary fossil-bearing strata of any part of the United 

States. These have been but little disturbed by orogenic movements, 

exhibit but trifling unconformities, and present numerous interesting 

cases of the survival of forms from one horizon to another, thus illustrating in the most forcible manner to the biologist the uniformity of 

conditions under which the beds have been laid down.

Perhaps no other region on our coast presents so many instances of 

Miocene species still existing in the deeper waters off its own shores. 

Nowhere else can the problems of descent with modification during 

Cenozoic and later time be so well studied in the fossil and recent 

faunas.

For these reasons, since Florida offers a sort of standard, with which 

it may be convenient to compare the Cenozoic beds of other parts of the 

coast, and also because much unpublished material pertinent to the 

occasion is in the writer's2 possession, the description of Floridian geolJ Am »our. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 22. 

For the portion of tliia essay relating to the state of Florida W. H. Dall is solely responsible.
86 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

ogy has been more fully detailed than in the case of either of the other 

states referred to in connection with this essay. The peculiarity of certain processes, such as erosion by solution and deposition by chemical 

rather than by gravitative energy, which have played such an important part'in the geology of the peninsula, the simplicity of its petrographic character, originating almost solely from oceanic, chiefly organic 

sediments; and the total absence of certain forms of action, conspicuous, if not overshadowing all others, in most other parts %of the continent; all these things render the geology of Florida especially interesting.

In offering here and there a working hypothesis in explanation of 

sundry problems, the writer would explain, once for all, that these 

hypotheses are provisional, that lie fully appreciates the defectiveness 

of our knowledge and anticipates the necessity, with further knowledge, 

of much revision and correction. Nevertheless, he believes tha,t facts, 

like beads, can be better appreciated strung on the thread of even a 

working hypothesis than when merely incoherently aggregated.

All the facts at present gathered tend toward the conclusion that the 

Floridian peninsula is a region where geological action has been gentle, 

slow, and very uniform; where elevations and depressions, if sudden, 

have been slight in vertical range and symmetrical over considerable 

areas; where the total elevation has probably not been very much 

greater than at present, in post-Cretaceous time; and where organic 

sediments in the main, have been the building material. The changes 

in the rocks have been almost exclusively due to chemical rather than 

mountain-building forces, and have repeated themselves in rocks of each 

successive epoch by methods which can be studied in actual operation 

at the present moment.

TOPOGRAPHY OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA.

Foundation of the peninsula. The shore lines of the peninsula of 

Florida very imperfectly indicate its fundamental topographic relations. 

To understand those it is necessary to study a chart, such as that 

accompanying this volume, or a model which exhibits the submarine 

topography of the adjacent seabottom as well as the subserial modeling 

of the land surface. On grounds which are more fully discussed in 

another section of this essay, I am disposed to believe that the present 

peninsula rests on a much more extensive foundation of Eocene limestone, mostly of Vicksbnrg age, forming a plateau which formerly ex. 

tended from the southeastern margin of the continent to the Cuban 

and Bahaman region and possibly to Yucatan. The deeper channels 

which now separate the Floridian part of this plateau from the Antillean and Yucatan areas are probably, as Agassiz has suggested, due to 

scour exerted by the Gulf stream as its flow became restricted by the 

gradual elevation of the land, though there is some evidence in favor 

of faulting in this connection. The material, as originally deposited,
STRATIGRAPHY AND KIND OF ROCKS. 87

consisted almost wholly of siliceous and calcareous remains of marine 

invertebrates, which at the period when the scour was initiated may well 

have been in a comparatively soft or incoherent condition, as much of 

the Vicksburg limestone still remains. The attrition of the siliceous 

particles and harder calcareous fragments, contained in the uppermost 

layers and transported by the tremendous energy of the current, would 

have formed a sand blast capable of almost any amount of cutting, .and 

more than equal to the task which lias been performed in the Florida 

strait and its northern extension under the Golf stream.

Folds of the strata. In considering the topography of Florida it has 

been customary among geologists and others to speak of the "central 

ridge," "elevated axis," and in the latest contribution to the Subject 1 

Prof. Shaler regards Florida as "formed of lowlands rising as a broad 

fold from the deep water on either side to a vast ridge, the top of which 

is relatively very flat, there being no indication of true mountain folding 

in any part of the area," In an extremely wide and general sense it is 

of course true that the peninsula forms a great fold, but in the ordinary 

and literal meaning of the words this description conveys an inaccurate 

idea of the structure of the region.

ORIGIN, CHARACTER, AND DECAY OF ROCKS.

Before endeavoring to give an idea of the topographic structure, as 

observed by the writer, it will be well to consider the material of which 

the peninsula is composed and its behavior under the conditions to 

which it has been almost invariably subjected.

The materials hitherto observed in the peninsula of Florida, and of 

which the rocks are for practical purposes exclusively made up, are 

lime, clay, and silex, with occasionally a little oxide of iron, all materials 

whicli at the present moment are being copiously deposited in the bed 

of the ocean.2 In Florida, for the most part, they may be assumed to 

have been derived from organisms or sediments transported to the spot 

by the sea. From organic agencies, operating since part of the peninsula has been raised above the sea, have been received sulphuretted 

hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and phosphoric acid, which, in a state of solution or chemical combination with rainwater, have energetically acted 

upon the rocks.

The Eocene lime rocks were deposited over a vast area of the sea

1 The Topography of Florida, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1890, vol. 16, No. 7.

9 At a depth of 600 feet, in horing the artesian -wells for the Sab-Tropical Exposition at Jacksonville, 

Florida, two years ago, a thin stratum of greenish clay was struck which contains numerous extremely fine particles of mica. These particles were, of course, derived from the continent to the northward, the rocks with which the clay was associated in the wells, being of the Chesapeake group or 

newer, cold water, Miocene. This clay much recalls the clay associated in many places farther north 

with the fossils of this age. The bed which contains it is the only stratum reported from the peninsula part of Florida, and yet brought to the writer's notice, which might not have been derived from the 

material of which the peninsula has been built \\p. Pebbles of crystalline rook from the St. Augustine 

 well and the small particles of volcanic rock of Antillean origin, in the marls of Southern Florida may 

be considered as exceptional exotics. Most of the latter probably reached Florida attached to drifting 

seaweed or the spongy floats of Lepas fascicularis.
88 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. fBuu.8*.

bottom, instead of a narrow strip, as in the case of sediments directly 

derived from antecedent dry land. To the broad and even manner in 

which they were spread out and the fact that subaerial erosion has on 

.the dry land of Florida proceeded rather by processes of solution than 

by comminution and transportation of the material comminuted, we 

may ascribe the feebleness of those evidences of lateral thrust and vertical flexure which on most coast regions are so forcibly exhibited. 

Nevertheless, flexures are not entirely absent, as was pointed out by the 

writer 011 another occasion, 1 even in the later deposits of the southern 

part of the peninsula, where, in the section exposed on the banks of the 

Caloosahatchie Biver, gentle folds with their axes generally parallel 

with the trend of the peninsula, continually succeed one another between 

Lake Okeechobee and the Gulf of Mexico.

Effects of solution on the topography. From Eocene times until the present day the modification of the rocks has proceeded through a series of 

constantly recurring similar changes. The silica derived from organic 

remains has been taken up by percolating waters and redeposited in the 

form of sheets, strings, and nodules of flint, chalcedony, or chert, or as a 

cement holding together with extreme tenacity the other minerals of the 

particular stratum concerned. The "gravels" referred to in the description of peninsular Florida rocks are the waste of these siliceous products comminuted by wave action or left loose by the solution of their 

associated carbonate of lime and rounded by attrition on each other. 

Much of the sand of Florida is derived from the same source, excluding the shore sands of the eastern coast. Occasional minute particles 

may be found which seem to have had a volcanic origin, and which are 

doubtless derived from the volcanic region of the Antilles. The decay 

of organic, largely vegetable, matter carried by rain into the interstices and subterranean passages of the porous lime rock produces the 

sulphuretted waters, which are found all over the peninsula. These 

sometimes find an exit on the seashore and are often so strongly charged 

as to destroy life in all organisms with which they come in contact over 

hundreds of square miles of coast. To these or to analogous forces 

acting on the lime rocks may be ascribed the formation (as at Dunellon 

on the Withlacoochee) of extensive beds of gypsum or sulphate of lime. 

In a similar way the action of rain water on beds of guano or the daily 

ejections of great rookeries of birds in some cases, or on other decaying animal matter in other cases, has carried phosphoric acid into the 

subjacent porous lime rock in such a way as to result in the modification of numerous extensive beds of ordinary limestone or marl into 

more or less phosphatized lime rock, much of which is available for fertilizers. The presence of the organic material and the porosity of the 

rock beneath it have alone been in question here, as rock of aJl ages, from 

the Eocene up, has been subjected to similar influences in Florida with, 

analogous results.

It as probable that the beds commercially most valuable are comprised

1 Geology of Florida: Am. Jour. Sci., 3rd ser., 1887, vol. 34, p. 108.
TOPOGRAPHY. 89

within more limited geological confines, but essentially the same agencies 

Lave been at work up to the present moment, though with varying degrees of energy and very different quantitative sources of supply.

By the constant slow circulation of the fresh water derived from the 

atmosphere and contained in the porous rock, like water passing through 

a stone filter, a circulation incited by gravity and relieved by the outflow of myriads of springs, the salt which might have been entangled 

in the original sediments appears to have been almost wholly nemoved 

from the Florida rocks.

Most of the limestones contain more or less clayey matter, but occasional beds of clay occur of such magnitude as to suggest a different 

origin, perhaps from river sediments transported from a distance, or 

other sources which can not with our present knowledge be satisfactorily determined.

The general structure of the peninsula seems to indicate a succession 

of moderate longitudinal folds which are more accentuated in the 

north, and which, like those mentioned as observed on the Caloosahatchie, trend with the general trend of the peninsula. The evidence 

points quite strongly to the existence of two principal anticlinal folds, 

of but very moderate height, it is true, but high compared with the 

average level of the peninsula and to which its most remarkable topograpliic features are due. The highest and oldest of these folds is also 

the most western and consists chiefly of Eocene limestone. The eastern fold is somewhat narrower and lower and formed of Miocene rocks. 

The features of the latter are obscured by superficial sand deposits.

The peculiar solutionary method by which erosion is chiefly carried 

on in Florida results in unfamiliar topographic minor details. The 

broader features often recall that peculiar facies of the English 

"downs," which is due to analogous causes. The "lumpy" rounded 

character of the superficial sandhills is very confusing to the eye and 

effectively masks the long and gentle curves of the strata. Only when 

a water level, as along a stream, offers a direct means of comparison 

does one recognize the fact that these apparently horizontal rocks are 

really bent.

Good exposures of this sort are, unhappily, rare in Florida, and but 

little of the country is visible under its carpet of seinitropical vegetation or even more delusive blanket of sand. For proof of the existence of the greater flexures recourse must be had to another method. 

It is obvious, if the strata look horizontal wherever we are and if one 

finds by a series of levels that the supposed level surface really 

describes a series of ridges, that at least a probability is established for 

the proposition that the strata are also flexed.

PROFILES FROM LINES OF RAILWAY LEVELS.

From series of levelings executed for railway surveys in Florida I 

have prepared the following iDrofiles. It may be stated in advance that 

the leveling is probably of a rough and ready character, not to be de-
90 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

peuded upon for the registration of minute differences and in some 

cases having rather uncertain connection with the level of mean tide, 

here taken as zero. Yet for considerable differences of level and 

for general relations of altitudes 

to each other it may be presumed 

to be accurate enough for our purposes, even if the absolute altitudes 

are not determined with great exactitude.

These represent, respectively:

I. Profile from the ocean at San 

Pablo Beach east of. Jacksonville 

westward 110 miles to the Suwanee 

Eiver, reduced to tlie parallel of 

north latitude 30° 15'. (Fig. 17.)

This shows the Atlantic drainage, part of the gulf drainage, and

wanee f&yer 75,

iyeOa.Tt.JO9.

akeCify, 202.

'<XusteeJ4O.

 son-J30>

C7jmnyJ25> 

>3icmm£C.J75,
CALL AND } 

HARRIS. 5 CENTRAL LAKE BASIN. 91

what I have termed the Central Lake basin between the two principal 

anticlines, cut nearly at right angles, not far from its northern extreme. 

The levels were furnished by the 

officers of the Florida Railway 

and Navigation Company to the 

geographer of the TJ. S. Geological Survey.

II. A similar east and west 

profile reduced to the parallel 28° 

30', from the sea level at the inlet 

called Indian River west to the 

Gulf at Tampa Bay, from levels of 

the South Florida Railway Company. (Fig.lS.)

This profile cuts the " central 

basin" near its southern third, 

and the third anticline west from 

it is clearly brought out. This 

profile is less right-angled to the 

anticline axes than the northern 

one (I), because the peninsula 

trends more easterly as we go 

south, but it is reduced from a 

profile almost exactly rightangled to these axes, and the difference on the scale used is unimportant. Southward from this 

region the general surface of the 

peninsula becomes lower and the 

elevation of the anticlines less 

and less marked.

III. A northeast and southwest profile from Fernandina on 

the Atlantic coast to the Gulf 

near Cedar Keys, 110 miles, from 

the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway leveling. (Fig. 19.)

This profile shows the Atlantic 

and Gulf slopes, the Central 

basin, and the third anticline 

near Archer, cutting the region 

traversed at an angle of 45° with 

the two previous lines.

IV. A north-south profile reduced by rectangular coordinates 

to the meridian of 82° west GreenIa> 

f

3

c
92 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULI,. 84.

 ' -iPlant CityJ25,

ver?

wich, from Callahan near the northern boundary of the State 180 miles 

south to Plant City, on the southern division of the Florida Railway

and Navigation Company's road. 

(Fig. 20.)

This profile cuts the region at 

an angle of 90° with sections I and 

n, but is somewhat oblique to the 

geologic axis. It leaves Callahan 

on the Atlantic slope, crosses the 

eastern anticline obliquely from 

Highland to Hawthorne, thence 

traverses the Central basin for 80 

miles, rising on to the western 

anticline at Dade City. Between 

Dade City and Plant City, which 

last place is supposed to be on the 

second western anticline, there is 

an apparent dip into a shallow 

synclinal trough, but the data for 

this part of the road represent 

only the height at stations, and 

not the continuous profile, and its 

features can not be given with precision. Brookville, which is apparently on the third anticline, is 

indicated, but is outside the profile.

It will be admitted that these 

profiles unitedly testify to the existence of a ridge or height of land 

between the St. John's drainage 

area and that of the central lakes, 

and of another between the central area and the Gulf drainage, 

while there are indications of a 

third ridge, near to and parallel 

with the last, which for a certain 

distance shortens up the Gulf 

drainage streams, confining them 

to a narrow belt, though cut itself 

by the few larger rivers. An inspection of a properly constructed 

map, showing.the railroads, will

show how little modification has 

been needed in coordinating the 

railway lines with the straight

Smnmer/letd.. 83,

77,

&

viUe.97.
LAKE DE SOTO. 93

lines of the sections. The sections cut the region in three different and 

opposed directions, yet all the profiles tell the same story. I shall 

therefore consider myself justified in assuming that the peninsula does 

exhibit a folded structure, and that there are two chief lines of elevation, and probably others, besides the minor flexures which have been 

observed farther south. The distribution of the lakes and rivers of the 

peninsula confirms this view, if confirmation is needed.

CKNTKAL, LAKE RKGICXN.

It would perhaps be more strictly accurate to denominate the great 

syncline of the peninsula as a central trough rather than a central lake 

basin. The elevation which separates the central lake Region from its 

natural continuation, the Kissimmee drainage area, Lake Okeechobee, 

and the Everglades, is probably not very great. Nevertheless, there 

are geological reasons for supposing that the northern area now dotted 

with innumerable lakes, marshes and sinks was at one time occupied by 

one or more large bodies of water, of which the existing lakes are mere 

remnants.

Lalce DG Soto: sand Imolls. This lake or lakes, which for convenience 

of reference may be called Lake De Soto, would then have occupied a 

relation to the existing land much like that which Lake Okeechobee 

holds to the southern part of the peninsula at present. The peculiar 

sculpture of the small sandy knolls or elevations occupying much of 

the central region, and which Shaler has compared to kames, might 

have been more or less due to the movement of the waters consequent 

on changes which finally resulted in the drainage of the area in question.

These knolls or hillocks appear to be more characteristic of the central 

basin. On the highlands they are absent or merged into the irregularities which appear on the surface of the country rock as the result of 

solution and decay. They are chiefly composed of the yellow sand, and 

as a rule the irregularities of their profiles do not reflect any elevations 

or depressions of the rocks below them. The sand hills, however elevated or irregular, rest on a relatively level surface of limestone, a fact 

confirmed by the experience of well-drivers all over southern Florida, as 

well as by the reports of the prospectors who bore for phosphates. 

More investigation is necessary before the idea that the form of these 

knolls is due to the action of currents of water can be regarded as 

established.

Over a large part of northern Florida a striking characteristic of 

the country arises from the singularly porous and incoherent character 

of the limestones (especially of the Vicksburg and early Miocene age) 

which form the country rock. When this rock is Eocene it is usually of 

a creamy white color, containing inolluscan fossils, sometimes as complete shells, but more frequently as impressions in the saccharoidal carbonate of lime. Mingled with them, and sometimes forming almost the
94 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

whole body of the rock, are enormous numbers of Orbitoides mantelli, 

heaped loosely upon each other.

If the rock is post-Eocene it is generally of less purity, containing 

more aluminous matter, but still whitish and porous, though without the 

discoid Orbitoides fossils. In either case it is easily cut when fresh, 

hardens when exposed to the air, and is pervious to water. In regions 

where it comes to the surface there are no small brooks and few streams. 

Bain sinks into it as into dry sand; the solution of the softer portions 

results in " sinks " or natural wells, sometimes of large size and often 

with perpendicular walls. These constitute a real danger to a wanderer who goes aside from the beaten tracks, as their apertures, from 

the size of a post hole to that of an amphitheater, are unmarked by anything which would serve as a warning j they are often of great depth 

and almost always contain water. The water sinks until it comes to a 

more dense stratum or the sediment it carries clogs the pores of the 

limestone beneath it. Then it flows in the direction of least resistance, 

forming underground brooks or tolerable streams whose course may be 

marked by a long line of sinks. If sawdust be thrown into one of these 

it presently appears on the water in the next below, and so on. The 

sinks above the stream gradually enlarge in the direction of its flow, 

the intervening portions remaining as " natural bridges," the number 

of which is extraordinary. In other places the drainage of a limited 

area runs toward a central point, where it is lost in the bowels of the 

earth. When the rainfall at some seasons of the year exceeds the capacity of this passage to carry away, a shallow lake appears, of a temporary nature, which is gradually drained off at drier seasons. Sometimes the funnel becomes permanently obstructed, and the lake remains 

and spreads until some ueAv outlet appears. I have seen lands formerly used for growing cotton, and covering hundreds of acres, which had 

become permanently flooded in this way. 1 Fish abound in the sinks, 

and subterranean passages for their use evidently exist in profusion.

1 In illustration of these remarks the following quotations about one of the largest of the temporary 

lakes have an interest. The first is from the Providence Journal, September 14,1891.

"A LOST LAKE.

"A curious spectacle was to be seen on the outskirts of Gainesville, Elorida, recently. Alachua 

Lake, from 10 to 15 miles in length and covering some 40.000 acres of land, is no more. On its banks 

were lying thousands of dead fish, dead alligators floated ghastly in pools of black water, and <he 

atmosphere was heavy witli noxious gases. M« ~>a boy. were tllore u, throng* with hoes and rakes, 

Amggins to snore iiuncireds of fish which had sought the pools for refuge. The waters were fairly 

alive with their struggles for existence. Except for a small stream known as Payne's Creek, flowing 

from Newman's Lake into the Sink, the two main basins of the Sink, and a few stagnant pools, no water 

is now to be seen where a few years ago steamers were plowing their way. This is the second time 

since 1823 that a similar occurrence has taken place. At that time the bed of the lake was a large 

prairie Payne's prairie having in it a body of water called the Sink and a small creek. In 1868 

heavy rains filled up the prairie, but the water disappeared after a short time and the prairie was 

again dry land. In 1873, after a series of heavy rains, the Sink overflowed and the creek swelled to 

the dimensions of a lake. During several years the waters increased till a larger lake was formed, aild 

for fully fifteen years sufficient depth of water stood over the prairie to allow of small steamers. Dur-
TOPOGRAPHY OF WESTERN FLORIDA. 95

When the porous lime rocks are covered with the clayey layers of the 

later Tertiary or the more coherent and impervious limestones of the 

early Miocene, or when the process of silicification has been carried on. 

to such an extent as to render the upper layers of the porous lime rock 

impervious, a wholly different surface topography results. Instead of 

circular marshes and rows of " sinks" in which all the surface water is 

lost, one sees brooks and rivulets with their accompanying effects upon 

the landscape. It also seemed to the writer that the difference was to 

some extent reflected in the appearance of the vegetation.

NORTHWESTERN FLORIDA.

At the northern part of the peninsula the topography merges into 

that of the foothills of western Georgia and Alabama, or borders on the 

great cypress swamps of eastern Georgia.

At the west, in the vicinity of the Appalachicola River, Mr. Burns, of 

the IT. S. Geological Survey, reports finding the Miocene hills, at a point 

8.J miles below Bristol, terminating in a sharp cliff' or bluff over 60 feet 

high, from the foot of which a flat plain extended seaward without interruption. An examination of the river banks to a locality known as 

Riccos bluff showed unfossiliferous horizontal beds of bright-colored 

sandy clays, everywhere covered with a thin layer of white sand. This 

break in the topography is a marked feature of this part of the State and 

is said to extend for many miles, preserving a general parallelism with 

the shores of the Gulf, and doubtless marking an ancient shore-line.

SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA.

The shores of the Gulf of Mexico in the state of Florida north of 

Punta Rasa are chiefly sandy, or, near the rivers, sometimes formed of 

a chalky mud. But as far as known this stratum is usually of no great 

depth, being chiefly a superficial covering to beds of the country rock.

ing tho last two ycnrs, however, tho waters have been gradually lowering, and about four weeks ago 

they commenced going down with surprising rapidity, tho lake falling about 8 feet in ten days, until 

now nothing is left of Alachua Lake but the memory of it. The Sink is considered the cause of this 

change. There is evidently an underground passage connected, and for some reason not understood 

this underground passage has been acting aa a drain until all the water in the lake has been drawn off." 

The second is taken from tho Washington Evening Star of September 19, 1891: 

" The Star recently printed an account of tho disappearance of Alachua Lake in Florida, a lake that 

 was HO well established that a steamboat lino was maintained on it. A TJ. S. Geological Survey party 

has been engaged at work in that region. A member of this party. Mr. Horsey Munroe, who is now 

in tho city, gave an interesting account of the lake; or rather tho ex-lake, to a Star reporter. ' Alachua 

Lake,' said Mr. Munroe, ' is situated in north latitude 29° 35' and vrest longitude 82° 20' in Alachua 

County, Fla., and 2 miles south of Gainesville, the county seat. Tho lake was formerly a prairie, 

known as Alachua prairie before the Sominole war during 1835-'37. Jt has since been named Paynea 

prairie, after King Payne, an old Seminole chief of an early day. The prairie was a great grazing spot 

for the Indians' cattle and later was used for a like purpose and for tillage by the whites, some fine 

props of corn and cotton being grown. The prairie lands are immense meadows, covered by the finest 

grass, interspersed with clumps of beautiful oak trees andpalmettoes. These lands are subject to inundation during the summer season. Hatchet Creek rises 3 miles north of Gaiuesville and flows in 

every direction of the compass for a distance of JO roiks, emptying into ifowiuana Lake, a beautiful 

water covering 10 8Q.aurc miles,
96 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

The latter extend seaward, sometimes forming extensive oyster banks 

near the shore through which, navigation can be carried on only in 

small boats and by troublesome and intricate channels, when aAvay 

from the main navigable outlet of each particular stream.

The sands are derived from the siliceous contents of the country rock 

and are frequently more or less bound together by the deposition of 

lime held in solution, forming a sort of coquiua. Much of the shore, 

especially to the south and the extreme west, is defended by sandy keys 

formed at the neutral line of tide and land drainage, and offering muchneeded facilities for coast navigation in small craft suited to these shallow waters. The sea-bottom, level as a floor to all appearances, inclines 

gently to the west and south, and for miles from the beach attains only 

a very moderate depth.

It might have been anticipated that the detritus, especially the fine 

sediment brought down by the Mississippi^ would be conspicuous in 

the bottom deposits of the gulf in the direction of the prevailing currents. The soundings and samples of bottom obtained by the U. S. 

Coast Survey and the Fish Commission show that this is not the case. 

The terrigenous sediments (except at the immediate shore) extend eastward but a little way off the Floridian coast. The line indicating the 

change in the bottom from mud to organic limy sediments approaches 

the shore to the westward of Appalachicola, in. the vicinity of St. Andrews Bay.2 That this limitation of the fresh-water deposits is not a 

modern thing is shown by the almost identical range Of tllG Grand Gulf 

beds Of Hilgard on the ancient shores of the Gulf of Mexico. A reason 

for it may perhaps be found in the tendency, so well known, of a saline 

solution to precipitate the sediment contained in fresh water when the 

two liquids are mixed. The mixture of the two fluids in the gulf may

'HOW THE LAKE WAS FORMED.

' The overflow from Newmans Lake forms a large creek named Prairie Creek, which wended its way 

through Paynes prairie to Alachua Sink, one of the curiosities of the State. There the waters found 

their way into a subterranean passage. Visitors, to have thejr curiosity gratified by seeing what 

the effect would be to have logs thrown into the sink, were the probable cause of the overflow of 

Paynes prairie. The logs would float out to the center of the sink, whirl around in a circle and suddenly disappear. This choking of the outlet to the waters of Prairie Creek caused the overflow and 

made a sheet of water sufficient to float small steamers and other craft.

'One steamer in particular had a splendid freight traffic, during the vegetable season carrying shipments of vegetables from its wharf on Chacala pond across Alcahua Lake to the mouth of Sweetwater 

branch, the nearest point to Gainesville, the principal place for shipment north. After the overflow 

and the forming of a lake it was christened Alachua Lake. This name has been decided upon by the 

United States Board on Geographic Names. Alachua Lake is 8 miles long, east and west, and in one 

place 4 miles in width, north and south, covers 16,000 acres, and the average depth is from 2 to 14 feet 

deep:

'LOWERING FOB SEVERAL YEARS.

'For several years the lake has been gradually lowering. The elevation of the water above sea 

level as given by the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad some years ago is 64 feet. By accurate 

levels run by one of the topographical parties of the Geological Survey working in this section dur. 

ing the winter of 1890-'91 the elevation of the water was found to be 58 feet, thus showing that the 

lake had been changing elevation; and about two weeks ago I was informed that Alachua Lake had 

disappeared entirely, that only small pools remained and the usual amount immediately around the 

Bink.'"

8 Three cruises of the Blake, vol. 1. p. 286, Fig. 101.
EASTERN COAST OF FLORIDA. 97

tlieu be supposed to bo complete at any point where all the mud has 

been precipitated.

EASTERN COAST OF FLORIDA.

" On the eastern coast of Florida toward tlie north we find a narrow 

margin composed o± the coast sands, between the abrupt margin of the 

country rocks and the sea, and extending under the sea eastward for a 

distance from the shore in north latitude 30° of more than 50 miles 

The source of these sands is thus explained by Shaler: 1

During the glacial period a very large amount of arenaceous material was contributed to the sea in the region north of Cape Hatteras. The general trend of theshore of this part of the continent is from the northeast to the southwest, while the 

prevailing direction of the wind is from the east. The result is that, so far as impelled by the waves, this sand works down along the coast shelf to the southward. 

Whenever it comes upon the beach and remains within control of the waves the 

southward movement is quite rapid. A very large amount of this sand is continually pouring round Carpe Florida.

Undoubtedly this view of Prof. Shaler is ojiite correct, except that 

the operation of the forces mentioned is not necessarily postglacial. 

No doubt at various times more or less of the sand has been derived 

from, the siliceous rocks, like the Altamaha grits or the buhrstone, of 

the Atlantic slope, all the way along its border. Artesian borings show 

that the formation of the sand, its position along the coast, and its general character have been pretty uniformly maintained throughout the 

whole of Cenozoic time; and while, no doubt, a large addition was made 

to the common stock of Atlantic sands dmring the glacial epoch, yet 

this was merely an incident in the history of operations which had been 

going on ever since the Cretaceous period, or at least ever since the 

Atlantic border assumed approximately its present form and trend.

On the northern part of the east coast of Florida the dry sandy border is quite narrow and largely consists of narrow, long islands where 

the sand has been elevated into dunes which reach a height in some 

cases of more than 50 feet, but which, owing to the torrential summer 

rains and rapid growth of vegetation in this semitropical clime, have 

generally lost the sharp wind-carved sculpture of dunes formed in a 

drier climate and have become more or less covered with vegetation. 

Inland the surface sands, whatever their origin, are usually much thinner, often only a few feet, and I have seen records of no boring which 

revealed the existence of over 20 feet of sea or white sand, while this I 

suspect to be very exceptional. Eeferences have been made to much 

greater depths away from the coast, but I have not seen any satisfactory proof of the correctness of such estimates. The average depth in 

sandy places in Alachua County seems to be between 6 and 20 feet. 

These figures refer solely to the superficial siliceous sea sands and not 

to the yellow sand proper or to the interbedded calcareous sands of 

Tertiary age.

1 Shaler, Topography of Flw.ida, p. 149.

Bull. 84 7
98 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

I'KKKZONAL FORMATIONS.

There seems to be an absence, in geological nomenclature, of a term 

to indicate the region between the neutral zone where sediments are 

dropped in the sea near the beach and the point where subaerial erosion 

terminates. If we regard the laud above the base level of erosion in the 

light of an earth-glacier, more or less liquefied by the action of water 

and discharging into the sea, the region I refer to constitutes the terminal moraine.

The " coastal plain," or coast peneplain, in so far as it has reached 

the base level, forms part of it; the beaches an other part; the region 

between the beach and the neutral zone (generally marked by a bar or 

shoal) a third part. Yet the Avhole has a certain unity. It is subject 

to the operation of special forces which are forever at work. In the absence of great changes of level it might happen that the same region or 

area might remain, so to speak, ground as between upper and nether 

millstones by the erosive and marine forces for a period COVGfing1 several geologic epochs. Such instances can be cited. The grist of this 

great mill is ground over and over, its waste is constantly supplied; it 

may contain the relics of several periods of geologic time. The greater 

portion of it will be unfossiliferous, the fossils preserved will be terrestrial or brackish water rather than marine. It will border on the sea, 

but its marine fossils where action is energetic will be rolled, worn, and 

triturated, out of recognition for the most part. Here and there a limited fauna will be preserved in lagoons or on oyster banks. It will happen that the material concerned in such areas may abut on synchronous 

beds containing an abundant fauna, but, owing to the lines on which 

the forces work, the synchrony will often be very difficult to prove.

Yet such deposits may extend about a whole continent with recognizable features derived from the forces which have been concerned in 

its formation. Almost everywhere it will be composed of the debris of 

other formations often lying directly upon them and containing some 

of their fossils in the rehandled material. When a special area has 

been subject for a short time to the forces exerted and by a change of 

level has been removed from the zone referred to, a mixture of the fossil 

fauna of subjacent beds will be almost certain to be included in the 

resulting formation. I believe that we have on our Atlantic border 

several formations widely extended and of this nature and the relations 

of which, owing to the reasons above indicated, are and are likely long 

to be in dispute. For the specific belt or margin, in which the abovementioned forces are active, and in whose characteristics the results of 

such forces are individualized I would propose the name of perozone.1 

I believe that the clearer recognition of special dynamic genesis as well 

as of the continuity inherent in the process, apart from important changes 

of level, which is implied in the adoption of a special term for the result

 From peresus, worn or wasted, and zona,
PEKEZONAL FORMATIONS. 99

will be useful in our geological discussions. The thing itself has always 

been known, and its genesis more or less clearly understood, but its 

individuality at any stated epoch has, in the absence of a special name, 

not always been clearly exhibited or appreciated. The perezone will 

be for the seacoast analogous to, though not identical with, the peneplain 

of interior basins. The perezone of east Florida, so far as it is above 

water, is very narrow and becomes still narrower as we go southward. 

We are indebted to Prof. Shaler l for information which shows that a 

living coral reef borders the shore of the peninsula as far north as 

Gilbert's bar, 12 miles above Jupiter Inlet; that a former reef probably 

extended as far north as Mosquito Inlet, above Cape Canaveral, and 

that from. Titusville on Indian Eiver south to the head of Biscayne 

Bay an elevated beach of coquiua defends the lowlands behind it. 

This beach is elevated some 20 feet above its original position. It presents a- steep escarpment with indications that part of the cutting which 

formed it took place during the process of elevation, sea caves and 

other reentrants existing in the cliffs at a considerable height above 

the present plane of the sea and separated from the latter by a barrier 

of drifting sands. Southward from the head of Biscayne Bay as far as 

the parallel of Old Rhodes Key this reef of coquina is continued as an 

elevated coral reef with a height at Cocoanut Grove of 22 feet and a 

width of about 2 miles. To the whole barrier Prof. Shaler gives the 

name of the Miami Reef. It has suffered considerable loss by corrosive 

action and is honeycombed by subterranean water passages. He says:

The effect of this reef on the drainage of Florida is very great. Although the rivers 

at many points have found their way across the elevation, either hy subterranean 

streams or through the low points of the barrier, it serves to retain the land Avaters, 

and to bring into the condition of swamp a large part of the peninsula. The St. Johns 

River and the extensive swamps in which it heads are in good part determined by 

the existence of this barrier.

In a less complete way the waters of Lake Okeechobee and of the Everglades to 

the south of it are prevented from finding a path to the sea by this natural wall. 

Thus, at Cocoanut Grove, Biscayne Bay, the waters of the Everglades at a distance 

of only 3 miles from the shore in their time of lowest level lie 16 feet above high 

tide. In the rainy season they often rise to such an altitude that they pour over the 

reef where it is less than 20 feet in height. * * * The rivers which flow over this 

part of the reef come down to the sea level over a series of rapids formed upon the 

harder layers of the reef, and thus the full escape of the Everglade's waters is prevented. In the region more to the north, the entanglement of the vegetation aboiat 

the head waters of the streams likewise hinders the escape of the marsh waters.*

THE EVERGLADES.

The region of the Everglades has received but little examination in 

recent years. Prof. Shaler examined the southeastern margin as above 

cited. Mr. Joseph Willcox in the winter of 1SS7-'S8 made a determined 

effort to penetrate into the region with a view of determining the char1 Topography of Florida, pp. 148-150 and map. 

*Ibid'., pp. 143-144.
100 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

acter of the rocks. Whitewater Bay lies a few miles north of Cape 

Sable, and Mr. Willcox with his party, on a small craft drawing less 

than 2 feet of water, made many attempts to enter it without success, spending six days in the endeavor to find a navigable channel. 

They entered several passes between the islands and penetrated 10 or 

12 miles east of the latter in several places, but found the water too 

shalloAY to proceed. Except sand bars thrown up by the waves no land 

was seen in this vicinity which was not covered at high tide. All the 

land consisted of muddy mangrove islands, the trees being much larger 

than any seen farther north. Where the tide runs rapidly between the 

islands it scours out channels S to 12 feet deep with a floor of hard 

rock, of which it. was found impossible to get specimens. Except in 

these channels the bay is quite shoal, and covered with calcareous mud.

At the north end of Lostmans Key they entered the river of the 

same name and succeeded in penetrating 12 or 15 miles inland. No 

hard ground was seen except near the mouth of the river, and 

the highest land at the latter place was not over 3 feet above high 

tide. Wide, shallow bays, with muddy bottom interspersed with low, 

muddy mangrove islets comprised the whole scenery. The boat frequently grounded and was obliged to wait for the rise of the tide. A 

small fresh-water stream was finally reached, the current of which 

had scoured a channel 4 to 6 feet deep, with a rough, hard rock 

bottom, fragments or which were broken off. It consisted of large 

masses of Polyzoa more or less completely changed into crystalline 

limestone, the cavities filled with crystals of calc-spar. The rock is 

very hard and compact. The only mollusk or other organic matter, 

except the Polyzoans, which was discoverable in it was a single valve 

of the Chione cancellata, which is still found living in those waters and 

has existed there without perceptible variation since the early Miocene. 

Four or five miles within the margin of the Everglades no dry land 

was seen; only soft, wet soil, none of it a foot above the level of the 

water. From the top of a tree nothing could be seen to the east but a 

vast extent of such marsh land, which is said to be covered with water 

during the rainy season of summer and early autumn. Lostmans 

River is sometimes mapped as the Chittahatchee, and it enters the sea 

behind the Ten Thousand Islands in north latitude about 25° 30'.

Aliens Creek, emptying into Walaka Inlet, an arm of Chukoliska 

Bay, was also visited. At a point 8 or 10 miles east from the Gulf of 

Mexico the party were able to land on soft, wet soil a little higher and 

drier than that at the head of Lostmans Eiver. A third of a mile 

eastward from, the head of the creek specimens were obtained of a few 

rocks which project above the soil. They presented molds of recent 

shells with the interior filled with calc-spar, and an occasional Pecten 

dislocatus or Ostrea virginica still retaining its shell structure. The 

cavities between the shells were filled with hard, coarsely crystalline 

limestone. The rock was not coquina modified, but looked more like a
STRUCTURE OF SOUTHERN FLORIDA. 101

fossilized oyster reef. It contained no corals, arid was obviously Pleistocene. The rock formed the base of small islets of drier soil amid the 

marsh, on which islets grew pine trees. The marsh, apart from these 

islets, is probably entirely submerged in the rainy season.

Another attempt was made to reach the interior by Corkscrew Creek, 

about 15 miles southeast from Punta Kasa. About 8 to 10 miles from 

the gulf was attained. The banks of this creek are dry pine land, rising 8 or 10 feet above the sea. The rocks here are the hard, ringing 

Eolian limestone, with recent land shells, perhaps a local equivalent of 

the yellow sand, such rocks as are found on both sides of the peninsula in many places and are of extremely recent origin.

The observations of Mr. Willcox thus appear to indicate, which indeed the known circumstances would have led us to expect, that no 

coral reefs have occupied this region. The outpouring of fresh water 

and mud must have rendered the region unsuitable for such animals, 

probably for a very long period, perhaps since the Gulf stream has 

occupied its present channel.

The deposit upon which the Everglades immediately rest, in this part 

at all events, is a recent organic limestone probably based on the Tertiary rocks which, farther north, are elevated above the sea. For it Ave 

may provisionally adopt the name of the Everglades limestone.

THE KEYS.

Of the structure of the keys, which has been exhaustively treated 

by Agassiz, it does not seem necessary to speak in this place. It may, 

however, be pointed out tliat much of the limy deposit of the area 

behind the reefs and defended by them is probably the result of the 

deposition of lime originally held in solution and precipitated by chemical action rather than of mechanically transported sediment.

It may be added that the large rivers represented on most maps as 

flowing out of the Everglades to the soutlrwest have no existence in 

fact, as such. The streams in the dry season are all small, and most 01 

the outflow seems to be over the whole surface, which, during the rainy 

season, near the sea is totally submerged.

STRATIGRAPHY OF FLORIDA. 

EOCENE ROCKS.

Vicksburg group: The OrMtoides limestone. It has already been explained that the foundation of the peninsula, as far as known, is laid in 

a limestone belonging to the Vicksburg epoch, which, for uniformity 

and brevity, Avill be referred to here as the Orbitoides limestone, from 

the characteristic OrMtoides mantelli, which is found throughout the 

formation, associated with a variety of other forammifera, Pectenperplamis Morton and P. poulsoni, as the most obvious and abundant fossils. The older name, Orbitolite limestone, by changes in nomenclature of the foramiuifera has now become misleading.
102 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Over a large part of the northern central portion of Florida the Orbitoides limestone forms the country rock, often rising to the surface or 

lightly covered with a thin coating of wind-blown sand or sandy soil. 

Its exact extent is not determinable at present, owing to the fact that 

it has been more or less confounded with later rocks of similar appearance and lithologic character but containing a different fauna. It varies 

in character, much of it as previously described, being loose and friable 

iu texture when first excavated, porous and pervious to water. Other 

portions are much infiltrated with silex, which is deposited in smaller or 

larger masses or which is calculated to render a considerable portion of 

the rock cherty and extremely hard; others again contain a certain proportion of clay, as the Lake Worth borings show, the rock then being compact and impervious. As early as 1849 this rock was observed by Prof. 

J. W. Bailey, IT. S. Army, who noted its character in several publications. 1 Pie found it in diggings from a well at Piles, a settlement 40 

miles west of Palatka, on the road to Tampa, and noticed it at several 

points intervening between Palatka and Tampa. It has been noted by 

Prof. Eugene A. Smith 2 in Jackson County, in the northwest; also farther 

east, under a thin coating of Miocene deposits, at Live Oak (109 feet above 

tide), and possibly at Lake City (202 feet) the highest elevation on this 

line in northern Florida, whence it is believed to extend southward in 

the interior of the State to a point near the Hillsboro river not far from 

Richland, Pasco County.

The opinion of the older geologists that the country rock of the 

peninsula of Florida is essentially a southward prolongation of the 

Eocene limestone of Georgia was for a time obscured by the theories 

of coralligenous growth suggested by the observations of Agassiz and 

Le Conte on the keys and the extreme southeastern margin of the 

peninsula. To Smith in the paper above cited we are indebted for a 

substantial rehabilitation of the older theory, with modifications due 

to greater knowledge. But later observations again oblige us to modify 

to some extent the range assigned by Smith to this limestone, as it has 

become evident from the observations of Langdon, Heilprin, Willcox, 

J)all, Aldrich, Neal, Stanton, and others that beds of several distinct 

ages have been confounded in the general estimate. It is impracticable 

with-the data yet printed to determine exactly at how many of Smith's 

localities the country rock belongs to the Orbitoides horizon. Some of 

them, doubtless, will eventually be shown to be of later age, as will be 

indicated later in this summary. Only those where no doubt seems to 

exist will be specified here. In Alachua County it is widespread, having been observed by Smith and Ball at Gainesville and westward to 

and about Archer, though in many places overlain by solutionary residuum, remnants or even beds of later age but moderate thickness. It

l Smithsoniau Coiitr. Knowl., 1850, vol. 2, No. 8, p. 19; Am. Jour. Sci.,2d ser., 1851, vol. 2, p. 86. He 

Bpeaks of it as the "white Orhitnlito limestone." 

* Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1881, vol. 21, pp. 209, 300.
EOCENE Otf FLORIDA. 103

had been identified at Silver Spring, 6 miles east from Ocala, by Le 

Conte, as early as 1SG1, 1 and subsequently the observation has been 

confirmed by Smith. Specimens of this rock have been collected by 

Willcox at Martin station, Marion County, about 8 miles north of Ocala, 

where the rock is very cherty; and at Jarves's Spring, on the southern 

border of Pasco County; at Fort Foster, on the North fork of the Hillsboro lliver, where, as in many other places, relics of the old Miocene 

beds overlie it. Several of the localities referred to by Heilprin must 

remain for the present on the doubtful list, but among them should 

hardly be counted the islet at the mouth of the Hoinosassa Kiver, from 

which Mr. Willcox obtained the Pygorhynclms (Ravenelia) gouldii 

Bouve", a small echinoderm originally described from the buhrstone 

(ante-Claibornian) of Georgia. If the identification be correct, which 

I do not doubt, one would hardly expect this species to appear in the 

so-called "Oligocene."

The thickness of this formation is very considerable in Florida. At 

Salt Mountain, in Alabama, excluding the still doubtful " coral -limestone" of Smith and Johnson and the "Jackson" beds below the Orbitoides limestone, the latter has a thickness of only 140 feet. But in 

northern Florida, west of Gainesville, according to reports from L. 0. 

Johnson, artesian borings have started at the surface in the " Vicksburg," and have been drilled over 350 feet without finding any other 

rock or reaching the clayey layer of the Orbitoides rock (which is impervious) so as to obtain any water. On the eastern side of the peninsula, much farther south, at Lake Worth, an artesian well, after passing through a mass of talus in which the recent coquina was sometimes 

overlain by Miocene rubbish, etc., finally reached the solid Orbitoides 

rock at a depth of 1,000 feet, and penetrated it without finding any 

change for 212 feet, when, abundance of water having been obtained, 

the drilling was pushed no farther. In the Jacksonville well, though 

carried to a depth of 900 feet, the Eocene rocks were not recognized and 

perhaps not reached, offering a strong contrast to the well at Charleston, where they were encountered at a depth of 60 feet and penetrated 

for a depth of 330 feet before the Mesozoic strata, were attained. At 

St. Augustine, south- southeast from Jacksonville, the Yicksburg limestone was encountered at a depth of 212 feet, and the boring was still 

in them when it ceased at about 1,278 feet.

Nummulitie beds, Ocala limestone (Oligoccne of Heilprin), Among the 

rocks which until recently were not discriminated from the Orbitoides 

limestone, and which appear in central Florida directly and conformably 

to overlie the latter, though no one has described their contact, is 

a yellowish friable rock containing many foraminifera, conspicuous 

among which are two species of Numulites, JV. icilleoxii and JV. floridana Hp. This rock was first brought to notice by Mr. Joseph Willcox, 

and to Prof. Heilpriu we owe a description of it which discriminates

1 Am. Jour. Soi., 2il sor., 1861, vol. 21, pp-1-12.
104 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

between it and the Vicksburg or Orbitoides rock. The rock was early 

recognized as Eocene, though not discriminated from the earlier beds. 

It is best displayed at Oc'ala, Florida, where it forms the country rock, 

and has been quarried to a depth of 20 feet without coming to the bottom of the beds.

Dr. John Le Conte, in 1861,1 speaking of the portion of the peninsula 

about Ocala, says that it is " composed of a mixture of sand and shell 

limestone, probably of Eocene age." Four years later Conrad2 refers to 

some fossils from the Ocala limestone received by Prof. Cook of "NewJersey. He specifies Globuhis (Natica) alveatus, Venericardiaprima and 

J)osi)iioj)sis alta&s belonging to the Eocene of California, Maryland, and 

New Jersey, and refers the formation to the epoch of the New Jersey 

Shark River Eocene marls. Mr. Willcox has since visited the quarry 

at Ocala and rediscovered some of these species, as well as Atur-ia alalamensia and a number of other Eocene species, most of which are common to the Yicksburg limestone as far as identified, and others to 

Lower Miocene rocks, such as those of Tampa and the Chipola beds.

The original disco very of the NummuHtic stratum, by means of Avhich 

it was discriminated from adjacent beds, was made by Mr. Willcox at a 

clearing known as Loenecker's, on the Cheehowiska or Chassahowitska 

River, where it occurs in fragments more or less enveloped in a Pleistocene sand rock containing recent land and fresh water shells. Since 

then Mr. Willcox has obtained the rock in place 15 miles northeast of 

the original locality, from the shore of Waccassee Bay, near Cedar Key, 

and also from the banks of the Wacassassa River, Levy County j from a 

" sinkhole " at Pemberton's Ferry on the Withlacoochee River, about 10 

miles eastward from Brookville, and also at Bayport, Hernando County, 

and at various places about Ocala. Prof. Wetherby has also seut specimens from a well 5 miles south west of G-ainesville, Alachua County, and 

Mr. L. C. Johnson reports it from an old Confederate iron furnace 3 

miles northwest of Levyville, Levy County3, where it is only 20 feet thick, 

and is covered with a bed of bog-iron ore formerly worked. Pembertoii's Ferry is the most southern point at which it has been recognized at 

the surface, but at Bartow, Polk County, it occurs covered by about G 

'feet of later strata.

Miliolite limestone. A rock observed on the Homosassa River by 

Prof. Heilpriu is practically horizontal and rises 2 or 3 feet above the 

water at low stages of the water, on the left bank of the Homosassa at 

"Wheelers" about 1 mile above the river mouth. It has also been 

collected by Neal 6 miles southwest from Lake City. It is a tough 

limestone, full of foraminifera, mostly belonging to the Miliolidcc, for 

which Prof. Heilpriu proposes the name of Miliolite limestone. Its 

distinctness from the other foraminiferal limestones of this region is 

hardly established as yet.

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 2nd ser., vol. 31, p. 11. 

2 Proc. Acad. Nat. Soi. Phila. for 1865, p. 184. 

3 SE. i Sec. 28, T. 11 S., E. 15 E.
DAU, AND 

HARRIS. j EOCENE OF FLORIDA. 105

From what precedes it will be noted that the Xuinrnulitic beds occupy > 

as far as known, a very limited area from the vicinity of Gainesville 

on the north to Pemberton's Ferry on the south, extending from Ocala 

 westward nearly but not quite to tide water. These rocks, Kummulitic, Miliolite, etc., as regards most of their fossil contents are hardly 

to be separated from the Orbitoides limestone and must certainly be 

regarded as forming part of the Vicksburg group.

The layer of siliceous foraminiferal Eocene, overlying the typical Orbitoides limestone, which has been recognized by Burns in Pulaski 

County, Georgia, at Hawkinsville, and southeastward across the remainder of the local Eocene belt; and by Dr. Neal in a similar situation 

at White Springs, on the Suwanee, in Hamilton County, Florida, is with 

little doubt the analogue and representative in these localities of the 

Nummulitic and Miliolitic areas of central Florida.

It may be added that vertebrate remains belonging to the cetacean 

genus Zeuglodon, or, possibly, to Sqiialodon, were discovered by Mr. 

Willcox in the Nummulitic rock of the Ocala quarry, thus adding another indication of the close faunal relations of the Nummulitie with 

the preceding post-Claiborne beds.

There is little doubt of the correctness of Prof. Heilprin's contention 

that these rocks are the analogue of the so-called Oligoceue of the West 

Indies and of northern Europe. But, while this may be admitted, the 

propriety of regarding the group or series as constituting a distinct 

epoch, equivalent to or analogous in value to the Eocene, Miocene, or 

Pliocene epochs, which would be inferentially granted by adopting for 

them the term Oligocene, is a very different matter, and in Florida receives no justification from the paleontological evidence.

From Dr. J. C. Neal, of Lake City, Florida, we have specimens of the 

uppermost rock stratum at Branford3 on the Suwanee. It is interesting 

as being of a character not common in Florida, namely, an extremely 

finegrained, pulverulent sandstone, apparently chiefly composed of 

particles of organic silica in a state of very feeble cohesion. It contains 

impressions of very numerous foraininifera and of a small Pecten, perhaps P. perplanus Morton, and should probably be referred to the 

horizon of the Ocala limestone or ISTuininulitic beds, though of a different lithological character from the beds of that age hitherto known.

In the foregoing brief account of the Floridiau Eocene the writer 

may, perhaps, somewhat have overstepped the limits assigned to him. 

But, for a clear understanding of the Neocene series in this region it 

seemed necessary to do this, and the recapitulation of matters elsewhere treated of by Prof. Clark, will have done no harm, while its 

presentation in this connection seemed indispensable.

MIOCEKK ROCKS.

Cliattalioocliee group: OcUeesee beds. The Miocene rocks of Florida 

present, lithologically and petrographically, a series entirely analogous 

to the calcareous, siliceous, ferruginous, phosphatic, and clayey beds of
106 THE NEOCENE of NORTH AMERICA. tnuu..84.

the Eocene, but with a greater variety of strata in the same thickness. 

This indicates less uniform conditions and probably more numerous 

changes of level. In this respect the Miocene of Florida presents a 

contrast to that of the Antilles, where, according to Clove,1 the Miocene 

was a period of calm, regular deposition, without notable orographic 

disturbances, though such disturbances have left distinct traces in the 

Eoceoe strata and were again experienced in post-Miocene time.

Another feature which is noteworthy, even with our present imperfect 

knowledge, is the restricted area of many particular beds, which in 

some sections attain a considerable thickness, while other sections, 

without indicating unconformities, show no traces of these special 

strata.

In 1887 Langdon 2 observed a group of beds on the Chattahoochee 

Eiver overlying the Orbitoides limestone at a point 9 miles above 

River Junction,, or Chattahoochee, and traced it southward by the 

river to Ocheesee and Bock Bluff, 17 miles below the railroad bridge at 

Eiver Junction, where it dips below the Miocene beds, which are exposed at Alum Bluff, 8 miles farther down the river. At Ocheesee 

there were visible above the water 5 feet of creamy white granular 

limestone with obscure fossil corals, surmounted by 10 feet of greenish 

yellow unfossiliferous argillaceous limestone. At Eock Bluff 30 feet of 

limestone, in strata of varying purity, are exposed. These limestones 

are slightly phosphatic, and by disintegration afford a rich black loam 

characterized by the growth of Torregia taxifolia, the so-called " stinking cedar." The beds as a whole are more siliceous and argillaceous 

than those of the Orbitoides limestone, and were estimated by Laugdon 

to have a total thickness of 250 feet, who referred them to the newest member of the Eocene or the oldest of the Miocene, under the name 

of the " Chattahoochee group." The same rocks were observed by Mr. 

Burns, of the U. S. Geological Survey, in the adjacent portion of Decatur 

County, Georgia; at a locality on the railroad 3 miles east of the bridge 

over the Chattahoochee Eiver, Florida; 3 and below the Chipola marl, 

near Baileys Ferry, Chipola Eiver, westward from Alum Bluff, Langdon obtained from these beds a large Pecten and an oyster resembling 

the recent Ostrea mrginica. Burns, at the locality mentioned, obtained 

a small number of fossils, among which were 22 species identifiable 

with those of the Tampa Miocene, including Pyrazisinus cornutus, 

Ceritliium hillsboroensis, Potamides transecta, Conus planiceps, Natica 

amphora, Lutina, hillsboroensis, Cardita scrricosta, Venus staminea, V. 

cancellata, V.penita, Gytlierea nuciformis, Cyrena vesica, and Orbitolites 

floridanus. Three or four other species were identical, or probably 

so, with Chipola species and two were not known, a Tagelus and Solen.

There were also obscure corals and one Echinus. The condition of

'Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, vol. 1, p. 109; and Koiig. Sveiiska Votensk. Akad. Handl., 1871, 

Bd. is, No. 12.

2Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1889, vol. 38, p. 324. 

 Here his collection was made.
CHATTAHOOCHEE GROUP. 107

these fossils is poor, but they are sufficiently identifiable in all the cases 

above specified to speak with confidence, and in most of them with certainty.

From the general trend of this limestone, its considerable thickness 

on the Chattahoochee and Appalachicola rivers, and its numerous sinkholes, ponds, and natural bridges about the Chipola Eiver, it (and not 

the Orbitoides limestone, as was supposed by Smith and others) is 

doubtless the country rock over a considerable part of northwestern 

Florida.

In the vicinity of Tampa, especially in the rock forming "the bed of 

the Hillsboro Eiver," Heilprin, in 188G, discovered Cerithium liillsboroensis in large numbers.1 This rock is variable in character, but all the 

specimens I have seen of it are friable and of a creamy yellow, or even 

somewhat ferruginous tint. The mass originally collected by Heilprin, 

which I have examined, is chiefly filled with the molds of this Geritliium. Specimens subsequently obtained from Magbeys Springs and 

submitted to ine by Mr. Willcox, and others personally collected, undeniably belong to the Tampa limestone, though most of its fossils are 

identical with some of those above cited as collected by Burns from the 

Chattahoochee limestone. Although no one has yet established the 

existence of a Miocene rock under the Tampa silex beds or described 

their contact, yet there can be little doubt that such a rock should 

underlie the Orthaulax bed (by which name, for clearness, I shall hereafter denominate the Ballast Point silex bed proper) at Tampa, just as 

the Ohattahoochee limestones underlie the Chipola marl at Alum Bluff. 

In other words, the equivalence of such a rock, if it exists, with the fossiliferous stratum of the Chattahoochee group from which Burns obtained his fossils must be conceded, as well as the reference of both to 

an older horizon than the Orthaulax bed, which is thereby implied. 

Tims the truly Miocene character of the Chattahoochee group is estab* 

lished.

But these beds do not everywhere represent the lowest member of 

the Miocene system. Of the artesian boring at Tampa, which would 

have given us the succession and thickness of the rock, unfortunately 

no data are preserved. *

Hawthorne beds. From the unpublished reports of L. 0. Johnson, of 

the U. S. Geological Survey, it is gathered that in the interior a different 

or rather a more comprehensive succession of beds is the rule. In 1885 

the writer was able to confirm by personal observation in Alachua

1 The account given by Heilprin is extremely obscure. He speaks of the " hard siliceous blue rouk. 

charged with Cerithium," which appears at Ballast Point and along the banks of the river. But the 

hard blue rock of the silex beds does not contain O. hillsloroensis; the species with which it is charged 

is Prof. Heilprin's Pyrazisinus campanulatus. and the rock from which lie described and figured his 

G. hillsboroensis (as is evident on an examination of the specimen) is neither "hard" nor "blue," 

though in places the bed is, like nearly all the Floridian limestones, more or less permeated with silex. 

In Heilprin's Cerithium rock, which is probably a phase of the Tampa limestone, the shells are represented by molds. In the silex bed proper they are represented by siliceous pseudomorphs, among 

 which five years' work of a half a dozen good collectors has so far revealed not a single specimen of O. 

hillsboroensis.
108 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

County the presence of beds of phosphatic rock, more or less broken 

np and inclosed in a younger matrix overlying the Vicksburg limes-tone 

at the "Devil's Millhopper," near Glainesville, and afterward to observe 

remnants of the rock in place on the hilltops near Archer and Arredoudo, as well as the presence on top of the Orbitoides limestone, where 

the latter formed the surface of numerous silicified pseudoinorphs and 

fragments of fossils belonging to the phosphatie rock above mentioned. 

A 9 C

FIG. 21. Sections in Central Florida, illustrative of Hawthorne beds. A, Nigger Sink; B, Newnansville well; C, Sullivan's hammock. 1, surface sand and loam; 2, phosphate rock; 3, soft sandstone; 4, ferruginous gravel; 5, sand or sandstone; 6, greenish yellow clay; 6a unexposed; 7, Vicksburg rock.

The latter at the time of my visit was being quarried and ground up 

as a fertilizer at Hawthorne, where the beds have a considerable thickness. For this reason I referred to these beds in my unpublished report as the "Hawthorne beds," and to the chief facts of their occurrence 

in a paper read before the National Academy of Sciences in 1887. 1 

This name will therefore be adopted here for convenience in reference 

to the beds about to be described. Johnson has obtained several clear 

sections illustrating these beds, which are here graphically reproduced.

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, p. 164.
SECTIONS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. 109

Mr. Johnson finds that the greater part of the phosphatic deposit at 

the Devil's Millhopper and to some extent at Hawthorne has been 

washed away and the rest more or less broken up. A natural sink in 

the midst of the phosphatic area;, Downing's field, near the Natural 

Bridge of the Santa Fe Eiver, Alachua County (Sec. 18, T. 7 S., E. 18 E.), 

affords a good section (A). This place is locally known as "Nigger 

sink," and the Vicksburg limestone has been reached by a well hole in the 

center of it. Above the well the lower 10 feet of the wall of the sink is 

hidden by talus, but is believed to be clay of a greenish yellow color, 30 

feet of which rises above the tains, covered by a four-foot layer of firm, 

hard sand, almost a sandstone, and this by a sandy ferruginous layer 

of clay and gravel containing an oyster, like 0. virginica, reproduced 

in chalcedony. This ferruginous layer, which will be referred to here 

under the term ferruginous gravel, seems to appear in many different 

sections, Avith its oyster and silicified corals. It also occurs in GeorgiaAbove it is a layer 2 feet thick of soft sandstone resembling the phosphatic rock in appearance. Covering this is a bed of sand and clay 8 

feet thick containing fragments of all sizes, from a few pounds to a ton 

in weight, of the phosphatic rock and its large, silicified coral heads. 

These last, when they appear on the surface as a,round Archer, from the 

solution of the phosphatic matrix are popularly known as "fossil 

stumps" or "nigger heads." They are large masses of chert or chalcedony, often hollow, retaining on the surface more or less obscure indications of the original coral structure. Above this stratum come tiie 

surface sand and loam, here about 20 feet thick.

At a well near Newnansville (section B) another section was obtained 

by Mr. Johnson. Here 70 feet of the greenish clay overlies the Vicksburg rock, but otherwise this resembles section A, except in the following particulars: The ferruginous bed is only 2 feet thick, and 3 feet 

above it comes a bed 8 to 20 feet thick of solid phosphatic rock in place, 

with but little alluvium over it. For some distance north and east of 

the well this rock forms the surface of the hill. At Sullivan's hammock (Section C), 5 miles east of Mixons, in the same region, the cherty 

Vicksburg rock mixed with clay seems to begin immediately under the 

ferruginous stratum, which is surmounted by the phosphatic rock covered under a moderate depth of loam. Near Archer the phoshatic rock 

remains here and there on the hilltops as remnants, directly on the Orbitoides limestone, the greater portion having been dissolved away by rain 

and percolating water, as is also the case in Decatur County, Georgia. 

A similar rock with the characteristic coral heads occurs near Pasco 

County near the point where the South Florida Eailway crosses the 

the North fork of the Hillsboro Eiver, and also 1£ miles northeast 

from Jarve's Spring, in the same vicinity. At De Leon Springs, on the 

St. Johns Eiver near Lake Helen, Volusia County, Mr. T. H. Aldrich reports a bed of well preserved Chipola fossils overlying phosphatic rock 

doubtless of this same horizon. The water table reached by the arte-
110 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

sian borings near Lake Worth at a depth of about 900 feet which 100 

feet below gives place to the Orbitoides limestone is probably formed 

by the impervious clays, gravel, and phosphatic rock of this group of 

beds, which here and in other places is covered by beds of pervious 

sand.

A ferruginous bed, with oysters, directly overlies the Nummulitic bed 

near Levyville, Levy County. At Magnesia Springs, near Hawthorne, 

the water comes out from under the phosphatic rock and brings with it 

numerous specimens of the silicified oysters which lie in the mud at the 

bottom of the springs. Specimens have also been received by the U. S. 

Geological Survey from Live Oak, Suwanee County, and Lake City, 

Columbia County, in the northern part of the state, where, according 

to Johnson, the same phosphatic rock occurs. This information has 

been confirmed by specimens subsequently forwarded by Mr. Stanton 

and Dr. J. C. Neal, of the Florida experiment station at Lake City. 

We are indebted to Dr. Neal, for data showing the character of the Miocene deposits in that vicinity, and along the Suwanee Eiver between 

Hamilton and Columbia counties.

At White Springs on the Suwanee the following section was obtained :

Feet. 

I. Gray soil, sand, and. hum as ............................................ 2

II. White sand............................................................ 4

III. Clay with silicified corals and oyster (Hawthorne beds) ................ G-8

IV. Indurated clayey rock (Hawthorne beds 1).............................. 2

V. Clayey sand-rock, rather fine grained and soft .......................... 4

VI. The same, somewhat coarser and harder................................. 8-10

VII. Sand rock of coarser sharp grains, coated and cemented together with

white limy matter ................................................... 4-6

VIII. Foraminiferal Eocene top-rock (Vicksburg) indefinitely below.

The silicified corals of bed in are sometimes 20-60 pounds in weight 

and along the river when dislodged from the clay often wear immense 

potholes in the softer lime rocks. Miocene sharks' teeth and fragments 

of bone also occur in the clay. Under bed vm, when it is tilted up, as 

occurs in various places along the river, is found the older Orbitoides 

limestone of the Vicksburg group.

In a sink 4 miles north of Lake City the following section was observed :

Feet. 

I, II. Sand and sandy soil ................................................... 5

IV. Indurated clayey rock.................................................. 2

VII. Lime cemented sand-rock .............................................. 8

VIII. Foraminiferal Eocene (indefinitely down).

Two miles south of Lake City:

Feet. 

I. Sandy soil............................................................. 2

III. Clay, with corals and oysters........................................... 20

VII. Lime cemented sand-rock .............................................. 3

VIII. Foraminiferal Eocene (indefinitely below).
THE SUWANEE STRAIT. Ill

Near the southern boundary of Columbia County, at Fort White, the 

rocks are gently folded and the surface has been more or less worn into 

basins containing phosphatic breccia of the older lime rocks, which are 

themselves under these basins of phosphate slightly phosphatized in 

their upper portions. Here, OAving to the fact that the Miocene and 

Foraminiferal Eocene (Miliolite) beds have been more or less broken up 

by the action of AArater dissolving or Avearing away the softer parts, the 

Orbitoides limestone sometimes immediately underlies the breccia in the 

basins and in other places the basins are composed of the Miliolite limestone. Beds VI, Vii, and vm, of the above series are more or less 

silicified, or Avhen broken up the resulting breccia contains numerous 

angular fragments of chert.

The Smvanee strait. The argillaceous deposits which are comprised 

in the Hawthorne beds appear to have been laid down toward the southern margin or the Suwanee strait, Avliich separated the continental border from the Eocene and Miocene islands representing Florida at that 

epoch. Farther to the north and west the rocks indicate (Jeeper water, 

contain less clay, and have a much more abundant and characteristic 

Old Miocene fauna. The data Avhich have conclusively shown this were 

obtained by Mr. T. W. Stauton, of the U. S. Geological Survey, since 

much of this paper was in manuscript, and are detailed at another 

place. The northern border of the strait appears to have been the site 

of deposition of a different, more siliceous material, which resulted in 

the formation of the beds elsewhere referred to as the Altamaha grits 

of Georgia.

Old Miocene pJiosphatic deposits. These rocks \vere among those 

referred by Johnson to his Waldfb formation, 1 though the typical exposure at Waldo belongs jbo the newer or Chesapeake Miocene.

There is no doubt that the sources of phosphoric acid, through the 

existence of Avhich the phosphatic rocks of Florida were made possible, 

Avere not confined to any one epoch. Kocks of unmistakably recent 

(Pleistocene) origin, containing sometimes remains of man, often reveal 

perceptible quantities of phosphoric acid on analysis. On the other 

hand, the leaching process to which the rocks are subjected from the 

semitropical rainfall has carried the precious substance into the Eocene 

limestones when they were adjacent and of a nature to absorb and retain it. Mr. Darton has collected unmistakable Orbitoides rock, which 

is mined for fertilizer and presents a large percentage of phosphoric 

acid, while much of the richest phosphate rock is of Pliocene age.

But when all these allOAvances are made the fact remains that certain 

lower Miocene strata below the Chipola beds, though not the richest in 

phosphoric acid, yet, as far as known, are more generally phosphatio 

than any other single group of rocks in the state, and that this condition is to some extent characteristic of them.2 The following table will

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d series, 1888, vol. 36, p. 234.

2 Of. George AV. Hawea on a phosphatic aapdstone from Hawthorn, in Florida, J?roc. U, S. Nat. 

Mus. for 1882, pp. 46-48,
112 THE NEOCENE OF NOJITH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

exhibit our understanding of the relations of the different beds considered as a whole, up to the base of the Chipola beds.

|

( Cerithinm rock (Tampa)?. 

Oclieosee beds ...... < Chattahooch.ee limestone.

Hawthorne beds. . . . < Ferruginous gravel. 

( Greenish clays.

f Nummnlitic beds . ..

Eocene, Vicksburg group .......

Vicksburg beds . . . . (yicksburg).

[ [White limestone (Jackson).

It is of course understood that these beds are never all present in 

any one section, and when their respective faunas become known parts 

of some of them will perhaps be found to overlap. While much of the 

fauna of the upper beds of the Chattahoochee group survives into later 

strata, and no marked unconformity has been shown to exist at the 

base of the Chipola, yet the lithologic and faimal differences appear 

sufficiently w"ell marked to retain, at least for the present, the Ohipola 

beds in a group by themselves.

Tampa group: Tampa, Chipola, and Alum Bluff beds. Tampa Bay 

was the theater of the earliest identification of Miocene rocks in Florida, those of Conrad 1 in 1846. In the same year and journal in which 

Conrad's account was made public Prof. John H. Alien 2 briefly but accurately characterizes the rocks of the region about Tampa City, discriminating the siliceous rock (Orthaulax bed) and the Tampa limestone, 

and assigning them to their true relative situation, stratigraphically. 

His account in this particular is better than Conrad's and more clear 

and correct than anything since published, previous to the investigations of the U. S. Geological Survey in 1887. But, like others who 

have made brief explorations in Florida up to a recent period, he did 

not discriminate between the lithologically similar surface limestones 

of Florida elsewhere, and his observations are accurate only for the 

region above mentioned.

The Miocene rocks of Florida above those forming the Ohattahoochee 

group and below the upper fossiliferous bed at Alum Bluff, I include 

in the group, which from their oldest known typical exposure, I name 

the Tampa group. This may be divided into three sets of beds, the 

Chipola beds (including the Sopchoppy limestone, the Orthaulax bed, 

Bailey's "infusorial earth," the White Beach sand rock, and the 

Chipola marl or lower bed at Alum Bluff); the Tampa beds (including 

the Tampa limestone) and the Alum Bluff beds, or unfossiliferous sand 

and clay strata intervening between the Chipola marl and the upper 

fossiliferous bed at Alum Bluff. The latter belongs to the Upper 

Miocene, or Chesapeake group, similar to that of South Carolina, and 

the later beds of North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

» Am. Jour. Sci., 2dser., 184G, vol. 2, pp. 30-48; 399-400. 

8 Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 38-42.
DAT.L AND ) 

HAH1US. > ORTHAULAX BED. 113

The following sections Avill illustrate the succession as observed at 

different localities:

70

Alum Bluff. 

Yellow unfoss. sand,

feet.

Lignitic sand, 10 feet. 

Ecphora bed, 30 feet. 

Alum Bluff beds, 15 feet. 

Marl (Chipola), 5 feet. 

CL.attab.oocL.ee limestone( ?)

Manatee Itiver. 

White sand, (?)

Yellow sand, (?)

Ecphora bed, 24 to 36

inches. 

Orthaulax bed, (?)

Tampa.

White sand, 6 to 24 inches.

Yellow sand, 6 to 36 in ches.

Pliocene breccia, traces.

Tampa limestone, 10 to 15 

feet.

Orthaulax bed, 6 to 10

feet.

At Ballast Point, Tampa, while repeating the researches of Conrad 

and others, the following notes were taken by the writer in the winter 

of 1886-1887r 1

The Orthaulax bed. The rock rises but a few feet above the beach. 

Two layers may be distinguished, especially by their fossils, for the 

rocks are so broken up that the superposition of the newer layer here 

is less clear than I found it farther inland. The older rock is composed 

of a limestone, which in some places is so impregnated with silex as to 

form an almost pure flint; and at other spots retains its limy character, or is decomposed into a marl of peculiar tenacity. In many 

places the marl occurs in pockets surrounded by or covered with chert. 

In other spots it forms the greater part of the bank, and in this condition was termed by Bailey "infusorial earth;" but, however different 

in character, the chert and marl are merely parts of one stratum which 

has been subjected to different chemical processes in its different parts, 

and not to two strata or beds. In the chert the fossils, of which the 

rock is full, have disappeared, leaving cavities from which their forms 

may be reproduced by molding in gutta-percha. In the marl they 

have also disappeared, but in favorable spots the smaller ones are represented by more or less perfect pseudomorphs of subtranslucent silex, 

reproducing every detail of the original shell. The larger ones, such 

as heads of coral, retain their outward form, but are usually mere shells 

with an interior of botryoidal chalcedony, often of great beauty. The 

fauna of this bed has- been elucidated by Heilprin and to some extent 

by the writer. It is characterized especially among other things by the 

presence of the singular Stromboid genus Orthaulax, for which reason 

I have called it the Orthaulax bed. The more usual expression " Tampa 

silex bed," owing to the presence of silex in other beds of different age 

near Tampa, is less explicit and desirable.

This stratum, was also recognized by Conrad2 in the bed of a rivulet 

a few miles up the Manatee Eiver, "near the shore of a creek having a 

very narrow entrance, but which widens above, and about 1£ miles up 

contracts again, then expands into a beautiful basin with tables of 

rock bordering the shore. * * * Above this is a buff-colored lime1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, pp. 105,106. 

3 Ibid., 2d. sor., 1810, vol. 2, p. 45.

Bull. 84-
114 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

stone without organic remains, about 1 foot thick. This spot is the 

limit of tide water." He also traced the same rock to the rapids or 

falls of the Hillsboro Elver about 9 miles above its mouth, as Alien 

also did, as well as later explorers. This locality is 14 miles or so 

northward and eastward from Ballast Point and Mr. Burns has collected the silicified fossils at various intermediate points along the bay 

shore. I found the same rock and fossils on Six Mile Creek at the head 

of navigation, near Orient station, about 6 miles to the eastward of 

Tampa, on the South Florida Railway. At Ballast Point the fossils are 

 chiefly marine, but there is a certain admixture of land shells which becomes more pronounced toward the top of the bed, indicating a gradual increase of the adjacent land area during the deposition of the bed. 

Finally, in some places on the upper surface, nothing but land shells 

are found, showing that, at last, it became dry land, at least in certain 

spots.

These land shells are all of extinct species, allied more nearly to 

those of the West Indies than to the present fauna of the Southern 

States. A small bulimoid shell has been, I think incorrectly, referred 

to the Pacific genus Partula, which it somewhat resembles, as observed 

by Conrad forty years ago. But it is probably more nearly related to 

certain recent bulimuli of the North American, Antillean and South 

American recent faunas. The same rock, beside extending northward 

to the head of Hillsboro Bay, crops out on the other side of the peninsula which separates the latter from Old Tampa Bay. Specimens of 

the fossils were collected here by Mr. Burns. It extends up the Hillsboro River at least as far as the rapids, while silicified corals are reported from a point 25 miles above the mouth of the river at the crossing of the Florida Central Railway, in Pasco County, which may be of 

the same age. Siliceous fossils of the same character are reported to 

have been collected at Clearwater on the Gulf coast of Hillsboro 

County, west of Old Tampa Bay, and it is not improbable that the same 

rock occurs at the mouth of the Pithlachascootee River, Pasco County, 

somewhat farther north, a specimen of Pyrazisinus having been collected there by Heilprin. A specimen of the Orthaulax has been collected by Matthew Hooper on the shore of Sarasota Bay, showing that 

the same bed exists there.

White Beach sand rode. A little farther south, again, in the northern 

and western extreme of the Little Sarasota Bay is a locality known by 

the name of White Beach, which was visited by Messrs. Willcox and 

Heilprin in 1886 and by Mr. Willcox and the writer the following year. 

It consists of an outcrop of rock which rises two or three feet above 

high water. It is a yellowish limestone, much waterworn and covered in places with a thin layer of recent sand rock. It contains 

distorted molds of many species which can not be recognized, but in 

some places these molds have become filled with a pseudomorph in 

lime of the original shell. These pseudomorphs are gradually exposed
INFUSORIAL EARTH. 115

by the action of the sea on the rock, and afforded about forty species 

of molluscan fossils, besides several corals and corallines. The rock 

did not show any foramiuifera, though several of the species of shells 

are identical with those of the orbitolite stratum of Tampa. 1

While all the species collected here have not yet been determined, 

about half of them have been studied sufficiently to show their near 

equivalence to the Orthaulax bed of Tampa and the Chipola marl bed 

of Alum Bluff. Several peculiar species are common to them and 

several others to the Antilleau Miocene. On the whole, while the 

White Beach fauna is too imperfectly known for dogmatism, it would 

seem probable that it does not greatly differ from that of the Orthaulax 

bed, is certainly to be included in the Tampa group, and may possibly 

be a little younger than either of the beds above mentioned. More 

thorough study has shown that the first impression, that this horizon 

is not far removed from the Caloosahatchie Pliocene, is untenable, 

since we now know that the whole of the Chesapeake group, at least, 

must intervene between the two horizons.

The White Beach bed is covered with a thin coat of Quaternary 

indurated sand containing recent land shells, and extremely hard.

This is the most southern point, so far, at which Miocene strata have 

been observed to crop out in Florida; but on Shell Creek, a tributary 

of Peace Creek, in about latitude 27° north, draining into Charlotte 

Harbor, Mr. Willcox found a specimen of Vasum haitonsis Sby., which 

is a shell described from the Antillean Miocene, and probably, if correctly identified, indicates the presence of beds of the Tttmpa group 

in this vicinity.

I have referred to the presence of OrMtolites floridnnm Conrad in 

rocks of the Chattahooch.ee group. It is also found silicified, though, 

not abundant, in the Orthaulax bed from Avhich Prof. Heilpriu supposed it to be absent.

Bailey's infusorial earth. To return to the Tarnpa section: it is to 

be noted that at one point on the bay shore between Ballast Point or 

Newmau's Landing and the mouth of the Hillsboro lliver the marl 

associated with the siliceous fossils, forming a phase of the Orthaida.u 

bed, rises above the beach to an estimated height of 10 feet. Here 

Mr. Burns, of the U. S. Geological Survey, Col. Bartholomew, of Tampa, 

and others have collected fine series of silicified fossils. At this point 

Prof. J. W. Bailey, U. S. A., discovered what lie regarded as a bed of 

infusorial earth resembling that of Virginia in its lithologie character. 

Of this he says:2 "Directly on the shore of the bay I detected a highly 

interesting stratum of fossil marine Diatomacea or Infusoria. It is 

exposed for at least a quarter of a mile, and from 5 to 10 feet of its 

thickness may be seen. In its external characteristics (whiteness, 

lightness, fissility, etc.) it has some resemblance to the infusorial

1 Ball, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 34, p. 107.

a ificroscop. Obs. Smithsouiau Contr. Kuowl., 1850, vol. 2, No. 8, p. 10.
116 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.W.

strata of Virginia, but is much more indurated, so that although it is 

easy to show that it is made up of the remains of Diatomacea, spicules 

of sponges, etc., it is difficult to isolate and determine the individual 

specimens. This infusorial earth, like that at Petersburg, Va., changes 

in a singular manner to a salmon color when exposed to the vapor of 

turpentine or Canada balsam." This bed has not, as far as we know, 

been examined since Prof. Bailey's visit, and in order to determine its 

position, stratigraphical and lithological, it was visited by the writer 

in January, 1891.

The most marked exposure is locally known as Conklin's Bluff, and 

is situated on the Avestern shore of Hillsboro Bay, about a quarter 

of a mile above a long wooden pier belonging to a Mrs. Chapin, and a 

inile and a half north of Ballast Point. It is a steep bank 6 or 8 

feet above high-water mark, and is the only place on this shore between Ballast Point and Tampa which at all corresponds to Bailey's 

description. The land along this shore is mostly low an'd the beach soft 

and muddy or sandy, but there are a few places where the Orthaulax 

bed rises above high-water mark. The rock is like that at Ballast 

Point. The shells are often represented by molds in the chert, but 

there are pockets of putty-like marl which contain the siliceous pseudoinorphs and small nodules of chalcedony.

Bailey's white bed consists of a deposit of this marl, which elsewhere 

occurs in pockets in the harder rock, but here for a few hundred feet 

appears in sufficient quautity, by itself, to be regarded as a bed. Some 

of the material is pretty hard, but all of it is fissured vertically and hori - 

zontally into a profusion of angular fragments. The lower layers are 

the hardest and rest on siliceous rock of the Orthaulax bed, of which 

this must \)Q regarded as merely a very local phase. At this place the 

marl is nearly destitute of fossils. The few which occur are nearly all 

small branches of coral 5 much of it has no fossils. The lower part is of 

a gray or pale green hue, blenching when dry, as in the upper layers, to 

white. It also becomes softer and more fragmentary. It is penetrated 

by roots to a depth of 2 feet, and a piece large enough to form a good 

specimen can be found only low down in the bed, and then in drying 

will break into numerous fragments. The average thickness of the 

bed may be 3 feet, the maximum 6 to 8 feet. In one place it is 

covered by a thin layer of aeolian sand rock discolored by iron oxide. 

The strata along this beach are gently waved; the places where rock 

appears above high-water mark are the summits of these waves, which 

seem to trend in a northwest and southeast general direction. This 

marl is one of the highest of the waves, and farther back from the shore 

is covered by the Tampa limestone, according to reports of residents. 

There seemed to be no recognizable dip.

It will be noticed in Bailey's list of species collected that he mentions 

only three or four from this deposit, all of which are also found living over 

a great part of the Atlantic coast, and especially in Florida, around the
DHARRAIS D } TAMPA LIMESTONE. 117

roots of plants growing in wet places. The deposit does not seem to 

be properly infusorial in character, though doubtless containing, like 

other marl, a few such organisms. It is really a siliceous marl formed 

by a decomposition of part of the rock which originally constituted the 

Ortliaulax bed. An analysis, according to Prof. F. W. Clarke, shows 

the following composition:

Silica....................................................... 70-78

Alumina and iron .......................................... 11-33

Lime ..................................................... 2-18

Water and loss............................................ 15-71

100-00

This indicates the material to be little different from the yellow sand, 

which, like it, is probably a residual product of the disintegration of indigenous lime rock of organic origin which has lost most of its lime by 

solution.

An examination of some of this marl by Mr. Lewis Woolman, the well 

known student of microscopic organisms, did not reveal a single diatom, though specimens doubtless occur in certain portions of the deposit as observed by Bailey.

The Tampa limestone. A second stratum, which appears obscurely at 

Ballast Point and with clearness at other localities, overlying the Orthaulax bed, was first clearly described by Alien in 1846. He observes:

The first layer of solid rock beneath the soil is a stratum of limestone; it is hard 

and white, has an earthy texture, and appears to have resulted from comminuted and 

decomposed shells. The surface of this rock is exposed in several places in the vicinity of Fort Brooke; about 2 miles north, near the Hillsbovo River; 4 miles west, 

on the shore of the bay; and 6 or 7 miles east, in tiie banks of a small stream. 1

This rock I have named the Tampa limestone. It was observed by 

Heilprin,2 who noted in it the great abundance of the Orbitolite described (under the name of Nummulites) by Conrad in 184G. But in Hcilprin's text it is more or less confused with a supposedly different rock 

which he regarded as underlying the Ortliaulax bed. An examination of 

the rock in the Hillsboro River from Tampa to the falls shows that 

what he mistook for the Ortliaulax bed was merely a cherty layer of the 

Tampa limestone, that rock being characterized by an abundance of 

Cerithium liillsboroensis in this vicinity, and everywhere overlying the 

Ortliaulax bed. The following notes on this rock were made by the 

writer in 1887.3

Above the stratum above described [Orthaulax bed] is a layer from 1£ to 10 feet 

thick, of alimestone free from silex audpretty uniform in character. The fossils are 

mostly represented by external molds; but a few, and particularly an orbitolite described by Conrad, and probably identical with one now living at moderate depths 

on the Floridian coast, retain their shell structure.

This rock underlies the town of Tampa, where wells are dug through it, and water 

obtained at a depth of 10 feet or less. It is probable that the more compact cherty

1 Ani. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1846, vol. 1, p. 38. 3 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, pp. 1CG-1C7. 

'Traus. Wagner Inst., 1887, vol. 1, p. 01, fl 2.
118 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

stratum underlies it here and forms a water table. The same rock occurs 7 miles 

northeast of Tampa in wells, and also on land belonging to Mr. Lapenotiere, of 

Tampa (SE.-J, Sec. 14, T. 29, R. 19), near Orient Station. Its upper surface is about 

14 feet above Six-Mile Creek, near by, and about 25 feet above the water in the harbor of Tampa, at the railroad wharf, according to recent surveys. Its exact thickness here I was not able to determine. I was informed that the same rock occurred 

on the Manatee River above Braidentown. Still farther to the south and west I 

observed it about 1 mile from Sarasota village, on the road from Braidentown, in the 

gulley of a small rivulet about a half mile from the shore-of the bay.

There is an outcrop of rock at Bowleys Creek, emptying into Sarasota Bay, about 

8 or 9 miles northwest of Sarasota and about 2 miles from its mouth. This can be 

reached only by boat at high water, and is then a foot or two below the surface. I 

visited it and succeeded in getting some fragments with prints of two species of 

Peden and one of Ostrea, with traces of a Spondylus, all of which are represented in 

other Miocene localities. The rock \ras covered with Quaternary beds of indurated 

sand containing recent shells in a eemifossil condition.

The same rock appears to crop out at Belleview, Marion County, 

and Bay view, on Old Tampa Bay, where specimens were collected by 

Willcox.

The known area of the Tampa limestone, and that which is probably 

to be assigned to it, from the information in our possession, is nearly 

the same as that of the Ortliaulax bed; but as yet we know very little 

about the geographical extent of either. These rocks are usually much 

corroded on their upper surface, through the action of carbon dioxide 

and rainwater, and are covered with from a few inches to several feet 

of sand, loam, and humus.

A section on the bank of the Hillsboro, near Lapenotie"re's Spring, 

generalized from variations observed in the near vicinity, gives the 

following succession:

Thickness.

10 to 15 feet.. ......

7 inches to 10 feet. .

Character of strata.

Tampa limestone.

Orthaulax bed.

Total elevation above the level of mean tide at Tampa, about 25 feet.

The Ceritliium roeh of Heilprin. In January, 1891, the writer visited 

Tampa for the purpose of settling some lurking doubts excited by 

discrepancies in previous accounts of the stratigraphy of the "Ceritliium rock" and Tampa limestone. The writer has never seen the 

so-called Ceritliium rock underlying the Ortliaulax bed, though analogy 

with the Alum Bluff section would seem to call for it. Heilprin distinctly affirms its existence in such a position, but his language would 

seem to indicate a confusion in his mind of the rock holding Pyrazisinus 

with that containing Ceritliium liillsboroensis. His description of the 

rock would seem to apply to the former, but his reference to the species 

particularizes the latter.
CERITHIUM ROCK OF HEILPRIN. 119

A trip up the Hillsboro River about 12 miles, in a skiff, examining 

every outcrop of rock in the banks from Tampa to the rapids, resulted 

as follows: The OrtJiaulax bed is clearly and unmistakably below the 

Tampa limestone, but nowhere could any rock below the. Orthaulax 

bed be observed; the stratum itself rarely rises more than 2 or 3 feet 

above the water. The Tampa limestone everywhere covers the Orthaulax bed, and reaches a maximum thickness of 25 to 30 feet. The 

two strata appear to be gently waved in a northwest and southeast 

direction, the Hillsboro Kiver cutting these waves transversely, as a 

rule. There appear to be about half a dozen such waves between 

Tampa and the rapids, where the OrtJiaulax bed rises about 6 feet 

above the river and forms its bed for a short distance. In the Orthaulax bed there are many species which have not been found in the 

Tampa limestone, but I have found comparatively few, mostly minute, 

species in the Tampa limestone, except Cerithium hillsloroensifi, which 

are not represented in the Orthaulax bed.

Along the river the summits of the anticlines bring up the Tampa 

limestone and less commonly the Orthaulax bed above the water at 

the shore. Between the anticlines the Tampa limestone sinks out of 

sight and is covered by swamp. In intermediate places it forms the 

bed of the river, and perhaps from some such place Prof. Heilprin's 

Cerithium was collected. The lower layers of the Tampa limestone are 

silicified or cherty in many places, but still remain yellowish. This 

part of that bed can be distinguished from the Ortliaulax bed chiefly 

by color and by the absence of the characteristic Orthaulax, Pyrazisinus, and other fossils of the older stratum.

In the city of Tampa good exposures of the limestone were obtainable 

at the city waterworks (with which Magbey's Spring is now incorporated) and at a quarry Avhere the rock is excavated for road metal. 

Here the rock is at least 20 feet thick. The lower part has few fossils. 

Those of the upper part are in the form of molds. N~atica amphora and 

Venus penita are particularly abundant; Cerithium liillsboroensis not 

rare in the upper part. The upper surface of the beds, which is covered 

by a yellowish loamy sand, is wave-worn withLithoclomus borings, lumpy 

and irregular. The outer crust is harder than the rock below. The 

yellow sand contains occasional phosphatic nodules and fragments of 

bone. It descends into the fissures and depressions of the limestone and 

averages 2 or 3 feet in thickness, covered by the usual layer, 3 to 6 feet 

thick, of white siliceous sea sand.

From these observations it appears that, while the existence of a 

Cerithium rock under the Orthaulax bed is a priori probable, sufficient 

evidence of its existence is still to be collected, and the rock identified 

as such by Heilprin may very possibly have been a portion of the Tampa 

limestone.

The Sopclioppy limestone. Specimens of a very soft limestone containing numerous imprints of shells and many fragments of vertebrate
120 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. fncLL.84.

ribs and other bones Avere exhibited in 1890 at the Subtropical Exposition at Jacksonville. These were stated to be from Sopchop"py, 

Wakulla County, near the Okloconee Kaver. This locality is not easily 

accessible, but through the kindness of Mr. J. C. Hodge some of the 

rock was obtained for examination. It proved to contain Conrad's 

orbitolite and about thirty species of shells, most of which are common 

to the Chipola marl or the Orthaulax bed. No sign of Ortliaulax or 

Pyrazisinus was noticed, but the horizon is probably not far from that 

of the Chipola marl.

Mr. Burns was informed that a mass of limestone of this character

«extends from the river near Sopchoppy to the Gulf coast eastward of

the mouth of the river, and this may belong to the Chipola beds, like

the specimens examined. This, however, remains to be definitely

determined.

Other localities of limestone belonging to the Tampa group, but of 

which the fauna is too little known to determine the exact horizon, are 

Sulphur Spring Ferry, Suwannee County (L. C. Johnson); Johnson's 

Liinesink, Levy County, and a 50-foot well near the capitol building in 

the city of Tallahassee. These are represented by specimens in the 

National Museum collection.

In the endeavor to determine the extent of Miocene deposits in the 

line of the Suwanee Strait between the Miocene Florida islands and 

the continental border of the same epoch, an examination of the rocks 

along the line of the railroad from Tallahassee to Lake City was kindly 

undertaken, in the intervals of other work, by Mr. T. W. Stanton, of 

the U. S. Geological Survey.

Mr. Stanton notes that the country around Tallahassee is hilly and 

rolling and the surface covered with red sandy clay (referred to the 

Appoinatoxby McGee), which forms the soil and is the only material to 

be seen in the cuts on the railroads and wagon roads.

In a ravine 2 miles west of the town were found a large number of 

masses, 2 feet thick, of hard, white siliceous limestone, which do not 

form a continuous bed, but occur in soft gray argillaceous sand 8 feet 

thick, unconformably overlain by the red sandy clay referred to, which 

here, together with the surface soil, forms a layer 3 to 10 feet thick. 

This rock recalls that observed by the writer at Bowleys Creek, Sarasota Bay, and like it contains Pecten and Ostrea and other old Miocene 

fossils.

One mile west of this place, on the farm of G. H. Meginnis, Mr. John 

E. Davids has dug a shaft 60 feet deep in search of phosphate rock. 

This well is said by Mr. Davids to pass through .

Feet.

1. Surface soil and red clay ................................................. 10-12

2. Light green clay .............. .......................................... 14

3. Green clay, with fragments of shell....................................... 2

4. Fine white sand, with a little clay and some fragments of hard sandstone.. 16

5. "Soft phosphate" ........................................................ 9

6. " Hard phosphate "........................................................ 10
TAMPA GROUP LIMESTONES. 121

Nos. 5 and 6 contained irregular fragments of rock, said to be phosphatic and apparently an altered Miocene limestone; some fossilil'erous 

fragments of that age in the field near by were said to have come from 

an old well.

At Lloyd, a station 18 miles east from Tallahassee, all the streams of 

the neighborhood floAV northward and disappear in sinks. At the station a rock said to be phosphatic was struck at the depth of 20 to 25 feet 

in digging a well. This is overlain by clay, in which, at the depth of 

8 feet, was a bed of large oyster shells.

Two and a half miles east of Lloyd a large creek called the Miccosukee Drain flows from a lake of the same name and sinks into the 

limestone. The latter appears to be Tampa limestone, with abundance 

of Orlitolites floridanus Con., and other fossils; it is about 10 feet thick, 

and contains more or less cherty matter. Similar rock was exposed at 

a sink 1£ miles south of Lloyd, resting on greenish clay. Five miles 

southwest of Lloyd the country becomes less flat and the red clay again 

appears on the higher ground. It also is seen near Monticello.

South of the railway, at Weelaunee, Jefferson County, on Bailey's 

plantation, a Miocene limestone with the characteristic fossils occurs in 

a bed about 3 feet thick, which has been quarried for lime. It is covered by about 2 feet of surface soil, and the upper part is fragmental. 

At the farmhouse, which is on a hill a mile away, a well 100 feet deep 

has recently been dug, from the lower third of which much rock of the 

same sort has been taken. Phosphatic rock, probably of the same age, 

has been found at a third point, in low ground, on the same estate.

The Suwanee Eiver is crossed by the railroad just east of Ellaville, 

and a light yellowish limestone is exposed here in the banks of the 

river. Mr. Stanton was unable to stop at this point, but specimens 

collected there by L. C. Johnson, and now in the National Museum, 

show that the rock is probably Tampa limestone.

Mue miles east from Ellaville on the railroad is a " rock cut," where 4 

feet of Miocene limestone and calcareous clay is unconformably overlain 

by 4 feet of red and yellow clay. The limestone is of the Tampa beds, 

and contains the usual molluscan fossils, represented by rather imperfect casts, which have been more or less filled with crystals of calc-spar. 

The ground is comparatively high at this point, though the surface is 

more level and the hills lower than at Tallahassee or Monticello.

These observations and collections of Mr. Stanton are of much importance, since they confirm, by unimpeachable evidence, the Miocene 

insulation of central Florida, wliich had been regarded as probable by 

the writer previously, chiefly on theoretical grounds.

Taken in connection with the observations of Mr. Burns on the Altamaha grits of Georgia, they show that the passage between Florida 

and the mainland, here termed Suwanee Strait, and now occupied by 

the Okefinokee and Suwanee SAvamps and the trough of the Suwanee 

Kiver, was a wide, and even in Miocene times a moderately deep, body
122 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

of water, tlie general trend of which did not differ much from that of 

a line drawn from Savannah to Tallahassee, and which had a probable 

width of more than 50 miles.

Gliipola, marl. This bed contains the lower marl bed of Langdon's 

section. Owing to a lower stage of the water at the time of his visit, 

and more detailed study of Alum Bluff by Mr. Burns, he was better 

enabled to determine its thickness, and discover a considerable westward 

extension of its area.

At Alum Bluff the Chipola marl bed is about 5 feet thick and well 

characterized by a species of Ortltaulax (0. gdbbi Ball), different from 

0. pugnax of the bed at Tampa, and also from that originally described 

by Gabb from, the Miocene of Santo Domingo.

At Baileys Ferry, on the Chipola Eiver, an affluent of the Appalachicola from the west, the Chattahoochee beds are overlain by a 

stratum of yellowish calcareous sand containing well preserved fossils, 

identical with those at Alum Bluff, but in much better condition. The 

same bed is reported by Aldrich over phosphatic rock at De Leon 

Springs. It, or its analogue, exists in the Miocene rocks of Santo 

Domingo, from, which Sowerby and Gabb have described so many 

species. Similar beds exist in Venezuela, Curacoa, Trinidad, Barbuda, 

Anguilla, Haiti, Jamaica, and probably in Cuba. They have numerous 

species in common with the Chipola marl and the Orthaulax bed of 

Tampa, the differences not being greater than the faunal differences 

between the cited localities at the present day. Some of the interesting forms first described from this rich fauna, like Botlirocorbula,, are 

absent from the immediate vicinity of the present coast, but still exist, 

living, in the greater depths off shore.

The White Beach bed has afforded 40 species of molluscan fossils; 

the Tampa Orthaulax bed about 165 , the Chipola marl about 400 species, 

part of which have been determined. Sixty species have been enumerated from the Tampa limestone, of which more than one-half are 

known to be common to the Orthaulax bed. It should be added that, 

as one might expect from its position in the column and relations to 

the subjacent Eocene, these rocks contain a certain number of Eocene 

species which afterward die out. A few small specimens of Ostrea 

sellaformis (0. divaricata Lea) appear in the beds, as well as a certain 

number of Vicksburg fossils, and nearly the whole Chattahoochee 

fauna, as far as yet known, reappears in the Chipola beds.

Alum Bluff beds. Over the richly calcareous rather ferruginous, 

Chipola marl at Alum Bluff we find a total change of material and a 

total disappearance of the fauna. There are from 5 to 15 feet of gray 

siliceous sand and a little clay, without fossils, while above that a radical change of fauna is revealed by the fossils of the Ecphora bed.

To these transition strata I would apply the provisional name of the 

Alum Bluff beds, until such time as fuller information shall be available. 

That they represent in the series at Alum Bluff a period of important
DHARUISD ! CHESAPEAKE GROUP. 123

changes of level and probably of sea temperatures, and no inconsiderable portion of geologic time, is hardly open to dispute.

Chesapeake group. For the Miocene strata extending from Delaware to Florida, but best developed in Maryland, Virginia, and the 

Carolinas during the Yorktown epoch of Dana, including a large part 

of Heilprin's Marylandian, Virginian, and Carolinian, I propose the 

name of the Chesapeake group. On this noble bay and its estuaries, 

forming the greater part of the Patuxent, York, and James rivers, 

these beds are displayed in all their breadth, and the Chesapeake 

waters may almost be said to be inclosed in rocks of this group. I 

have been unable to use Heilprin's names, as they have never been 

recognizably defined so that one might say, from a knowledge of the 

fossil fauna, such and such a bed is "Virginian" or "Carolinian;" 

neither am I convinced that these names correspond with precision to 

any definite geologic facts.

That there is a gradual change in the fauna from the older beds to 

the newer ones may very probably be the case; but no careful stratigraphical evidence has yet been combined with such a statement of the 

fossil fauna of each stratum as to put the matter in a sufficiently clear 

light for intelligent discussion, still less for geographical apportionment. That the lowest beds of Shiloh, New Jersey, and perhaps some 

of those elsewhere, correspond to the Tampa group there is some reason 

to su spect; but even here revision and comparison of the species comprising the fossil fauna is necessary before positive conclusions can 

be safely drawn.

For the strata bordering on the Chesapeake in Maryland and Virginia which belong to the Miocene, Darton has proposed 1 the name of 

the Chesapeake formation. This term as used by him is equivalent to 

"Miocene" as heretofore understood in these states, and is the stratigraphic homonym of the chronologic "Yorktown epoch" of Dana.

The term Chesapeake group, as independently suggested, here includes 

as typical Darton's Chesapeake formation and also all other beds belonging to the same horizon and containing the same general fauna on 

the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.

The Carolinian Miocene is presumably closely analogous to the 

Ecphora bed at Alum Bluff, and represents the later beds of that 

epoch, but the terms Carolinian and Sumter, as heretofore used by 

most authors, involve assumptions which seem dubiously true, and for 

that reason I am unwilling to adopt either term. As originally used by 

Dana they were chronologic, and not stratigraphic terms.

It is obvious from what has preceded that the term Middle Miocene 

is inappropriate if used to denote what seems to be the culminating 

series of Miocene deposits on our Atlantic coast, as is done by Heilprin 

under the assumption that what I regard as the mixed Neocene of

1 Mesozoic and Cenozoic formations of eastern Virginia and Maryland, by N. H. Darton, Bull. Geol. 

Soc. Am., May, 1891, vol. 2, p. 443, This use of the name was not known to the writers of this essay 

until the essay had been practically finished.
124 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

South Carolina is a homogenetic deposit. Consequently I am obliged 

to bring in a new term, which shall have no ambiguity in its meaning, 

and in which I intend to include all the marine Miocene of eastern 

America possessing a fauna newer than that of the Tampa group, and 

of which such species as JEcphora quadricostata, Fusus equalis, Perna 

maxillata, Mactra congesta, and the great Miocene Pectens are illustrative members. It is quite possible, when this group of beds has been 

properly investigated, that an opportunity may arise for subdividing it. 

At present, however, no satisfactory data exist warranting such subdivision ; even the upper limits of the oldest Virginian fauna, in terms 

of stratigraphy, are entirely unknown.

The Chesapeake group is represented over a very wide area in 

Florida, if the scattered observations already made can be regarded as 

indicative of its extension. Borings on the eastern coast of Florida 

and in the St. Johns valley indicate that there the beds of this group 

in some places attain a thickness of at least 500 feet.

The Ecpliora bed. At Alum Bluff the group is represented by what 

I have termed the Ecphora bed, of gray marl, with over 100 species of 

fossils many of which are common to North Carolina, Virginia, and 

Maryland. It has a thickness here of 30 feet or more. One mile west 

of Baileys Ferry, on the Chipola Biver, the same bed appears with the 

same fossils and probably a somewhat greater thickness. Mr. Burns 

also traced it along the hills east of the Appalachicola Biver from 

about 5 miles above Bristol to a point 8 miles below that place, thus 

giving the outcrop a breadth of at least 13 miles, while along the 

Chipola he believes it may attain fully 20 miles. L. 0. Johnson, of the 

U. S. Geological Survey, has made a small collection from what is 

probably the western extension of the same bed, 5 miles east of De 

Funiak Springs, in Walton County; and on the branches of Shoal Eiver 

above Crestview, in the same general direction, he reports marl with 

abundance of fossils, which are likely to prove of the same age.

To the eastward of the Appalachicola Eiver for some distance no 

observations are on record.

At 15 miles west from Tallahassee Mr. Joseph Willcox recently found 

a bed of white marl containing Mactra congesta, Lucina crenulata, Corbula dietziana, and Dentalium attenuatum, which clearly belongs to 

the same group. Johnson reports an extensive deposit of marl in the 

vicinity of Tallahassee.

Jacksonville limestone. At Jacksouville, Florida, in Duval County, in 

the excavation made for the city waterworks, a porous, slightly phosphatic, yellowish rock, derived from indurated calcareous sand, was 

discovered. 1 It contains numerous molds of fossil shells belonging to 

the newer Miocene fauna. The same was apparently exposed on Black 

Eiver, Clay County, and Preston sink, 3 miles north of Waldo, Alachua 

County, wherePectenjeffersonius, Carditamera arata, etc., were obtained.

' E. A. Smith, Min. Res. TJ. S. for 1885, p. 251.
ECPHORA AT LONG KEY. 125

West of Jacksonville, at Live Oak, Suwanee County, and Lake City, 

Columbia County, specimens of fossils were obtained Avhich may prove 

to belong rather to this than to the Chattahooch.ee group of beds.

The borings at Jacksonville passed through what appears to have 

been this rock for nearly 300 feet. East of Jacksonville, at St. Augustine, similar borings were prosecuted when Venus rileyi, V. permayna, 

and Area, limula were obtained at a depth of 208 feet, while at 224 feet 

the characteristic fossils of the Vicksburg appeared.

Farther southward, at Bock Springs, near Zellwood, Orange County, 

Smith1 obtained from a limestone bluff at least 10 feet high Pccten 

madisonius, Venus alveata, Venericardia granulata, Carditamera arata, 

Mytiloconcha incurva, Cardium sublineatum? and Oliva literata? which 

indicated decisively the Upper Miocene age of the outcrop. About 150 

miles farther south an artesian boring near Lake Worth reached the 

Vicksburg rocks at a depth of 1,000 feet. This well was evidently 

bored through deposits, in part at least, of the nature of talus, since 

if the depths at which the specimens were obtained above the Vicksburg were correctly stated (which is open to grave doubt), several 

very remarkable inversions of Tertiary rock and recent coquina occurred. 

However, at an indeterminate point between the surface and 1,000 feet 

below it a few Upper Miocene fossils were obtained, including a Corbula 

and Dentalium attenuatum, so abundant iu the Ecphora bed. This is 

valuable chiefly as indicating the southernmost point where beds of the 

Chesapeake group are known to occur on the Atlantic shore.

Manatee River marl. In the western portion of the peninsula a few 

localities are known for beds of this age. At Eocky Bluff, on the right 

bank of the Manatee River, a few miles above Braidentown, Heilprin2 

found Pecten madisoniiiSj P. jeffersonius, Venus alveata, Perna maxillata, Area incongrua, and other Upper Miocene species. The so-called 

" bluff" is a ledge of rock, 2 or 3 feet above the waj^r level at the time 

of his visit, which consisted of a basal white marl and yellowish sandstone and an overlying siliceous conglomerate. The latter, which is 

probably Quaternary, is almost entirely deficient in organic remains. 

The marl is " densely charged with them." It is probably from more 

westerly submarine strata belonging to this series of beds that was 

derived the Ecpliora collected by Dr. Stearns in 186S-'G9 on the beach 

of Long Key. At one time I was inclined to refer this specimen to the 

silex beds,3 but subsequent study of the stratigraphy has led me to 

renounce that idea, since the Eepliora belongs to a later horizon, similar 

to that of the Manatee River stratum. Further search showed, according to Prof. Heilprin, that the marl at the Manatee River locality 

" thinned out and disappeared after a short distance, but the yellow 

sand rock, largely honeycombed and containing much fewer fossils, 

many of them identical with the forms of the marl, continued up the

1 Am. Jour. Soi., 3d ser., 1881, vol. 21, p. 302, 3 Trims. Wagner Inst., vol. 8, p. 125. 

*Trana. Waguer Inst., 1887, vol. 1, p. 13.
126 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

river to the farthest point reached by us." (Op. cit., p. 13.) Prof. 

Heilprin does not state whether the marl was above the yellow stone 

or sand rock or below it, or whether he regards the latter as simply 

another aspect of the bed elsewhere preserved in the shape of marl. 

But if the yellowish rock was below the other, as the context seems to 

indicate, it might be identical with the Tampa limestone found both 

north and south of this locality at no great distance. However, this 

supposition is rendered doubtful by the fact that in a similar rock which 

occurred in the banks of Phillips Creek, flowing into Sarasota Bay, 

Prof. Heilprin found casts of Peoten madisonius, P. jeffersonius, and 

Area idonea ? beside others which appeared identical with fossils of the 

Manatee River rock. The bed on this creek rises at intervals to 2 or 3 

feet above the water. The fossils are in the form of molds or impressions and poorly preserved. At one or two points near the mouth of 

Phillips Creek this rock is seen to be overlain by 2 or 3 feet of compact 

coquina composed of triturated fragments of the recent shells of the 

coast. At Whittakers, a point a few miles south of Hunters Point, in 

the northern part of the bay, a similar rock was noted, but without recognizable fossils. These imperfect data indicate the most southern 

extension of the Chesapeake group which has yet been determined on 

the western edge of the Floridian peninsula.

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF TUB FLORIDIAN MIOCENE.

The notes herewith given indicate that the older Miocene rocks surround more or less completely the original Eocene island or nucleus of 

the peninsula on the northwest, southwest, south, east, and northeast. 

On the north and northwest they exist over a large area only in patches 

indicative of greater original extension, the connecting deposits having 

been removed by solution or erosion over much of this area. On the 

west they are for the most part submerged, the Eocene, except in the 

river valleys, reaching to the Gulf coast.

In the De Soto basin they are overlain by Pliocene and Pleistocene 

beds, but appear again in the eastern anticline, the mass of which, if 

our information may be relied upon, is probably mainly composed of 

Miocene rocks, of which the older series east of the ridge dips rapidly 

under the newer rocks, reaching a depth of probably more than 600 

feet at the present eastern margin of the peninsula.

In the western part of the State, near the Appalachicola River, the 

formations succeed each other regularly; the Eocene, old Miocene, 

Newer Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene appearing one after another 

as one passes from the State boundary south to the Gulf. The near 

approximation of the depressions occupied by the great Suwanuee and 

the Okeefinokee swamps, and the beds of Miocene known to exist on 

the highest part of the watershed between them, point toward a submersion in Miocene time of much of this region and the insularity of 

the area above the sea to the southward. *
PLIOCENE DEPOSITS. 127

During the Chesapeake epoch northeastern Florida must have been 

deeply submerged and over five hundred feet of rocks belonging to 

the Chesapeake group were laid down in this embayment. A deposition of strata of this age went on along the whole Atlantic border at 

least as far south as Lake Worth, though at present buried over much 

of this coast by Pleistocene deposits. Newer Micocene in the northern 

halt of the peninsula appears on both sides of the older Miocene ridge. 

In the central basin and to the south it is buried under Pliocene or 

later beds; in the southwest a single small patch is known; in the west it 

must necessarily exist, if at all, underneath the waters of the Gulf outside of the older Miocene, a supposition to which the washing up of 

Ecpliora on Long Key lends a certain plausibility. The preservation 

of its shell structure indicates that the bed from which it came was 

under the sea, since no beds of Miocene rocks are known in this part 

of Florida, where rainwater has access to them, which retain the natural structure of their shell-fossils. On the other hand salt Avater does 

not erode or dissolve the fossils in the same way, because at moderate 

depths it does not contain carbon dioxide in sufficient quantity.

The Grand Gulf beds enter the State only in its north western extreme 

as far as known, and more information is urgently needed.

The appearance of mammalian bones in the Sopchoppy limestone 

indicates the preservation of remains of Avarm-bloodod vertebrates considerably older than those of the Alachua clays on the Peace Creek Pliocene bed. It is likely that these bones are sirenian or cetacean, but too 

little is yet known to hazard any conclusions upon them. It is probable that the bones from the clays near Wakulla, which have achieved 

popular notoriety, are of later origin, perhaps Pliocene j but here, again, 

our information is deficient.

PJJ.OCENTC DEPOSITS.

Terrestrial fauna, the Alachua clays. Later in this essay I shall 

endeavor to indicate all that is known to date of writing of the marine 

Pliocene beds of Florida, but there is another formation to be spoken 

of which has been referred by some authorities to the Upper Miocene, 

though regarded by others as late Pliocene or even Pleistocene. This 

comprises the deposits of clay containing bones of extinct mammalia 

which, in my report to the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey in 

1885, I termed the Alachua clays.

These clays occur in sinks, gullies, and other depressions in the Miocene, Upper Eocene, and later rocks of Florida, especially on the Avestern anticline in the higher portions of Alachua County, and along the 

banks of many of the rivers and streams. They appear in Alachua 

County to have been subjected to denudation after deposition, so that 

only those portions protected by their depressed position in cavities or 

gullies of harder rocks remain undisturbed. The clay is of a bluish or 

grayish color and extremely tenacious, so that it is most difficult to dis-
128 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMERICA. [BUMUM.

cover remains imbedded in it. Dr. J. C. Neal was among the first to 

notice these remains and brought them to the attention of geologists 

in 1883. To his exertions and those of later collectors is due most of 

our knowledge of the mammalian fauna contained in them. The clays 

occur in patches, usually in depressions, but occasionally in short ridges 

whose lateral buttresses of liinerock have disappeared through the dissolving agency of rainwater and carbon dioxide. These deposits are 

believed by Dr. Neal to have a definite relation to the margins of the 

ancient De Soto Lake which occupied more or less the synclinal trough 

eastward from the westward anticline. The rather limited opportunities for observation which the writer enjoyed in 1885, while examining 

these clays, did not show anything to antagonize this view of Dr. Neal, 

which, however, requires more evidence to receive definite acceptance.

The appearance of the hones suggests that the'animals were mired and then torn 

to pieces by predatory carnivora. Ashes and burnt clay were found under some of 

the bones at Hallowell's ranch, but there is no evidence of any human agency in 

this. The fire was probably due to lightning, an every-day occurrence in Florida 

at the present time. The longitudinal splitting of the long bones sometimes observed may often be the result of the penetration and growth in the hollow of the 

bone of roots which might afterwards decay and leave 110 sign. I have observed 

roots penetrating the bones on several occasions. 1

Among the localities to be noted are: In Alachua County, Mixon's 

farm, 10 miles south and 1£ miles east of the railway station at Archer; 

Hallowell's place, 10 miles north and 2 miles west of the station; a pond 

about one-fourth of a mile from the station; another in the vicinity of 

Mixon's, 2 miles northwest of the first; a ditch about 2£ miles west of 

Gainesville; a spot where the railway crosses the Santa Fe River, near 

Gainesville; 1 mile north of Gainesville, on the Newnansville- road, in 

a ditch dug for a mill jace; and Owen's, nearer the town. Other localities are: Clay Landing, on the Suwanee River, near Fort Griffin, 

Levy County; Eocky Creek (old Tampa Bay), Hillsboro County (Bison 

latifrons) ; Philipps' quarry, Ocala, Marion County.

At Arcadia, on Peace Creek, Manatee County, and some points on 

the upper Caloosahatchie Eiver, Monroe County, and also in Wakulla 

County, similar remains have been found, associated with phosphatic 

gravel or nodules in the beds of streams, which has been segregated 

from the material of the banks by the action of the water much as in 

the South Carolina Pliocene or Pleistocene, where vertebrate remains 

are associated with nodules of phosphate of lime sufficiently rich to 

have resulted commercially in an important and well known industry.

In the case of the South Carolina remains, as it appeared to have 

been of late conceded that they are derived to a greater or less extent 

from geological horizons outside the limits set for this essay, though at 

one time supposed to be of Pliocene age, we have not attempted to 

consider them. But, in the case of the Floridian vertebrate fossils, 

more doubt has been raised by the fact that one, at least, of our most

 Dull, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, p. 1C5.
DALL AND

HARU1S VERTEBRATE REMAINS. 129

distinguished vertebrate paleontologists has repeatedly asserted his 

belief in their Miocene or Pliocene age, though they have by others 

been referred to the Pleistocene, like most of those from South Carolina.

For this reason it has seemed desirable to state the facts upon which 

these different opinions are based, as understood by experts in vertebrate paleontology.

The specimens from the Alachua clays identified by Dr. Leidy are of 

the following species:

Rhinoceros proterua 

Mastodon floridanus 

Megatherium sp. 

Auchenia major 

Auchenia minor 

Auchenia minima 

Gervus (virginianus?) 

Hippotherium inyenuum

Rhinoceros proterus 1

Mastodon fioridanns I

Hippotherium ingennum (. From Mixon's, 10 miles east from Archer.

Hippotherium plicatile \

Auchenia major J

From Archer.

Elephas columli 

Equus frater mis o 

Auchenia minima 

Machairodus floridanus

From Ocala, Marion County.

The following specimens have been obtained from a bed which extends 

for miles along the banks of Peace Creek, Manatee County, near 

Arcadia.

Tapirus americanus.

Elephas colu-nM.

Mastodon sp. (not M. floridanm).

Hippotherium vngenuum.

Eqiius fraternns.

Hison americanus.

Cei'vus virginianus.

Megalonyx jeffcrsonii.

Chlamydotheriiim Hu-niboldtii.

Crlyptodon sp.

Hoplophorus euphractus.

Manatus antiquus.

Priscodelphimi8 sp.

Emys euylypha.

Trionyx sp.

flupachemys sp.

Testudo crassiscutata.

Alligator mississippiensis, .and a variety of 

fish remains, including teetli of Carcharodont Galeocerdo, Myliobalis, etc.

From the Pliocene beds of the Caloosahatchie were obtained:

Bison latifrons. 

Elephas columM. 

Equus fraternus.

In regard to the equivalence of this fauna, assuming it to be all of

one epoch, which is still to be deter mined, Dr. Leidy writes that he has

not yet come to any final conclusion, but thinks there are no species

identical with those of the Loup Fork horizon. " The three forms of

Bull, 84 9
130 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Auchenia according to him " seern to belong to Palceolama,.founded by 

Gervais on remains from the Pampean formation of Buenos Ayres." 

A specimen once obtained from Virginia, and at that time referred to 

Procamelus, Dr. Leidy now thinks " more nearly related to the living 

Auchenia." In regard to the latter Prof. Cope states that its stratigraphical provenance is doubtful, and it can not be positively stated 

that it came from the Miocene of Virginia, as was once supposed.

In regard to the remains from the Alachua clays, Prof. Cope furnishes the following note:

The vertebrate fauna [referred to] presents a mixture of species and genera 

which are found in the West in two different horizons, viz, the Loiip Fork and 

Equus beds. This may be seen by the following table of comparisons:

Loup Fork.

Machairodus catocopis Cope. 

Rhinoceros (Aphelops) fossiger*

Cope. 

Rhinoceros (Aphelops) malacorhinus Cope. 

Hippotherium occidentale Leidy.

P'liauchenia vulcanorum* Cope.

Pliauchenia huinphreysiana* 

Cope.

Florida.

Glyptodon-'petal-i/erus Cope. 

Chlamydotherium humboldtii

Lund.

Machairodus floridanus Leidy. 

Rhinoceros (Aphelops) proterus*

Leidy. 

Rhinoceroi (Aphelops) longipes

Leidy.

Hippotherium princeps Leidy. 

Equus major Do Kay. 

Mastodon floridanus* Leidy. 

Pliauchenia major* Leidy. 

Pliauchenia media, Leidy. 

Pliauchenia minor* Leidy.

Equus Beds.

Glyptodon petaliferus Cope, 

C. humboldtii Lund.

Equus major De Kay. 

Mastodon serridens* Cope.

A few of the other described species do not throw any light on the question of age. 

Those marked with an asterisk are not yet shown to be distinct from the corresponding species of the other horizons. It thus appears that six species are allied to or 

identical with as many of the Loup Fork horizon of the West, while four are characteristic of the Eqnus beds of the East, of Texas and of South America. The epoch 

they represent is then probably between the two.

It would be presumptuous to attempt to decide so recondite a matter 

in the presence of two such experts as Drs. Leidy and Cope, but it 

will not be amiss to point out that both their conclusions, though differing somewhat, agree in referring the epoch of the Floridian mammals to a period related to the Equus beds or Pampeau formation, and 

perhaps somewhat earlier. .

The relations of the clays to the Pliocene Lake Do Soto, if Dr. Neal's 

hypothesis be confirmed, and the presence of some of the species in the 

undoubted Pliocene of the Caloosahatchie and the Pliocene age of the 

Peace Creek beds, all point in the same direction, and, while the determination of the precise epoch of the deposition of these remains in the 

clays may be regarded as still a desideratum, we may be permitted to 

conclude with some confidence that at least they are not Miocene.

Peace Creek bone bed. In view of the differences of opinion in regard 

to the age of the mammalian remains of Florida, the writer, in January, 1891, decided to visit the Peace Creek region, believing that there
I ARCADIA MARL. 131

an opportunity might be found for observing an interstratification of 

the in-i ;..e beds with those containing the mammalian remains, and 

that thus the age of the latter, relatively to the marine beds, might be 

positively settled, at least as far as the Peace Creek bed is concerned. 

This anticipation proved to be well founded, and the visit was completelyy successu successful in its sobject. oec. 1 £.os « SW/'i ^/ji/./.. !/-/" " ', " , *1 1 4t^5:*J- l:<'r- /'<V'><<

Some account of the condition and relations of 'ttie earlier Pliocene 

strata and their geographical distribution in Florida will follow under 

the head of Marine Pliocene beds. For the present it is only necessary to state that the "pebble phosphates" of Peace Creek are derived 

from the reduction into gravel of (1) a phosphatized and altered lime 

rock, and (2) of fragments of bones, teeth, and- other vertebrate remains, which generally, in addition to the phosphate of lime they naturally contain, have been subjected to the same conditions as the lime 

rock above referred to, on which they originally lay or in which they 

were more or less imbedded.

Arcadia marl. In the case of the Peace Creek bed the phosphatized 

rock in or over which the bones are situated is exposed in the bank of 

the river, in situ, near the mouth of a brook known as "Mare Branch," 

which enters Peace Creek from the east, about 6 miles north of Arcadia. The same rock is also visible along the branch, at several points, 

but there it is generally at or below the surface of the water in the 

branch and less easily inspected.

At the edge of Peace Creek the section exposed was as follows :

Feet.

1. Humus and white saud...... ............. ............................... 1-J- 6

2. Yellow sand .............................................................. 6 -10

3. Peace Creek bone bed, phosphatized rock with bones (about) .... ........ 1

( Yellowish sandy marl, to water's edge ..................... 3

4. Arcadia Marl | The8am6j ^^ water (about).......... .................. 3-6

The sandy strata above are the two beds of siliceous and argillaceous sand common to a great part of the peninsula. Varying in thickness along the creek the tAvo, combined, will average about 12 feet in 

thickness.

The phosphatized rock is a calcareous sand rock, originally light colored, but here blackened, or of various shades of gray or dark brown; 

it contains numerous imprints of shells in rather poor preservation, but 

which exhibit several distinctively Pliocene species, such as Area rustica, Turritella apicalis, T.perattenuata, and Cardiumfloridanum^Qsi&es 

a large number of forms which are to be found over a wider range. No 

trace of any characteristic Miocene species was to be found, though 

several species appeared which, are common to both Miocene and Plio-

 For facilities extended, information furnished, and various otlier courtesies, the writer is indebted 

to numerous gontleinen, resident or interested in the rejjion, and especially to Maj. M. T. Singleton 

and Pro -.Mont M. F. Kinulsun, of tlic, Poaoo Kivc.r Phosphate Company, of Arcadia: ^fr. G. W. Laud 

and Mr. J. H. Tatimi, of Bartow; Mr. F. J. La Penotiere, of Tampa, and Mr. Jaiuoa Willcox and 

Supt. I. T. Jieeks, of Orlando.
132 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

cene, as well as the recent fauna of the region; I have no doubt that 

this is the same rock which was obtained by Mr. Alonzo Oordery, with 

the shell impressions much better preserved, a little farther north from 

the Charlie Apopka Biver (sees. 2 and 3, T. 36 S., E. 25 E.), where, however, it is not phosphatized.

I do not hesitate to refer this rock to the older Pliocene, a horizon 

somewhat lower than that of most of the Oaloosahatchie beds, but containing a nearly identical fauna as far as it goes.

The mammalian bones at this point appear to lie on this stratum, and 

where it is broken up, as is most commonly the case, are mingled with 

its fragments and blackened in the same way. The fish remains are 

found lower down as well, but I found no evidence of any mammalian 

bones in the marl below the phosphatic rock. On a low point of beach 

where the bank showed the best exposure of the rock, the shore was 

blackened with fragments of the rock, mixed with an astonishing number of pieces of bone, largely fragments of ribs. Nothing could more 

clearly indicate the great number of the animals which found a final 

resting place here.

The marl which underlies the thin bed of phosphatic rock comprises 

a putty -like mixture of lime and sand, with minute phosphatic pebbles, 

a few small shark's teeth, and obscure prints of Ostrea, Spondylus, and 

other bivalves.

This marl, when exposed to the air, away from the water, rapidly 

hardens, sometimes forming a very hard and brittle rock, which 

splinters and rings almost like chert under the hammer. Nothing was 

observed in it to cause a doubt of its belonging to the Pliocene series.

The pebble phosphates of Peace Creek are derived almost exclusively 

from the worn fragments of this dark-colored rock and its associated 

bones.

Oyster marl. At a point on the west bank of Peace Creek, 3 miles 

below Mare Branch, and about the same distance north from the bridge 

at Arcadia is an old lauding, generally known as Singleton's Landing, 

just below which is a low flattened point of the bank called by Maj. 

Singleton Shell Point. This point would be covered at the stage of 

high water, but at the time of my visit presented the following section:

Feet.

1. Humus and white sand..................................................... 3-5

2. Yellow sand (indurated) ................................................... 3

3. Oyster marl (in part subaqueous)........................................... 2-4

This oyster marl is the remnant of an old oyster bed containing the 

same oysters, barnacles, and Pectens, Avhich abound in the Caloosahatchie beds. It is unmistakably later Pliocene and occurs with the 

same stratigraphical relations over a wide area of the Peace Creek 

drainage. Near Zolfo Springs it overlies the phosphatic stratum, but 

everywhere contains material, such as bones, phosphatic pebbles, casts 

of older Pliocene shell fossils, etc., derived from the beds below it,
LAKE DE SOTO. 133

In this way we have finally fixed the position of the Peace Creek 

bone bed, between an older Pliocene rock below and a newer Pliocene 

bed above, thus settling its Pliocene character beyond question. The 

Pliocene age of other beds containing similar fossils, such as the Alachua clays and the river phosphate deposits of other parts of Florida, 

as well as Qeorgia, South Carolina, etc., may reasonably be inferred 

from the preceding conclusion, though it must not be forgotten that in 

the solution or denudation of beds of different horizons their harder 

contents, such as bones and teeth, would remain associated in a heterogeneous assemblage, offering in some cases problems which greater 

knowledge than we have at present is required to solve.

Pliocene lake leds: Lake J)e Soto. The whole question of the existence 

of a Pliocene lake or series of lakes, is obviously at present in a hypothetic 

stage, yet such evidence as there is points strongly in this direction.

The trough-like form of the peninsula, the present existence of at 

least two principal aggregations of small lakes in the axis of this trough, 

and of the analogic Lake Okeechobee, illustrating the same geologic 

processes in action on the same line farther south; the kame like 

mounds and ridges'of the yellow sand, erected on the relatively level 

floor of this trough and molded as if by aqueous action, the existence 

of what appear like marginal beds of clay, as suggested by Dr. Neal 

all these facts so#m very suggestive.

The northern focus of this supposed ancient lake area would seem to 

have been in the vicinity of Orange and Santa Fe lakes; the southern 

focus somewhere near lakes Harris and Apopka; the area thus roughly 

indicated being now drained by the Withlacoochee, Oklahwaka and 

Santa Fe rivers. A watershed divides this area from the Kissimmee 

basin to the south. In harmony with Dr. Feal's theory of the marginal clays, we find this watershed marked in many places by a stiff, 

red clay, which is cut through by the railroad at Bartow Junction and 

at many points along the line between Bartow Junction, Lake Haines, 

Haines City (one of the highest points), and Kissimmee.

The Kissimmee basin, centering about Lake Hamilton and now connected by canal with the Okeechobee system, illustrates a second stage 

or duplication of the features we have referred to in connection Avith 

the more northern area. It is now drained to the south and west, and 

would seem, from its lesser elevation, never to have attained the solidarity and importance as a fresh-Avater area which we are inclined to 

claim for the De Soto basin.

In Lake Okeechobee and its surroundings, Avith the clayey deposit 

which is so characteristic of the fields of " sawgrass" by which it is 

encircled, we seem to have an exponent of the processes which, at an 

earlier period, characterized geologic action in the more northern basins.

Sand mounds of the Lake Region. It must especially be noted in 

considering these supposed lake basins that the mounds and ridges, 

chiefly of yellow sand, which diversify the present land surface, do not
134 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

reflect, as a rule, any similar irregularities of the rocks beneath. One 

of the geologic featares most strongly iusisted on by the well drivers 

and prospectors for phosphate, of whom the writer interviewed so 

many, is that the rocks below these bodies of sand are practically horizontal. In order to reach the rock on one of these sand hills, one 

must bore through practically the entire height of the hill, while near 

one of the depressed lakelets at a short distance away the rock will be 

found correspondingly close to the surface. This, of course, does not 

refer to the more general changes of level offered by the gently rising 

main anticlines of the peninsula and their intermediate synclinal depressions.

The form of the mounds of yellow sand, if referable to current action, 

Avould seem to indicate that the main lowering of the water in these 

ancient basins, though brought about, in all probability, by slow and 

gentle changes of level in the land, finally took place with some suddenness, as by the removal of some barrier of sand or clay which up 

to that time had held the waters in confinement at a higher level. Here 

again our information is too scanty to justify dogmatism.

PHOSPHATIC DEPOSITS.

General features of tlie beds. Although the presence or absence of 

phosphoric acid in combination with the lime rocks of Florida is a 

chemical and accidental rather than stratigraphical phenomenon it 

would seem, in view of recent economical developments, advisable to 

include some notice of the manner in which this combination presents 

itself. The remarks here offered must be regarded as merely provisional and preliminary, as a thorough investigation of these deposits 

by the U. S. Geological Survey has already been organized, but from 

which we can hardly expect results in time to be utilized for the purposes of this essay.

Notes on the phosphatic beds would seem perhaps to be as properly 

in place here as anywhere in this paper, since, though the process of 

phosphatization has doubtless been more or less active since the first 

elevation as an Eocene island of any part of Florida above the sea, 

yet those deposits which are of most commercial importance seem to 

have been formed in Pliocene time, or at all events, subsequent to the 

deposition of the older Miocene and Pliocene rocks, and are certainly 

anterior to the later marine Pliocene beds.

While the association of Pliocene bones and teeth with the phosphatic lime rock either bedded or in pebbles is very general, it is merely 

accidental. The bones occur in many localities where the rocks are not 

phosphatic, and phosphatic rocks are by no means invariably bonebearing. The natural phosphate of lime included in the fossil bones 

has no necessary connection with the phosphoric acid combined with 

the associated lime rock. In some cases, as on Peace Creek, it is obvious that a bed of rock over which bones were more or less scattered
DHARR^D ! ' PHORPHATIC DEPOSITS. 135

has been subjected to influences which have, added phosphoric acid and 

a little iron to both bones and rock simultaneously.

In all cases it seems reasonable to conclude that the extraordinary 

supply of phosphoric acid which appears in certain localities, and 

makes the beds commercially valuable, has been derived entirely from 

organic sources, probably in the shape of rookeries of birds or seals 

or other gregarious animals, whose dung afforded the acid in question. 

This material was .very probably carried into the subjacent porous lime 

rock nearly as fast as it was deposited, since there is no reason for 

doubting that Florida has always been a rainy region during certain 

portions of the year.

The local character of such rookeries would determine the local occurrence of phosphate rock, whose irregularities in this respect are 

notorious. The different forms under which the phosphates now present themselves would result from the different constitution of the rocks 

upon which the rookeries were originally situated; the difference in 

elevation and dryness or accessibility to occasional incursions of brackish or salt water; the existence or nonexistence of some subterranean 

water table in the particular localities; and subsequent solutionary or 

erosive action upon the rocks thus modified. The material of such 

rocks rearranged into later strata would preserve a certain proportion 

of phosphoric acid, even though, no subsequent additions of that substance were received by the new beds. A tendency under certain circumstances for the phosphatized lime to concentrate in nodules, or as 

shells over harder nuclei, is very marked. In this process it would 

seem as if the traces of iron in the rocks followed and joined with the 

phosphoric acid, since these nodular concretions are almost invariably 

darker colored than the rest of the rock, and, when subjected to river 

action, frequently become blackened by the resulting chemical action on 

the contained iron.

As argillaceous veins or sheets in the lime rock would check the 

percolation of the rain-water bearing phosphoric acid and give it more 

time to act on the lime about it, it occurs that the accumulation of 

phosphatic matter is apt to be larger in the vicinity of such clayey 

material.

To their generally rather impervious and argillaceous character is 

probably due the generally phosphatic character of the Hawthorne 

beds, which has been previously referred to.

The phosphate-bearing rocks of Florida* may, without reference to 

their chemical constitution, be provisionally classified by their outward 

appearance under several heads. It may be premised that the phosphatization of a rock seems to tend to obliterate the fossils in it, especially when the latter are in the form of casts. Rock well known to 

contain usually abundant fossil impressions, in places where it is 

thoroughly phosphatized will hardly present any trace of organic remains, other than bones, if the latter are present at all. Phosphatiza-
136 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

tion increases the hardness and insolubility of lime rock; the most 

phosphatic portions are the hardest, other things being equal. Therefore, in the natural attrition of river gravels, originally derived from 

phosphatic rock, the mechanical action of the current on the gravel 

segregrates the more valuable (harder) portions, wearing away the 

less phosphatic and softer parts, and thus naturally accomplishes a result for which no suitable machinery is likely to be devised. To this is 

due the uniformity in quality and high average of the "river" or "pebble phosphates," now extensively mined in south Florida river beds by 

a process of dredging and screening.

Floridite and phosphorite. There are two main varieties of phosphatic rock in Florida. One, which so far seems to be exclusively confined to the area of the old Eocene island on the western anticline, has 

been produced by the modification of rocks belonging chiefly to the 

Vicksburg or nuininulitic group. The phosphatic rock of Florida is 

chemically an impure massive apatite which has been called phosphorite 

and the Dunellon variety floridite.-1 The latter is generally soft, pale 

yellow or white in color, light in proportion to its bulk, amorphous in 

fracture, uniform in texture, and presents no traces of organic remains, 

even when the nummulitic rock of which it is a modification was originally little more than a mass of foraminifera. The segregation of this 

mineral in masses by itself seems quite as likely to be the result of 

chemical as of any other circumstances, and specimens in which the 

original organic character of the rock has not been entirely obliterated 

are sufficiently common. 'It would be unreasonable to suppose that 

large masses of guano could accumulate under the circumstances which 

are known to have existed in Florida. Neither the dry climate nor the 

impervious substratum, one or the other of which would have been 

necessary to the preservation of guano as such, were present in the locality where the floridite occurs. It seems likely, however, from the 

geologic and geographic distribution of this mineral, that its genesis 

was not entirely unconnected with the elevated site, free drainage, and 

notably absorbent rock which the old Eocene island afforded. This 

area must have been dry land most of the time since the older Miocene 

epoch, since no deposits of later date occur upon it except in connection with the supposed Pliocene lakes, or along the channels of the 

rivers.

Other phosphates. The other forms of phosphatic rock, which may be 

grouped under the general term phosphorite, are usually modifications 

of the Miocene or older Pliocene limestones. They comprise:

1. Lime rock phosphatized in place, a variety that is not abundant and 

often seems rather barren in phosphate of lime. (Ex.: Hawthorne beds, 

bed of Peace Creek.)

2. Fragments of phosphatic rock united in a softer, geologically later, 

limy matrix, itself not phosphatic. This variety is hardly more valuable

1 E. T. Cox, in Am. Naturalist, Dec., 1890, vol. 24, pp. 1185-1186.
KINDS OF PHOSPHATE EOCK. 137

though more common than the preceding, and is apt to be uneven in 

character. (Ex.: Devil's Millhopper at Gainesville.)

3. Segregated, gravel or pebbles of phosphatic rock united as above by a 

softer matrix. This having been subjected to a natural process of selection by mechanical forces is of a better quality than the unworn conglomerate (No. 2) and therefore more valuable. The same hard pebbles 

have been in many cases repeatedly consolidated in a matrix of softer 

lime, released from it by the action of water and reconsolidated into 

a later bed, a process which it would seem will only cease with the 

complete destruction of the pebbles by wear. (Ex.: Yellow marl of 

Peace Creek and the Alefia Eiver.)

4. Modular phosphate rock, produced by the alteration and rearrangement of the lime rock particles into concretionary phosphatic nodules, 

united by a softer matrix of less phosphatic lime. This variety occurs 

in masses or bunches of great irregularity, though often individually 

rich. This is the "rock phosphate" of many of the prospectors. The 

lime is often deposited over cavities in the rock in a drusy layer. The 

nodules are so poorly united by the softer matrix that a large mass can 

often be rubbed into a sort of gravel between the hands. A machine 

has been invented for doing this and segregating the nodules. O wingto a want of uniformity in percentages of phosphoric acid and the very 

irregular distribution of the larger masses in the soil, the prospects for 

the utilization of this variety of phosphates seem somewhat less promising than for the floridite or the "pebble phosphate" deposits. This 

variety appears to be more widespread in Florida than any other and 

occurs in rock of every age from the Eocene up. The nodules or pebbles which it contains, though similar in shape, are not the same as the 

phosphate pebbles obtained from the river beds of the Alefia and Peace 

Creek and are very much less uniform in quality. (Ex.: Some Bartow 

rock phosphates.)

5. Gravel or sand, itself not phosphatic, but coated with and united by 

a phosphatic matrix. This variety is not uncommon, and is said occasionally to have a local value as a fertilizer. The matrix appears to be 

derived from the disintegration of antecedently phosphatic rock. These 

oolitic, sometimes pisolitic, rocks are usually of very recent formation, 

often Pleistocene. (Ex.: Eock Island, Lake Monroe.)

6. Pebble phosphate. This results from the a'ction of rivers upon the 

other varieties of rock, reducing them, as well as any bones or teeth 

they may contain, to gravel. The hardness and value of contained 

phosphate, being relatively proportional in a general way, the older 

gravels will contain, on the whole, the best material, which is usually 

derived from varieties 1 and 2 arid their associated vertebrate remains. 

The pebbles are screened and dried, after being dredged from the river 

bottom by a centrifugal pump. They are then exported for conversion 

into soluble phosphates for fertilizers. Examples of this variety may 

be found in the river deposits of almost any part of Florida, but especi-
138 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

ally, as far as we know at present, such rivers as the Alefia and Peace 

Creek. Rivers in which the banks are composed of material geologically later than the older Pliocene do not afford the pebble phosphates, 

and the richness of others in this variety of the mineral will doubtless 

be found to be measurably connected with the development of old Pliocene strata along their banks.

River phosphates. In an article on the " Phosphate Beds of Florida" 

Prof. Albert E. Ledoux 1 speaks of the phosphatic nodules with which 

the Peace Creek remains have been stated to be associated, and 

states that "in appearance and composition this phosphate differs very 

little from the South Carolina material. They are identical" (op. cit., p. 

17C). He also notes that "the Florida deposits maybe divided into 

two distinct classes, one, ' the river deposits,' almost resembling in 

quality and manner of occurrence the South Carolina beds, and the 

other [floridite] totally different." The deposits of the first class, beside those above mentioned on Peace Creek, include others in Wakulla 

County, in the north, several points on Tampa Bay, the basin of the 

Alefia River, and even in the vicinity of Fernandina. Many years ago 

the officers of the TJ. S. Coast Survey called attention to the occurrence 

of such phosphatic nodules and vertebrate remains in the outlets of 

several of the western creeks and rivers of the State, but they attracted 

little attention except as curiosities. Experts representing the Charleston phosphate interests are said to have reported that, owing to the 

difficulty of access and expenses attending the collection of the material from these deposits, the South Carolina article need not fear any 

very immediate competition from this direction.

At present, however, the Charleston interests are investing largely 

in this region, and numerous other companies have secured territory 

which they are either working or about to develop. At one place, 

Zolfo Springs, the principal corporation concerned in the business not 

only gets out the "pebble phosphate" and prepares it for exportation, 

but manufactures soluble phosphates for local use as fertilizers.

It forms no part of the writer's plan to detail the commercial development of these interests, which, moreover, is so rapid in its progress 

that any account in this place would become obsolete before it could be 

made public. At the time of writing, however, it may be desirable to 

state that the production of dry phosphatic gravel from Peace Creek, 

dredgings is estimated to be about two hundred and fifty tons a day 

A rather full account of the business in Florida, from its economic side, 

by Dr. J. Shrader, has recently been issued by the Courier-Informant 

newspaper office at Bartow, Florida.12

As we ascend the Peace Creek drainage system toward its head the 

pebble phosphate, in the beds of streams comprising the system, naturally becomes less abundant in proportion to the smaller size and

1 Eug. and Mining Jour., Feb. 8, 1890, vol. 49, page 175.

2 Florida. The Underground Wealth and Prehistoric Wonders of Polk and Do Soto counties, 

Bartow. 1890. 34 pp. 8°.
FLORJDITE DEPOSITS. 139

inferior mechanical efficiency of these streams. Hence, in the peripheral 

portions of the basin attention has been chiefly directed to the varieties of phosphatic rock which, lower down, have been subjected to the 

segregative action of wear by the current. On the other hand, on the 

Alefia River it'would seern from the few data accessible that the lower 

part of the basin cuts through old Miocene rocks, while the upper part 

is situated in a newer Miocene or older Pliocene area. Consequently 

the deposits of pebble phosphate in this basin are richer at some distance above the mouth of the river than they are in its lower reaches.

Floridite deposits. These deposits are described by Prof. Ledoux as 

follows:

At present, for a description of the new discovery, we can confine ourselves to the 

Gulf counties south of Wakulla and north of Tampa. There seems to be also a 

gradual concentration towards a center well defined and whose area at this writing 

may be defined by a circle whose diameter is 30 miles and whose center is near Hernando, in Citrus County. This includes Dunnellon on the north and Floral City on 

the south and is roughly bisected by the Withlacoochee Eiver from southeast to 

northwest. * * * In this area it seems that almost anywhere a pit or auger will 

reveal phosphate. In no pit or opening that I visited in that section did I find it 

entirely absent. * * * The phosphate is found at varying depths below the surface, sometimes within 2 feet and sometimes 10 or 12 feet down. In sinking a pit it 

is sometimes difficult to tell where the clay ends and the phosphate begins; they 

shade into each other, at times gradually, at other times the clay is entirely absent, 

the sand being the only thing between the surface and the valuable mineral. When 

wet they are dark or light yellow, but usually a dazzling white when dry. The 

thickness of the beds is very variable. There is nothing to indicate it on the surface; it may be a few inches, or 10, 12, or 16 feet of solid mineral. * * * Prof. 

W. P. Frost states in a description of the Dunnellon field that "I myself saw an 

auger bored 16 feet into this stuff without going through it; it remained of the 

same'consistency throughout, perfectly smooth and free from grit. * * * The 

natives, who are ignorant men, not knowing the value of the material, testified that 

they had seen wells dug 60 feei through this material to reach water-bearing strata." 

He estimates for the Dunnellon field that 3,000 acres (out of 13,000) are underlaid by 

the mineral, which occurs in ridges and pockets, running by his analyses 50 to 65 

per cent and averaging between 55 and 60 per cent.

Prof. Ledoux personally observed material of a somewhat different 

sort occurring in Citrus County, a mile southeast of Rutland post-office, 

where, by sinking pits, phosphate in numerous nodules or masses, not 

in place, was discovered in the sand, making up fully one-third of the 

material excavated below a depth of 3 or 4 feet from the surface. 

These masses were of a yellow color and quite hard. These would 

seem to resemble the material at the Devil's Millhopper, elsewhere 

referred to as composed of fragmentary masses of the phosphatic Miocene rocks of the Hawthorne beds.

It is impossible for the most experienced person, according to Prof. 

Ledoux, to tell by the eye alone the difference between the white carbonate of the lime or phosphate, or between the calcareous clay and 

cream-colored phosphate.

He calls attention to the necessity of discriminating, in analyses, 

between the sand and clay mechanically mixed with the phosphate of
140 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

lime and the chemical silicates and phosphates of alumina, which are 

commercially worthless.

A surface indication, which is considered of value by some experts as 

pointing to the presence of phosphates below the soil, are masses of 

flint or siliceous rock protruding from the surface. "The area of the 

beds is sometimes defined from curious bowlders and masses of a hard 

phosphate rock, white or yellowish white, which has stood weathering 

remarkably, and which is quite rich in phosphate."'

It may be premature to venture on an opinion of the ago at which 

the phosphoric acid so marvellously preserved in these beds was 

deposited on the soft calcareous rocks which have furnished the lime. 

It may not be amiss, however, to point out certain facts which apparently have a bearing on this question. The phosphatic character of the 

Hawthorne beds would indicate that the source from which this phosphoric acid came was later than the deposition as lime rock. The rocks 

of the Chattahoochee group afford very nearly the soft and absorbent 

surface which would best appropriate the valuable element from fresh 

or rain-washed excreta, such as we may imagine were the source of 

the Florida phosphates.

At the upper part of the Orthaulax bed, which overlies the Chattahoochee group at the southern edge of the phosphate area, the presence of a large land-shell fauna (initiated in the ]ast days of the Eocene 

Ocala beds) shows that a considerable area had by that time become 

dry land with fresh-water ponds and knolls elevated above any tide. 

This land must largely have presented a surface of the Eocene nummulitic or Miocene Chattahoochee group rocks, and would afford an admirable locality for rookeries of birds or other guano-producing creatures. The character of the land fauna of the Orthaulax bed shows 

that it was derived from the south and not from the north, and the dry 

land of Florida may have borne to the Miocene continent much such a 

relation as the Bahamas islands and lagoons do to the present peninsula 

of Florida.

It seems, then, as if the facts pointed toward a more or less continuous deposition of phosphoric material between the older Miocene and 

newer Pliocene epochs, which was absorbed by the subjacent rocks, 

and which, preserved there in large masses, has furnished to later, even 

to actually forming, rocks in Florida the more or less evident traces 

of phosphoric acid which many of them present and which can hardly 

have been wholly derived from more recent sources of supply.

MARINE PLIOCENE BEDS.

The discovery of genuine Pliocene fossiliferous beds in south Florida 

is of comparatively recent date. It may be said, indeed, to date from 

the time when the Okeechobee Canal Company endeavored to extend 

the area of the rich hammock land about the lake by reducing its area.

'Ledoux, op. cit., pp. 17G, 177.
DHARius.D S MARINE PLIOCENE. 141

The latter was to be brought about by cutting drainage canals, and the 

explorations of the upper Caloosaha.tchie necessary to this end brought 

some intelligent people to a point where they could not avoid seeing 

the remarkable fossil shells of which the banks are so full. Some reference to this had appeared in a popular article 1 in one of the magazines, 

and among the earliest modern explorations recorded was that of Engineer J. L. Meigs in 1879. But the scientific exposition of these beds 

begins with the report by Prof. Heilprin of the results of the party led 

by Mr. Joseph Willcox and fitted out with the cooperation of the 

Academy of Natural Sciences and. the trustees of the Wagner Free 

Institute of Science, of Philadelphia, in 1886. This report was printed 

in the first volume of the Transactions of the Institute, published in 

1887. In the winter of 1886 and 1887 Mr. Willcox revisited the locality 

in company with the writer, and a third time subsequently. A description of the fauna of these beds has been begun in the third volume 

of the Wagner Institute's Transactions.2

Older marine Pliocene beds. More recent observations by the writer 

and others have resulted in showing that between the epoch when these 

beds were deposited and a subsequent similar, vastly more extended, 

but probably not vertically great depression, there was a time when a 

moderate elevation brought large areas above the sea, when the thin 

sheet of newer or Chesapeake group Miocene, which had been laid down 

about the island of Eocene rocks formed by the western anticline of 

the peninsula, was more or less eroded, when the northern part of the 

median syncline was perhaps occupied by the Pliocene lakes, or Lake 

De Soto, and when the innumerable Pliocene vertebrates wandered 

over the hummocks or left their bones in the tenacious mud of bogs or 

on the marshy borders of lagoons.

The marine beds of the Pliocene, which were laid down before this 

time of elevation, in the main, as far as examined, do not show any 

marked difference in the invertebrate fauna when compared with the 

newer or Caloosahatchie beds. This similarity of fauna is in itself 

strong evidence in favor of the moderate character, both in duration 

and vertical range, of the changes of level referred to. A very large 

area in central and southern Florida was probably covered by this 

older marine Pliocene. There appear to be traces of it at Clay Landing 

and other points on the lower Suwanee Eiver, and it is not unlikely 

that the whole great Suwanee swamp region may be underlaid by it, 

as well as the De Soto lake area. There are traces of it in the rocks 

of the upper Alefia, but farther to the west and north, on the Hillsboro, so far as known, if any of this rock was deposited it has since been 

removed. I incline to the belief, however, that the Hillsboro region, 

from its relation to the great western anticline, was not depressed below

1 Which the "writer of this essay read at the time and remembers] but has since been unable to trace.

2 Contributions to the Tertiary fauna of Florida by W. H. Dall. Part I, Pulmomate, Opisthobranchiate aad Orthodont Gastropoda. Aug., 1890. 4°, 200 pp., 12 pi.
142 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

the sea during this part of the Pliocene. The "pebble phosphates" of 

the upper Alefia, like those of the Peace Creek basin, are, as far as yet 

observed, entirely of this rock, and on the Alefla researches hitherto 

made have failed to find the subsequent marine Oaloosahatchie Pliocene represented. The writer has traced the older rocks in question 

up the Peace Creek basin to Bartow, where in one place it lies in a 

stratum only 3 or 4 feet thick over a knoll of Eocene nummulitic 

rock, but in general is of much greater, yet undetermined, depth; the 

phosphate rocks of the vicinity of Lakeland appear to be of this age. 

That it underlies the lake beds of the De Soto basin is probable from 

indications afforded by borings for phosphate near Tavares, in the very 

focus of that basin. The last traces on the northeast disappear at Orlando, just beyond which the Miocene makes its appearance on the rise 

of the eastern anticline.

To the south, along Peace Creek, this series of beds is covered by the 

newer marine Pliocene, at least as far as Zolfo Springs, but at Fort 

Meade the later beds would seem from report to be absent. The northern margin of the Caloosahatchie beds would therefore seem to lie 

somewhere between these two points. On the Charlie Apopka River 

(Sees. 2 and 3, T. 36 S., R. 25 E.) the older rock is abundantly represented. 

It has not been phosphatized, and, therefore, presents its fossil impressions in much sharper and better state than along Peace Creek; whether 

it is overlain by newer Pliocene on the Charlie Apopka is not yet known. 

On the Caloosahatchie and all the great southern region, owing to the 

very small elevation of the land, it is not known to crop out anywhere, 

the base of the Caloosahatchie beds themselves being below the level 

of the sea as far as yet known. It has, however, been dredged up from 

the channel of Tampa Bay at a depth of some 40 feet, while harbor 

improvements were in progress.

GaloosahatcMe beds (Floridian of Heilprin). As the Caloosahatchie 

beds are the original and typical exposure of the newer Floridian Pliocene, our description of that formation will best be opened by an account of the beds observed by the writer on that river in February, 

1887, when accompanying Mr. Joseph Willcox.

Prof. Heilprin1 has informed us that the level of the bottom of lake 

Okeechobee will average about. 10 feet above the sea level, or is composed of a plain having 7-15 feet of elevation, with a depth in the 

greatest observed depression of 22 feet, but an average of less than 

half as much water over it in a dry season. Lake Hickpochee, between 

Okeechobee and the head of the Caloosahatchie River, now connected 

with both by canal, is supposed by Prof. Heilprin to have practically 

the same level as Okeechobee. The canal, where it leaves Lake Hickpochee to the west, on its way to connect with the Caloosahatchie, is 

stated by Prof. Heilprin to be 20-22 feet above the sea level. He 

states that this is "about 11 feet above the base of operations near

'Trans. Wagner Inst., Vol. I, p. 41.
| CALOOSAHATCIIIE BEDS. 143

Fort Thompson." If this is intended fpr the water level, as the context indicates, it is probable that Prof. Heilpriuwas misinformed, as the 

depth of the river, considering the character of its bed and the volume 

of Avater, by no means corresponds to a fall of nearly a foot to the mile. 

It is not improbable that there has been some confusion between the 

height of the land, which varies considerably, and the level of the 

stream.

The Caloosahatchie River, in the proper sense of the word, begins at the northeastern extreme of the long estuary which bears the name, some distance above the 

town of Myers.

The banks at first are extremely low and screened by thickets of mangroves, which 

only disappear when the water becomes perfectly fresh. The laud appears nearly 

level. As the river is ascended a close scrutiny shows that it cuts through a succession of gentle waves, gradually increasing in height, inland, whose crests would 

show a general parallelism with the direction of the peninsula of Florida, or transverse to the average course of the river. Near the headwaters of the river these 

waves of elevation rise above the level of the river at low water, to a height of perhaps 12 feet at most, and their individual length from one trough to another may 

average about one-quarter of a mile. Though insignificant as flexures, they are interesting as showing that a lateral as well as a vertical thrust has attended the 

movements of the rocks in this part of the State, a fact which has been questioned.

The greatest elevation studied by us extends for several miles between the sites of 

the old forts Thompson and Denaud. At the former point the canal from Lake Okeechobee enters the river, its bed being a compact silicified rock, Avhich had to be 

blasted out. The succession of the strata is perfectly uniform, though the amount 

of their fossilferous contents varies. 1

Just below the rapids at Fort Thompson the following section was 

obtained:

Inches.

1. Vegetable mold and sand.................................................... 18

2. Indurated sand with fresh-water shells, post-Pliocene ........................ 8

3. Mixed marine and fresh-water shells, post-Pliocene .......................... 6

4. Pliocene Planorbis rock, to the water's edge ................................. 15

The Planorbis rock which forms the lowest member of this section 

is the hard rock which was blasted in making the canal; it reaches a 

thickness of 3 feet or more and overlies the so-called " Vcnuts cancellata bed," or upper stratum of the Caloosahatchie marls. In previous reports no strict discrimination has been made beween the Quaternary fresh-water indurated sand rock (No. 1 of the preceding section), 

which is the youngest of all and found widely spread over the peninsula, and the Pliocene Planorbis rock, which contains only extinct 

species or recent species also common to the Pliocene marl. I suppose 

that the " fresh-water limestone " which Heilprin refers to (op. cit., p. 33) 

as forming the bed rock of the canal is practically the Planorbis rock 

(more or less inclusive of the later rocks lying upon it as above), and 

this, according to Captain Menge, has been traced eastward a considerable distance; disappearing about 3 miles west of Lake Hickpochee 

at a depth of 5 feet 2 inches below the level of the surface of the water 

in the canal. It probably extends much farther eastward, and has

, in Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 34, p. 168.
144 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84.

been found by one of Mr. Eldridge's associates near the. eastern coast 

of Florida, in about the latitude of the southern end of Lake Okeechobee.

The same compact limestone, with the same species of PlanorMs, etc., occurs near 

Hillsboro Bay, Tampa, and has been dredged in large masses from the channel by 

which the harbor of Tampa is entered. This shows a very wide extension of this 

deposit, the two localities being some 90 miles apart in a direct line.

Two miles below the point where the last section was taken, the following section (Fig. 22) was measured on the south bank of the Caloosahatchie:

1 ____ 18". Sand and humus.

2 §jf?yx|vfej 18". Indurated yellow sand; no fossils.

3 2'. Sandy marl; Venus cancellata bed, with Sulla, eto.

4 3'. Compact marl.

5 §|£l||p| 18". Sand and marl.

PIG. 22. Section on the south bank of the Caloosahatchie Kiver, Florida.

Nos. 3, 4, and 5 are Pliocene, the upper layers probably Quaternary. 

A third measurement of the south bank, about 4 miles above Daniel's 

place, afforded the following section:

Inches.

1. Fine white siliceous sand................................................... 18

2. Vegetable soil, with some sand; shows black ................................ 12

3. Sandy marl, with Venus cancellata; shows gray.

4. Hard, eroded rock, with the same fossils; shows grayish.

5. Soft yellowish marl, with the same fossils as No. 3, but more lime and less sand 

and many worn siliceous nodules. Total (3, 4, and 5}........................ 66

The three lower layers grade into each other petrographically and 

have the same fossils, without exception. They belong to the Pliocene 

series.

Practically the same set of beds, measured about two miles and a half below the 

western end of the canal, gave 18 inches hniuns and sand over the same depth of indurated yellow sand without fossils, below which are 2 feet of sandy marl with 

Jiulla striata, Venus vancellata, and a multitude of Planorlris and 1'hysa; then 3 feet 

of compactor marl, with a great many marine fossils and comparatively few freshwater shells, the deposit containing irregular nodules, lumps, and strings of silicified 

material, often extremely hard, and in which the fossils are often represented by 

mere molds. Below this, which is the chief fossiliferous stratum, lies a foot and a 

half of sand and marl, with few fossils and many fragments and Avorn siliceous fragments against which the wa.ter dashes. This stratum in other places is consolidated 

to a tolerably compact rock, and the fossil bed above it to a flinty chert. The chert 

shows manifest indications of having been worn by the action of the waves, and one 

of my specimens shows a boring bivalve still intact in its burrow in one of the protuberances of this layer. In other places fossil oyster-banks, corresponding to the 

oyster marl of Peace Creek, could be clearly seen, but nowhere any coral reef, though 

small isolated heads of coral were not uncommon. The intermixture of fresh-water 

and marine shells is characteristic of the whole deposit, though the upper stratum 

contains proportionally many more fresh-water individuals.

The upper siliceous Planorbis rock was by the writer, 1 as well as by 

Prof. Heilprin, supposed to be Quaternary until the fossils were studied.

'Am. Jour. Sol,, 3d aer., vol. 34, p. 169.
OF CALOOSAHATCIIIE BEDS. 145

But careful study made on the spot showed that the supposed postPliocene age of the so-called uVenus cancellata bed" was an error, 

due to the fact that layers of Venus (CMone} cancellata Linne, of Quaternary age, are very common in Florida, and sometimes in the Caloosahatchie region overlie the Planorbis rock.

In this connection it may be stated that CMone cancellata is known 

from the Chipola Old Miocene marls, in no respect differing from recent 

specimens, and that it has continued as a conspicuous member of the 

Florida fauna (except during the epoch when the Ecphora beds were 

being deposited) up to the present day. Et is a warm-water shell and 

extended in abundance farther north during Chipola times and the 

newer Pliocene than during the period when the beds of the Chesapeake 

group were being deposited or at present. The last-mentioned periods 

were and are relatively cooler and the two former relatively wanner, 

judging by the fauna. The species has never been entirely absent and 

at the present day reaches as far north as Hattcras, in the warm-water 

area. It is also a shallow-water shell, living chiefly between tides when 

the climate is mild enough, and its abundant presence with Bulla is 

indicative of a formation laid down in quite shallow water. The T>ulla 

has in recent times also receded southward, probably for similar reasons.

The marls of the Caloosahatchie contain a large number of species, of 

which a fair proportion, perhaps 15 per cent, are supposed to be extinct; many of the others are known only from deep water. How many 

of the so-called extinct ones, like Amusium worfom, will turn out to be 

still living when the deeper waters of the Floridian coast are thoroughly dredged remains to be seen. A number of the species appear 

to be more nearly related to shells known from the Asiatic or Californian coasts of the Pacific than to the shells of adjacent waters. But 

these apparent relations depend a good deal on our ignorance of what 

the deep waters of the Gulf really contain. In their curious partial 

silicification these beds afford an interesting parallel to those of Ballast 

Point, and show that similar action has been going on since Miocene 

times on this coast.

The age of the Oaloosahatchie beds is more clearly Pliocene than that 

of any others which have been so called on our eastern coast. The time 

has not yet arrived, nor is our knowledge sufficient to enable us to decide finally as to tne chronologic relation of all of these terrestrial and 

marine Pliocene beds to each other. But without reference to their 

minor chronology the geological history of the Caloosahatchie marls 

is clearly stated in their structure.

The assemblage of species on the whole, in the principal stratum, is 

such as one might expect to find in water from 20 to 50 feet in depth, 

judging by what we know of living mollusks. Mixed with these are a 

certain number of shallow-water forms which may be supposed to have 

flourished as the water became shoal by elevation of the sea bottom. 

There were lagoons of fresh water and probably short streams emptyBull. 84 10
146 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [fcuLL.84.

ing into the sea, and in time of flood sweeping their fresh-water population out on to the shoals, where it perished. Part of the bottom became 

elevated nearly to the surface, oyster banks were formed on it, and the 

compacter parts became water-worn. The absence of shells, like Litorina and Nerita, seems to indicate that the dry beaches were muddy 

or sandy rather than rocky. In the course of time elevation so shoaled 

the water that only species like Venus cancellata and others able to liye 

between tide marks could remain. This portion of the formation constitutes the so-called Venus eaneellata bed, though neither of its component species is peculiar to it. Finally, the area became cut off almost 

entirely from the sea and occupied more or less by fresh-water ponds in 

which the pond snails multiplied in myriads. Drifting sea sand has 

buried these and in its turn has been covered with a thin coat of humus 

in which the pine, palmetto, and a host of scrubby plants make a fairly 

successful fight against the invasion of civilization.

The history of Ballast Point seems to have been much the same in 

Miocene times, except that there the land seems to have risen sufficiently to enable true air-breathing land snails to become abundant. On 

the Oaloosahatchie they are extremely rare, only one or two specimens 

having turned up among the thousands of fresh-water snails. On the 

other hand, if Ballast Point rose higher, it was afterward depressed 

lower, so that several feet of marine orbitolite rock could be formed 

over it. On the Caloosahatchie the thickness of the marine strata over 

layers of the Planorbis rock did not exceed 6 inches.

As it may be supposed that the admixture of fresh-water forms with 

the marine forms has been due to mechanical mixture after fossilization, 

which in certain places, where the marl is penetrated by roots from 

above, might have occurred, I will add in concluding that the same 

mixture occurs in the interior of the most flinty chert bowlders. It is 

curiously paralleled by the mixture found in material collected by the 

U. S. Fish Commission, in some of the inner lagoons of the Bahamas, 

where a similar series of geological changes may be supposed to be at 

this moment in progress. Among the fresh-water species is a large 

Cyrenella, a genus recently found by Hemphill living in a South Florida 

marsh. It has not been before known from the United States, was 

originally described from Senegal, and subsequently from Porto Eico.

No coral rock or coral reef formation was anywhere observed, though 

isolated small heads of coral are moderately common in some parts of 

the Caloosahatchie marl.

The uppermost stra,ta of the Pliocene beds begin to appear above the 

level of the river at low water (during the dry season) about 24 miles 

due east from the shore of Charlotte harbor, and they dip to the eastward out of reach about 30 miles farther east. Their total measured 

breadth here is thus at least 30 miles and includes the whole of the elevated land between Lake Hickpochee and the point on the river above 

mentioned. In this distance there are not less than twenty visible but
VARIOUS PLIOCENE OUTCROPS. 147

very gentle folds of the strata in the direction of the trend of the peninsula.

That these beds extend much farther north and south there can be 

very little doubt, though our information so far is fragmentary. The 

most northern point at which they have been actually observed is in the 

banks of a small stream crossed by the railroad a short distance north 

of the depot at Zolfo Springs.

On the Caloosahatchie the strata may be divided into oyster-reef marl 

beds, conchiferous or Turritella marl, and layers of sand; which intergrade without distinction and have no invariable succession, but always 

grade into the shallow-water fauna at the top, 1 which is overlain by the 

Planorbis rock, and this in turn by post-Pliocene deposits which are 

seldom of great thickness.

Near the north end of Charlotte harbor a small creek comes in from 

the cast called Alligator Creek. Here Mr. Willcox found an extension 

of the Caloosahatchie beds. The banks are about 12 feet high, the upper half being pure sand; the lower half contains fossils of Pliocene age, 

mollusks, barnacles, and flat Echinidoe. They differ from the Caloosahatchie deposits in being in pure sand instead of marl as a matrix. The 

upper half of the fossiliferous stratum shows the shallow-water fauna, 

with its usual partial admixture of strictly Pliocene extinct species. 

Some parts of the bed are united by siliceous cementation into a hard 

rock.

A little farther north Peace Creek enters Charlotte harbor above 

Punta Gorda. The banks of this creek are low for some distance, but 

Prairie Creek, Avhich enters the estuary from the east, has a south fork, 

known as Shell Creek, a short but navigable stream which heads among 

Pliocene beds. The banks are higher here than on the Caloosahatchie, 

being 25 feet at the highest point., but the difference is chiefly of unfossiliferous marine sand 12 feet deep,, Then comes about 2 feet of shallow 

water fauna with some Pliocene species, below which is a hard limestone stratum 2 or 3 feet thick, beneath which is a bed of conchiferous 

marl, like that of the Caloosahatchie. There are slight differences in 

the fauna, such as might be expected at points 20 miles apart.

The Myakka or Miacca Eiver comes into the Charlotte harbor from 

the northwest parallel with the Gulf coast, and its estuary is nearly at 

right angles to that of Peace Creek.

Here Mr. Willcox found a bed of lime rock at the sea level with 

uncharacteristic species poorly preserved. Above the lime rock are 

beds of shell marl considerably mixed with sand. In this deposit was 

collected about forty species of shells, of which about 10 per cent were

1 There are Pliocene beds of Venus cancellata and Sulla striata, and post-Pliocene beds chiefly composed of the same two species. For this reason the name " Venus cancellata bed " for the shallow 

wator part of the marine Pliocene is unfortunate, though very natural to anyone who has seen it. It 

will always require careful examination to determine to which series a bed of Venug cancellata should 

be referred, and some confusion has already occurred from taking the Plioctwe age of such a bed for 

granted. To distinguish the Pliocene and Pleistocene beds of this kind the latter might be called, 

from their most abundant fossil, the Bulla etriata marls.
148 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMEEICA. [CULL. 81

extinct Pliocene species. This bed seems to have fewer extinct species 

than the Caloosahatchie marls and may be regarded as a little younger, 

perhaps corresponding to the Flanorbis rock, which seems tc be absent 

on the Myakka.

Along Rocky Creek, which falls into Lemon Bay near Stump Pass, 

in about latitude 26° 55' west from the Myakka, a bed of Venus cancellata rises to about a foot above the water, or in many places forms the 

bed of the stream. It is probably the upper shallow-water layer of the 

Pliocene, as Cerithidea scalata Heilprin, a Pliocene species, lias been 

found near by on the beach of the bay.

On Peace Creek there are no banks high enough to afford a section, 

and no trace of Pliocene yet observed up to 3 miles above Fort Ogden.

Farther north, on Peace Creek, the Caloosahatchie beds appear at 

Shell Point, 3 miles above Arcadia, as previously described; 1 and I 

was informed that the same bed occurs on Joshua Creek, near JsTocatee, 

and at a point on Peace Creek 6 miles below the works at Arcadia, 

between that place and Fort Ogden. The same oyster bed is conspicuous in the banks of a small stream just north of the railroad station 

of Zolfo Springs. This stream, a feeder of Peace Creek from the east, 

has cut quite a deep gully, and the oyster bed occurs in the vertical 

sides about 2 feet, or possibly less, above the water when the latter is 

low, as in January, when I observed it. Above the oyster bed the 

elevation cut by the stream is composed of some 20 or 25 feet of yellow 

sand, with a foot or two of the white sand covering it. Some portions 

of the yellow sand here, as at Shell Point, are quite indurated and 

stand vertically like rock. The section can be well observed from the 

railway culvert.

Considerably east of Peace Creek beds of marl containing " large 

clams" have been reported to Mr. Willcox as occurring on the banks 

of Arbuckle Creek. Something of the same sort on the Kissiinmee 

River, near Fort Kissimmee, was mentioned to me by prospectors at 

Bartow who had visited that locality. Both these marl beds are likely 

to prove to be Pliocene.

The slight tilting of the plane of-the peninsula caused by the rise of 

the eastern border and a presumed equivalent depression of the Gulf 

coast opposite is indicated by the manner in which the Pliocene beds 

disappear west of the Tampa Old Miocene. The washing and dredging 

up of newer Miocene and Pliocene fossils along this shore may indicate 

the continued existence of beds Of both ages under the adjacent waters 

of the Gulf rather than wash from the existing shores.

Cerithidea scalatali&s been found on the shore of the Gulf near Casey's 

Pass, 17 miles northwest of Stump Pass, and near the entrance to Little 

Sarasota Bay, 6 or 7 miles farther in the same direction, which would 

indicate the presence somewhere in that vicinity of the Pliocene marl,

Finally, the presence of large fragments of older marine Pliocene and

1 See under the head of "Oyster marl," p. 132.
DHAP HARRIS. RA^D ! PLIOCENE IN YUCATAN. 149

of the Planorbis rock in tlie channel at Port Tampa, TTillsboro Bay, 

before referred to, carries the Pliocene nearly 50 miles farther to the 

northwest.

These data would indicate the original presence of the Caloosahatchie 

beds over a distance on the western part of the peninsula, roughly speaking, of 100 miles northwest by 50 miles southeast. On the eastern coast 

of Florida no marine Pliocene has yet been identified, and the first point 

where the characteristic species have since been recognized is in South 

Carolina, where a number of them are found and have not been discriminated from the Miocene of the Chesapeake group. Still farther north 

one of the species appears, with a few other extinct forms, in the marl 

which has been found underlying a part of the Great Dismal Swamp, in 

southeastern Virginia.

Recent observations by Heilprin l seem to indicate the presence of late 

Pliocene rock over a considerable area in Yucatan. A few, four or live, 

Caloosahatchie species are, according to Prof. Ileilprin, recognizable in 

the limestone of the Yucatan plains, but, judging from the list given, 

the fauna must have been at the very top of the Pliocene series, and 

none of the most characteristic Pliocene species occur in it.

PLEISTOCENE AJS~D RECENT DEPOSITS.

While it does not strictly enter into the scope of this essay to discuss 

the Pleistocene series, for the sake of completeness in connection with 

the description of the Florida region a few notes on the later strata of 

the peninsula are appended.

The beginning of Pleistocene time is generally taken as marked by 

the Glacial Epoch. Recently Spencer,2 Upham,3 and others have postulated an elevation of the land north of the Gulf of Mexico " for a short 

time" to a height of "not less than 3,000 feet," in the endeavor to account for the Glacial Epoch.

Without expressing any opinion as to the possibility of such an uplift 

farther north, the writer desires to put on record here the reasons why 

such an uplift in Florida seems to him incompatible with the observed 

facts:

1. It is inconceivable that such an uplift and downthrow should have 

taken place at the end of the Pliocene without some dislocation and 

disturbance of the rocks, which would be conspicuously shown in the 

geology. But the most conspicuous feature of Florida geology is 

admitted to be the absence of any such dislocations.

2. It is inconceivable that rocks of the incoherent character which 

makeup the peninsula of Florida, subjected to the torrential rains of 

their semitropical rainy season, should have been elevated to 3,000 feet 

above the sea without the carving out of canyons and the sculpturing 

of the topography in an unmistakable manner. The river beds would

1 Proc. Acad. Knt. Sci.Pliila. for .1891, pp. 141-143. 3 Am. Geologist, vol. 0, No. 6, Dec., 1890, p. 329. 

3 Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 1.
150 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

have been worn to great depth, and, if subsequently filled, the filling 

would be heterogeneous.

But the absence of any such cutting is self-evident, the rivers often 

flow over undisturbed Pliocene beds of shell marl and are mostly too 

shallow for anything but small boats.

The larger part of the St. Johns Eiver, which might appear to form 

an exception, is simply an elevated perezonal lagoon. This has become 

the channel of a drainage which is in no way related to the deposit of 

talus over which it now flows. In the so-called Indian Eiver we see 

such a lagoon which has not yet been so elevated.

3. The scouring of the surface due to the steeper gradient would haveleft undisturbed, under the summer rains, no totally incoherent beds. 

They would have been carried off and redeposited at the perezone everywhere.

But it is well known that such incoherent beds exist undisturbed in 

every part of Florida, and represent, as a whole, rocks of every series 

from the Eocene up.

4. The carving referred to would have made canyons in the gulf 

plateau (now submarine, then dry) west of Florida indicative of the 

course of each of the Florida rivers which would be more or less evident in the present submarine contours.

Nothing of the kind is visible in the contours, though soundings in 

the gulf by the Coast Survey and Fish Commission vessels have been 

remarkably numerous and made with the greatest care and the best 

modern methods and instruments.

5. The elevation of the coast suddenly and for "a short time" to such 

a height would obviously have exterminated the whole marine shallow 

water and shore fauna, except such as lived elsewhere at a great distance, and, after the succeeding subsidence, might have immigrated to 

Florida. But there are a number of local species originating in the 

Miocene, peculiar to Florida, which live in shallow water and have preserved their continuity intact to the present moment, and there is no 

such preponderance of Antillean types in the present fauna as would 

have resulted from an immigration, possible (in the assumed circumstances) only from this direction.

Lastly, it may be pointed out that the hypothesis, so far as it relates 

to the Florida region, mainly rests on two unproved assumptions, either 

of which being shaken, will let the whole structure fall. The first of 

these is that submarine valleys must have been cut when the bottom 

was dry land. The second is, that the submarine valleys which are 

actually known to exist, and which have been miscalled "canyons," were 

necessarily cut at the end of Tertiary time.

That the first assumption is untrue every hydrographer knows, and 

everyone who has studied the Gulf Stream knows what a scour it exerts on its present bed at a depth of 3,000 feet.
D,tl« n l QUATERNARY. 151

Tlie second assumption may or may not be true, but there is no evident reason why the valleys in question may not date from the Cretaceous quite as reasonably as from a later date. The slope, with reentrants, which the conjtours exhibit off the mouth of the Mississippi, the 

whole of which must be taken into account in any fairly constructed 

hypothesis, is visible in the contours at a depth of at least 9,000 feet, a 

height to which no one has yet ventured to elevate the Gulf of Mexico.

The collateral arguments by which this hypothesis has been supported (I speak with regard to the "Florida and Gulf region) are in several instances based on error. For instance, Mr. Upham states1 that 

" several low passes from ocean to ocean are found in the Lake Nicaragua region, on the isthmus (of Darien) and in the Atrato River district 

to the south, at heights from 133 to 300 feet above the sea level." These 

figures will bear a good deal of revision with the data at present available. Again, Dr. Maack is quoted in behalf of the Pleistocene age of fossils collected by him on the Atrato divide," the lowest elevation of which 

was found to be 763 feet." (Op. cit., p. 390). The Doctor, in his report,2 

calls these beds "later " or "latest Tertiary," and speaks of the species 

as being " all living up to the present time." Unfortunately for the 

value of this report, Dr. Maack was a vertebrate paleontologist, unacquainted with invertebrate fossils or recent shells in the American 

fauna, and incompetent (even if lie had been in a normal mental condition) to give any valid judgment on such a question. The unfortunate state in which his explorations left him is well known, and would 

render it necesssary to reexamiue any conclusions which might be based 

on his opinions. On the other hand, we have the judgment of a good 

geologist and active paleontologist, the late W. M. Gabb, who examined Dr. Maack's fossils and regarded them as Miocene 3 and as including many species in common with the Miocene of Santo Domingo,-which 

belongs to the lower Miocene, analagous to the Tampa Orthalaux bed. 

The Pleistocene fossils collected by Dr. Maack were obtained from an 

elevation of only 150 feet, 10 miles inland from Panama. I am able to 

state from an examination of the specimens at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, that all the fossils from the higher elevations on the Panama section are Miocene or Eocene. The explorations for the canal 

have shown that the ridge of greatest elevation is composed of azoic 

rocks, of which the age is uncertain, but probably not later than the 

end of the Eocene.

In this connection may be cited the observations of Everinan and 

Jenkins,4 who discuss at length the opinoins which have been held in 

regard to the mutual relations of the fish faunas of the east and west

'Am. Geol.,vol. 6, No.0.p.339.

2 Reports of Expl. for a ship canal, Isthmus of Darien, Washington, Navy Dept., pp. 155-175, 1874, 

fide Upham, Am. Geol., vol. 6, No. G, p. 396. 

8 Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 1872, vol. 12, p. 572. 

«Proc. U. S. Nat. Mua., 1891, vol. 14, No. 840, p. 12«
152 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

coasts of Central America and Mexico, especially bearing on the hypotheses of a recent water way connecting them. They shoAv how the 

original view that the two faunas contain a large percentage of identical species has faded away with a more thorough knowledge of the facts, 

so that at present only 5.J per cent of the species are regarded as common to the two coasts, excluding species of general distribution iu the 

tropics.

These authors then announce as their conclusion in regard to the 

question at issue:

Our present knowledge, therefore, of the fishes of tropical America justifies us iu regarding the fish fauna) of the two coasts as being essentially distinct, and that there 

has not been, at any comparatively recent [geological] time, any Avater Avay through 

the Isthmus of Panama.

The contact of the marine Pleistocene with the Planorbis Rock has 

already been described in connection with, the section (p. 143) taken 

nearest to the end of the canal on the Caloosahatchie.

There are multitudes of localities where such beds are visible, mostly 

at elevations not far from the present water level, and indicating a 

small elevation, Avith possibly a smaller subsequent depression since 

they were deposited on the \vesteru side of the peninsula, while on the 

east there has been a slow, somewhat intermittent elevation, which has 

amounted in the total to not less than 20 feet above the present sea 

level iu the cases where it is loAvest, and possibly nearly as much more 

in some localities. Without definite proof of the fact, it looks as if there 

had been in Pleistocene time a tilting of the peninsula on its north and 

south axis, attended with some gentle folding of the strata, as seen on 

the Caloosahatchie; the eastern coast Avith its reef, as described by 

Shaler, having been tilted up, the western coast having sunk a little 

less; the difference having been taken up in the crumpling of the strata.

Among the localities where the marine Pleistocene is best developed 

on the Avestern coast maybe mentioned: Rocky creek near Stump 

Pass, Lemon Bay, (Willcox) overlaying the Pliocene; Phillip's Creek 

at.the head of Little Sarasota Bay; North Creek emptying from the 

east into the same bay; these beds contain a large number of species, 

all knoAvn to be living on the coast. It is also found on top of the 

Miocene at Rocky Point, Old Tampa Bay, and in considerable masses 

near the mouth of the Manatee River.

RECENT ROCK FORMATION.

The process of rock formation is going on in a more obvious manner 

than would be expected along the Gulf shores of western Florida. There 

is a general opinion frequently expressed by *Ploridians, iu conversation, to the effect that between Tampa and the Keys coquina rock is 

to be found at only one place, the mouth of the Little Sarasota Pass. 

But this idea is certainly erroneous, as at every projecting point of the 

Keys along the Gulf shore Avhich. we visited we found traces of this
RECENT FORMATIONS. 153

rock, though often not visible above the water, and frequently composed more of sand grains than of shell, so that it looks much like wet 

loaf sugar. It is doubtless being formed at many points along the 

Gulf shore, though in small quantities in each place, and not at all in 

the lagoons and harbors.

Another species of rook which strikes an observer as curious is in 

process of formation by immense compact colonies of Vermetus (PeMloconchnu) nigrica-ns, which, raise the orifices'of their minute blackish 

tubes to several inches above low-water mark, and in some of the larger 

bays have formed extensive reefs. The animal has been supposed to 

be a worm, belonging among the Serjpulai, but the writer was able to 

determine its proper place by an examination of the soft parts. This 

rock rarely occurs in a strictly fossil state, though the species is found 

in the Caloosahatchie Pliocene. It is locally known as "worm-rock," 

and many of the "rocks" described by the natives of this region as 

cropping out along the seashore turn out on examination to be of this 

kind.

There are three other sorts of rock of which the formation appears to 

be still going on. One is more or less indurated sand, which was observed at Myers; also near St. James city on Pine Key; on South 

Creek, where it was found in the banks under the usual layer of sand, 

and close to the landing wharf at Sarasota, on Big Sarasota Bay. It 

is very widely spread over the state near the sea, its absence being 

rather the exception. It.sometimes contains the fragments of other 

older rocks, as in a matrix, an example of which was noted by Prof. 

Ileilprin on St. John Island, at the mouth of the Ohceshowiska River. 

This rock is usually rather soft and contains recent land and a few 

recent marine shells. In other places, as at St. James City, it becomes 

extremely hard and compact, ringing under the hammer and almost 

destitute of fossils. A thiu layer of it, from a mere film to 3 inches 

thick, marks the upper surface of the much older outcrop at White 

Beach, Little Sarasota Bay. This may prove to be identical with what 

I. have called the Yellow sand.

A second variety of rock is formed by springs containing iron in 

solution, which are numerous along the main shore, as in both Sarasota 

bays. This water consolidates the gravel, sand, shells, etc., over 

which it passes, into something resembling coquina, but in which the 

fragments of shell, etc., are united together by a cement of li.inon.ite. A 

spring near the estate of .Fudge Webb, at Osprey, has thus affected a 

considerable part of whab appears to be an Indian shell-heap; and 

among the shells, etc., in the rock may be detected fragments of pottery. Specimens showing this were brought home, and it is probable 

that the human remains discovered by Judge Webb near Osprey and by 

Prof. Heilprin in Sarasota Bay, 1 which are replaced by a pseudomorph 

of limonite, though older, are of a similar origin.

1 Lcidy, in Traus. Wagner Iflst., 1889, vol. 2, pp. 10-11.
154 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. rnuLL.8t.

In a softer stratum overlying that rock and apparently nearly of the 

same period of deposition were found Venus mortoni, Pecten dislocatus, 

Strombus pugilis, Fasciolaria tulipa, Fulgur perversus, and Melonyena 

corona, all recent species in the same region. Some specimens forwarded by Mr. Willcox, who obtained them with some additional hum an 

remains from the same locality, appeared to be indurated sand rock of 

the variety first described. It contained a mixture of recent marine 

and land shells all common in the vicinity to-day. 1

Other human remains in which the bones have been solidly silicified 

have been forwarded from the vicinity of Little Sarasota Bay to the 

Smithsonian Institution by Judge John G. Webb, of Osprey. They are 

doubtless Pleistocene and are contained in an indurated sand rock, 

tinged with iron oxide, and existing several feet below the surface at a 

considerable distance from the bay. These remains, though Pleistocene, are doubtless very ancient. It is probable no part of the world 

has afforded so many specimens of human remains in a truly fossil 

state as the peninsula of Florida.

The third variety of rock referred to occurs along the upper St. John 

Eiver and about Lake Monroe. This is a sand rock in which each grain 

is coated with a pellicle of lime, giving the mass an oolitic appearance. 

In this rock, on Bock Island in Lake Monroe, Pourtales and Wyman 

found the fossil remains of man which created so much excitement some 

years ago. The rock also contains recent land shells, but no marine 

fossils were observed. Rock of this character has been formed in 

Florida from the Miocene up. Some of the phosphatic rock of northern 

Florida is a variety of it, in which the limy envelope of the grains contains a certain amount of phosphoric acid.

The deposits lately formed and apparently now forming in the region 

of the Everglades have been already described (p. 100) in the remarks 

on the topography of the peninsula. They are partly organic and 

partly chemical in their origin. To the latter fact may perhaps be 

ascribed the exceptionally crystalline character which some of the 

Everglades limestone exhibits and which, so far, has not been duplicated elsewhere in the state.

The Yellow sand. Yery little observation is necessary to recognize 

over the greater part of the peninsula of Florida, away from the seacoast, two well marked varieties of sand. These differ in color, in 

texture, in mineral constituents, in the thickness of their beds, and in 

geological significance. The lower of the two beds or deposits is moreover, as a rule, where undisturbed, sharply discriminated from that 

above, and they are practically unconformable.

The Yellow sand, as the lower deposit may be called, forms the main 

mass of the sand hills and ridges of the central and southern part of 

Florida. These ridges and hillocks stand on the Neocene rocks below 

like hay ricks on a field, not reflecting the" character of the surface

1 See Leidy, Trails. Wagnor«Inst., Dec., 1839, vol. 2, pp. 0-12.
} * THE YELLOW SAND. 155

beneath them. They arc rounded above, seldom show much, if any, evidence of stratification, and their upper surfaces are often slightly 

indurated or formed of a thin crust stained with peroxide of iron. The 

mass of the sand, like the rocks from which it was derived, is of a yellowish color, varying from pale straw color to yellow brown. It is sometimes 50 feet thick and seems to be perfectly uniform. A good example 

is afforded by the well near the schoolhouse at Lakeland, which after 

reaching this sand, which is covered by about 3 feet of white sand, 

continues in the former for many feet, until water is reached, the sand 

seeming perfectly homogeneous and uniform. This sand when closely 

examined seems largely crystalline and looks gritty, yet when rubbed 

between finger and thumb wastes away to an impalpable powder without any gritty feeling. When wet it has a loamy appearance and when 

dry runs with less facility than sea sand., It is chiefly composed of 

organic silica in an extremely fine state of subdivision and of fine residual clay, such as might result from the leaching away of the lime from 

almost any of the organic lime rocks of Florida. The sand is frequently 

indurated, as at Rock Lake, a mile and a half from Orlando, where the 

shores show what looks like a vertical border of waterworn rock. This 

can, however, be scratched with the finger nail, though hard enough to 

retain vertical faces of several feet in height. When subjected to the 

action of water it becomes brown, or even dark brown, probably from 

the small percentage of iron contained in it.

As a rule the sand hills are without fossils, but the upper layers may 

contain recent land shells or fragments of lime rock from older formations. The aeolian sand rock or indurated sand, previously referred to 

as common near the sea coast, and containing recent shells in a more or 

less fossilized state, may very likely prove to be only a phase of the 

Yellow sand, but the best typical exposures of the latter are somewhat 

removed from the sea.

The Yellow sand appears to be indigenous and may date from the 

Lake period. At all events it is such a material as might result from 

the action of fresh water on the indigenous lime rocks. If the original 

sand is as old as the Pliocene, the portions of it now containing recent 

marine shells have, of course, been rearranged. For that part containing land shells the fossils offer no criterion of age. The whole 

question of its age and origin can be answered only by means of further study and investigation.

The analysis of some of this sand from a depth of about 40 feet in 

the Lakeland well, according to Prof. F. W. Clarke, afforded the following result:

Silica..................................................... 80-39

Alumina and iron......................................... 15-03

Liine ..................................................... 1-22

Water (about)............................................ 3'36

100-00
156 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

The absence of grittiness is probably due in part to the presence of 

so much clay and in part to the minuteness of the particles of silica. 

We may imagine that if one of the ordinary soft limestones of Florida 

was deprived of its lime and the organic silica which it contains 

remained in its original state of division, the residue would, in general, 

much resemble the clayey sand above described.

The White sand.-*Above the Yellow sand almost everywhere on the 

peninsula of Florida may be observed an unconformable layer of snowwhite sand. This is often grayish from a mixture of vegetable matter, 

but where the beds are thick or the sand has been washed by rain it is 

of a brilliant white, and often gives to large areas the aspect of being 

covered by a heavy fall of snow.

Unlike the Yellow sand, this stratum is seldom of great thickness. 

Leaving occasional dunes along the Atlantic border out of account, it 

is seldom seen more than 6 feet in thickness on level ground, and the 

hillocks formed by it rarely exceed 20 feet in height. Indeed, this 

height is extremely rare in the writer's experience. Nearly all the 

knolls, when cut by the railroads, show that their mass is composed of 

the Yellow sand and is only coated by the White sand.

This sand is mainly siliceous, sharp, and gritty, with a small admixture of lime particles. On the sea coast it is sometimes indurated or 

cemented into a rock which looks like wet loaf sugar. As the main 

superficial stratum of the peninsula, it contains vegetable matter, 

recent land or marine shells, pieces of coquina, etc., in many places; 

but in its nature is essentially a sea sand. It has been largely distributed by the wind, which never ceases in Florida, and to whose 

steady alternation of sea and land breezes is probably due the uniformity with which the White sand has been scattered.

In the transportation of glacial sands from the north, the silica, being 

the hardest component, would survive longest; hence the almost purely 

siliceous character of these sands from the southern extreme of the 

coast down which they travel. The indigenous silica is usually discolored. The glassy character of these White sands indicates a more 

northern origin.

The White sand is often absent from elevated surfaces exposed to 

the wind, but a close scrutiny of adjacent hollows will almost invariably disclose traces of it.

It has been suggested that the White sand, as here described, is 

merely the upper portion of the Yellow sand, from which the clay and 

iron have been leached out by the action of the weather. But, while 

the upper surface of the Yellow sand may in some places have been 

bleached in this way, the White sand here described appears to be distiuctlyunconforinable to the underlying Yellow Sand and entirely independent in its distribution and bedding.
U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY" BULLETIN N° 84-.PL.J.

FLORIDA.

ill i GEOLOGY BY W.H.DALL

Scale

23 O 25 BO TS MU.ES

1891

LEGEND.

! | Known Pleistocene

! j Pliocene 

~"" / 

i J Chesapeake Miocene <* '

| ] Old Miocene

j j Eocene

1

\

-'.. " i '' 

j

\ \ \ \ \ \ ;

\\\\\\i

\ '-. \ '-. -. ' \

\ '. ':' ; . .

\\w' ; ' -.. '--

/' 1

/

,,- "; ]

O

i

 '. ""' .

> .......,, <?

AX' " '?'"" - -........""

{ ".,*'' .- ? .' ""

 - ... .,......... ..'::'. ....'.":;" '.'.'.'.'.'." 1M

.'.'.'.'.'.!!....'............................ . - 

.................. .--x

V

'" S jl^

. ................-----

^

£ CO. LITH.NY.
CENOZOIC FORMATIONS OF FLORIDA. 157

SCIU-.. .ti OF THE FLORID1AN CENOZOIC ROCKS, APPROXIMATELY IN THE ORDER OF

THEIR DEPOSITION.

EOCENE.

f White limestone (Jackson).*

f Vicksburg beds l .... 1 Orbitoides limestone (Vicksburg). 

J (? Coral limestone (Salt Hill).* 

V icksburg group ..... | Ocala limegtone (N,immuiiti c ).

I Nunimulitic beds ... \ Miliolite limestone?

( Floridite phosphatic rock.

NEOCENE.

Warm-water fauna; older Miocene.

i Greenish clays.' 

( Hawthorne beds.... < Ferruginous gravels.

 ,,.,,. ( Phospliatic oolite. Chattahoocheo group. < ,,T . . ,

° L | f Water-bearing sands.

[^Ochceseo beds...... < Chattahoochee limestone.

 ' ? Cerithiuin rock (Tamp;i). 

f Orthaulaxbed ?=Shiloh, N. J., marls. 

Chipola ma.rJ.

)

Chipola beds .......< Sopchoppy limestone. 

White JJeach sand rock. 

I? "Infusorial earth." 

/, I , , _ . ( Tampa limestone, lampa beds........ s , , ,. T1 .n , ,-,. 1 ( Cliert of Hillsboro River.

I Al unv Bluff beds...... Sands and clays.

Cold-water fauna; newer Miocene.

( ? Patuxent beds ...... Ecphora bads.

Chesapeake group .... j f gt Marys ^^ ___ Jai.k80nvme Hmestone.

["Mississippi clays.

Grand Gulf group ...... Fayette beds* ...... J ^«nmo ""idstone and sands.

b | Gnathodon beds.

[Altainaha grit.

Pliocene.

Lafayette group* ..... .Lagrange beds ....... Orange sand.

f Arcadia marl.

(

De Soto beds ....... < Peace Creek bone bed. 

( Alachua clays. 

[Oyster marl (Peace Creek). 

Tnrritella Caloosahatchie beds

\enus cancellata bed.

Yellow sand.

Bulla striata marls.

^Eolian sand rock (with Homo).

Coquina.

Vermetns rock.

Everglades limestone.

White sand.

Plauorbis rock.

PLEISTOCENE.

1 Some strata, here marked with an asterisk, are inserted for completeness in this table, though 

their presence in the Florida series can jiot yet be demonstrated.
158 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

* TEtlCKNESS AND DIP OF THE STRATA.

Little is known of the dip of the rocks in Florida. In the northern 

part of the State, from the constantly greater depth at which waterbearing strata are found in artesian wells as one goes southward, a 

moderate southerly dip has been frequently assumed. In the south the 

dips follow the curves of the gentle folds of the strata. On the east 

coast it is questionable whether the great depth of the Eocene at the 

Lake Worth well is due to its steep eastward dip, or to a coastal erosion 

more or less masked by incumbent talus. The probabilities seem in 

favor of the latter view.

The thickness of the Pleistocene beds in Florida may be generously 

estimated in assigning it a maximum of 100 feet anywhere on level 

ground.

The Caloosahatchie beds will not much exceed 25 feet, and as much 

more would be a liberal allowance for the De Soto beds.

The Appomattox is not yet positively known to cross the northern 

boundary of the State, though it is stated to have been traced to Mobile 

Bay by L. C. Johnson, and McGee believes he has recognized it around 

Tallahassee.

The thickness of the Sopchoppy limestone is unknown, as the rock is 

known only by specimens, and the locality has not been visited by any 

geologist.

The existence of the Grand Gulf group in Florida is probable, but 

not yet sufficiently proved. The lignitic sand at Alum Bluff, perhaps 

of this age, is only about 10 feet thick. The Gnathodon bed discovered 

by Johnson is presumably of no great thickness.

The Jacksonville limestone and associated beds are about 500 feet 

thick at that point, but only about 200 feet at St. Augustine; the 

Ecphora bed at Alum Bluff only about 30 feet. On the Mauatee Eiver 

the bed corresponding in age to the Jacksonville rock is only 2 or 3 feet 

thick.

The Alum Bluff beds at the original locality are 15 feet thick.

The Tampa beds can hardly claim a greater allowance than 30 feet, 

and the Ohipola beds perhaps half as much more.

For the Ocheesee beds Langdon has allowed 250 feet, while we may 

assign a maximum of 125 feet for the Hawthorne beds.

The total thickness of the Neocene rocks of Florida maybe estimated 

to be less than 1,000 feet as a maximum, which agrees very well with 

the discovery of the Vicksburg beds at 1,000 feet deep in the Laku 

Worth artesian well. Over most of the peninsula these beds will not 

exceed one-quarter, and in many places one-tenth, of the maximum 

above noted.

The Eocene lias been penetrated to 1,060 feet in organic limestone at 

St. Augustine without reaching the base of the Vicksburg beds. There 

is no reason to doubt that the Eocene will rival the Miocene in thickness, and perhaps exceed it, in Florida, as in most other States.
DHABBU».D } THE LAFAYETTE FORMATION IN ALABAMA. 159

ALABAMA.

GRAND GULF GKOUP.

In this State two very distinct formations are assigned a Neocene age. 

The older of these l consists of a fossiliferous deposit observed some 20 

miles northwest of Mobile bay, and forms probably an eastern extension of the " Grand gulf" of Mississippi. Farther to the north and 

east, along the Teiisaw Eiver in west Baldwin County, the researches 

of Artemas Bigelow 2 have brought to light the existence of a sandstone 

formation which, in one locality not over " a rod square," contains 

" abundant but very obscure impressions of shells, apparently all 

bivalves." This, Dr. Hilgard 3 surmises, may belong to the "Grand 

Gulf" group, and, if so, may afford a clew for determining its age by 

paleontologic evidence.

The geographical distribution of this formation in Alabama has not 

yet been carefully investigated; but the southern extension of the 

Vicksburg group would of necessity confine it to a small area in .the 

extreme southwestern part of the State.4

LAFAYETTE FORMATION.

The second and more recent formation is composed of perezonal sands, 

clays, gravels, etc., regarded by McGee as belonging to his " Appomattox formation " (since called Lafayette). A few of its more interesting 

and typical outcrops in this State were recently discussed before the 

Geological Society of America (December 27,. 1889), 5 and are here given 

in abstract: At Girard, opposite Columbus, Ga., and at Tuscaloosa the 

unconformability of this formation with the " Columbia " above and the 

"Potomac" below is very marked. At the former "the distinctive 

cross bedding outlined in the laminae of clay or lines of pellets of the 

same material is exceptionally conspicuous," and the pebbles are larger, 

more abundant, and less waterworn than usual. At the latter locality 

the pebbles are small, slightly waterworn, and comprise " cherts, siliceous dolomites, and a rather unimportant element of quartzite, but no 

true crystallines." At Cottondale, 7 miles east of Tuscaloosa, this formation and the Potomac iutergrade. To the north of Eutaw it becomes 

sandy and friable, like the underlying Cretaceous, while to the southwest, where it occupies scattered patches upon the Rotten limestone, its 

clays and sands are intermingled with calcareous particles. Finally, 

the "Appomattox" appears between St. Elmo and Grand Bay, in the 

extreme southwestern corner of the State. It here consists of " undulating bosses, knolls, and plateaus rising above and evidently protruding through the sand." These remnants of ancient topography consist

1 Johnson in Litt.

2 Am. Jour. Sci.,2il. ser., 1846, vol. 2, pp. 420-421.

8 Ibid.. 1867, vol. 43, pp. 40,41.

4 Seo Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 43,1887. Map of Ala., opp. p. 134.

* Published in full in Am. Jour. Sci., 1890, vol. 40, pp. 23 iO.
160 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

of regularly and rather heavy bedded loams, sands, and clays, commonly orange-hued, but weathering to darker reds and browns, and 

evidently represent a somewhat erratic phase of the Appomattox 

erratic in (1) the complete assortment of the material, (2) its fineness, 

(3) regularity in stratification, (4) lack of cross-bedding.

It will be noticed that here the Appomattox approaches very near to 

the coast, while its altitude above tide is reduced at Grand Bay to but 

little over 25 feet. The comparatively high banks of Mobile Bay l doubtless owe their origin to this formation, though it is covered by more 

recent deposits. The small elevation of this deposit here and its undisturbed condition afford a strong confirmation of the view, elsewhere 

expressed (p. 141), that the present northern Gulf coast and the peninsula of Florida have not been subjected to any great disturbance of 

level, either of elevation or depression, since the Pliocene epoch.

Shell beds of Mobile County. D. W. Langdon, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 

has recently called attention 2 to the fact that overlying certain " recent" 

shell beds on Moil Louis Island and making the surface soil throughout Mobile County, are series of cross-bedded sands and loams, usually 

very light colored and devoid of clay or pebble beds. These beds are 

about 15 feet thick, and are quite similar to the beds of sandy loam 

found in the western part of the city of Mobile. McGee has determined these last-named loams as belonging to his Appomattox group, 

and should his identification prove correct it would change the age of 

the Appomattox (Lafayette) to a more recent date than he now seems 

to suppose.

" It establishes, however, a further extension inland than that marked 

by the present coast line and a fluctuation in the elevation of the floor 

of the Gulf in post-Tertiary times, which fact' is believed to have not 

been previously noted."

The small shells belonging to recent species, which were examined 

by Ball, from dredgings in Mobile Bay, and which are supposed to 

have been -derived from.the " shell beds " above referred to, can not be 

regarded as settling the age of the deposit. Many of them are found 

in Miocene marls and range upward into recent seas. A fuller collection from this shell bed will be required to determine its position in the 

system.

MISSISSIPPI.

In this state, as in Alabama, two very different formations have been 

assigned a Neocene age. The older of these, the "Grand Gulf," was 

named by Wailes 3 from the place of its typical outcrop on the Mississippi, and was described at length by Hilgard in his "Report on the

1 M. Tuomey, Second Biennial Kept. G-eol. of Ala., 1858, p. 148.

z Am. Jtmr. SM., 3d aer., 1890. vol. 40, p. 238.

8 A«ric. ami Geol. of Miss., by B. L. C. Wailes, State Geologist, 1st Rep. 1854, p. 216.
THE GRAND GULF FORMATION IN MISSISSIPPI. 161

Geology and Agriculture of the State of Mississippi" (1860). The following pages therefore consist of a brief generalization of the facts 

there presented, together with those brought to light by more recent 

investigations.

THE GRAND GULP FORMATION.

This underlies the greater part of the State south of a line passing 

in a general way through Vicksburg, Eaymond, Byram, Brandon, 

Ealeigh, and Waynesboro, or, in other words, south of the Yicksburg 

formation.

At their line of contact the Viokaburg and Grand Gulf rocks consist almost throughout of lignito-gypseons, laminated claya, passing upward into more sandy materials; 

they are not sensihly unconformable in place, but while the Vickaburg rocks at all 

long exposures ahow a distinct aouthward dip of aome three to five degreea, the 

position of the Grand Gulf strata can rarely be shown to be otherwise than nearly 

or quite horizontal, although in some cases faults or subsidences have caused them 

to dip, sometimes quite steeply, in almost any direction. 1

The superior durability of the arenaceous deposits of this formation 

over those of the Vicksburg series has caused a well marked ridge running diagonally across the state along their line of contact. This falls 

off abruptly to the north,2 but descends very gradually toward the gulf.

All, or at least the greater part of this formation, is characterized 

by the presence of gypsum and salt and generally also magnesian salts.3 

This is the case with many of the solid sandstones, which, upon exposure to the weather become covered with a saline efflorescence. 

These sandstones frequently .contain small concretions of iron pyrites, 

which oxidize and swell when the rock is exposed to the air, sometimes 

breaking up large blocks in this way. Carbonate of lime is a rare ingredient, and the deposits containing it are always quite limited.

In the northwestern part of its development in Mississippi, i. e., northwest of a line drawn from Fort Adams to Ealeigh, this formation 

abounds in sandstone and arenaceous deposits, but to the southeast of 

this lyie it consists almost exclusively of clays.

 Hilgard, E. W.: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 22, p. 58.

 Ibid., p. 59.

 Agric. and Geol. Miss., I860, pp. 147,148.

Bull. 84 11
162 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. IBULL. 84.

At Grand Gulf the folio wiuj

Feet.

12

11

10

60

Calcareous silt of the Bluff formation, form 

ing the hilltops. (Loess.)

section occurs: 1

The characters of the 

minor divisions of this 

section are very changeable, so that 50 yards 

away the lower portion 

of the section especially 

might appear very differently. It is only the 

upper bed (No. 11) that 

possesses the peculiar 

structure which characterizes the "Grand Gulf 

sandstone," viz, grains of 

pellucid quartz, containing rather coarse sand, 

imbedded in an opaque,

'Grand Gulf sandstone," in ledges 10 White, enamel-like inaSS

inches to 2 feet in thickness; stratiflca- f .-, , . , 

tion often discordant and curved. 01 SllCX, WMCh lOrmS

quite half of the bulk of 

the rock. This peculiar 

rock has been observed 

in several localities in 

this vicinity, but toward 

the interior of the State 

it is replaced by ordinary 

siliceous sandstone, sometimes compact but more 

often friable, with alternating layers of even 

softer material, such as 

sands, clays, lignites, etc.

15 Gray sandy material, sometimes soft sandstone, with an argillaceous cement; alternating with harder ledges, 6 to 10 inches 

thick, of friable, whitish sandstone. 

2J Solid whitish sandstone, of good quality. 

2$ Greenish gray clay, with veins of CaC03. 

1 Soft white sandgtoue. 

4 Grayish yellow pipeclay. 

1 Dark gray, brittle sandstone. 

3 Gray, seiuiiudurate clayey sand.

17 Gray and yellowish sands and clays, semiindurate, interstratitied.

3 Semiindurate gray sand.

2 Greenish gray clay, with veins of CaC03 .

FIG. 23. Section at Grand Gulf, Mississippi.

North of Terry, about a half a mile, Meyer 2 obtained the following 

section of this formation:

Feet. 

10 Light sandy clay.

I ^ Sandstone, hard above, softer below, containing small nodules of green clay or corns 

5 spending cavities.

> 5 Green sandy clay. 

Fm. 24. Section one-half mile north of Terry, Mississippi.

At Loftus Heights, Fort Adams, Wilkinson County, the Grand Gulf 

rocks appear at the base of the exposure .as follows: 3

"~"~"' i Hilgard: Agric. and Gool. of Miss., 1860, p. 148.

2 Meyer, Otto: Am. Jour. Set., 3d fler., 1886, vol. 32, p. 20.

; Agric, mn\ &eol, Mj^,, I§QO, p, f»Q,
DALL 

UAUKia SECTIONS IN MISSISSIPPI. 163

Foot

»VT rrr 

S8

70

87

Yellowish gray, calcareous siltof Muff forma

Yellow and red. guild, aud pebbles (Orango 

»and).

Iii the northwesterly 

part gf the Grand Gulf 

area silicified wood, espeOrange sand, yellow, orange, and white sands. Cially that Of the palm, is

by no means rare; lignite, 

too, is fairly common in the 

more argillaceous beds. 

The latter contain also " im- 170 Argillaceous sandstone, yellowish gray in 

its mass, variegated with ferruginous spots 

and veins, and of different degrees of hardness, so as to weather into rough, jagged prCSSlOUS 01 fresh - Water, 

surfaces. Traceable to water's edge. . . 

FiG.25. Section at Loftus Heights, Fort Adams, Mississippi. OlValVCS 1U a 16 W 1Ustances, as cited by Meyer, 1 and a cast of Unio, from Stonington Station, Clairborne County, Miss., is in the National Museum collection.

To the south and east of the line before referred to as separating the 

arenaceous from the argillaceous areas of the Grand. Gulf formation, 

there are but few if auy compact sandstone beds to be found, though 

the clays contain various proportions of friable sand.

Feet. The color of these clays

is various, though usually 

of a lighter shade than 

those of the "Northern Lignitic;" blue, white, and 

even green shades are not 

uncommon. They contain 

lignite, pyrite, potash, 

soda, magnesia, and some 

times calcium carbonate. 

The last named ingredient 

is notably rare except at 

one point, viz, " near Mr. 

Ben. Barnes's place, Sees. 

2 and 35, T. 4 and 5, E. 

12 E., Marion County." 

It was here that Hilgard2 

found the "chelonian 

bones " that have been so 

often cited as the only 

fossil vertebrate remains 

found in this formation. 

A section of the various 

strata in this immediate 

vicinity is given by Hilgard (Fig. 26).3

The 6-foot bed containing carbonate of lime (No.

 40 Grayoryellowishfinosand, somewhat clayey 

and indurate, washing into perpendicular 

rounded masses. In some portions quite 

cellular, the cavities rusty.

3 Reddish gray, clayey sand.

C Yellowish gray clay, almost white when dry,

with veins, specks, and nodules of carbonate of lime.

20 Sandy clay variegated with pale red and gray 

(same as No. 0).

} 2 "White indurate sand, fine grained.

0 Solid gray clay, withmassycleavagc,veryfat; 

contains rounded masses several inches 

thick, of lightgreen clay, with whitelanrinro. 

} 1 Blue sandy clay, as at Pope's Ferry. 

FIG. 26. Section at "Barnos's white bluff," Marion County, 

Mississippi.

1 Moyer, O.: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1886, vol. 32, p. 25,

2 Hilgard: Agric. ana GepJ. of Miss., I860, p., 151,

3 Ibid., p. 179,
164 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [HULL. 84.

5) has been used to a limited extent as a fertilizer, and is often called 

"marl."

Another excellent o exposure of these clays maybe seen on Strong 

Biver, Simpson County, Sec. 6, T. 10, E. 20 W. At this place a local 

western dip of 15°-20° gives an exposure of about 110 feet, although 

the outcrop is nowhere over 40 feet high. " The materials here contain 

abundant vestiges of leaves, but so poorly preserved as to be generally unrecognizable; the only form made out with certainty was a 

fragment of fan-shaped palm-leaf." 1

On the Chickasawhay and Pascagoula rivers Hilgard found2 but few 

outcrops of the Grand Gulf formation. The most northerly of these, 

2 miles south of Winchester, Wayne County, is of the highest importance on account of the well preserved lignitized trunks of trees found 

on the spot where they grew with their roots imbedded in the ancient 

soil. Successive layers of leaves are to be seen covered by thin sheets 

of whitish sandy clay. The whole is covered by about 20 feet of Orange 

sand.

Section at Sam. Power's, near Winchester, Mississippi.

Feet.

18

3

5

Inches.

18

1

Character of strata.

Grayish \vhite sand with vestiges of leaves on stratiBluish sandy clay, with roots and trunks of CupnNo.

5

4

q

fl

1

Gnaihodon "bed in Greene County. Though Hilgard examined this 

region more or less closely to the Gulf shore, we owe to L. C. Johnson 

the discovery of a very important bed in Sec.<27, T. 1, R. 7 W., Greene 

County (not far from Yernel), which contains an abundant lamellibranch 

fauna 3. The bed, which we have called the Gnathodon bed, consists of 

a brownish clayey sand, packed with a small undescribed species of 

Gnaihodon^ while Mactra lateralis Say, of the existing southern type, 

and an oyster of gigantic proportions, resembling Ostrea titan of the 

west coast, are by no means uncommon. It is probable that these

1 Hilgard: Agrfc. and Geol. of Miss., 1860, p. 151. Similar leaves were obtained by Burns from the 

lignitic sand bed above the Ecphora bed at Alum Bluff, Florida. 

» Agric. and Geol., Miss., 1860, p. 153, and Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 2, p. 401. 

8 See specimens in 17. S. Nat. Mus.
DHARKAIS.D } GNA.THADON BED IN MISSISSIPPI. 165

beds l may represent the same horizon as do the obscure bivalve impressions of Baldwin County, Ala., discovered by Mr. Bigelow fifty 

years ago.2

The Grand Gulf group has usually been regarded as Miocene, since 

it lies above the Eocene Vicksburg group and passes beneath the " Coast 

Pliocene." It is so considered by McGee, who regards 3 as probably 

Pliocene the superincumbent Orange sand which forms part of his 

Lafayette. Hilgard, however, in one of his more recent contributions 

to the subject,4 says: "Clearly the Grand Gulf rocks alone represent 

on the northern borders of the Gulf the entire time and space intervening between the Vicksburg epoch of the Eocene and the stratified drift," 

the latter of which he regards as Quaternary. In the same article he 

estimates its thickness as not over 250 feet.

It is obvious that the Grand Gulf formation constitutes a typical 

perezone, bordering the lower part, at least, of the great Mississippi 

embayment, th**/ landward portion consisting of the sandy beach formation on or near which grew palmettos, swamp cypresses, and pines; 

where tortoises wandered; where there were occasional lagoons of which 

the water was not muddy enough to destroy all the oyster embryos, and 

where the mud-loving Mactra lateralis and Gnathodon found a congenial 

retreat. Seaward the terrigenous deposits from the Mississippi drainage were laid down in argillaceous strata, which, like those laid down 

by the same great river to-day, contain hardly a trace of organic life.

The lignitic sand, with impressions of palmetto leaves, which occurs 

above the Ecphora bed at Alum Bluff, seems likely to represent the 

eastern feather-edge of this formation. If this be so, the age of the 

upper part and later condition of the Grand Gulf perezone would be 

not older than the latest Miocene. This supposition harmonizes with 

the presence of Mactra lateralis, which is a Pliocene and recent rather 

than a Miocene species.

Parallelism of later terrigenous deposits. An interesting fact in this 

connection is the almost complete parallelism of the present extension, 

at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, of the terrigenous deposits from 

the Mississippi Talley drainage with that of the Grand Gulf group as 

at present understood. The present deposits of mud cease 5 at a point a 

little westward of the Appalachicola Eiver mouth on the one hand, and 

on the other, in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, Mexico. The coarser material forms an inner band, while the finer silt borders it to seaward, just 

as do the sandy and clayey beds of the Grand Gulf. The latter, however, was deposited for the most part in relatively shallow water, and 

contains material more coarse than anything which at present is being 

laid down off the Gulf coast.______________________________

1 Johnson in his MS. reports to the IT. S. Geological Survey names this foasiliferoua bed, with other 

adjacent strata, the "Pascagoula Group."

2 Artemas Bigelow, Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1846, vol. 2, pp. 419-422. 

8 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1890, vol. 40, p. 32.

4 Eng. W. Hilgard, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 22, p. 59.

5 Agassiz: Three cruises of the Blake, 1888, vol. 1, p. 286, chart 191. See also Coast Survey Report 

for 1880.
166 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

THE LAFAYETTE FORMATION.

The second and more recent formation in this state which has been 

assigned a Neocene age is a continuation of the series of cross-bedded 

gravels, sands, and clays, termed by McGee the Appoinattox (more 

lately Lafayette) formation (Orange sand partim of Hilgard).

This formation, according to McGee, characterizes the greater part of 

the surface of this State. Its thickness and constituent materials depend very largely npon the ancient topography and lithological features 

of the beds upon which it was deposited. It generally prevails over 

the terrane of the Potomac formation " despite the considerable altitude 

and high local relief, save in the valleys of the largest rivers." Over 

the less elevated terraue of the Eutaw sands it is more frequently and 

more widely cleft by drainage ways, and its remnants are thinner; 

over the next newer formation (the Toinbigbee chalk), which lies flat 

and low, the greater part of the Lafayette has been carried away from 

northeastern Mississippi to beyond the Alabama Eiver, so that it is 

commonly represented only by isolated belts and irregular patches, 

which, as Smith has shown, most frequently lie on the northern slopes. 

Over the terrane of the Eufaula sands, in which the local relief again 

increases, the remnants of the Lafayette quickly increase in number 

and expand until the formation once more forms the prevailing surface 

on the uplands, though the Cretaceous deposits are laid bare along most 

streams and form the prevailing lowlands. Over the eight or nine 

lower Eocene formations into which the Lignitic of Hilgard has been 

divided by Smith and Johnson, and among which clay is the predominant material, the Lafayette still farther expands uutil it forms almost 

the entire surface, highland and lowland alike, save in the valleys of 

the larger rivers. Still farther south lies the great siliceous deposit of 

the middle Eocene, commonly known as Buhrstone the Ohoctaw buhrstone of Smith; its rocks are the most obdurate of the entire Neozoic 

series within the Gulf slope, and so its general surface is elevated and 

sculptured into a complex configuration of pronounced relief and sharp 

contours; yet, despite these conditions so exceptionably favorable to 

degradation, the Appomattox frequently maintains its integrity over 

considerable areas. Beyond the hill-land of the Buhrstone lies the 

lowland formed by the predominantly calcareous newer Eocene formations the Olaiborne, Jackson, and Vicksburg over which the Lafayette is again trenched by almost every water way and reduced to ragged 

remnants only more extensive than those overlying the Tombigbce 

chalk; but upon the silico-argillaceous terrane of the Grand Gulf the 

remnants once more expand until they form the greater part of the surface, save along the larger water ways, as about Hattiesburg in central 

Mississippi.

In short, the formation is generally preserved over loamy and clayey 

terranes, much more seriously invaded by erosion over sandy terranes, 

and largely degraded over calcareous terranes.1

'McGee: Am. Jour. Sci., 3d sor. 1890, vol. 40, pp. 29-30.
THE LAFAYETTE FORMATION IN MISSISSIPPI. 167

The thickness of this formation is obviously extremely variable. 

Perhaps the greatest known thickness is at the University of Mississippi where, from well-borings, it was found to be somewhat over 200 

feet.1

Eegarding the position of this formation in the geological scale, 

McGee makes* the following statements:

No fossils have thus far been fonnd in the Appomattox formation except at Meridian, where Johnson has found it to contain well preserved magnolia leaves apparently 

identical with those of trees now growing in the same vicinity. Its stratigraphic 

position, unconformably below the Pleistocene and unconformably above the (probable) Miocene Grand G-ulf formation, indicates an age corresponding at least roughly 

with the Pliocene.

Hilgard has constantly maintained that his " Orange sand " (a more 

comprehensive group than the Lafayette) belongs to the Quaternary 

age. He finds in it fossils from the Silurian rocks up, but none which 

he regards as characteristic of the deposit itself. Its distribution, 

local characteristics, probable origin, and so forth, are discussed at great 

length in his report on the Agriculture and Geology of the State of 

Mississippi.3 

These difficulties and the conditions of occurrence indicate that the 

Lafayette formation is perezonal in its nature and that its deposition 

is due to a depression of the surface which occurred after the Grand 

Gulf had been laid down and which was followed at a later time by an 

equivalent elevation. These movements may have been synchronous 

with the slight depression during which the middle Pliocene beds of 

South Florida were laid down. But in the latter region the vertical 

movements were slight, while north of the Floridian region their range 

was evidently much greater.

LOUISIANA.

The two formations that characterize the Neocene Tertiary in Alabama and Mississippi appear likewise in Louisiana.

GRAND GULF GROUP.

East of the Mississippi River, the seaward argillaceous phase of the 

Grand Gulf formation presumably extends some distance into this State; 

yet thus far we fail to find that any outcrop has been noted. Hopkins 

states'in a general way 4 that it " reaches the strata of the Bluff period, 

in about township 4 or 5 south, on both sides of the river," and so he 

represents it on his " Preliminary Geological Map of Louisiana." The 

artesian well at New Orleans, sunk5 to the depth of 630 feet, failed to 

reach this formation or even the " Orange sand."

'E. W. Hilgard: Agric. and Geol. Miss., 1860, p. 6. 

"Ibid., p. 33.

* Op. cit. pp. 5-46. See also Am. Jour. Sci. 2d aer. 1866, vol. 41, p. 311. Ibid., 3d scr. 1871, vol. 2, p. 308.

 Louisiana State TJuiv. Hep. for 1870, containing 2d Ann. Kep. Gcol. Surv. La., by Dr. Jf. V. Hopkins ; p. 18.

5 Hop. on tho Geol. Miss. Delta, by E. AT. Hilgard, in the Hop. of the Chief of tlio Engineer Corps 

U. S. A., to tUe Secretary of War, 1870.
168 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. | BULL. 84.

West of the Mississippi no Grand Gulf rocks appear for some distance, owing- to the breadth of the u bottom lands " along the Mississippi 

and its great tributaries. They reappear, however, on Sicily Isle, near 

Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish, and between this point and Sabine 

Eiver occupy a large triangular area, as shown by Hopkins's map, and 

as minutely described by him in his First Annual Eeport of the Louisiana State Geological Survey, in 1869.

.Feet. Here, as in Mississippi, 

the northerly portion of 

this formation is characterized by a predominance 

of arenaceous material, 

producing a series of 

escarpments 1 that break 

down abruptly on to 

the marine, calcareous 

Eocene, whereas,2 toward 

the south, argillaceous 

matter predominates and 

the descent toward the 

Gulf is barely perceptible.

8 Ledges of sandrock, from 3 feet to 3 inches In general, the Grand Gulf 

,- thick, separated by layers of clay. ' 

j 1 Light olayey sand. 

} J Gray sand rock, very hard.

15 Red clay, with pebbles (drift).

> 7 Sandy yellow clay (drift).

> 4 Sandy pebble conglomerate (drift).

> 1J Sandy joint clay, red-striped (drift).

> 1 Fine white sandstone.

 10 Blue clay, massy cleavage.

> 1 Sand rock with layers of clay.

> 7 Bluish clay, massy cleavage.

15 Hard white clay.

} 10 Clay, massy spherical cleavage.

j

> 7 White and ferruginous clay shales.

Fio. 27. Section at Harrisonburg, La.

rocks of this State are the 

exact homologue of those 

in Mississippi. To illustrate, a section is here 

given of the various beds 

exposed at Harrisonburg.3 

In some localities, however, a very white clay is not uncommon, which, 

owing to its general appearance, has usually been termed "chalk." 

The following section represents its stratigraphic relations 4 at the 

" Chalk Hills," Sec. 6, T. 10 K, E. 5 E.

1 2d Ann. Kep. Louisiana Geol. Surv., 1870. F. V. Hopkins in La. State Univ. Rep., 1871, pp. 18-20. 

2 Hilgard, E. W.: Am. Jour. Sci. 3d. ser., 1869, vol. 2, p. 397.

3 1st Ann. Kep. Louisiana Geol. Surv., 1869, F. V, Hopkins in La. State Univ. Eep., 1870, p. 99. 

4 Hopkins, F. V.: 1st Ann. Eep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., in La. State Univ. Eep., 1870, p. 100.
DALL AND i HARRIS. ' THE GRAND GULF IN LOUISIANA. 169

15 Sand rock and surface aoil.

> 6 " Clialk," a very fine white clay. 

? 5 Indurated and cracked clay rock.

33 Clay with massy cleavage.

1 Indurated cracked clay rock. 

> 1 Ocherous yellow clay.'

 15 Yellow streaked clay shale.

Maesy blue clay, 25 feet or more.

Feet- Pure white shales are

not uncommon. These, 

together with the "chalk," 

become very noticeable in 

the "Fayette beds" of 

Texas.' Calcareous matter, too, is more abundant 

in this State than in Mississippi, while it is far less 

so than in Texas. Anacoco prairie,2 in the southwestern part of Sabine 

Parish, and the so-called 

"black land spots," are 

produced by the outcropping of "marl" beds.

The thickness of this 

formation cannot be ascertained with any great degree of accuracy from surface estimates, owing to 

a lack of continuity in its 

constituent strata; nevertheless, Hopkins has estimated3 that near IlarFIG. 28.-Section at the Chalk Hills, La. risOllburg it Is about 182

feet thick, while south of Cloutierville and on the Bayou Kisatchie it 

may be 325.

"The strata are generally nearly horizontal, but many places show 

slight southeast dips. The disturbances, though noticeable enough 

where the hills are high, as at Harrisonburg, are by no means as great 

as in the older members of the Tertiary." 4

The absence of this formation at Kirkmau's, and the Louisiana Oil 

Company's well, on the west fork of the Calcasieu Eiver, is somewhat 

remarkable, since Port Hudson, Orange sand, Vicksburg, and Cretaceous groups were penetrated in one if not in both wells.

On this point Hilgard remarks :5

The rocks of the Grand Gulf age should have appeared in these profiles directly 

beneath the drift materials, but nothing has been found resembling them in the least, 

and since, of all the Tertiary groups, this one is the most persistently uniform in its 

lithological character, its absence might be taken as proved it having, doubtless, 

been removed through the agency of the drift currents.

1 Penrose: 1st Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Texas.

2 Hopkins, F. V.: 2d Ann. Rep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., etc., p. 20.

3 2d Ann. Rep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., etc., p. 19.

« Hopkins, P. V.: 1st Aim. Rep. La. State Geol. Surv., etc., p. 101.

6 Hilgard, E. W.: Final Rep. Geol. Roconn. Louisiana, 1873, p. 41.
170 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Although Hopkins found 1 no fossils in this terrane capable of specific 

determination he follows most writers on the subject and attributes to 

it a Miocene age. This view he believes to be strengthened by the following considerations: The formation is stratigraphically above the 

Eocene. Its upper surface evidences a long period of aerial erosion 

before the drift (Quaternary) was deposited upon it. This period directly before the Quaternary was the Pliocene. Hence the formation 

itself was laid down during the Miocene period.2

LAFAYETTE FORMATION.

Overlying the Grand Gulf and all the older formations of this State, 

save where their beds are highly calcareous,3 is a deposit of water-worn 

pebbles, sands, and clays termed by Hilgard 4 and Hopkins 5 "Orange 

sand" or " Drift." Its thickness here, as in Mississippi, is extremely 

variable, but increases generally toward the gulf.

Thus at Carolina Bluffs it is about 50 feet thick, at Grand ficore and Harrisonburg 

about 25 feet thick, and in the cuts on the Shreveport and Marshall Eailroad it is 

seen to vary from a few feet to a few inches, as it follows the double contour of the 

ancient and present hills.6

In Kirkman's well, on the West Fork of the Calcasieu Biver, it is over 

96 feet thick, and in the Louisiana Oil Company's well it is about 174 feet.7

A few slight outcrops of this formation have been noticed on Weeks 

and Petite Anse Islands, near the gulf border. These are indeed 

somewhat erratic, since generally in the southern part of the State the 

Port Hudson group overlies the Orange sand with a considerable 

thickness of deposits; e. g., at the Louisiana Oil Company's well above 

cited, the Port Hudson group is 160 feet thick; in the Kirkman's well, 

354; at New Orleans 8 no Orange sand was encountered at a depth of 

630 feet.

Not knowing how much of this formation will ultimately be classified 

as " Lafayette," we forbear from discussing it more in detail.

TENNESSEE.

LAGRANGE GROUP.

As yet we are unable to state with certainty whether there are any 

deposits in Tennessee that can properly be classified as Neocene, but 

inasmuch as McGee 9 has recognized the Lagrauge group of Safford10 as

1 1st Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv., etc., p. 100; 2d Ann. Rep., pp. 20-21.

* Hopkins, F. V.: 2d Ann. Rep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., 1870, in Rep. La. State TJniv., p. 21.

8 Am. Jour. Sei., 2d ser., 1869, vol. 48, p. 334.

4 SuppL and Final Rep. Geol. Reconn. State of La., 1873.

6 Hopkins: 1st Ann. Rep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., 1869, p. 104.

6 Hopkins: 2d Ann. Rep. Louisiana State Geol. Surv., 1870, p. 23.

7 HiJgard, E. W.: Suppl. and Final Rep. Geol. Reconn. Louisiana.

8 Hilgard, E. W.: Rep. to the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Gen. A. A. Humphreys, on the Geol. Age 

of the Miss. Delta, 1870. 

»W.J. McGee: Orally. 

10 Jas. M. Safford: Am. Jour. Sci., 2d set-., 1864, vol. 37, p. 309.; and Geol. Tenn.. 1869, p. 424.
LAGRANGE GROUP IN TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY. 171

belonging to the Lafayette formation it Avill here be briefly noticed. This 

group occupies more than a third of the entire surface of west Tennessee; it includes a belt about 40 miles wide, which runs in a north-northeasterly direction through the central portion of this division of the 

state. As seen in bluffs, railroad cuts, gullies, and in nearly all exposures, it is generally a great stratified mass of yellow, orange, red, or 

brown and white sands, presenting occasionally an interstratified bed 

of white, gray, or variegated clay. It often contains vegetable matter, 

trunks of trees, lignite, etc. It is typically exposed at Lagrange, 

where a section 100 feet in height may be seen.

Safford assumed the thickness of this group to be 600 feet. He, 

moreover, supposed it to dip slightly to the west, and to underlie his 

" Bluff Lignite." The incorrectness of the latter supposition has recently been pointed out by Loughridge, l who holds that the Porter's 

Creek group (FlatAvoods) and the " Bluff Lignitic " are really one and 

the same formation " as shown in the bluff of the Ohio on the Illinois 

shore at Caledonia, as well as by the continuity of the belt on the east, 

north, and west of the Purchase region."

No fossils except the remains of plants have been obtained from this 

group.

Among the fourteen species of fossil leaves obtained by Lesquereux 

from near Somervillle and Lagrange, three only were identified with 

living forms.2 In 1861 he expressed the opinion that they probably belong to an upper Miocene horizon.3 Safford, however, still classifies this 

group as Eocene Tertiary.4

KENTUCKY. 

LAGRANGE GROUP.

The Lagrange group of Safford (Lafayette formation) is found well 

developed in that portion of this State lying bet ween the Tennessee and 

Mississippi rivers,5 where it occupies a broad belt passing north and 

south through the central and western part of this region, and lies, as 

it were, in a deep trough in the Lignitic deposits (Bluff Lignitic or Porters Creek group of Safford). It is generally covered by Quaternary 

deposits, yet is frequently met with along the courses of streams, in 

cuts, wells, etc.- It consists of light colored, cross-bedded sands and 

white pipe clays, the former of which predominate, are usually fine, 

nonmicaceous, and sometimes variously colored, while the latter are 

frequently highly gypsiferous.

Loughridge,6 though strongly inclined to regard these beds as 

"lowest of the Quaternary stratified drift," nevertheless places them 

provisionally in the Tertiary, though above the Eocene division. From

1 K. H. Loughridge: Geol. Surv. Kentucky. Jackson Purchase region (F), 1888, p. 41.

2 Geol. of Tennessee, 18C9, p. 425. *

3 Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser. 1804, vol. 37, p. 370.

4 Am. Geol. Railway Guide; Jas. Macfarluno, 1800, p. 401. «

6 K! JI. Loughridge: Keport on the Jackson Purchase region (F), Geol. Surv. of Kentucky, 1888, p. 5:t

6 Ibid., p. 52.
172 * THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.48.

the specimens of fossil leaves sent by him from Boaz station, Graves 

County, to theTJ. S. Geological Survey, 1 Lesquereux made2 five identifications, viz, Mcus multinerms Heer, Laurus californica Lx., Sapindus 

falcifolius Al. Br., Quercus cf. cuspidata (Bossm.) Ung., Quercus neriifolia Al. Br. These are all extinct species, but they render no great aid 

in the determination of the age of their horizon, though they perhaps 

do indicate a preglacial age.

Thus far this group has yielded no other fossils. Its stratigraphic 

and lithologic characteristics are well defined in Loughridge's report on 

the Jackson Purchase region, while its geographical distribution is 

shown on an accompanying sheet. 3

ILLINOIS.

Tertiary sands and clays. A Tertiary series of stratified " sands and 

clays of various colors" is mentioned by Worthen4 as best developed in 

Pulaski County, though found to some extent in Alexander and Union 

counties. Whether any part of them will be found to belong to the 

Lafayette formation can not at present be determined. There seems 

to be no ground for supposing that any other Neocene deposits exist in 

this State.

MISSOURI.

A series made up of clays, sands, and iron ores, more or less indurated, extends in bluffs skirting along the bottom lauds from Commerce, 

Scott County, westward to Stoddard, and thence south to Chalk Bluff, 

Arkansas. No fossils have been found in these beds, but Swallow5 has 

referred them provisionally to the "Tertiary" without attempting to 

designate the subdivision.

TEXAS.

Considered from a genetic standpoint, there are three very distinct 

groups of post-Eocene Tertiary deposits in this state, viz, (1) the brackish-water Fayette (Grand Gulf) beds, (2) the perezonal Lafayette formation, (3) the interior lake deposits. These will be considered in 

the order mentioned.

GRAND GULF GROUP.

In 1871, Prof. E. W. Hilgard presented to the geological section of 

the American Association for the Advancement of Science6 a " Geological Map of the Mississippi Embayment," illustrative of an article " On

1 Geol. Snrv. Ky., Jackson Purchase region, 1888, p. 56. 

1 Proc. II. S. Museum, 1888, pp. 11,12. 

* See Map No. 1, accompanying Geol. Surv. Ky. (F), etc. 

« Geol. Surv. HI., vol. 1, I860, pp. 44-46 and pp. 417-423.

8 G. C. Swallow: Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1857, vol. 11, n, p. 2-3, and Parker, "Missouri as it is in 

1867," p. 123. 

' See the proceedings, vol. 20, map opp. p. 222.
DALL AND 

HABRIS. COLORADO RIVER SECTION. 173

the Geological History of the Gulf of M exico." On this map the Grand 

Gulf group was represented in Texas as occupying a belt of varying 

width, just inland from the Port Hudson, from the Sabine Eiver to 

Camargo on the Eio Grande. The correctness of this partly hypothetical distribution was proved by Dr, E. H. Loughridge, 1 who eight 

years later, while making a reconnaissance of the state in connection 

with the agricultural investigations of the Tenth Census, noted the 

occurrence and character of this formation at Trinity on Trinity Eiver; 

at Chapel Hill and Brenham, Washington County; at Lagrange, Fayette County; near Cuero, De Witt County; and from hearsay traced its 

extension through Live Oak and Duval counties to Eio Grande city 

on the Eio Grande.

In 1889 Mr. E. A. F. Penrose, jr., published "A preliminaiy report 

on the geology of the Gulf Tertiary of Texas, from Eed Eiver to the 

Eio Grande," in the first annual report of the geological survey of 

Texas, wherein he designates 2 the formation under consideration "The 

Fayette beds," though acknowledging their equivalency to Hilgard's 

"Grand Gulf." *

This report describes in detail the characters of these beds as they 

crop out along the Colorado, the Brazos, and the Eio Grande.

Colorado River section.3 In going down the river, the first typical 

exposure of Fayette beds is seen in a bluff at the mouth of Barton 

Creek, though low clayey Banks appear some distance above. The 

various strata at this point appear as follows:

Feet.

> 12 Quaternary red sand and gravel.

> 16 Light-brown sand and clay.

$ 1J Lenticular bed of lignite.

) 10 Chocolate colored sand and clay, with gyp5 sum and sulphur.

} 1 Lignite.

55 Interlaminated beds of gray sand and clay of 

a black, chocolate, or watery green color, 

with gypsum and sulphur.

The whole formation is 

much faulted and jointed, 

and dips 2° to 5° southeast. 

Farther down the river the 

so-called " Chalk bluffs," 

12 and 6 miles above La-- 

grange, respectively, contain about the same material, though the proportion of white clays and 

sands, or those that become 

white, is so great as to give 

the exposures a chalky appearance. Gypsum, sulphur, and lignite are common at both of these 

bluffs. The latter, however, is characterized by numerous leaf impressions, especially in its lower portion.

Four miles by river, above Lagrange, is "Palm Bluff," about 100 feet 

high. Its upper 30 feet is composed of sand, in places hardened into

1 Census Reports ot 1880, vol. 5, p. 679.

2 Op. cit., p. 47.

3 Ibid., p. 52.

i-2-4 Lignite.

^ 3 Strata similar to those of 6.

Fio. 29. Section at mouth of Barton Creek, Colorado Kiver, 

Texas.
174 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. (BULL. 84.

a friable sandstone. This is composed of sharp siliceous grains, sometimes coarse, the size of mustard seed or larger. Many impressions of 

palm or palmetto leaves as well as silicified stems and trunks are found 

in this sand. Toward the middle of the bluff clays and calcareous 

seams appear; the lower portion is covered by detritus.

Lagrange Bluff, 2 miles below the town, is the most southerly exposure described. It is very similar to Palm Bluff. State Geologist 

Durnble, however, has .noted the occurrence of Fayette sands as far 

south as Wharton, Wharton County.

Brazos River section. The Fayette beds first make their appearance 

on this river near the mouth of the Little Brazos. Here a slight rapid 

is formed by their cross-bedded indurated sands. The same watery 

green and chocolate colored clays, with sands, lignites, and silicified 

wood appear on this river as on the Colorado. Sulphur Bluff, 9 miles 

below Moseley's Ferry, in the eastern part of Burleson County, contains the following bed:

Still farther down the 

river, at points respectively 8 and 3 miles above 

the mouth of Yegua Creek, 

similar bluffs of clays, 

sands, and lignites appear. 

About 2 miles below this 

creek, a low bluff occurs, 

capped with a coarse sandstone containing fragments of silicified wood, 

small shark teeth, and

20 Interbedded i gra^ i sand, ^ and ^chocolate and WOm piCCCS Of bonCS Onehalf to 2 inches long. A 

mile and a half below this 

a hill rises 100 feet above 

the river bottom that 

closely resembles the

Feet.

 10 Light browu hardened sandy clay.

Lignite. 

Gray sand. 

Lignite.

greenish clay, bleached white in places on 

the surface.

FIG. 30. Section at Sulphur Bluff, Brazos Elver, Burleson T __,0 ._,.__ TJln^p county, Texas. Juagrange Bluff, 

strata are seen as far down as the southern part of Washington County. 

The coarse sands passed through at considerable depths in artesian 

wells at Houston and Galveston belong probably to this formation.

Rio Grande section. The " Fayette beds " on this river are very similar to those on the Colorado and Brazos. The first undoubted beds of 

this series are seen 5 miles below the town of Roma; though it is possible that certain strata above this place as far as the Rio Salado and 

Carrizo should be included here. Light sea-green clays, containing 

many impressions of leaves, predominate at first. Three miles below 

these clays are overlain by 15 feet of sandstone, with concretions, fragments of silicified wood, and a few broken pieces of oyster shell. Eio 

city is situated on a bluff of hard white clay, which probably
SECTION. 175

represents the sea-green clays of the Fayette beds, and has become 

indurated by exposure to heat in a dry climate. The most southern 

exposure of Fayette sands is at Hidalgo, Hidalgo County.

Such, then, are a few of the more important characteristics of the 

Fayette beds as seen along the banks of three great rivers. To the 

east of the Brazos Mr. Penrose's observations seem not to have extended. 

Between this river and the Colorado he notes briefly the topography, 

flora, and general features of the soil. Between the Colorado and Eio 

Graude he cites the observations of Loughridge.

Among the various inferences he has drawn from his study of the 

Fayette beds are the folio wing: (1) The minimum thickness of these strata 

is 3~>0 feet and probably nearer 400. (2) The lower part of the series is 

clayey and sandy; often hard, producing rapids in the water courses 

and a comparatively broken surface along the northern line of outcrop. 

Higher up in the series clays predominate, then suddenly the sands 

assume predominance and chiefly make up the upper half of the formation. (3) There is far more calcareous matter in these beds than in the 

Grand Gulf of Mississippi or Louisiana. (4) The clay at the base of 

the series is much thicker than in those States. (5) There are no indigenous fossil remains in these beds. The fragments of oysters, sharks' 

teeth, etc., appear to have been washed in from subjacent formations.1 

(6) The formation is continuous, occupying a bed often 60 or even 100 

miles wide, from the Sabine to the Bio Grande.

If Mr. Penrose's measurements of dip be reliable the formation may 

prove to be considerably over 400 feet thick, since the general amount 

of dip along the Colorado and Brazos seems to be about 2° or 3° to the 

southeast.

Lafayette group. Penrose has noted the occurrence of gravel deposits 

high up on the banks of the Brazos, Colorado, and Eio Grande, where 

they are from 1 to 15 or more feet in thickness. They contain limestone, 

flint, quarts, silicifled wood, jasper, chert, etc., and are presumably the 

Texan representative of Hill's " Plateau gravel" in Arkansas,2 though 

they seem to be more confined to the large water courses, their only 

representatives on the hills being a few scattered pebbles. To what 

extent these may be included in the Lafayette formation remains for 

future investigation to determine.

LAKE BEDS OF THE INTERIOR.

We believe there can be no doubt that during later Tertiary times the 

broad sheets of fresh water that flooded the plains of the West extended 

southward well into the State of Texas. Such has been the opinion of 

those who have studied the lake deposits of this period, though their 

observations were mainly confined to the regions farther north, in Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Dakota.

1 Exception mnst be taken to this rule if we include among the Eayette bods the beds about lloma 

in which the numerous specimens of Ostreageorgiana? are found, and also the "Meretrix" foiling 

by Bncklcy in the central part of Washington County. Cf, Buckley's First Animal Report, p.C3. ' ' " ' '
176 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

" Mr. Bobert T. Hill has made brief mention in three short papers of a 

very interesting fact concerning the age of the Staked Plains, and the 

extent of the fresh-water Tertiary formations of the West eastward into 

the Texas region. The whole of the great mesa known as the Llano 

Estacado and some of the basins of the trans-Pecos region, near El 

Paso, are composed of sandy loams, grits, and pebbles of this formation. 

This area in western Texas and eastern New Mexico extends in places 

eastward to the one hundredth meridian, and is a direct continuation 

southward of the same formation, in Kansas and Nebraska. Its southern limit on the Bio Grande is near Del Bio, and the whole area, which 

is as large as New England, has been colored Cretaceous and Jurassic 

upon previous maps. The formation has afforded fossil bones in various 

places, but these, as yet, have been unstudied. It rests unconformably 

upon the Comanche series, the Jura-Trias, and the various rocks in the 

mountain ridges. Everywhere at its base ib affords an abundant sup- 

*ply of well water, which has proved of great value to the settlers who 

are now rapidly locating on the Staked Plains. The Fort Worth and 

Denver road traverses the formation from Clarendon to Tascosa, and 

the Texas and Pacific from Sweetwater to the Colorado valley, and 

thence westward. This additional knowledge upon the former extent 

of the great inland lakes of Tertiary times is important, in that it nearly 

doubles the areal extent hitherto acknowledged, and enables us to locate 

the narrow continental divide between the Gulf of Mexico and the Tertiary lakes with greater accuracy. Dr. Otto Lerch has corroborated 

the extent of these beds in a recent article on the Concho country in 

the American Geologist for 1890.1 "

Hill gives the thickness of these beds as between 100 and 300 feet. 

He styles them the " Staked Plains formation." 2

Farther south, in Washington, Bastrop, and Navarro counties, many 

osseous fragments have been found in digging wells from 20 to 50 feet 

deep. Some of these Dr. Leidy 3 has studied, described, and referred 

to the "Miocene" or "Pliocene," generally, however, to the latter, or to 

the horizon of the extensive deposits of Niobrara and Little White 

rivers and Bijou Hill. The identification of Hipparion speciosum, 

Procamelus occidentalis, and Merychippus insignis, may be regarded as 

indicative of this horizon; Rhinoceros meridianus, according to Leidy, 

" presents much the general aspect of the Mauvaises Torres fossils of 

White Biver, Dakota, with which it is probably of contemporary age." 4

1 Am. Nat., 1891, vol. 25,p.49. The "three short papers" referred to in this quotation are as follows: (1) Notes on the Geology of Western Texas: Bulletin Texas State Geol. Soc., Sept., 1888; (2) 

Topography and Geology of Texas Kegion: Pro. Am. Ass. Adv. of Sci., 1889, and (3) Classification 

and Origin of the Chief Geographic Features of the Texas Kegion: Am. Geol., 1890, vol 5, pp. 9, et seq. 

In these, however, we fail to find some of the points made in the ahove quotation.

* Am. Geol., 1890, vol. 5, p. 28.

S U.S. Geol. Surv. Terr., vol.1, "Fossil Vertebrates," 1873, pp. 247, 248, 258, and Jour. Phila. Acad. 

Nat. Sol., 1869, (2) vol. 7, pp. 219,229,402.

«Jour. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 2d ser., 1869, vol. 7, p. 229.
LAKE BEDS °F THE INTERIOR. 177

These fossils are generally found in a calcareous sandstone formation, 

the extent of which is unknown.

Southwestern Texas, especially Nueces County, has furnished numerous vertebrate remains that have been referred to the widely distributed 

Equus beds. Of these Cope ! has described or identified five species of 

Equus, two of Mctstodon, one of Cistudo, and one of Glyptodon (G. 

petaliferus). 2

Concerning the distribution of the first-mentioned genus, Cope remarks :

Of the five species of Equus of southwestern Texas, four have been found rh the 

Pliocene of the Aralley of Mexico, and one is peculiar to the Pacific coast and basin 

of North America. Of the characteristic species of the eastern United States, Efraternus and E. major the former only has been found.

The latter, however, Leidy 3 has reported farther east, in Hardiri 

County,-"from an asphaltum deposit and from a stratum of clay beneath, * * * associated with the remains of Mastodon and other 

extinct animals."

iAm. Nat., Dec., 1885, vol. 19, pp. 1208-1209, and 1888, vol. 22, pp. 345-346.

2 Compare this fauna with that of Peace Creek, Florida. (See discussion of that State.)

«TL S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, vol. 1, p. 244.

Bull. 84 12
CHAPTEE III.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE LATER ATLANTIC TERTIARIES.

CORRELATION OP AMERICAN AND EXOTIC NEOCENE.

Having completed the historico-geologic summary of the epoch assigned to us, in its relation to the political divisions of the eastern 

United States, it has seemed desirable to consider briefly the formations, their genesis, and their relations to the present continent as a 

whole.

It may be premised that our present knowledge of the Neocene 

faunas of North America is so far from being thorough or complete that 

it is entirely inadvisable to attempt in this place any correlation of 

American and European stratigraphical units in the Neocene. Carpenter 1 called attention to the relations which he believed to exist 

between the recent fauna of the Californian coast and that of the 

British Crag, and the writer, in common with Pourtales, Jeffreys, and 

others, has indicated 2 a certain community of species which exists between the fauna of some of the Pliocene beds of southern Italy and that 

now living, off shore, near our southern and southeastern coasts. In a 

general way it is supposed, though as yet hardly demonstrated, that 

the American invertebrate faunas exhibited in Cenozoic and especially 

post-Eocene strata lag behind those of the transatlantic region in their, 

development up to a given stage. From this it would seem as if the 

strata called Pliocene in south Europe might be older than those denominated by the same term in America, at least in part, or at all 

events that it can not be reasonably assumed that they were wholly 

synchronous.

CLASSIFICATION BY LYELL AND DESHAYES.

The attempt of Lyell, following Deshayes, to classify the Cenozoic 

strata in three categories, according to the percentage of living forms 

represented in them by fossils, I have stated 3 to be at the present time 

on the face of it impracticable, illogical, and misleading. It was origi1 Suppl. Rep. British Aasoc., 1863, p. 682.

J Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Keports on the Molluska of the " Blake " Expeditions, by W. H. Dall; 1881, 

vol. 9, No. 2, and 1886, vols, 12, Kos. 6 and 18,1889. 

3 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, p. 162. 

178
U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BCLI.KTIN N° 04 PL. II.

KN 0\V'N D IS TRIB U TI ON

NEOCENE FORMATIONS 

UNITED STATES

1891. 

SuperTu-iii) 1'U'islocciiebeds are ignored''

LEGEND

Alhrviuiii ot'nncertain age p*oT)abIym part Pliocene 

Neocene of Uio InbM'ior Region 

~| M;ii-irie Pliocene 

Marine Miocene 

Floridian Eocene

area of LafaveHehclow Pleistocene beds

jj Itypothetic continualioil ol'tltt Lafayette South-westward 

Known (lisbilnilion of uieLafawtte formalion at siirfarR
CLASSIFICATION BY LYELL AND DESHAYES. 179

nally a working hypothesis, based*bu the assumption that species are 

and always have been definite entities, about the individuality of which 

there could be no reasonable doubt in most cases, and which could 

therefore be appropriately used for numerical calculations. If this 

assumption were justified the rest would logically follow as a matter of 

course. There is no doubt that Lyell's hypothesis has been of great 

use in. settling early Neozoic nomenclature, and has generally hitherto 

been applied in a0 manner to which little exception could be taken. 

But the old conception of the mathematical individuality of species has 

passed away, never to return, and the numerical estimates based upon 

it are no longer practicable in the absence of any method of determining the personal equation of different paleontologists in their estimates 

of what constitutes a species.

That this personal equation is in some cases a very large one, all 

workers are now well aware; and that it is subject to decided changes 

during the career of any single student is a matter of common observation. Furthermore, the specific contents of the best known faunas are 

subject to material enlargement from time to time, and, no matter what 

estimate of specific limits be in use for the time, the percentages can 

not remain uniform. The increase of our knowledge of geographical 

and bathymetrical distribution of organic beings has proved that discrepant faunas now exist simultaneously in closely adjacent regions, 

and that similar faunas are by no means necessarily synchronous.

The Lyellian nomenclature has, however, become an integral part of 

geological literature and classification. There is no good reason, as yet, 

why it should be disturbed. The formations originally designated by 

it will continue to retain their names; not because of their alleged percentages of living species, whether accurately determined or not, but 

because they are stratigraphic entities which have been so named and 

which are now recognized by those names and characterized by a recognizable assemblage of organisms.

The classification retaining these names is no longer numerical, but 

stratigraphic and developmental, and the formations classified under a 

given name are, for the writer at least, not necessarily synchronous, 

except where stratigraphically continuous, or synchronic only in a very 

wide and general sense.

It is believed that American geologists are well agreed that the minor 

subdivisions of the systems can not in America at present be subjected 

to any rigid parallelism with the minor subdivisions of other lands, and 

that the difficulty of correlation increases with the differences of latitude and distance. Concurring in this opinion, theoretically and practically, no attempt at such correlation has been attempted by the writer 

within the geological limits assigned to him.

The southeastern extremity of the United States, on the whole, presents that series of Cenozoic deposits which appears to have been laid 

down with the least disturbance and local denudation and the greatest
180 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

vertical stratigraphic continuity of any within our geographic limits. 

For this reason, though our knowledge of it is still regretably imperfect, I have used the geological succession of this region as a provisional type or standard by which that of more distant portions of the 

country might be measured and discussed. The provisional nature of 

this standard must be emphasized; it is a working hypothesis, nothing 

more, though based upon facts more or less certainly determined.

GROWTH OF THE CONTINENTAL BORDER,.

The growth of the borders of the continent has been ably discussed 

by Alexander Agassiz, who gives1 conclusive reasons for supposing that 

in later Mesozoic time the Gulf of Mexico was connected with the Pacific Ocean across the continental divide of the present day, and therefore that some portion of the equatorial current of the Atlantic swept 

across wide regions now occupied by dry land and mingled its waters 

with those of the Pacific basin.

That this connection persisted into Eocene time there is excellent 

paleoutologic evidence, combined with indications that the connection 

became less and less intimate and perhaps terminated with the Eocene. 

Cleve has shown2 that powerful volcanic action was in progress in the 

West Indian region during the deposition of its Cretaceous strata, 

which are there the oldest fossiliferous rocks. To more or less synchronous disturbances of level, unaccompanied, however, by violent 

action of a Plutonic character, may be ascribed the unconformity, stratigraphic and faunal, which serves as the bench mark for the beginning 

of Neozoic time along the greater part of our Atlantic border. That 

in the Antilles these disturbances continued with less energy during 

the Eocene period, the Eocene strata, whore they remain, bear evidence.

By inspection of a general geological map of the eastern United 

States Jt will be observed that the coasts along which the early Tertiary sediments were laid down, with the exception of the peninsula of 

Florida and the deep Mississippi gulf, reaching to southern Illinois, 

roughly approximate to those of the region at present, the discrepancy due to the existing belt of Tertiary rocks being least at their 

northeastern extreme, near the mouth of the Hudson, and greatest on 

those shores confronting the Gulf of Mexico. This generalization 

holds good if to the shore lines of the map we add the submarine areas 

necessary to fill out the true continental area, except that the region 

where the Tertiary belt is narrowest is then slightly further south, off 

Cape Hatteras, from which it gradually widens both northward and 

southward.

Agassiz holds, very justly, that modern researches have shown that, 

to" such an immensity of prolific life as existed in the sea in which the 

Eocene limestone of Yicksburg age was laid down, the presence of a

1 Three cruises of the Blake. Boston, 1888. I, Chapters in-vi. 

Z K. Sveuak. Veteusk. Akad. Handl., 1871, Bd. ix, No. 12.
THE EOCENE ISLAND OF FLORIDA, 181

vigorous marine current, bringing food and fresh supplies of oxygen, 

must be regarded as necessary. In the greater freedom of the warm 

equatorial currents and the wider sweep of their branches possible at 

that epoch he finds the needed factors supplied. Judging by modern 

faunas we conclude that the water in which these limestones were 

deposited may not have been very deep; certainly similar organisms 

nourish at present in waters not exceeding 500 feet in depth, and often 

much less. There can be little doubt that the sea bottom gradually 

and quietly sank under its load, the bottom preserving an approximately similar distance from the surface of the sea, rather than that 

these organisms were the means of filling up a depth of water originally 

equal to the final thickness of the deposit.

THE EOCENE ISLAND OF FLORIDA.

In the Floridian region the survey of the sea bottom shows an immense triangular plateau which unites Florida, the Bahamas, and 

Cuba, and extends from the northern end of the Bahamas toward 

Hatteras, as another portion of the same platform does to the westward 

of Florida, with a breadth equal to that of the present peninsula. Artesian borings in western Florida leave little room for doubt that the 

mass of this great platform (as well as of the similar plateau which includes Yucatan and its reefs) was laid down during the " Vicksburg" 

period of the later Eocene; that the surface, in part now deeply submerged, was once more nearly level and covered with comparatively 

shoal water, and that the channels which now divide Florida from Cuba 

and the Bahamas, though possibly initiated by fracture of the earth's 

crust, were chiefly cut out by a scouring process exerted by the ocean 

currents. Toward the end of the Eocene it is certain that the process 

of elevation had proceeded far enough to raise above the sea part of the 

summit of the western anticline of Florida, if not of both of the great 

Floridian anticlines, and that, during the deposition of the Nummulitic 

beds, this elevation (probably in the form of a chain of islets) had continued long enough for these islets to acquire a land-shell fauna as far 

south as about latitude 29° north. The absence of the Nummulites 

from the top rock of the Eocene beds farther north, between the soft 

Orbitoides limestone and the Chattahoochee group of rocks, is probably 

a purely faunal difference, as the Nummulitic beds appear to have an 

exact equivalent in the siliceous layers of the uppermost Georgia Eocene. 

Whether this be the case or not, it would seem as if in this region the 

Miocene was ushered in by a moderately evident stratigraphic change 

which is more vividly reflected in the discrepancies of the fauna than 

in unconformities of the rocks. The Nummulitic and Miliolitic limestones of central Florida appear to be restricted to very limited areas, 

and perhaps represent purely local faunal conditions which promoted 

the multiplication of these foraminifera toward the close of the Vicksburg epoch. The fact that nearly all the molluscan fossils of the typical
182 . THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BCO.. 84.

Vicksburg or Orbitoides limestone persist unchanged into the Numrnulitic, and that no stratigraphic break is known between them, makes 

strongly for this View. The existence in the Ocala ISTummulitic beds 

of well developed pulmonate land shells, identical in species with those 

which abound in the upper part of the older Miocene of the same region, 

shows that a certain area of dry land had here appeared which was 

sufficiently elevated to be beyond the reach of the tide. It is now 

certain that the dry land of central Florida held toward the shore line 

of the main continent at that time much such a relation as the Bahamas at present hold to Cuba and Florida.

At the end of Eocene time the continental shoreline appears to have 

bordered the Atlantic in a generally northeast and southwest direction 

from the Hudson to the Chattahoochee. Omitting the North Carolinian projection and the Floridian peninsula, the present Atlantic coast 

retains a general parallelism with that which existed during the Eocene 

between these two rivers. There was a well marked indentation in 

southeastern Georgia, while from the vicinity of the Chattahoochee the 

shore rounded to the west, northwest, and north, forming the eastern 

coast of the great Gulf of Mississippi (as the embayment may for convenience be denominated) which extended to the meeting of the Ohio 

and Mississippi rivers in the region now constituting the southern extreme of the state of Illinois. From this vicinity the-shore extended 

in a southwesterly direction, without striking irregularities, to the Bio 

Graude. At the culmination of the Eocene a movement of elevation 

seems to have taken place, which, without any destructive dislocation, 

raised this shore to an extent which gave the continental margin a 

notable addition to its area. In conformity with what would have 

been expected from the hypothesis of Prof. Agassiz, the most important additions in point of area were to the southwest and on the shores 

of the Gulf of Mississippi. The area between the central Florida banks 

and the mainland was not elevated above the sea, though doubtless 

made much more shoal. Thence northeastward the dried Eocene border 

gradually narrowed, becoming a mere ribbon beyond North Carolina 

and reaching its vanishing point at the estuary of the Hudson.

THE GREAT CAROLINA RIDGE.

Broad off the chief mass of the southern App?/lachians, in the 

direction of the north west-southeast axis of South Carolina, there 

exists an elevated ridge of perhaps very ancient origin, and whose" extension may be seen in the contours of the sea bottom far off the coast. 

That it is fundamentally of pre-Tertiary rocks is probable from the fact 

that the power of the Gulf Stream has been insufficient to cut a passage 

through it, and that mighty current therefore pushes up and over it. 

That the ridge has long been elevated may be gathered from the fact 

that the base of the Eocene upon it is reached at Charleston, S. C., in
CONTACT OF EOCENE AND MIOCENE. 183

less than 400 feet below the present surface, 1 while to the south, at 

Lake Worth, on the eastern edge of the central Floridiau area, the base 

of the uppermost member of the Eocene has not been reached at 1,300 

feet. That the fluctuations of level of this ridge have been less than 

occurred either north or south of it may be inferred from the extreme 

thinness of the Neocene strata and the relatively slight elevation of its 

quota of the Pleistocene Columbian perezone, as reported by McGee.

CONTACT OF EOCENE AND MIOCENE.

The character of the contact at the surface of the Eocene and the 

Miocene is too obscure and insufficiently known, as yet, between Florida and the Carolinas; too much denuded, as in South Carolina, or more 

or less re'inanie', as at some localities in North Carolina, to give clear 

evidence as to the conditions at the epoch of change. But we learn 

from Eogers 2 that in Virginia the Miocene Tertiary is separated from 

the Eocene below it by a baud of pebbles or coarse sand, sometimes 

cemented into rock by iron peroxide. Excepting this thin band of 

comparatively coarse material (probably due to the acceleration of erosion by the slight elevation which closed the Eocene) there is no evidence of physical violence having intervened between the close of the 

Eocene and the commencement of the Miocene deposits. None of that 

trenched and channeled, character of surface conspicuous on the preFlocene sandstones is here met with, but the smooth and unbroken level 

of the Eocene after receiving the pebbly band referred to was evenly 

covered by the successive Miocene strata. Yet the change in the fauna 

was almost complete, the Eocene species disappearing with perhaps 

only one or two exceptions, and a far greater variety of Miocene forms 

taking their place. Eogers concludes that there can be no doubt that 

some important physical revolution intervened at the end of the Eocene, 

for the distinct evidence of which we are, perhaps, to look to other and 

more distant regions.

The elevation of the ridge connecting North America and South 

America, if not so as to constitute an absolutely complete barrier, yet 

so as to turn the course of the equatorial current exclusively to the 

Atlantic, seems to furnish an abundantly sufficient cause and to be in 

harmony with the known facts, even if to be regarded as still insufficiently established.

In southwestern New Jersey an examination of the older Miocene 

marls shows them to have been laid down in a district subjected to the 

energetic and tumultuous action of conflicting currents, presenting 

almost exactly such a facies as does the material dredged off the similarly agitated area seaward from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, at 

the present day. The meeting of northern currents with the Gulf

1 Section of Charleston artesian well to accompany the report by Prof. James Hall, in the City Yearbook for 1884. 

8 Geol. of the Virginias, 1884, pp. 2CG-2G7.
184 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA.

Stream, which now takes place near Hatteras, may at that time have 

occurred between the Potomac and the Hudson.

WARM AND COLD WATER MIOCENE.

With the elevation which closed the Eocene and added so broad a 

margin to much of the continent, an acceleration of erosion over the 

whole area elevated was necessarily begun. The different branches of 

the equatorial current no longer able to escape in the direction of the 

Pacific must have been turned northeastward. In the deeper channels, 

as between the Floridian banks on the one hand and those of Cuba on 

the other, a scour must have been inaugurated which cut a fair way 

for the waters through the loosely aggregated organic sediments of the 

Eocene epoch. According to Cleve l the Miocene epoch in the southern 

and eastern Antilles was a time of continuous quiet and continuous 

gentle sedimentation with a profusion of animal life. On either side of 

Cuba, however, active submarine erosions must have been in progress. 

North of the Floridian banks it was probable that the water was too 

shallow to admit of the passage of any considerable current. The 

character of the Miocene strata and their contained fossils bears evidence in favor of this supposition. The increased sedimentation of 

terrigenous matter in the Gulf of Mississippi wafted eastward by the 

northern branch of the equatorial current (analogous to that now known 

as the Gulf Stream) and deposited on these shallows is probably responsible for the argillaceous character of the older Miocene beds of 

this region, which also, over a considerable region, carry a fauna appropriate to shallow and muddy waters. This fauna and that of the 

immediately succeeding beds in Florida is strongly Antillean in type, 

as might be anticipated on shores washed by strong currents from the 

West Indian region. A few Antillean species (e. g., Cumia woodii and 

various species of Volutidce) penetrated the northern waters even as 

far as New Jersey. At no succeeding epoch do we find such tropical 

or seinitropical littoral mollusks extending northward to such a distance from their present range. This fact may authorize the suspicion 

that the newer leaf-beds of Greenland and other parts of the Arctic sea, 

indicating a time when walnuts ripened on shores which now support 

the burden of the Inland ice-sheet, if really Miocene as has been claimed, 

may have been contemporaneous with the warm-water Old Miocene 

above described.

It is not improbable that, with the increasing elevation of northern 

Florida, in the absence of the present southward extension of the peninsula, and with the probable synchronous elevation of the Great Carolinian ridge, above described, a change was inaugurated. In the 

presence of such modifications of the coast, necessarily involving a 

modification of the direction of its flow, it may be surmised that the

'K. Svenak. Vetensk. Handl., 1871; Bd. IX, No. 12; Agasaiz: Three cruises of the Slake, vol. 1, p. 109.
DHAEBis.D } WARM AND COLD WATER MIOCENE. 185

course of the Gulf Stream in the main was gradually turned more off 

shore than before or at present, and that, concurrently, there arose a 

greater opportunity for the influx of a cooler northern current inshore 

in a southerly direction. To this may be ascribed the development of 

the succeeding newer Miocene fauna, characteristic of the beds of what 

has been called in this essay the Chesapeake group, chiefly developed 

in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. The preceding Eocene 

fauna, as well as the Old Miocene, was southern, or, at least, one which 

might nowadays be expected in fairly Avarm waters. The influx of 

colder northern waters, brought about as above suggested, might exterminate almost the whole of such a fauna by being too cool for the 

development of the invertebrate embryos, even in so widespread and 

adaptable a creature as the common oyster. Brooks has shown that a 

fall of a few degrees in the temperature of the water at spawning time 

will prevent the survival of the embryos subjected to it. 1 It is not 

necessary to postulate a very cold or Arctic current, only a current less 

warm by a certain amount than the antecedent sea temperatures. In 

this we might find an explanation of the phenomena noted by Rogers. 

This is the more likely because in the Floridian region, where the waters 

must have continued to be fairly warm, we find a very considerable 

percentage of Eocene species "surviving into the Miocene beds. The 

change from clear sea water to that containing a considerable amount 

of clay and other sediments would induce much such a change in the 

fauna as we actually find in the northern Floridian region.

The Chesapeake fauna seems to have crept gradually southward. 

Profusely developed in the Chesapeake region, it becomes more sparse 

as we follow the beds southward where the temperature of the water 

would be less rapidly and completely changed. The difference is noticeable in North Carolina and still more so in South Carolina, as pointed 

out by Tuomey, Heilprin, and others.

The deposition of the older Miocene about the Florida islands or banks 

was accompanied by an increase in the area of land and a probably very 

slow and gentle elevation. With this was developed a profuse landshell fauna, while the fresh-water lakes, which took the place of former 

marine lagoons, afforded a synchronous fresh-water fauna.

Subsequently to this the extended islands of the Florida banks became the seat of enormous rookeries of birds, seals, and other animals. 

The fresh guano supplied by these, washed by the constant rains, penetrated the porous organic limestones of which the land was composed, 

and thus was secured that precious store of phosphoric acid which is 

now bringing wealth to the owners of Floridian lands. The reception 

of the guano must have been after the deposition and elevation of the 

old Miocene strata, because they are the most generally and consist1 The adult animal flourishes well in San Francisco Bay in spite of the low temperature of the water, 

liut no one has ever succeeded in propagating the eastern oyster there. This is an excellent example 

of the far-reaching efl'ect on a fauna of small differences of temperature.
186 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. (BULT,. 84.

entry phosphatic of any of the Floridian strata. But the underlying 

Eocene rocks received their share, and when the latter, as in the most 

elevated places, formed the top rock, no Miocene intervened. From the 

rehandling of detritus from the Miocene and Pliocene beds is probably 

derived the minuter proportion of phosphate of lime which is occasionally found in the newest of Floridian limestones.

At the end of the period of elevation, which characterized this epoch 

in Florida, an equally gentle and probably moderate depression followed. 

Over the area near Tampa, where the land shells had flourished, 15 or 

20 feet of marine limestone was laid down; though all the land was not 

submerged, for a few land shells, such as love sea beaches, are found 

in this limestone to the very top. The marine fauna is largely mingled 

with species common to the rocks of the period of elevation. On the 

northern border of the Gulf of Mexico then existing and the southern 

sea margin of Georgia, this period was marked by sediments of erosion; 

in the Floridian region by organic sediments faunally connected with 

those which had preceded them. This fact, with others which might be 

noted, points toward an orographic independence of the central Floridian region, which is very noteworthy when contrasted with the inter 

relations in orogenic growth of the continental beds, and their much 

greater vertical fluctuations which seem to be indisputable.

Invasion of the Chesapeake fauna. At the conclusion of the operations by which the sediments of the Tampa group were laid down, a 

very marked change took place, analogous to the change noted by 

Kogers in Virginia between the Eocene and Miocene faunas. Whether 

the small depression noted in Florida was synchronous with a greater 

one northeastward, or whether some other factor must be invoked to 

account for the facts, it is, at all events, certain that the shores of 

Florida, east and west, those of the northeastern part of the Gulf of 

Mexico, and those of the Georgia embayment, whether still continuous 

with the gulf or not, experienced a wholesale invasion by the fauna of 

the Chesapeake group. This, in connection with the evidence" of depression on the mainland shore of the gulf at the same period, indicates 

that the northern cooler inshore waters for a time were able to penetrate even to the Gulf of Mexico, bringing the northern fauna with 

them. However brought about or explained, this change, from the 

older to the newer Miocene, is the most marked and extensive mutation 

which is traceable in the fossil invertebrate faunas of the Floridian 

and Gulf region, after the Eocene, in the whole of Neocene time.

Our present information permits us to assert with positiveness that, 

after the end of the older Miocene, the Floridian banks and their 

associated islands remained still insulated from the continent to the 

northward. All the facts that we have point toward such an insularity 

accentuated by orogenic independence. That an elevated region, from 

which detritus is constantly being transferred seaward to the base level 

of erosion, must submit to fluctuations of level in the portions most
CALL AND

HARRISf} GRAND GULF PER13ZONE. 187

affected by such transfers of material, seems almost certain. If to this 

"be added occasional vigorous erogenic action, then to distinguish in 

local stratigraphic records the changes due to general continental movement from those to be ascribed to more local causes, becomes very 

difficult. That more or less constant changes did take place on the 

continental border there is abundant evidence.

On the other hand the broad and level Floridian banks, built -of 

organic sediments, could not have been subjected to transferrence of 

large bodies of detritus in such a fashion. The peculiar character of 

the rocks, elsewhere more fully described, led to erosion by solution 

instead of attrition; and the whole surface, in a general way, suffered 

equally; so that the factors were wanting which would bring about 

changes like those occurring locally on the continental border. To this 

in great part may be ascribed the apparent freedom from minor fluctuations presented by central and southern Florida. To general continental 

movements the mass of the banks would seem to have responded in some 

degree, but much less energetically than the continental border nearer 

the centers of disturbance. In the Georgia embayment, at that time 

the Atlantic entrance of a broad and shallow strait connected more or 

less directly with the Gulf of Mexico, a considerable mass of sediments 

was laid down during the Chesapeake period. At Jacksonville, which 

represents a point toward the southeastern portion of the embayment, 

about 400 feet of Miocene limestone, apparently of this age, has been 

drilled through in artesian wells. This would seem to represent a 

deposit formed in only moderately deep water, while that on the west 

coast of the Floridian banks and the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico 

did not reach any such thickness. Farther south, at St. Augustine, 

the deposit reached less than 200 feet. On the continental shore, to 

the northward, 30 or 40 feet seems to be the extreme thickness yet 

observed there.

It is notable that on the continental shore the bluish gray matrix 

and grayish white color of the fossils of the Newer Miocene agree 

exactly with those of the Chesapeake region, while the deposits containing the same fauna on. the insular Floridian area partake more of the 

color and" texture of the other beds of which that area is composed.

GRAND GULF PEREZONE.

The drainage of the continent entering the Gulf of Mississippi then 

as now brought with it abundant sediment, clay, sand, and gravel. 

These would have contributed not merely to the general shallowing of 

the gulf but also to a deposit along the neutral zone where the tides 

and currents of the Gulf of Mexico, dominated by the Gulf Stream, introduced a disturbing factor into the circulation and dispersion of 

the brackish and muddy waters of the estuary. The termination of 

the Chesapeake invasion, through cha-nges of level accompanied by 

changes of water tenipera-ture, which seems probable, if accompanied,
THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

by au upward movement on the south, Avould harmonize well with the 

formation of a brackish water perezone at the time indicated.

The estuarine sands and clays doubtless began to be laid down at a 

much earlier time and through the Chesapeake period served as a barrier to westward migration of the Chesapeake fauna. The elevation 

which terminated the deposition of the Chesapeake beds on the shores 

of the Gulf of Mexico was probably that which definitely united the 

Florida banks with the continental margin adjacent to them, and may 

have begun while those beds were still forming, as seems to have been 

the case in part of the region included in Central America. A striking 

illustration of the elevation which terminated the Miocene is afforded 

by the little state of Costa Rica, as described by the late Dr. William 

M. G-abb, who says:

The geology of Costa Rica is extremely simple, the formations being few and the 

structure with but few complications. The greater part of the rocks are sedimentary, 

of Tertiary age, the remainder being eruptive, of comparatively recent origin. The 

oldest sedimentary rock, that which makes up nearly all of the interior mountain 

chains and in all probability underlies all of the great plains, is of Miocene age. It 

is pushed up into steep dips in the mountains of Talamanca by an. intrusion of granitic rocks, which have been laid bare by denudation, falls into gentle undulations in 

the lower hills and becomes level on the flat ground. Bordering this on the coast 

are small deposits of later age. Near Moeu,outhe railroad, between there andLimon, 

there is a deposit of clay of Pliocene age, abounding in fossils.

The granitic rocks are confined to an. irregularly shaped, long, narrow mass, which 

has been intruded after the deposition of the Miocene, forcing the central portion up 

to a height of nearly 12yOOO feet, the lowest exposure of the granite being no less 

than 3,000 feet above the sea.

Volcanic rocks form a prominent feature of the geology of Costa Rica, breaking 

through and often covering the Miocene sedimentary beds. Dikes of porphyritic 

material are common. A large part of the mountainous region is of volcanic origin.

The communication between the Atlantic and Pacific in the region of Costa Rica 

Avas interrupted in the Pliocene or subsequent to the deposition of the mass of the 

Miocene strata. 1

On the Chattahoochee we have, overlying the Ecphora bed, a thin 

stratum of lignite-bearing sand with impressions of palmetto leaves. 

Within 50 miles westward from this river, in an area still geologically 

unexplored, we have the eastern termination of the formation known as 

the Grand Gulf group, characterized by clayey and sandy or siliceous 

sediments bearing fossil wood and particles of lignite, a few oysters 

and other brackish or fresh-water shells, and impressions of palms or 

palmettos. Whether the lignitic sand of Alum Bluff represents the 

thinned-out eastern margin of the Grand Gulf beds or not, it is not improbable that it may. The definite cutting off of any exit for the 

currents from the Gulf of Mexico north of the main body of the 

Florida banks must have confined those waters to much such a field as 

they at present occupy. It is therefore by no accidental coincidence 

that we find the modern terrigenous deposits of the Mississippi drain1 Gabb, W. M.: MS. Report on the Geology of Costa llica, in archives of the "D". S. Geological Survey. 

See also Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1875, vol. 9, pp. 198,320.
LAFAYETTE PEREZONE. 189

age, on the northern floor of the gulf, parallel to and coinciding in east 

and west extension with the Grand Gulf perezoue.

The elevation which brought these beds to the surface and insured 

the silting up of the Gulf of Mississippi was not necessarily very great 

in vertical extent. It perhaps coincided with some depression to the 

north, since there we find beds representing Grand Gulf silts laid down 

upon a basis of fragmentary limestone derived from Vicksburg Eocene 

beds below1 and with no trace of the Miocene which, to the southward, 

intervenes between them.

That the formation of the Altamaha grits of the Chesapeake beds 

and of the Grand Gulf beds was to some extent synchronous can hardly 

be doubted and would accord with the fact that over both the latter in 

the gulf region and over the Chesapeake beds in Virginia is laid down, 

according to McGee, Johnson, Hilgard, and other authorities, a single 

great perezonal formation. There is no doubt that directly in contact 

with the Grand Gulf beds in the Gulf States and with the Chesapeake 

group in Virginia lies the formation variously recognized under the 

names of Lafayette or Orange Sand of Hilgard,2 Lagrange of Safford, 

or Apponiattox of McGee. If the Grand Gulf sedimentation went on 

for any great interval of time after the conclusion of the Chesapeake 

beds it would seem inevitable that something should be found above 

the Chesapeake group in the north and below the Lafayette to correspond with that interval; which, so far as we are informed, is not the case.

LAFAYETTE PEREZONE.

The Lafayette from McGee's investigations, which are more comprehensive than any antecedent studies of the formation, consists of sediments of erosion derived chiefly from subjacent or closely adjacent rock 

masses. The distribution of these sediments corresponds with the inner 

margin of the coastal plain from Virginia southward and around the 

southern end of the Appalachian uplift, marginating the Gulf of Mississippi. Though not yet traced in the field, it is undeniable that this 

formation must have traversed Arkansas, Louisiana, a,nd Texas in the 

same perezonal form as on the east of the Mississippi gulf. It or its 

remains will be found there on proper investigation.

The formation is more or less colored with iron oxide, which characterizes it almost everywhere. It is narrow in Virginia and North Carolina, where it is said to reach between 100 and 200 feet in thickness. 

As it traverses the region of the Great Carolinian ridge it widens and 

doubles or trebles in thickness. To the south it becomes thinner again 

until it crosses the main axis of the Appalachian uplift, where again it 

is said by McGee to reach a thickness of 450 to 550 feet, thus presenting the peculiarity of being thicker over the ridges and thinner along

1 L. C. Johnson in Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1889, vol. 38, p. 213.

2 Barring sonic not very important subtraction of Tuscaloosa beds.
190 -.p THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.&I.

the flanks of the highlands. It has few fossils, except those derived 

from other formations. Such as are autogenous are chiefly like those of 

the Grand Gulf beds, fragments of lignite and leaf impressions. Its 

material is largely cross-bedded or obscurely stratified, and consists 

chiefly of sands and clays with occasional stream gravels. Its lowermost portion is not greatly elevated above the sea; on the authority of 

L. C. Johnson it is said to reach tidewater in Mobile Bay; while in the 

Gulf of Mississippi and on a large part of the Atlantic coast it is supposed to average 25 to 50 feet above the level of the tide, reaching an 

extreme basal elevation of 150 feet at some localities in Virginia and 

the Carolinas.

The immense mass of material which would seem to constitute this 

formation must, to some extent, have been laid down in water. The 

relation of the local beds to the local older beds show that the erosion 

was not violent, though it n\ay have been long continued. The characteristics assigned to it would seem to necessitate a subsidence of some 

500 or 600 feet of the whole continental Atlantic and gulf border, the 

reconstitution of the Gulf of Mississippi, and along-continued period of 

moderate erosive processes. To account for the absence of a marine 

fauna in any part of it would seem difficult, unless it be assumed that 

the subsidence and sedimentation were synchronous and practically so 

equal as to keep this sandy perezone in the condition of a fresh or 

brackish water estuarine formation from its inception to the succeeding 

period of elevation.

The Meridian region south of the Suwanee strait still seems to 

have been exempt from the experiences of the region north of it, to 

which view the close approximation of the Lafayette to the sea level 

on the northern shores of the gulf would seem to lend a further 

shade of probability. The organic limestone of the peninsula at 

any rate would afford no such sediments as constitute the Lafayette 

beds, and even if erosion took place it would assume a different 

form and the results would possess none of the continental characteristics. If the northern part of Florida was during Lafayette time 

again depressed it may be that a part of the arenaceous covering 

which now envelops it was received at that time, affording material 

for subsequent rehandling up to the present moment. In any case in 

Florida the depression was moderate in amount and gentle in its progress and reaction, so far as we can judge from the recorded data in 

the region concerned. The continuity of the marine fauna of the coasts 

was not greatly interrupted. The bulk of the Chesapeake fauna had 

disappeared, but many forms had become permanently acclimated and 

still persist. This is especially the case with a number of the largest 

bivalves, which would be particularly liable to extinction by any sudden elevation of the coast, even if it were of but moderate vertical extent. With this evidence we may safely conclude that the change of 

level was gradual. Whether the disappearance of the newer Miocene
PLIOCENE DEPOSITS. 191

beds from a large part of the Carolinian region was due to causes connected with this period of elevation, or to those of a subsequent epoch 

we are not in a position to decide. Perhaps the latter is the most 

probable surmise. The changes which followed the Lafayette sedimentation can not yet be clearly discerned except in special details.

It is certain that the elevation which resulted in or followed the end 

of the operations connected with the formation of the Lafayette, added 

considerably to the area of southwestern Florida and probably dried 

out the Gulf of Mississippi and the Georgian embayment.

PLIOCENE DEPOSITS.

The marine Pliocene fauna which succeeded the Chesapeake Miocene, 

was of a more tropical character than that of the latter, and its members indicate clearer water and a greater abundance of food. The 

presence of numerous corals lead to the inference that the motion of 

these waters, perhaps part of the Gulf Stream, was felt more strongly; 

as it might be if by the elevation its exit-way had become more straightened.

This fauna, as I have elsewhere urged, reached South Carolina and 

perhaps even to the southeastern extreme of Virginia, but nowhere do 

the deposits containing it seem to have reached more than a feAY feet of 

thickness. In South Carolina it would seem as if a subsequent denudation had removed the greater part of the little which was deposited.

In Florida the accessible evidence points toward an extensive development of fresh-water ponds or lagoons in which species of Planorbis, 

Pliysa, and Vivipara multiplied to a remarkable degree. The evidence 

of a certain proportion of such ponds in close proximity to the sea, 

from a very early period in the marine Pliocene, is definitely established. The gradual change in. the character of the marine fossils from 

below upward in the beds shows that a gradual shoaling of the water 

.took place, probably from a slight motion in elevation of the land, until 

the species proper to a moderate depth were replaced by those characteristic of muddy shallows and tidal flats, and finally by an exclusively 

fresh-water fauna. The latter condition was not attained without some 

trifling fluctuations, which may, however, merely represent temporary 

inroads of the sea after exceptional storms upon lagoons which, under 

ordinary circumstances, were filled with fresh Avater.

It seems reasonable to associate the epoch of the Planorbis rock of 

southwestern Florida with that of the great Lake De Soto or the several 

large lakes which seem to have occupied the medium syncline of the 

peninsula a little to the northward. The last evidences of the Pliocene 

are comprised in the relics of the lakes and the silicification of the 

Planorbis rock.

Before the termination of the marine Pliocene deposits the permanent connection of the peninsula with the continent was accomplished 

and the lowlands invaded by a host of large vertebrates. The rhinoc-
192 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

eros, the wild horse, the llama, the Columbian elephant, the mastodon, 

the glyptodon, and various enormous tortoises wandered along; the 

shores of the lakes and through the marshes, while the saber-toothed tiger 

lay in wait. To what extent, if any, this fauna was affected by the 

glacial epoch of the north is unknown, but there would seem to be no 

reason why these animals should not continue to flourish in the warm 

marshes of Florida, notwithstanding the presence of an inland ice sheet 

in Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley. The subsequent depression of 

much of the continental border, during which the Columbia sands of 

McGee were laid down, may perhaps be as fairly regarded as a reaction corresponding to a northern rise after a melting of the first ice 

sheet has relieved the north from its weight as in any other way. But 

here we are wandering, so far as the southern Atlantic border is concerned, in a maze of hypothesis.

What we know is that before the deposition of the marine Pliocene 

strata of south Florida was ended (whether synchronous with other 

strata elsewhere called Pliocene or not) the invasion of these vertebrates began 5 that their remains lie below marine Pliocene strata as 

well as under the whole belt of superficial sands (in Florida and inferentially also in South Carolina), imbedded in the Alachua clays or 

associated with remnants of older phosphatic rocks in the Peace Creek 

phosphate beds and the Carolinian marls j that at a later time a general, though slight, depression of the peninsula began, without wy 

obvious change of plane from the previous general horizontality, or any 

general change of fauna among the invertebrates, except the extinction 

of a number of the largest and most striking species of mollusks, chiefly 

gastropods. The great lakes perhaps were emptied; but their trough 

was apparently not filled with salt water, which encroached chiefly on 

the seaward margins of the peninsula and of the Atlantic coast northward. In Florida beds of incoherent marl aud*sand were deposited 

containing nothing but recent species. Farther north the discrepancy 

in vertical motion during such changes, when compared with that of 

Florida, is again manifested; on the whole increasingly so, as we go 

northward, excepting over the great Carolinian ridge.

At last the reaction came, and Florida rose again apparently about 

as much as it had been depressed, but with indications of a slight tilting or inequality which elevated the Atlantic border with its reefs more 

than the gulf shores. Since then the work of geologic forces has been 

chiefly exerted in the building of coquina and vermetus rock, in the 

solidification of seolian sandstone and battered coral reef, in the formation of modern oolitic rock, and the slow cementation of loose material 

by iron oxides. Waste has gone on in the old way by the slow and 

gentle processes which lead to solution and decay; and growth, chiefly 

by chemical precipitation of dissolved lime carbonate, by organic sediments and by wind-blown or sea-tossed sands.
DAI..L AND > 

HABKIS. J PLIOCENE DEPOSITS. 193

The details of these processes, briefly and in many cases but provisionally indicated here, are for the future. Perhaps in no way better 

than by such an attempt to sketch their broader outlines can be made 

plain the imperfections of the record and of our knowledge of it.

TABLE SHOWING TIIK VERTICAL RANGE OF THE NEOCENE FORMATIONS OF THE

ATLANTIC COAST.

Eocone.

 

Miocene.

Jj

 i

 

 

 

M

 > _

7

? _

-

U

 

 

 

___

 ?

j __

Pliocene.

L

 1

M U

i

 |

 

__ 1

 

__ i

? 

?

j __

P.P.

__ j

Formations.

Alachua clays. 

Alt am ah a grit. 

Alum Bluff beds. 

Appomattox formation. 

Arcadia marl. 

Atlantic group. 

Caloosahatchiebeds. 

Carolinian. 

Cerithiuin rock. 

Chattahoochee group. 

Chattahoocheo limestone. 

Chesapeake group. 

Chipola beds. 

Chipola marl. 

Do Soto beds. 

Ecphora bed. 

Fayette beds. 

Ferruginous gravel. 

Floridian. 

Gay Head series. 

Gnathodon bed. 

Grand Gulf group. 

Grand Gulf sandstone. 

Gulf group. 

Hawthorne beds. 

Infusorial earth. 

Infusorial stratum . 

Jacksonville limestone. 

Lagrange group. 

Marylandian. 

Mississippi clays. 

Nashaquitsa series. 

Naushon series. 

Ochesee beds. 

Orange sand group. 

Orthaulax bed. 

Oyster marl. 

Patuxeut beds. 

Peace Creek bone bed. 

Perna beds. 

Planorbis rock. 

Shiloh marls. 

Sopchoppy limestone. 

St. Mary's beds. 

Sum tor beds. 

Tampa beds. 

Tampa group. 

Tampa limestone. 

Tumtellamarl. 

Venus caucollata bud. 

Virginian. 

Waldo formation. 

Weyquo8q.no series. 

White Beach sand rock. 

Yellow sand.

Bull. 84
CHAPTER IV.

SUMMARY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE NEOCENE OF THE PACIFIC COAST OFTHE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, CONSIDERED 

BY STATES.

CALIFORNIA.

The geology of the State of California is still very imperfectly known, 

so much so that a general view of it is at present impracticable, The 

details here given are gathered from various sources, the most important of which are the reports published by Prof. J. D. Whitney, late 

State geologist, and those associated with him on the survey of the 

State; and subsequent researches by various members of the U. S. Geological Survey. The State mining bureau has recently issued a petrographic and geologic map of California, which, however, presents but 

little that had not been previously made known. The earlier reports by 

Trask, Antisell, and others were chiefly economic, and much of their 

information is of a general character, but they have been occasionally 

referred to in default of more specific data. The compilation which follows is derived almost exclusively from the literature, and for the reasons above given it can not appear otherwise than fragmentary.1 There 

is some reason to suspect that much of the fossil fauna referred to as 

Pleistocene by Gabb, in his Paleontology of California, may prove from 

the number of extinct species included in it, analogous rather to what 

has been regarded as Pliocene on the Atlantic border, or that, as at 

Santa Barbara, species from two horizons have been confounded. It 

will be understood that in referring to various formations, as Miocene 

or Pliocene, the compilers accept no responsibility beyond that of correct 

statement of what has been recorded by others, except where otherwise 

indicated.

THE GREAT VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA.

California west of the one hundred and eighteenth meridian west 

from Greenwich, consists essentially* of a great valley extending 450 

miles northwest and southeast, with an average width of about 50 miles,

1 1t is known that the same type of geologic structure extends for some distance south of the boundary between the United States and the Mexican territory of Lower California. In the vicinity of Todos 

Santos Bay 50 miles south of the boundary, Cretaceous, Miocene and Pleistocene fossils have been collected, but nothing referable to the Eocene. The Miocene fossils are largely silicified, appear on the 

surface not far above the sea level, and belong to the same epoch, apparently, as those which have been 

collected in the vicinity of San Diego, California. Corros Island also affords Miocene fossils, in a sandstone.

194
THE GREAT VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA. 195

walled in on the east by the high and rugged Sierra Nevada, on the 

north by the Siskiyou Mountains, and on the west by the less elevated 

Coast ranges which at the south recurve toward the southwestern spurs 

of the Sierra. The valley of California, drained by the Sacramento 

and San Joaquin rivers, has a single outlet, the Golden Gate, the entrance of San Francisco Bay. This divides the Coast ranges into two 

groups, which are most conveniently taken up separately. The Coast 

Eange, composed of a large number of small folds having a trend generally parallel with the coast, incloses here and there a number of small 

valleys, reproducing in miniature the topographic type of the great valley. Along much of the coast the mountains come close to the shore, 

and the sea is bold-to, so that there are neither harbors nor even landings.

The region east of the one hundred and eighteenth meridian is largely 

arid and partakes, except near the coast, of the character of the adjacent desert or semid6sert region of Arizona and Nevada.

Recent changes of level. All the evidence indicates that this region 

has undergone remarkable changes of level and orogenic activity at a 

very recent geologic period. There is no doubt that since the end of 

the Pliocene, part of the coast of San Diego County, for instance, has 

been at a level 600 feet lower than at present. 1 Farther north much 

greater fluctuations are reported. The Santa Barbara Channel separates by 25 miles from the mainland, a group of islands which in early 

Pleistocene times were connected with the mainland and afforded pasturage for the mammoth. Since man first made his appearance in this 

region the whole topography of the country has suffered material 

change to an extent unparalleled, so far as known, in any other part of 

the world. In spite of all this the submarine topography is so abrupt, 

immediately off the coast, that the continuity of the invertebrate fauna 

has been relatively but little interrupted by these violent physical 

changes, and quite as large a number of recent species appear in the 

Miocene fauna as one would expect to find in regions of very much less 

disturbance.

Before proceeding to take up the highlands in their order, a few notes 

may be recorded in regard to the great interior valley. They are derived from the experience of Mr. Jerome Hawes, of Stockton, California, whose specialty has been for many years the boring of artesian 

wells for water, oil, or natural gas. No one else has so thorough a 

knowledge of the underground conditions of the valley of California.

According to Mr. Hawes,2 in Boring in the valley away from the foothillsr the strata exhibit great uniformity everywhere. They consist of 

clays and sands, the beds of clay becoming thicker as one bores deeper, 

and the beds of sand, usually 6 to 8 feet, remaining unchanged, so 

that the proportion of clay gradually increases, sometimes reaching 100

1 Dall, Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1878, yol. 1, p. 3.

* Verbal communication to W. H..Dall,,iu August, 1890L
196 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

feet without a break in the bed. The layers appear perfectly horizontal. Gravel is rare. In the city of Stockton, in the very center of the 

valley, at a depth of about 100 feet, there is a layer of which the pebbles reach the size of cobbles. At the well in the yard of the courthouse, in the center of the city, this layer is 58 feet thick, and also at 

the Hawes gas well; but, laterally from a line drawn between these two 

it diminishes in thickness and runs out to a few feet at a distance of a 

few blocks from this axis. From this down to about 1,400 feet there 

are merely alternating layers of clay and coarse sand. At about 1,400 

feet there is more gravel with rounded pebbles, usually not exceeding 

2£ inches in diameter, mostly quartz or clay porphyry, and often with a 

thin black coating of iron oxide. The greatest depth yet bored is about 

2,100 feet, but no rock has been reached at that depth. At 1,100 feet 

the water begins to be somewhat saline, and contains magnesia, sodium 

chloride, some borax, traces of petroleum, and bubbles of gas. At 

1,400 feet there is less salt, so that it is hardly perceptible to the taste, 

but there is more borax, and the water has a temperature of 90° or 

thereabouts. Below the gravel it becomes more saline again. It is not 

potable below 1,100 feet. Stockton, it may be stated, is but little above 

the level of the sea, the influence of the tide being felt there in the 

river daily.'

Twenty miles east from Stockton, at the edge of the foothills of the

Sierra, at a depth of 200 feet the drill struck a layer of water worn

granite cobblestones in a volcanic matrix. After boring through this 

over 100 feet, gravel and sand as in the valley were reached, and no 

more rock was found when drilling ceased at a depth of 900 feet.

According to Mr. Hawes the gravel is traceable to the Sierras. The 

sand and clay from the Sierra side is different in texture and color from 

that on the Coast Eange or western side of the valley. But on the west, 

after boring through about 500 feet of Coast Eange detritus the drill 

comes to Sierra gravel and thereafter continues in it, showing that the 

latter underlies the Coast Range talus.

At the southern end of the valley the flow of water is purer, more 

powerful and more profuse than in the northern part. The decrease 

northward is so gradual that Mr. Hawes supposes the artesian water of 

the valley proceeds more from the south than from any other direction.

No fossils have been found in the valley borings and only once Avhen 

boring at the edge of the hills. Small twigs and particles of wood are 

occasionally brought up, but no large pieces. The harder nodules of 

the clay are sometimes perforated with holes about half an inch in 

diameter like the tunnels of some animal. These sometimes have a 

limy coat internally.

The indications of these data are that the valley as an estuary is 

older than the volcanic conglomerate and than the present elevation of 

the Coast ranges; that its bottom has been depressed below its original level either by mountain-building forces or by subsidence; that
DAU, AND 

11ARUIS15 } THE GEEAT VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA. 197

deposition first from the Sierras and subsequently also from the Coast 

ranges has gone on continually and without any notable tilting of the 

deposited material; that the ejection of the volcanic conglomerate did 

not interrupt the general detrital action which is still going on; and, 

lastly, that during this period the valley has for the most part maintained a perezonal character, not supporting marine life nor affording 

favorable conditions for the existence of fresh water shells. Much of 

it is doubtless filled with deposits of Pliocene age, if not even older, 

though the superficial portion of course belongs to the most recent 

times. The sandy and gravelly layers are covered with a rich blackish 

loam in great part of vegetable origin and very fertile. This is most 

abundant and thickest away from the hills, near which it gradually disappears giving place to more barren detrital soil, or even to basaltic 

rock or volcanic conglomerate almost bare of soil. *

This valley in%ter Mesozoic time was occupied by an arm of the sea, 

and this condition was maintained to some extent at least as long as to 

the latter part of the Miocene. The marginal marine beds beginning 

with those referred to the Chico have been much broken up, eroded, and 

contorted, as a result of the physical changes which have taken place. 

At the northern end of the valley, where the Mesozoic sea washed the 

base of the Siskiyou schists of that epoch, something of the old state 

of things can be made out. °

Hear Bedding, along the line of the railroad between that town and 

the station called Middle Creek, the valley begins to widen, showing 

its floor to be composed of irregular edges of the upturned schists laid 

bare by the floods which annually pour down the canyon of the upper 

Sacramento. They are more or less covered by coarse reddish gravel, 

containing many rather large cobbles. One-third of the way from 

Middle Creek station to Bedding the schists come to an end and against 

them unconformably abut the somewhat crumpled sandstones of the 

Chico, mostly a good deal tilted, dipping to the south and west, and 

containing characteristic Upper Cretaceous fossils.

Over these lie a 10 or 12 foot stratum of gray sand with enough 

clay in it to give the mass stability. This bed is certainly Neozoic. It 

is remarkably uniform in texture, free from pebbles or other fragments, 

and shows no fossils. Though crumpled, it is less disturbed than the 

sandstones below it, and, on the whole, more horizontal. Half a mile 

of it is visible in the section. Conformably over it He the same coarse 

gravels which farther north overlie the schists and which in some places 

have been incorporated with yolcanic outflows, forming a sort of conglomerate very common around the valley. The lava flows which have 

brought this about are probably to a large extent Pleistocene.

The elevation of the Coast ranges has taken place to a certain degree 

since the beginning of the Miocene, but it is by no means probable that 

this was its first elevation. On the contrary, they are largely based 

upon schistose ridges, like the Siskiyous, which are of older origin, but 

which are still imperfectly known.
198 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BUM.84

A large part of the Coast ranges is formed of fossiliferotis Miocene 

sandstones more or less altered, contorted, and tilted up. On these at 

high altitudes are frequently found marine Pliocene and even Pleistocene fossils. The fluctuations and changes of level which have characterized the coast of this region since the beginning of the Neozoic, as 

the fossils prove, can hardly be realized except by the observer in the 

field, and any attempt at description would read like vagaries of a 

vivid imagination.

Notwithstanding their comparative youth, the valleys of the Coast 

ranges are not unlike the great valley of California on a minor scale. 

A few notes on the Liverinore valley 1 will serve to illustrate their general features.

THE LIVERMORE VALLEY.

The Livermore valley is the largest valley of the Coagt Range north of 

Mount Hamilton, and unlike most of the valleys of this range is well 

watered, agriculture requiring no irrigation, the rainfall amounting to 

some 12 inches per annum. The entire watershed is discharged into 

San Francisco Bay through Niles Canyon by the so-called Alam eda Creek. 

Within the valley are a large number of branches of this creek, each 

draining a smaller valley or canyon of its own.

Of these the southeasternmost is the Arroyo del Viaje, or Valle, which 

discharges by a permanent stream into a small rounded basin, from which 

there is a narrow passage into the Livermore valley proper; Here the 

hills are composed of gravelly strata covering Miocene sandstone. Tin; 

lower layers, near or in the bed of the creek, are composed of river 

pebbles, mixed with worn and broken Miocene fossils; oysters, Venus, 

Tapes, and other bivalves predominating, crushed together with many 

smoothly worn quartzite pebbles. The rock is very hard and the 

material obviously is the compacted result of the mixture of stream 

gravels with beach worn marine fragments. The strata are a good 

deal contorted, but those above lie conformably upon them. The dip 

is entirely variable, but preferentially eastward to some 30°.

A mile or two up the canyon one meets contorted schists, much crushed 

and cut in every direction by larger and smaller veins of quartz and 

jasper. These veins furnish the pebbles found in the later sandstone 

and clayey strata, together with cobbles composed of the harder waterworn fragments of the inetamorphic schists. The sandstones lie uuconformably on and against the schists, somewhat as at Bedding. Their 

lower layers as described are full of fragments of shell but none in their 

natural shape, condition, or position. The upper layers vary in composition, but are more largely sandy and with numerous sandy concretions 

surrounded with thin layers of iron oxide and here and there traces of 

vegetable remains, but offering very few pebbles and practically destitute of fossils. The layers vary in thickness, yet the fluctuations appear

1 Made by W. H. Ball in September, 1890.
DHABBM.D } THE LIVERMORE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 199

to succeed each other with something like regularity. The npper beds 

are frequently pale greenish or whitish where weathered, or a little blue 

internally. They weather easily, and fragments exposed to the air 

gradually slack up into loose sand. Here and there are clayey layers 

or lenticular masses which intercept the infiltrated iron and are often 

very hard. The uppermost beds as a rule seem rather more horizontal 

than those below, as if the series had been deposited while changes of 

level were in progress.

Above the rocks, lying unconformably upon their eroded edges, is a 

layer (5 to 10 feet thick) of clayey soil full of pebbles of all sizes up to 

cobbles, mixed with weathered concretions from the underlying sandstones. The beds of the brooks are full of gravel and pebbles which 

were first derived from the schists, but which have been utilized more 

or less in all the subsequent strata and may have been washed out from 

any of them.

The talus of the steep hills is often composed almost wholly of this 

gravel, the finer materials having been carried away. The above description of the Miocene rocks of this particular locality will give a very 

fair idea of the Miocene beds as they appear in many places in the 

State; the differences chiefly arising from the greater or less amount 

of disturbance which the strata have suffered, or the more quiet and 

even sedimentation originally possible in some more favorable localities 

free from the influence of streams and surf.

The more level floor of the valley away from its borders is largely 

composed of brown loam, derived from the uppermost clayey layer above 

referred to, mixed with vegetable soil. Farther north there is in the 

valley and on many foothills a very deep layer of the so-called "black 

adobe," a black clayey loam, which is extremely fertile, but which in wet 

weather forms an almost impassable mire and in dry weather shrinks, 

forming deep vertical cracks running in all directions.

The Miocene sandstones of this vicinity attained a thickness of several hundred feet. Near the mouth of the Tessajara Canyon the stream 

cuts deeply into the level plain, affording a good section. The material 

derived from the adjacent hills is deposited in nearly horizontal layers 

covered with 5 to 10 feet of black adobe. Worn fossils derived from the 

adjacent sandstones are sparsely scattered through the alluvium. As 

the traveler goes from the hills toward the middle of the valley the land 

is seen to be more and more fertile. As he approaches the schists it 

becomes less and less fertile, until it is practically barren.

The Arroyo Mocho is next northeast from the Arroyo del Valle, and 

most of the rocks are tilted sandstones; but about 9 miles from Livermore, on the crest of the ridge, as the road runs, the schists make their 

appearance at an elevation of about 1,800 feet. They are much contorted, 

and graduate upward into a clayey rock containing much iron, which 

has been ground for paint. The mineral springs of Agua Vida, 10 

miles from Liverinore and 1,750 feet above the sea, issue from the schists.
200 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

The above notes will convey some idea of the character of the California 

valleys, and it now remains to recapitulate the information we have 

been able to compile in relation to the distribution of the Neocene rocks.

For this purpose it is necessary to take up the various sections of the 

State in some regular order, and the following arrangement has been 

adopted: The coast ranges are divided into those north and those south 

of the Golden Grate, and the different short ranges which make up this 

assembly are successively referred to, passing in a general way from 

north southward.

Then follow notes on the southern border of the State and the Santa 

Barbara Islands, and lastly the Sierras with their foothills and the region 

of the Auriferous gravels, Death Valley, and the rest of the desert 

region to the south and east.

STRATIGRAPHY COAST RANGES. 

DIVISION NOKTH OF THE GOLDEN GATE.

But little is known respecting the distribution of the Tertiary series 

on the western Side Of this range to the north of San Francisco Bay. It 

appears that the most northern outcrops of marine Neocene rocks have 

been found in Humboldt County j Cooper1 has catalogued various molluscan species from Eagle Prairie, Danger Creek, and Eel.Eiver in this 

county, and has assigned them a Pliocene age. At Eagle Prairie, near 

the town of Rio Dell, both Miocene and Pliocene are reported. Still 

less is known regarding the geology of Mendocino County, though the 

existence of Tertiary deposits here may be inferred from Whitney's general statement: " The great bituminous slate formation, of Tertiary age, 

extends through California, from Los Angeles as far north as Cape 

Mendocino." 2

Farther to the south, in Sonoma County, Gabb3 cites several molluscan forms as coming from "Russian River" and "Santa Rosa," while 

Whitney generalizes on these localities as follows: 4

The valley of Petaluma extends through to Russian River, being separated from 

that of Santa Rosa Creek by hills so low that the divide can hardly be recognized. 

This valley is in the direct line with the Tertiary strata of the Contra Costa hills, 

and is probably an excavation in that belt, with metamorphic Cretaceous and eruptive rocks on both sides.

Between Petaluma and the entrance of Tomales Bay the surface is 

generally depressed. The rocks exposed are mainly metamorphic, upon 

which here and there in mere patches rest, unconformably, sandstones 

of Tertiary age. The latter are well exposed at Estero San Antonio,5 

about 3 miles north of Tomales. Here the sandstone is soft yellow, 

with some hard, blue, calcareous nodules, aod forms a bluff 250 or 300

1 J. G. Cooper, M. D., 7th Ann. Hep. Cal. State Min. Bureau, 1888, pp. 223-308.

 J. D. Whitney, Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 18G5, vol. 1, p. 117.

 Gabb, W.M. : Geol. Survey Cal., Pal., 1869, vol. 2, pp. 69-110. 

« Whitney, J. D.: Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 108.

 Ibid.,pp. 83-84.
COAST RANGE STRATIGRAPHY. 201

feet high. Fossils are numerous and are classified by Gabb as Miocene.

To the west and south of Tomales Bay, in Marin County, beds of 

sandstone, presumably of this age, occur, resting nearly horizontally 

upon granite.1 At White's Gulch the sandstone is overlain by white 

argillaceous slates, resembling the Mtuminous and infusorial strata of 

Santa Cruz and Mouterey.

Near Suscol,2 Napa County, the prevailing Cretaceous rocks are often 

hidden by volcanic material. Between the two, especially at the place 

just mentioned, sedimentary Tertiary rocks intervene, whose distribution is as yet but little known.

Finally, near the head of Pleasant Valley, the Cretaceous rocks are 

frequently covered by layers of volcanic ash, interstratified with gravel, 

conformable throughout, with a slight dip to the east. " They appear 

to be of Pliocene age, and identical in most respects with the sedimentary-volcanic beds to the north of Kirker'e Pass.3

Of one area, that north of the Napa Yalley and east of the Mayacmas 

Eange, at an elevation of 1,310 feet above the sea, we are fortunate 

enough to have a special geological study by Dr. George F. Becker, of 

the U. S. Geological Survey.4

No Miocene strata have been detected in this region, and Dr. Becker 

inclines to the belief that during the Miocene this was a land area.

Cache Lake beds. An extensive area, of which the limits have not 

been precisely ascertained, is occupied by fresh-water sediments, to 

which the name above cited has been applied. The body of water in 

which these were laid down overlapped the area at present occupied 

by Clear Lake, with which Dr. Becker shows its geologic history has 

been continuous.

These beds consist, first, of conglomerates carrying pebbles of metamorpliic rock 

identical with that which underlies them, and of pyroxene andesite, which can not 

be discriminated from that of the adjacent " Chalk Mountain;" secondly, of sand 

beds, and, thirdly, of argillaceous and calcareous deposits. For the most part, the 

strata are little compacted and may be reduced to powder in the hand, but there are 

frequently nodular masses which are consolidated to firm rock. * * * Occasionally considerable areas of sandstone fully solidified are met with. The impression 

conveyed by the prevalent distribution of the more extended and irregular hardened 

masses is that they represent the local action of cold calcareous or siliceous waters 

upon the surrounding rock, an action which if sufficiently prolonged would result 

in the complete petrifaction of the whole series of beds.

The Cache Lake beds have been subjected to comparatively little disturbance. 

They are tilted at angles varying from about 10° to about 40 °, but the inclination 

seldom changes rapidly, and there is very rarely anything which can be regarded 

as contortion. Within the area of the map, too, no faulting was traced, though 

more or less important disturbances of this nature occur near Chalk Mountain and

"Whitney, Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 84. 

"Ibid., pp. 102-3. 

»Ibid., p. 106.

4 Monographs of the TJ. S. Geological Survey, vol. xm, Geology of the quicksilver deposits of the 

Pacifle slope, Washington, the Survey, 1888, 486 pp., 4°, aiid atlas, folio, cf., pp. 233-290.
202 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

on the north fork of Cache Creek, east of the map limit. The thickness indicated 

by measuring the strata, perpendicularly to the planes of stratification, is very 

great some thousands of feet. I confess myself unable either to comprehend this 

or to ignore its significance. There is certainly no confusion between these beds and 

others of marine origin, since fresh-water shells were found in them at widely separated horizons; but the accumulation of several thousand feet of sediment in any 

lake except one of vast dimensions seems an impossibility. A careful search was 

made for faults without finding any. The probabilities, however, seem to me in 

faver of the supposition that these really exist, but thus far have escaped detection. 

Even on this assumption I believe it impossible to reduce the estimate of this deposit below 1,000 feet. 1

The fossils found in these deposits comprise some vegetable remains, 

fresh-water shells identical with species now common to the region, and 

a few bones referred by Prof. O. 0. Marsh to the horse, camel, and 

elephant or mastodon. Prof. Marsh's report seems to show conclusively that they are not Pleistocene, and they must therefore represent 

the close of the Pliocene.

The beds are extensively eroded, and near Cache Creek have been 

terraced. On and near the north fork of the creek they are Covered 

imconformably by a deposit of gravel usually 50 feet or less in thickness.

This is somewhat obscurely stratified, unconsolidated and has been tilted, though 

less than the underlying lake beds. It presents no strata in which there would be 

any hope of finding fossils, and its origin is not certain. It may possibly represent 

the very last stages of Cache Lake, or, as seems to me more probable, the earliest 

river deposits after the close of the Cache Lake epoch. 2

These beds are to a considerable extent overlain by andesitic erUptlVGS 

and basalt. The former lie conformably upon the lake beds and the 

latter have been more or less metamorphosed, apparently rather through 

the action of hot water or springs than by any direct contact with 

heated lava. Similar results are noticeable where the basalt has come 

in contact with the lake beds. The metamorphosed deposits yield a 

red soil full of white masses of calcareous material which is said to be 

very fertile.

The later andesite overlies the Cache Lake deposits and also underlies the Clear Lake sediments. As previously noted, the vertebrates 

of the lake beds are Pliocene, while the amount of erosion and relation 

to the modern sediments show they are upper or later Pliocene. The 

date of the eruption is thus fixed at about the close of the Pliocene 

epoch.

The eruptions of basalt of the Clear Lake region were greatly inferior in volume to those of andesite, even more so than would appear 

from an inspection of the map, as owing to the fluidity of these lavas 

the layers are thinner. These rocks are regarded by Becker as entirely 

Pleistocene, resting as they do unconformably upon the uplifted Cache 

Lake beds.

1 Becker, op. cit., pp. 239 etseq. 

»0p. eit.,p. 241.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY. 203

DIVISION SOUTH OF THE GOLDEN GATE.

Valley of San Francisco Bay. In volume vi of the Pacific Eailroad 

reports Prof. Newberryl gives the following section, obtained somewhere 

along the southern shore of San Pablo Bay, though its exact location 

is unfortunately not stated:

cui.Stratift£d,tufti$. t>.Scuv£lstorieancl Shales, c Fbssilt/Srous stmtn

ee. OystsrshelLs.

FIG. 31. Section along southern shore of San Pablo Bay, California.

The fossiliferous strata are said to contain Pecten pabloensis Con., 

Pccten nevadensis, a Mactra, Natica, Nucula, and Tellina. All have an 

eastern dip of from 30° to 35°.

This is probably the same locality referred to by Whitney 2 in discussing the post-Tertiary deposit about Benicia. He says:

Similar beds, with oysters, were observed on San Pablo Bay between Point PBiole 

and the Embarcadero; at this locality the beds containing oysters, Avhich rest horizontally on upturned strata of the Tertiary, are elevated twenty-five feet above the 

level of the water in the bay.

In another place the same author states3 that the Rodeo Valley marks 

the limit of the Cretaceous, going west from Martinez, and that here it 

is succeeded by coniform able Tertiary strata, all dipping southwest.

Southeast from San Pablo Bay, a series of elevations, commonly known 

as the Contra Costa Hills, extends into Alameda County, where it blends 

into the Monte Diablo Range. Its northern portion is made up for the 

most part of Miocene sandstone, often highly fossiliferous,3 and along 

its southwestern margin more or less thoroughly metamorphosed. The 

dip of the strata in this region is to the northeast. The localities most 

frequently quoted by Gabb4 as furnishing molluscan remains are "Walnut Creek" and "San Pablo," though one specimen at least is cited 

" from the hills back of Oakland."

A short distance south of the pass between Oakland and Lafayette, 

rocks of uncertain age5 occur, and form the central part at least, of 

this series of elevations until it merges into the Mount Diablo Range. 

Whitney is inclined to refer these to the " Cretaceous" 6 from the fossiliferous contents of bowlders apparently derived from them.

1 Explor. R. R. route from Sacramento Valley to Columbia River; Pacific R. R. reports, 1855, vol. 6, 

part 2, pp. 13-14.

* Whitney Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 18C5, vol. 1, p. 102. 

8 Ibid., p. 12.

4 Geol. Survey Cal., Pal., 1809, vol. 2. 

6 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1805, vol. 1, p. J.7. 

6 IbH, p. 18.
204 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

I S I 

i g 8

w -

o ,2

To the southeast of Martinez, Gabb found the "Cretaceous" and 

"Tertiary" formations occupying a syncline, as follows:

Mount Diallo Range. About 15 miles south 

from Martinez is the lofty summit of Mount Diablo. The central portion of this eminence is 

composed of metamorphic, probably Cretaceous, 

rock, while flanking it on all sides rest unaltered 

stratified deposits. These are tilted, but otherwise little disturbed. To the north both Cretaceous and Tertiary beds appear (according to the 

California Geological Survey) and present no 

marked unconformability.

The Miocene series consists chiefly of beds of 

sandstone heavy bedded at base, resting upon siliceous deposits of uncertain age, and grading upward with apparently no interruption into thinner and more fossiliferous deposits, referred by 

Gabb to the Pliocene. The latter are particularly well exposed near the east end of Kirkers 

Pass, whence so many Pliocene forms have been 

cited.1

Besting upon these are beds of stratified volcanic materials several hundred feet thick to-^ne

west of this pass, often dipping at angles of 25°, 

30°, or even 50°. To the southeast they form a 

series of rounded and bare hills, stretching along 

near the edge of the San Joaquin plains.

A special study of the geology of the vicinity 

of this mountain has recently been published by 

Mr. H. W. Turner 2 of the U. S. Geological Survey.

According to Mr. Turner, the Miocene beds 

are largely coarse gray sandstone containing Ostrea titan Con., with Pectens, and Echinoderms 

and conglomerates containing pebbles of rhyolite, 

quartz, and metamorphic rocks. The Pliocene gyj £ jr, » to 7 * ' * 

o § & g js 11 strata of the same region contain marine fossils 

" ffl ° and also fossil leaves, silicified wood, and hornblende-andesite tufa and pebbles. The marine fossils have been collected at three localities, yiz, Kirkers Pass on the north, the Bailroad ranch reservoir on the south, and Corral Hollow, about 25 miles 

southeast of the mountain.

In the finer layers at Kirkers Pass there are also numbers of fossil 

leaves, wood, etc., which have been described (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,

1 Geol. Survey Cal., Pal., 1809, vol. 2; Geol., 18G5, vol. 1, p. 32.

2 The Geology of Mount Diablo, California. Bull. Geol. Soc. of Am., March, 1801, vol. 2, p. 383-414, pi. 

15. Rochester, the Society, 8°, with a supplement on the Chemistry of the Mount Diablo Rocks, by 

W.H. Melville.

1-9

s 1
' MOUNT DIABLO RANGE. 205

vol. 1, p. 35, 1889) by Lesquereux, who considered them Pliocene. 

Leaves from Corral Hollow Avere referred to the Miocene by Lesquereux, 

but were regarded as Pliocene by Prof. Whitney, in which opinion 

Turner concurs on stratigraphical evidence.

The Tertiary strata discussed by Turner are regarded by him as 

conformable with each other and with the Chico beds of the same region, 

though the Pleistocene deposits are thought to be unconformable.

The Tertiary rocks are greatly tilted, and in some places reversed so 

that, as in a section east from Tessajara Creek to Lone Tree Valley the 

Tejon and Chico beds overlie the Miocene.

South of Mount Diablo, the Miocene forms a high ridge some miles 

in extent, which subsides toward the south, giving place to the Amador and Livermore valleys.1 Connecting the latter with the valley of 

California is the Livermore pass, which crosses the Monte Diablo range 

at right angles. The rocks here exposed are soft Tertiary sandstone, 

dipping to the west of the ridge in a southwestern direction, white on 

the opposite side this dip is reversed.

From this pass southward along the Monte Diablo range, these Tertiary deposits extend apparently without interruption as far at least as 

Corral Hollow; they extend to altitudes of 2,400 to 2,500 feet above the 

sea, are often much dislocated, and in some places contain the large Ostrea titan 2. North of " Camp 61" impression s of leaves and silicified wood 

have been noted in beds referred by Whitney to the Pliocene. For 

some distance to the south of this "hollow" Cretaceous rocks give an 

abruptness of outline along these hills to near the mouth of Orestimba 

Canyon, where they fall away and are overlain by more yielding Neozoic 

deposits. The latter near the eastern end of the canyon appear to lie 

conformably upon the-Cretaceous, and to dip eastward toward the San 

Joaquin at an angle of 45°.3 From this point southward along the 

eastern slope of the Monte Diablo range very little is known regarding 

the character and distribution of the Neozoic series till the vicinity of 

New Idria is reached.

Nevertheless, it seems to be generally agreed that such deposits do 

exist,4 though to what extent is unknown, owing to the development of 

overlying Quaternary deposits, and the limited number or entire lack 

of observations. Near New Idria, Gabb 5 identified several molluscau 

species and referred them to the Miocene.

Whitney 6 states in this connection:

The road from Griswold's to New Idria keeps along pretty near the line between 

the Tertiary unaltered rocks and'themetaraorphic Cretaceous. Large masses of the 

former are seen in the hills on the eastern side dipping at an angle of 45° to the

'Gcol., Survey Gal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 33.

*Ibid., p. 38. 

«Ibid., p. 44.

4 Sec Pac. K. E. Eept., vol. 7, pt. 2, Gcol. by Thos. Antisell, pi. I, fig. i. and map at tlio end of pt. 2j 

also vol. 5, pt. 2, Geol., by Wm. 1'. Blake, map at end. See also Traak'a Kept, for 1854, pp. 28-29.

 Gool. Survey Cal., Pal., 1869, vol. 2, and Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 57, 

6 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. l,p. 57.
206 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84.

north and northeast. * * * Everything indicates a considerable widening of the 

Tertiary belt, forming the eastern edge of the chain, as we proceed southward, and 

the mass of these sandstones appear to dip toward the plain of the San Joaquin.

Hilgard reports abundant well preserved marine (Pliocene"?) fossils 

in unconsolidated sand on the eastern slope of the range along the road 

leading from Bakersfield to San Luis Obispo.

Having traced the Neozoic deposits along the eastern slope of the 

Monte Diablo Eange, a few words must be added in reference to similar 

deposits upon the opposite side. Beginning, therefore, at the locality 

where this range merges into the Contra Costa hills, whose geology has 

already been discussed, we find here, as farther to the northwest, a 

ridge of more or less metamorphosed Miocene sandstone1 extending 

along the eastern border of the valley of San Francisco Bay. Its 

southeastern extension has been traced some distance beyond the latitude of San Jose" mission,- its dip is-toward the northeast, often at a 

high angle; it is often thoroughly metamorphosed in one locality and 

entirely unaltered close by it; its fossils, though numerous, are in a 

bad state of preservation.

Farther to the south, in the river valley above Tres Pinos, immense 

detrital deposits have been noted by Whitney which may belong to the 

Pliocene.2 They fill the valley for 10 or 12 miles, are unconsolidated 

and uufossiliferous.

Santa Cruz Range. This range has been but little explored fro^ a 

geological standpoint; but its general structural features have been

ascertained, and may be stated as follows;

From the Golden Gate, metamorphic beds, mostly Cretaceous, extend to the southeast through northeastern San Matco and southwestern Santa Clara counties; in the latter they form a lofty ridge 

occasionally rising into such summits as Mounts Bielawski, Umunlram, 

and Baciie. Their northeastern slopes exhibit several patches of Neozoic rocks, of which material their southwestern slopes 'are almost 

wholly made up.

The New Almaden district has been carefully studied by Dr. George 

F. Becker,3 of the U. S. Geological Survey. Here upon the metamorphic rocks lie some areas of soft Miocene sandstones of a yellowish 

color and containing a good many poorly preserved fossils. They are 

considerably disturbed, lying unconformably on the metamorphic rocks, 

of which they contain fragments. There also exists along the border 

of the Santa Clara valley a small quantity.of conglomerate, composed 

of metamorphic pebbles imbedded in an arenaceous matrix, which is 

similar to the Miocene sandstone. According to Becker (op. cit. p. 313) 

this rock may be a remnant of Miocene, but more probably represents

 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1805, vol. 1, p. 51-52.

8 Ibid., p. 54. In his Auriferous Gravels, Whitney states without 3DJ qiiaMCatlOUS lllSt t/lCJ 310 

Pliocene; op. cit., 1879, p. 21.

3 U. S. Geological Survey, Monograph, 1888, vol. 13, Geology of the quicksilver deposits, chapters, 

pp. 310-318.
SANTA CRUZ RANGE. 207

Pliocene, though it would, in the absence of positive evidence, be rash 

to map it as such.

A long1 and tolerably regular dike of rhyolite, a light yellow, tufalike substance, hardly distinguishable at a distance from the sand- 

'stones, was discovered in the northern part of the district by Dr. 

Becker. He regards this rock as certainly post-Miocene, for if it had 

been earlier it must have shown the effects of the post-Miocene uplift. 

As a rule the rhyolites of the Pacific slope are, as pointed out by Elchthofen, younger than the andesites. If this rhyolite is younger than 

the andesites of Mount Diablo and Napa County, it is Pleistocene, but 

there is no direct evidence that this is the case. On the whole the 

probabilities are that it is recent or late Pliocene, but all that is certain 

is that it is not older than the Pliocene. All the quicksilver deposits 

of the district occur along a rather simple fissure system, which was 

probably formed at the time of the rhyolitic eruption, to which Becker 

also attributes the genesis of the ore.

Farther to the west, a high range of granite hills l may be seen, beginning near Santa Cruz and stretching away to the northwest nearly 

to the Pescadero Creek. Still nearer the coast,2 extending from Santa 

Cruz to a point 3 miles northeast* of Spanish Town is a belt of bituminous slate, containing interstratified beds of sandstone and narrowing 

rapidly in going northward.

Going southward from San Francisco, the first deposits met with 

which are probably of Tertiary age are found along the seacoast from 

near Lake Merced to Mussel Bock.3 They consist of a bluish sandstone, 

resting unconformably on metamorphic strata below and overlain by 

nnconformable Pleistocene deposits. Upon the evidence of the fossils 

they contain, these have been assigned to the Pliocene. Gabb, moreover, has mentioned several species from " near San Francisco" and 

" 12-Mile House below San Francisco" as belonging to a Pliocene horizon.4

Farther to the south, both Pliocene and Miocene forms are cited by 

this author from Half Moon Bay. The regular belt, however, of bituminous Miocene shale, begins at a point 3 miles northeast of Spanish 

Town where it caps a mass of granite.5 No fossils of any particular 

value for determining the horizon of this bed were found here, yet from 

lithologic resemblance and structural position, they belong with little 

doubt to the Miocene belt well developed farther south.

In a section from San Mateo to Half Moon Bay at Spanish Town, 

Whitney found 6 that west of the granitic axial ridge there is a low 

ridge of friable sandstone, dipping to the west at an angle of 40 degrees.

1 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 72-73.

2 Ibid., pp.74 and 75.

"Ibid., p.79.

4 Gool. Survey Cal., Pal., 1869, vol. 2, p. 79.

 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 74.

 Ibid., p.75.
208 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.48.

Proceeding toward the coast, this dip is reversed, with a pitch of 50 degrees which diminishes all the way toward Spanish Town, and finally 

it is nearly horizontal on the seashore. The character of the rock also 

changes, becoming more and more argillaceous toward the bay. These 

beds probably belong to the Miocene series, since they are in line with 

the bituminous shaly belt referred to above, though characteristic fossils have so far been found only in the immediate vicinity of Half Moon 

Bay. Nevertheless, Whitney remarks, 1 " the fossils found in the strata 

show that they belong to the Miocene."

The same formation has been seen well developed along the trail from 

Pescadero to Searsville; near the latter place the occurrence of Ostrea 

titan has been noted among other molluscan forms.3

At Pigeon Point a gray compact sandstone appears, which, upon paleontological evidence, has been referred to the Miocene.3 Another sandstone occurs just north of New Year's Point ranch house, which, according 

to Gabb, should be referred to a Pliocene horizon.3 Bituminous shales 

have again been seen along Scott's Creek,3 and again at Santa Cruz.

Upon the northeastern flank of the metamorphic region, mentioned 

above, there are several local exposures of Cenozoic deposits, all of which 

have been classified as Miocene.4 Of these the more important are: 

(1) A patch on the ridge from Mine Hill to Mount Umuuhum, and (2) 

those in the vicinity of McCartyville.

Gamlan Range. This is in trend only a southeastern continuation of 

the Santa Cruz Range just described, being separated from it only by the 

valley of the Pajaro River. In its northern part it is well separated from 

the Monte Diablo Range, on the east by the San Juan and San Benito 

valleys, and from the Santa Lucia Mountains on the west by the Salinas.5

In the valley of the Pajaro Whitney has observed the bituminous 

belt of shale 6 so frequently referred to, as well as Miocene sandstone. 

Antisell makes no reference to shales, but reports the "basal rock" to 

be "felspathic granite" upon which the sandstone rests, though their 

juncture has not been observed. These sandstones form in the vicinity 

low foothills of the Gavilan Range. In them Antisell notes the occurrence7 of Venus pajaroana, described by Conrad and referred to the 

Miocene Tertiary. Whitney remarks:

Portions of the formations are fossiliferous; but all the shells found were in such 

a bad state of preservation that little or nothing could be made of them. There ia 

not much doubt, however, that these rocks form a part of the Miocene Tertiary, so 

developed in the Coast ranges. 8

1 Geol. Survey Gal., Geol., 1805, vol. 1, p. 75.

"Ibid., p. 72.

"Ibid., p. 73.

"Ibid., p. 67-68.

"Ibid., p. 159.

«Ibid.,p.lC5.

»Pac. E. E. Eopt.,vol. 8, pt, 2, p. 37.

8 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. l,pp. 159-160.
DHAKifis.D j SIERRA DE SALINAS. 209

To the south, near the trail from Canyon San Juan to Natividad 

ranch, these rocks become metamorphic. Finally, Antisell has given 

a somewhat hypothetical section,1 extending due east from Point Pinos 

to San Joaquin Valley, which, of necessity, crosses this range still farther to the south. The Gavilian Range is here represented as being made 

up of (1) a central axis of "orthose granite," flanked on either side by 

(2) metamorphic limestone, which in turn is overlain by (3) "Dosinia 

sandstone."

Little is known regarding the geography or geology of this range 

along its southern extension; it is assumed, however, to blend into the 

Monte Diablo Range in the vicinity of San Lorenzo. The foothills that 

are found along its western margin, just to the east of the Salinas River, 

are said by Antisell to extend southeastward to the mission of San 

Miguel, making their entire length 80 or 90 miles. Their lithological 

character and stratigraphic relations are the same throughout as represented in the section referred to above.

Finally, molluscan forms have been collected in the Estrella Valley, 

which Conrad referred to the Miocene an opinion in which Gabb concurs.

Sierra de Salinas. This chain of hills, so named on the Pacific Railroad maps, begins a little northwest of Monterey and extends in a 

southeasterly direction to the confluence of the San Antonio and Salinas rivers. Its structural features are given very differently by Whit11 ey anO Antisell in their respective reports, while the statements of 

Trask and Marcou are too general to be of service here, the former 

designating it as "an extensive group of the serpentine formations." 2

Whitney 3 has described at considerable length the geology of the 

immediate vicinity of Monterey in his report of 1865 (pp. 160 et seq.).4 

Suffice it to say that this region shows all stages of metamorphism in its 

rocky material, and that the junctions of the granitic masses with the 

Miocene slates and conglomerates are well exposed.

Extending east from. Monterey, and flanking the Palo Escrito Hills 

(such being the name applied to the northern part of the Sierra de Salinas) 

on the north is a series of sandstones and conglomerates several hundred 

feet in thickness, which dip more or less to the north and northeast, 

and in places are quite fossiliferous. u These rocks appear to belongto the upper division of the Miocene." Between the mission of Carinel 

and Monterey the Palo Escrito Hills consist of unaltered bituminous 

slate, light in texture and containing some fossil remains.

By these Whitney 5 determined the age of this formation so extensively developed throughout the Sierra de Salinas. They belong to the

1 Pac. E. K. Kept., 1857, vol. 7, part 2, Geol., pi. 1, tig. 1.

* John B. Trauk; Asseinb. Doc. No. 0, 1854, "Kept, on Gool., etc." p. 21.

 In Pac. K. K. Kept., 1856, vol. 5, part 2, pp. 180 et seq. Blalio has also described this vicinity. 

4 For description infusorial strata in this vicinity see Proc. Pliila. Acad. Sci., 1855, vol. 7, pp. 328-331. 

"Geol. Survey Gal., Geol., 1805, vol. 1, p. 154.

Bull. 84 14
210 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA.. [BULL.84.

Miocene. This confirms the speculations of Blake ] and Conrad published nine years before.

Farther to the southeast, in the vicinity of mission Soledad, the rocks 

on the east side of this chain are nearly all metamorphic, " consisting 

chiefly of mica slate, in places interstratified with gneiss, while the 

western slope is made up partly of metamorphic rocks and partly of 

unaltered bituminous slate." Still farther in the same direction, between the San Antonio and the Salinas, the rocks consist almost exclusively of bituminous slate. 2

In general it appears, from the remarks of Whitney, that these beds 

have on the whole a northeastern dip, though they are often much 

folded and broken and dip, locally, in various directions.

Santa Lucia Mountains. This chain of mountains rises suddenly from 

the ocean level at Point Carmel and extends in a southeasterly direction 

parallel to the coast for over 100 miles without a single break. Much 

of it rises abruptly from the sea. It has been very little explored. It 

is known, however, to have a granitic axis from the outcrops along the 

coast from the point just mentioned to El Sur and from bowlders of

FlG. 33. Section near San Miguel, California, d, central 

axis, folspathic granite; a, b, c, sandstones (c, iheDosinia 

bed); s, serpentine; t, dikes of felspathic (augitic) trap.

this material washed down from its heights into the San Antonio and 

Nacimiento rivers. Besting on the granite is a Cenozoic sandstone 

(probably Miocene) and very extensively metamorphosed. Strati graphically above this, as may be seen on the Carmelo and the Arroyo Seco 

rivers, rest thick deposits of bituminous slate. These continue southeastward and are well developed along the Naciiniento, some 6 or 8 

miles from its mouth. They in turn are here overlain by a group of 

rather soft sandstone, sometimes calcareous, with a thickness of over 

1,000 feet. These beds are fossilferous in places, containing species of 

Pecten in particular abundance. Among these the Miocene P. pabloensis is most common.

This sandstone is probably the one referred to by Autisell in his 

" Section of Antonio Hills," from which Conrad describes four species 

of Dosinia. Unfortunately nothing more definite is given regarding 

the locality of this section than that it is " near the mission San Miguel." 

Such being the case it seems scarcely exact to apply to it the name 

" San Antonio Hills," since they, according to Whitney, are found only

c. E. R. Kept., 1856, vol. 5, part 2, p. 182, and Appendix, p. 317. 

*Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 150.
DALL AND ) 

HABKIS. > SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS. 211

O £L B 5" -8

o »

W o

 -.

.» W O

50

feJT 

s

I! ^ II

E?» &

II

<n £.

rt- S" IT1

P- B 0

01P

. s p tr o S S 3. CD S >3 ®

 ^1 

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a

at some distance below, viz, near the mouth of the San Antonio Biver. 

The section, however, is given in Fig. 33.

Farther to the south, in the Santa Margarita Valley, a quartzitic sandstone has been 

observed, which contains oysters and pectens, 

and on Atascadero ranch the fossils are supposed to be Pliocene.

Deposits supposed to 

belong to the bituminous slate formation 

have also been observed 

here. Fig. 34 shows 

the structure of the 

Santa Lucia Mountains, 

between Santa Margarita Valley and San 

Luis Bay.

Another section apparently somewhat farther to the south is 

given by Antisell. (See 

Fig. 35.)

The continuity of this 

range to the southeast 

has not been traced with 

certainty far beyond 

San Luis Obispo, yet it 

may perhaps be regarded as blending into the 

Sierra San Bafael.

To the east of this 

range Antisell has described at some length 

his " Sierra San Jose"" 

as extending from the 

Margarita Valley to the 

" mountain mass of San 

Emidio. It has a granitic axis, which is 

flanked with serpentine, slates, conglomerates sandstone," etc.1 

Along the western borders of the Santa Lucia 

Bange, a series of so-called " buttes" 2 are found which are very sharp 

in outlines, being made up of trachyte and trachytic porphyry, as well 

as metamorphic sandstone and serpentine.

1 Pac. R. R. Ropt., 1857, vol. 7, part 2, pp. 47 ot soq.

2 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol,, 1805, vol. 1, p. 130.
212 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Southwest of the Sau Luis Valley a low chain of hills separates 

the valley from the oceau. To this Whitney has given the name " Sau 

Luis Range." 1 Its structure may be seen in his section given above 

(Fig. 34). It often contains vast quantities of Ostrea titan. 1

This region is one in which the influence of both the northwest-southeast trend of the mountain ranges already described, and the east-west 

trend of the ranges about to be described, are quite apparent. The result is a general complication of the stratigraphy. 2 It is almost wholly 

unknown.

Santa Inez Mountains. This is a well defined mountain chain, geographically speaking, an done whose structure is simple and fairly well 

known. It consists chiefly of Miocene sandstone and shale, as do the 

ranges of the San Rafael, Cuyames and others in the region of complicated stratigraphy to the north.

The following three sections will suffice to show the structure of this 

range:

SancLstvne,

W&stern,port&. 

3Kcite,

Central part,.

Serpentine. JvfetamorpTitG 

Stone,

Eastern, portio7i(jr.ofCarpirvtej*iaj

Scmclstortes.

TIGS. 3G, 3 37, 4 38.* Sections across the Santa Inez Mountains.

The asphaltum and bituminous substances of such common occurrence along the shore of the Santa Barbara channel at the base of the 

Santa Inez Range, have received much attention from Dr. Antisell, as 

may be seen from Chapter xvi, in volume VII of the Pacific R. R. 

Reports, as well as from, his work on "Photogenic Oils."

There is another interesting feature of the geology of the coast of this 

region, and that is the development in some localities, especially in the 

vicinity of Santa Barbara Mission,6 of Pliocene deposits which lie unconformably upon the upturned edges of the bituminous slate series.

1 G-eol. Survey Gal., 1865, Vol. 1, p. 140.

2 Ibid., pp. .110, 111.

3 Ibid., p. 135. For a detailed description of G-aviot Pass, see vol. 7, Pac. R. R. Hep., pt. n, cliap. 10, pi. 4. 

* Ibid., p. 129. 

8 Ibid., p. 128.

6 Ibid., p. 130. For Conrad's description of tlio Miocene and its fossils at this locality, vide Proc. Phila. 

Acad. Nat. Sci., 1855, vol. 7, pp. 267 and 441.
DALT, AND , 

HAKHia. ' TULARE VALLEY SAN EMIDIO CANYON. 213

They are often fossiliferous; their stratigraphic relations may be illustrated by the following section:

FIG. 39. Softion from the Pacific to the Santa Inez chain, at Santa Barbara. Distance about 3 miles, 

a, 6, Pliocono and Pleistocene strata; c, bituminous slate, much contorted; d, bituminous slates 

and fine grained sandstones; e, sandstone, dipping south.

Tulare Valley. Before proceeding farther with remarks on the Neocene formations as they are found in the ranges and plains near the

ocean, it seems well to refer briefly to some deposits H

of this.age, found some distance to the northeast, at <f | ?

the head of Tulare Valley. f § 1

Between the eastern terminus of the Santa Inez g f 5

Mountains and the Tulare valley, the geologic as well 11 s

as geographic features are little known. Antisell's | & 1

section (Fig. 6, PL iv, Pacific E. E. Eeports, pt. 2, % i g

Vol. 7), from. San Buenaventura to Canada de las £? " =

"D vas, may perhaps serve to give a general idea of the ~ * \

stratigraphy along this line, yet allowance must be 1 S » made here as elsewhere for the tendency of this an- $ | "jj

tlior to classify among igneous rocks many which s * '

later surveys would lead us to regard as inetamor- f1 j

phic. 11 =

San Emidio Canyon. Along San Einidio Canyon, £ | «

to the north of Mount Pinos, Tertiary deposits are | | I

developed as folloAvs: 1 £ ~'

 *- W IT1 h

" The belt of Tertiary extends along the flanks of 2, | s

the mountains eastward for about 20 miles from San | "n I

Einidio Canyon, passing out into the plain, and ter- r a =

minating in a range of hills to the northwest of the ^ I ~- mouth of the Canada de las Uvas." West and north- 112 	w ^i *~

west of tins canyon "a wide belt of Tertiary rocks » | I

may be seen skirting the coast ranges and worn, into 2! 5 %

rounded hills, Avhich are generally barren." "A .spur ' |2

runs out into the plain to the Avest and nortliAvest of 11

Buenavista Lake, and widens out near Paso el Eoble, 1 ^

extending down the valley as far as the eye can R,|

reach." g F

Many of the sandstone beds, presumably Cenozoic, 1 *

are nonfossiliferous, while others contain a great * g

number of fossils, though generally in a poor state |5

of preservation. The whole group must have con- 11

siderable thickness, since it is said to dip northward « »

at an angle of 60° or 70° for about'2 miles. The up- £ J

1 Geol. Survey Gal., 18C5, vol. 1, p. 189.
214 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA.. [BULL. 84.

it

per members "consist of sandstone and conglomerates, the latter abundant and coarse, and appearing to be more recent than Miocene; they 

are probably of Pliocene

> and post-Pliocene age. All 

these are disturbed and upturned, to the very mouth

) of the canyon."

Not far from the region 

under consideration, viz, 

near Canada de las TJvas, 

the granitic axes of the 

Sierra Nevada and the 

Coast Eange appear to 

unite,1 and extend thence 

in a southeastern direction, 

forming the backbone of

i the San Gabriel, the San * 

Jacinto, the subordinate 

ranges to the west of the

| latter, and of the great San

| Bernardino Eange to the 

east. It should be borne 

in mind, however, that 

these minor granite upheavals were not synchronous, so that they may represent several distinct periods of disturbance resulting in the apparent blending of the two more iinpor-

- tant ranges.

San Gabriel Range. 

Passing southeastward 

from the Canada de las 

Uvas,2 the first presumably Neocene deposits met 

with are found about the

\}i 0) C\| S * ' " " ~- "" * base of the San Gabriel

Eange.3 They consist of immense masses of sandstone and conglomerate, penetrated in some instances by granite dikes, and often turned 

up at a very high angle in almost any direction. The metamorphic rocks 

of this range are referred by Whitney to the Cretaceous.

1 From this locality southward into Lower California Antiaell calls this range " The Cordilleras." 

Pao. E. K. Kept., vol. 7, pt. 2, p. 87,1857.

s For a geological map of the region ahout these passes, see Blake, Pao. E. E. Eept. 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2 

p. 197.

 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., vol. 1, pp. 171 et seq.
SANTA SUSANNA AND SANTA. MONICA RANGES. 215

The topography about this range is evidently little known, for the 

authorities give widely varying accounts of its relations to the different 

sierras in this region. Whitney regards it as continuous with the Santa 

Susanna and Santa Monica ranges on the west. 1

Santa Susanna and Santa Monica ranges. The structural features 

of these two mountain ranges, especially the last mentioned, are fairly 

well known. The main characteristics are shown in the sections given 

in Figs. 44 and 45. The first, after Whitney,2 is across their eastern 

portion, while the second, taken from Antisell,3 is farther to the west, 

extending northward from Point Dumel.

These sandstones and shales belong for the most part to the Miocene. 

Gabb, however, has referred a certain deposit, north of the east end of 

the San Fernando valley, to the Pliocene.4 To this age also are referred 

certain conglomerates at the opposite or western end of the valley. 

Here a low transverse range of hills seems to connect the Santa Susanna and the Santa Monica ranges. They are made up for the most 

part of Miocene shales and sandstones, some of which are highly metamorphosed, while on the hills north of Cayeugas ranch there are beds 

of light colored sandstone containing numerous Pliocene fossils. In and 

around the San Buenaventura or Santa Clara valleys the light colored, 

bituminous shales are extensively exposed. These and the region 

about Los Angeles have been studied with some care by Antisell in 

reference to the "bituminous effusions" already referred to. 9 The 

geology about Los Angeles is briefly described by Whitu'ey.

Cordilleras. Under the head of "Geology of the Cordilleras," Antisell has given a few general remarks on the geology of the granitic 

range under consideration, between the San Gabriel Mountains and the 

Lower California boundary line. None, however, materially assist in 

working out the character and extent of the Cenozoic deposits of this 

region. Whitney has devoted several pages to Santa Ana and Temescal ranges in the first volume of his report. Both these ranges are 

found to have axes of granite, with more or less metainorphic material, 

referable, perhaps, to the Cretaceous; and near the Santa Ana Eiver 

thick deposits of coarse sandstone and conglomerates are found, with 

imperfect Tertiary shells supposed to be Miocene.

A geological map of the coast range, from the San Gabriel Mountains south to the boundary line of Lower California, is given by Blake 

in his report on the geology6 for 1855. This shows the distribution of 

. "Tertiary and detritus" about the borders of the Colorado desert and

' Geol. Survey Gal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 171. 

*Ibid., p. 121.

»Pnc. It. It. Rept. 1857, vol. 7, part 2, Geol., pi. iv, fig. 5.

4 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol. ,1865, vol. 1, p. 121. (lathis the locality whence Gabb cites so many Pllo 

cene specimens 1 Seo Pal., vol. 2.)

6 Pac. K. R. Kept., 1857, vol. 7, pt. 2, Geol., chapter xvi, and "Photogenic Oil." 

6 Eept. P. K. K. Exped., 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2, map opp. p. 228.
216 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

along the western slope of the range in question, i. e., between it and 

the Pacific Ocean.

San Diego region. From specimens collected at San Diego by this 

expedition, Conrad was led to infer 1 that som# phase of the Miocene 

series may here be represented. In a subsequent volume 2 he repeats 

the same impression, though making it perhaps slightly more definite.

In 1874, W. H. Ball published in the proceedings of the California 

Academy of Sciences 3 a list of 69 molluscan forms, which were obtained 

from a depth of 140 to 1GO feet in a well sunk at San Diego. Concerning these forms he remarks:

On an examination of the list it will be seen that of 69 species only three are 

strictly Miocene, while many are reported by Gabb as extending from the Miocene 

to the present epoch. * * * The age of the deposit, in general terms, may be 

taken as Pliocene.

From various localities in this vicinity, as Pacific Beach, False Bay, 

Ocean Beach, and Eoseville, Orcutt 4 has given lists of "Tertiary fossils " 

without further attempt at correlation.

On the eastern slope of these mountains a very fossiliferous bed has 

been found, occupying the upper part of a sedimentary deposit which 

is found along Carrizo Creek. The whole bed is largely made up of 

the shells 5 of Ostrea vespertina, 0. heermani, Anomia subcostata, and 

Pecten deserti, all of which were described by Conrad, and assigned to 

the Miocene,6 though Gabb 7 regards these fossil oysters as Pliocene 

species. Orcutt is inclined 8 to regard them as Cretaceous. This completes the available data on the geology of the Coast Kange; but, 

before taking up the Sierra Nevada we may consider the islands off the 

coast of Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara Islands. There are several small islands near San 

Pedro which have afforded a good many well preserved fossils. These 

have been referred en masse by some authors to the Pleistocene or Miocene, but recent observations by M. B. Williamson indicate that some 

contusion has occurred, a view which is supported by the character of 

the fossils. It appears that on Deadman Island, near Point Fermin, 

at least three distinguishable strata appear, the uppermost of which is 

certainly Pleistocene, while the others are Neocene, and the middle 

layer probably Pliocene.

The western portion of Anacapa is supposed 9 by Yates to consist in 

part of sandstone similar to the late Tertiary beds on Santa Rosa.

i Piic. E. E. Eept., 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2, art. 2, app. p. 317.

* VoL7.pt. 2, p. 188. 

» Vol. 5, pp. 296-299. 

4 The West American Scientist, July, 1889, vol. 6, pp. 70,71.

* Pac. E. E. Eept., 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2. p. 122.

6 Ibid., p. 235.

7 Geol. Survey of Cal., Pal., 1869, vol. 2, p. 107.

«Tenth Ann. Eep. State Mineralogist Cal., 5, 1890 p. 91.

'Lorenzo G. Yates: 9th Ann. Eept. Cal. State Mining Bureau, 1890,pp. 172, 173.
; THE SIERRA NEVADA. 217

On Santa Cruz, bits of slate and asphalt have been noted by Goodyear 1 in several places; at one locality, near Smugglers Cove, "uiimistakable bituminous shale " has been observed.

On Santa Eosa various deposits have been observed by Yates, which 

are referred by him to the Tertiary.

In the Smithsonian Report for 1877 2 will be found a few notes on the 

geology of this island, from the observations of Yates. Among the 

stratified deposits he finds (1) a barren sandstone; (2) impure limestone 

containing Ostrea titan; (3) a fossil-bearing deposit beneath the Pleistocene on the northern part of the island, and (4) Pleistocene fossiliferous beds.

Mr. W. Gr. Blunt found an elephant's tooth and tusk on this island, the 

former of which was presented to the California Academy of Sciences,3 

and, more recently, Voy has collected other remains 4 of Elephas here. 

Dr. Y"ates reports having found the following species in the sandstones 

of this island: Hinnites giganteus, Turritella ineziana,, Neverita callosa, 

Pecten pabloensis, Liropecten estrellanus, Venus kennerlyi and Turbinella 

ccestus.5 ^

Catalina Island is largely composed of metamorphic schists, with 

serpentine and steatite. It is believed that Cenozoic sandstones also 

exist, though largely removed by erosion. Pleistocene gravels are found 

sparsely around the borders of the island.

The island of San Miguel is also partly schistose, with beds of gravel 

masking the underlying rock, and the presence of sandstone is inferred 

from fragments found on the beach.

This island, within historic times, was inhabited by Indians, and was 

covered with a coating of turf and vegetable soil. The introduction of 

sheep, after the expulsion of the natives, has had the effect of gradually killing the vegetation, which prevented the inroads of the beach 

sands. The latter are spreading over the island of San Miguel, as well 

as the other off-shore islands, and already cover to a considerable depth 

on the lower part of it the dead remains of the former turf, while on the 

hills the sheep are gradually destroying the remainder. With the 

destruction of the protective coating the erosive forces will begin to 

operate in a somewhat different and more energetic manner, and the 

whole series of operations offers an instructive instance of the modifications due to human interference, which may affect geologic action.

THE SIERRA NEVADA.

In this area will be included that portion of the State lying to the 

east of the Cascade Range, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, 

and the Cordilleras.

1 W. A. Goodyear: 9th Ann. Kept. Gal. State Mining Bureau, 1890, p. 159.

s See also Am. Geol., 1890, vol. 5, p. 49.

3 Proceedings, vol. 5, p. 152.

4 Now ill the cabinet of the State University at Berkeley.

6 Ninth Ann. Kept. Cal. State Miii. Bur., 1890, p. 173.
218 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [Butx.84.

Colorado desert. Blake suspects that some of this area, especially 

about its periphery, is underlain by Tertiary deposits. 1 The map accompanying his report on this region is so colored as to give his idea of 

the distribution of these beds.

Death Valley. Gabb cites at least one species, Natlca recluzianaf 

from this region, and refers it to the Miocene.3

Foothills of the Sierras. It will be recalled that in discussing the 

Coast Range, attention was called to the extensive Miocene beds in the 

vicinity of San Emidio Canyon, which extend eastward nearly to the 

mouth of the Canada de las Uvas. From this point eastward, if they 

exist at all, they must pass beneath the Quaternary deposits of the plain 

until the vicinity of Kern River is reached. Here extensive deposits 

of soft, friable sandstones may be seen, forming rounded hills from 200 

to 600 feet high which rest upon upturned edges of the granitic and 

metamorphic beds of the Sierra. This sandstone extends continuously 

as far to the north as White Creek, but is best developed and has been 

most thoroughly studied in the vicinity of Pose" or Ocoya Creek. Blake 

has devoted several pages in his report 4 to this district. The fossil molInsca, which exist only in the form of casts, were submitted to T. A. 

Conrad, while the shark's teeth were sent to Agassiz: Both these authorities concluded the horizon represented was doubtless Miocene, a 

view confirmed by the researches of the California Geological Survey.5

The general features of this formation will be found in the following 

section, compiled by Blake,6 near "Dupont camp," on the south side of 

the creek:

Feet. 

n. Gray sand, with layers of pebbles................................ 20

m. Gravel and pebbles, -with, sand ................................... 1

I. Sand, with clay nodules.......................................... 20

Tc. White clay and fine sand......................................... 2

j. Pumice sand or volcanic ashes, very fine and white in thin strata.. 15 

i. Fine white sand, derived from pumice stone, with intercalated layers of pumice in nodules and in powder......................... 25

Fine sand, with small spherical and ellipsoidal masses of white 

pumice stone. Thin layers of charcoal, in fragments ........... 0'6

7i. Fine sand, with curved layers of oxide of iron .................... 4

g. Argillaceous sand, filled with small nodular masses of clay, from

one-fourth of an inch to three inches in diameter................ 1

/. Fine gray sand, with an occasional layer of pebbles (this stratum is

partly hid)..................................................... 41

e. Fine gray sand, cross stratification distinct, contains nodules of 

clay ........................................................... 24

d. Casts and molds of fossil shells in sesquioxide of iron, gravel, and

sand, layers oblique............................................ 1-4

1 Pac. K. K. Kept., 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2, pp. 234-235; map opp. p. 238 and section sheet 6.

2 Geol. Survey Cal., Pal., 1869, vol. 2, p. 77

3 Kiiig regards the immense series of upturned fresh-water deposits in the vicinity of Cajon Pass as 

Miocene: Explor. 40thParallel, System. Geol., vol.1,1878, p. 413.

4 Pac. K. R. Kept., 1856, vol. 5, pt. 2, pp. 164-173. 

 Geol. Survey Cal., Geol., 1865, vol. 1, p. 203. 

6 Pao. K. R. Kept., vol. 5, pt.3, p. 167.
THE AURIFEliOUS GRA.VELS. 219

Toot. 

c. Sand, stained with iron, includes a thin layer of pebbles .......... 2

Gravel and sand, inclosing casts of fossils, obliquely stratified, and 

all strongly cemented with sesquioxide of iron................... 0 4 7

b. Sand, in thin layers, stained with oxide of iron ................... 0 '6

a. Fine, friable, gray sand, stained with lines of oxide of iron, and inclosing nodules of various sizes encased in oxide of iron......... 2

Level of Pose" Creek.

North of White Creek this or a similar formation extends along the 

base of the Sierra, foriniug low detached foothills as far north perhaps as 

San Joaquin County, though this portion of their extension has been 

little studied.

THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS.

Beds of incoherent Pliocene sands and gravels have already been referred to in connection with our description of the Coast ranges. They 

have as a rule been found to lie nearly horizontally upon the upturned 

strata of the Miocene or earlier date, and are usually unfossiliferous.

On the western flank of the Sierra Nevada, extending from Mariposa 

to Plumas County, a distance of 175 miles, is a district containing 

numerous patches of sands, clays, and gravels, which, on account of the 

gold they contain and their generally coarse materials, have usually 

been termed "Auriferous gravels." Their mode of occurrence, their 

fossil contents, their probable geological age, etc., were noted with 

some care in the first volume published by Whitney on the geology of 

California, but have since been elaborately discussed by the same 

author,1 and the able paleobotanist, Leo Lesquereux,2 in volume vi 

of the Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 

College, 1878-'80. It accordingly seems unnecessary to go into details 

here regarding the geology of the gravels. The State Mining Bureau 

of California has been collecting material regarding these gravels for 

the last ten years, and this has been published in the annual reports of 

the State mineralogist. It relates almost entirely to economic matters, 

so that for general geological and paleontological features of these 

deposits reference must be had to the works of Whitney and Lesquereux.

Neocene lake beds. Farther north, however, in Plumas, Lassen, 

Shasta, and Tehama counties, the researches of J. S. Diller have 

brought to light the existence of various beds of volcanic; detrital and 

ordinary fresh-water sedimentation, which in some instances are auriferous, and doubtless are synchronous with the " Auriferous gravels " to 

the south. In discussing these deposits Mr. Diller 3 subdivides them 

into " Miocene " and " Pliocene," though on a local map, including the 

Lassens Peak district, he colors them all as "Neocene" without distinction. This author says:

1 J.D. Whitney: The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California. Memoir, etc., vol. 6 

No. 1, pt. 1, 1879. Same, part 2, 1880.

J Leo "Lesquereux, Rept. on the Foss. Plants, Aurif. Grav. Deposits, etc. Memoir, vol. 6, Np. 2,1878. 

8 8th Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., 1889, pt. 1, pp. 413,422.
220 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84.

During the Miocene the northern portion of the Sacramento Valley was occupied 

by an extensive fresh-water lake, which stretched far to the northeastward through 

Lassen Strait, that marks the limit between the northern terminus of the Sierras and 

the Coast Range and is now occupied by the volcanic uplift of Lassen Peak. A similar body of water existed northeast of Indian Valley, in the country now occupied by 

the very crest of the Sierras, northwest of Honey Lake, at an elevation of nearly 

7,000 feet. From the fact that the lacustrine deposits on both sides of Lassens Peak 

pass beneath its lavas, it is believed that they are continuous and were all laid 

down in the same lake, which at that time covered a large portion of Avhat is now 

the northern end of the Sierras and extended from the Sacramento valley far into 

Oregon. Clarence King 1 has called attention to the wide distribution of Miocene 

lacustrine deposits in that region, extending from beyond the Columbia River south, 

through Oregon into Nevada and California, and it may now be added that they 

passed, through the gap separating the north end of the Sierras from the Coast range, 

into the northern portion of the Sacramento Valley. To the large body of fresh 

water in which these sediments were found King gave the name of Pah Ute or Piute 

Lake. The Piute Lake deposits reach much higher up on the Sierras than the littoral 

deposits of the Chico epoch, indicating clearly that between the close of the Chico 

epoch and the beginning of the Miocene there was a change in the relative elevation 

of the Sacramento valley and the Sierra region. This change was effected by the 

elevation of at least part of the region of the Coast Range, and apparently also of the 

Cascade Range, so that the oceanic -waters were excluded and the formation of 

Piute Lake was rendered possible. That this elevation occurred at the close of the 

Cretaceous is rendered altogether probable by the fact that the Tejon group has not 

yet been recognized within the Piute Lake region. Perhaps we may yet find in the 

earlier deposits of that lake the fresh-water equivalents of the Tejon group of western 

Oregon and southern California. 2

In this Mioceue lake there were deposited, at least within the Lassen 

Peak district, first, shales and sandstones, and afterwards conglomerates. A typical exposure of these beds is found on Little Cow Greek, in 

Shasta County, at an elevation of about 2,900 feet. At one place a fine 

shaly bed is intercalated between the sandstone, and contains fossil 

leaves, some of which have been identified by Lesqnereux and by him 

referred to the Miocene. With these was found Anodonta nuttalliana, 

according to the identification of Dr. E. E. C. Stearns.

The whole thickness of the Miocene here exposed is not less than 

500 feet. Its contact with the Chico beds has not been seen, but the 

relative positions of two at adjacent exposures indicate that they are 

slightly unconformable.

The prominent ridge between Bear Creek and the south fork of Cow Creek affords 

an unusually interesting exposure of the upper portion of the Miocene. At the 

very base of the hill, in the beds of both streams, Chico fossils have been found, so 

that the hill undoubtedly rests on the Cretaceous. Above the fossiliferous beds is a 

considerable thickness of sandstone capped by a heavy layer of conglomerate, and 

overlying this is usually found a remarkable flow of tufaceous rhyolitic lava. 

The conglomerate at this point shows apparently a greater development than anywhere else within the district. It has been mined for gold, but without marked 

success. * * *

South of Bear Creek the Miocene is not so extensively developed nor so well exposed. 3

1 TJ. S. Geol. Explor. of the 40th Parallel, vol. 1,1878, pp. 451-454. 

* Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Surv., 1889, pp. 420-421. 

"Ibid., pp. 414,415.
UH!£IIW!D } HUMAN REMAINS IN THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS. 221

Similar deposits have been seen in the vicinity of Mountain Meadows 

and Light Canyon. Near the former, a few fossil leaves have been 

found, and likewise auriferous gravels.

A short distance north of the road, whore it crosses the summit between Light 

Canyon and Snsanville, at the head of a stream which flows into Susan Creek, the 

gravel is cemented into a firm conglomerate. It is about 350 feet thick and dips 

slightly to the eastward.'

Some fossil leaves were found here in lenticular masses of shale imbedded in the consolidated gravels. Others were found in a clayey 

stratum in the Monte Christo mine, accompanied by a species of freshwater fish. All these plants have been identified by Leo Lesquereux, 

Avho states that "by the presence of a large number of LaurinecG the 

flora becomes related in its general characters to that of a region analogous in atmospheric circumstances to Florida. With this view Prof. 

Lester F. Ward also fully agrees."

Within the Lasseus Peak districts deposit of Pliocene age have not been definitely distinguished from those of the Miocene, but their presence is rendered altogether probable by several considerations. The auriferous gravels were regarded by 

Prof. Whitney as accumulating upon the western slope of the Sierras throughout the 

whole of the Tertiary, reaching their culmination in the Pliocene. This view is very 

probable, indeed, for although the mass of the gravels of the gold belt are Pliocene, 

it appears to be evident that other po'rtions, especially that at Cherokee as well as 

about Mountain Meadows and near the head of Light Canyon, belong to theMiocene. 3

The tufa of which the Pliocene is composed is often distinctly stratified, clearly indicating that its deposition took place in water.

In the canyon of Mill Creek and also in that of Deer Creek, near the mountains, 

where the tufa has a thickness of nearly 1,000 feet, it is roughly divisible into three 

parts, as indicated in Fig. 17. The upper and lower portions are agglomerate, and 

between them the stratified arrangement of the tufa is clearly discernible. In all 

parts the sediments are essentially the same, being composed largely and perhaps 

chiefly of fragmental material ejected from volcanoes.

It is apparent that the water body about the northern terminus of the Sierras during the Pliocene was shallower and more extensive than the Miocene lake, and differed also in the character of its deposits. 3

The small Pliocene area represented on the map some distance southwest of Honey Lake has recently been described by Mr. Turner before 

the Washington Philosophical Society.

The Neocene area represented on Klamath River is supposed by Diller 

to be continuous with that on Pit River, the intermediate development 

being wholly concealed by lava outflows.

HUMAN REMAINS IN THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS.

It seems inadvisable, to close this sketch of what is known of the 

California!! Neocene without some reference to the presence of the 

remains of man associated in the gravels with the bones of Pliocene 

mammals, fossil leaves, etc., of which a full account to date of publication has been given by Whitney in his work, already cited.

' 8Ui Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Surv., 1889, p. 417. 

2 Ibid., p. 422. 

 Ibid., p. 423.
222 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOLL.84.

Since the publication of that work other testimony has come to hand 1 

which leaves no valid reason to doubt the occurrence in the gravels of 

human bones and articles of stone and shell of human handiwork, which 

are of course as strong an evidence of man's presence as a skeleton 

would be. These remains are found under a basaltic layer covering the 

gravels and of which large masses remain forming "table mountains" 

protected from erosion by their basaltic capping. The remainder of 

the basalt and much other material has been carried away by erosion, 

leaving these mountains like islands, 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the intervening valleys. As we have seen in the case of the Clear Lake basalts, 

the eruptive rock is without doubt Pleistocene, and comparatively late 

Pleistocene, if the term Pliocene be held to have the same meaning in 

California that it has hitherto had elsewhere.

Cope has pointed out that among the vertebrates from these gravels one

* (elotherium) is not Pliocene nor even Upper Miocene, but belongs to the 

Eocene or lowest Miocene (White Eiver group), while Mastodon obscurus 

is Upper Miocene.2 So it is obvious that the gravels, even if man be 

left out of the question entirely, contain vertebrate remains belonging to 

more than one epoch. It has been suggested by Becker that in California the Pliocene animals survived after glaciation in the northeastern 

part of the continent had resulted in extermination or migration a.nd, as 

in the case' of Florida, there is nothing inherently improbable in this

 view. But that man was contemporaneous with them, is a proposition

as yet unsupported by direct evidence and a priori improbable.

The really marvelous thing in the discovery of man in these gravels" 

is the unimpeachable evidence of the enormous lapse of time since he 

wandered in the river valleys of Pleistocene California, which is afforded 

by the known facts.. This offers us no new idea, for geologists have long 

discussed periods of Pleistocene time which mount up into the tens or 

hundreds of thousands of years. But the vividness of the testimony 

offered by these discoveries lends a reality to the assumption which is 

startling in its emphasis and brings it home to us in a manner which no 

merely mathematical calculations can approach.

It should not be forgotten that a somewhat similar association of flint 

implements with Pliocene vertebrate remains was discovered in Oregon,3 

though in this case the formation was not sealed from disturbance by 

an impermeable covering of lava such as fixes the authenticity of the 

assembly in the Californian gravels.

"SoeGeorgeF.Becker, Am. Geologist, April, 1891, vol. 7, p. 258; also Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Feb. 1891, 

vol. 2, pp. 189-200, and Geo. F. Wriglu, Atlantic Monthly, April, 1891, p. 501.

2 Am. Naturalist, January, 1880, vol. 14, p. 62.

1 Cf. Cope, Am. Naturalist for 1878, p. 125, and for 1880, p. 62. See also, IT. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., Bull. No. 

4, p. 389, and No. 5, p. 48.
COLUMBIA RIVEE. 223

OREGON. 

PACIFIC BORDER.

The fresh-water Tertiaries of eastern Oregon will be considered in 

chapter vi, where they naturally belong.

Along the ocean border of this state three detached areas of Neocene 

deposits have thus far been recognized.

The first, going northward from the California line, appears just north 

of Port Orford,1 and is more or less continuous to Cape Blanco.2 It is 

an arenaceous deposit forming a narrow strip, and is said by dewberry 

to resemble closely the shales and sandstones of Astoria referred by 

Conrad to the Miocene.

The second appears in the vicinity of Coos Bay,3 eastward, inland 4 

or 5 miles from the ocean.4 Immediately upon the shore fossiliferous 

beds are exposed which, as Dr. White 5 has shown, belong without 

doubt to the Eocene. These dip eastward, presenting their upturned 

edges to the sea, the eastward slope being formed by the superincumbent Miocene.

 The third area of Neocene is exposed on the shore, a little south of 

Yaquina Bay, whence it is more or less continuous northward as far as 

the Columbia River, except where broken by recent lavas. In this section of the coast Prof. Condon states that no Eocene rocks appear to 

crop out.

At Tillamook Head Dana 6 has noted the occurrence of an argillaceous cliff 900 feet in height. Its lower two-thirds appears dark and 

shaly, while above it is light and chalky. These beds doubtless belong 

to the same geological horizons as the series displayed at Astoria, to 

be described hereafter. It seems that Prof. Condon has obtained an 

Aturia ziczac from Tillamook, indicating the presence there of Eocene 

rocks.

COLUMBIA IUVER.

Three distinct formations along the Columbia have been referred by 

Dana to the Tertiary period.

Astoria shales. The first consists of clayey or sandy shales of various 

colors and various degrees of consolidation. On weathering they become soft and clayey, and so appear along the banks at Astoria. At 

the time of Dana's visit and until a few years ago numerous Eocene 

fossil remains were obtained at the water's edge by collectors in the 

tOAvn of Astoria. These came from a single very thin stratum below 

the Miocene shales. Owing, however, to the fact that the specimens

1 Pac. JR. R. Eep., 1857. vol. C, pt. ii, p. 59, and Trans. Acad. Sci., St. Louis, 1860, vol. 1, p. 120.

'According to Prof. Thos. Condon, 1890.

8 Pa<j. R. R. Rep., 1857, vol. 6, pt. ii, p. 03,-and Trans. Acad. Sol., St. Louis, 1860, vol. 1, p. 122.

4 As verbally described by Prof. Condoii, 1890.

6 TJ. S. Geol. Survey, Bull, 1889, No. 51, p. 30.

6 Wilkes'e Expl. Exped., Geology, by Diuia, p. 653.
224 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

were contained in calcareous concretions, which, on account of the 

scarcity of limestone in this region, have been carefully collected and 

burned for lime, while the beach has been built over and entirely covered, this bed is no longer accessible, and the supply from this source 

has virtually been cut off. The same expedition also collected Miocene 

fossils from the beds above. Specimens inferior in preservation from 

the superincumbent Miocene beds may still be seen in the banks near 

Tongue Point at the Bluffs behind the schoolhouse, and at other localities about Astoria; yet the gradings, wharfage, buildings, etc., have 

concealed to a considerable extent many of these exposures. Collections of molluscan remains were made in this region over forty years 

ago by both Mr. J. K. Townsend 1 and the United States Exploring Expedition, under Captain Wilkes,2 and were turned over to Mr. T. A. 

Conrad. This authority did not hesitate to pronounce them all Miocene; not because-he actually found known species of this age among 

them, but because their nearest analogues were from the Miocene of 

Virginia and England.

Aturia led. Of late Dr. C. A. White has pointed out 3 the great 

similarity between certain Chico-Tejon forms and those figured by 

Conrad from the Townsend collection; the Miocene character of the 

fossils collected by the Wilkes expedition, except, the Aturia) is not 

called in question. At a later date collections were made by Prof. 

Condon from both the Eocene and the Miocene horizons at Astoria, 

and are still preserved in his collection at the State University and 

properly discriminated. The presence of Aturia ziczac and other apparently-Eocene forms among those obtained at Astoria and referred by 

Conrad to the Miocene has led to the suspicion that the whole series 

of beds might really be of Eocene age,* but this evidence, for which "we 

are indebted to Prof. Condoii, explains the discrepancy which has been 

so long a mystery.

Astoria, sandstones. The second formation along the Columbia consists of a series of sandstones which occurs on both sides of the river 

above Astoria, though best developed on the north or right bank, 

while the Astoria shales' above described are most prominent on the 

left or south bank. The sandstones are granular, brittle, or friable, 

sometimes very compact and hard, usually of a brownish color. Dana 6 

regards the sandstones as more recent than the shales, a view which 

is strengthened by the fact that fissures in the shales are still filled 

with sand resembling that of which the sandstones are composed.

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1848, vol. 5, pp. 432-433.

2 Wilkes Expl. Exped., Geology by Dana, 1849, p. 659. These were collected at Asfcoria proper, as 

at present understood, but the locality of Townsend's fossils is given as " near Astoria." They were 

very probably from the north bank of the Columbia, opposite Astoria.

3TJ. S. Geol. Survey, Ball. No. 51,1889, p. 31.

4Conrad himself at a later date inclined to this opinion and referred the Astoria beds to the Eocene. 

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., for 1865, pp. 70-71.

6 Named by Prof. Condou, Am. Naturalist, 1880, vol. 14, p. 457.

6 Geol., Expl. Wilkes Exped., 1849, pp. 553-556.
ASTORIA GROUP. 22*5

Astoria group. The impression produced on the mind by an inspection of these rocks,1 though without the opportunity to examine any 

large district with care, was that the shales and sandstones form a part 

of a single series varying in the character of its beds or layers according 

to fluctuations in the sedimentation, the shales being more argillaceous, 

the sandstones more arenaceous, neither possessing an exclusive character, the fossils appearing to be the same Miocene species in both, 

with a tendency to form concretions around them in the shale and to 

be represented by casts in the sandstones. The name of Astoria group 

is proposed to include them both, but not the subjacent Eocene Aturia 

bed.

As Astoria is a classical locality for the geology of this coast, it may 

be well txpgive a few descriptive notes taken by W. H. Ball on a recent 

visit for the purpose of examining these beds.

The Aturia bed, as before explained, is no longer accessible, its outcrop having been close to the water's edge under the most elevated 

part of the (anticlinal 1?) high bluffs behind the town, which is strung 

along on a narrow talus or built out on piles over the river, there being 

hardly any level land between the bluff's and the water.

At Smiths Point, west of the town, the shales are very low, the vertical face not exceeding 15 feet. They dip about 16° in a southeasterly 

direction, and are composed of thin layers of chiefly bluish gray shale 

with numerous fractures lined with peroxide of iron which develop" 

more numerously as the surface dries, while the iron causes the face to 

weather of a brownish color. The layers mostly contain a little sand; 

some do not show any. The fluctuations appear to succeed each other 

with a certain regularity. Here and there a little gravel is mixed in 

one of the layers, and in these gravelly layers are also small fragments 

of bivalve shells, the most perfect and numerous being those of a small 

concentrically undulated Pecten of the section Pseudamusium; Acila 

and Waldheimia were also observed.

In the upper layers of the shale the clayey parts occasionally form 

lines of concretions along a bedding plane, partly fossiliferous. The 

most common fossil here is a species of Macoma.

Above the shales at this point is a bed of 8 to 20 feet in thickness of a 

yellowish clayey sand with irregular, mostly rounded fragments of a 

harder sandstone, maculated with peroxide of iron with a few traces of 

marine fossils, and more or less gravel not regularly bedded, and penetrating into fissures in the shaly rock below in the form of dikes. The 

beach in this vicinity is composed of the pebbles, nodules, and small 

bowlders of the hard sandstone washed out of this layer, and a few volcanic fragments. Near Tongue Point, at the other end of the town, 2 

miles away, the same beds were recognized, but the gravelly layer 

seemed thicker and the shale much broken up. The same beds seem to 

compose the bluff's between Tongue and Smiths points, though from

»Wm. H. Ball, in August, 1890.

Bull. 84 15
226 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

the way the town is built they are difficult of access. The bluffs at 

their highest point near the high-school building rise perhaps 150 feet. 

Here a fine section shows 30 to 40 feet of the shales exposed at an angle 

of 45° to 60°, dipping about-26° south southeast, though the dip is not 

invariable. The yellowish sandstone gravel overlies the shales to an 

equal thickness and descends into them, in dikes here and there. The 

upper margin of the shales is sometimes indistinguishable, the clayey 

and sandy layers merging into one another and being similar in color. 

It is notable that in the upper part of the shales some of the shells seem 

to have been fossilized in a sandstone, washed out and reimbedded in 

the clays. Between the valves, or on one side of a single valve of 

a bivalve shell, there will be a soft coarse sandstone, while the fossil is 

otherwise entirely imbedded in a dark waxy clay shale.

Tongue Point itself is a basaltic mass, and on the ridge behind the 

town, according to Prof. Condon, there is an extensive layer of Pleistocene basalt, fragments of which appear on the beaches. On the 

south side of the street from the Union Pacific dock and one block west, 

a fire had destroyed some buildings and a part of the planking of the 

roadway, revealing a fine solid basaltic rock 10 or 12 feet square and 15 

feet high. The original beach at its base was abundantly strewn with 

fragments of the same material.

These shales and sandstones have much general similarity to those of 

California and Alaska of Miocene age. A similar rock exists on the west 

coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, containing some of the 

same species which appear at Astoria, specimens of which have recently 

been received by the geological survey of the Dominion of Canada.

From a point a few miles south of Oregon City, Clackamas County, 

Shumard1 has described a Miocene Leda under the name of L. oregona.

The Aturia bed and the superincumbent Miocene of the Astoria 

group appear on the north bank of the Columbia in a good many places, 

apparently more elevated than on the Oregon side.

The third deposit regarded by Dana as Tertiary consists of a basaltic 

conglomerate, which is found on this river high up at the Cascades and 

even beyond. It will be referred to later.

WILLAMETTE RIVER.

Both Dana2 and dewberry3 inform us that a sandstone formation extends up the "Willainette valley with but slight interruptions at least as 

far as the Calapooya Mountains. Both note its intrusions of trap, its 

more or less disturbed condition, its apparent want of fossil remains, its 

eroded condition, and its lithological resemblance to the various Tertiary sandstones so well developed in California and Oregon.

In 1885 Dr. C. A. White4 published from information received from

1 Trans. St.Louis Acacl. Sci., vol. 1,1860, p. 121. 

2 Wilkes Exploring Expert., Gcol. by Dana, pp. 651 efc 86<J. 

8 Pacific R. K. Bop., vol. 6, pt. 2., 1857, pp. 58,59. 

«Bull. U. S. G eol. Survey, No. 18.
WILLAMETTE RIVER WASHINGTON. 227

Prof. Thomas Condon an account of the occurrence of Cardita planicosta 

at Albany, Oregon, and remarks incidentally that " strata which bear 

characteristic Miocene fossils are found in the valley of the Willamette 

only a few miles away."

During the summer of 1890 Win. H. Dall collected at several of these 

Miocene localities, and by the assistance of Prof. Condon has been able 

to note a wider distribution of the Eocene than has heretofore been 

recognized in this State.

Miocene rocks are well exposed at Smith's quarry, 1 mile east of 

Eugene City, and at Springfield bridge, 2 miles farther east. At the 

former locality the rocks consist of grayish hard sandstone weathering 

to a yellowish color, irregularly bedded above, but massive below, dipping about 6° southeast, with a total exposure of about 37 feet. The 

fossils Mytihis, Modiola, Mactra, Solen1 , Natica, Neverita, Purpura, 

and Lirofusus are crowded or crushed together along certain lines or 

layers, and are usually in form of molds recrystallized into spar.

The second locality, or that near Springfield, affords an excellent exposure of nearly a mile in length, extending southward from the abutment of the new bridge. The rocks have an easterly dip of from 5° to 

8° and form a total perpendicular exposure of about 160 feet; they are 

overlain unconformably by 5 or 10 feet of alluvial matter which lies on 

their eroded edges. In the hilly regions, according to the observations 

of Prof. Condon, they are capped with basalt.

A basaltic conglomerate has already been referred to as occurring in 

the Cascade Eange along the Columbia. In southern Oregon, in the 

" Boundary Eange," according to Dana,2 this conglomerate graduates 

into Tertiary sandstone containing fossil remains. The latter Dr. 

"White has recently referred to the Chico division of his Chico-Tejon 

series.3

It is stated in the American Naturalist4, from Prof. Condon's manuscript notes, that the backbone of the Coast Kange consists of argillaceous Miocene shale, which contains fish remains and invertebrate 

fossils. These Prof. Condon identifies with the outcrops at Astoria, 

and names the Astoria shales. Above these lie extensive Miocene 

beds, rich in fossils, which Prof. Condon calls " Solen beds." On the 

flanks of the highlands there are also Pliocene deposits containing some 

of the fossils of the Equus beds.

WASHINGTON.

«

The little that is known regarding the Neocene geology of this State 

can be most conveniently considered under two heads, viz, (1) geology

1 It was probably on account of the presence of this genus in rather unusual abundance that Prof. 

Condon has applied to the chief Miocene fossiliferous bed of the Willamette Valley the name of 

" Solcn bed." It is not improbable that it may be found to constitute one of the series of bods which 

are above designated as the Astoria sandstones. Their upper surface is always eroded.

2 Wilkes Expl. Exped., Geol. by Dana, 1849, pp. 046,053. 

 Bull. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, No. 51,1889,p. 29. 

«VoL 14,1880, p. 457.
228 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

of the Pacific border and (2) geology of the central basin. Although 

inferences may be drawn from King's works regarding the existence 

and probable Neocene age of certain volcanic materials in the mountain 

ranges of this State, yet it is not deemed advisable to indulge in such 

speculations, and this brief notice will be restricted to what is actually 

known respecting the sedimentary Neocene deposits.

PACIFIC BOEDER.

Siliceous casts of molluscan fossils have been collected at various 

points ou Shoalwater Bay,1 which show a synchronism of the deposits 

in which they are found with both the Eocene and the Miocene clayshales of Astoria. The Aturia bed crops out at Bruceport and elsewhere. A Pliocene deposit has been observed by Dr. Condon in this 

vicinity, which, from its most characteristic fossil, may be called the 

Mytilus bed. It furnished specimens of Bucclnum cyaneum, Mytilus 

condonif Crepidula, Pecten, and Panopcea; this is immediately overlain 

by a Pleistocene formation, the level of which is from 30 to 40 feet above 

the sea.

CENTRAL BASIN. 3

Lignite beds. In Dana's geology of the Wilkes Exploring Expedidition4 reference is made to the similarity of structure of the Cowlitz 

valley and the Willamette. A coal deposit is also noted and an analysis of the coal is given.5 Newberry also speaks of the parallelism of 

various west coast river basins, and adds that the " lignite " is found near 

the mouth of the Cowlitz, implying also that the accompanying strata 

are sandstone and shale.6

Farther to the north, along theMsquallyandChehalis rivers, "bluffs 

of soft sandstone and crumbling clay " were reported by a Mr. Eld to 

Dana while on the Wilkes Exploring Expedition. 7

The extensive coal and lignitic deposits about Puget Sound have 

been referred by dewberry8 and White 9 to a group transitional from 

Cretaceous to Eocene, or to the La-ramie or Puget group (Chico?). 

Still farther to the north, on the Dwamish Eiver, the deposits belong 

without doubt to a higher horizon, for none but proper Tejon fossils are 

represented. Mr. Willis, 10 by purely strati graphic study, arrived at the 

same conclusion.

'Dr. Leidy figures in the TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., "Fossil Vert.," vol. 1, pi. 33, fig. 19, an upper 

molar tooth from the "lignite beds of Shoahvater," \vhich is "undistinguishable from the corresponding part of the domestic horse," op. cit., p. 246.

3 Nautilus, Dec., 1890, vol. 4, pp. 88, 89; notes by Wm. H. Dall.

8 In addition to the geological facts given under this head, Cope describes Taxidea sulcata from the 

Pliocene of Washington Ter., but gives no definite locality. Pypc, Am. Phil. Soc., vol. 17, 1877, p. 127.

« Op. cit., 1849, pp. 616-621, 626.

«Ibid., p. 658.

6 Pac. E. E. Eep., 1857, vol. 6, pt. 2, p. 57.

7 Op.cit.,p.6E8.

»Bull. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., No. 51, 1889, p. 51,

9 Ibid., pp. 49etseq.

»°Ibid., p. 56.'
WASHINGTON. 229

Certain deposits in the vicinity of Bellingham Bay were long ago 

referred by Leo Lesqnereux 1 npon paleontological evidence to the Miocene. In this interpretation both Heer 2 and dewberry 3 concur. They 

may, however, be referable to the Kenai group.

From a manuscript report of Lieut. W. P. Trowbridge, Blake 4 gives 

the following description of the coal beds.

The coal strata exposed to view on Belliugham Bay are situated in latitude 48° 

43', and occur in a series of stratified rocks, which dip at an angle of 70° from the 

horizon, and strike E. 15° N., the thickness of the series being about 2,000 feet. 

The coal beds enter the bank at right angles to the shoreline, and rise with a gradual 

slope to the height of about 350 feet, at the distance of half a mile from the shore, 

where they are broken in a direction oblique to that of the beds, and fall off in 

abrupt ledges to their original level.

The total thickness of the coal strata was estimated by Trowbridge 

as being 116 feet. Blake, however, was inclined to suspect that some 

of the beds may have been duplicated by dislocation.

But few invertebrate fossils have been observed at this locality. 

Blake mentions having seen "two well preserved shells of the genus 

Pecten 5 " in a sandstone block shown him by Lieut. Trowbridge. Ball 

was informed that an Aturia ziczac had been collected here, though the 

specimen was not accessible. Both the Aturia bed of the Eocene and 

the Miocene shales will probably be found represented at Bellingliam 

Bay as at Astoria.

Puget group. During the progress of the Northwest boundary surveys (1S58-18G2) various naturalists and geologists visited the Puget 

Sound region. Among them was Dr. Hector, who reported to Col. 

Palliser on the geology.6 Mr. Bichardson, Dr. Dawson, and others 

have visited this region for geological researches, and from the sum 

total of available information, published or otherwise, the latter has 

prepared a geological map including, in addition to the geology of the 

British Columbian region just north of the State, a considerable part 

of Washington. On this map, issued by the Dominion Geological Survey in 1884, the marine Miocene is represented as forming a border 

along the ocean coast, the shore of Fuca Strait, and the western half of 

Puget Sound, inclosing the mass of the Olympic Mountains and the 

coast ranges north of the Columbia. The shores of Puget Sound eastward as far as the bight on which Tacoma is situated, and at the North 

Whidbey Island and the shore east and southeast from it, and hence 

northward to Bellingliam Bay, Birch Bay, and the international boundary, are indicated as marine Miocene on this map. This may, perhaps, 

be regarded as covering all post-Cretaceous strata in an approximate 

way, for it is certain that within the area thus broadly indicated a

1 Am. Jour. Sci., vol. 27, 1859, pp. 359 et seq.

*rbid., vol. 28, 1859, pp. 85 et seq.

'Boston Jour. Nat. Hist., 1860, vol. 7, pt. 2, p. 509.

«Pac. E. R. Kep. 185C, vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 285.

 Ibid., p. 287.

Troo. Geol. Society, in Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. 17, pp. 388-445, and plate ilii. See page 435.
230 THE NEOCEKE OF NORTH AMERICA.

considerable part must be referred to post-glacial deposits, while the 

presence of Eocene rocks has already been indicated.

It may be added that on the map referred to nearly the whole of 

eastern Washington, including the Cascade Mountains and the entire 

region east of them and south from the Wenatchee, Columbia, and 

Spokaue rivers, is represented as occupied by volcanic rocks of Miocene 

age. The determination of the age of these beds can not be said, however, to be conclusive, in view of what is known of the very recent 

origin of analagous eruptives in California, but at present we are not 

in a position to discuss the question on account of the paucity of our 

information.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

NEOCENE OF THE COAST.

But little relating to the Neocene on the coast of British Columbia 

has been put on record. As previously stated, a clayey sandstone 

with fossils of the Astoria group has been collected on the west coast 

of Vancouver Island. Doubtless the same rocks occur a.t various points 

along the coast of British Columbia and the adjacent islands, though 

the glaciation and violent changes of level to which this region has 

been subjected in Pleistocene time have probably resulted in the erosion and disappearance of most of the softer Neozoic beds which were 

deposited along its shores.

One locality of marine Miocene beds is that near Sooke, on the west 

coast of Vancouver Island, in about west longitude 124° from Greenwich. The area is small. A larger area appears in the northern part 

of the Queen Charlotte Islands, forming that part of Graham Island 

east of Masset Inlet and north of Skidegate Inlet. West of this Graham 

Island is largely composed of volcanic rocks, which on the geological 

map of the Geological Survey of the Dominion of Canada1 are colored 

as belonging to the Miocene, and which overlie sandstones or shales and 

hard clays with lignites. At a single locality near the north end of 

Graham Island beds with numerous marine fossils occur.

These, in so far as they admit of specific determination, represent shells found in the 

later Tertiary deposits of California, some of which are still living on tlie northwest 

coast; and the assemblage in not such as to indicate any marked difference of 

climate from that now obtaining. * * * The Tertiary rocks of the coast are not 

anywhere much disturbed or altered. The relative level of sea and laud innst have 

been nearly as at present when they were formed, and it is probable that they were, 

originally spread much more widely, the preservation of such an area as that of 

Graham Island being due to the protective capping of volcanic rocks. The beds belong evidently to the more recent Tertiary, and though the paleontological evidence 

is scanty, it appears probable from this and by comparison with the other parts of 

the west coast that they should be called Miocene.2

i Descriptive sketch of the Physical Geography and Geology of the Dominion of Canada, by A. E. C. 

Sel-wyn, director, and G. M. Dawson, Dr. Sci., associate. Montreal, Davrsou Bros., 1884. 55 pp., 8°, and 

large map in two sheets geologically colored. See Part II, by Dr. G.M. Dawsou, pp. 52-55.

* Dawson, op. cit., 1884, p. 53.
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 231

Tertiary rocks also occupy a considerable area about the mouth of 

the Fraser Kiver, extending northward from the 49th parallel, forming 

the boundary to Burrard Inlet, where thin layers of lignite occur, but 

in seams too thin to have much value. Fossil plants from Burrard Inlet are described 1 by Newberry and Lesquereux in connection with those 

from Bellingham Bay, Washington, and are supposed to indicate a 

Miocene age for the beds.

NEOCENE OF THE REGION EAST FROM THE COAST RANGES. >,

East from, the Coast ranges Tertiary rocks, according to Dawson, 2 

are very extensively developed. They have not, however, yielded any 

marine fossils and

They .appear to have been formed in an extensive lake or series of lakes which may 

at one time have submerged nearly the entire urea of the region known as the interior plateau. The Tertiary lake or lakes may not improbably have been produced 

by the interruption of the drainage of the region by a renewed elevation of the coast 

mountains proceeding in advance of the power of the rivers of the period to lower 

their beds; the movement culminating in a profound disturbance leading to a very 

extensive volcanic action. The lower beds are sandstones, clays, and shales generally 

pale grayish or yellowish in color, except when darkened by carbonaceous matter. 

They frequently hold lignite, coal, and in some even true bituminous coal occurs. 

These sedimentary beds rest generally on a very irregular surface, and consequently 

vary much in thickness and character in different parts of the extensive area over 

which they occur. The lignites appear in some places to rest on true " underclays," 

representing the soil on which the vegetation producing them has grown, while in 

others, as at Quesnel, they seem to be composed of driftwood, and show much clay 

and sand interlaininated with the coaly matter.

In the northern portion of the interior the upper volcanic part of the Tertiary covers 

great areas, and is usually in beds nearly horizontal, or at least not extensively or 

sharply folded. Basalts, dolerites, and allied rocks of modern aspect occur in sheets, 

broken only here and there by valleys of denudation; and acidic rocks are seldom 

met with except in the immediate vicinity of the ancient volcanic vents. On the 

lower Nechacco, and on the Parsnip River, the lower sedimemtary rocks appear to 

be somewhat extensively developed without the overlying volcanic materials. The 

southern part of the interior plateau is more irregular and mountainous. The Terti ary 

rocks here cover less extensive areas, and are much more disturbed, and sometimes 

over wide districts, as on the Nicola, are found dipping at an average angle of about 

30 degrees. The volcanic materials are occasionally of great thickness, and the little 

disturbed basalts of the north are, for the most part, replaced by agglomerates and 

tufas, with trachytes, porphyrites, and other feldspathic rocks. It may, indeed, bo 

questioned whether the character of these rocks does not indicate that they are of

!Geol. Survey Dom. Canada, Rep. of Progress, 187G-'77, p. 190.

2 These beds arc obviously to be referred to the Kenai group, since they contain essentially the samo 

flora. LimnoM, J'hysa, and Sphcerium, have also been noticed at Vermilion Cliff. Localities for < ho 

occu LTcnce of plant beds and lignites of the Kenai group in the southern part of British Columbia nmy 

bo meutioued as follows: The vicinity of Okanagan Lake; the Coal Brook Indian reserve on thonorth 

Thompson Kiver (p. 113); Kamloops Lake (p. 1H); Vermilion Cliff 3 miles up the north, fork of the 

Similkameen River (p. 130), and also the south fork (p. 132); on Ninemile Creek and Hat Creek (p. 

121); 20 miles north of Osoyoos Lake, where 3,000 feet of sandstones and shales have been observed (p. 129); on Tenmilo Creek coal is noted (p. 126), and also near the jtinction of Nicola and Coldwater rivers (p. 122); on the leaser near Lillooet, and on the upper part of Kettle River (p. 100). Dawsou also notes the complete absence of marine Eocene beds (p. 107).

See Dominion Geological Survey, Report of Progress for 1877-1878, Montreal, Canada, 1879; pp.l-188B, 

by Geo. M. Dawson (to which above page references refer), including a list of Tertiary plants from 

various British Columbian localities, by J/VV. Dawson, LL. D., op cit. pp. 18G-188B.
232 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [Buu,.84.

earlier date than those to the north, hut, as no direct paleontological evidence of this 

has heen obtained, it is presumed that their different composition and appearance is 

due to unlike conditions of deposition and greater subsequent disturbance.

No volcanic rocks or lava flows of post-Glacial age have (1884) been met with, 

though I believe that still farther to the northwest the rocks are of yet more recent 

origin than any of these here described, and I have even heard a tradition of the 

Indians of the Nasse River which relates that at some time very remote in their 

history an eruption covering a wide tract of country with lavas was witnessed.

The organic remains so far obtained from these Tertiary rocks of the interior consist of plants, insects, and a few fresh-water mollusks and fish-scales, the last being 

the only indication of the vertebrate fauna of the period. The plants have been 

collected at a number of localities. They have been subjected to a preliminary examination by Principal Dawson and several lists of species published. While they 

are certainly Tertiary and represent a temperate flora like that elsewhere attributed 

to the Miocene, they do not afford a very definite criterion of age, being derived from 

places which must have differed much in their physical surroundings at the time of 

the deposition of the beds.

Insect remains have been obtained in four localities. They have been examined 

by Mr. S. H. Scudder, who has contributed three papers on them in the Geological 

Reports, in which he describes forty species, all of which are considered new. None 

of the insects have been found to occur in more than a single locality, which causes 

Mr. Scudder to observe that the deposits from which they came may either differ considerably in age, or, with the fact that duplicates have seldom been found even in the 

same locality, evidence the existence of different surroundings and an exceedingly 

rich insect fauna.

Though the interior plateau may at one time have been pretty uniformly covered 

with Tertiary rocks, it is evident that some regions have never been overspread by 

them, while, owing to denudation, they have since been almost altogether removed 

from other districts, and the modern river valleys often cut completely through them 

to the older rocks. The outlines of the Tertiary areas are, therefore, now irregular 

and complicated. l

ALASKA.

As might be expected, the geology of this territory is most imperfectly known, 2 but the little which has been recorded leads to the inference that to a great extent the operations of mountain-building forces 

and the deposition of sediments along the coast of Alaska, south of and 

including the peninsula, were carried on in a similar and probably generally synchronous manner from Mexico to Bering Sea.

So far we have not been able to find any record of the discovery of 

marine fossils belonging to the Eocene in Alaska, though of the Miocene marine and leaf-bearing beds with lignitic coal, etc., there are 

abundant instances.

GENERAL NOTES ON THE ROCKS.

In general, along the southeastern coast of Alaska, the sequence of 

the rocks where undisturbed appears to be about as follows in descending order :

1. Soil and Pleistocene beds.

1 For additional information on the Tertiary rocks of the interior see Reports of Progress, Dominion 

Geol. Survey for 1871-72, p. 56; for 1875-76, pp. 70 and 225; foi 1876-77, pp.'75 and 112B; Dawaon, 

op. cit., pp. 53-55.

1 Geological notes in this section, except where otherwise stated, are from the unpublished observations of W. H. Ball.
DATX AND ? ATACTTA HAHHIS. j ALASKA.

2. Brown Miocene sandstones with marine shells, cetacean bones and 

water-worn Teredo-bored fossil wood (Astoria group, Nulato sandstones, Grepidula bed).

3. Beds of conglomerate, brown and iron-stained, alternating with 

gravelly and sandy layers, the finer beds containing fossil leaves of 

Sequoia and other vegetable remains (Kenai group, Unga beds).

4. Bluish sandy slates and shales with a rich Miocene plant flora, interstratified with beds of indurated gravel, fossil wood, and lignitic coal 

(Kenai group).

5. Metamorphic quartzites and slaty rocks, illustrating the geological 

series probably from the Jurassic to the upper Cretaceous, with perhaps part of the lower Eocene (Chico-Tejon).

6. Granite and syenite in massive beds, usually without mica and 

apparently in most instances forming the " backbone " of the mountain 

ridges or islands, but occasionally occurring as intrusive masses, which 

have thrust up the metamorphic rocks above them into arches, cracking 

them and filling the fissures with the syenitic material (Shumagin 

granite).

Intrusive granites. Through all the Tertiary beds in various parts of 

the territory are found penetrating volcanic dikes and larger outflows, 

sometimes injected between sedimentary strata and sometimes overflowing them, much as in California, Oregon, and elsewhere in western 

America. The later eruptions, mostly Pliocene and Pleistocene, are 

generally of a basaltic character. 1

The occurrence of intrusive syenite later than the metamorphic rocks 

and penetrating fissures in them is well exhibited at an arch of metamorphic rock near the beach at Granite Point, on the south side of the 

entrance to Sanborn harbor, Nagai Island, in the Shumagin group, 

where it was noted by the writer while surveying the harbor in 1872. 

Instances of the occurrence of the syenite as a massive body forming 

the fundamental rock are oifered in many places, as the Diomedes 

Islands, Bering Strait, and most of the mountain masses of the Siberian 

side of the same strait; the central ridge of the island of Unalaska; 

the islands and hills of the eastern Shumagins, as Little Koniushi Island, 

and of Port Althorp, Cross Sound, in the Alexander Archipelago.

The age of the intrusive granites is yet undetermined, but in the case 

of the mass forming the celebrated Treadwell mine of Douglas Island, 

near Juneau, Alaska, which is of this character, Dr. Dawson refers the 

slaty rocks through which it has broken to the Yancouver series of 

Triassic rocks.2 and the Shumagin quartzites may belong to the same 

group. At all events it is hardly likely to be Tertiary, and in this connection need not he considered further.

Early observations on Alaskan geology. The Neozoic strata of southern Alaska were first noticed by Portlock and Dixon who, on their

'See Dall, Note on Alaska Tertiary Deposits, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., July, 1882, vol. 24, pp. 67, 68. 

8 Notes on tlie ore deposit of the Treadwell mine, Alaska, Am. Geologist, August, 1889, pp. 84-93.
234 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [Buix.84.

voyage to tlie northwest coast of America in 1785, entered English Bay 

or Port Graham, Cooks Inlet, and named it Coal Bay, from the lignitic 

beds exposed in its shores. In the following- year the marine Miocene 

was observed by the naturalists of La Peronse's party, who collected in 

Litnya Bay at the height of 200 toises above the sea specimens of one 

of the large Miocene pectens.' The first general summary of existing 

knowledge of geology and geognosy of this region is comprised in the 

work of Grewingk,2 who enumerates the localities for the Tertiary 

rocks among others and illustrates and enumerates many of the fossils. The paleobotany of the region was subsequently treated of by 

Goppert 3 and Heer.4 Later, Eichwald 5 reviewed the subject and introduced a certain amount of confusion into the paleontological side of 

the question by referring to the Cretaceous (Turonian) all the marine 

Tertiary fossils described by Grewingk, many of which belonged to 

Miocene beds, but which Eichwald appears to have regarded as of the 

same age as the Tejon beds of California, which, following Gabb, in the 

Paleontology of California, he referred with, the Chico to the Mesozoic 

epoch.

MIOCENE OF THE KENAI GROUP.

The coal-bearing Miocene beds best exhibited on the' shores of Kachekinak Bay, Kenai Peninsula, Cooks Inlet, but widely spread in British Columbia and over the coast of Alaska and its adjacent islands, are 

regarded by Heer as the equivalent of the Atane leaf beds of Greenland, 

the Spitzbergen Miocene plant beds, the Braunkohl of east Prussia and 

the lower Rhine provinces, and the lower Molasse of Switzerland.

The Unga conglomerate. On the island of Unga, Shumagin group, 

Alaska, they are conformably overlain by the brown conglomerates 

with Sequoia which are obviously younger and the result of a somewhat 

different series of conditions; though the sedimentation appears to 

have been measurably continuous. To these last I would give the 

name of the Unga conglomerate; but since in the present imperfect state 

of our knowledge we are unable to specify the exact horizon of most of 

the leaf beds reported by various observers, the whole series will be 

treated here under one head. The coal beds of southern Alaska and of 

the Yukon Valley, so far as identified, all belong to the interbedded lignites of the Kenai series, yet it is quite probable that some older beds 

are included in the list. In the case of the coal of Kake Strait, Admi1 Cf. voy. La Perouse, vol. 1, p. 395.

2 Bcitrag zur Kenutniss der orograplriscben unrt geognostischen Bescbaffenlieit der nordwest Kiiste 

Amerikas; Verh.Min. Ges. zu St. Petersburg fur 1848-'49, 351 pp., 8°. Separately issued by KarlKLray, 

St. Petersbiirg, 1850.

3 Abb. Scliles. Ges. i'iir Vaterl. Kwltur., 1861,2, p. 201, and 18C7, p. 50.

4 Flora fossilis Alaskana, Koiigl. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. Handl. Bd. 8, "No. 4, Stockholm, 1869, 4, 

pp. 41,10 pi.

6 Geogn. Pal. Bemerkungen iiber die Halbinsel Mangischlak und die Aleutischeu Inseln, St. Petersburg, Kais. Akad. Wias., 1871,8°, pp. 200, pi. xx ; cf. pp. 88-137.
MIOCENE OF THE KENAI GROUP. 235

ralty island, there appear, according to Newberry1 to be several species 

identical with those of Kenai.

The most southern points which have been noted by us for the occurrences of these sandstones depend for their location on the reports of 

prospectors and on specimens observed in the mineralogical collection 

of the Russian-American Company at Sitkain 1865, a duplicate of which 

is included in the Imperial Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg. The 

Sitka collection was scattered in 1868.

Localities noted are as follows: The eastern arm of Whale Bay, Baranoff Island, the west shore of Kuiu Island in about the same latitude, 

the northern shore of the Lindenberg Peninsula, Kupreanoff Island, 

the mainland opposite the last mentioned locality, St. Johns Bay, on 

Baranoft' Island north of Sitka, the southeastern extreme of Chichagoff 

Island on Chatham Strait, Kake Strait, Admiralty Island, and the shores 

of the northern part of Seymour Canal, Admiralty Island. These comprise the localities in the Alexander Archipelago. The Eussian governor, Furuhjelm, upon whose collection in the main Heer's descriptions 

are based, visited a locality near Sitka, perhaps the one above mentioned at St. Johns Bay,2 one on Kake Strait, and a third on Kuin 

Island. Of the latter a description and section are given from Furuhjelm's notes by Heer.

Beds of Kuiu Island. The outcrop is between tide marks and consists of a sandstone with remains of a Hazel (Corylus McQuarrii), dipping inland about 25° or 30°, which contain thin layers of blackish gray 

shale in pairs, inclosing in each pair a layer, varying from 6 inches to 

1\ feet in thickness, of brown coal or lignite. The shale contains plants, 

especially conifers. Above these and rising above high-water mark is 

a coarse grained sandstone overlain by a coarse conglomerate covered 

by about 15 feet of humus and turf. The whole section includes a belt 

of somewhat more than 200 feet wide, on the eroded surface of which 

are strewn numerous erratic blocks of granite. The section has a good 

deal of resemblance to that exposed at Coal Bay, Unga Island, at least 

in the succession of the plant beds, coal and conglomerate.

The, shales from this locality afforded Sequoia langsdorfii, and species 

of Glyptostrobus, Pteris, and Gastanea. The coal contained 16 per cent 

of water, about 3 per cent of ash, about 35 per cent of volatile, and 45 

per cent of fixed carbonaceous matter, according to Genth. 3 The occurrence of lignite near Sitka is also noted by Erman 4 without precise 

identification of locality.

Beds of Lituya .Bay. North of the Alexander Archipelago, Cenozoic

1 Brief descriptions of fossil plants, chiefly Tertiary, from western North America, by Dr. «T. S. 

Newberry, Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus. vol. 5, pp. 502-514; February, 1883. The author describes five species 

from Cooks Inlet, two from Admiralty Island, Seymour Canal and ono from Kake Strait, near Kootznahoo, Alaska.

a See report on the Geology of Alaska, House Ex. Doc. 177, Fortieth Congress, second session, February, i8G8, pp. 314-325, by Theodore A. Blake.

3 K. K. Geol. Keichsanstalt, Wien, 1808, p. 397; Heer, op. cit.,p. 4.

«Keise urn die Erde, 3, p. 213.
236 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BUIX.M.

strata are first reported from Lituya Bay, where they were observed, 

and a fossil Pecten collected at a height of 200 toises by the naturalists 

of La Perouse's party. In May, 1874, while making a reconnaissance 

of the bay, W. H. Dall landed on Cenotaph Island, which appeared to 

be chiefly composed of the ordinary marine Miocene sandstones, rather 

soft, but not at this point fossiliferous. This island lies directly in the 

trough of this extraordinary bay, and is remarkable in that it shows no 

evidences either by erosion or in the presence of erratics, of having been 

glaciated, which, if the bay had ever been filled with ice, must have 

happened. It would seem as if only a very small amount of erosion 

would have been sufficient to remove the whole of the relatively soft 

material of which this small and rather high islet is composed. The 

mass of the material on the beaches and brought down by the ice from 

the numerous enormous glaciers which discharge into the bay, appears 

to be schistose, or syenitic, the comparatively narrow strip of relatively 

lowland and foot hills, in front of the main range parallel with the coast, 

probably containing all the Cenozoic beds remaining there. On themain 

shores of Lituya Bay the basal rocks appeared to be massive syenite or 

granite overlain by stratified mica slates "above which was clay slate 

with very obscure traces of fossils, and lastly coarse sandstone and conglomerate probably of Miocene age, but from which no fossils were collected. The stratified rocks seem conformable with one another and 

dip to the northwest at angles of from 15° to 75°. Their surfaces 

showed no traces of glaciation, though these, if ever present, might 

have been weathered away.

Port Graham lignite teds. Passing over temporarily the newer formations observed in the vicinity of Takutat Bay by Israel C. Russell (1890) 

and at Middleton Island by Dall (1874), the next locality in-geographical order where the Miocene plant beds have been explored, is on the 

eastern shore of Cook's Inlet, forming the western border of the Kenai 

Peninsula. Here at Port Graham or English Bay, first visited by Portlock and Dixon in 1785, lignitic beds have long been known to exist, 

and for a time the coal was mined by the Russian American Company 

for use in their steamers. The beds at this locality are on the north 

side of the harbor, just within the entrance. HereFuruhjelrn collected 

a large number of plant remains which formed the chief basis of Heer's1 

report.1 These beds lie unconformably in depressions in felsitic rock 

and greenstone, nearly horizontally as follows:

1. Humus and turf.

2. Sandstone with pebbles.

3. Bluish sandy clay with pebbles.

4. Plastic clay.

5. Gray, fine grained sandstone, 5 to 7 inches thick.

6. Lignite, 9 to 11 feet thick.

7. Laminated clay shale, partly "bituminous.

8. Light gray, rather soft limestone, with few plants.

1 Flora fossilis Alaskana, of. ante.
PORT GRAHAM KACHEKMAK BAY. 237

9. Laminated clay.

10. Hard limestone, with many plant impressions.

11. Brecciated porphyry and greenstone in limy matrix.

12. Felsite and greenstone base.

The coal is black and brilliant, with conchoidal fracture, resembling 

that of Disco in Greenland. It contains occasional grains of honeyyellow amber rarely more than a centimeter in diameter.

The plants are all terrestrial or fresh-water species. One of the most 

common is a species of Trapa represented by many of its fruit. With 

them were found Unio (Margaritana} onariotis Mayer, a species probably related to Margaritana margaritifera L.; Ammicola dbavia Mayer; 

and Melania (Goniobasis f) furuhjelmi Mayer, together with elytra 

of a beetle described by Heer under the name of Chrysomelites alasicanus. Among the plants are both conifers and broad-leaved trees, 

the total number of species amounting to forty-four. The deposit appears to have been formed at the bottom of a lake. The leaf-bearing 

strata crop oat below the level of the sea and are accessible only at 

extreme low water. They dip slightly to the northward.

Kachelima'k Bay lignites. Northward from Port Graham is the entrance to a large inlet, Kachekmak Bay, on the southern side of which 

four glaciers extend nearly to the sea level. The rocks on this side of 

the inlet, as observed by Ball in 1880, are schistose or crystalline, but 

the northern shore is of a different character. It is formed by the bold 

edge of a plateau which, in latitude 59° 42', rises to about 1,800 feet at 

a distance of 2 miles from the shore. At the shore near Coal Point (a 

low, sandy spit behind which an anchorage may be had), the bluffs 

rise abruptly about 200 feet. The line of bluffs extends north and east 

for some 30 miles and the Miocene plant beds crop out at many points. 

In som$ places the bluffs come down to the beach; in others there is a 

small talus between them and the water which is extremely shallow for 

some distance out. The lignite beds dip slightly to the northward 

and are intercalated between sandstones and shales with fossil plants 

remains, and conglomerates or coarser sandstones above. The largest 

seam of coal which was observed near Coal Point was about 7 feet 

thick, with a few thin streaks of shale in it. It is bright, clean to 

handle, light, and tends to break up in cubical fragments when dried. 

It resembles anthracite in appearance, but not in weight. Farther up 

the bay better outcrops were reported, and the coal was pronounced 

good by the engineers of Sir Thomas Hesketh's yacht, Lancashire 

Witch, who used it for steaming purposes in 1880, and also found it 

to burn well in an open grate in the cabin.

From this locality most of the plants described from Port Graham 

by Heer were identified from Ball's collection by Lesquereux1 and also 

nine others, making fifty-three species.

1 Contributions to the Miocene Flora of .Alaska, by Leo Lesquereux. Proc, TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, 

vol. 5, pp. 443-449, pL vi-x.
238 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA.. ' [BULL.84.

Other Kenai beds. If the indications.of Wossnessenski (in Grewingk) 

are correct there would seem to be a succession of about four gentle 

folds from Port Graham to Cape Kassiloff, a distance in a northerly 

direction of some 35 miles. The plateau previously referred to, representing- the western flank of the Kenai Peninsula, is thus composed 

chiefly of the marine sandstones, shales, and conglomerates, which make 

up the Kenai group. The lignite beds crop out at many places along 

the western shore of this area. At Anchor Cape (Kasnatchin) the 

northern head of Kachekmak (or, as it is sometimes called, Chugachik) 

Bay the coal is under water, but rises northward with the flexure of 

the strata. At Anchor Cape Furuhjelm obtained fossil teredo-bored 

bituminous wood. At Cape Nenilchik, near a small native settlement, 

the lignite beds are about 35 feet above the sea, and at one place burned 

for many years. From this locality also many fossil plants have been 

obtained. The leaves occur in a soft, pale gray clay slate, which can 

be cut with the knife, but which, where burned, becomes hard and red. 

Still farther north on the same shore, at Fort Kenai, Capt. Howa.rd, of 

the revenue marine, obtained several fossil plants which have been described by Newberry.1 Five of these were new, which raises the number of species actually obtained on the Kenai Peninsula to fifty-eight.

At Cape Staritchkoff two parallel beds of coal are visible for a long 

distance. The lower one is about 112 feet above the beach and is separated by 9 to 12 feet of sand and clay from the upper coal bed, above 

Avhich the bluff rises 40 to 70 feet higher. At Cape Nenilchik the upper 

bed covers about 18 feet of fine yellow sand and is separated from the 

lower bed by about 20 feet of sand and clay. At this locality an Anodon (A. athlios Mayer) was found in making Furuhjelm's collection.

Deferring for the present any discussion in regard to their geological 

age, the other localities for the occurrence of this flora may be referred 

to. The Kenai beds, from the number of their contained species and 

their excellent illustration by Heer, will always be regarded as typical 

for the group.

Beds of Alaska Peninsula and Kadiak Island. Along the shores of 

Alaska Peninsula, west and south from Cook's Inlet, lignite beds, doubtless associated with plant impressions, are not uncommon, but the exploration of this shore has been very imperfect. On the main shore 

behind Takli Island (north latitude 58° 05') is a good anchorage according to the Eussians, and here they report " good coal and plenty of it," 

which would indicate the existence of the lignitic beds at this place.

On the island of Kadiak marine Miocene strata are found, and among 

the specimens brought back by Wossnessenski were clay ironstones 

containing plant remains referable to the Kenai group. These stones 

were used by the native women for reddening the inner surface of dressed 

Stons, and the only indication of locality for them is that they came 

from the northern part of the island. About the middle of the island,

' Proc. U, S. Nat. Mus. vol. 5, pp. 502-514,1882.
DHABBW!I> } ' ALASKA PENINSULA AND KADIAK ISLAND.

surrounding Ugak Bay, at the old settlement of Orlovsk, and on the 

northern shore of Miliuda Bay next southward, and on the opposite 

side of the island, part of the shores of Uganuk Bay and of Uganuk 

Island in the bay, sandstones with lignite in tliin seams, overlain in 

places by marine sandstones like those of Unga, are reported on. the 

authority of Kharitonoff and other Eussians familiar with the island.

On the south shore of the peninsula, in west longitude 157° 10', is a 

small bay called Yantarnie, near which, in the lignite-bearing beds, amber was found and traded by the natives of the peninsula Avith the 

Kadiak Eskimo. It may not be inappropriate to state here that in 

times preceding the Eussian conquest amber was regarded of great 

value by the natives of this region, a very small bead of this substance 

being worth in native estimation forty or fifty sea-otter skins, equivalent at present values to some $10,000 of our money. Consequently 

the localities where it might be found Avere places of great interest to 

the aborigines, and the traditions still current are often useful in identifying the presence of beds of this age. A feAv of these beads are 

still extant. The largest known is in the possession of W. H. Ball. It 

A\ras obtained from a grave on the island of Kadiak, traditionally regarded as that of a celebrated prehistoric chief of the tribe. It is 

about 2 inches long, ovate, roughly three-sided, and an inch in diameter. It has been bored for the passage of a suspensory thread, but 

otherAvise is apparently in its original state. It is clear and of a rich 

AAnne color, resembling Levantine amber. The surface, though slightly 

irregular, is polished. Small grains of the same color, but too small 

for use as ornaments, are not rare in the lignite beds of this region.

On the south side of Chignik Bay, a little to the Avestward of the 

southwestern headland, is a small anchorage surveyed by Dall in 1874, 

situated in about latitude 56° 20' and west longitude 158° 24'. Here 

an outcrop of sandstone belonging to the Kenai group was observed, 

from Avhich a number of fossil plants Avere collected. The bluffs hero 

are about 500 feet high, consisting of a series of sandstone, slates, and 

conglomerates, Avith thin leaves of lignite, the Avhole nearly horizontal 

and extending several miles to Tuliumnit Point. From the specimens 

obtained six species of plants were identified by Lesquereux. 1

A short distance southAvestward (west longitude 159°) the leaf and 

lignite beds crop out again on the south shore of the peninsula at Coal 

Cape. Southwest of this cape lies the small group of Chiachi Islands, 

surveyed by Dall in 1874. Here the bedrock is syenite unconformably 

overlain in places by sandstones and conglomerates, the latter sometimes of Avater-worn material and sometimes of sharp gravel, Avith vegetable remains. The sandstones are often altered by outbreaks of reddish lava in large masses, and all the rocks at this locality appear much 

contorted and metamorphosed.

1 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, vol. 5, pp. 443-449.
240 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Still farther west (west longitude 160° 35') the south coast of the 

peninsula is indented by Portage. Bay, at the head of which a large 

stream comes in and a low divide affords a portage to Herendeen Bay, a 

branch of Port Moller, which indents the shore of the peninsula from 

Bering Sea on the north. West of Portage Bay other inlets enter from 

the south in the following order, namely, Beaver and Otter bays, Coal 

Bay, and Pavloff Bay, the latter connected by a very low divide with the 

head of Herendeen Bay, and thus indirectly with Port Moller. The 

vicinity in which these bays are found is of extreme geologic interest. 

From Port Moller several active volcanoes are in view, among the rugged 

flanks of which may be seen a number of glaciers. Hot springs flow 

into the bay from a small peninsula, on which are extensive shell heaps 

indicating prehistoric occupation of the locality by a population of some 

magnitude. Near the head of the bay Mesozoic fossiliferous strata come 

down to the beach. On the east are Tertiary sandstones belonging probably to the Kenai group. Fragments of lignite and bituminous shale are 

not rare on the beach. At the head of Portage Bay, a few miles away, 

lignite beds are reported by Yeniaminoff, and, as the name indicates, 

they also exist at Coal Bay.1 On the portage between Pavloff Bay and 

Herendeen Bay extensive beds of coal (one report says 4 feet of clear 

coal) are reported, and offer such advantages that a corporation in San 

Francisco is actually building the first railway in Alaska to transport the 

product of the mine they have opened to the nearest point where vessels can receive it. These beds are said to be cat by volcanic dikes in 

such a way as to form out of the lignite a natural coke, which promises 

to have commercial importance. The Pavloff volcano is a high peak 

emitting smoke and occasional flames, and is situated on the west side 

of the bay. From the vicinity of the mountain Wossnessenski obtained 

" good stone coal" according to Grewingk (op. cit., p. 57), and this is also 

one of the localities reported to afford amber. When visited in 1874 by 

the Coast Survey parties, the shores of Port Moller were inhabited by 

large numbers of brown bear and reindeer, the rivers were alive with 

salmon, and hundreds of walrus sunned themselves on the sand bars 

near the sea. It will be seen that for the naturalist and geologist it 

would be hard to find a place combining more interesting features.

Unga and Popoff Island beds. South of Portage Bay, across Unga 

Strait, lies the island of Unga, the principal island of the large Shumagin 

group, which extends some 50 miles to the south and east, and is noted 

for its cod and sea-otter fisheries. The eastern islands are granitic; 

those in the middle of the group largely composed of metamorphic 

quartzites and schistose rocks. On the island of Unga and the adjacent Popoff Island, Tertiary beds are well exposed.

The principal exposure of the plant beds on the island of Unga is on 

the western shore of Zacharoff, Zakhareffskaia, or Coal Bay, which 

indents the northern end of the island for about 3 miles. This locality

. »See ¥. S. Coast Survey Chart, No. 806, by W. H. Ball, 1882.
AND POPOFF ISLANDS. 241

was visited by Ball in 1865 and also in 1871, 1872, and 1873. The 

earlier observations of Wossnessenski and others are enumerated by 

Grewingk (op. cit., p. 97), but his details are very incomplete.

The following section was obtained by Ball in 1872. The total height 

of the cliff is between 500 and 600 feet; two-thirds of it is precipitous, 

the rest more sloping; the crest is perhaps a third of a mile westward 

from the water's edge. The strata are somewhat waved in a north and 

south direction, and dip to the westward from 5° to 20°:

Feet.

1. Turf and soil....................................................

2. Conglomerate of fine pebbles ....................................

3. Conglomerate of larger bowlders ..................................

4. Sandstone with marine fossils (1 foot).............................. f200

5. Thin friable sandy shales (6 inches)..............................

6. Conglomerate like No. 2.........................................

7. Very coarse conglomerate (2 feet)................................

8. Sandy shale with indistinct plant remains ......................... J

9. Thin leaves of lignite aggregated into three series of 3 feet each, interstratified with beds of sand and gravel of variable thickness, 

with some pyrites and peroxide of iron, total about............... 40

10. Soft sandstone and gravel without large pebbles and little indurated ............................................................ 150

11. Another series similar to No. 9, but with none of the coal more than

8 inches in thickness, very pyritiferous. .......................... 200

12. Clay ironstones with leaf impressions to the beach ................ 4

Below ordinary low water another seam of coal is said to exist. The 

best veins of coal in the cliff are about a foot thick, hard, clear, and 

black except where weathered. It slacks up on exposure into small 

cubical fragments. There are three of these foot veins, separated by 

about 10 feet of sand and gravel. Over the middle vein is very friable 

blue shale, about 4 feet thick. Over the upper vein is a 4-inch layer of 

sandy shale containing many plant impressions, from which the collection submitted to Lesquereux was chiefly derived.

The coarser conglomerate (Nos. 3 and 7) contains some iron and 

weathers black on the face of the cliff. In a section published in a 

prospectus of a coal-mining company these black bands, which can be 

seen miles away on the face of the cliff, were indicated as coal veins; 

as in fact a distant observer would take them to be until otherwise informed.

The species of plants collected at this locality were examined by Lesquereux, and proved to be identical with those from Cooks Inlet; eight 

species were identified.

In the conglomerate (Nos. 6 and 7) many pieces of rolled silicified 

wood were found, some of which were bored by Teredo. These beds are 

evidently a beach formation, presaging the depression which followed 

in which the marine bed above them was laid down. I have called 

them the Unga conglomerates, and the marine stratum, which will be 

referred to later, from the great abundance of Crepidula prcerupta Conrad, I have called the Orepidula bed. It conformably overlies the 

Bull. 84 16
242 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

othera and there can be no doubt of the continuity of the sedimentation 

through the whole series of lignitic and marine strata in this locality.-

Fossil wood, referred to Pinus pannonicus, has been obtained at De 

laroff harbor, in the southern part of Unga, and some large pieces, 

collected on the beaches and forwarded to Dr. Newberry in 1873, were 

stated to be apparently Cycadaceous. These may have been derived 

from adjacent Mesozoic strata. According to John Dix, a miner at the 

coal vein referred to, the mountains inland from the bay consist largely 

of similar sandstones.

The northeastern extremity of Unga Island and the northwestern 

part of Popoff Island are composed of sandstones and conglomerates 

similar to the upper part of the bluff in Zacharoff Bay, but they rise to 

only about 50 to 75 feet above the sea, and are broken and cut by dikes 

and larger intrusions of basaltic lava and diorite, and near the contacts much altered and intersected by veins of chalcedouic quartz.

On the western edge of Nagai similar rocks exist above the metamorphic schists and quartzites, but they are greatly altered and contorted and cover but a small area in comparison with underlying beds. 

It is probable that part of the island of Sannakh is composed of similar 

strata.

LIGNITIC BEDS OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.

In the chain of islands extending westward from the peninsula there 

are many which are more or less volcanic, but the chain is older than 

the volcanoes and volcanic islands it contains, and many of the islands 

are composed of sedimentary or inetamorphic rocks. The chain doubtless marks a very ancient line of weakness or faulting in the earth's 

crust; and most of the volcanoes are relatively very modern developments, due to geological changes which have been in progressive operation since early Mesozoic time.

Akun. Proceeding westward, the first island upon which lignitic 

beds are reported is Akun, where Postels 1 states he was told that coal 

exists.

Unalaska. The northern part of the island of Unalaska is better 

known than the rest. The principal harbor, Captains Bay, is surrounded with massive beds of clay porphyry and some basaltic lava. 

But several localities in the interior of the island, according to tradition, 

afforded amber and consequently should possess lignitic deposits. In 

the autumn of 1871 Dall endeavored, with a small party and an Aleut 

guide, to discover one of these so-called amber beds. The expedition 

reached the main ridge of the island some miles south from Captains 

Bay, and found the rocks to consist almost exclusively of syenite in 

mountain masses, overlain in some places by thin beds of clay and sand, 

apparently the result of decomposition of the syenite itself. The amber 

lake of Aleut tradition is a small body of water connected with two 

others. Above the lake rose a precipitous crag of conglomerate, 2,000

1 Voy. S6niavine, 1836, vol. 3, p. 21.
LIGNITIC BEDS OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 243

feet in height by estimation, the horizontal layers very distinctly bedded, 

graduating toward the top into hard altered sandstone, very black and 

flinty. No fossils could be found in it, but the weather became so inclement as to render it necessary to return without making an exhaustive search, and these beds may eventually prove to belong to the leafbearing series. The Aleuts declare that the disintegrated sandstone in 

former times afforded occasional bits of amber, which were obtained 

from the gravel around the edge of the lake.

Another locality for amber, and inferentially for lignitic strata, is 

reported by Veniaminoif, from statements by the Aleuts, to exist in the 

western part of the island in the mountains near the head of Makrofski 

Bay. Here there is said to be a lake containing an island of friable 

sandstone and unconsolidated gravel, out of which the Aleuts formerly 

obtained small pieces of amber.

Marine Miocene beds exist on MakushinBay, near the north-north west 

base of the volcano of the same name, but no leaf beds are reported at 

this place. On the eastern shore of Port Levasheff Wossnessenski obtained small fragments of lignite, which he supposed to have been 

brought down by streams from lignite beds in the interior of the island, 

the adjacent rocks being clay porphyry.

Slate Point, 2£ miles eastward from the entrance to Ohernoffski 

Harbor, is composed of a black stratified material, perhaps belonging to 

this series, but which has not been closely scrutinized.

Umnalc. On the northwestern end of the island of TJmnak, the next 

westward in the chain, near Tnlikskoi Volcano, is a lake overhung by a 

cliff of uuconsolidated beds. The Aleuts were in the habit of stretching 

a seal hide between two kayaks and dislodging this earthy material, 

which would fall upon the hide, and was carefully washed for amber. 

Near Cape Yegorkoffski, Eschscholtz and Ohamisso collected fossil dicotyledonous wood from the bed of a lake which had been drained by 

changes due to an earthquake.

Aika. Westward from TJmnak many of the smaller islands are volcanic, and but little is known of any of them until the island of Atka is 

reached (174° west longitude). On the western side of the north part of 

this island it is indented by Koroviuski Bay, from which several small 

arms extend southward and northward. The north shores are composed chiefly of nearly horizontal layers of volcanic breccia dipping 

slightly to the northeast and rising to 1,000 feet, interstratified with beds 

of ashes, cinders, and solfataric clays, in some of which marine Miocene 

fossil shells occur. On the south shore, especially on the east shore of 

Sandy Bay, are found pieces of fossil wood of a gray color, which burn 

slowly, and other pieces which are silicified. They appear to lie under 

the soil, between the latter and a conglomerate resembling that of TJnga, 

chiefly composed of rounded porphyritic pebbles, capped on the eastern 

portion with partly columnar basalt,
244 THE NEOCENE OP NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Nazan Bay, on the east side of the island, opposite Koroviuski Bay, 

and separated from it by a low isthmus, exhibits highly altered beds 

of conglomerate and volcanic breccia, nearly horizontal and dipping 

slightly to the northwest. A more compact, flinty, greenish metamorphic rock, with a similar dip but more contorted and much intersected, 

by dikes of basalt, is the material of which the south shore and the islets 

protecting the anchorage are composed.

Adakh. On the west side of the island of Adakh is a harbor called 

the Bay of Islands, the northern shores of which are composed of coarse 

sandstones like those of i;he Kenai group, dipping in general to the 

northeast. They are greatly altered by basaltic and frothy lavas, which 

have burned the sandstones overlaid by them to a red color. No fossils 

were found in them when examined by Ball in 1873.

AmcMtlca. The island of Amchitka is notably low and level compared with most of the Aleutians. At Oonstantine Harbor, on the 

northeastern shore, the rocks forming its eastern' coast are crystalline 

and probably volcanic. The west side of the harbor appears to be composed of low bluffs, not exceeding 60 feet high, of a much-altered conglomerate. Westward about a mile is Kiriloff Bay, a small, rocky 

indentation, formerly the site of a village (1849), but now deserted. 

Here the conglomerate and sandstones are less altered, and specimens of 

lignite and fossil wood were collected by Wossnessenski. Still farther 

west small veins of lignitic coal with plant remains are reported by 

Shayeshnikoft'.

Kiska. The island of Kiska has a fine harbor (west longitude 182° 

30'), which is protected on the east by the island of Little Kiska. The 

shore belonging to the main island borders on the water in many places 

as steep bluffs to 200 feet high, composed of a coarse conglomerate, of 

which the upper layers merge into a breccia of volcanic material but 

obviously arranged in water. These are broken through by eruptive 

clay porphyries of a greenish color, rising to 150 feet, and capped over 

all by a basaltic or coarsely crystalline syenitic rock, in some places 300 

feet thick. On the bluff1 of Little Kiska, facing the harbor, the porphyrite appears toward the southwest unconformably over them, and dipping northward are sandstones resembling those of the Kenai series, 

but in which, in 1873, Ball found no fossils. Covering those, and extending to the northwest point of Little Kiska, is a magnificent cliff' of 

the crystalline eruptive rock before referred to, which here forms enormous prisms, five-sided, from a foot to 20 inches in diameter, standing 

vertically in the cliff-like organ pipes, and sometimes continuous as a 

single prism to the length of more than 50 feet.

Attu. The westernmost of the Aleutian chain is the island of Attu, 

which is destitute of modern volcanic rocks. The harbor of Ohicagoff, 

at the northeastern end of the island, is surrounded chiefly by metamorphic slates and qnartzites, diorite, serpentine, and clay porphyry, 

probably Mesozoic, and much contorted. It was reported by the natives
LIGNITIC BEDS OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 245

that fossil wood was occasionally found on the beaches toward the western part of the island, but no Tertiary rocks or sandstones were observed by Ball's party.

Nunivak Island. Northward from, the Alaskan Peninsula little is 

known of the geology until the island of Nunivak is reached. At the 

northeastern extreme of this island is an anchorage surveyed by Dall 

in 1874. Here the shores, though abrupt, are low, and composed of muchaltered sandstones, nearly horizontal and more or less overlain by recent basaltic lavas. In the interior small volcanic cones, or hills resembling volcanic cones, were observed and supposed to be the source of 

these lavas. From their appearance and relation to the lavas it is probable that these sandstones belong to the Kenai group.

In the Yukon valley, and thence to the shores of Norton Sound, a large 

area is occupied by lignite and leaf-bearing sandstones of the Kenai 

group, a smaller portion of which are overlaid by the Nulato marine 

sandstones analogous to the Crepidula bed of Unga in age, but containing a different series of fossil shells.

On the seacoast between Unalaklik and Tolstoi Point these strata are 

exposed, much contorted, and dipping generally at high angles. At 

Tolstoi Point they are met by the later basalts which southward form 

the shores of the sound, St. Michael and Stephens islands, and adjacent 

islets. In October, 1867, these exposures were examined by Dall, from 

whose notes and sections made at the time the following description 

is condensed.

SoutliAvard from the mouth of the Unalaklik River, along the seashore 

for 6 miles, stretches a low, level plain of. sand, soil, and turf, horizontal 

and from 5 to 20 feet thick. Then the alluvial layer rises, and below it 

is visible bluish or yellowish clay, soft, but distinctly bedded and dipping 

north by east 28° to 45°. It is 30 to 40 feet thick, covered by about 3 

feet of soil. The lower layers of the clay contain fragments of silicified 

wood and lignite, sometimes preserving the original form of the trunki 

but commonly broken. This continues a quarter of a mile to a small 

creek (No. 1), on the farther side of which appear beds of indurated 

sandstone, overlain by the clay and soil and underlain by a blackish 

shale, the succession being as follows:

Feet.

1. Soil and clay, the latter sometimes absent .......................... 3

2. Greenish sandstone, dipping north 35°-40° .......................... 25

3. Blackish sandstone, dip ping north 35°-40° ........................... 20

4. Shale, dipping 30° easterly ......................................... 10

This series continues about 3 miles to Creek No. 2, along the shore, 

but the shale only comes up so as to be exposed' for about 200 yards.

From Creek No. 2, along the shore, we find for half a mile blackish 

sandstone, with seams of shale 20 feet thick dipping southeast 80°, covered with clay and soil. This is succeeded by a gray sandstone 30 to 

40 feet thick, with a northeast dip of 45° for nearly a mile, followed by
246 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

200 yards of the black sandstone, 40 feet thick, dipping southeast 65°. 

Then a turreted bluff of gray sandstone, vertical,50 feethigh,with seams 

of quartz and layers of shale and fragments of carbonized vegetable 

matter. Under this the black sandstone shows again on a level with 

the beach, both dipping northwest 85° for half a mile. The clay and 

two kinds of sandstone continue to crop out, with occasional layers of 

dark colored shale and slaty rock dipping from north by east round to 

southeast 30° to 85°, to Tolstoi Point, the last 2 miles being formed of 

clear gray sandstone in bluffs 30 to 70 feet high, dipping north west 70° 

to 80°, until the lava is reached at the point.

Topanica beds of Norton Sound. Creek No. 2 is locally known as 

Topanica, and at its mouth is a camping place where the natives go to 

catch fish.

Following Topanica Creek easterly into the hills the greenish and 

blackish sands dip more and more steeply to the east, interleaved with 

shaly layers containing leaves and vegetable remains, among which 

leaves of Platanus nolilis dewberry, a foot across, were collected in a 

fine state of preservation.

Farther inland the same rocks become vertical and then dip toward 

the west, the beds resembling the radiating ribs of a fan. About 2,000 

feet of these beds are continuously exposed without faulting, with the 

same fossils at intervals all the way. These beds extend inland between the sea and the Yukon Biver, where they appear again.

Ulukak River beds. Starting from Unalaklik up the river of thje same 

name, a branch called the Ulukak, about 2 miles above the Indian 

village of Iktigalik, affords a fine exposure of these rocks, as follows, 

the whole series dipping conformably north-northwest 25° to 55°, the 

section beginning at the base:

Feet.

1. Argillaceous unfossiliferous slaty rock, the layers of whicJi become

progressively harder downward .................................. 220

2. Shale, with some lignite, showing black ............................ 2

3. Argillaceous shale, with leaves of Platanus. ......................... 15

4. The same, without fossils ........................................... 15

5. White sandstone (probably marine)................................. 20

6. Sand and soil to surface ............................................ 10

This is the only locality on the river between Unalaklik and the village of Ulukak (some 30 miles in a direct line, but GO by the river) where 

fossils were observed. The rocks, as on the coast, were more or less 

folded, and the dip is irregular.

Lower Yukon valley outcrops. The Yukon valley affords numerous 

exposures of the same group of sandstone along the right bank of the 

river. The first locality noted in ascending the river is just below Andreiffski fort, an old Eussian trading post. High bluffs of black sandstone come down to the river just above the fort and continue for 10 

miles, and just below the fort is the last small exposure, where a seam 

of bituminous shale about 6 inches thick was observed by Dall in 1868.
ALASKAN LIGNITIC BEDS. 247

This had been worked a little for fuel by the Russians, but abandoned, 

as the material was too impure to burn well. It dips in a westerly direction. Ascending the river, the sandstones are next observed along 

a stretch of about a mile near the native village called by the Russians 

" Starry Kwikhpak." Two miles and a half below Ikogmiut mission 

the sandstones along a strip of 3 or 4 miles alternate with older metamorphic and later trachytic rocks. Some layers of the sandstones here 

weather of a whitish color, dipping in a northwest direction with more 

or less folding and alteration by the action of the eruptives. Similar 

exposures appear near Koserski village, and at Lof kas which is nearly 

in the same latitude as Tolstoi Point, Norton Sound (previously described) the sandstones begin to form the main mass of the strata exposed along the river, though the quartzites appear here and there. 

The sandstones in general dip toward the northwest, at angles varying 

from 20° to 45°. A short distance below Kaltag a small seam of lignite 

occurs.

Exposures on the Upper Yukon and at Nulato. Above Kaltag the 

bluish sandstones of the Kenai group are overlain by brownish marine 

sandstones which are best exposed just above Nulato and hence have 

been named in Ball's notes the Nulato sandstones. They occur in successive waves or folds extending in a northwest and southeast direction, 

and cut nearly at right angles by the river. At some points eruptive 

rocks have forced their way through, tilting the sedimentary rocks nearly 

vertical and altering them near the contact with the eruptives. The 

blue sandstones occasionally appeal- above the level of the water.

About 7 miles below Nulato, on the south side of a level space or flat, 

a small bluff appears, at the extreme end of which the sandstones are 

nearly vertical. Here, between two contorted layers of shaly rock, a 

small coal seam was examined in December, 1866. It has been squeezed 

out above and below, forming a mere pocket about 2 feet thick and not 

over 20 feet long on the exposed face. The shales contained obscure 

vegetable remains, but were much altered, probably by the heat evolved 

at the time they were folded. The average dip is north 45°. The coal 

is good, but there are apparently only a few tons of it. The shales are 

conformable with the brown sandstone, which, however, is a marine 

formation in which this deposit of lignite is a very exceptional incident.

Nulato marine sandstones. Above Nulato appears to be exposed the 

highest of these sandstones, which there form bluffs 60 to 100 feet high, 

and farther up the river reach to 200 feet. In May, 1866, Ball obtained 

from the upper part of thesebeds Modiola, Tellina,Mytilus, G-astrochama, 

and Mya, Ayith worm tracks and obscure vegetable remains. The general appearance indicated a littoral formation.1 These sandstones extend 

along the river from Kaltag to theKoyukuk Mountain and westward to 

the Kuthlatno and Ulukak rivers and the eastern base of the Shaktolik 

Hills, forming a sort of patch, approximately 90 miles northeast and

»Cf. Ball in Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., 1808, vol. 45, pp. 97-98.
24.8 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH A.MEEICA. [BTJLL. 84,

southwest and not more than 30 miles wide, lying on a much larger area 

of Kenai sandstones. The latter form the mass of the hills between the 

Kutelno and Kuthlatno rivers and of the Shaktolik Hills. They extend on the Yukon above the Koyukuk Mountain, which is apparently 

of intrusive crystalline rock, eastward on the north bank to the Melozikakat River. Above Nulato they first appear about 5 miles above the 

bluff above mentioned as affording marine fossils, and there conformably 

underlie the marine sandstones and are themselves underlain by a hard 

black slate.

Near Melozikakat the bluffs appear also on the left bank, which is 

rarely the case on the Yukon below the Eamparts. Russell 1 has also 

noted the leaf beds 1 5 or 20 miles below the mouth of the Melozikakat, 

on the right bank of the Yukon, in connection with an interesting series of faults which they exhibit.

Colvitte broivn lignite. In connection with this lignite-bearing series 

a note on another lignite deposit may be in place. The party commanded by Lieut. Stoney, U. S. Navy, while exploring in the vicinity 

of the headwaters of the Oolvile, the Noatak, and Kowak rivers, north 

of the Yukon, were obliged to traverse large areas of barren, treeless 

tundra, and here they found on the surface rather abundantly scattered masses of a brown lignitic material resembling powerfully compressed peat, recalling pitch in hardness and weight, but not brilliant 

nor disposed to melt with heat, but making a clean cut, like "ping" 

tobacco when whittled with a knife. This material was sufficiently inflammable to ignite and burn with a steady flame on applying a match 

to a corner of it, so that in their cold and weary journey it formed a 

most welcome substitute for wood or other fuel for the campfire. The 

geological relations of this substance are unknown; it presented no 

traces of organic structure under an ordinary magnifier, but its nature 

and geographic location suggest that it may be connected with the lignite-bearing beds to the south of it. which we have just described.

Kowak River lignites. About 75 miles above the mouth of the Kowak 

Eiver, which empties into Kotzebue Sound through Hotham Inlet, extensive deposits of lignite, associated with sandstone, shale, and conglomerate, were discovered by Lieut. J. 0. Cantwell, U. S. Eevenue Marine, and 

party, while exploring under direction of the Treasury Department in 

1884. The coal belt on this river is about 30 miles wide, and passes 

through a series of high and partly timbered hills. It is often exposed 

along the river bank, and is frequently associated, as at Kenai, with 

beds of clay. It is soft, friable, and jet black in color. These beds lie 

directly in the trend, northwesterly from the main body of beds of the 

Kenai group north of the Yukon, and there can be little if any doubt 

that they belong to the same series. The opinions which would connect them with the beds of Paleozoic coal on the Arctic coast, near 

Cape Lisburne, are, of course, erroneous. It has been determined by

1 Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 1890, vol. 1, p. 108.
CAPE BEAUFOET COAL MEASUEES. 249

the observations of Corwin party/ in 1885, that the coal beds of the 

Kowak do not extend to the valley of the Noatak, and can not, therefore, be continuous with those at Cape Lisburne.

CAPE BEAUFORT COAL MEASURES.

In regard to these last it may be noted in passing that Silurian fossils, brachiopods, corals, and crinoidshave been collected by Buckland, 

Fischer, Kupreanoff, and Dall at Cape Lisbnrne and the adjacent Cape 

Thompson. A few miles farther up the coast coal is found about a 

quarter of a mile away from the beach at Cape Beaufort. This coal is 

of a very different quality from the lignites of the southern part of 

Alaska, and from the presence of cprals, apparently referable to the 

epoch of the Carboniferous period, which were collected from the 

debris of the rocks adjacent, it has been assumed to be of that age. 

Similar coal crops out below low-water mark in many places northward to Point Belcher, and is pushed up on the beaches by the grounded 

icefloes so that in some places nearly the whole of the beach gravel is 

made up of small fragments of coal. From this region Lesquereux 2 

has described Iritis alaslcana, collected at Cape Lisburne by Henry D. 

Woolfe, and Newberry 3 enumerates from the same locality and collector 

ten species which he regards as Neocomian, and which Prof. Ward,4 

enumerating publications on Alaskan Paleobotany, considers to indicate a Lower Cretaceous or possibly Upper Jurassic age. It seems tolerably certain that strata covering a considerable range on the geologic 

column, beginning with the Silurian, are represented in the vicinity of 

Cape Lisburne, and that the coal-bearing strata may be Mesozoic 

rather than Paleozoic.

While referring to the snbject of Alaskan paleobotany, it may noted 

that a few species of fossil plants are enumerated 5 by Prof. Lesquereux 

as collected at Sitka by E. W. Nelson, but some doubt exists as to the 

correctness of this locality, though the specimens are doubtless Alaskan. 

J. Felix e has described a fossil wood (Pityoxylon incequale) from the 

" basalt mountain south of Danaaku," Alaska, a locality which I have 

not been able to identify.

CORRELATION OF THE KENAI SERIES.

Having indicated the extent and position of beds in Alaska belonging to the Kenai group, as far as our imperfect knowledge of them will 

permit, it is now in order to discuss their geological age upon the basis 

of the facts presented. This will of necessity be largely dependent

1 Cruise of the Corwin in 1885, House Ex. Doc. No. 153, 49tk Gong., 1st sess. Washington, 1884; see 

p. 76.

2 Proo. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1887, vol. 10, p. 36. 

3 Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1888, vol. 11, pp. 31-33. 

* Eighth Annual Report, TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 1889, pt. 2, pp. 924-926. 

°Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1887, vol. 10, pp. 35-37. 

6 Zeitschr. Deutsch. Geol. Gesell., 1886, Bd. 38, pp. 483-484. Leipzig.
250 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [irar,L.84.

upon data other than the similarity of flora, which has been conclusively shown to have little value as a test of synchrony between widely 

separated geological deposits. Of the 54 species enumerated from the 

Kenai peninsula by Heer, 30 were previously known from Miocene 

strata in other parts of the world. Of those from Kuiu and Unga, 65 

species, 31 were previously known as Miocene. According to Heer, no 

doubt can exist as to their Miocene age, in which conclusion Lesquereux agrees, remarking:

The plants described by Heer, representing 56 species, are of marked interest by 

their intimate relation with those of Atane in Greenland on one side and with those of 

Carbon in Wyoming and of the Bad Lands of Dakota on the other. They comprise 

a small group which supplies an intermediate point of comparison for considering 

the march of the vegetation during the Miocene period, from the Polar circle to the 

middle of the North American continent, or from the thirty-fifth or fortieth to the 

eightieth degree of latitude. The remarkable affinity of the Miocene types in their 

distribution from Spitsbergen and Greenland to the middle of Europe had already 

been manifested by the celebrated works of Heer. But the Alaska flora has for this 

continent the great advantage of exposing in the Miocene period the predominance 

of vegetable types, which, have continued to our time and are still present in the vegetation of this continent. (Op. cit., p. 443.)

In his later publication on the same subject Lesquereux 1 remarks:

Alaska has 73 species, of which 13 are found in the Bad Lands, 4 at Carbon (Wyoming), and 2 in and the Chalk Bluff's (California). * * * Of the 13 species common 

to Alaska and the Bad Lands, 9 are Arctic, of these 6 are European also; and besides 

J'opidus latior, P. ylandnlifera, and Juyhins niyella are European, but not yet found 

in the Arctic flora. The Bad Lands group, therefore, is truly Miocene and shows 

scarcely any deviation from that of Alaska. The 3 species mentioned as not Arctic 

may be indicative of a somewhat warmer climate. * * * As the fossil floras of 

Carbon and the Bad Lands are related by 10 identical species, and those of the Bad 

Lands and Alaska by 13, these three groups apparently represent the same stage of 

the North American Miocene. The flora of Carbon has only 4 species identified in 

that of Alaska; but this lesser degree of affinity may be ascribed to difference in 

latitude.2

Of the 73 species enumerated by Lesquereux from Alaska 21 are 

tabulated by him as common to Greenland and Spitzbergen also, and 

31 as common to the Miocene of Europe and Alaska.

The term Miocene, as used by Heer, seems to have been based primarily on the stratigraphic nomenclature of Switzerland. His method 

of inferring the age of a given plant bed from the fact of its showing a 

number of equivalent species with those of any Swiss bed would invariably lead to the conclusion that the possession of a flora in common 

is sufficient evidence of a general synchrony between the two formations. But I am informed by Prof. L. F. Ward that the vertical range 

of many fossil plants is very great, and that such conclusions can not 

safely be reached except by the aid of corroborative evidence in addition to a partial similarity of flora.

1 Contributions to the fossil flora of the western Territories, pnrt 3 the Cretaceous and Tertiary 

Floras, Hep. U. S. Geol. Survey of the Terr, by F. V. Hayden, 1883, vol. 8, Washington, 4°, cf Miocene 

Flora, pp. 219-277.

* Op. cit., p. 275.
! CORRELATION OF THE KENAI SERIES. 251

The beds of Carbon, Wyoming, with which. Lesquerenx compared the 

Kenai group, are by Dr. 0. A. White, as he informs me, referred on 

strati graphic grounds to the Laramie. Prof. Ward1 agrees with this conclusion, and in his tables places the Carbon beds between the typical 

Laramie and the Fort Union beds, all of which are included under the 

general term Laramie.

The newer leaf beds in Greenland have lately been regarded as Eocene 

by Mr. J. Starkie Gardner, and as equivalent in the main to the flora 

of the Basaltic (Eocene) beds of Britain.2 The Spitzbergen beds would 

naturally follow those of Greenland. But the inferential reference of 

the plaut remains of the Pliocene gravels of California to the Eocene 

by Mr. Gardner somewhat weakens the force of his opinion on other 

fossil floras, since it is impossible that the Californian plant remains 

can be Eocene.

I have already pointed out the probability that, if Miocene at all, the 

leaf beds of Greenland referred to would be synchronous with that geological epoch during which the old Miocene warm-water invertebrate 

fauna of the Atlantic coast penetrated as far north as New Jersey.

Since that time it is highly improbable that any temperate conditions, 

such as the flora would indicate for the Atane period, have obtained in 

the latitude of Greenland. In other words, the Greenland beds are not 

later than the Old Miocene, though this does not preclude a reference 

of them to an older horizon than the Miocene, for during the Eocene 

also the conditions in the extreme north might have been favorable to 

such a flora.

In Alaska, at Cook's Inlet, at Unga Island, atAtka, and at IsTulatoin 

the Yukon valley, we find the leaf beds of the Kenai group immediately 

and conformably overlain by marine beds containing fossil shells which 

are common to the Miocene of Astoria, Oregon, and to middle and 

southern California.

It is then certain that the Kenai leaf beds immediately preceded and 

their deposition terminated with the depression (probably moderate in 

vertical range) which enabled the marine Miocene fauna to spread over 

part of the antecedently dry land. Further researches along the Alaskan coast will doubtless enable us to determine whether the leaf beds 

themselves are underlain by marine Eocene beds or not. We know 

that the Aucella beds underlie the Kenai series, but whether there are 

any beds representing the marine phase of the Eocene between them 

is yet uncertain, though very probable. Eichwald's references to the 

age of the Alaskan Neozoic marine fossils are more or less confused 

and should not be taken into account in any discussion of the subject, 

as he has referred most of them indiscriminately to the Cretaceous, by 

which he means Gabb's Chico-Tejon series.

What may be considered as reasonably certain is that the period dm>

!¥. S. Geol. Survey, 6th Ann. Rep. for 1884-'85, p. 539.

*Proc. Koyal Society, 1884, pp. 22, 23. See also Nature, 1879, vol. 20, pp. 10-13.
252 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BTOL.«<.

ing which in the Arctic regions the last temperate flora flourished was 

in a general way the same for all parts of the Arctic. It would seem 

highly improbable that a temperate climate should exist in Spitzbergen 

and not at the same time in Greenland and Alaska, or vice versa. If 

Alaska was covered by the sea at this time we should find a temperate 

marine fauna, if it was dry land a temperate flora, and so with the 

other Arctic localities, and these indications should, it would seem, 

represent an identical and synchronic phase of geological history in the 

Arctic regions.

The distribution and character of this group have been somewhat 

fully discussed because, up to very recently, authorities were practically unanimous in referring it to the Miocene, a view which can not 

yet be said to be definitely refuted. But when we consider how the 

Eocene Aturia bed is immediately and conformably overlain at Astoria 

by shales and sandstones, undoubtedly equivalent to the Alaskan 

marine Miocene, and that the latter conformably and immediately in 

like manner overlies the Kenai group, it must be conceded that the 

view that the latter is probably of Eocene age does not appear unreasonable.

MIOCENE OF THE ASTORIA GROUP.

The marine Neozoic beds overlying the leaf beds and conglomerates 

of the Kenai group appear indubitably referable to the Miocene series 

represented in the sandstones and shales of Astoria, though probably 

to the upper or newer portion of these beds. Eichwald 1 has confounded the unquestionably Neocene species figured by Grewingk with 

Cretaceous forms collected by Dr. Blasehke in Alaska, and referred the 

whole to the Turonian or Upper Chalk. The fact that nearly half of 

Grewingk's species are still found living is quite sufficient to establish the correctness of his original reference of them to the Tertiary, 

while they are derived, as previously shown, from beds overlying the 

leaf beds referred by Eichwald himself to the Miocene.

This does not conflict with the possibility that the Blaschke collection, other than those described by Grewingk, may be referable to the 

Chico or other part of the Cretaceous, which is well known to occur in 

various parts of Alaska. It is possible that two of Grewingk's species, 

Nucula ermani and Tellina dilatata of Girardfrom Atka, may not belong 

to the same horizon as the others, though of this there is no proof, and 

the fossils themselves are not distinctive.

The following table will indicate «bhe known species and their relations :

1 Gcogn. Palaeont. Bemerk., St. Petersburg, 1871, pp. 117-137.
Table showing distribution of the fauna of the Astori

Names of species identified.

Localities of Alaskan Miocene.

Nulato.

X

Macoma inconspicua Brod. and Sby . .............. ;| ......

St. PaulIsland.

X

x

X

.JTnshagak.

X

X

Port Holier. Atka Islaud.

......

Unalaslika.

Morzhowi. '

Pavloflf Bay.

X

X

X

TJnga Island.

x

X 

X

x

X

Katmai.
Names of species identified.

Localities of Alaskan Miocene.

Nulato.

St. PaulI'd.

!|

Lunatia (pallida B. and S. ?).......................

Margarita striata Brod. and Sby.. .................

Margarita sp. .....................................

' x

X

Nusliagak.

.

X 

X

x I......

X

X 

X

PortMciller.

Atka I'd.

x

TJnalashka. Morzhuwi. £

aq 

fe

o 

1

Unga I'd. Katmai.

!

1

i 1

x X

X

x X

x ! x

i ,

;

,

1

! 1 ,

1 The synonymy of the species enumerated has been modernized, though the details of the process are reserve

are includnd, though some of them appear under names different from those he used. Of the forty-six species re

British Columbia, Oregon, and California; of these a few are known from the Californian Pliocene, though when 

be much enlarged. The table has been enriched by an examination of specimens collected at St. Paul Island b

the late C. "W. Mackay; and atXulato, at Zakharoff harbor, Unga, and the adjacent shores of Popoff Island, by "W
ALASKAN BEDS. 255

It will be noted that of the forty-six species known twelve belong to 

genera not now represented in such cold waters as those of Bering Sea, 

and of these, two species may possibly survive in Californian waters, 

the remainder being presumably extinct. The nineteen species known 

to survive in the recent fauna are all forms which belong to northern" 

waters, and are capable of surviving low temperatures, though sometimes ranging farther south. We may then conclude that in Miocene 

times the waters of this region were warmer than at present, and that 

the still colder epoch, near the end of the Pliocene or the beginning of 

the Pleistocene, weeded out the more delicate forms.

ENUMERATION OF SPECIAL LOCALITIES.

The localities where this fauna has been noticed and the marine beds 

more or less certainly identified, will now be enumerated, beginning at 

the south.

On the south side of Dixon's entrance at Skookum Point, near Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands, Hon. J. G. Swan collected specimens, 

now in the National Museum, showing the presence of these beds.

The occurrence of beds of this age at Lituya Bay has already been 

alluded to (p. 236). Cenotaph Island, in the bay, is chiefly composed of 

them, and Lamanon collected a species of Pecten with other marine fossils from a height of 200 toises above the sea level. 

Kadialc. On the island of Kadiak, north of Tonki Cape, on the south 

coast from the shores of Igatskoi Bay, Wossnessenski collected a number of species of this fauna, which were imbedded in a volcanic tufa 

about 10 feet above the sea. On the opposite side of the island near 

the settlement of Uganak similar beds were found containing analogous fossils.

On the portage from Katmai Bay, across the ridge of Aliaska Penin 

sula, on the trail to Naknek Lake, the same beds occur, from which the 

same collector collected Buccinum plectrum.

Crepidula bed of Unga and Popoff islands. One of the most prolific 

and best known localities is situated at Zakharoff (sometimes called 

Coal) Bay on the northern end of the island of Unga, one of the Shumagin group. A section on the west shore of this bay has already been 

described indetail (p. 241) where the marine Miocene is represented in the 

upper part of the bluff by a layer of sandstone about a foot thick, 

densely crowded with specimens of Orepidula prcerupta Conrad, sometimes referred to as C.princeps Conrad, which has been erroneously 

identified with the recent G. grandis Middendorf. From the vast number of these shells of which the layer is made up the name of the Crepidula bed is suggested for it.

This layer appears at a much lower level on the northern shore of the 

northeastern part of Unga, east from Zakharoff Bay. The sandstones 

lie horizontally or nearly so, except where disturbed by intrusions of 

later basaltic lavas, which sometimes overflow the sedimentary beds or
256 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BTOL.M.

invade them vertically or laterally, altering the rock at contact and for 

some distance beyond the lavas.

On the shore of Popoff Island next eastward from Unga and separated 

from the latter by a narrow strait, the same bed is continued, with a 

thickness varying from 6 inches to 2 feet, carrying oysters, Cr&pidula, 

Chrysodomus, etc.; it is here separated from the conglomerates above 

and below by a layer 10 to 25 feet thick, of hardly consolidated sand. 

The upper conglomerate is of variable thickness and much altered by 

heat from a bed of lava and volcanic breccia 300 feet thick which overlies it. The special character of the igneous material varies rapidly 

from point to point horizontally and vertically. The lower part seems 

more like a cooked conglomerate of pieces of clay-porphyry in a basaltic 

matrix while the upper portion is composed in part of sharp fragments 

of porphyrite and dolerite cemented by a thin, glossy, vitreous lava. 

The strata are roughly conformable and dip 10° to 15° to the eastward. 

The lowest bed visible in the section exposed appeared to correspond 

to layer No. 6 of the section p. 241.

The fossiliferous layer here contained Ostrea veatchii, 0. tayloriana, 

Cr&pidula prcerupta, Galerus, Pecten, Modiola, Modiolaria,Drillia?, and 

Chrysodomus, all rather scarce except the oysters. The latter were 

frequently bored by Cliona. The fossils were generally fairly well preserved, and mixed with fragments of silicifled or carbonaceous vegetable matter in the matrix of more or less argillaceous sandstone. A 

cetacean vertebra was also found.

Peninsula ofAliaska. It can hardly be doubted that these strata reappear on the peuinsula north of Shumagin Islands as the Kenai beds 

do. Grewingk speaks (Geogn. Palaeont. Bemerk. p. 58, foot note) of 

their existence on the shores of Portage Bay and at Port Holier, while 

at other points on the north shore of the peninsula iu that vicinity, 

Postels 1 speaks of horizontal fossiliferous strata carrying many bivalve 

shells, reaching a thickness above the sea level of 300 feet. These are 

doubtless of the same age as the Crepidula bed of the Shumagin Islands. 

At Pavloff Bay, both on the flanks of the Pavloff volcano and near the 

settlement, Wossnessenski obtained a large number of fossil bivalves 

belonging to this fauna.

Walrus Bay. On Morzhowi or Walrus Bay, in the first bluff eastward 

from Sannakh Strait (or Isanotski Strait, as it is also called), at 50 

toises above the level of the sea, lies a horizontal bed containing tho 

same species of fossil bivalves previously noted at Pavloff Bay. This 

layer is covered by about 50 toises more of sand and clay. The same 

layer is noted by Liitke (Partie nautique, p. 272) on the west shore of 

Cold Bay.2

Unalaska. On the island of Unalaska at the NNW. foot of the volcano of Makushm the same beds occur again, and from them the char-

!Liitk6, Voy. S6niavine, vol. 3, p. 27. 

* Cf. Veniaminoff, t. i., pp. 222 and 236.
ALASKAN BEDS. 257

acteristic fossils have been collected by Wossnessenski, Kastalski and 

Dr. Stein. 1 They are also reported to exist in one of the bays near 

Chernoffski, in the western part of the island.

Atl-a. The most western point where they have been recognized in 

the Aleutian chain is on the western side of the island of Atka, on a 

small inlet known as Sand Bay, which extends from the northern part 

of Korovinski Bay. Here the beds are near the sea level, but near by, 

on the western slope of Koniushi volcano, they appear at an elevation 

of about 30 feet and consist of hard argillaceous and indurated sandy 

layers with the usual fossil bivalve shells.

Nushagalc. Proceeding northward along the main land at the head 

of Bristol Bay, the Nushagak Eiver enters an inlet some miles in extent. 

At the head of ship navigation is the location of the Eussian trading 

post of other days called Fort Alexander. On the shore of the river 

in this vicinity, but of which we have no more precise information, a 

small collection of fossils in an indurated clayey matrix was obtained 

by the late C. W. McKay. They agree in every respect with those from 

the Pribiloff Islands, and add some species to our list. The presence 

of-these beds at this place is therefore definitely established, but nothing is known of their extent.

Saint Paul Inland. Nearly due west from Bristol Bay, in the midst 

of Bering Sea, rises the Pribiloff group of islands, celebrated for their 

fur-seal fisheries. The settlement on Saint Paul Island is situated on tlle 

neck of a small peninsula, on either side of which is a stretch of sand 

beach bounded by crags of basaltic rock and lava. On the east side of 

this peninsula, which forms the southeastern extreme of the island, is a 

bluff or crag known as Black Bluff, which, according to the observations 

of Wossnessenski in 1847-'4S, is composed of horizontal layers of a hard 

claystone, with others in which, lime preponderates, forming a pale gray, 

fine grained, clayey limestone, or in which a conglomerate of pebbles of 

volcanic origin is bound together in a'limy matrix.2 Over these are 

layers of black or brown volcanic breccia and vesicular lava. These 

bluffs rise abruptly to a height of 60 to 80 feet above the sea at their 

base. From the limestone and argillite marine fossils havebeen obtained 

by Wossnessenski, Elliott, Dall, W. Palmer, and 0. H. Townsend, of 

which a collection exists in the National Museum, enumerated in table 

on p. 253. About twenty-eight species are known from this locality, 

which is stated to be the only spot in the whole group where any fossiliferous rocks occur,3 the remainder of the islands being composed of 

volcanic rocks and alluvium of very recent origin.

Eecent observations by Mr. J. Stanley Brown, special agent of the 

Treasury Department, in 1891, convinced him. that at present no distinct trace of any limy stratum is perceptible in the Black Bluff. The 

fossils obtained by him were contained in rounded, apparently wateri Growing!*, op. cit. p. 123; Triuli, Mineral, obst. St. Petersburg, 1830, pp, 382-383.

'Gvowingk, Beitrag, p. 100.

3 Of, H, W, Elliott, Condition qf AM« iu Alaska, 1875, p. 70,

Bull, S4 -17
258 THE KEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA [BULL. 84.

worn pebbles, which were indiscriminately included in a general mass 

of volcanic ashes and other eruptive matter of which the bluff is 

formed. No extinct species appeared in the collection brought back by 

Mr. ^tanley Brown, while several are noted from the material of the 

earlier collections. It would seem possible that pebbles of more than 

one geological epoch may be included in the mass, or that the wear of 

the waves for half a century has cut away enough of the bluff to hide or 

destroy the limy stratum referred to by Grewingk, and which may have 

been of limited extent. It is certain that, from an examination solely of 

the material collected in 1891, the fossils might be referred to an age as 

late as the post-Pliocene, which would not agree very well with the 

fauna reported by Grewingk and others. The fossils collected by 

Mr. Stanley Brown and not included in the earlier collections are 

as follows: Buccinum tenue Gray?, B. polare Gray?, Admete couthouyi 

Jay?, Leda sp., Yoldia limatula Say, Lepton grande Ball, Cardiiim islandicum (very abundant), Macoma sabulosa Spengler, and a fragment possibly of a Panopea. All these occur living at moderate depths in the 

Bering Sea, immediately adjacent to the island, at present. Owing to 

the doubt as to their age they have not been included in the table of 

fossils of the Astoria group (p. 253).

Commander Islands. On the Commander Islands, west of the Aleutians, rocks of the same ago probably occur, since on Bering Island 

Stejneger collected some specimens of a conglomerated hard gravel of 

highly polished pebbles united by a limy cement, containing fragments 

of bivalves (Saxicava?) and a single piece of clay stone with the imprint 

of a bivalve not yet identified.

Other localities. The islands northward from the Pribilof group do 

not appear to contain fossiliferous strata. St. Matthew and its adjacent islets are composed of porphyritic, granitic, and volcanic rocks. 

Pinnacle Island is a volcanic chimney, still smoking. St. Lawrence is 

chiefly granitic, though slate is reported to exist at its southeastern extreme. The island as a whole is composed of reddish granitic domes 

united by stretches of de'bris, due to weathering alluvium and sea sand. 

The Diomedes are massive domes of a white or grayish syenite. The 

statement of Muir1 that they have been glaciated is without foundation 

in fact, and the same may be said of other islands to the south.

Eeturning to the mainland, the last area in which rocks of the Astoria 

group are known to occur is that of the Nulato sandstones on the Yukon 

Eiver between Kaltag and the Koyukuk Mountain. These have already 

been described in connection with the Kenai beds of the same region, 

and it seems unnecessary to recapitulate the data here.2

It may be added here that there is every reason to believe, notwithstanding the imperfect data which are on record, that the Kenai group

1 Cruise of tlie Corwin in 1881, "Washington, Treasury Dept., 1884, 4°, 147 pp. Treasury Dept. Doc. 

No. 001; see pp. 140-142. 

* See puge 247.
; BEDS OF MARINE ORIGIN. 259

and the Astoria group are both represented by analogous beds on the 

southern part of the peninsula of Kamchatka and on the northern 

shores of the Japanese island of Yesso, though the discussion of those 

exotic localities is outside of the limits of this essay.

PLIOCENE. 

BEDS OF MAKING ORIGIN.

Identifiable Pliocene appears to be remarkably rare north of California. The small patch noted by Dr. Condon at Shoalwater Bay, 

Washington, lying conformably between beds of marine Miocene and 

Pleistocene, appears to be the only locality for many miles. In common with the more extended beds in California, its fauna indicates a 

colder water temperature than at present, and contains a large proportion of species which have since receded northward some hundreds 

of miles at least and now find a congenial habitat in the Aleutian chain 

and Sitkan archipelago.

St. Elias Alps. In his geological researches on the St. Elias Alps and 

the region westward from the Yakntat Bay, Mr. I. C. Russell has discovered fossiliferous rocks elevated to 5,000 feet above the sea, containing fossils which all belong to^ recent species, yet which, since they 

belong to a more northern fauna than at present is known to inhabit 

that locality, are probably referable to the Pliocene rather than the 

Pleistocene, a view which is to some extent supported by the enormous 

elevation to which they have been subjected. Our ideas of what shall 

constitute Pliocene on the Pacific coast are still rather vague and may 

be said to involve the idea of a marine fauna containing a certain proportion of extinct species. Hereafter we may be better able to define 

the period in. terms of dynamic geology, but at present both the recent 

and fossil faunas are but approximately known, and all determinations 

of the age must be taken as provisional. It can not be safely assumed 

that either the supposed Pliocene or the glacial and postglacial epochs 

on the Pacific coast where wholly synchronous with those periods on 

the Atlantic coast, to which the same appellations have been assigned. 

We may, however, be not far wrong in assuming that the Pliocene 

epoch was intimately associated with those great movements of elevation which have been more or less definitely recognized along the whole 

Pacific coast from California northward.

Middleton Island. This small island lies broad off Prince William 

Sound on the continental shelf, at a distance of some 65 miles from the 

main shore. It was visited by a Coast Survey party directed by W. H. 

Dall in 1874. It is low and nearly flat, except that the table land 

formed by the southern half slopes northward to the northern extreme, 

which is hardly raised above the sea. The southern end of the island 

is nbout 2 miles wide and 100 feet high, very flat above, falling to the 

sea in a perpendicular cliff, at the foot of which in some places is a narrow? steep beach of shingle or bowlders. The middle portion of the is-
260 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

land is three-quarters of a mile wide, rather low near the beach, grassy 

bluffs rising a few rods inland. On the table land are a few small knolls, 

seemingly dunes, now grassy. There are no trees, but the herbage is 

extremely luxuriant. A single leaf of Symplocarpus measured 48 inches 

long and 24 broad, with a stalk 4 inches in diameter; the same plant on 

the' mainland has leaves usually not exceeding 14 inches in length, 

The island is composed of nearly horizontal layers of soft clayey rock, 

containing many pebbles and even bowlders of syenite and quartzite, 

some rounded and others of angular shape. Above the claystone is a 

layer of gray sand covered with several feet of mold and turf. Below 

the sea level some of the rock appeared to be quartzite in place and 

very hard. Whatever its nature, it extends in reefs and shoals to a distance of several miles from the island in different directions. No fossils were found in the claystone, but from its character it was suspected 

to be post-Miocene and possibly Pliocene.

THE GROUND ICE FORMATION.

A remarkable formation has been recognized in many places in the 

northern part of Alaska, in which solid beds of ice of considerable 

thickness perform, the f unctions of rock strata and are covered by beds 

of blue clay containing numerous remains of Pleistocene mammals, or 

by beds of alluvium which sustain a layer of turf, with ordinary prof use 

herbage of the region, or even small thickets of birch, alder and other 

small Arctic trees.

Esclisclioltz Bay ice cliffs. This formation was first noticed by Kotzebue, during his exploration of the sound which bears his name, in the 

year 1816. ^ The remains of animals which were associated with the 

clays above the ice were described in his appendix on the natural history by Eschscholtz.2 The locality at which the original discovery was 

made is known as Elephant Point, Eschscholtz Bay, the bay being an 

arm of Kotzebue Sound.

This locality was visited by H. M..S. Blossom, Capt. F. W. Beechey, 

in 1826,3 and observations on the ice formation were made by Surgeon 

Collie o£ the expedition, which, with the vertebrate remains collected, 

Avere discussed by Dean Buckland in the appendix to the narrative of 

the voyage. Kotzebue and Eschscholtz correctly described the formation as interbedded ice. Beechey's party, deceived by the mantle of 

clay which at the time of their visit had fallen so as to mask the main 

body of the ice face, concluded that the ice was a superficial deposit. 

They noted similar deposits of clay more or less associated with ice at 

numerous other points on the Arctic coast.

1 Kotzebue, Voy. of Discovery into the South. Sea and Beeriug's Straits, London, Longmans, 1821. 

3 v., 8°. vol. 1, p. 220.

2 Op. cit., vol. 3.

'Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Beering's strait, by F. W. Beechey, E. "N., London, Colburn &Bentley, 1831, 742 pp., 4°. Cf. Parti, pp. 257-259, and for Buckland's discussion, see Appendix 

to the same, pp. 593-612; also Zoology of Capt. Beechey's Voyage, London, H. G. Bohn, 1839,180 pp., 

4°, 46 pi. For Goalie's geological notes on the ice cliffs, gee Geology, pp. 169-J73, and PI. I,
DALt AND 

HARRIS.. } THE GROUND ICE FORMATION. 261

In 1848 Oapt. Kellett, in H. M. S. Herald, accompanied by Bertliold 

Seemann and Dr. Goodridge, visited Kotzebue Sound and Elephant 

Point with the narratives of Kotzebue and Beechey in their hands, and 

tally confirmed the views expressed by Kotzebue and Eschscholtz as 

to the interstratined position of the ice and the relation to it of the 

bone-bearing clay. Their results were subsequently discussed at length 

by Edward Forbes and Sir John Eichardson.1 The fossil mammals 

were fully described and illustrated in their publication.

In 1880 W. H. Ball, commanding the U. S. Coast Survey cutter Yukon, 

visited Kotzebue Sound, and carefully examined this classic locality. 

His report was subsequently printed by direction of the superintendent 

of the survey.2 As these notes give the fullest account of this formation at its typical locality they will be cited verbatim:

We lauded at a small low point [on the south shore of Eschscholtz Bay, west from 

Elephant Point] 3 near some old huts and proceeded along the beach for about a mile, 

the banks being chiefly composed of volcanic breccia or a slaty gueissoid rock. They 

rose 15 to 50 feet above the sea, rising inland to hilly slopes without peaks, and probably not attaining more than 300 or 400 feet anywhere in the vicinity.

As we passed eastward along the beach a change took place in the character of the 

banks. They became lower and the rise inland was less. From reddish volcanic 

rock they changed to a grayish clay, containing much vegetable matter, which in. 

some places was in strata in the clay and in others indiscriminately mixed with it. 

Near the beginning of. these clay banks, where they were quite low, not rising over 

20 feet above the shore, we noticed one layer of sphagnum (bog moss) containing 

fresh-water shells belonging to the genera Piaidium, Valvata, etc. This layer was 

about 6 inches thick. The clay was of a very tough consistency, and though Avet 

did not stick to or yield much under our feet. The sea breaks against the foot of 

these banks and undermines them, causing them to fall down, and the rough irregular 

talus that results is mingled with turf and bushes from the surface above. A little 

farther on a perpendicular surface of ice was noticed in the face of the bank. It 

appeared to be solid and free from mixture of soil, except on the outside. The banks 

continue to increase slowly, but regularly, in height as we passed eastward. A little 

farther on another ice face presented itself on a larger scale. This continues about 

2£ miles to Elephant Point, where the high land turns abruptly to the south and 

west, and we followed it no farther. The point itself is boggy and low, and is continued from the foot of the high land, perhaps half a mile to the eastward, forming 

the northwest headland to a shallow bay of considerable extent.

To return to the "clift's": These, for a considerable distance, were double; that 

is, there was an ice face exposed near the beach with a small talus in front of it, and 

covered with a coating of soil 2 or 3 feet thick, on which luxuriant vegetation was 

growing. All this might be 30 feet high. On climbing to the brow of the bank, the 

rise from that brow proved to be broken, hummocky, and full of crevices and holes; 

in fact, a second talus on a larger scale ascending to a second ice face, above which 

was a layer of soil 1 to 3 feet thick covered with herbage.

The brow of this second bluff we estimated at 80 feet or more above the sea. 

Thence the land rose slowly and gradually to a rounded ridge, reaching the height of 

300 or 400 feet only, at a distance of several miles from the Bea, with its axis in a 

north and south direction, a low valley west from it, the shallow bay at Elephant

1 Zoology of the voyage of the Herald, edited by Edward Forbes, Vertebrals by Sir John Hichardsou, 

London, Lovell Reeve, 1854, 171 pp., 4°, 33 pi.

3 Notes on the vicinity of Bering Strait, Am. Jour. Sci., 1881, vol. 21, pp. 104-111. 

1 Phrases inclosed iu brackets are now added for clearness.
262 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Point east from it, and its northern end abutting in the cliffs above described on the 

southern shore of Eschscholtz Bay. There were no mountains or other high land 

about this ridge in any direction; all the surface around was lower than the ridge 

itself.

About half a mile from the sea, on the highest part of the ridge, perhaps 250 feet 

above high-water mark, at a depth of a foot, we came to a solidly frozen stratum, 

consisting chiefly of bog moss and vegetable mold, but containing good-sized lumps 

of clear ice. There seemed no reason to doubt that an extension of the digging 

would have brought us to solid, clear ice, such as was visible at the face of the 

bluff below; that is to say, it appeared that the ridge itself, 2 miles wide and 250 feet 

high, was chiefly composed of solid ice overlaid with clay and vegetable mold. It 

was noticeable that there was much less clay over the top of the upper face than 

was visible over the lower one, or over the single face when there was but one, and 

the land and the bluff were low near the beach. There also seemed to be less vegetable matter. Near the beach six or eight feet of clay were observed in some places, 

without counting what might be considered as talus matter from further up the 

hillside. In one place only did we notice a little fine, reddish gravel, and nowhere 

in the talus or strata any stones.

The ice face near the beach was not uniform. In many places it was covered with 

clay to the water's edge. In others, where the bank was less than 10 feet high, the 

turf has been bent without breaking after being undermined, and presented a mossy 

and herbaceous front, curving over quite to high-water mark.

The ice in general had a seiuistratitied appearance, as if it still retained the horizontal plane in which it originally congealed. The surface was always soiled by 

dirty water from the earth above. This dirt was, however, merely superficial. The 

outer inch or two of the ice seemed granular, like compacted hail, and was sometimes 

whitish. The inside was solid and transparent, or slightly yellow tinged, like peat 

water, but never greenish or bluish like glacier ice. But in many places the ice 

presented the aspect of immense cakes or fragments, irregularly disposed, over which 

it appeared as if the clay, etc., had been deposited. Small pinnacles of ice ran up 

into the clay in some places, and, above, holes were seen in the face of the clay bank, 

where it looked as if a detached fragment of ice had been and had been melted out, 

leaving its mold in the clay quite perfect.

In other places the ice was penetrated with deep holes, into which the clay and 

vegetable matter had been deposited in layers, and which (the ice melting away 

from around them) appeared as clay and muck cylinders on the ice face. Large 

rounded holes or excavations of irregular form had evidently existed on the top of 

the ice before the clay, etc., had been deposited. These were usually filled with a 

finer grained deposit of clay, with less vegetable matter, and the layers were waved, 

as if the deposit had been affected by current action while going on.

In these places were noticed, especially, the most unexpected fact connected with 

the whole formation, namely, a strong, peculiar smell, as of rotting animal matter, 

burnt leather, and stable manure combined. The odor was not confined to the spots 

above mentioned, and was not quite the same in all places, but had the same general 

character wherever itwas noticed. 1 Alarge partof the clay had no particular smell. 

At the places where the odor was strongest it was observed to emanate particularly 

from darker, pasty spots in the clay (though permeating elsewhere), leading to the

1 This phenomenon was observed by Kotzebue, Beechey, and the Herald party, and lends further 

probability to the view that the animals were mired in the clay and thus met their death. Since, if the 

clay contained merely the accummulated bones of animals which had died and decayed on the surface 

of the ground, it is unlikely that so much animal matter would have been hermetically sealed in the 

clay and kept on ice to offend the nostrils of later visitors. On the other hand, if the ice had not been 

present and the temperature not kept so low it is unlikely, oven in the clay, if animal matter, could 

have been preserved for such an enormous period of time in a condition to give out so ammoiiiacal a 

stench. All the circumstances pointtoward the view that the ice preceded and subsequently coexisted 

with animals whose remains are now found in its vicinity.
TH:E GROUND ICE FORMATION. 263

supposition that these might be remains of the soft parts of the mammoth and 

other animals, whose bones are daily Avashed out by the sea from the clay talus.

At or near these spots, where the odor was strongest, a rusty, red lichen, or lichenlike fungus, grew on the wet clay of the talus in extensive patches. Some of these, 

of the bad-smelling deposit, and as many bones of the mammoth, fossil buffalo, etc., 

as we could carry, \vere secured. These included a mammoth tusk, with both ends 

gone, but still 5£ feet long and 6 inches in diameter. Dwarf birches, alders, 7 or 8 

feet high, with stems 3 inches in diameter, and a luxuriant growth of herbage, including numerous very toothsome berries, grew with the roots less than a foot from 

perpetual solid ice.

The formation of the surrounding country shows no high land or rocky hills, from 

which a glacier might have been derived and then covered with de"bris from their 

sides. The continuity of the mossy surface shows that the ice must be quite destitute 

of motion, and the circumstances appear to point to one conclusion, that there is 

here a ridge of solid ice, rising several hundred feet above the sea, and higher than 

any of the land about it, and older than the mammoth and fossil horse, this ice taking upon itself the functions of a regular stratified rock. * * * Though many 

facts may remain to be investigated, and whatever be the conclusions as to its origin 

and mode of preservation, this formation certainly remains one of the most wonderful and puzzling geological phenomena in existence.

From the character of some of the bad-smelling deposit which was 

brought home and appeared to be exclusively composed of vegetable 

fiber finely comminuted, no doubt is felt that it represents dung of the 

mammoth or some other herbivorous animal which had been preserved 

in pockets on the surface of the ice Avhere it was probably dropped, and 

and by its dark color attracting the rays of the sun had sunk in, as is 

usual with dark objects dropped on an exposed ice surface. It may be 

reiterated that the bones, as noted by previous observers, are contained 

in the clay above the ice; never in the ice itself. They are exposed by 

the melting away of the ice face and the consequent fall of the superincumbent clay, which is afterward disintegrated by the action of the 

waves, leaving the bones exposed on the broad, flat, muddy beach. The 

remarkably fresh appearance of the bones is amply accounted for by 

the low temperature and dense character of the clay in which they are 

imbedded, in which the animals may have become mired and so perished.

The report of Dr. Goodridge, which appears to have been prepared 

with great detail, was unfortunately not printed. In some extracts 

from it given by Richardson it is stated that at one of the ice cliffs a 

section was exposed showing 50 feet of pure, clear ice above, and behind 

it layers of drifted material, peat, covered with a thick bed of broken 

sticks and vegetable matter, over which lay a stratum of red river 

gravel, over which lay a bed of argillaceous earth capped by dry, friable 

mold and surface peat, with the usual turf and herbage. The sticks 

were larger than any growing in the vicinity, but they may have been 

drifted from the wooded region of the interior. At another place the 

ice wall was. 80 feet high. E. W. Nelson, who visited this locality in 

1881 with the U. S. S. Corwin, also observed such an accumulation of 

sticks, and noted that some of them had been gnawed by beavers. The 

following list of species is mainly extracted from Richardson's report,
264 THE NEOCENE OP NOETH AMERICA.

those marked with an asterisk having been obtained by Dall in 1880. 

The nomenclature has been somewhat modernized.

*Elephas primigenius Blumenbach. 

Eleplias colunibl Falconer. 

JSquus major De Kay. 

Alces americanus Jardme = 7?iac7iZis Ogilby.

*Eangifer canZxmBaird.

*0vibo8 moschatus Blainville.

*0vibo8 maximus Richardson = 0. cavifrons Leidy.

*Bi8on crassicornis Rich.= B. antiqum Leidy.

Oilier localities. Analogous beds of clay, sometimes with vertebrate 

remains, were observed by Beechey's party at the following localities: l

On the north shore of Eschscholtz Bay, and also on the west from it, 

on the south shore of Spafarieff Inlet and Good Hope Bay; at Shishinaref Inlet, west-southwest from Cape Spanberg; Cape Blossom ; northward from Kotzebue Sound, at Point Hope; at various points between 

Cape Beaufort and a point 20 miles east from Icy Cape; and near Point 

Belcher, in north latitude 71°.

From information gathered from several masters of vessels in the 

whaling fleet and derived from experience gained in the effort to dig 

graves for seamen who have died aboard vessels on this shore from time 

to time during the last twenty years, it would appear that somewhat 

north of Cape Beaufort the laud between the low hills and the sea is low 

and the soil chiefly a sort of gravel. "At a depth of 2 feet is a stratum 

of pure ice (not frozen soil), of unknown depth. This formation extends, 

with occasional gaps, north to Point Barrow, and thence east to Eeturn 

Keef,where the ice layer is about 6 feet above the level of the sea. It goes 

south at least as far as Icy Cape without any decided break, and is found 

in different localities as far south as Kotzebue Sound." At Point Barrow, 

near the international station, under the direction of Lieut. P. H. Bay, 

U. S. Army,2 a shaft was sunk to a depth of 37 feet 6 inches, which passed 

through successive layers of mud, sand, and fine gravel, with fragments of 

drift-wood and marine shells, showing here and there large fragments 

of pure fresh-water ice, but no continuous stratum of ice. The formation here was clearly a beach alluvium, and relatively modern, a pair 

of Eskimo wooden snow goggles with a sinew string still attached to 

them being found at a depth of 27£ feet. The temperature of the earth 

varied from 5° to -f 17.5° F.; below the influence of the external air 

the temperature of the earth was quite steady at 12° F. for nine months. 

The earth was frozen and was extremely hard and tough. Blasts put 

into the side of the shaft blew out without shattering the frozen earth 

around the drill hole. It is probable that excavations farther inland 

might have revealed the ice layer, which at the locality of the station 

did not exist.

Kowdk River ice cliffs. After that at Elephant Point, the most re

»0p. cit., p. 603.

2 Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. Washington. House Ex 

Doc. No. 44,48th Congr., 2nd Sess., 1885, 4°; cf. pp. 24,338,339.
THE KOWAK CLAYS. 265

markable exhibition of the ground-ice formation which has yet been 

recognized is situated on the lower part of the Kowak River, which empties into Hotham Inlet. The cliffs are situated along the bends of the 

river, which is extremely tortuous, almost exactly due north from Elephant Point near where a line drawn from Elephant Point to Deviation 

Peak cuts the Kowak River. Theyhavebeen illustrated and briefly referred to by Lieut. John C. Cantwell,1 U. S. Eevenue Marine, who discovered them in 1884 and revisited them during the following year. 

They are composed of solid ice, covered by a layer of dark colored earth, 

uniformly about 6 feet thick, the whole rising to the height of 15 to 150 

feet, with trees 4 to 8 inches in diameter growing on the surface. Up 

to this point, and for some distance farther, not a stone or pebble was to 

be seen, the bluffs along the river appearing to be composed of clay 

or soft earth, which fell in large masses where undermined by the river.

THE KOWAK CLAYS.

At a point on the river in about west longitude 158°, a remarkable clay bluff, three-quarters of a mile long and 150 feet high, was 

reached on the left bank of the river. Quantities of mammoth tusks 

were observed in this clay and its d6bris, where undermined by the 

stream. These clays were doubtless of the same age as those in which 

the mammoth remains are found at Elephant Point over the ice cliffs. 

Their position is significant, being near the lower end of a tract of open 

tundra., below the low divides leading northward to the Noatak River 

and southward to the Selawik Basin, and near where the Kowak River 

enters a defile which later becomes a sort of canyon obstructed by 

rapids.

Returning to the ice cliffs, during the explorations of 1885 it was 

observed that " for miles along the river in this portion of its course 

these icy cliffs appear and disappear at regular intervals, so that they 

recur in bends that are parallel with each other." An east-northeast 

and west-south west magnetic line drawn through one of the cliffs if 

prolonged will cut all the others as well as the analogous formation at 

Elephant Point far to the southward. " Climbing to the top of one if 

these ice cliffs" Messrs. Oantwell and Townsend pushed their way 

"through the dense thickets of willow and luxuriant growth of grass 

into the interior for about 1 mile where we found a shallow lake about 

a mile in diameter." If the travelers stood still on the peaty soil for 

any length of time "the spongy moss became saturated and soon a pool 

of dark-colored water made our position untenable" (op. cit., pp. 48-49). 

The formation does not extend to the Noatak River, which was explored 

by McLenegan in 1885.

1 Keport on the cruise of the Corwin in the year 1885, by Capt. M. A. Healy, U. S. Eevenue Marine. 

Waahington. House Ex. Doc. 153,49th Gong., 1st Sess., 1887; cf. Lieut. Cant well's Report, pp. 48,49. Also 

Science, Dec. 19,1884, vol. 4, No. 98, pp. 539,551-554; Jan. 30,1885. vol. 5, No. 104, pp. 92-93; and Oct. 30, 

1885, vol. 6, No. 143, p. 380.

See also Russell (I. C.) Ice CliflFa on Kowak River, Alaska, American Geologist, July, 1890, vol. 6, No. 

1, pp. 49-50, and letter of Lieut. Cantwell, following, pp. 51-52.
266 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84

For these clays, whether independently deposited or found superposed 

on the ground ice formation, the name of the Kowak clays is suggested.

DISTRIBUTION OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES.

Other Alaskan localities for the animals associated with the clays 

are the Kotlo Eiver, a stream entering the Yukon from the south above 

old Fort Yukon and close to the Arctic circle ; the valley of the Inglutalik Eiver, which empties into Norton Bay, and of the TJlukak Eiver, 

which enters Norton Sound at Unalaklik. A lake near Nushagak is 

stated on Eussian authority to afford abundance of similar bones. They 

are reported from the upper part of the Knik or Fire Eiver, which 

debouches into Cooks Inlet; and on the Arctic coast, in latitude 71°, 

at a point called Skull Cliff, Beechey's party obtained remains of an 

elephant in a clay overlying a low stratum of ice. Wossnessenski collected tusks, teeth, and bones of Eleplias primigenius and E. columM, 

near Topanica Creek, Norton Sound. Other remains of the same sort 

have been picked up on the coast between Bristol and Norton Sound. 

Teeth of the elephant, bones of Bison antiqims, and especially of the 

musk ox, are not rare on the tundra of the Yukon valley, whence specimens were brought by Ball in 1868. But the Kotlo and Inglutalik 

rivers have the reputation of affording these bones in extraordinary 

numbers. Along the Arctic coast, east from Point Barrow, where the 

bones and ivory occur frozen into the clays, they are so common as to 

serve the Eskimo carvers for economic purposes. Dall obtained in 

1880 a deep ladle, as large as a child's head, carved, handle and all, out 

of a solid tusk of mammoth ivory by these people. It was said to have 

come from the mouth of the Oolvile Eiver.

Last, but by no means least important, come the ^discoveries of a 

mammoth tooth on the island of St. G-eorge of the Pribiloff group in 

1836, vouched for by Veniamiuoff (Unal. i, p. 106) and of tusks and 

teeth on the island of Unalaska in 1801 according to the report of Dr. 

Stein.1 The Ground Ice formation and the Kowak clays have been considered here for several reasons. Though the former may be correlated 

with the glacial epoch of cold and the latter with the post-glacial era, 

yet there are certain reasons why this, even if probable, is not inevitable.

OBIGIN OF THE ICE AND CLAY FORMATIONS.

In our ignorance of the chronology of the Alaskan geology it is well 

to consider alternatives. The fact that the Californian marine Pliocene 

indicates a colder sea than do the invertebrates of the Pleistocene and 

that this is confirmed by the evidence of the Oregon and Yakutat fos.- 

sils which we have called Pliocene in this essay, has been already 

alluded to. It is quite certain that an elevation of the shores of Bering 

Sea and the continental shelf lying off them if carried to 200 feet would 

unite Asia and America; if to 300 feet, would connect the eastern Aleu-

'Trudi, mineral. Obst., St. Petersburg, 1830,'pp. 382,383.
ICE AND CLAY FORMATIONS. 267

tians as far as TTinnak and the Pribiloff Islands with America; and 

would lay bare an enormous level plain covering the northern half and 

most of the eastern third of the present area of Bering Sea. The diminished body of water which would be left in such a case, in connection 

with the prevalence of the northwest trade winds over this area, would 

give to this region such a dry climate as characterizes much of Siberia 

and the Yukon valley in Alaska. If the elevation took place at the 

end of the Miocene, as it did in California and Oregon, and as the location and condition of the Nulato sandstones suggests, and if the greatest elevation were toward the west and gradually diminished eastward, 

we should have conditions favorable for the following results: First, a 

small precipitation with little snow which with extreme cold and an 

almost level surface would be unfavorable to the formation of glaciers. 

Second, the formation by the drainage of the Yukon and other streams 

coming down from the east of vast shallow lakes of muddy water, the 

remnants of which in winter, after the escape of the surplus water, 

might, as now occurs in the same region, freeze solidly to the bottom. 

Third, the ice thus formed might to a certain extent persist, especially 

if protected from the sun of the short Arctic summer by a deposit of 

clay from the spring freshets. Fourth, Avith a return of a milder climate, 

though the great mass of this ice might melt and escape with the 

drainage, that in the more northern and colder region, especially where 

protected by the clays, might be to some extent conserved and over the 

clay bogs above it a carpet of Arctic vegetation gradually extend.

The wandering vertebrates, attracted by the luxuriant herbage which 

we know to flourish in such places, might be trapped in the quagmires 

which the grasses treacherously conceal. Further elevation by affording better drainage would tend to preserve rather than to waste the hidden stores of ice, while the rivers gradually cutting down their channels 

would expose the formation when it lay along their path.

That the moderate elevations which exist in the region were insufficient to start the ice thus formed into motion, and thus inaugurate 

glaciers, may be accounted for on several grounds. First, under the 

assumed circumstances the ice would always be formed on the lowest 

places of the level lowlands, coming there as water, and not as snow 

pressing from slopes. Second, the ice under conditions of very low 

temperature is without doubt much more rigid than at higher temperatures and by the hypothesis would more or less thoroughly be incorporated at its base with the tough and rigid frozen mud upon which it 

formed; in fact the ice and soil would practically form one body, Avhile 

ice formed from snow would always behave more like a body extraneous 

to the soil. Lastly, the very level character of the region would be 

unfavorable to motion in the ice, as at present on the Arctic coast where 

we know the land ice is stationary; while in particular localities, where 

some motion might take place, the character of the Miocene sandstones 

upon which most of it must have rested in the absence of alluvium is 

not well suited to retain any evidence of it.
268 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

These suggestions are offered as a basis for discussion, in cousiderering the anomalous geological conditions of northwestern Alaska, 

until a greater knowledge of the facts may afford a foundation for some 

more applicable hypothesis.

VOLCANIC PHENOMENA.

It is impracticable to attempt any extended discussion of the volcanic 

phenomena which have played so important a part iu the geological history of Alaska. Much information has been brought together by Grewingk, while later observers have added much more to the total. Volcanic 

activity still continues, as evidenced by the recent formation of anew peak, l 

the G-rewiugk volcano, in the immediate vicinity of Bogosloff, itself less 

than a century old, and to which Grewingk subsequently became joined. 

It is extremely probable that volcanic action has been long continued 

in this region, from the time of the Tilassic granites to the porphyrites, 

andesites, and modern basalts. But from the facts which are already 

known, it seems highly probable that the most profuse and extensive 

outpourings of basaltic and vesicular lava in Alaska, as in Oregon, 

Idaho, and California, were of Pleistocene age, and iu less intensity 

have continued subsequently to recent historic times.

NOTE ON THE MAP.

Owing to the small scale of the map upon which the notes could be 

laid down, but little more has been attempted than to indicate approximately the localities where the specified rocks occur. Only in the Yukon 

valley and on the peninsula of Kenai has any attempt been made to indicate the boundaries of the areas represented.

PLEISTOCENE.

The epoch of the Pleistocene is practically outside the scope of this 

paper. It might be said, briefly, that it included in Alaska great 

changes of level and marked volcanic activity, much as in the case of 

California. Eecent papers by G. M. Dawson,2 W. P. Blake,3 1. 0. Eussell,4 and G. P. Wright,5 bear on this topic and may be consulted with 

advantage.

' See A new volcano island in Alaska, by W. H. Dall, in Science, Jan. 25.1884, vol. 3, No. 51, pp. 89- 

93; anel also Geo.Davidsou,iu Science, Mar.7,1884, vol. 3, No. 57, pp.282-286, also Aug. \ 5,1884, vol.4, 

No. 80, pp. 138-139. Also the report on the voyage of the Oorwin in 1885, previously cited, in which 

the new and old islands are illustrated.

For observations on the ash and lava of this eruption see:

On Hornblende andesites from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island in Bering Sea, by George P. Herril, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. for 1885, pp. 31-33.

The volcanic sand which fell at Unalaska Oct. 20,1883, by J. S. Diller, Science, Mar. 30,1884, vol. 3, p. 

651; and lava from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, by J. S. Diller, Science, Jan. 23,1885, vol. 5, p. 66.

'^Transactions Eoyal Society of Canada, 189Q, vol. 8, sec. 4, pp. 3-74.

s Glaciers of Alaska, in Am. Jour. Sci., July, 1867,2d ser., vol. 44, No. 130, pp. 96-101, and Notes on tho 

geography and geology of Kussiau America and the Stickeeu River, H. Ex. Doc. 177,1868, part 2, Washington, 19 pp., 8°. Also, T. A. Blake, "General topographical and geological features of the northwest 

eru coast of America," etc., in Coast Survey Report for 1867, App. 18, E., 1869, pp. 281-290, Washington; 

and W. Libbey, jr., Bull. Amer. Geag. Soc., Now York, 1886,1887, No. 4, pp. 279-300.

4 Notes on the surface geology of Alaska, Bull. Geol. Soc. of Amer., M&rch, 1890, vol. 1, pp. 99-162, 

Washington, 8°.

*The Muir glacier, Am. Jour. Sci., Jan., 1887,3d ser., vol. 33, pp. 1-18; also, Bull. Soc. Alaskan Ethn., 

1888, No. 2,8°, 22 pp.
IT. S . GE OLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN N° 84. PL. m.

MAP OF-THK KNO^VN DISTHIHUTION OF THK NKOCKNK FORMATIONS IN

HY

W.H.DALL.

Scali;

3OO

1891.

Ground Ice formation and KowakClays wiih 

fossil verlel)ralos (Pleisioccno ? ) 

l^liocone

I Kpnai firouj) ( Miocene ? I 

^ Kenai (.'.roup capped. bv'Astoria beds 

f Astoriu Group,Miocene, NulaIn and I'nea beds.
CHAPTER V.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CENOZOIC EPOCH ON THE 

PACIFIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA.

 CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND WASHINGTON.

The conditions prevailing on the Pacific coast during later geologic 

time, have been considered by Whitney,1 Becker,2 G-. M. Dawson,3 and 

J. L. Le Oonte,4 from whose publications on the subject the following 

notes have been extracted or condensed.

Except in certain portions of California, the stratigraphical geology 

is so imperfectly known that all general considerations must be regarded 

as of a merely approximate character. Much still remains to be learned 

in regard to the Neozoic faunas before us before we shall be in a position to express positive opinions upon their sequence, faunal peculiarities, and especially their relations to synchronous Atlantic faunas.

Beginning at the south, in California, according to Becker 5

Both the Sierra NeArada and the coast ranges were above water and underwent erosion [in the Cretaceous] during the interval between the Knoxville and the Chico 

epochs. Both ranges also sank just before the beginning of the Chico, admitting the 

ocean over a great part of the Coast ranges and over considerable areas at the base 

of the Sierra. Both appear to have risen partially and gently before the Tejon [Eocene] particularly toward the north; at least the ( rocks of this epoch as far as is 

known, are confined to the southern extremity of the Sierra and to the Coast ranges 

south of the Martinez. *

A slow subsidence would seem to have taken place before the Miocene, rocks of 

this age extending along the Sierra far to the north of the Tejon localities, while in 

the Coast ranges they lie directly upon the metamorphic at a great number of points, 

clearly indicating for the Miocene a lower general level than during the preceding 

epoch. During the Pliocene very little of either range was below water. 6

Dr. Becker concludes that the information of record necessitates the 

reference of the Sierra and Coast ranges to a single orogenic system.

The Coast ranges are, and probably always have been, of less altitude than the 

great Sierra, and they have consequently been more extensively immersed, just as

'Geological Survey of California; Geology by J.D. Whitney, 1805, vol.1; also, the Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California, by J. 3). Whitney; Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1879; vol. 6, No. 1; 

and the Climatic Changes of later Geological tunes, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1880-'82; vol. 7, No. 2,4°.

'Monographs .of the U. S. Gcol. Survey, vol. 13, Geology of the Quicksilver deposits of the Pacific 

elope, Washington, the Survey, 1888. 4°..

3 On the later physiographical geology of the Kocky Mountain region in Canada, etc,; Trans. Royal 

Soc. of Canada. 1890, vol.8, sect. 4. 4°.

4 Tertiary and post-Tertiary changes of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts: JJuU, Geol. Soc. America, 

189], vol.2, pp. 323-330, Rochester, the society. 8°,

6 Op. cit. pp. 21.1-212.

"Ibid., pp. 211-212,

269
270 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Avoulti be the case if both were now to sink any given number of thousand feet. 

Between the Miocene and Pliocene periods the Coast ranges also suffered disturbances 

in which at least the western base of the Sierra has not shared perceptibly. The 

Sierra, too, has undergone some faulting in which neither the Coast ranges nor the 

Basin ranges are known to have shared, but these differences do not appear to me sufficient to counterbalance the important coincidences in the history of the ranges. 1

A great nonconformity certainly exists between the Mesozoic Knoxville beds and the Miocene, but none such is found between Chico-Tejon 

and Miocene. The Miocene, as at New Almaden, contains abundant 

pebbles manifestly derived from the surrounding metaniorphic rocks. 

The post-Miocene uplift traced by Prof. Whitney has folded, faulted, 

and broken the Tertiary and newer Mesozoic rocks, as well as the older 

strata upon which these were unconformably deposited, so that it is 

usually far from easy to make out the effects due respectively to the 

earlier and to the later disturbances. The earlier was much the more 

violent, but the comparatively gentle post-Pliocene upheaval certainly 

extended throughout the Coast ranges of California and Oregon.

Whitney states that the Miocene and Tejon Eocene seem everywhere 

mutually conformable. Marcou considers that there is an unconformity 

between them, in the vicinity of Fort Tejon. There would not be any 

necessary reason for supposing that occasional local unconformities 

may not exist coincidently with a general conformity to which so many 

observers have borne wituess.

Becker observes :2

No sensible nonconformity is known to exist between the Tejon and the Miocene, 

yet the distribution of these two formations appears to indicate a change of level 

at or near the period which separates them, for the Miocene frequently rests upon 

the metamorphic rocks without intervention of other beds. During the Tejou these 

areas of metamorphic rock must have been land, and the subsidence must have 

been a gradual one. It may have been more rapid in some localities than in others, 

however, and it thus appears not unlikely that an appreciable lack of conformity 

may yet be detected3 at some point or points between the Tejon and the Miocene.

The Miocene occurs on both sides of the Coast ranges and on the 

lower western flank of the Sierra. It is but sparsely represented in 

the northern part of California on the coast, and has not been recognized in the northern part of the valley of California, which appears to 

have been occupied, if at all, by fresh water at this period. The marine 

beds are composed in large part of sandstones more or less irregular in 

texture and color, and usually distinctly differentiated from the older 

rocks. A great area, however, is mostly occupied by extremely finegrained schists. These are associated with bitumen in the southern 

part of the State and extend up the coast to Santa Cruz and beyond. 

These are unusually barren of fossils, while the sandstones often contain almost incredible quantities of shells. The San Beuito valley is 

very remarkable in this respect.

'Op. cit., p. 212. 

*0p. cit.,p. 218. 

8 As in the caae observed by Prof. Marcou, above cited.
; PACIFIC COAST MIOCENE. 271

The Pliocene of the Coast ranges is rather limited in extent, and lies, 

as shown by Whitney, unconforniably upon the Miocene, which is itself 

greatly disturbed. The combination of these facts shows that a great 

uplift took place between the two. As before stated, it is often difficult to distinguish in detail the effects of this upheaval from those of 

the disturbances which preceded the Chico, and Becker adds:

Still later uplifts further confuse the structure of the Coast ranges. In certain 

localities * * * these effects can be somewhat satisfactorily compared, and it then 

appears that the Tertiary upheaval, important as it was, was far less violent than 

that which took place near the beginning of the Cretaceous. * * * Along the 

western base of the Sierra the effect of the post-Miocene upheaval of the stratiiied 

rocks is scarcely perceptible. It does not follow that it produced no effect in this 

region; on the contrary the absence of known Pliocene beds from the Sierra foothills 

seems to show that the range was raised considerably at this epoch, though the 

energy of this movement was insufficient to produce considerable flexure in the beds. 

At the eastern side of the range, on the other hand, the fresh-water Truckee beds 

were thrown into bold folds, their dip reaching 30°. The same upheaval was felt 

throughout western Oregon, where it has the eanie comparatively gentle character 

as in the Coast ranges. 1

In Oregon, as in the south, the Miocene bays and inlets seem at this 

time to have been definitely shut out from the sea, no marine Pliocene 

being noted in this region except from the western slopes of the extreme 

coast.

In California, from the southern border of the state both north and 

south, marine Pliocene beds have been shown to exist at various points 

in the Coast ranges and along the shore. The elevation of these beds 

above the present sea level or below it shows extraordinary variations, 

the Pliocene of San Diego well extended through at least 20 feet 140 

to 160 feet below the surface. At Deadinan Island, Santa Barbara 

County, Pliocene fossils occur near the sea level. On the Monte Diablo 

range, as elsewhere noted, they have been reported at altitudes of 2,400 

to 2,500 feet above the sea in indurated material.

At Shoalwater Bay, Washington, marine Pliocene occurs at about 35 

feet above the sea, the fossils exhibiting a boreal facies. If the fossils 

collected by Mr. I. C. Russell, of the U. S. Geological Survey, near 

Mount St. Elias., at Pinnacle Pass, be correctly referred to the Pliocene, 

as seems probable, they are there elevated some 5,000 feet above the 

sea. The modifications of the shores which have produced such results 

are such as the mind finds it difficult to grasp when it is considered 

that the fossils to a very great extent belong to still surviving species 

of the marine fauna of the coast.

Of the eruptive disturbances in California incident to this series of 

changes on the eastern side of the Coast ranges the earliest, according 

to Becker, is a pyroxene andesite, which may have accompanied the 

post-Miocene upheaval or may have followed it after an interval, probably early in the Pliocene or just before it. It probably AYas contem1 Becker, op. cit., j>. Hl'J,
272 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

poraneous with an orographic change which dammed back the large body 

of fresh water which has been termed Cache Lake, in which, according 

to Becker, at least a thousand feet of lake sediments with fresh-water fossils were laid down. A few vertebrate fossils, according to Prof. O. 0. 

Marsh, indicate that the beds represent the close of the Pliocene. At 

the close of this period another eruption took place, accompanied by an 

orographic change which shifted the waters, which are represented now 

by Clear Lake, while the lava rest s in places upon the older fresh-water 

strata, which have been shown to correspond to the end of the Pliocene.

From the relation of the eruptive rocks to the sedimentary strata 

Becker concludes that they are comparatively recent. The andesitic 

rocks appear at Mount Diablo; at Steamboat Springs, Nevada; they 

form the mass of Mount Shasta and Mount St. Helens, as well as of 

the eruptives about Clear Lake. The basaltic eruptions are later and 

much inferior in volume, though more widely distributed through the 

region between Clear Lake, San Francisco Bay, and the Panoche Valley. Their emission continued well into the recent epoch.

At the close of the Miocene great masses of soft sandstones were 

elevated and subjected to erosion, which, from the nature of the material, might be rapid. Becker intimates that the conditions in the Coasfc 

ranges do not exclude the hypothesis that the relief of pressure due to 

the rapid erosion of these soft rocks brought about by fusion of the lavas.

Joseph Le Conte has also touched on this subject. 1 His views in 

essentials do not appear to differ greatly from those of Whitney and 

Becker. In brief, he believes that the Sierra was formed at the end of 

the Jurassic, but during the Cretaceous and Tertiary this range was 

cut down to a very moderate height, with gentle eastward arid westward slopes. The coast ranges were formed at the end of the Miocene, 

and the Pliocene was a period of fluvial erosion. Orogenic changes 

took place about the end of the Pliocene in both ranges, latterly accompanied by enormous outpouring of the lava and displacement of the 

river courses. These changes did not greatly affect the river courses 

of the Sierra region until the lava streams interfered and the faulting 

of the Sierra steepened the western slope. Subsequent continental 

subsidence submerged the deserted channels of the Pliocene rivers at 

the coast and'preserved their traces in the sea bottom. Elevation since 

then has been insufficient to restore the old levels, and these channels 

still remain below the sea.2

The relative heights of the various marine beds and character of the 

deposits, both on the coast and in the interior, as described by Becker 

and Diller, show that the northern and southern parts of California did 

not participate equally in the changes of level, and that the changes 

were probably not altogether synchronous.

1 Tertiary and post-Tertiary changes of the Atlantic ancj Pacific coasts. Bull. Greol. Soc. of Am.. Mar., 

1891, vol. 2, pp. 323-330, Rochester, the society. ' ' --...... , .-- 

2 Op. cit., pp. 325-387,
BRITISH COLUMBIA. ' 273

In Oregon the variations in a vertical sense seem to have been less 

marked than was the case in southern California or in the southern part 

of Alaska, while the changes on the coast of British Columbia seem to 

have been somewhat intermediate between those exhibited in Oregon 

and those of Alaska.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

For information in regard to the British Columbian region, we are 

chiefly indebted to Dr. George M. Dawson, of the Dominion geological 

survey. Dawson's views have appeared in his important paper on the 

Eocky Mountain region of Canada.1 According to him, in the region of 

the fortieth parallel surveyed by King, during the Eocene period many 

thousand feet of beds holding characteristic fossils were laid down in a 

series of lakes between the Eocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, 

but no such deposits have been met with in any part of the northern 

Cordillera. The whole sweep of country from the Laurentian region 

possibly quite to the now submerged edge of the Continental Plateau 

on the Pacific side thus became and continued to be throughout the 

earliest Tertiary an area of denudation, within which, if any small area 

of deposition occurred, the beds formed in these have either been subsequently removed or have become concealed by later deposits. The 

main result referable to this period of denudation is the first interior 

plateau or peneplain, as Davis has called the proximately level denudation surface thus formed. Extensive though more or less disconnected 

fragments of this still exist. The limits of the Interior Plateau of today near coincide with the limits of the drainage system, which probably discharged in a northerly direction. A good deal of erosion is 

supposed to have occurred before the initiation of Miocene sedimentation.

By an interruption of the drainage produced in some way, perhaps by 

the post-Eocene disturbances, of which the effects have been noted in 

California, great Miocene lakes were formed in that portion of British 

Columbia lying between the Coast and the Gold ranges. The character 

of the Miocene flora seems to indicate that the land did not stand at 

any great height and that the climate was temperate. The Interior 

Plateau became the seat of a series of lakes of greater or less dimensions, some of which were formed later than others. As far northwest 

as the Francis Eiver and quite beyond the limit of the Interior Plateau 

deposits which are referred to the Miocene have been found, and beds 

which are believed to belong to the same stage again occur on the 

Porcupine branch of the Yukon. Lakes which are with some probability referred to the same period also existed in some parts of the 

Coluinbia-Kootanie valley and in that of the Flathead Eiver, though no 

definite paleontological evidence of their age has been obtained.

1 In the uotea here given the data bearing on the British Columbian Neocene have been briefly summarized from D.iwson's discussion, op. cit., pp. 3-74.

Bull. 84 18
274 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AME1UCA. [BULL. 84.

Had the conditions remained permanent the lacustrine phase of the 

Interior Plateau would have terminated by the filling up of some lake 

basins and the drainage through erosion of the effluent river beds of 

others. Before this had taken place volcanic action recommenced on 

a grand scale and in a varied manner, while large areas were covered 

with sheets of lava, which flowed out in great volume. The principal 

centers of action appear to have been aligned along the eastern base of 

the Coast ranges, where some of the old volcanic vents may still be 

recognized.

According to evidence produced by Becker the great andesite lava 

flow of California took place near the end of the Pliocene and may be 

regarded as terminating that epoch. He shows that the basaltic eruptions of that region at least are considerably later. Prof. Le Conte 

believes that the ejection of basalts in Oregon took place earlier, at the 

close of the Miocene or early in the Pliocene.1 The last-named region 

closely corresponds with the interior plateau of British Columbia, but 

here, according to Dawson, the evidence of the blending of the Miocene 

lake beds, with the eruptives is in some places so distinct as to justify 

us in assigning the earliest eruptives to the Miocene period itself. In 

intervals of the periods of eruptive activity lakes or ponds were formed 

and have left their traces. Some of these may yet afford organic 

remains of later date than the Miocene. The recurrence of volcanic 

phenomena during a considerable length of geological time is shown 

by the cutting out of valleys in the basalts and the refilling of these 

by later basalts as in the Stikine region. That volcanic action may 

have continued into the Pliocene period can not be denied, and we 

may add to Dawson's observation that in view of the almost continuous 

action of this sort to the present epoch in the regions both north and 

south of British Columbia on the Pacific coast, it would be most extraordinary if it did not. Still no proof of Pliocene eruptions in British 

Columbia has yet been obtained, though owing to the uncertainty which 

attaches to the definition of Miocene and Pliocene on the northwest 

coast and the absence of distinctive physical changes by which a strict 

subdivision of the Cenozoic strata could be established, such negative 

evidence is not of great weight.

Taken as a whole, in regard to the interior plateau of British Columbia, the Miocene was a period of lacustrine sedimentation followed by an 

outpouring of eruptive matter so complete as entirely to obliterate the 

old Eocene and earlier Miocene valleys of which it is doubtful if any 

one has since been eroded in exactly its old course for any considerable distance.

Toward the end of the Miocene, local folding of the strata, volcanic or 

otherwise, took place in various directions, after which without any considerable change of the general level, the drainage began to outline an 

entirely new series of river and stream valleys. The general erosive

 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 19, p. 189, and vol. 32, p. 177.
BRITISH COLUMBIA. * 275

action thus inaugurated was probably long continued and brought the 

interior plateau again nearly to the base level of erosion.

The early Miocene valleys, where they may yet be studied, according 

to Dawsou, present all the characters of a drainage system which has 

been long maintained under stable conditions of the surface.

At a later time in the Pliocene it is evident, that a very considerable 

and general elevation of the Cordilleran region occurred, bringing it 

considerably higher than it is at the present day. The gradients of all 

the rivers being thus increased, the streams, armed with new power 

of erosion, began to cut channels, which, as they were cut rapidly, 

were made both deep and narrow. To this time Dawson assigns the 

cutting out of the deep valleys which now exist as fiords of the coast. 

Admitting that these fiords may have been to some extent locally 

enlarged by ice during the later period of glaciation, their depth is such 

as to convince him that during all the maiii period of their formation in 

the Pliocene^ the land stood relatively to the Pacific about 900 feet 

higher than it does now.

Important changes in the drainage system of northwest America 

were produced by this Pliocene elevation, and to the subsequent erosion, 

the genesis of the deep preglacial auriferous gravels is assigned with 

much probability.

The results of Pliocene erosion are geographically very important, as 

the whole effect of subsequent events can be shown to have been relatively insignificant and the main features of much of the country still 

remain much as tbey were at the close of this epoch.

On the seacoast it appears probable that as a result of the Pliocene 

uplift referred to, a belt of low land wide enough to include Vancouver 

Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands was formed. Across this the 

rivers issuing from the Coast ranges cut their way to the sea.

Meanwhile over the interior, in place of lacustrine sedimentation 

such as King described 1 south of the boundary, Daw son regards the 

known data as indicating for most of the Pliocene a process of reduction by waste.- Certain deposits of gravel, sand and silt found in a 

number of places in the districts of Alberta and Assiniboin have been 

named by McConnell the South Saskatchewan gravels. They rest 

indifferently on various formations and lie beneath the lowest Glacial 

bowlder clays. These deposits have been assigned to the Pliocene on 

the ground that any preglacial beds should be so referred. Their 

material is derived from the antecedent Miocene beds and has been 

rearranged in the beds of streams or lakes.

It would appear, according to Dawson, that the Pliocene uplift of 

the Cordilleran region of British Columbia did not materially affect the 

interior plateau. This uplift in itself he does not regard as sufficient 

to bring about a glaciation, but considers it possible that at the end of 

the Pliocene a second uplift may have taken place, though this has

>Expl.40th parallel, vol. 1, pp.542, 75G.
276 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

probability rather than ascertained facts in its favor. If as suggested, 

the Pliocene was terminated by such an uplift with the inauguration of 

glaciation as one of its results (the presence of other factors coinciding 

to promote glaciation being assumed), the interior plateau seems not 

to have participated, but rather to have suffered a possibly compensatory subsidence.

ALASKA.

In Alaska we are chiefly dependent on the information summarized in 

the earlier part of this essay for our knowledge of any changes which 

have taken place.

Since no marine Eocene beds are known from any part of Alaska, it 

must be assumed that the coasts of the territory which had been elevated 

at the end of Mesozoic time stood at an elevation not less than they do 

at present, and probably considerably higher, since the material accumulated in the 2,000 to 3,000 feet of strata of the Kenai group which 

were laid down in the lakes or marshes must have been derived from 

higher ground. At the end of the Kenai period the shores at least 

would seem to have stood at only a moderate elevation above the sea, 

since the marine sandstones of the Astoria group appear conformably 

above them, and all the circumstances indicate for the early Miocene 

only a very gentle and vertically small depression, as the beds are 

everywhere thin, and toward the south disappear altogether. This 

would point toward a stationary condition in southern Alaska, a moderate depression near the peninsula and to the north in the Yukon 

valley a greater subsidence, since there the marine strata are the 

thickest.

At the end of the marine Miocene the elevation which followed appears to have been somewhat proportional to the previous subsidence, 

i. e., it was greater in the north where no part of the present land surface is known to bear any later beds of marine origin, moderate to the 

south, and perhaps on the coast of southernmost Alaska and British 

Columbia no very great changes took place, or if there did, most of the 

traces have been since removed by glacial action.

After the inauguration of the Pliocene, some part of the southern 

coast subsided slightly, and marine beds indicating a moderate depth 

of water were laid down. Later on there was a moderate elevation of 

the same region. At the end of the Pliocene southern Alaska participated in the throes which agitated the rest of the Pacific border and 

an enormous uplift of the recently formed strata followed, attended or 

rapidly followed by great volcanic activity. Elevation to the north 

was apparently much less marked.

There does not appear to be any positive evidence of marked vertical motion in southern Alaska since this time, and to the north also the 

early Pleistocene appears to have been a time of comparative rest.
DAI.L AND? AT A GIT A 977 HARRIS. 5 ALASKA. ^ 6 t i

Later, both north and south eruptive movement became very active, 

though not necessarily associated with any great changes of level. In 

comparatively recent times a moderate subsidence seems to be probable 

in northern Alaska, though at present there are indications that the 

coast is rising. But local volcanic action has brought about minor 

changes of level in many places, while toward the south denuding 

agencies seem to have had the field almost wholly to themselves.

In glancing over the appended table it will be observed that the 

entire coast seems to have felt certain vertical motions, while at other 

times action in that sense seems to have alternated more or less along 

the coast. In the present imperfect state of our knowledge, however? 

it would be inadvisable to insist too urgently on the significance of apparent changes, of which the details are yet unknown.
Table indicating conditions existing during Cenozoic time in regard to changes of level and the pre

Epoch.

Tejon Eocene ....................

Astoria Marine Miocene ......... 

End of the Miocene. ............. 

Marine Pliocene ................. 

Later Pliocene. .................. 

End of the Pliocene ............. 

Early Pleistocene. ............... 

Later Pleistocene................

Southern 

California.

Depressed ........ 

Stationary........ 

Depressed (?)..... 

Depressed ........ 

Mod. uplift, V .... 

Mod. depression . . 

Mod. uplift ...:... 

....do............. 

Gt.depr., V. ...... 

Gt. uplift. ........

Northern 

California.

Depressed ........ 

Elevated.......... 

Stationary (?)..... 

Mod. depression . . 

Gt. uplift, V...... 

Mod. depr ........ 

Mod. uplift ....... 

Gt. uplift, V ...... 

Mod. uplift ....... 

Stationary (?),V..

Oregon.

Depressed ........ 

....do .............

Stationary. .......

Uplift, V. .........

Mod. depr....... .. 

Mod. uplift ....... 

....do............. 

Mod. depr......... 

Mod. uplift .......

British C

Coast.

Depressed ........ 

Stationary (?)..... 

1 Mod. elevation. . . . 

Mod. depression .. 

Uplift, V .........

Stationary (?)..... 

Mod. uplift ....... 

Gt. uplift... ...... 

Elevated..........

In this table "depressed" means stationary at a low level; "Mod. depression " that a moderate subsidence 

"Gt.," "Mod.' 1 or simply "uplift" that a great, moderate, or other movement of elevation took place; "V," indica

It will be borne in mind that in making the table attention has been concentrated rather on the coastal region an

the more interior country and the changes in the crests of mountain ranges.
NEOCENE FORMATIONS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 279 

Tahiti showing the vertical range of the Neocene formations of the Pacific coast.

J

? 

_?

]

J

__ 1

_?

Vtiocono.

 ?

N

Pliocene.

? 

?

 ?

"Formutipns.

Astoriiv group. 

Astoria sandstones. 

Astoria shales. 

Atiiria bod. 

Auriferous gravels. 

Cache Lake beds. 

Calamite beds. 

Crepidula bed 

Dalles group. 

Ground Ice formation. 

Kenai group. 

Kowak clays. 

Mytilus bed. 

Nulato sandstones. 

Puget group. 

Solen beds. 

Unga conglomerate.
CHAPTEE VI.-

SUMMARY OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUPPOSED NEOCENE OF 

THE INTERIOR REGION OF THE UNITED STATES, CONSIDERED 

BY STATES.

Man y difficulties are encountered in attemptin g to correlate th e various 

formations which have been recognized and named in the Great Interior 

region. Not only are many of the formations imperfectly known and 

described in the literature, and some of them unmapped, but many of 

them are characterized by their local lithologic or stratigraphic peculiarities, and the fossils they contain are not of a sort to be depended 

upon as indices of stratigraphic position.

Furthermore, some of the localities have been indicated only in the 

most general manner, so that it has been impracticable to record them 

on the map; and in regard to the age of formations exposed at these 

localities the most eminent authorities are uncertain or differ widely in 

their conclusions. Hence the present attempt to present a summary of 

what is known is offered with a fall appreciation of its imperfections, 

which the compilers have been unable to remedy.

The States and Territories have been taken up in geographic sequence, beginning with the region of eastern Oregon and passing eastward by Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, south through Nebraska, Kansas and Indian Territory, north again through New Mexico, Colorado, 

and Wyoming, concluding with Utah and Nevada.

OREGON.

FRESH-WATER TKRTIARIES.

We have already referred to the fact that in northern California old 

lake deposits of Miocene or Pliocene age have been to a considerable 

extent overspread and concealed by vast sheets of lava. In Oregon 

the sequence of deposition and concealment was practically the same; 

yet, owing to the fact that these lake deposits contain numerous wellpreserved and characteristic vertebrate remains, we can speak with 

much more confidence regarding the age of their subdivisions than we 

could of their probable representatives in northern California.

John Day valley. Perhaps the most important and interesting locality where these lake-beds are exposed is in the valley of the John 

Day Eiver, a southern tributary of the Columbia. It is clear that the 

Blue Mountains formed the eastern and perhaps southern shores of the 

280
OREGON FRESH-WATER TERTIARIES. 281

lakes whose deposits are now referred to, but their other limits are 

rendered indeterminable by the successive outflows of volcanic rocks. 

The Eev. Thomas Condon discovered1 and first explored these beds, 

but they have subsequently been visited by Marsh, Wortman, Sternberg, and Bendire, all of whom have made extensive collections.

Amyzon group?. The oldest Tertiary deposit of this basin is a series 

of fine grained shales, varying in color from white to reddish brown, 

and containing plant and fish remains. The plant remains have been 

reported upon by Lesquereux in the proceedings of the U. S. National 

Museum for 1888, under the head of "Specimens from Yan Horn's 

ranch, John Day Valley, Oregon, collected by Capt. Chas. Bendire, U. 

S. Army" (pp. 13-19). The age of the bed whence these specimens are 

derived is said to be "Miocene; probably latest Miocene." Some of the 

fish remains were found to be in a condition sufficiently good for identification. "They include," says Cope,2 "four individuals which belong 

to a single species of the genus Plioplarclius? P. septemspinosus. This 

author continues :

As the shales are, according to Coudon, below the John Day beds of the Middle 

Miocene, they can not be the Upper Miocene of the vertebrate scale. Plioplarclma 

has not been found in the Amyzon beds, and the plants of that horizon are, according to Lesquereux, different from those from Van Horn's ranch. The shale may 

then represent a horizon later than the Amyzon beds, but earlier than those of the 

John Day. In spite of the evidence of the plants, they may be even older than the 

Amyzon beds, since the bed of the Dakota Plioplarclms wlulei is not distinguishable 

stratigraphically from the La-ramie at its summit, according to Dr. White, a statement which I can confirm by personal observation.

Jolm Day group (?=Truckee group). This group, according to 

Marsh,J attains an enormous development in the valley under consideration . Prof. Cope characterizes its mammalian fauna as follows : " Presence of Nimravidce, Poebrotlieriidce, Tragulidcv, Elotlieriidce, Suidcv,

j and Saccomyidw. Absence of Lemaroidea and Creodonta, of 

Hystricidce, Felidce, Ursidce, Camelidcc, Eguidm, and Proboscidian Its 

vertebrate remains are numerous and have received much attention 

from Marsh,4 Leidy,5 and Cope,6 all of whom agree that the fauna was 

in part contemporaneous with that of the White River group of South 

Dakota. Cope and King,7 moreover, have no hesitation in correlating 

it as a whole with the Truckee beds of Nevada.

In a recent publication 8 Drs. White and Stearns have determined a 

few species of land and fresh water inolliisks which were found by

1 Marsh, Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1875. vol. 9, p. 52.

2 Am. Nat., 1889, vol. 23, p. 625.

8 Am. Jour. Sci., 1875, 3d ser., vol. 9, p. 52.

4 Am. Jour. Sci. ,1873, 3d ser., vol. 5, 409-410; also, Am. Jour. Sci., 1874, 3d ser., vol. 7, p. 249-250; also, 

Am. Jour. Sci., 1875, 3d ser., vol. 9, p. 242, 248, 249; and Am. Jour. Sci., 1877, 3d ser., vol. 14, p. 248.

8 U. S. Geol. Survey Terr., 1873, vol. 1, p. 210.

0 Pr(jc. Am. Pliilos. Soc., Dec. 1, 3878 (Paleont. Bull. No. 30) ; see also Am. Nat., Dec. 1, 1878, p. 833 ; and 

Bull. IT. S. Geol. Survey Terr., 1879, vol. 5, pt. 1, pp. 55-67 ; U. S. Geol. Survey Terr., 1884, vol. 3, bk. 1.

' U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Parallel, 1878, vol. 1, p. 413, 458.

«U. S. Geol. Sui-v. Bull. No. 18.
282 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Messrs. Wortman and Condon associated with vertebrate remains 

Unio condoni and Helix (Mesodonl) dalli are described as new to science, while Helix fidelis, Helix perspective and Gonostoma yatesii are 

well known living forms. The modern aspect of this fauna is indeed 

remarkable when we take into consideration not only its supposed 

synchronism with the unique faunas of Fossil Hill, Nevada, and Snake 

Eiver, Idaho and Oregon, but also when we consider what remarkable 

physical changes have taken place in this region since these inollusks 

existed.

Truckee group. Deposits classified under this head are typically exposed in northern Nevada and are supposed by King l and others to be 

synchronous with the John Day group of Oregon. The arguments for 

or against this view seem far from convincing. Nevertheless, if it is 

admitted that the fresh-water beds of southwest Idaho, to be described 

hereafter, which have furnished specimens 2 of Latia dalli, Melania 

taylori, and Lithasia antiqua, belong to the Truckee group, then it is 

reasonable to suppose that the beds along Powder Eiver, Old Emigrant 

road, and those on the eastern slope of Blue Mountains, Union County, 

all investigated by Condon 3 and found to contain Lithasia antiqua and 

a large Vivipara, may be true representatives of this group.

Ticholeptus beds. These beds are known to exist in the John Day 

basin from the notes and collections of J. L. Wortman. They are said4 

to rest upon John Day beds along.Cottonwood Creek and contain the 

following species: Protohippus sp., Hippotherium seversum, H. sinclairi, 

H. occidentals, AncJiitherium ultimum, Dicotyles condoni, Protolabis transmontanus, Merycochcerus obliquidens, and Blastomeryx borealis.

"Considerable interest attaches to the discovery of an Anchitherium 

and of a Merycochcerus at this locality, as these genera ally the epoch 

to the John Day period, while Hippotherium, Dicotyles, and Protolabis are 

Loup Fork genera." 5 Blastomeryx borealis is the only species in common with this and the Deep Eiver, Mont., Ticholeptus bed.6

PLIOCENK LAKE BEDS.

The so-called "Idaho group" of Cope probably extends into eastern 

Oregon somewhat as represented on the accompanying map. The 

statements of King regarding the outlines of his Shoshone Lake in this 

district are exceedingly vague; but Cope states 7 definitely that, of the 

four species of Cottus that have been found in the Idaho beds, one at 

least (C. divaricatus) and probably two others (C. hypoceras and pontifex) were from Willow Creek, Oregon. These beds, as will be seen

1 TJ. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Parallel, 1878, vol. 1, p. 423. 

2 Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, vol. 5, pp. 99-102, pi. V.

* Information furnished Mr. Dall by Prof. Condon. See discussion of this group under Idaho. 

« Am. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 367.

 Am. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 368.

6 Ibid., p. 369.

'Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1883, pp. 162-164.
DHA«Rre!D } OREGON PLIOCENE LAKE BEDS. 283

under "Idaho," are considered by Cope to be of lower or medial Pliocene age.

There is, however, another lake deposit of Oregon which this author 

regards as "very probably the contemporary of that of the Pliocene lake 

of Idaho."1 Its locality is not given, but it is said to contain the following remains: Canis sp., Eleplias or Mastodon, Holomeniscus or Auckenia, 

Aplielops sp., Hippotlierium relictum, and Equus sp.2 "The interest of 

the list consists in the fact that it represents for the first time a fauna 

which l includes the large true horses and llamas and the three-toed 

horses and Aplielops rhinoceros. The latter forms belong to the Loup 

Fork horizon and the former to the Pliocenej and they have not been 

found hitherto in association in the Rocky Mountain region." 3

Another lake bed, of more recent date, is that known as the " Fossil 

lake" or "Lone yard" situated about 40 miles east of Silver Lake. It 

forms a slight depression embracing perhaps 20 acres.4 " The depth 

of the formation is unknown, butit is probably not great. It consists, 

first, of loose sand above, which is moved and piled into dunes by the 

wind; second, of a soft clay bed a few inches in thickness; third, of a 

bed of sand of one or two feet in depth; then a bed of clay mixed with 

sand of unknown depth. The middle bed of sand is fossiliferous.*' 5 

Whitened shells of Carinifex newberryi Lea, as well as obsidian implements of various degrees of workmanship, are strewn abundantly over 

the surface. Similar implements are represented by Cope as "mingled 

in the same deposit in undistinguishable relation" with the fossil remains of this place. They are in some instances covered by a deposit of 

volcanic sand and ashes to a depth of from 15 to 20 feet.6

General discussion of the Equus beds. The numerous vertebrate remains in the lake basin just described are regarded by Cope as constituting a typical Equus fauna. Therefore a general review of the history 

and fluctuation of opinion regarding these beds may properly be given 

in this place.

The term. Equus beds was first used to denote a subdivision of the 

geologic scale by Prof. Marsh in an address read before the American 

Association for the Advancement of Science in 1877. No attempt was 

then made to give the geographical distribution of these beds; nor, in 

fact, was much more information imparted than that "our Pliocene 

forms essentially a continuous series, although the upper beds may be 

distinguished from the lower by the presence of a true Equus and some 

other existing genera." On the plate accompanying the author's edition of this address the Pliocene is subdivided into PlioMppus and

1 Am. Nat., 1889, vol. 23, p. 254.

"Ibid., p. 253.

3 Ibid., p. 254. They are, however, associated in the Peace Creek beds of Florida. . Cope described 

several Pliocene species from Oregon, collected by Steruberg, in Proc. Am. P kilos. Soc., 1877, vol. 17, 

pp. 230,231. No definite localities are given.

4 Am. Nat., 1889, vol. 23, p. 979.

6 IT. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1884, vol. 3, book 1, p. 19.

 Am. Nat., 1878, vol. 12, p. 126.
284 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. fBrLi,.84.

Equus beds, the latter being characterized by the genera Eqiius, Tapir us, 

and Eleplias. Since that time these beds have been recognized in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas at 

such localities and under such conditions as will be found given under 

these several states.1

According to Cope the fauna of these beds is characterized by the 

presence of Glyptodontidce (Mexico), Megatlieriidce, Escliatiidce; extinct 

genera, Holomeniscus, Mastodon (Mexico), Smilodon (Texas); extinct 

species, Eleplias primigenius; Equus, four species; Lutra, Cervus, etc.; 

recent species of Thomomys, Arvicola, Castor, Canis,? Homo. Absence 

of Cosoryx, Oreodontidce, ProtolaMidce, Raiidaz, Gobitidce, Mylocyprinus, 

and the fishes of the Idaho beds in general, Castoroides and AmblyrMza.

Much difference of opinion has already arisen regarding their age. 

Marsh, we have seen, first referred them to the upper Pliocene; in this 

he has been followed by Cope, King, and others, the first of whom remarks :

As a conclusion of the comparison of the American Equus beds in general with 

those of Europe, it may be stated that the number of identical genera is so large 

that we may not hesitate to parallelize them as stratigraphically the same. On the 

other hand the agreement with the South American Pampean formations is so marked 

in some respects as to induce us to believe that the distinction is geographic rather 

than strati graphic. Believing that the Pampean formation contains too large a per 

cent of extinct genera to be properly regarded, as it has been, as post-Pliocene or 

Quaternary, its characters, both essentially and as a result of the comparison which 

I have been able to make, refer it properly to the Pliocene, It appears, then, that 

the term Pliocene or Snbappenine is applicable to the horizon of this fauna in 

Europe and North and South America. 2

G. K. Gilbert,3 however, in Monograph No. 1, U. S. Geological Survey, on Lake Bonneville, devotes one chapter to a discussion of the 

"Age of the Equus Fauna" and endeavors to show that it is late Pleistocene. The essential points of the arguments he employs to reach this 

result may be thus briefly summarized:

(1) The three genera mentioned by Marsh, viz, Equus, Tapirus, and 

Eleplias, are all credited to the post-Tertiaries, while none are credited 

to the lower Pliocene. " The characterization thus fails to separate 

the Equus fauna from the Pleistocene."

(2) The post-Tertiary age of the Lahontan beds being well established 

it necessarily follows that Christmas Lake Equus beds are of this age, 

since (a) the physical history of each has been the same and (&) they 

contain several vertebrate and invertebrate species in common.

(3) "The abandoned lake shores of Christmas valley and of the 

Lahontan basin, the lacustrine plains below them, and the correlated 

glacial moraines are all of youthful habit, as youthful as the parallel 

roads of Glen Eoy and other surface features marking the wane of 

glaciation in Scotland."

' See,also, Cope: Eept. U. S. Geol. Sun'. Terr., 1884, vol. 3, book 1,p. 19. 

'Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1879, vol. 5, p. 48. 

» Op. oit., pp. 393-402.
DHAJuusND } IDAHO TRUCKEE GROUP. 285

(4) By comparing the Christmas Lake fauna with European standards, 

it is found that its age falls between the upper Pliocene of the Arno 

valley and the middle of the Pleistocene of Great Britain. Hence this 

evidence alone might indicate an early Pleistocene age for this fauna; 

it is, however, outweighed by the foregoing considerations.

Dalles group. Above the Loup Fork beds of the John Day basin, 

there is a lava outflow which has furnished the materials for a late 

lacustrine formation, which contains many vegetable remains. l The 

material is coarse and sometimes gravelly, and is found on the Columbia Eiver and probably also in the interior basin. Prof. Condon calls 

this the Dalles group.2 It is in turn overlain by the beds of the second 

great volcanic outflow. The exact horizon of this group has not been 

determined. It may be synchronous with the " Equus beds."

IDAHO.

TRUCKEE GROUP.

In Vol. n, Paleontology of California, Gabb figures and describes 3 

two species of fresh water Tertiary mollusks from " deposits on Snake 

Eiver, Idaho territory, on the road from Fort Boise to the Owyhee mining country." These species, Melania taylori Gabb, and Litliasia antiqua Gabb, were said to be associated with a small bivalve, perhaps a 

species of Sphcerium, too poorly preserved to admit of description.

Meek described a Sphcerium? idalioensis from " Castle Creek" in the 

Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences in 1870 (vol. 22, 

p. 57) repeating the same and adding two figures in 1877.4 This is 

given as a Tertiary species of the Fossil Hill, Nevada, horizon. To these 

species of southwestern Idaho, Dr. White 5 added one more in 1882, viz, 

Latia dallii, which is said to have come from " 50 miles below Salmon 

Falls, Snake Eiver," and was associated with Melania taylori and Litliasia antiqiia. .

Much confusion has already arisen concerning the horizon of these 

molluscau forms. This may be stated briefly as follows: In 1870 Meek 6 

correlated certain deposits on Castle Creek, Idaho, with others at Fossil Hill, Nevada, by identifying " Splicerium? idahoense" from both localities. King having applied the name Truckee group to the beds containing this species at Fossil Hill,7 would presumably include the 

Castle Creek beds in the same group; at least he has been quoted 8 as 

doing so. Dr. White goes still further and states that Gabb's two 

species evidently come from this same geological horizon, hence they 

all belong to the Truckee Miocene.

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 1879, 3d ser., vol. 18, p. 408.

2 Am. Nat., 1880, vol. 14, p. 458.

3 Op. cit., p. 13, pi. 2, ligs. 21,22.

«U. S. Geol. Explor. Exped. 40tli Parallel, vol. 4; pfc. 1, p. 183, pi. 1C, figs. 1, la. 

6 Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 1882., vol. 5, p. 100, pi. v, figs. 17-20.

r> Proc. Phila. Ac.Nat. Sci., 1870, p. 57. Notice that Meek here gives other fossils from "Idaho territory." This should read Nevada. See vol. 4, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., "Ornithology and Paleontology.' 1 

' U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1878, vol. 1, p. 420. 

8 Dr. C. A. White: Proc.U. S.Nat.Mus., 1882, vol. 5,p.99.
286 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

From Castle Creek and other localities in southwestern Idaho, Cope* 

has described numerous fish remains, referring them all to his " Idaho 

group, or "beds," which he regards as of lower or middle Pliocene 

age.2 To this same group he refers Meek's molluscan species from 

this creek and from Fossil Hill, as well as Leidy's Mastodon mirificus 

and Equus excelsus* from Sinker Creek, Idaho. Accordingly Truckee 

group (King) and Idaho group (Cope) become synonyms. If so, in judging by Cope's determination of the age of the latter, the Truckee group 

must be of Pliocene age. Something of the kind has been suggested 

by Cope,4 though for this he gives Dr. White as authority.

The fossiliferous deposits here referred to are of limited geographic 

extent, as maybe seen by consulting the accompanying map. Igneous 

rocks are met with on all sides. King calls special attention to the fact 

that in southwestern Idaho " there are two sets of Pliocene strata, separated by basaltic eruptions.5 He states, moreover, that 

Sections obtained along the plains between the Owyhee Mountains and Snake 

River show that a considerable portion of the beds of the valley, which consist 

chiefly of white sands and marls carrying numerous well denned Pliocene forms, 

were overlaid by large accumulations of basaltic flow, and that subsequently a second period of lacustrine deposition took place, likewise characterized by Pliocene 

forms, the latter representing a more advanced stage of development and more recent type than those beneath the basalt.

SALT LAKE GROUP.

By looking at maps 2, 4, and 5 accompanying Hayden's Twelfth Beport c it will be seen that certain deposits exposed along the borders of 

Malade, Cache, Port Neuf, Upper Port Neuf, and Bear Lake valleys have 

been assigned an upper Tertiary age and have been termed the " Salt 

Lake group." 7

It seems indeed possible, if not probable, that these various beds, 

which are made up of clays, sands, marls, limestone, and shales,8 may 

have been deposited in outliers of the great Shoshone Lake of King, 9 

and, if so, they are synchronous with the Humboldt group of that 

author.

This so-called Salt Lake group has yielded few fossils in this part of 

the state. In Utah, however, near " The Gates," Peale has recorded 

numerous genera of fresh-Avater rnollusca, Limncea, Valvata, Planorbis, 

Splmrium, Bytliinella, Physa, Vivipara^0 etc.; but these furnish no definite clue as to the age of the group.

1 Proc. Piiila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1883, pp. 153-1CC. 

' Amor. Nat., 1889, p. 254.

3 Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1870, p. 67, and 1883, p. 1C6.

4 Am. Nat., 1877, 456, et in litt.

" TJ. S. Geol. Surv. 40th Parallel, 1878, vol. 1, p. 440.

6 Maps and Panoramas: Twelfth Annual Report of U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey of the Territories, 

1878.

7 Fourth An. Kept. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1870, p. 169.

8 Eleventh Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1877, pp. 604-605.

»U. S. Geol. Explor., 40th Par., 1878, vol. 1, p. 456. 

"Eleventh Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1877, pp. 604-605.
MONTANA NEOCENE LAKE BEDS. 287

The Vivigara, however, if correctly named, is of much interest, 

owing to the fact that it is not known west of the Eockies alive. Its 

occurrence in various places in central and eastern Or'egon is referred 

to in the discussion of that state.

This group is sometimes overlain by Quaternary sedimentary deposits, as by the Cache group in the valley of that name,1 but not unfrequently it is capped by a bed of basalt as along the low range of 

hills that border the east side of the great Snake Eiver basin, especially from Port Neuf Canyon northward.2

The beds of this group are generally somewhat inclined, though generally at a low angle, rarely exceeding 10°, and always in the same 

direction as the inclination of the underlying formations.3

MONTANA.

NEOCENE LAKE BEDS.

Passing from Idaho, over the "divide" into Montana, beds of Neocene lacustrine materials are found well developed in the valley of Red 

Eock Creek, one of the head branches of the Jefferson fork of Missouri 

Eiver. These beds are often several hundred feet in thickness, and consist for the most part of a

light gray marl, with, conci^tionary masses, and a sort of pudding stone. 4 In these 

concretions are often inclosed masses of basalt, which occur here and there all over 

the country. While we have the evidence of a period of effusion subsequent to the 

deposition of these lake beds, from the fact that the basalt lies over them, we see 

by these isolated masses frequently that there were other periods either before or 

during the Pliocene. At one locality I found in these lake deposits the fossil remains of a species of A.ncMtherlum5 and a land snail (Helix). The inclination of 

these modern beds is west 5°.

Fort Ellis beds. In the vicinity of Fort Ellis Peale describes 6 bluffs 

composed of "Pliocene" sandstones, marls, and conglomerates.

The strata are for the most part horizontal, although inclined sometimes at a very 

small angle, which is never more than 5°. The height of these bluffs above the level' 

of the creek is 175 feet. They are remnants of Pliocene formations that once spread 

over the entire valley of the Gallatin and formed the bottom of the vast lake that 

spread over what are now the valleys of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers, 

reaching to the junction of the three streams. * * * Each of the rivers-has cut 

deeply into these Pliocene rocks, and their vflleys are the results of the erosion that 

has taken place since the draining of the ancient lake.

The " Pliocene " sandstone and marls of the Yellowstone valley are 

capped by basaltic plateaus. 

Deep Creelc beds. Still farther to the east, along Deep Creek, exist

1 Eleventh Ann. Ropt. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1877, p. COS.

2 Fifth Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol.. and Geog. Survey, Terr., 187.1, p. 25.

3 For a description of certain volcanic ash deposits in this part of the State, termed " Pliocene sandatone," see Am. Jour. Sci.,3d ser., 1886, vol. 32, pp. 199-204.

4 Haydcn, 5th Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1871, p. 33.

8 Anchitheriuin agreste Leidy. Found in indurated, gray, arenaceous marl, compared with Miocene 

forms from Dakota and Oregon. Leidy, TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, vol. 1, pp. 251-252. Ibid., p. 323, 

"Miocene?"

 Sixth Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey Terr., 1873, pp. 112-113.
288 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

remarkable deposits of both " Miocene " and " Pliocene " ages. These 

were brought to light by the explorations of Grinnell 1 and Dana, who 

describe them as follows:

The Tertiary beds found here consist for the most part of homogeneous cream-colored clays, so hard as to bo with difficulty cut with a knife. The beds are horizontal 

and rest uncomformably upon the upturned yellow and red slates below. The clays of 

which they are formed resemble closely those found in the Miocene beds at Scotts 

Bluffs, near the North Platte Eiver in Wyoming. The deposits at Camp Baker have 

been extensively denuded and nowhere reach any very great thickness. At a point 

about 3 miles southeast of the post, some bluffs were noticed where the Miocene 

beds attained a thickness of 200 feet, and these were capped by 50 feet of Pliocene 

clays, both beds containing characteristic fossils. * * *

It seems probable that in Pliocene time at least the Baker Lake may have extended 

north to the Missouri River, and perhaps up that stream to the Three Forks, thus 

connecting it with the lake which existed near Fort Ellis.

In 1877 Prof. Cope 2 sent his assistant, Mr. Isaac, to collect fossil 

remains from this basin. The results were satisfactory. A considerable number of species was obtained. Of these Pithecistes brevifacics, 

Bracliymeryx feliceps, Cyclopidius simiis, C. heterodon, and Blastomeryx 

lorealis were described by Cope in 1877 3, while a complete faunal list 

was given nine years later 4, which includes the following species:

Mastodon proavus Cope. Cyclopidius cmydinus Cope.

Protohippus sejunctus Cope. Pithecistes brevifacies Cope.

Merycochcerus montanus Cope. decedtns Cope.

Merychyus zygomatious Cope. helerodon Cope.

pariogonua Cope. Procamelus vel Protolabis sp.

Cyclopidius simus Cope. Blastomeryx ftorealis Cope.

The horizon represented by this old lake formation is that of the 

Ticholeptus beds of Cope, and is by this author correlated with a somewhat similar deposit on " Cottonwood Creek," Oregon, though but one 

species, Blastomeryx borealis, is found at both localities, "a fact which 

indicates some important difference in the horizon, either topographically or epochal." 5

NORTH DAKOTA. .

WHITE RIVER BEDS.

Our present knowledge of the existence, characteristics, and distribution of Neocene deposits in t^is State is limited to the following 

letter from Prof. E. D. Cope, read before the American Philosophical 

Society, September 21,1883,6 dated Sully Springs, Dakota, September

7,1883:

I have the pleasure to announce to you that I have within the last week discovered 

the locality of a new lake of the White River epoch, at a point in this Territory nearly 

200 miles northwest of the nearest boundary of the deposit of this age hitherto known. 

The beds, which are unmistakably of the White River formation, consist of greenish

1 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 11, pp. 126-128.

3 U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1884, vol. 3, book 1, p. xxvi.

8 Proc. Am. Philoa. Soc..'1877-78, vol. 17, pp. 219-223.

4 Cope. Proc. Am. PLilos. Soc., 1885-'86, vol. 23, p. 359.

e Cope, Am. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 369.

6 Proc. Am. PLilo. Soc., 1883, vol. 21, pp. 216-217.
"HAHIH ? SOUTH DAKOTA. 289

sandstone a.nd sand bods of a combined thickness of about 100 feet. These rest upon 

white calcareous clay, rocks, and marls of a total thickness of 100 feet. These probably also belong to the White River epoch, but contain no fossils. Below this deposit 

is a third bed of drab clay, which, swells and cracks on exposure to weather, whicli 

rests on a thick bed of white and gray"sand, more or less mixed with gravel. This 

bed, with the overlying clay, probably belongs to the Laramie period, as "the beds 

lower in the series certainly do.

The deposit as observed does not extend over 10 miles in north and south diameter. 

The east and west extent was not determined.

The fossils, which indicate clearly the age of the formation, are the following: 

Pisces:

Jiltineaalcs, sp. nov .... ) 

Aminnrns, sp. nov..... )

Lacertilia:

sp. iiidct.................................................. 1

Testudinata:

Trionyx sp ............ \

Trionyx sp ............ > .................................. 3

Stylemys sp ........... )

Rodentia:

Castor sp.................................................. 1

Carnivora:

Galecynus f/rcf/ariiis.... \

Jloploplioncns sp....... > ---- -- - ---- -- ---- ----. 3

? Hoploplionens sp..... )

Perissodactyla:

Accra!hcrin in sp ....... \

Accrathcriinn sp ....... v .................................. 3

AnchUhwium s[> ....... ;

Artiodactyla:

Elotlierinm ramosnm ... 1 

ffyopotamits sp .......

Orcodon sp ...........

Orcodon sp ...........

'Orcodoii sp ...........

Lej)tQ>neryx sp ... 

Hypertrafiitlus sp

Total species............................................ 20

Interesting features of the above catalogue are: The absence of Tlyracodon and 

1'ocbrotlicrium, so abundant in the bods of this ago elsewhere; the presence of fishes, 

not hitherto detected in them; and the presence of the genus of tortoises, Trionyx. 

The latter genus has not hitherto been found in our western, lacustrine beds of later 

than Eocene age, while they are abundant in our modern rivers. This discovery partially bridges the interval. The same is true of the fishes mentioned, Avhich represent the order NematognatM.

SOUTH DAKOTA.

WHITE RIVER GROUP.

During early Miocene or Oligoceiie times the triangular area formed 

by the Cheyenne and Missouri iwers and the Nebraska State line was 

occupied by the northern limb of a vast fresh water lake that extended 

southward and westward iuto Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. To 

this sheet of water King has applied the name of Sioux Lake,1 and has

1 U. S. Geol. Ex. 40tli Parallel, 1878, vol. 1, p. 451.

Bull. 84 19
290 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [nui-i,. 84.

endeavored to demonstrate its contemporaneity with the " Pah-TJte" 

lake west of the Rockies. Its sedimentary formations now form the 

Avell known White Biver group, so strikingly displayed in the *" Manvaises Terres," 1 and from which such vast quantities of vertebrate 

remains have been obtained.

The subdivision of this group into " beds," and the determination of 

the geographical distribution of each, has been done almost exclusively 

by Dr. F. Y. Hayden. His generalized section,2 constructed in 1857, 

must still be considered our most reliable source of information regarding the general stratigraphy of this region. Accordingly, that portion 

of it which relates to the Tertiary series is here given in full.

Vertical section, shoivhig the order of superposition of the different lcds of tl\e Bad Lands 

of WJiite River, so far as determined.

MIOCENE TERTIARY.

EedH.

6

s>«

BedF.

W

BedD.

d

S

W

M

T3

w

«i

 g

p}

Subdivisions.

Gray and greenish gray sandstone, varying from 

a very compact structure to a conglomerate.

Yellowish gray grit, passing down into a yellow 

and light yellow argillo-calcareous marl, with 

numerous calcareous concretions and much 

crystalline material, like sulphate of baryta. 

Fossils : Hipparion, Merychippus, Steneojiber, 

etc.

Grayish and light gray rather coarse sandstone, 

with much sulphate of alumina (?) disseminated through it.

Yellowish and flesh-colored indurated argillo-calcareous bed, with toiigh argillo-calcareous concretions containing Testudo, Hipparion, Steneojiber, Oreodon, Rhinoceros, etc.

Yellow and light yellow calcareous marl, with 

argillo-calcareous concretions and slabs of siliceous limestone, containing well preserved 

fresh- water shells.

Light gray siliceous grit, sometimes forming a 

compact' fine-grained sandstone.

A reddish, flesh-colored, argillo-calcareous, indurated material, passing down into a gray clay, 

containing concretionary sandstone, sometimes 

an aggregate of angular grains of quartz, underlaid by a flesh-colored argillo-calcareous indurated stratum containing a profusion of mammalian and chelonian remains. Turtle and 

Oreodou bed.

Light gray calcareous grit, passing down into a 

stratum composed of an aggregate of rather 

coarse granular quartz, underlain by an ashcolored argillaceous indurated bed with a greenish tinge. QMtanotherium bed.

Localities.

Bijou Hills, Medicine Hills, 

Eagle Nest hills.

Bijou Hills, Medicine Hills, 

Eagle N"est Hills, and numerous localities on south 

side of White River; also 

at the head of Teton River.

Along White River valley on 

the south side.

Seen along the White River 

valley on the south side.

On the south side of White 

River. 

Seen in its greatest thickness at Pianos Spring.

Seen on both sides of White 

River ; also at Ash Grove 

Spring.

Revealed on both sides of 

White river and throughout the main body of the 

Bad Lands.

Best developed at the entrance of the basin from 

Bear Creek. Seen also in 

the channel of White River.

feet. 20 

feet. 50 

20 feet.

feet. 30 

40 feet.

feet. 20 

feet. 80 

50 feet.

Cretaceous system.

1 For a vivid description of this region see Owen's Geol. Surv. Miuu., Wis., etc., 1852, pp. 190-197.

2 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1857, p. 153.
DHVARKfsND } WHITE RIVER GROUP. 291

The White River group includes but the first four "beds" of this section, 1 while bed E, and those above it, belong to the Loup Fork group, 

to be noticed hereafter.

The manner in which these beds are exposed along Sage and Bear 

creeks, tributaries of the Cheyenne, as well as along White River in the 

vicinity of Wounded Knee Creek, is clearly stated in the itinerary of 

Hay den's journey 2 from Bear Peak to Fort Randall, on the Missouri.

Much detailed information is given regarding the two lower beds of 

his group, which, it will be observed, must necessitate slight modifications in the thickness given to these beds in the general section.

Exposures about 15 miles above the mouth of Bear Creek, on the left 

side of the Cheyenne, present the following strata:3

Ft. In. 

f 1. Light gray indurated clay...................... 6

 . 2. Seams of gray sandstone ....................... 1 6

Titauothermm bed. 0 A i i -, i ..- -, *.-* -, + 3. Ash-colored plastic clay Avith a greenish tinge,

|^ and a pinkish band of fine grit at the base..... 30

Between the Cheyenne and White rivers both Titanotherium and 

Oreodon beds are exposed. The following section4 shows their main 

characteristics:

Ft. In. 

( 1. Flesh-colored marl.............................. 10

Bed ................ <| 2. Bluish laminated clay with a yellowish tinge .... 2

[^ 3. Flesh-colored indurated marl.................... 25

4. Light gray indurated1 argillaceous grit, forming 

conglomerate of nodules of clay................ 4-6

5. Flesh-colored indurated grit ..................... 20

6. Bluish argillaceous grit...... ................... 10

Oreodon bed........ - 7. Flesh-colored marl.............................. 4

8. Argillaceous grit................................ 6-12

9. Flesh-colored marl.............................. 30

C10. A light gray calcareous grit passing doAvn into an 

Titanothcrinm bed. ) ash-colored clay, with micaceous and siliceous

sandstone at base tinged with a purplish hue. .80-100 

11. Cretaceous beds Nos. 5 and 4.

Still farther southward the White River beds gradually disappear 

beneath the overlying Loup Fork deposits, showing in many instances 

that the upper surface of the former must havebeen extensively eroded 

before the deposition of the latter.5

No attempt will be made in this place to discuss or even to mention 

by species, genus, or family the vast assemblage of animals which, have 

left the re'cord of their existence in the mud of this bygone lake. For 

information on this subject the reader should refer to the following 

works of Dr. Leidy: " Description of the Eemains of Extinct Maiu1 U. S. Geol. Snrv. Terr., 1884, vol. 3, Tertiary Vertebrata, p. 14. 

8 Trails. Am Phil. Soc., new series, 1863, vol. 12, pp. 29-33. 

'Ibid., p. 29. 

4 Ibid., p. 31.

"Trims. Am. Phil. Soc., 1803, new series, vo], 12, p, 33, auilJoxir. Acad. Nat. Sci. Plula.,1869,2ud scries, 

vol. 7, p. 13,
292 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

malia and Chelonia, from Nebraska Territory," 1 "The Ancient Fauna of 

Nebraska, or a Description of Remains of Extinct Mammalia and Chelonia from tlie Mauvaises Terres ot Nebraska," and "The Extinct Mammalian Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska." 2 °

Though these beds are so well developed and so well characterized 

by numerous fossil remains, geologists and paleontologists alike have 

assigned them to different horizons in the Tertiary series. In the 

earlier publications of Leidy & Owen, 3 they were known as Eocene beds 

or deposits; later the unanimous verdict was that these same beds are 

more properly classed as Miocene;4 still later Cope reversed this upward 

tendency, showing that several forms were closely allied to the so-called 

Oligocene5 forms of Europe; and lastly Scott maintains that some 

" newly discovered forms strongly confirm the view that the White 

River beds correspond to the Lower Oligocene of Europe. They largely 

increase the number of known correspondences between the White 

River formation on the one hand and the Uinta and Bridger on the 

other." 6

LOUP FORK GROUP.

The geographical distribution and lithological characters of the 

various beds of this group are briefly stated in Hay den's generalized 

section given on p. 291. It will receive little attention here, since its 

greatest development and most interesting features are displayed farther south in Nebraska. Yet there are a few outliers of this group 

some distance east from the typical Mauvaises Terres that must be 

noticed in this place, viz, Bijou Hills. Concerning them Hayden7 

remarks:

In the summer of 1853 I ascended one of these hills nearest the river in company 

with ray friend Mr. Meek, and from a denuded portion near the summit we obtained 

several fragments of jaws and teeth belonging to two new species of mammals, 

which have been described by Dr. Leidy as Hippanon spcciosum and Merycadus 

nccalus. In the autumn of 185G I discovered on the denuded summits of the same 

hills Hipparion ocddentalis and two new genera, Leptarcus primus, an animal allied 

to the racoon, and Merychippus insrynis, a remarkable new genus of ruminant horse. 

These remains have all been described by Dr. Leidy in the proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy.

The summits of these hills are capped with a bed of bluish gray, compact rock, 

quite variable in its character. Sometimes it is very fine, not unlike a metamorphic 

rock; again it is composed of an aggregation of particles of granular quartz, inter1 Owen's Geological Survey of Minn., etc., 1852, pp, 535-572.

*Smithsonian Contr. to Knowl., 1854, vol. 6, Art. 7. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci.,Phila., 1869, 2d ser. vol.7. 

Marsh has also described several new species from the Mauvaise Terres. See Am. Jour. Sci., 1874, 3d 

ser., vol, 7, p. 534; 1875, vol, 9, p. 240; 1887, vol. 34, pp, 328, 330, 331, 1890. vol. 39, pp. 523, 524; 1890, vol. 40, p. 

179; 1891, vol. 12, p. 81. Scott and Osborn give no definite localities to the forms they describe or diacuss from the White Eiver group. Bull. Mus. Com, Zool., Harv. Coll., 1890, vol. 20, No. 3.

3 Owen's Geol. Surv. Minn., etc., 1852, pp. 199, 539, and Smithsonian Contr. to Knowl., vol. 6, art. 7.

4 F. V. Hayden: Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1857, p. 153, and Trans. Auier, Phil. Soc., now series, 

1863, vol. 12, p. 105.

 Amer. Nat., 1887, vol. 21, p. 450.

6 Princeton Col. Bull., Nov., 1890, vol. 2, pt. 4, p. 75.

'Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1857, p. 157.
DALL AND i HAK1US. ' NEBRASKA. 293

sperscd with a few small water worn pebbles; then a coarse gray somewhat friable 

sandstone. Farther iuto the interior, capping the summit of the long hill, this 

rock may bo seen in places 20 to 30 feet in thickness. The calcareous grits and marls 

tvnderneath may be subdivided in descending thus:

First. Yellowish gray grit, with compact fine calcareous concretions.

Second. Yellowish white calcareous marl, containing great quantities of the comminuted fragments of bones.

Third. Compact whitish calcareous clay, with a few vertebrate remains and concreting Iimest9iie. The aggregate thickness of these beds I could not determine, as 

the sides of the hill were for the most part covered with a surface deposit of considerable thickness, sustaining a good growth of vegetation.

NEBRASKA.

TEKTIAIUES OF WHITE AND NIOBKARA K1VKUS.

Stratigraphy. Under South Dakota we have given Dr. Hayden's 

section of the Loup Fork and Wl.ii.te River groups as they are exposed 

along White River and in that state generally. For convenience in 

reference we here insert the same author's " vertical section showing 

the order of superposition of the different beds of the Tertiary basin of 

White and Mobrara rivers." ]

B

£3

o

o

13 CH

M

o

M

O

3

fri

pi

W

O 

O

ft

S

cq

w

o

n

 s

n

Subdivisions.

Yellow siliceous marl, similar in its character

to the loess of the Rhine, passing down into variagated indurated clays and brown-yellow fine

grits; contains remains of extinct quadrupeds,

mingled with those identical with recent ones;

also a few mollusca, mostly identical with recent

species so far as determined.

First, dark gray or brown sand, loose, incoherent, with remains of mastodon elephant, etc.;

second, sand and gravel incoherent; third, yellowish white grit, with many calcareous, arenaceous concretions; fourth, gray sand, with a

greenish tinge; contains the greater part of the 

organic remains; fifth, deep yellowish red arenaceous marl; sixth, yellowish gray grit, sometimes quite calcareous, with numerous layers of

concretionary limestone from 2 to G inches in

thickness, containing fresh water and laud shells,

tiuccinca, Limnea, Paludina, Jlelix, etc., closely

allied and perhaps identical with living species;

also much wood of coniferous character.

Usually a coarso grained sandstone, sometimes 

heavy bedded and compact; sometimes loose and 

incoherent; varies much in different localities.

Forms immense masses of conglomerate; also

contains layers of tabular limestone witli indistinct organic remains; very few mammalian remains detected, and those in a fragmentary condition. Passes gradually into the bed below.

A dull, reddish brown, indurated grit, with

many layers of silico-calcareous concretions, sometimes forming a heavy -bed dec), fine-grained sandstone; contains comparatively few organic remains.

Localities.

Most fully developed along

the Missouri River, from the

mouth of the Niobrara to St.

Joseph; also in the Platte

Valley and on the Loup Fork.

Covers a very largo area on

Loup Fork from the mouth

of North Branch to the source

of Loup Fork; also in the 

Platto Valley. Most fully

developed on the Niobrara 

River, extending from the

mouth of Turtle River 300

miles up the Niobrara. Also

on Bijou Hills and Medicine

Hills. Thinly represented in

the valley of 'White River.

Most fully developed along 

the upper portion of Niobrara 

River and inthoregion around

Fort Laramie. Seen also on

the White River and on Grindstone Hills.

Niobrara and Platte rivers ; well developed in the region 

of Fort Laramie; also in the 

valley of White River. Conspicuous and composing the 

main part of the dividing

ridge oetwoou White and

Niobrara rivers.

Estimated 

thickness.

*i

t«

o

S

o

0

o

CO

-ti

1

o 

o

T*

$

S

CO

o

 8

<N

O 

00

o& 

gTjl

o

sCO

>Pruc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1858, p. 148.
294 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

a

Ed

O

0

J3

02

P

O

B

H

O

o

«

d 

-§

0

a;

°«

B!J

CO^D

IB

f-i

^

 3

o

e

2

"o

a

B

H

«

AC9

^

0

ft

Subdivisions.

Very fine yellow calcareous sand, not differing 

very materially from bed 1). with numerous

layers of concretions and rarely organic remains

passing down into a variegated bed consisting of

alternate layers of dark brown clay and light 

gray calcareous grit forming bauds, of which I

counted twenty-seven at one locality, varying

from 1 inch to 2 feet in thickness.

A deep flesh-colored argillo-calcareous indurated 

grit; the outside, when weathered, haa the appearance of a plastic clay. Passes down into a

gray clay with layers of sandstone, overlaid by 

a flesh-colored argillo-calcareous stratum, containing a profusion of mammalian and chelouiuu

remains. Turtle and Oreodon bed.

Light gray fine sand, with more or less calcareous matter, passing down into an ash-colored

plastic clay, with large quantities of quartz grains 

disseminated through it, sometimes forming aggregated masses like quartzose sandstone cemented with plaster; then an ash-colored clay

with a greenish tinge, underlaid at base by a

light gray and ferruginous siliceous sand and

gravel with pinkish bands. Immense quantities

of silex in theform of seams all through the beds.

Titauotherium bed.

Cretaceous beds 5 and 4, with their usual Jithological characters and fossils.

Localities.

White River, Bear Creek, 

Ash Grove Spring, head of

Cheyenne River. Most

conspicuous near White

River.

Old Womans Creek, a fork 

of Cheyenne Eiver ; also on

the head of the South Fork

of the Cheyenne; most 

conspicuous on Sage and

Bear creeks and at Ash

Grove Spring. Well developed in numerous localities in the valley of White

River.

Old Woman's Creek ; also in

many localities along the

valley of the South Fork of 

Cheyenne. Best development on Sage and Bear 

creeks. Seen at several localities in the vaney of the

White River.

Exposed underneath the Tertiary beds on the South

Fork of Cheyenne and its

southern branches, also in

the White River Valley

near its source.

Estimated 

thickness.

^

&

o

00

-2

o

o

o

o

r-l

O

O

00

"S

O

Or-l

+J

O 

00

Concerning the characteristics and distribution of the beds mentioned 

in the above table Hayden1 gives the following itinerary notes:

Ascending the Loop Fork, the lirst indication we observed of this formation was 

near the old Pawnee village, about 8 miles above the mouth of Beaver Creek. Here 

we found, near the bed of the river, large masses of pebbly conglomerate, cemented 

with a calcareous grit, which undoubtedly belongs to bed C of the vertical section. 

The distant hills on either side of the river are covered with a considerable thickness 

of Pliocene and post-Pliocene beds.

Near the mouth of North Branch the following section of the strata in descending 

order was observed:

Feet. 

(d) Yellowish brown laminated argillaceous grit; effervesces briskly

with muriatic acid.

(c) Similar to the bed above, but of deeper color, more compact, containing a greater per cent of clay, with numerous calcareous 

concretions disseminated through it.......................... 70-100

(Z>) Light brown clay filled with whitish particles like magnesia.... 70

(a) Gray coarse sand forming a heavy bedded sandstone reaches to

the water's edge ............................................. 30

In the upper beds of the above local section fragments of mammalian and chelonian remains were found, and all but the lower bed, which is bed E of the vertical

' Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1858, pp. 150-152.
TERTIARIES OF WHITE AND NIOBRARA RIVERS. 295

section, are Pliocene. Lieut. Warren explored the North Broach 30 miles above its 

month, and met with a similar series of beds, containing the same organic remains. 

Above the mouth of North Branch, bed "a""of the local section appears in the form 

of largo ledges, of light gray arenaceous limestone, filled with silicified tubes like 

the stems of plants aud seeds resembling cherry-stones. On the distant hills, when 

exposed by erosion, I found numerous fragments of bones and teeth of Hipparion, 

Cervus, etc.

About longitude 99° we enter the desolate region of the sand hills. I measured 

the height of these hills at one locality and found them to be 230 feet above the bed 

of Lonp Fork, and composed of Pliocene beds as abase, then a thin bed of post-Pliocene marl overlaid by a great thickness of loose incoherent sand and gravel derived 

from the erosion of the different Tertiary beds. The whole country from the head of 

Loup Fork presents o similar character, consisting of movable sand hills, the true 

Tertiary beds being being very seldom exposed. On the South Branch the streams 

cut through the" following Pliocene strata:

Feot.

(c) Yellowish brown grit containing Mastodon mirificus (Leidy).

(Z>) White chalky stratum, charged with fresh-water and land shells of 

the genera Helix, Planorbis, Limnea, etc., probably identical with 

recent species.................................................. 3

(a) Heavy bedded gray sandstone .................................... 8-10

From the head of Loup Fork to the Niobrara River the whole country is covered 

with this superficial deposit of sand, which is blown by the Avind into ridges aud 

high conical hills, rendering traveling quite difficult. On reaching the Niobrara, 

wo find bed E quite well developed; also a full series of Pliocene beds filled with 

Mammalian remains. Passing up the Niobrara about 50 miles the Pliocene strata gradually disappear, and the whole country is occupied by the upper Miocene beds E and 

D. A butte near this point affords a fine detailed section of the gray sandstone bed 

E, which measured from the base with a pocket level I found to be 166 feet in height. 

It is composed mostly of gray, coarse grit, sometimes quite incoherent, containing 

many layers of concretionary sandstone. On the summit is a thin bed of shelving 

limestone, similar to that contain ing organic remains at Pinau's spring, though probably not holding the same geological position. Indistinct traces of fresh-water shells 

and numerous remains of fish scales, vertebrates, etc., were visible in the tabular 

masses. It seems to form the upper portion of bed E, and to vary much in its character in different localities. It presents every variety, from a translucent chalcedony 

to a fine grained sandstone or compact limestone, and furnishes those chalcedonic 

masses which meet th6 eye of the traveler so often and have the appearance of 

erratic blocks. Farther from the river, and holding a higher position than the summit of the Butte, are thin beds of yellow and yellowish gray calcareous grit, undoubtedly of Pliocene age, containing numerous fragments of teeth and finely preserved 

bones of the mastodon and elephant. As we pass up the river the gray sandstone, 

bed E, presents a great variety of lithological characters. Sometimes it foriijs a 

coarse conglomerate; then an aggregate of grains of quartz cemented by calcareous 

matter.

About 60 miles above the point where we struck the Niobrara, bed D, of the vertical section, is revealed to the water's edge. The dip of the strata toward the cast 

gradually brings this bed to view quite conspicuously. It is composed of flesh-colored calcareous grit, and the eroded material of this bed gives to the country a dull 

reddish yellow tint. It also contains many layers of silico-calcareous concretions 

forming large ledges which break into irregular masses on exposure. The more 

incoherent material has much the color and appearance of that composing the Turtle 

bed at Bear Creek, but contains much less clay. It does not differ materially from 

its equivalent in the White River valley, of which Eagle Nest Butte forms a part.
296 . THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

These notes embody the greater part of all that is known concerning 

the stratigraphic geology of the Tertiary in Nebraska. The limited area 

along Lodge Pole Creek in extreme western Nebraska has been reported 

upon by Cope,1 as stated under Colorado, while bed D, referred to 

above, has been studied by Mr. R. S. Hill.2 Numerous articles have, to 

be sure, appeared in various reports and periodicals, giving in some instances fairly definite information regarding localities where vertebrate 

remains have been found, but this is still insufficient to form a basis for 

stratigraphic generalizations.

The geological maps of Hayden, Hitchcock, and McGee represent all 

the Tertiaries of Nebraska by one tint, since the areal distribution of 

the various subdivisions has not been determined. The same method 

must be followed in the map accompanying this report.

White River group. The White River group as first defined 3 included beds A-E of the above section, while the Loup Fork group included only a bed F; the former was estimated to have a thickness of 

" 1,000 feet or more," while the latter was given as " 300 to 400 feet."

LOUP FORK GROUP.

The 'taxonomy and general features of the White River group have 

already been^iven under South Dakota, where its typical development 

is attained. Like features of the Loup Fork group will for a similar 

reason be now presented. Bed. F (Haydeu, 1858, or "Loup River 

beds," Meek and Hayden, 1861) was formerly regarded as " Pliocene 

Tertiary," not only on account of the unconformity between its strata 

and those of the supposed Miocene beloAv, but also because its fauna 

was found to be " specifically distinct from, yet intermediate between 

that of the Miocene and our present period." 4

This view was unchallenged until 1873, when Cope 5 wrote:

The Loup Fork beds, from the greater proportion of the existing genera which 

they contain, display a resemblance to the European Pliocene, but they differ strikingly in the greater number of horses and camels which they contain. The smaller 

percentage of existing genera in the Loup Fork beds, with the presence of an oreodont (Meryohyus), indicates that these also should be placed anterior to the Pliocene 

of France.

Later, in 1875 6 he found "that the facies of the fauna of this horizon 

throughout the West, including as it doesAmpkicyon, Dicrocerus, Hippotherium, Aceratherium, Mastodon allied to M. angustidens, etc., more 

nearly resembles the upper Miocene of Europe than the Pliocene of 

that continent." Marsh,7 however, that same year, concluded "that

1 Bull. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., No. 1,1874, pp. 10 et scq.

* Am. Nat., 1880, vol. 14, p. 141.

»Proc..Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1861, vol. 13. p. 433.

4 Proc. Pliila. Acacl. Nat. Sci., 1858, p. 157. See also Proc. PLila. Aead. Nat. Sci., 1801, p. 435.

6 TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv., Colo., 1873, p. 402.

6proc. PMla. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1875, p. 257.

*Aiu. Jour. Sci., 3d scr., 1875, vol. 9, p. 51.
LOUP FORK GROUP. 297

most of the upper beds (D and B), 500 feet at least in thickness, which 

were called Miocene by Prof. Hay den," should, from their fossil contents, be regarded as Pliocene. Cope, 1 in 1876, gave a list of Loup 

Fork genera, showing their stratigraphic position in Europe. This confirmed his views already expressed. In 1879 he instituted a comparison 

of Loup Fork genera on the one hand aud Falunian aud Oeningian on 

the other. The conclusion reached by so doing was "the facies of the 

Loup Fork horizon is then a compound of that of the Falunian and 

Oeningian or Middle and Upper Miocene."2 In the same article he subdivides the Loup Fork group formation into two divisions on paleontological grounds, under the names of Ticholeptus and Procamelus 

beds. The former name was first applied to certain deposits already 

described on Deep River, Montana, which were recognized as having 

more affinity to the White River group than does the ''True Loup 

Fork."

The same subdivisions obtain in vol. 3 (1884) of the Final Reports of 

Hayden's Survey. It is there observed that bed D of Hayden's section 

is the Nebraskan representative of the Ticholeptus bed.3 In a brief 

article in the American Naturalist (1886) entitled u The vertebrate fauna 

of the Ticholeptus Beds," Prof. Cope states that the horizon represented "is intermediate in all respects between the Middle and Upper 

Miocene formations of the West, as represented by the John Day and 

Loup Fork beds." 4 The same idea is carried out in his paper 5 entitled 

" The Mesozoic and Csenozoic Realms of the Interior of North America.," 

where the Ticholeptus division of the Miocene is given equal taxouomic 

importance with the White River or Loup Fork, though its greater 

affinities to the latter are clearly pointed out.

Prof. Marsh, as we have seen, in 1875 included the greater part of 

beds D and E of Hayden's section in the Pliocene, i. e., in the Loup 

Fork or Mobrara formation. By referring to the various papers of this 

author, cited below, it will be seen that he, although making no special 

attempt to maintain his position, cites all Loup Fork or Mobrara species as from a Pliocene horizon. Indeed, in a letter dated March 11, 

1891, he writes: " The Loup Fork or Mobrara group should be classified as Pliocene and not Miocene."

Profs. Scott and Osborne, in Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1890, vol. 20, 

No. 3, p. 65, refer the "Loup Fork mammals" to the " Upper Miocene."

1 U. S. Geograpli. Surv. AV. lOOfcli Mer., 1877, vol. 4, pt. 2, p. 364.

2 TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., Bull. 5, No. 1,1879, pp. 40-47.

8 Op. cit., p. 18.

« Vol. 20, p. 367.

* Am. Nat., 1887, vol. 21, p. 455.
298 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

The conclusions of the foregoing discussion may be represented 

diagraminatically as follows:

Miocene.

Bod A. Bed B. Bed C. Bed D. 1 Bed E.

White River Miocene...... ...... .... --- ---------- ... - --

AVhit<? T^iver Lower Olipocenc)

Niobrara or Loup Fork Pli

Ticholeptus 1 Loup fork M 

Miocene. |

. . - - T.nim "Fnrlr Minr.f>iif>

Pliocene.

Bed F.

Loup Eiver 

Pliocene.

Loup Pork 

Miocene?

*

Haydeu's section of 1858.

Meek and Hayden, 1861. 

Marsh, 1875. 

Cope, 1873.

Cope, 1884. 

Cope, 1887.

Scott and Osborn, 1890.

It seems unnecessary in this place to go into details regarding the 

.genesis of this group. It, like the White Eiver, John Day, Green 

Biver, or most of the Tertiary formations of the " interior," resulted 

from successive sedimentation in an extensive sheet of fresh water. To 

this, King has given the name " Cheyenne Lake." l Its great area has 

been commented upon by Hayden, King,2 and Marsh.3 though most of 

their personal observations were made to the north of Indian Territory 

or even Kansas. The labors of E. T. Hill4 in Texas and Indian Territory have demonstrated what before was but hypothetical, viz, that 

"Cheyenne Lake" (or whatever name one may choose to call it) 

extended southward from South Dakota well into the State of Texas. 

Authors of geological maps embracing this part of the country have as 

yet been too conservative with their " Neocene" tints. In fact, the 

area of this particular basin ought nearly to be doubled.4

PLIOCENE EQUUS BEDS.

The Pliocene formation (Equus beds), as understood by Cope, has not 

yet been properly discriminated from the underlying Loup Fork Miocene within the boundaries of the State. The faunas of the two " have 

probably been confounded." This is the conclusion arrived at by Cope 

from a process of reasoning entirely analogous to that used in this essay 

in determining that both Miocene and Pliocene marine forms are present in the Upper Tertiaries of South Carolina, because the two have since 

their original deposition been intermingled, and not because the two 

were contemporary or represent a transition from one epoch to another. 

In Oregon and extreme southwest Texas he finds the Equus beds, or 

Pliocene fauna, pure and simple, while in Colorado and l$aw Mexico 

the Loup Fork fauna presents no Equus-bed features.

1 TJ. S. Gcol. Explor. 40th parallel, 1878, vol. 1, p. 455.

2 The Equus beds (Pliocene of Cope) are apparently classified by King aa deposits of his " Cheyenno 

Lake."

3 Am. Jour. Sci., 1875, 3d ser., vol. 9, p. 52.

4 Am. Nat., 1891, vol. 25, p. 49.
BALL HARRIS. AND? KANSAS 299 5 IVAINOAG. AdV

PALEONTOLOGY.

The first important paper on the paleontology of this State was that 

of Dr. Leidy in the proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for 1858, entitled " Notice of Remains of Extinct Yertebrata, from the valley of the Niobrara Biver, collected during the exploring expedition of 1857, in Nebraska, under the command of Lieut. 

G. W. Warren, Top. Eng., by Dr. F. V. Hayden, geologist ot the expedition."

In this paper he described twenty-three new mammalian forms, and 

determined the identity of four more, with species already described from 

the Bijou Hills horizon of South Dakota. The same author's memoir 

on the extinct 'mammalian fauna of Dakota and Nebraska, published 

in volume 7 of the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

Sciences, 1869, sets forth clearly all that was known regarding the 

paleontology of this class of animals from this State up to that date.1

Since then Marsh2, Cope,3 Scott and Osborn,4 and Leidy5 have occasionally described new forms from tlr.s State, most of which are from 

near Loup Fork and Niobrara rivers, though the avoidance of mention 

of definite localities is extremely noticeable.

KANSAS. «t

In the year 1861, Prof. Newberry s described the " Tertiary basin of 

the Arkansas" as it appears along a section from " Pawnee Fork to 

crossing of Cimarrqn"and suggested its probable strati graphic continuity with similar beds in Nebraska.

In 1876 Mudge 7 described the lithological features of this formation 

in the western part of the State, and determined its thickness on Prairie 

Dog Creek, Norton County, to be 400 feet. Two years later he mapped 8 

the same and estimated its total thickness to be not less than 1,500 feet.

Cope, Marsh, Scott, and Osborn have from time to time described or 

identified Loup Fork vertebrate remains from various localities within 

this State, especially from. Norton and Phillips counties.

Robert Hay has recently published two important reports which include discussions of the Tertiary geology of Kansas. The first may be 

found in the Sixth Biennial Eeport of the Kansas St.ate Board of Agriculture, 1889, entitled "Northwest Kansas; Its Topography, Geology, 

Climate, and Eesources."

1 For a general idea of the vegetation of the Loup Fork and White llivor groups, see "Sketches of 

the Physical Geography and Geology of Nebraska," 1880, pp. 225, 241,242. Samuel Auglioy.

2 Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 187.1, vol. 2, pp. 41, 121, 124. Ibid., 3d ser., 1874, vol. 7, pp. 251,252,253. Ibid., 

3d ser., 1875, vol. 9, pp.246. Ibid., 3d sor., 1877, vol. 14, pp. 251, 252,254. Ibid., 3d ser., 1887, vol. 34, p. 320.

'See "Paloontological Bulletins" Nos. 14, 15, and 10; no definite localities given. Alao.'Bull. IT. S. 

Geol. Surv. Terr., 1881, vol. 5, No. 1, p. 170. Ibid., 1881, vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 370-389. American Naturalist, 

1890, vol. 24, pp. 950,951,1067. Ibid., 1891, vol. 25, p. 48.

4Bull."Mus. Coinp. Zool. Harvard Coll., 1890, vol. 20, No. 3.

5 U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, vol. 1, pp. 227,252,260.

8 Ives' Colorado Expl. Exped.,pt. 3, Geol. Eep.,p. 109.

'Bull. U. S. Geol. and Gcog. Surv. Terr., vol. 2, pp. 212-213.

8 First Bieuu. Hep. Kansas Board of Agric., 1878, p. 47.
300 THE NEOC'ENE OF NORTH AMERICA.

The Tertiary group is here divided into " Miocene grit" which " is 

considered to be the Loup Fork of jSTebraska," and the " Pliocene marl" 

which is " probably identifiable " with the Equus beds.

Contrary to the observations of Mudge, Hay finds that the Tertiary 

beds have a decidedly eastern dip. Moreover, the total thickness of 

these beds along a section from Glasco to the Colorado line he represents as being not over 500 feet.

The second report by Hay constitutes Bulletin 57 of the TJ. S. Geological Survey, 1890 "A Geological Eeconiiaissance in Southwestern Kansas." In this report he says:

Two apparently distinct formations of Tertiary age have been found in all parts of 

the region explored. Occurring in isolated patches in the eastern part of the area, 

they are more largely developed as AVC proceed westward, where they a.re of such 

thickness and so related to the previous erosion as to completely hide all other formations from view. Feeling sure of the identity of these formations with similar deposits in northwestern Kansas, I am inclined to use the nomenclature of Prof. 

Cope, and call these respectively Loup Fork (Miocene) and the Equus beds (Pliocene). 

But having regard to the extensive area oArer which the beds are developed and the 

comparative infrequency of fossils in the latter formation, I deem it best to designate 

them by purely provisional names and leave others to fix them more specifically 

when they have been examined over the whole region of the Great Plains and their 

subdivisions made out. These Tertiary formations then Ave name in ascending order: 

(a) The Tertiary grit; (&) The Tertiary marl.

The Tertiary grit. The first named division is made up of a niortarlike substance, composed of lime and sand which frequently incloses 

pebbles of quartz, feldspar, diorite, greenstone, etc., and sometimes 

contains fine siliceous volcanic matter. Again, the limy matter 

almost disappears and a coarse, pebbly conglomerate is found. This is 

stratigraphically above the limy beds. The under surface of the Tertiary grit is very irregular owing to the unevenness of the Permian, 

Jura-Trias, and Cretaceous surfaces upon which it has been laid down. 

For its geographical distribution, see map accompanying Hay's report.

The Tertiary marl is arenaceous, argillaceous, and calcareous in texture, and is in most cases readily distinguishable from the mortar grit 

and the loess. Its color is very uniform. It is a buff marl everywhere.

This formation rests upon the eroded surfaces of the Permian, JuraTrias, Cretaceous, and Tertiary grit.

It forms the dead leVel of the high prairie between the great rivers, thinning off 

toward their valleys, but following the slope of the tributary dales. This thickening on the high prairie is manifest in almost every county Barber, Pratt, Edwards, 

Meade, Ford, Hamilton, Se\vard, Scott, Graham, Norton from Indian Territory to 

the Nebraska line. Wells pierce it in most of these counties over 100 feet, and in 

Meade County and in Graham from 140 to 180 feet, before the grit is reached.

For its areal distribution see map accompanying Hay's report.

Mudge 1 and Hay2 mention the occurrence of mastodon, rhinoceros, 

turtle, and other bones in beds of the Loup Fork horizon. The former, 

however, mentions having found a three-toed horse in a deposit but 10

JBull. TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., vol. 2, p. 213. 

"Bull. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., 'No. 57,1890, p. 34.
INDIAN TERRITORY1 NEW MEXICO. 301

feet above the Cretaceous, in Ellis County, which, may, in his opinion, 

denote a lower horizon for that locality. The occurrence of Limnophysa 

caperata is noted by Hay from near Kiowa Creek. The new vertebrate 

species from this horizon have been described mainly by Profs. 

Cope,1 Marsh,2 Scott, and Osborn.3

INDIAN TERRITORY.

*

That Neocene beds exist in the northwestern prolongation of this Territory might readily be inferred from their distribution in adjacent parts 

of Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. This inference is placed beyond 

cavil by the observations of Prof. J. S. Newberry, made in 1859.4 He 

says: 5

The geology of the region lying between the Enchanted Spring and Cofctouwood 

Spring is similar throughout. The rocky basis of the country is formed by the lower 

Cretaceous sandstone, covered here and there with patches of white tnfaceons Tertiary limestone.

A section at Cedar Spring shows the following strata:

Toct. 

(a) Tertiary: 1. White, chalky, tufaceous limestone, with hard, gray, compact

bands ..................................................... 15

2. Cream-colored, spongy, tufaceous limestone (similar to that on

the Arkansas and Ciniarron) ............................... 40

(6) Cretaceous: 1. Yellow fine-grained sandstone, etc.

From Cedar Spring to McNees Creek the road passes over a high prairie underlain 

by Tertiary limestones. At McNee's Creek the Tertiary rocks aro cut through and 

the Cretaceous series freely opened. No fossils were found hero, but the rock is 

generally similar to that at Cedar Spring.

NEW MEXICO.

G-alisteo group. In New Mexico, the sedimentary Neocene formations 

may be classed in two groups, viz, the G-alisteo group and the Santa Fe 

marls. The former term was, in a slightly modified form, applied by Dr. 

Hayden in 1869 to a series of sandstones outcropping along a creek by 

that name in the central part of the Territory. They were then regarded 

by him as of "Middle Tertiary" 6 age; later he correlated them with the 

Wasatch Eocene,7 while Prof. Cope found them, to be Cretaceous.8 The 

observations of J. J. Stevenson show that tAvo very different deposits 

may be referred to in Hayden's original description of this group. The 

one found on the south side of the creek he regards as Laramie,9 while

'Bull. TJ. S. Gcol. Surv. Terr., 1878, vol. 4, pp. 382-385, 392. Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 1877-78, vol. 17, pp. 

224-225. (Am. Nat., 1880, vol. 14, p. 141). Am. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 1045. Am. Nat., 1887, vol. 21, p. 3020. 

a Am. Jour. Sci., 3d sor., 1887, vol. 34, p. 325. 

3 Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1890, vol. 20, No. 3. p. 70.

4 Exploring Expedition from Santa Fe to the Junction of Green and Grand Hivers, 1809. Macomb. 

(Published 1876.) Geology by Prof. Newberry.

5 Op. cit., pp. 80, 31.

0 Prelim. Field Rep. TJ. S. Geol. Snrv., Colo. and N. Mex., 1809, p. 90.

' Am. Nat., 1878; vol. 12, p. 831.

8 Proc. Pliila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1875, p. 360.

9 TJ. S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th Mer.; Suppl. 1881, vol. 3, p. 159.
302 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [Buii.84.

the other, lying to the north is of much later origin.1 This author, 

accordingly, restricts the use of the term G-alisteo group to the latter or 

newer deposits. A typical development of the same may be seen on 

Galisteo Creek, as follows: 2

Poet. 

Trachyte breccia ............................................ 150

Soft light gray sandstone ................ .................... 40

For some distance along the northern banks of this creek both these 

subdivisions are well exposed. Their areal distribution is represented 

on sheet 3, accompanying U. S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th Mer., Suppl., 1881, 

vol. in.

According to Stevenson, this group "cannot be older than early 

Miocene or newer than early Pliocene." 3 It is seen to rest unconformably on the Dakota group; it was undisturbed by the trachytic outbursts which "caused frightful contortions of the Laramie beds." 1 

Upon it lie the Santa Fe beds unconformably. It " certainly antedates 

the great flow of basalt." 3

The Santa Fe marls were named and described at some length by 

Haydeu in 1869.4 He characterizes them as "mostly of a light cream 

color, sometimes rusty yellow, and sometimes yellowish white, with 

layers of sandstones varying in texture from a very fine aggregate of 

quartz to a moderately coarse pudding stone." They reach a great 

thickness north of Santa Fe in the Eio Grancle Yalley, from 1,200 to 

1,500 feet,5 and have a tendency to weather into the monumental and 

castellate forms of a Mauvaise Terre. Their area! distribution in this 

valley may be seen on sheet 3 of the work already referred to.

To the east of Eio Grai ide Yalley, similar beds were long since observed 

by Dr. Newberry, " lying along the eastern bases of the mountains," and 

"filling depressions or excavations in the siirfaces on which they were 

deposited." 6 Stevenson says: "This tufaceous limestone," which he 

refers to the Santa Fe group, occurs in many small patches at manylocalities south and east from the mountainous area. Evidently it is 

very thick in the Pecos Basin near the village of Pecos, and it was observed also on Yaca Creek at Las Colonias. Small patches were seen 

near Las Yegas, and an extended area lies between the Canadian hills 

and the Mora Canyon, reaching westward to beyond Fort Union. Fragmentary exhibitions were seen much farther north." 7

The great development of these marls to the south and west of Santa 

Fe was first pointed out by Cope in 1883. He writes" as follows:

In descending the Rio Graiido, beds appear 011 the west side of the river which 

strongly resemble those of Santa Fe. They extend along the eastern base of the

iTJ. S. Gcog. Surv. W. 100th Mer.; Suppl. 1881, vol. 3, p. 161.

3Tbid.,p.l59.

3 Ibid.,p.l62.

4 Prelim. Eep. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., W. 100th Mer., 1869, p. 66.

8 Prelim. "Rep. TJ. S. Geol. Surv., Colo. and N. Mex., 1809, p. 69.

G Expl. ExpecT., Santa l?e, June. Green and Grand Rivers, 1859, p. 52.

7 TJ. S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th Mer., Suppl. vol. 3,1881, p. 163.

8 Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., vol. 21, pp. 308-309.
nnARmsND } NEW MEXICO. 303

M.igdalene Mountains, and as far south as Socorro, in considerable extent and thickness. South of Socorro they appear, hut less extensively. The eastern part of the 

plain which lies between the Rio Grande and Mimbres Mountains is composed of 

beds of this ago where cut by the grade of the Atehison, Topeka and Santa Fc Railroad, west of Hatch Station. West of the Mimbres Mountains the valley of the river 

of the same name is filled with d6bris of the bed of eruptive outflow which covered 

the country as far as traversed by the railroad from Deniing to Silver City. Its ago 

I could not ascertain.

A great display of Lonp Fork formation is seen in the drainage basins of the heads 

of the Gila River. In traveling westAvard from Silver City, its beds first appear 

in the Valley of Mangus Creek, which enters the Gila from the east. Crossing the 

Gila, the m,ail route to the west passes through the valley of Duck Creek, which flows 

eastward into the river. Though bounded by eruptive hills and mountains and their 

outflows, the valley was once filled with Loup Fork beds, which haAre been extensively eroded, the principal exposures being on the north side of the valley, forming 

the foothills of the Mogollon Range. On the divide between the waters of the Gila 

and San Francisco rivers, the formation rises in bluffs of 300 feet elevation. The 

descent into the valley of the Sari Francisco brings to light a still greater depth of 

this deposit. The valley which extends from the canyon which incloses the river south 

from the mouth of Dry Creek to the Tulerosa Mountains on the north, and between the 

Mogollons on the cast and the San Francisco Range on the west, was once filled with 

the deposits of a Loup Fork lake. This mass has been reduced by the erosive action 

of the San Francisco and its drainage to a greater or less extent, as it has been protected by basaltic outflows or not. When so protected the river flows through comparatively narrow canyons. Whore the outflow is wanting, the valley of the river is 

wider, and the Loup Fork formations remain as wide grassy mesas, which extend to 

the feet of the mountain ranges.

As early as 1861 Newberry1 expressed himself as being "inclined" 

to refer "the white tufaceous limestones of the Rio Grande Valley" to 

the same horizon as those of the Arkan sas River basin. Hay den in 1869 

says,2 referring to his Santa Fe marls:

They are doubtless of the age of Upper Tertiary and synchronous with the upper 

beds of the AVhito River group as seen along the North and Soiith Forks of the Platte 

and near Cheyenne.

In 1874 the horizon of this formation was definitely established by 

Cope,3 who found them to contain well known and characteristic Loup 

Fork vertebrate remains.

For information upon the paleontology of this group the reader should 

consult:

Leidy, Pfoc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1872, p. 142.

Cope, Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1874, pp. 147-152,221-223.

Ann. Rep. Chief of Engineers, 1874, pt. 2, pp. 603-607.

Ann. Rep. Chief of Engineers, 1875, pt. 2, pp. 988-996.

Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1875, pp. 256-258,261, 262,271.

Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1876, p. 144.

U. S. Geog. Surv. W. 100th Mer., 1877, vol. 4, Paleont., pp. 20, 365.

Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 1883, vol. 21, p. 309.

Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1883, p. 301.

'Ives's Rep. on Col. Riv. of West, 1801, pt. 3, Geology, p. 109. 

* Prelim. Rep. TJ. S. Geol. Snrv. Col. and N. Mex., 1869, p. 90. . 

8 Ann. liep. Chief of Engineers for 1874, Appendix FF, p. 127.
304 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BOLL. 81.

COLORADO.

Formations of post-Eocene Tertiary age, so extensively developed on 

the Great Plains east of tlie Eockies, as well as in the Great Basin to 

the west, are found only in patches of limited dimensions within the 

boundaries of this State. Of these, some have been referred to this 

section of the geological scale from the evidence afforded by their fossil contents, while others are only provisionally so referred from supposed stratigraphic relations or lithological resemblance to deposits of 

known horizon. The former class is mainly confined to such areas as 

were occupied by Sioux and Cheyenne lakes as defined by King, while 

the latter includes the Monument Greek group in part, and the comparatively recent sedimentary deposits of the "parks" in. the central 

and north central part of the State.

LOUP FORK AND WHITE RIVER GROUPS.

The watershed between Lodge Pole Creek and South Platte Eiver 

presents not only surface accumulations and Laramie beds, but also 

deposits known from their fossil contents to belong to the Loup Fork 

and White Eiver groups. These were traversed by Hayden in 1869 

while en route from Cheyenne to Denver; but his notes1 on the same 

are very meager. Their fossil contents and true stratigraphic relations 

were first brought to light by Prof. Marsh,2 who in 1870 traced them 

from Little Crow Creek, past Chalk Bluffs, northward into Wyoming^ 

collecting in the meantime characteristic Mauvaises Terres or White 

Eiver fossils. In 1873 Prof. Cope visited this region, worked out the 

stratigraphy with consider able detail, and made extensive collections of 

vertebrate remains. His generalized section extending from Chalk 

Bluffs southward along Horse Tail Creek is given as follows: 3

jLccrccnue;

I'M i i i it i r I-T| -- Petonax

FIG. 43. Section in eastern Colorado. (After Copo.)

Bed A is a white, calcareous, soft clay rock, breaking into angular 

fragments. Bed B has a similar mineral character, frequently with a 

red color of different obscure shades. Bed C is a sandstone of varying 

persistence. Bed D is a Avhite, argillaceous rock like that of bed A. 

These four beds constitute the White Eiver group as here represented, 

which, according to Cope, has at this place a thickness of several hun-

»3d Ann. Rep. TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr , 1869, pp. 11-10.

a Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1870, vol. 1, p. 292.

1 Hep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1884, vol. 3,'' Tertiary Vortebrata," p. 16.
COLORADO PLIOCENE BEDS. 305

dred feet. Above, and including beds E, F, Gr, H, is the Loup Fork 

group, which consists of alternating hard and soft layers of sandstone. 

Its thickness is given by Cope as not over 75 feet, of which the softer 

beds are the lower and vary in depth from 1 foot to 20. The superior 

strata are either sandstone conglomerate or a coarse sand of varying 

thickness, the former of which contains white pebbles and rolled mammalian remains.

Between the White River and Laramie groups there is but little 

angular unconformity, 1 while the line of demarkation between the 

White River and Loup Fork groups 2 is mainly determined upon paleontological evidence. ;

The sura total of the Tertiary strata here represented is, according to 

King,3 about 700 feet, of which the " Miocene " includes the lower 300 

feet,4 while the " Pliocene" includes 5 the remaining 300 or 400 feet.

For information regarding the vertebrate paleontology of this region 

the following articles and reports by Prof. Cope should be consulted:

Third Notice of Extinct Vertebrata from tlio Tertiary of the Plains. Palooat. 

Bull. No. 16, August, 1873.

Synopsis of New Vertebrata from the Tertiary of Colorado, October, 1873. Printed 

!is an advance extract from tlie 7th Ann. Kep. U. S. Geol. Snrv., in which, however, 

it failed to appear.

Report on the Stratigraphy and Pliocene Vertebrate Paleontology of Northern 

Colorado. U. S. Geol. Snrv. Terr., Bull. No. 1, 1874.

Report on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Colorado. 7th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. 

Snrv. Terr., 1873, chapter 4, pp. 461-533."

Tertiary marl. Passing now in a southeasterly direction to the headwaters and tributaries of Republican River, Loup Fork ifeds, and those 

of more recent deposition are found well displayed as represented on 

the map. South of these in turn, the so-called "Tertiary marl," whose 

distribution in southern and southwestern Kansas Mr. Hay7 has 

recently determined, doubtless passes across the state line and extends 

some distance up the Arkansas Valley" and over the broad plains on 

both sides j as yet, however, its distribution is wholly unknown.

PLIOCENE BEDS.

The Pliocene deposits of limited geographical extent south west of 

Pueblo, according to Hills 9

Have their greatest development on the southern slope of the divide separating 

the drainage of the Muddy Branch of the Huerfauo from Grape Creek and Wet

' King, Ex. 40tli, Par., 1877, vol. 1, p. 409.

2 Ibid., p. 426.

"TSxplor. 40th Par., 1877, vol 1, p. 410.

Mbid., p. 411.

Mbid., p. 426.

6 The Princoton expedition of 1882 made a, collection at Chalk Bluffs. Among the material so collected Scott discovered a now species of Didelphys (D.pygmaia). See Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., 1884, 

vol. 27, pp. 442-443. o

7 This is in accordance with Newbcrry's observations made in 1859 (Geol. Kep. Explor. Expod. from 

Santa Fo to Junction of Grand and Green rivers, 1859; pub. 1876, p. 25.)

8 'Robert TTay: Bull. So. 57, U. S. Gool. Snrv., 1890. 

9 Pt-oc. Colo. Sci. Sop,, 1888, vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 101.

Bull. 84 20
306 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

Mountain Valley. The maximum thickness of the beds was estimated to be between 

700 and 800 feet. Loosely aggregated coarse conglomerates and sandstones predominate in the lower half of the series, and fawn or buff colored compact marls, sometimes sandy, in the upper half. The basal conglomerates are distinguished from the 

conglomerates of the Eocene in being composed of much coarser material and in 

containing a greater number of eruptive pebbles and small bowlders representing 

varieties common to the more recent eruptive outfloAvs. One prominent bed of conglomerate situated some distance above the base of the series contains cleavable calcite as a cementing material. This bed is exposed on the south side of the divide 

near the Gradner and Silver Cliff Road.

The Pliocene exposures have but a limited geographical extent in the section 

of the country examined, being mostly confined to the vicinity of the Grape Creek 

divide and to small isolated areas of the basal conglomerate occurring in the 

neighborhood of Greaser Creek and Poison Canyon. A remnant was also observed 

resting on the eroded surface of the Colorado shales as far east as the southern of 

the two black buttes near Silver Mountain.

The deposits were traced northeasterly to the head of Cottonwood Canyon, and 

branches of Williams Creek north of Promontory Bluffs, and for a short distance 

southwest of Muddy Creek, but toward the northwest, or in the direction of Wet 

Mountain Valley, they soon disappear under accumulations of heavy glacial drift. 

This takes place near the top of the divide referred to, where the greatest thickness 

of Pliocene strata is developed, indicating that the beds underlie the valley for a 

considerable distance in the direction of Grape Creek and Silver Cliff. The inclination is observed nowhere more than a few feet in the hundred, less generally than 

the slope of the land surface in the Huerfano Valley. A nonconformity of about 33° 

exists between the basal conglomerate and the upturned Eocene on Poison Canyon 

and Greaser Creek, but elsewhere the points of contact with the Eocene are not 

exposed. Great nonconformity with the Colorado was observed on the southwest 

side of Muddy Creek.

Between Muddy and Turkey creeks there exists 1 detached deposits of volcanic ash 

consisting of flat;-angular particles of glass, which rest directly on the marls of the 

Hnerfano beds, and from the vertebrate remains found in them are evidently of Pliocene ago. They are usually overlaid by beds of coarse sand clay, and in a few 

places by ancient deposits of travertine partly consolidated into limestone. The ash 

bods probably belong at the base of the series of marls and conglomerates exposed 

near the Grape Creek-Muddy Divide.

The search, for mammalian remains in the deposits referred to the 

Pliocene age has met with, the best success in the ash beds, from which 

have been taken a number of bones, including teeth and portions of the 

jaws of horses and camels, probably belonging to the Upper Pliocene.

Arkansas Park. Between the Sawatch and Park ranges there is a 

broad valley along the upper Arkansas, to which the name Arkansas 

Park is sometimes applied. It was visited in 1869 by Dr. Hayden, who 

described its more recent geological formations as follows:

On the west side of the Arkansas Valley the recent Tertiary beds run up to and 

overlap the margins of the mountains. They are composed mostly of fine sands, 

arenaceous clays, and pudding stones, cream-colored arenaceous clays, and rusty-yellow marls, fine sand predominating. These beds weather into peculiar architectural 

forms somewhat like the " Bad Lauds " of Dakota. Indeed, they are very nearly the 

same as the Santa Fe marls, and were doubtless cotemporaneous and dip at the same 

SVnglo, 3° to 5°, a little wcsifof north. The tops of the hills have all been planed 

down as if smoothed with a roller. I have called this group the Arkansas marls.

'Proc. Colo. Sci. Soc. 1889, pp. 220, 221.
DHAURAIS D } COLORADO PLIOCENE BEDS. 307

They occupy the entire valley of the Arkansas. This valley is about 40 miles in 

length, and on an average about 5 to 10 miles in width. It might properly be called 

a park, for it is completely surrounded by mountains. '

Iii a later report 2 we learn that the upper end of this valley or park 

is about 5 miles below the mining town of Granite, and that terraces 

have been formed on both sides, showing the former existence of a lake 

in which were deposited from 800 to 1,200 feet of fine sediments during 

the Pliocene age.

Peale says : 3

Above this valley the river is in a canyon or rather a canyon-like valley, until "we 

get above Twin Lakes, when we have another valley reaching almost to" the head of 

the stream. It is about 16 to 20 miles in length, and about 10 miles in width at the 

lower end. The whole valley, as far as could be determined, is underlaid by granite. 

At the lower end, back of Weston's ranch, in the terraces, there are modern Tertiary 

deposits, soft conglomerate sandstones.

Middle Park lake beds. The lake deposits of Middle Park have thus 

been described by Marvin4 :

After the Ligiiite there is a geological break, the beds next following being of far 

more recent age. These occur nowhere at the higher elevations, but occupy all the 

lower basins. In these and following the streams they usually form broad, low terraces, often much cut by the lateral streams into isolated pieces or long, even- topped 

tongues running out from the valley sides. Near the borders of these areas these 

beds often plainly show that their material Avas derived from the adjacent rock, 

often being of coarse granitic or schistose d<$bris, or d6bris of the lignitic sandstone 

worked over; more frequently they are of finer sands and of characteristic marls of 

exceedingly Avhite color. They are usually found resting on the Archean rocks, as 

along the Lower Grand, or on the softer shales of the Cretaceous, which, in former 

times, as now, afforded the weakest lines for erosion to work at most successfully, and 

which, therefore, occupy nearly all the lower areas. Along such lines, then, the 

streams cutting through these terraced beds constantly expose beneath, them the 

more or less upturned edges of the Middle Cretaceous beds. They show a thickness 

of probably not over 300 feet at any point, though their vertical range seems to 

roach to or above 1,000 feet. A few dips of 10°, possibly 15°, Averc observed in them in 

the eastern portion of the park. Unfortunately no fossils AArere found in these beds, 

leaving a satisfactory determination of their age impossible, though they are undoubtedly Arery late, or, perhaps, post-Tertiary.

Concerning these deposits, Hay den remarks 5 that they are undoubtedly contemporaneous with the Arkansas and Santa F<§ marls.

North Park lake beds. In North Park Hague found extensive lake 

deposits lying in general nearly horizontally and rarely inclined at a 

higher angle than 4°.

They lie uncouformably upon the lower rocks, resting in places against every 

formation from the Archean to the top of the Colorado group, and are seen in an 

undisturbed condition, resting against the basalts. They extend over the entire 

rurk basin, giving it the leA^el, prairie-like aspect which- it presents from all the

1 3d Ann. Kept. TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1869, p. 77.

2 7Hi Ami. Eept. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, pp. 48, 49, 50.

a Jbi.l., p. 240.

4 Ibid., p. 157.

{ 3d Ann. Rep. TT. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1809, p. 180.
308 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

higher elevations. Through these beds the many streams of the Platte drainage 

have worn their present channels, leaving everywhere long, bench-like ridges with 

steep sides, which, though offering numerous good exposures, appear in no case to 

have cut deeply into underlying strata, thus making any determination of their 

thickness uncertain.

Within the park they probably do not exceed a few hundred feet. Lithologically, 

these deposits possess a somewhat local character, the material of which the uppermost beds are formed being derived exclusively from the relatively narrow limits 

hemmed in by the park walls, rendering any comparison with other basins almost 

impossible, although they present certain features like the Niobrara Pliocene beds 

east of the Laramie hills.

So far as known to us, neither vertebrate nor invertebrate forms have as yet been 

obtained from these deposits, so that paleontological evidence, so desirable in 

determining the age of Tertiary basins, is still wanting for the North Park deposits. 

It is quite probable that there may be found included within the Park two distinct 

Tertiary series. Some observations were made at the time of our explorations, which 

would tend in this direction, showing a lower set of uncouformable beds, which, 

however, reach the surface in only a few localities, the greater part of the area 

being covered with more recent deposits. From the difficulty of sharply denning the 

two horizons of these beds, they have been given a local name, the North Park 

Tertiary, and a distinct designation upon the geological map. Partly from the general appearance of the strata, and in part from their relation to the basaltic rocks, 

they have been regarded provisionally as of late Pliocene age. 1

MONUMENT CREEK GROUP.

There is still another series of deposits that must be considered before 

leaving this state. We refer to the Monument Creek group of Haydeu. 

Its geographical distribution is shown on map 11 of " Maps and Panoramas" accompanying the 12th Annual Eeport of the U. S. Geological Survey of the*Territories, as well as on the map accompanying 

this report. Hay den encountered this group in 1869 while on his way 

from Denver southward, and described it substantially as follows 2 :

About 5 miles south of Platte Canon one meets with a series of variegated beds of 

sand and arenaceous clays, nearly horizontal, resting on the upturned edges of the 

older rocks. These beds form the northern edge of an extensive Tertiary basin of 

comparatively modern date, either late Miocene or Pliocene. From the point of their 

first appearance to about 5 miles north of Colorado City, these beds jut up against 

the foot-hills of the mountains, inclining at a small angle, never more than 8 degrees, 

and entirely concealing all the older sedimentary rocks. Far to the eastward 

1 stretches this Tertiary divide, giving rise to a large number of streams, as Cherry 

Creek, Running Water, Kiowa, Bijou, and other creeks. Through this basin flows 

Monument Creek, which has become so celebrated for its unique scenery.

The beds of this formation are of various colors red, yellow, and white and of 

various degrees of texture, from coarse pudding-stones to very fine-grained sands and 

sandstones. There is very little lime in the entire series of beds. There is much 

ferruginous matter in all the beds, to some of which it gives a rusty brown color. 

Along the mountain slopes the rocks are mostly coarse pudding-stones, the waterworn pebbles varying in size from a grain of quartz to a mass several inches in diameter. But eastward from the mountains the sediments become finer and finer 

until the coarse pudding-stones disappear. Lignite is sometimes found in the fine 

argillaceous beds.

1 U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par., 2,1877, pp. 127-128.

2 See 3d. Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., pp. 139-142.
DHAiTuusD } CENOZOIC ERUPTIVES. 309

In Monument Park, there are a great number of columns standing thickly over the 

surface, each surmounted with a cap of harder material. The shaft of the column 

is usually thick at the base, rising up 10 or 20 feet, tapering to the cap, composed of 

a coarse aggregate of quartz grains, small pebbles all water worn, very loosely held 

together with rather coarse sand cement. The cap is a deep rust color, composed of 

sand cemented with oxide of iron, and by its greater hardness has resisted more 

effectually the eroding agencies.

At a late period of geological history, dikes or protrusions of igneous material 

flowed over the Monument Creek sandstones in broad sheets or beds; and broad 

table-topped buttes or mesas, 100 to 150 feet high, now indicate the extent of later 

erosion.

In his report for 1869, Hay den referred this group to the Miocene 

Tertiary, on account of its modern appearance and its position with 

reference to the granites, but in 1873 he was inclined to regard it as 

possibly belonging to the upper division of the Lignitic series, since it 

contains seams of "impure coal, with deciduous leaves, some of which 

are identical with species occurring in the Lignitic strata from New 

Mexico to the Upper Missouri. Indeed, the general aspect of the rocks 

in this region is much like the Lignitic group on the Yellowstone, and 

Missouri rivers near their junction and in the vicinity."1

On this question Cope remarks:2

The age of the Monument Creek formation in relation to the other Tertiaries not 

having been definitely determined, I sought for vertebrate fossils. The most characteristic one which I procured Avas a hind leg and foot of an Artiodactyle of the 

Oreodon type, which indicated conclusively that the formation is neAver than the 

Eocene. From the same neighborhood and stratum, as I have every reason for believing, the fragment of the Meyaceratops coloradoensis was obtained. This fossil is 

equally conclusive against the Pliocene age of the formation, so that it may be referred to the Miocene until further discoveries enable us to be more exact.

WYOMING.

The various beds or formations of this State that have usually been 

assigned a post-Eocene Tertiary age may be enumerated as follows: 

Neozoic emptives (partim) of the Yellowstone Park region; Sweetwater 

Pliocene; Wyoming conglomerate; and the White Eiver and Mobrara 

Tertiary of the extreme southeastern part of the State.

CENOZOIC ERUPTIVES.

These have been described under the name of "volcanic Tertiary" 

with considerable detail by W. H. Holmes.3 Its geographical distribution is shown on map 6 of "Maps and Panoramas " accompanying the 

last mentioned annual report.

The materials that enter into its composition are for the most part 

fragmentary volcanic products, which have been apparently redistributed by water, and now form breccias, conglomerates, and sandstones.4

1 7th Ann. Rep. TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, p. 33. 

"Ibid., p. 430.

8 In vol. 5, Bull. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv., and in part 2, of the Twelfth Annual Report of the 

same survey. 

4 Ball. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv., 1879, No. 1, vol. 5, p. 125.
310 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

These reach their maximum development iu the valley of the "Bast 

Fork," where they rest upon the unevenly eroded surfaces of the paleozoic and granitic rocks and present a total thickness of 5,500 feet. 

They are preeminently characterized throughout by the enormous quantities of silicified wood they contain. Leaves and small twigs are by 

no means so abundant as stumps and logs, but at least two localities 

have yielded determinate leaves, and by these Lesquereux has determined their horizon as Eocene and Lower Pliocene or Upper Miocene 

respectively.1 By inspecting the map just referred to, it will be seen 

that the Eocene beds are limited to narrow strips along the Yellowstone 

Eiver in the vicinity of Elk Creek, while the post-Eocene deposits are 

much more widely distributed. The con glomerate material of the latter 

is frequently interstratified with sheets of basalt, while the rhyolitic outflows are, stratigraphically speaking, above the whole.

SWEETWATER PLIOCENE.

In Central Wyoming, the beds of the Sweetwater group have been 

extensively scooped out or eroded, and upon them have been deposited 

marls and sands of Pliocene age.2 "Near the base * * * we find a 

very loosely aggregated sandstone, almost partaking of the character 

of a conglomerate. It is light gray and yellowish, easily decomposing." 

Above this follows a succession of light marls and indurated clays. 

Usually these are either very light yellow or white, but pink and greenish beds are not wanting. Toward the eastern terminus of the group, 

the strata become highly siliceous. These beds are nearly horizontal; 

along their northern border they participate in the southward dip of 

the Sweetwater group,3 amounting from 1° to 4°.

The geographical distribution of these "Pliocene" deposits maybe 

seen by consulting maps 3 and 11 of "Maps and Panoramas" accompanying the Twelfth Eeport of the U. S. Geological and Geographical 

Survey of the Territories. Endlich estimates their maximum thickness 

as from 700 to 900 feet.4 They are probably of Loup Pork horizon, as 

shown by their lithological characters, their horizontally, and their 

vertebrate remains.

A small collection of fossils was obtained by Hayden's expedition of 

1870, on Sweetwater Eiver, 18 miles west of Devils Gate, Wyoming. 

Upon these Dr. Leidy reports 5 and finds them " Nearly related with 

those from the Pliocene Tertiary sands of the Niobrara Eiver," and, 

"without doubt, of a much more recent date than those of the Bridger 

beds."

Farther to the west, and "within the narrow depression between the 

subsidiary Prozoic Eange and the Avestern base of the Wind Eiver

1 Bull. TT. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv., 1879, No. 1, vol. 5, pp. 126,128.

2 Fourth Ann. Eep. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., 1870, p. 29. 

8 13th Ann. Kep. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., 1877, p. 112. 

«Ibid., p. 113. 

 TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., vol. 1, pp. 198-209.
WHITE RIVER GROUP. 311

Mountains," there is a local depression filled with loose Avhite and yellowish clays and marls. Their thickness lias been estimated at about 

300 feet, and they have been regarded as synchronous with the Pliocene 

of Sweetwater Biver, although no fossils except a Pupa have been found 

in them.1

WYOMING CONGLOMERATE.

Concerning this formation Bndlich remarks:

This term lias been used by Emuions and Hague to designate the widespread conglomerttic accumulations of drift which may lie assigned to the Pliocene period. It 

is entirely structureless and composed of most varying material. Essentially it may 

he regarded as the product of all the formations existing within a given area. During 

the last era of extensive inundations it was deposited at the most convenient localities. Along the entire northern slope of the Sweetwater and Seininole hills Ave find 

enormous deposits of this material. No structure whatever can. he observed there, 

and the whole forms merely a huge cover of erratic bowlders. Their size varies 

somewhat, t>ut does not reach any considerable dimensions. We find the narrow 

gullies running down from the hillsides cut into this conglomerate, and the tops of 

the ridges are covered by it for some distance. Its presence is so marked a feature 

i.u this region that it can not be overlooked. With regard to its age, I consider the 

period of deposition as synchronous with that of the younger portions of the Pliocene 

marls and shales. It is found near the edges of the ancient lake, and was probably 

carried there by the waters draining into the former. It must not bo mistaken for 

the glacial drift which occurs in the same region. The relative positions alone of 

these two deposits will easily determine their character. 2

This same conglomerate occurs in the limited Pliocene valley west of 

South Pass. In fact " it is scattered to a greater or less extent all over 

the country, which has been subjected to extensive erosion." 3

WHITE RIVER GROUP.

Cenozoic beds in the extreme southeastern part of the State. Beferring 

to this area, Dr. Hayden remarks:

That portion of Wyoming east of the Laramie range and south of the line of the 

Union Pacific Railroad is entirely covered with the upper beds of the White River 

Tertiary basin. The valley of the Lodge Pole, Crow Creek, and Chugwater show the 

formations of this basin very distinctly from mouth to source. The Union Pacific 

Railroad ascends the eastern slope of the Laramie range on a sort of bench of this 

formation, which seems to be unusually developed, and to extend without much interruption up to the very margin of the mountains, sometimes concealing all the rocks 

of intermediate age and resting on the syenites.

About 20 miles south of Cheyenne these beds disappear entirely along the western 

flank of the mountains, and the lignite Tertiary beds are exposed to view.4

Again:

The geological.formations immediately underlying Cheyenne are of Tertiary age, 

probably Pliocene or very late Miocene. The beds have been slightly disturbed by 

the upheaval of the mountain range, but their position in relation to the older Ter1 llth Aim. Rep. TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., 1877, pp. 132-133. .

* Ibid., pp. 113-114.

 Ibid., p. 133.

4 U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., 1869, vol. 3, p. 11.
312 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

tiary beds shows their deposition to have been of late date. They are found deposited in the valleys and sometimes high on the mountain, sides, and it is very seldom 

that they dip at an angle of more than 5°. These beds can be traced far northward 

to the Black Hills of Dakota, a distance of 350 miles, and they are thus shown probably to be the upper beds or most recent formation of the White River Tertiary. 1

UTAH.

There are two series of deposits within this territory which for reasons elsewhere given have been referred to the Neocene division of the 

Tertiary. They are (1) the Humboldt group of King, which includes 

the Salt Lake group of Hayden, and (2) the Wyoming conglomerate.

THE HUMBOLDT GROUP.

This is well displayed in Weber, Ogden, and Cache valleys east oi 

Great Salt Lake, and in the Terrace and Kaft River mountains to the 

west. In Weber Valley it was that Hayden2 first studied this formation 

and found it to consist of light colored sands, sandstones, and inarls, 

reaching in thickness from 800 to 1,200 feet.

The corresponding deposits of Ogden Yalley " have been referred to 

the Humboldt Pliocene, although it should be stated that they are too 

far removed from well defined Huinboldt formations to trace any direct 

connection, and paleontological evidence is yet too meager to throw any 

important light on the question." 3

Beds in Cache Valley, supposed to be of this age3 have been described 

by Hayden,4 Bradley,5 Hague,6 Peale,7 and others. The central portion 

of the valley is occupied by Quaternary deposits, termed by Peale the 

Cache Valley group, while the older beds crop out around the borders. 

The latter are accredited by Bradley with a dip of 25° in some instances. Hague says: "They a.re found to have been considerably 

uplifted, showing angles of dip of 10° and 15°." These figures, it will 

be observed, indicate a considerably greater amount of dip than is 

usually shown in the sedimentary "Pliocene" deposits of the West.

The maximum thickness of these beds is not less than 3.50 feet.8

At one locality, Mendon, some of the sandy layers contain vast numbers of Limvcea, Physa, Vivipara, and Helix; at the " Gates" the limestones and shales contain Limncea, Valvata, Planorbis, Sphcerium.9 

These fossils, however, are of little value for determining the age of 

the strata in which they are entombed. The determination rests wholly 

upon lithologic and stratigraphic criteria.

i TJ. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., 1869, vol. 3, p. 11.

2 Prelim. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Col. and N: Mex., 1869, p. 92.

3 U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. 2, Descriptive Geology, 1877, p. 418.

«TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 5th Ann. Rep., 1871, pp. 19-22.

«U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 6th Ann. Rep., 1872, p. 199.

6 U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. 2, Descriptive Geology, 1877, pp. 406,417.

7 U. s. Geol. Sun, Terr,, lltli Ann. Hep., 1877, p. 603.

 TJ. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. 2, Desc. Geol., 1877, p. 417.

 TJ. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., llth Ann, Hep., 1877, pp. 604-605.
"HAHBB?} TEUCKEE GROUP, NEVADA.

On both eastern and western slopes of Terrace Mountain there is a 

broad canyon, filled to some extent with beds that "resemble the fine 

sands, reddish gravels, and marls which form the Humboldt Pliocene 

beds of eastern Nevada, and have been referred to the same horizon." 1

The western slopes of Baft River Mountains " are covered high up on 

the flanks by heavy white beds, sloping gently toward the center of 

the valley, composed of fine white pumiceous sands, loose sandstones, 

fine conglomerates, which have been referred to the horizon of the Humboldt Pliocene, from their general resemblance to these beds as developed in the valley of the Upper Humboldt" 2

THE WYOMING CONGLOMERATE.

The Wyoming conglomerate may be seen along both flanks of the 

Uinta range, forming the cap-rock of minor elevations, such as Ti RaKava and Concrete plateaus and Black Tail Mountain.3 It is often 

100, 4 200, or even 300 5 feet in thickness, is composed wholly of local 

materials, and is devoid of organic remains.6

(See this formation under Wyoming.)

NEVADA.

The post-Eocene Tertiary geology of this State is known chiefly from 

the reports of the U. S. Geological Exploration of the fortieth parallel. 

The various deposits here referred to which are found scattered about 

in widely different localities are treated in these reports as having been 

laid down in two great .sheets of fresh water, one of Miocene, the other 

of Pliocene age, to which King has applied the names Pah-Ute and 

Shoshone lakes. To the deposits of the former this author gives the 

name u Truckee group;" to those of the latter, " Humboldt group."

TRUCKEE GKOUP.

Numerous references have already been made in our discussions of 

adjacent States to deposits supposed to form a part of the group. Kingsays: 7

The rocks of the group are limited on the east, within the boundaries of our exploration, by the one hundred and seventeenth meridian, and on the west by the abrupt 

wall of the Sierra Nevada. Northward they extend through Oregon and pass into 

Washington Territory, having their greatest development on Crooked River, the John 

Day, and the Malheur. South of our work they are all well knoAvu in the valley of 

the Walker River, but beyond that southward I am not aware of their having been 

observed.

1 U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. 2,1877, p. 427.

2 Ibid, p. 429.

8 See Maps II arid III of Atlas accompanying King's Reports.

4 U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. 2, Descr. Geol., 1877, p. 247.

'Ibid., p. 290.

"Ibid., p. 248.

'U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par., vol. J, Syst. Geol., 1878, p.413.
314 THE. NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

For details regarding tlieir distribution in Nevada, reference should 

be made to the reports of King, Hague, and Emmons, also to the accompanying atlas.

In King's report on the Systematic Geology (p. 415), he says:

The most important and characteristic development of this series within our 

limits is at the Kawsoh Mountains and along the southern extremity of Montezuma 

Range. The northern and eastern portion of the Kawsoh Mountains and the valley 

which lies north of them, separating the broken detached group of hills from the 

end of Montezuma Range, together offer a section of ahout 2,300 feet of Miocene 

beds, noting from the top as follows:

1. The upper 1,200 feet consists entirely of drab mauve gray, pale buff, and Avhite 

stratified trachyte tuff, intermixed with more or less detrital material. The beds 

are characterized by rapid changes of color and texture, are of very variable 

coarseness, and have a prevailing amount of glassy fragments, as if an enormous 

amount of the material were the glassy scoria and rapilli of violent and long continued trachytic eruption. At intervals are beds of pure gray sand, with a few 

seams of slightly marly clay. The microscope shows that this entire series is made 

up of angular and subangular fragments, many of them excessively small. There 

are some singular chalcedonic strata, one to two feet thick, of which the lower 

stratum plane is exceedingly rough, resting upon the trachytic tuff and including 

a great many minute fragments of the volcanic material, the upper surfaces being 

rudely botryoidal, the protuberances reaching the size of an egg. Toward the 

lower edge of this great series of trachytic tuffs, the upper limits of which are 

nowhere seen, the proportion of their detrital material quartz and feldspar sand 

becomes rapidly greater until the tuff is underlaid by:

Feet.

2. Coarse, sandy grits, gray and yellow fragments, partially rounded, partially angular, with a slight proportion of calcitic material......... 250

3. Saccharoidal limestone, rich in fresh-water mollusks1 ................. 60

4. Marly grits, yellow and drab, rather coarse.......................... 40

5. Fine-grained friable buff and gray sandstone, having a peculiarly

sharp gritty feel ................................................. 70

6. Variable gray sandstones ............................................ 100

7. Amarlygrit ........................................................ 50 or 60

8. White and yellow infusorial silica ................................... 200 to 250

9. Palagonite tuff, base never seen .............. (maximum exposure) .. 250

Intermediate between the times of deposition of the two fresh-water 

groups already referred to, or perhaps synchronous in part with the 

earlier portion of the latter, there were enormous outpourings of the 

rhyolitic materials in the area under consideration. T he older, or Truckee 

group, was accordingly often much disturbed by volcanic and orographic phenomena, and its layers are often inclined 10°, 20°, or even 

30° from the horizontal.

Concerning the age of this group, King2 says:

No vertebrate remains have been found upon the area of Map V, except a single 

rhinoceros tooth 3 from the grits of the Kawsoh Mountains, a species which has been 

pronounced to be probably Miocene. The fresh-water mollusca of the saccharoidal

1 Sphcerium rugosum Meek, Sphcerium? idahoense Meek, Anyelug undulatut Meek, Garirdfex (Vor. 

ticifcx) binneyi Meek, G. (T.) tryoni Meek, Melania? subsculptilis ? Meok, if. SClllptiliS Meek (=Jtf. 

taylori Gabb). U. S. Geol. Surv. 40th, vol. 4, pt. 1, pp. 182-190. First published in Proc. PMla. Acad. 

Nat. Sci., 1870, pp. 56-60.

* Systematic Geology, 1878, p. 423-424.

8 JR. paeificus probably, King, p. 455.
DHAEiulD } HUMBOLDT GROUP. 315

limestone of Fossil Hill would not alone afford sufficient data for referring this 

series to the Miocene, although Prof. Meek, independently of any other reason, made 

this assignment. The main reason for classing the whole group as Miocene is, that 

farther north in Oregon upon John Day, Des Chutes, and Crooked rivers, Prof. Mcek's 

researches have brought to light an immense formation computed by him to be 3,000 

or 4,000 feet thick, containing numerous vertebrate remains of clearly Miocene type. 

These Oregon beds are all in inclined positions, earlier than basaltic eruptions, and 

the main material of this whole series, as I have determined by microscopic studies, 

is of stratified trachytic pumices, tuffs, and hyaline sands. The Oregon Miocene is 

.apparently the direct northern continuation o± the Nevada formation. Besides the 

parallelism between the two series, is the fact of an overlying nucoufonnablo Pliocene in each case. The mollusks from Fossil Hill aud the rhinoceros tooth distinctly refer the Nevada strata to the Miocene. The overlying Pliocenes aud basalts 

are similar and of identical position in each case; aud this, together with the identity of material and similarity of disturbed position, has led us finally to refer our 

Truckee group to the Miocene.'

Paleontology. If Ave confine ourselves to the development of this 

group within the boundaries of Nevada, its paleontologic features can 

be given in few words. Besides the above-mentioned rhinoceros tooth 

and fresh-water mollusks, infusorial and vegetable remains have been 

noted in several localities. Just above the town of Eeno, in Truckeo 

valley, Hague finds in beds doubtfully referred to this group, " steins, 

leaves, aud partially carbonized vegetable matter," which " are abundant 

in certain layers of shale." Coal seams have been observed north of the 

town of Verdi, and'on Dog Creek, a short distance north of Crystal Peak.

Regarding the infusoria referred to in King's section, quoted above, 

Hague 2 says:

Under the microscope, even with a moderate power, these siliceous beds are seen 

to be made up of innumerable fragments of Diatomacea. Dr. C. G. Ehrenbe.rg,3 of 

Berlin, Prussia, to whom were sent a large number of specimens from this locality 

has described no less than thirty-three distinct organic forms, one of which may belong to the vegetable world. Of these forms, twelve have been classed as Polyyas- 

. trica aud twenty as PhytoHtharia, the most abundant species being: 

Galliondla yrcmulata. 

Gallionclla sculpta. 

SponyolltliuS acionlaris.

Accompanying Dr. Ehrenberg's work is a plate giving the microscopic sections of 

the. infusorial earth from this locality, together with others from the Truckee Valley, 

and Salt Lake Desert.

A similar deposit is noted about 2 miles south of Winneniucca Lake

(p. 820). ' *

IIUMBOLDT GKOTJP.

This group, according to the geologists of the fortieth parallel, was 

deposited in " Shoshone Lake," whose existence was in part contemporaneous with, but mainly subsequent to, the period of rhyolite outflows,

1 On p. 450 he correlates it with the White River group.' 

2 Descriptive Geol., vol. 2, p. 7G8.

3 Ueher die wachseiide Keimtiiiss des unsiclithareu Lehons als felshildende Bacilluricn in Culiforiiia, 

p. 19, Berliu, 1870.
316 THE NEOCENE OF NOKTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

though often hidden under vast sheets of basalt. References will be 

found under Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah of outlying portions 

of this formation, but it is in Humboldt Valley, Nevada, that it is typically developed and accordingly receives its name. King describes this 

region, as follows:

West of Humboldt and Tucubits ranges there is a long valley drained by Humboldt River and Hunting-ton Creek. Tbrougbout the length of this depression, over 

100 miles, there is a nearly continuous exposure of horizontal Pliocene beds. It is 

difficult to decide Avhat thickness of beds is exposed, since they are often buried by 

Quaternary, but there can not be less than 600 or 800 feet. In the middle of this 

valley the beds are horizontal, but on either side there is a dip of from 2° to 3°, 

which is probably the inclination of deposition. The foot-hills of the ranges on 

both sides are skirted by continuous belts of Tertiary, which are beveled off to the 

central valley. Streams have excavated broad depressions down these plains and 

the intervening spurs have been graded off, so that th'e whole valley country presents 

few abrupt exposures and those only along certain exceptionally sharp stream cuts. 

The most important of these are seen in the valley of the South Fork of the Humboldt, where 100 to 150 feet of sandstone cliffs flank the valley on either side. Here 

are found sands that are at times quite marly, associated with more or less coarse 

beds of grit, which nearer the mountains arc entitled to be named conglomerate. 

There are a few calcareous clays, and some limited beds of true marly limestone. It 

is not surprising that this whole Pliocene exposure should have more or less calcareous material within its mass, since so large a portion of the surrounding mountain 

sides from which the material has been derived is of Paleozoic limestones.

The descriptions of this formation as it occurs at numerous other 

localities within the limits of the fortieth parallel survey will be found 

in volumes 1 and 2 of its reports.

Concerning the age of this group, King remarks:

At Bone Valley, which is drained by the waters of the North Fork of the Humboldt, a few vertebrate remains were found, including a jaw of Protohippusperditns, 

also a jaw of Merycliippus mirabttis, and fragments of Cosoryx. These forms are of 

importance as proving the identity of the beds in which they were found with those 

of the Niobrara Pliocene east of the Eocky Mountains.

Cope evidently refers ] these fossils to the Procamelus division of the 

Loup Fork (Niobrara) Miocene. Fossil remains are exceedingly rare 

in the formation within the boundaries of Nevada. They appear to be 

limited to the forms mentioned above, together with a few undetermined 

fresh-water mollusks.

»TJ. S. Geol. Sur\. Terr., 1884, vol. 3, p. 19.
DALL AND 

HARRISrD J NEOCENE FORMATIONS OF THE INTERIOR REGIONS 317

Table showing the vertical range of the Neocene formations of the interior region.

? 

?_

? '

Miocene.

__ <

 ? 

?

__ »

 i __

_ ?

Pliocene.

__ . j 

_ ;

? 

7

?- 

 

_ 1

Atuyzon group. 

Arkansas marls. 

Bishop Mt. conglomerate. 

Brontotheritim beds. 

Cache Lake beds. 

Dalles group. 

Equus beds. 

Galisteo group. 

Humboldt group. 

Idaho formation. 

John Day group. 

Loup Fork group. 

Megalonyx beds. 

Miohippus series. 

Monument Creek group. 

Niobrara croup. 

North Park deposits. 

Oregon beds. 

Oreodon beds. 

Pliohippus beds. 

Procamelus beds. 

Salt Lake group. 

Santa Fe marls. 

Staked Plains formation. 

Ticholeptus beds. 

Titanotherium bed. 

Turtle and Oreodon bed. 

Truckee group. 

Volcanic Tertiary. 

AVhito River" group. 

AVyoming conglomerate.
NOTES ON THE MAP.

In view of the uncertainty in the determination of the age of many 

of the Neocene beds of the Great Interior region, it has seemed best to 

color them uniformly and leave to the future the task of assigning to 

each area its relative position in the geologic scale.

The small scale of the map renders it impracticable to discriminate 

the subdivisions of the Miocene by separate colors. The old Miocene 

area is mostly indicated on the map of Florida. Northeastward of 

Georgia the only area of this age which has been definitely recognized 

is that represented by the small patches of the Shiloh marls in southwestern New Jersey. The rest of the Atlantic Miocene, not perezonal 

in character, belongs to the Chesapeake group as far as yet identified.

The Eocene island of Florida is colored on account of the important relation it bears to the beds about it and to distinguish it from Pleistocene 

and other areas left uncolored. As the lake areas and swamps of Florida 

are undoubtedly Pliocene under their Pleistocene sands, the Okeefinokee Swamp is presumably of the same age, and there is reason to 

believe, as elsewhere shown, that this is also true of the Dismal Swamp 

of Virginia. These areas have therefore been mapped as Pliocene. 

Part of the marginal beds of sand, clay, etc., which border the Gulf 

Miocene on the south, are presumably Pliocene, as well as the central 

portion of the trough of the Mississippi Basin below the material which 

has been rearranged in Pleistocene times, and apart from the Appomattox formation. These are distinctively colored to distinguish them 

from the marine beds denoted by their fauna to be Pliocene. The peneplains of the valley of California and of the Willamette River, Oregon, 

are similarly treated.

On the Atlantic coast there are gaps in the vicinity of the great Carolinian ridge where the Neocene has been denuded, leaving only smaller 

or larger patches in the more depressed basins of the Eocene surface. 

These patches, often, too small to be separately platted on a map of this 

scale, have been generalized for present purposes.

Submarine areas off Hatteras, Nantucket, and on Georges Banks, have 

been indicated by a cimilar spot in each case.

The Neocene of the Pacific coast has been indicated from the sources 

of \ nformation mentioned in tli e text. That of the State of Washington 

is mapped from the geological map of the Dominion of Canada, no published information other than that being available, especially for the 

portion west from Puget Sound. No attempt has been made to map the 

volcanic rocks possibly of Neocene age. 

318
NOTES ON THE MAP. 319

The Appomattox formation is mapped in two shades of color. One 

of these represents that portion of this formation which has been recognized by McGee as forming tlfe top rock or surface material, and as 

such has been definitely mapped by him. In the northwestern part of 

the Gulf of Mississippi the beds of this formation have been denuded, 

making a gap in the perezonal line. Following the general relation of 

the known beds to the subjacent Eocene, the remainder of the Appomattox perezone has been carried hypothetical^ across Arkansas and 

Texas, in order to enable the eye to take in more fully the relations of 

the formation as a whole as at present understood.

A lighter shade indicates the extension under the sands of the Columbia formation of beds assigned by McGee to the Appomattox, though 

in southern Georgia and northern Florida this extension is represented 

as somewhat less than he would give it, since, theoretically, it would 

seem improbable that these beds should cover the Okeefinokee Basin, 

while the oxidized gravels and red clays of northern Florida may well 

have had another origin.

In the interior, Neocene beds, according to Cope, exist on the line separating the two Dakotas, where beds assigned by him to the White Eiver 

horizon form a Neocene island separated by a gap of 200 miles from 

those of the same character to the south. As there are no data for the 

definite location of these beds geographically, they have been omitted 

on the map.

In the lower part of the Colorado Valley near the Gulf of California it 

is probable that Pliocene beds exist, but in the absence of definite 

information no attempt has been made to place them on the map. 

Throughout the map the presence of post-glacial or Pleistocene beds 

above the Neocene rocks has been ignored; the object being to show 

as fully as existing information would warrant the general distribution of the Neocene formations. If the presence of the superficial 

Pleistocene materials had been taken into account the underlying 

beds would have been practically hidden from view, except as almost 

invisible lines along the water courses or the shores.
CHAPTER VII.

LIST OF NAMES APPLIED TO CENOZOIC BEDS AND FORMATIONS 

OF THE UNITED STATES, EXCLUDING THE LARAMIE.i

jEOLIAN SANDROCK. '

Wind-blown character of contents. W. H. Ball, 1892 ; 2 this essay, pp. 153-155.

Pleistocene of Florida. 

ALACIIUA CLAYS.

Alachua County, Florida. W. H. Ball, 1892; this essay, p. 127. Pliocene. 

ALTAMAHA GRIT.

Altamaha River, southeast Georgia. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 81. Older

Miocene. 

ALUM BLUFF BEDS.

Typically displayed in the upper part of the bluff at Alum Bluff, eastern bank of 

Appalachicola River, northwest Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 

112. Miocene.

AMYZON BEDS.

Amyzon, generic name of a characteristic fish. E. D. Cope, May, 1879; Am.

Nat., vol. 13, p. 332. Later Eoceue or early Miocene. 

Amyzon group. Cope; Am. Nat., June, 1880. 

These beds were first described, though not named, by Cope in 1872; Proc. Am.

Phil. Soc., 1872, p. 478. 

APPOMATTOX FORMATION.

Appomattox, a river of Virginia, along which the formation is typically displayed. W. J. McGee, Feb., 1888; Am. Jour. Sci.^ 3rd ser., vol. 35, p. 125; 

"Later Tertiary age;" "Much nearer the age of the Columbia formation 

than that of the fossiliferous Miocene" (Ibid., p. 330); its ago corresponds 

"at least roughly with the Pliocene." (Ibid., vol. 40, p. 33.) " Post-Pliocene" ? 

Langdon(Ibid., vol. 40, p. 238). 

See under Lafayette formation. 

ARAPAHOE BEDS.

Arapahoe County, Colorado. George H. Eldridge, 1889; Am. Jour. Sci., 3rd ser.,

vol. 37, p. 282.3 

Lowest Tertiary. 

ARCADIA MARL.

Arcadia, De Soto County, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 131. Older

Pliocene. 

ARKADELPHIA SHALE.

Arkadelphia, a town, Clarke County, Arkansas. Robert T. Hill, 1888; Rept.

Ark. Geol. Surv., vol. 2, p. 53. Eocene. 

ARKANSAS MAULS.

Arkansas River, Colorado. F. V. Hayeleu, 1869; Preliminary Field Report of the

U. S. Geol. Surv. of Colorado and New Mexico, p. 77. 

"Contemporaneous with the Santa Fe marls."

1 The names applied to Pleistocene beds in this essay are included. 

* Date of publication. This and other names by "W". H. Dall were pvoposcd in 1891. 

s See also Proc, Col. Sci. Soc.; 1888, vol. 3, part 1, p. 97. This publication, though apparently antedating the preceding, did not actually appear until some time after thn former. "Whitman Cross. 

320
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 321

ASHLEY BEDS.

Ashley River, South Carolina. M. Tuoiney, 1848; Report on the Geology of South 

Carolina, p. 164. Eocene.

ASHLEY AND COOPER BEDS.

Ashley and Cooper rivers, South Carolina. M. Tnoniey, 1848; Geology of South 

Carolina, pp. 162, 211. "Newest Eocene of the State."

ASTORIA GROUP.

Astoria, a town in Clatsop County, Oregon. W. H. I)all, 1892; this essay, p. 225.

Miocene. 

Includes the Astoria shales and sandstones, the Solen bed of Condou, the Crepidula bed of Dall, and the Nulato sandstone.

ASTORIA SANDSTONES.

Astoria, a town in Clatsop County, Oregon. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay; p. 224. 

Miocene.

ASTORIA SHALES.

Astovia, a town in Clatsop County, Oregon. Thomas Condon; published by E. P. 

Cope from MS. notes of Prof. Condon, June, 1880; American Naturalist, vol. 

14, p. 457. Miocene.

ASTRINGENT CLAY.

Astringent property of the clay. H. D. Rogers, 1836; Report of the Geol. Surv. of 

New Jersey, p. 26. Eocene.

ATLANTIC GROUP.

Lying along the Atlantic border. Otto Meyer, 1888; American Geologist, p. 93. 

Includes all the Tertiaries of the Atlantic slope.

ATURIA BED.

Aturia, a characteristic fossil. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 224. Upper

Eocene of Astoria, Oregon. 

AURIFEROUS GRAVELS.

Gold-bearing gravels of the, Sierra Nevada, California. J. D. Wkitney, 1879; 

Mem. Mus. Com. Zool. at Harvard College, vol. 6, 1. Neozoic, culminating 

in the later Pliocene. 

BASAL OR WILLS POINT CLAYS.

Basal, because "its position is the lowermost of the Eocene," and Wills Point, 

Texas, Avhere the beds are well exposed. R. A. F. Peurose, jr., 1889; First 

Ann. Rep. Gcol. Surv. Tex., 1890, p. 19. LoAvor Eocene. 

BASIII SERIES.

Bashi Creek, Clarke County, Alabama, on which the series is typhically displayed. Smith and Johnson, 1887; U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, p. 43. 

=Wood's Bluff series. ,

BELL'S LANDING SERIES.

Bell's Landing on Alabama. River, Monroe County, Alabama. E. A. Smith and

Lawrence Johnson, 1887. U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, p. 46. Lignitic

Eocene. 

=Tuscalionia series.

BlNGEX SANDS.

Bin gen, a village, Hcmpstead County, Arkansas. R. T. Hill, 1888; Ann. Rep.

Ark. Geol. Surv., vol. 2, p. 56. Eocene. 

BISHOP MOUNTAIN CONGLOMERATE.

Bishop Mountain, Sweotwater County, Wyoming. J. W. Powcllj 1876; Geol.

Uiuta Mts., pp. 40-44. "Pliocene."' 

=Wyoming conglomerate.

Bull. 84 21
322 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

BISON BEDS.

Bison, generic name of a characteristic fossil. O. C. Marsh, 1887; Am. Jour. Sci.,

3d ser., vol. 34, p. 324. " Probably later Pliocene." 

=Denver group, partim. Cross. 

The name has been canceled by Marsh (in lit.) 

BITTKR CREEK GROUP.

Bitter Creek, Wyoming. J. W. Powell, 1876; Geol. Uinta Mts., pp. 40, 45, 46.

Eocene.

=Wasatch group; see p. 65.

Its upper part includes the Washiki group, p. 65. 

BLACK BLUFF SERIES.

Black Bluff on Tombigbee River, Sumter County, Alabama. Smith and Jo'huson,

1887; U. S. Geol. Surv., Bull. No. 43, p. 61. Eocene. 

To be known as the Sucarnochee series in a forthcoming report by Smith and

Langdon.

=Buff sand, partim. 

BLUFF LIGNITIC.

Bluffs along the Mississippi containing lignite. J. M. Safford, 1864; Am. Jour.

Sci., 2d ser., vol. 37, p. 370. Provisional Tertiary? 

Identified with Safford's Porter's Creek group by R. H. Loughridge; Jackson

Purchase Region, Geol. Surv. Ky., 1888, p. 41. 

BRANDON PERIOD.

Brandon, a town of Rutland County, Vermont. H. C. Lewis, 1880; Proc. Acad.

Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. 32, p. 289. Oligocene? 

BRIDGER GROUP.

Fort Bridger, Uinta County, Wyoming. F. V. Hayden, 1869; Preliminary Field 

Report of the U. S. Geol. Surv. of Colorado and New Mexico, p, 91. " Upper 

Tertiary." Eocene. 

=Dinoceras beds. 

BRONTOTHERIUM BEDS.

Erontotherium, generic name of a characteristic fossil. O. C. Marsh, 1877; Am.

Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 14, p. 354. "Lowest Miocene." 

A subdivision of the White River group.

BROWN'S PARK GROUP.

Brown's park, northeastern Utah. J. W. Powell, 1876; Geol. of Uinta Mts., pp.

40, 44. Eocene. 

=Uinta Group. White. 

BUFF SAND.

Buff color of the component sands. A. Wincholl, 1856; Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv.

Sci., vol.10, p. 89. Lower Eocene. 

See Black Bluff series.

BULLA STRIATA MARLS.

Bulla striata, characteristic fossil. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 147, footnote.

Pleistocene. 

=Venus cancellata bed, partim, Heilpriu.

BURRSTONE FORMATION.

Burrstone (Buhrstone), a rough siliceous rock characteristic of the formation. 

Charles Lyell, 1845; Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Lond., vol. 1, p. 435. Eocene.

Regarded by Lyell as newer than the White Limestone.

John Finch referred to the "Buhr-stoue of Georgia" as early as 1823 (Am. Jour. 

Sci., vol. 7, p. 38), and Vanuxem used the term in 1827 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., 

Phila., vol.6, pt. 1, pp. 60,66), but in each case the usage seems that of a common rather than a proper noun.
^ARm ] CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 323

CACHE LAKE BEDS.

Cache Lake, Lake County, California. G. F. Becker, 1888; U. S. Geol.Surv., Monograph A^ol. 13, p. 219. Late Pliocene. 

CALAMITY BEDS.

Calamites, characteristic fossil. Thos. Condou, by E. D. Cope, Am. Nat., Juno,

1880; vol.14, p.458. Eocene? of central Oregon. 

CALCAIRE OSTREE.

Abundance of Ostrca. John Finch, 1823; Am. Jour. Sci.. 1824, vol. 7, p. 39. 

A name applied to portions of the Eocene of South Carolina and Georgia, but 

which may have included some of the lower Miocene of Florida. Conrad, as 

early as 1832, pointed out the fact that this formation has no real existence. 

CALCAREOUS CLAIBORNE.

Calcareousness of the component strata; its fossils show its equivalency to the 

beds at Claiborne, Alabama. Eug. W. Hilgard, 1860; Agric. and Geol. 

Miss., p. 126. Middle Eocene.

CALOOSAHATCHIE BEDS.

Typically exposed on that river in Florida. W. H. Dall, 1887; Am. Jour. Sci.,

3d ser., vol. 34, pp. 167, 169. 

Includes the upper marine and fresh-water Pliocene of south Florida and South

Carolina. 

CAMDEN SERIES.

Camden, a toAvn, Ouachita County, Arkansas. Robert T. Hill, 1888; Ann. Rep.

Ark. Geol. Surv., vol. 2, p. 49. Eocene. 

CAROUNIAN (Upper Atlantic Miocene).

Typically developed in North and South Carolina. Angelo Heilprin, 1882; Proc.

Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1882, p. 183. Upper Miocene. 

CERITHIUM ROCK.

Abundance of the genus Cerithium. Angelo Heilprin, 1887. Trans. Wagner

Free List. Sci., vol. 1, pp. 11,123. Older Miocene of Florida. 

CHATTAHOOCHE GROUP.

Chattahoochee, river and town, northwestern Florida. D. W. Langdon, 1889; 

Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 38, p. 324. Basal Miocene, as shown in this essay. 

CHATTAHOOCHEE LIMESTONE.

Typical exposure on the Chattahooche River, north\vesteru Florida. W. H. Dall,

1892; this essay, pp. 106,107. Older Miocene. 

CHESAPEAKE FORMATION.

Typical exposures on the bay of that name. N. H. Darton, 1891; Bull. Geol. Hoc. 

Am., vol. 2, p. 443. Includes the Miocene of Maryland and Virginia, and is 

the term stratigraphically equivalent to the expression "Yorktown Epoch" 

of Dana.

CHESAPEAKE GROUP.

Typically developed in the hydrographic basin of Chesapeake Bay. W. II. Dall,

1891; Geological Magazine for June, 1891, p. 287; this essay, p. 123. 

Includes the Chesapeake formation of Darton and all other beds containing the

same general fauna of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. 

CIIICO-TEJON GROUP.

Chico, a town and creek in Butte County, California, and Tejon, a fort in Kern 

County, California. C. A. White, 1885; U. S. Gool. Surv., Bull. No. 15, p. 11. 

Cretaceo-Eocene. 

CHIPOLA BEDS.

Typically exposed at Chipola River, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 112. 

Older Miocene of Florida*
324 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

CHIPOLA MARL.

Typically displayed on Chipola River, northwestern Florida. W. H. Ball, 1892;

this essay, p. 122. Older Miocene. 

=Chipola formation of Frank Burns (MS. notes), 1890. 

CLAIBOKNE GROUP.

Claiborne, a town, Monroe County, Alabama. T. A. Conrad, J anuary, 1855; Proc. 

Phila. Acad. Nat. Soi., vol. 7, p. 257. Eocene. "Claiborniau," Heilprin; Proc. 

Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila., 1882, p. 184. 

CLAYTON GROUP.

Clayton, Barbour County, Alabama. D. W. Langdou, July, 1891; Bull. Geol. 

Soc. Am., vol. 2, p. 594. Name applied to a phase of the Midway Eocene in 

eastern Alabama. 

CLEVELAND COUNTY RED LANDS.

Red color of the soil in Cleveland Couuty, Arkansas. Robert T. Hill, 1888; Ann.

Rep. Ark. Geol. Surv., vol. 2, p. 58. Eocene. 

CORAL LIMESTONE.

Characterized by fossil corals. Smith and Johnson, 18H7; IT. S. Geol. Surv., Biill. 

No. 43, p. 18. Uppermost Eocene of Salt Hill, Clarke County, Alabama.

CORYPHODON BEDS.

Coryphodon, name of a characteristic genus. O. C. Marsh, 1877; Am. Jour. Sci.,

3d ser., vol. 14, p. 354. Lowest Eocene. 

See Wasatch group. 

CREPIDULA BED.

Crepidula, characteristic fossil. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 255. Marine

Miocene of Alaska.

CUCHARA BEDS.

Cuchara River, central Colorado. R. C. Hills, 1891; "Remarks on the classification of the Hnerfano Eocene." Abstract from vol. 4, pt. 2, Proc. Colo. 

Scientific Soc., February, 1891. Lower Eocene. 

DALLES GROUP.

"The Dalles/' a town, Wasco County, Oregon. Thomas Condon; first published 

byE.D. Cope, from Condoii's MS. notes, June, 1880; Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., 

vol. 19, p. 61. Pliocene. ?

 ? Equus beds. 

DENVER GROUP.

Denver, Colorado. O. C. Marsh, 1887. Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 34, p. 324. 

Eocene? ("Probably late Pliocene." 0. C. M.) " 1). Formation," Whitman 

Cross, Mining Industry, August 3, 1888, and Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 37, 

p. 261. "Eocene."

DE SOTO BEDS.

De Soto, a supposed Pliocene lake in Florida named for the Spanish explorer.

W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 133. Pliocene. 

Inchides the lower marine Pliocene beds of Peace Creek and the Alachua clays.

DlNOCEHAS BEDS.

Dinoccras, generic name of a characteristic fossil. O. C. Marsh, 1877. Am.

Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 14, p. 354. Middle Eocene. 

= Green ^liver group and Bridger group. Marsh, 1877. 

= Bridger group. Marsh, 1886.

DlPLACODON BEDS.

Diplacodon, generic name of a characteristic genus. O. C. Marsh, 1877. Am.

Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 14, p. 354. Uppevmost Eoeone. 

= Uiuta group. Marsh.

ECPIIORA BED.

Ecphora, a characteristic genus. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 124. Newer 

Miocene of Alum Blufl^ Chattahoochee River, Florida.
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 325

EOCENE.

j/6f, Ionic form for Att. Vwf = Lat. Aurora; dawn, and naivuf, ?/, 6v, Lat. rccoin; 

new, fresh, recent. Charles Lyell, 1833 (1832, lectures delivered at King's 

College, London). Principles of Geology, 1st ed., about p. 53 of vol.3.

NOTE. We have not had access to the volume itself; the above data are mainly derived 

from statemontsmade in Lyell's Principles of Geology, cd. of 1834, vol. 1, pp. xiv, xv. and 

vol. '3, pp. 305, 300, and in Lea's Contributions to Geology, introd. p. 14. It should bo 

noted that the conclnsions and researches, which finally resulted in the classification for 

 which the terms Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and post-Pliocene were framed, were the joint 

work of Lyell and G. P. l)cshayes. See Hull. Son. g6ol. do Prance, 1830, vol. 1, pp. 185-188.

EO-LlGNITIC.

7/wf, dawn, and lignitic. Angelo Hcilprin, 1881. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Pliila.,

1881, p. 159, foot-note. Lower Eocene. 

EQUUS BEDS.

Equus, a characteristic genus. 0. C. Marsh, 1877. Am. Jour. Sci., 3d scr., vol. 

14, p. 355. See also plate accompanying "Introduction, and Succession of 

Vertebrate Life in America." Author's edition, 1877. Upper Pliocene. 

Pleistocene. G. K. Gilbert, U. S. Geol. Surv., MOD. vol. 1, 1890, p. 393. 

EVERGLADES LIMESTONE.

Rock forming about the margin and underlying the basin of the Everglades of

Florida. W.H. Ball., 1891; this essay, p. 154. Pleistocene and recent. 

FAYETTE BEDS.

Fayette, a county of Texas. R. A. F. Penrose, jr., 1889. First. Ann. Rep. Geol. 

Surv. Tex., 1890, p. 47, of Penrose's Rep. Equivalent at least in part to the 

Grand Gulf (Miocene). 

FERRUGINOUS GRAVEL.

Character of the beds. W. H. Ball, 1892; this essay, p. 109. Older Miocene of

Hawthorne beds of Florida and Georgia. 

FLATWOODS CLAY.

Characteristic gray clay formation of the Flatwoods region; a level tract of 

laud bordering the Cretaceous on the west, from Tippah to Kemper County, 

Mississippi. Eug. W. Hilgard, 1860. Agric. and Geol. Miss., pp. 110,112,113. 

Lowest Eocene. 

FLORIDIAN SERIES.

Typically developed in the State of Florida. Angelo Heilpriu, 1887. Trans. 

Wag.Free. lust. Sci., vol.1, p. 32. "The Pliocene series of the Caloosahatchie." LOG cit.

= Floridian group, partim, this essay, which includes in this group all the Pliocene beds of Florida. 

FLORIDITE PHOSPHATIC ROCK.

Phosphate bearing; locality, Florida. E. T. Cox, 1890; Am. Nat., vol. 24, p. 1185.

Eocene. 

FORT UNION (OR GREAT LIGNITIC) GROUP.

Fort Union, western North Dakota. F. B. Meek and F. V. Hayden, 1861; Proc.

Phila. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1861, vol. 13, p. 433. Eocene or Larainic. 

GALISTEO GROUP.

Gallisteo (Galisteo) Creek, New Mexico. J. J. Stevenson, 1881; U. S. Geol. Surv.

W. 100th Mer., vol. 3, Suppl., p. 159. "Miocene or early Pliocene." 

GALLISTEO (SAND) GROUP.

Gallisteo Creek, New Mexico. F. V. Hayden, 1869; Prelim. Field Rep. U. S. Geol. 

Surv. Colo. audN. Mex. Third Ann. of Hayden's Surv., 1869, p. 40. " Middle 

Tertiary," p. 90. "Cretaceous," Cope, 1875; Proc. Phila. Ac. Nat. Sci., p. 360. 

" Wasatch Eocene," Haydeu, 1878; Am. Nat., p. 83. " Laramie," (?) Stevenson, 1881; U. S. Geol. Surv. W. 100th Mer., p. 160 (Suppl. to vol. 3). 

There seems to be some doubt as to what beds Haydeu intended to apply this 

name. This may in part account for the various ages assigned to the group. 

See Galisteo group, Stevenson.
326 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

GAY HKAD SERIES.

Gay Head, a promotory on the extreme western end of the island of Marthas

Vineyard, off Massachusetts. N. S. Shaler, 1888; U. S. Geol. Snrv., 7th Ann.

Rep., pp. 339, 340. Pnbl., 1888. 

This, according to Shaler (in litt.), includes that portion of the Vineyard series

shown at Gay Head; consequently we must regard it as in part Cretaceous

and in part Upper Miocene, or Pliocene. 

See Vineyard series.

GNATIIODON BED.

Gnatliodon, a characteristic genus. \V. H. Ball, 1892; this essay, p. 164. Fossiliferous bed in Grand Gulf group, Mississippi. 

GRAND GULF GROUP.

Grand Gull:, a village in Claihorne County, Mississippi. Eug. W. Hilgard, 1860;

Rep. Agric. and Geol. ot Miss., pp. 108, 147. Miocene. 

Sometimes called the Southern Lignitic group.

GRAND GULF SANDSTONE.

Grand Gulf, a village, Claihorne County, Mississippi, where the sandstone is

is typically exposed. L. C. Wailes, 1854; Agric. of Miss., p. 216. Miocene.

This sandstone forms the most characteristic phase in the Grand Giilf group of

Hilgard (q. v.). 

GREAT CAROLINIAN BED [of marl].

Typically developed in South Carolina. Edmund Ruffiu, 1843. Report on the

Commencement and Progress of the Agric. Surv. of S. C., p. 7. Eocene. 

GREEN RIVER GROUP.

Green River, southwest Wyoming. F. V. Hayden, 1869. Prelim. Field Rep. U.

S. Geol. Surv. of Colo. and N. Mex., p. 90. Eocene. 

Subdivided into Upper and Lower Green River groups hy Powell. (Geol. Uinta

Mts., 1876, pp. 40, 45,46.) 

See Diuoceras beds and Haliohatis beds. 

GREEN SAND.

An expression used by A. Winchell to denote a supposed stratigraphic unit in the 

Alabama Eocene series. He would have it include beds that are now knoAvn 

to belong to the Claiborne group, as well as others that belong to the Lignitic series, maintaining in the meantime that they are all above the Buhrstone. The impossibilities of these conditions will be at once apparent by 

consulting the generalized sections in Bull. No. 43, U. S. Geol. Surv.; Proc. 

Am. A. A. Sci., 1856, vol. 10, p. 86. 

GROUND ICE FORMATION.

Interstratified ice of Kotzebue Sound and northern Alaska. \V. H. Dall, 1892;

this essay, p. 260. Pliocene or early Pleistocene. 

GULP GROUP.

Proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. Otto Myer, 1888. Am. Geologist, vol. 2, p. 89. 

Includes all the Tertiaries of the Gulf States.

HATCHETIGBEE SERIES.

Hatchetigbee, a bluff on Tombigbee River, Washington County, Alabama. Smith

and Johnson, 1887. U. S. Geol. Surv., Bull. No. 43, p. 39. Eocene. 

HAWTHORNE BEDS.

Hawthorne, a village of Alachua County, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this

essay, p. 107. Basal Miocene. 

HELIOBATIS BEDS.

Heliobaiis, characteristic genus. 0. C. Marsh, 1886. Mon. on Diuocerata, pp.

6-7. Middle Eocene. 

=Green River beds. Marsh.
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 327

HICKMAN GROUP. (Provisional.)

Hickmau, a town, Fulton County, Kentucky. R. II. Loughridgo, 1888. Geol. 

Surv. Ky. Jackson Purchase region (F), p. 37. Lowest Eocene.

HUERFANO BEDS.

Huerfano River, south central Colorado. R. C. Hills, 1888. Proc. Colo. Sci. Soc.,

vol. 3, pt. 1, 148. Eocene. 

Huerfano series, Hills. "Remarks on the Classification of the Huerfano Eocene."

Abstract from vol. 4., pt. 2, Colo. Sci. Soc., Feb. 1891.

HUMBOLDT GROUP.

Hurnboldt Valley, Nevada. Clarence King, 1876; Atlas accompanying U. S.

Geol. Explor., 40th Par., 1876, map iii, western half. Vol. 1 of the report of

the above expedition, p. 434; "Pliocene." 

Probably Loup Fork Miocene. 

Includes the Salt Lake group of Hayden. 

IDAHO FORMATION.

Idaho, a State. E. D. Cope, 1883; Proc. Phila. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1883, p. 135; " earlier

Pliocene." 

=Idaho beds, Cope, Am. Nat., 1889, vol. 23, p. 354.

INFUSORIAL EARTH.

Stratum containing Infusoria. J. W. Bailey, 1850; Smithsonian Contr. to Knowledge, vol. 2, No. 8, p. 19; older Miocene of Tampa, Florida.

Recent observations make the infusorial character of this bed somewhat questionable. 

INFUSORIAL STRATUM.

Stratum containing Infusoria. W. B. Rogers. 1840; Rep. of Prog, of the Geol. 

Surv. of Virginia for 1840; or, A Reprint of the Annual Reports and Other 

Papers on the Geology of the Virginias, 1884, p. 449; Miocene. 

INTERMEDIATE YELLOW CLAYS AND SANDS.

Intermediate between the "northern" and "southern" Tertiary of Delaware.

J.C. Booth, 1837-'38; Mem. Geol. Surv. Del., Senate ed., p. 49; Miocene? 

JACKSON GROUP.

Jackson, a village, Hinds County, Mississippi. T. A. Conrad, 1855; Proc. Phila.

'Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 7, p. 257; Upper Eocene.

"Jackson Tertiary;" see Wailes's Geol.Mississippi, 1854, pp.274, 289. 

" Jacksonian;" Heilprin, Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1882, p. 184. 

JACKSONVILLE LIMESTONE.

Jacksonville, a town, northeast Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 124;

newer Miocene. 

JOHN DAY GROUP.

John Day River, northern Oregon. O. C. Marsh, 1875; Am. Jour. Sci^ 3d ser., 

vol. 9, p. 52; equivalent to the upper part of the White River (Miocene?) 

group.

It will be noticed that at the place referred to Marsh does not use the expression "John Day group," but "John Day basin." 

?=Northern extension of the Truckee group. 

KKNAI GROUP. - '

K.enai peninsula, Alaska. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 234; Miocene of paleobotanists, possibly Eocene.

KOWAK CLAYS.

Kowak River, northern Alaska. W. H.Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 265; Pliocene 

or Pleistocene.
328 THE NEOCENE OF NOETH AMERICA. [BULt.84.

LAFAYETTE FORMATION.

Lafayette County, Mississippi. Hilgard, Safford, andMcGce, 1891; Am. Geologist, August, 1891, pp. 129-131; Pliocene.

The circumstances under which this name has come to he adopted instead of prior 

designations are set forth hy the geologists concerned as follows: (Op. cit. 

pp. 129-131.)

"Orange sand, Lagrange, and Appomattox. The study lately bestowed upon 

the formations of the Southwestern States in connection with those of the 

North, and especially those of the Atlantic slope hy McGec, seems to render 

a revision and redefinition of the above names desirable. The first two, 

Orange sand and Lagrange, were first applied in 1856, by Safford, to a series 

of beds in west Tennessee that bear a very close resemblance in general 

aspect; and in the mere recounoissance then made by Safford of the region, 

were by hifti presumed to be of identical age. In a subsequent report (1869) 

Safford recognized the fact that a portion of the beds included by him in the 

above designation belonged to the Cretaceous; and he accordingly defines 

the ' Orange sand or Lagrange group' as being of Tertiary (probably Eocene) 

age.

" Meanwhile I had, in 1856, examined the portion of Mississippi adjacent to the 

Tennessee line, and in subsequent years up to 1860 the remainder of the 

State. I had found what I presumed to be Safford's Orange sand more 

widely developed in Mississippi than even in Tennessee, and found it overlying the latest recognized Tertiary beds the Grand Gulf rocks. Accordingly I adopted Safford's name in my Mississippi report of 1860, in which the 

features of the formation are described in considerable detail ; and for reasons there given the 'Orange sand 7 is assigned to the early Quaternary.

 ' The intervention of the Avar prevented any early conference between Safford and 

myself on the subject; and it was only in 1869 that I learned that Safford 

assigned his 'Orange sand' and 'Lagrange,' as a unit, to the Eocene age.

"During our subsequent correspondence it was developed that lignitiferous beds 

of unquestionably Eocene, exposed not far from Lagrange, Tenn., were included by Safford within his group. I therefore suggested to him that the 

latter name should be retained for the yellow and gray lignitiferous sands of 

the Eocene that immediately overlie the Tlatwood' or 'Porter's Creek' 

"beds, which themselves overlie directly, and almost conformably, the uppermost Cretaceous. The name of ' Orange sand,' on the other hand, it was 

agreed, should designate the higher series to which it is peculiarly appropriate. To this agreement we have since adhered, and have therein been followed by other western geologists.

"As stated in my Mississippi report of 1860,1 had concluded from the descriptions 

of Tuorney and others that the Orange sand extended with more or less similarity of character at least to South Carolina, and probably along the Atlantic coast plain as far north as Washington.

"The excellent work carried out for some years past by McGee along the coastal 

plain of the Atlantic slope, while restricting somewhat the supposed northward extension of the formation, has shed much new light upon its general 

relations and regional modifications; and while the identity of the whole is 

unquestionable, and hence the prior designation (Orange sand) sKould stand 

in place of the name Appomattox applied by McGee to the Atlantic portion 

of the formation, yet the deviation of the former name from the accepted rule 

of forming such names from type localities, as well as a certain degree of confusion that has occurred in its actual use, seems to render a change advisable.

"At a late conference on the whole subject, participated in by Messrs. McGee, 

Joseph Le Conte, Loughridge, and myself, it was suggested that in view of 

the various objections to all the later names, that of 'Lafayette,' which the
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATIVE. 329

LAFAYETTE FORMATION contumed.

formation had borne for several years in my early field notes (from the type 

localities in Lafayette County, Miss., where 1 first discriminated it from the 

Eocene sands), might appropriately be adopted, with the assent of Safford, 

as one of the parties to the former agreement. This having been secured, it 

would seem advisable that all nuite npon the use hereafter of'Lafayette' 

as the equivalent of the Orange sand (as understood by Safford and myself) 

of the Southwest and of the Appomattox as defined by McGee for the Atlantic and Southeastern States. Wliatever differences of opinion may exist in 

regard to the genesis of the formation, or the assignment of particular local 

phases, will be more readily discussed and reconciled when a single name 

only is employed by all.

"E. W. HILGARD. 

"BERKLEY, CAL., June 15,1891."

"The above paper was sent to me previous to publication for examination, and, if 

acceptable, for my approval. Prof. Hilgard has given the correct history of 

the names 'Orange sand' and 'Lagrange/ and, in the prospect of harmonising views all around, thereby facilitating the study of the beds concerned, 1 heartily concur in the conclusion reached by him in conference 

with the gentlemen mentioned above. It is pleasant to know that in important points a satisfactory understanding now exists.

" JAS. M. SAFFORD. 

"NASHVILLE, TENN., June 22, 1891." 

LAGRANGE GROUP, or ORANGE SAND.

Lagrange, a village, Fayette County, Tennessee. J. M. Safford, 1864; Am. Jour.

Sci., 2d ser., vol. 37, p. 369.

Regarded then as Eocene; now considered by McGee as belonging to the Appomattox (Pliocene) formation. 

See under Lafayette formation. 

LIGNITIC, or LIGNITE GROUP.

Terms used loosely in American geology to denote 

(1) Portions or the whole of the so-called Laramie group.

(2) That portion of the Eocene of the Gulf states which lies beneath the Bnhrstoue formation; the Eo-lignitic of Heilprin, Northern Lignite of Hilgard, 

Bluff Lignitic of Safford. 

LOT;P FORK BEDS.

Loup Fork of Platte River, central Nebraska. F. V. Hayden and F. B. Meek, 1861; 

Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 13, pp. 433, 435. "Pliocene." Miocene according to Cope. 

= Loup Fork group. F. V. Hayden, 1863; Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 33, p. 312.

MANSFIELD GROUP.

Mansfield, a toAvn, De Soto Parish, Louisiana. Eug. W. Hilgard, 1869; "Prelim. 

Kept. Geol. Reconn. La.," De Bow's Review, Sept., 1869, p. 9; also Am. Jour. 

Sci., Nov., 1869.

Regarded at first as intermediate in age between the Jackson and Vicksburg 

Eocene; more recently (Hopkin's2d Ann. Rept. Geol. La., p. 8, and Hilgard's 

" Suppl. and Final Rept. Geol. Reconn. La.," pp. 40,41) shown to be a subdivision of the Jackson. 

MANTI BEDS.

Manti, name of a valley and town in eastern Utah. E. D. Cope, 1880; Am. Nat., 

vol. 14, p. 304. Middle Eocene, probably equivalent to the Green River shales. 

MALARYNDIAN (or Lower Atlantic Miocene).

Typically developed in Maryland. Angelo Heilprin, 1882; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. 

Sci., 1882, p. 1S3. " Lower Miocene."
330 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

MEGALONYX BKDS.

Megalonyx, name of a characteristic genus. E. D. Cope, 1879; Bull. If. S. Geol.

Surv. Terr., vol. 5, pt. 1, p. 48. Later Pliocene or Pleistocene. 

MIDWAY SERIES.

Midway, a plantation .and lauding on Alabama River, Wilcox County, Alabama. 

Smith and Johnson, 1887; U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, p. 62. Lowest Eocene.

MlLIOLITE LIMESTONE.

From the various Miliolite foramiuifera it contains. Angelo Heilprin, 1887; 

Traus. Wagner Free Inst. Sci., vol. 1, p. 4. Upper Eocene, or "Oligocene" of 

Florida.

MIOCENE.

juetwv (irreg. comp. of /u/cp6f), less, and naivo?, recens, new. Charles Lyell, 1833 

(lectures at King's College, May or June, 1832); Principles of Geology, 1st 

ed.; vol. 3, (about) p. 53. 

See Eocene. 

MIOHIPPUS SERIES.

Miohippus, a characteristic genus. O. C. Marsh, 1877; Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol.

14, p. 355. Miocene.

This term has priority over all others in designation of a certain series of deposits in Oregon now known commonly by the term John Day beds or groupThe expression "John Day basin" was coined by Marsh in 1875, but this 

basin includes Loup Fork beds as well. The name Truckee group was in 

print as early as 1875, but the correlation of the Oregon deposits with those 

of the typical locality of this group is, in a measure, open to criticism. 

Cope's name, " Oregon beds," was applied in 1879. 

MISSISSIPPI CLAYS.

Developed in the basin of Mississippi River. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p.

157. Miocene of Grand Gulf perezone. 

MONUAIENT CREEK GROUP.

Monument Creek, Central Colorado. F. V. Hayden, 1869; Prelim. Field Rept. U. 

S. Geol. Surv. Colo. and N. Mex., pp. 39, 40. Miocene, probably. (See Rept. 

U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1873, p. 430.) 

MYTILUS BED.

Hytilus condoni, characteristic fossil. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 228. Pliocene of Shoalwater Bay, Washington. 

NAHEOLA AND MATTHEWS LANDING SERIES.

Naheola, a post-office and landing on Tombigbee River, Marengo County, Alabama ; and Matthews Landing on Alabama River, Wilcox County, Alabama. 

Smith and Johnson, 1887; U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, p. 57. Eocene. 

NANAFALIA SERIES.

Nanafalia, name of a village in Marengo County; also a landing and bluff on 

Tombigbee River, Alabama. Smith and Johnson, 1887. U. S. Geol. Surv. 

Bull., No. 43, p. 51. Eocene. 

NASHAQUITSA SERIES.

Nashaquitsa Cliffs, southwest part of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. N. S. 

Shaler, 1888; U. S. Geol. Surv., 7th Ann. Rept., p. 343. "Pliocene, probably."

= Weyquosque series Shaler. 

NAUSHON SERIES.

Naushon, name of an island between Martha's Vineyard and the mainland. N. 

S. Shaler, 1888; U. S. Geol. Surv., 7th Ann. Rept., p. 342, PL xx. Late Pliocene or Quaternary.
DHABBI?D } CENOZOIC NOMENCLATUKE. 331

NIOHRARA GROUP.

Niobrara Kiver,nortliern Nebraska. F. V. Hnydni, 1870; TJ. S. Gool. Surv. Terr., 

4th Ann. Kept., p. 170. Formerly regarded as Pliocene; according to Cope, 

Miocene. "Niobrara basin," Marsh, Am. Jour. Sci., 1875, 3d ser., vol. 9, 

p. 52.

= Loup Fork group.

NORTHERN LlGNITIC.

Containing lignite, and lying north of the marine Tertiary in Mississippi. Eug. 

\V. llilgard, 1860. Agric. and Geol. Miss., p. 110. Lower Eocene. Eo-lignitic of Heilprin.

NORTHERN TERTIARY. t *

Northern portion of the Tertiary in Delaware. James C. Booth, 1837-'38; Memoir 

Geol. Surv. Del. Senate edition, p. 48.

NORTH PARK DEPOSITS.

North Park, northern Colorado. A. Hague, 1877; U. S. Geol. Exp. 40th Par.,

vol. 2, "Descriptive Geology/' p. 128; also Map 1 of Atlas accompanying the

report of this exploration. 1876. 

Dr. C. A. White informs ns that this sheet wa3 printed in advance of the Atlas

and was distributed as early as November, 1875. 

Pliocene?

NULATO SANDSTONE.

Nulato, village on the Yukon River, Alaska. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 247

Miocene. 

NUMMULITIC BEDS.

Prevalence of Numnralites. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 103.

Include the foraminiferal phases of the uppermost part of the Vicksburg group

in Florida as well as the deposits of floridite, Avhich have resulted from

their modification in the presence of phosphoric acid.

NUMMULITIC LIMESTONE.

Abundance of a supposed Nummulite (Orbitoides mantelli). Samuel G. Morton, 

1834. Synop. Organ. Kem. Cret. Group, p. 22.

Then supposed to be Upper Cretaceous. Shown by Lyell in 1846 to bo Upper 

Eocene. In 1847, when Lyell, through the aid of his friend, Mr. Forbes, 

found that the so-called Nummulites mantelli should be referred to the genus. 

OrMtoides, he immediately adopted the term "Orbitolite limestone" for this 

deposit. See Am. Jour. Sci., 1847, 2d ser.,vol. 4, p. 189.

The term "Nummnlitic limestone" has been applied by Heilprin to an Upper 

Eocene bed of Florida, characterized by Nummulites ivillcoxii. See Traus. 

Wagner Free Inst. Sci., 1887, vol. 1, p. 4. 

OCALA GROUP.

Typical locality at Ocala, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 331.

Includes the various foraminiferal limestones in which the Floridiau and Georgian Eocene culminates, above the typical Orbitoides limestone. 

OCALA LIMESTONE.

Typically developed at Ocala, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 103. 

Eocene or " Oligocene."

"Ocala nummnlitic bed," Dall, Trans. Wagner Free lust. Sci., 1890, vol. 3, p. 9.

Nummulitic limestone of Heilprin, non Morton.

OCHEESEK BEDS.

Typically developed at Ocheesee, Jackson County, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; 

this essay, p. 105. Older Miocene.
332 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

ORANGE SAND GROUP.

Orange color of its component sands. James M. Safford, 1856. Geol. Reconn. 

Tenn., 1st Bieun. Rep., p. 161.

This name Safford here applies to the "Cretaceous system" of Tennessee. In an 

article in the Am. Jonr. Sci.,2dser., vol. 37, and in his "Geology of Tennessee," 1869, the same term is nsed to designate the medial portion of the 

Tertiary series of this State. Finally in 1876 (See Elem. Geol., by Safford 

and Killebrew) the term is applied to the lowest member of the. post-Tertiary.

For Hilgard's application of the same. See Agric. and Geol. Miss., 1860. He 

considers it Quaternary. :

McGee includes the greater part of Hilgard's "Orange sand" in his "Appomatox 

formation;" Am. Jonr. Sci., July, 1890, 3d ser. vol. 40. See Lafayette formation.

As nsed in this essay the Orange sand refers solely to the red Pliocene sands of

the Appornattox formation. 

ORBITOIDES LIMESTONE.

Abundance of Orbitoides mantelli. M. Tuomey, 1850. 1st Bienn. Rep. Geol. Ala., 

pp. 154-157. Eocene. 

See Nummulitic limestone. 

ORBITOLITE LIMESTONE.

Abundance of Orbitoides mantelli. Charles Lyell, 1847. Am. Jour. Sci., 1847, 

2dser., vol. 4, p. 189. Upper Eocene. Vicksburg group, partim.

See Nummulitic limestone. This bed has also been called Orbitoidos rock, Hoilprin; Proc. Phila. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1881, p. 155; Orbitoitic, Heilprin, Proc. 

Phila. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1882, p. 184. Orbitoides limestone, Tuomey, 1st Bienn. 

Rep. Geol. Ala. 

ORBITOLITE LIMESTONE.

 Abundance of OrMtolites floridanvs (Con.) Heilprin. Angelo Heilprin, 1887. 

Trans. Wag. Free Inst. Sci., vol. 1, pp. 4, 12. Lower Miocene.

This name is used by Hcilprin, loc. cit., to distinguish " a type of foraminiferal 

rock" and not as the name of a formation or a stratigraphic unit.

= Tampa limestone, q. v.

OREGON BEDS.

Oregon, a State. E. D. Cope, 1879. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. Bull., vol. 5, No. 1,

p. 50. Miocene. 

This name was withdrawn by its author in 1884 (Bull. 3, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr.,

p. 16) because King's name " Truckee group " was supposed to include the

same deposits. 

= John Day group. 

See Miohippus series. 

OREODON BEDS.

Oreodon, name of a characteristic gonus. F. V. Hayden, 1862. Traus. Am. Phil.

Soc., 2d ser., vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 31. Miocene, or perhaps Oligocene. 

A subdivision of the White River group. 

ORTIIAULAX BED.

Prevalence of the genus Ortliaulax. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 113. Older

Miocene of Florida. 

The bed has also been known colloquially as the Tampa silex bed; see Dall,

Trans. Wag. Free Inst. Sci., 1890, vol. 3, p. 47. 

OYSTER MARL.

Abundance of the genus Ostrea in the marl along Peace Creek, Florida. W. H.

Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 132 Lower Pliocene.
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 333

PAMUNKEY FORMATION.

Typically exposed on tltc river of that name in Virginia. N. H. Darton, 1891.

Bull. Geol. Hoc. Am., vol. 2, p. 439. 

Includes (ho Eocene beds of Virginia and Maryland, and is the equivalent of the

Eocene of Rogers and Conrad. 

PATUXENT BEDS.

Typically exposed on the Patuxent River, Maryland. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay

p. 157. 

Provisional term, to include the lower Chesapeake Miocene if the latter prove

divisible. 

PEACE CREEK BONE BED.

Vertebrate remains near Peace Creek, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p.

130. Older Pliocene. 

PKKNA BEDS.

Prevalence of the genus Perna. Augelo Hoilprin (colloquial?) 1884. Jour. Acad. 

Nat. Sci., 2d ser., vol. 9, p. 13. Older Chesapeake Miocene of Putuxent River, 

near Benedict, Maryland. 

PLAKORBIS ROCK.

PlanorUs, an abundant and characteristic genus contained in it. W. H. Dall, 

1892; this essay, p. 143. Uppermost Pliocene bed of Florida.

PLIOCENE.

 xheiuv (comp. of TroAvf, many) more,; and xwvbf, reee.ns, new. Charles Lycll, 1833. 

Principles of geology, 1st ed., vol. 3 (about), p. 53.

In a course of lectures delivered at King's College, London, during May and June, 

1832, Lyell communicated to the public his views on the Tertiary formations, 

and accordingly the names Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene may have been 

published in some scientific periodicals during the same year.

See Eocene.

PLIOUIFPUS BEDS.

Plioliippus, a characteristic genus. 0. C. Marsh, 1877. "Introduction and Succession of Vertebrate Life." Plate. Author's edition, 1877. "Lower Pliocene." Marsh. Upper Miocene. Cope. 

POISON CANYON SERIES.

Poison Canyon, along Poison Creek. South central Colorado. R. C. Hills, 1888. 

Proc. Colo. Sci. Soo., vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 152. Eocene. (Applied to the lithological sequence of the Huerfauo Eocene in Poison Canyon.")

Poison Canyon beds, Hills, 1891; "Remarks on the classification of the Huerfauo 

Eocene." Abstract from Proc. Colo. Sci. Soc., vol. 4, pt. 2.

POIITKKS CREEK GROUP.

Porters Creek, Hardeman County, Tennessee. Jas. M. Saflbrd, 1864. Am. Jour.

Sci., 2d ser., vol. 37, p. 368. Lower Eocene. 

In their Elementary Geology of Tennessee, 1876, Safford and Killebrew substitute

for this name that of Hilgard, i. e., Flatwoods sands or group. 

Shown by Loughridge to bo stratigntphicully continuous Avith SafT'ord's "Bluff

lignite." See Geol. Surv. Ky., Jackson Purchase Region (F), 1888, p. 41.

PROCAMKLUS BEDS.

I'rocamoliia, characteristic genus. E. D. Cope, 1879. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. Bull., 

vol. 5, pt. 1, pp. 50-52. Upper portion of the Loup Fork "Miocene."

PrGET GROUP.

Puget Sound,Washington. C. A. White, 1888. Aui. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol.37, 

p. 443. Eocene or Larainie.
334 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL. 84.

RED BLUFF GROUP.

Red Bluff, a railway station, "Wayne County, Mississippi. Eug. W. Hilgarcl, 1860. 

Agric. and Geol. Miss., 1860, pp. 135-6. Eocene. Probably includes Conrad's 

"Shell Bluff group." 

RED HILLS.

Color of the formation in South Carolina. Colloquial expression locally in use 

for the area covered by the red Buhrstone formation, and in the geological 

works of Tuomey and subsequent writers; but, perhaps, never explicitly 

assigned a definition in systematic stratigraphy. Upper Claiborue Eocene 

of South Carolina. 

SALT LAKE GROUP.

Salt Lake, Utah. F. V. Hayden, 1869. Prelim. Field. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Colo.

and N. Mex., p. 92. "Pliocene." Miocene of Cope.?

= Humboldt group of King (partim), see Hayden's 7th Ann. Rep., 1877, p. 640. 

SAND HILLS.

Composition of the formation in South Carolina.

A local expression occasionally used by geologists treating of the region, indicating the area where the country rock is composed of white siliceous Buhrstone in contradistinction to the red Buhrstone. 

Lower Claibornian Eocene. 

SAN FRANCISCO GROUP.

San Francisco, city and county of California. J. S. Newberry, 1857; Pac. R. R.

Rept., vol. 6, pt. 2, p. 11. Miocene, for the most part. 

SANTA FE MARLS.

Santa Fe", a town in New. Mexico. F. V. Hayden, 1869. Prelim. Field. Rep.

U. S. Geol. Surv. Col. and N. Mex., p. 66. "Modern Tertiary," p. 72. 

Shown in Cope's report to Wheeler, 1874, to be a member of the Loup Fork 

division of the Miocene.

SANTEE BEDS.

Santee River, South Carolina. M. Tuomey, 1848. Rep. on Geol. of S. C., p. 156.

Eocene. 

SHELL BLUFF GROUP.

Shell Bluff, bluff on Savannah River, Georgia. T. A. Conrad, 1866. Am. Jour.

Sci., 2d ser. vol. 41, p. 96. Upper Eocene.

The meager grounds upon which this so-called group was founded are clearly 

pointed out by Eug. W. Hilgard in an article in the Am. Jour. Sci., 2d scr., 

vol. 42, pp. 68-70. Its characteristic phase, as exhibited in the State of 

Mississippi, doubtles's falls into Hilgard's Red bluff group, q. vid. 

SHILOH MARLS.

Shiloh, a hamlet of Cumberland County, New Jersey. W. H. Dall, 1892; this

essay, p. 40. Older Miocene of New Jersey. 

SILICEOUS CLAIBORNE.

Siliceous character of the rocks in contrast with the calcareous Claiborne beds

above. Eug. W. Hilgard, 1860. Agric. and Geol. Miss., p. 123. Eocene. 

On page 226 of vol. 20, Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 1871, Hilgard accepts the term 

"Buhrstone" of Lyell and Tuomey for his "Siliceous Claiborne." See also 

explanation of the accompanying map opposite page 222 of that article.

SOLEN BEDS.

Prevalence of the genus Solen. Thomas Conrton; first published by Cope from 

MS notes of Dr. Condon. Am. Nat., 1880, vol. 14, p. 457. Upper Miocene 

of Oregon, Condon. 

SOPCHOPPY LIMESTONE.

Sopchoppy, a village, Wakulla County, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, 

p. 119. Older Miocene.
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 335

STAKKD PLAINS FORMATION.

Staked Plains, Llano Estacado, northwestern Texas. R. T. Hill, 1889. Proc. Am. 

Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. 38, p. 243. "Later Tertiary or early Quaternary." 

Tertiary, Hill; Amer. Geol., Feb., 1890.

ST. MARY'S BEDS.

Typically exposed on St. Mary's River, Maryland. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay,

p. 157. 

Provisional term for the upper Chesapeake Miocene if the latter prove divisible.

ST. STEPHEN'S GROUP.

St. Stephen's Bluff, Washington County, Alabama. T. A.Conrad, 1855; Proc.

Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 7, p. 257. Upper Eocene. 

SOUTHERN LIGNITIC GROUP Grand Gulf group.

Hilgard writes (in litt.): "I have always used Grand Gulf group as the final 

equivalent of the designation first adopted in my field notes, viz, Southern 

Lignitic. The latter designation has hardly been used enough to entitle it 

to more than mere mention, and it is misleading because of the lignitic 

fades of the Port Hudson beds of the Gulf border." 

SOUTHERN TERTIA RY.

Southern portion of the Tertiary in Delaware. J. C. Booth, 1837-'38; Memoir 

Geol. Surv. Del., Senate edition, p. 49.

SUMTER BEDS.

Suniter, name of a town and county of South Carolina. M. Tuoraey, 1848;

Geol. Surv. S. C., p. 178. "Pliocene;" probably a mixture of both Miocene

and Pliocene. 

Sumter epoch, Dana; Manual of Geology. 1862, pp. 506-511. This term as used

by Dana seems to have been intended as an equivalent in the nomenclature

of American stratigraphy for the term Pliocene Period.

SWEETWATER GROUP.

Sweetwater River, south central Wyoming. F. V. Hayden, 1870. 4th Ann.

Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1871, p. 29. Eocene, probably. 

TAMPA BEDS.

Typically exposed about Tampa, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 112.

Miocene.

Include the cherty beds of Hillsboro River and Tampa limestone. 

TAMPA FORMATION.

Typically exposed at Tampa, Florida. L. C. Johnson, 1888; Am. Jour. Sci., 3d

ser., vol. 36, p. 235. Miocene (at least in part. There is serious doubt as to

Avhether the " formation " as defined is a stratigraphic unit.) 

=Tampa limestone, Dall (partim). 

TAMPA GROUP.

Typically exposed at Tampa, Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 112.

Older Miocene, between the Chattahoochee and Chesapeake groups. 

TAMPA MMESTONK.

Typically exposed at Tampa, Florida. Heilprin (colloquially), 1887; Trans.

Wagner Free Inst. Sci., vol. 1, p. 52. Dall (specifically), 1891; this essay,

p. 117. Older Miocene.

Tampa Silex beds. Dall, Trans. Wag. Free Inst. Sci., 1890, vol. 3, p. 47. 

See Orthaulax bed. 

TEJON GROUP.

Fort Tejon, Kern County. California. W. M. Gabb, 1869; Geol. Surv. Cal., Pal.,

vol. 2, pp. xii-xiii. Eocene. 

On the pages above referred to it is stated that Gabb read a paper before the

National Academy of Sciences at Northampton, Massachusetts, in August

[1868], wherein the above-mentioned group was defined.
336 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA. [BULL.84.

TlCHOLEPTUS BEDS.

Ticholeptus, name of a characteristic genus. E. D. Cope, 1879; Bull. U. S. Geol.

Surv. Terr., vol. 5, pt. 1, pp. 50-52. 

"Intermediate in all respects between the Middle and Upper Miocene formations

of the West, as represented by the John Day and Loup Fork beds." Cope,

Am. Nat., 1886, vol. 20, p. 367.

TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RlVER BEDS.

Timber belt, a term applied to a certain wooded belt in Texas, and Sabtne River, 

Texas. R. A. F. Penrose, jr., 1889; 1st Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv. Tex., 1890; 

p. 22 of Penrose's Report. Eocene.

TlTAXOTHERIUM BED.

Titanotherium, name of characteristic genus. F. V. Hayden, 1857. Proc. Phila.

Acad. Nat. Sci., 1857, p. 120. Oligocene. 

The lowest bed of the White River group. 

TRUCKEE GROUP.

Truckee Mountains and River, Nevada. Clarence King, 1875; western half, map

1 of atlas accompanying the Repts. U. S. Geol. Explor., 40th Par. See also

vol. 1 of these reports, pp. 412, 424. 

Supposed by King and others to be of the same age as the John Day or Oregon

beds in Oregon, and also the same as a part or the whole of the White River

group east of the Rocky. Mountains.

TURRITELLA MARL.

Tumtella, a characteristic genus. W. H. Dall,1892; this essay, p. 147. Pliocene

of the Caloosahatchie, Florida. 

TURTLE AND OREODON BEDS.

Abundance of turtle and Oreodon remains. F. V. Hayden, 1858; Proc. Phila.

Acad. Nat. Sci., 1858, p. 150. Subdivision of the White River Miocene

(Oligocene?.)

TUSCAHOMA SERIES.

Tuscahoma Landing, Choctaw County, Alabama. D. W. Langdon, July, 1891;

Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 2, p. 596. 

Lignitic Eocene. 

UINTA GROUP.

Unita Mountains, Utah. Clarence King, 1876; atlas accompanying the 40th Par.

Rept., 1876. Upper Eocene. 

In 1871 Marsh (Am. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 1, p. 196) uses the term " Uintah

basin" for the depression in which this group was deposited. 

Brown's Park group, Powell. White. 

Diplacodon beds, Marsh. Marsh. 

UNGA CONGLOMERATE.

Unga Island, Shumagin Islands, Alaska. W. H. Ball, 1892; this essay, p. 234. 

Upper beds of the Kcnai group, early Miocene or latest Eocene.

VENUS CANCELLATA BED.

Prevalence of this species in the bed. Angelo Hoilprin, 1887; Trails. Wag. Free 

Inst. Sci., vol. 1, pp. 31, 32. "Post-Pliocene" of south Florida.

The bed to which this name was first applied has been proved to be late Pliocene; and to Pliocene beds of this character Dall has restricted the name, 

reserving for the similar Pleistocene beds the name of Bulla striata marls

(q.. via.).

VENUS CANCELLATA BED.

Venus cancellata, a predominant species. W. H. Dall, 1892; this essay, p. 147,

footnote. Upper Pliocene.. 

Venus Cancellata bed of Heilpriu (partim).
CENOZOIC NOMENCLATURE. 337

VERMETUS ROCK.

Formed by the agency of that raollusk on. the coast of Florida. W. H. Dall, 1892; 

this essay, pp. 153,157. Pleistocene and recent "Worm rock" of the residents of Florida. 

VERMILION CBBEK GROUP.

Vermilion Creek, northwestern Colorado. Clarence King, 1875; Map 1, western 

half, of atlas accompanying the 40th Par. Reports. Eocene.

This particular sheet, Dr. White informs us, was printed in advance of the atlas 

above mentioned, and a copy was sent him in November, 1875. See Wasatch 

group of Hayden.

VICKSBURG GROUP.

Vicksburg, a city of Warren County, Mississippi. T. A. Conrad, 1846; Am. Jour. 

Sci., 2d ser., vol. 2, p. 124. Upper Eocene.

Otto Meyer divides this group into "Higher Vicksburgian, Middle Vicksburgian, 

and Lower Vicksburgian. " Ani. Jour. Sci., 1885,3d ser., vol. 30, p. 71.

As used in this essay the term comprehends both the "Jackson" and "Vicksburg" groups of Conrad, and is the equivalent of the "White Limestone" as 

used by Smith and Johnson. 

VINEYARD SERIES (or Marthas Vineyard series).

Martha's Vineyard, an island off the southern coast of Massachusetts. N. S. 

Shaler, 1888; U.S. Geol. Surv., 7th Ann. Kept.,p.303. "Later Miocene or 

Pliocene," p. 332. Now "known to include both Tertiary and Cretaceous beds. 

VIRGINIAN (Middle Atlantic Miocene).

State of Virginia, in which the representative beds are well developed. Angolo 

Heilprin, 1882; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1882, p. 183; "Middle Miocene." 

VOLCANIC TERTIARY.

Volcanic origin of the material. F. H. Bradley, 1872; map of the source of Snake

River; accompanying Hayden's Ann. Rep. for 1872, publ. 1873. 

WALDO FORMATION.

Waldo, a village, Alachua County, Florida. L. C. Johnson, 1888; Am. Jour. 

Sci., 3d ser., vol.' 36, p. 234. Mjflcene.

As denned by Johnson this includes old Miocene phosphatic rock, forming one 

phase of the Hawthorne beds, with newer or Chesapeake Miocene limestone 

analogous to the Jacksonville limestone of Florida. The typical locality 

near Waldo belongs in the latter category.

WASATCH GROUP.

Wasatch Mountains, Utah. F. V. Hayden, 1869; Prelim. Field Rep. U. S. Geol.

Surv. Colo. and N. Mex.,p.91. Eocene. (See Cope; Proc. Am. Philos. Soc.,

Feb., 1872.)

=Vermilion Creek group, King, \

=Bitter Creek group, Powell, \ according to Dr. C. A. White. 

=Washakee group, Hayden, ) 

=Coryphodon beds, Marsh. 

WASHAKEE GROUP.

Washakee (Washakie) station, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. F. V.Hayden,

1869; Prelim. Field Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv. Col. and N. Mex., p. 90. Eocene. 

See Wasatch group.

WEYQUOSQUE SERIES.

Weyquosque Cliffs, in south Avestern part of Martha's Vineyard. N. S. Shaler, 

1888; U. S. Geol. Surv., 7th Ann. Rep., p. 320, and plate opposite p. 308. 

"Probably Pliocene." Shaler.

WHITE BEACH SANDROCK.

White Beach, locality on Little Sarasota Bay, in western Manatee County, Florida. 

W. H. DaU, 1892; this essay, p. 114. Older Miocene. 

BuU. 84 22
338 THE NEOCENE OF NORTH AMEEICA. [BULL. 84.

WHITE LIMESTONE.

Character and color of its component material. Charles Lyell, 1845; Quart.

Jour. Geol. Soc. Loud., vol. 1, p. 429. Eocene of South Carolina. 

White limestone, Tuoniey; 1st Bienril. Kept. Geol. Ala., 1850, p. 354. 

Also in frequent use colloquially as an equivalent for the "Jackson group"

limestone. 

White limestone, Smith and Johnson; U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, 1887, p. 19,

equals the Upper Eocene of Alabama, orthe"Vicksburg group "of this essay. 

WHITE RIVER GROUP.

White River, southern South Dakota. F. B. Meek and F. V. Hay den, 1861. Proc.

Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 18, pp. 443, 434. 

Regarded by Leidy as Eocene in 1852 (see Leidy's Memoir in Owen's Geol. Surv.

Minn., Iowa, Wisconsin, pp. 539-572), but upon paleontologic as well as stratigraphic evidence Leidy, Meek, and Hayden conclude that this group should

be referred to the Miocene.(rroc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1857, p. 120). Later

Cope (Am. Nat., vol. 18, p. 686) refers the same to the Oligocene; likewise

Scott (Princeton Coll. Bull., 1890, vol.2, No. 4, p. 75). 

WHITE SAND.

Prevalent color of the beds in Florida. W. H. Ball, 1891. This essay, p. 156.

Upper Pleistocene or recent. 

WILLOW CREEK BEDS.

Willow Creek, central Colorado. Geo. H. Eldridge, 1888. " Mining Industry "

of Denver, July 13, 1888. (See Am. Jour. Sci!, 1889, 3d. ser., vol. 37, p. 263.) 

Mr. Eldridge finding this name preoccupied, substitutes for it " Arapahoe Beds,"

q. vid. 

WIND RIVER GROUP.

Wind River, northwest Wyoming. Meek and Hayden, 1861; Proc. Phila. Acad.

Nat. Sci., vol. 13, p. 447. Eocene. 

In the American Naturalist, 1878, vol 12, p. 831, Hayden states that he named

and described this group in detail in 1859. Thus far we have failed to find

this early description.

= Wasatch group. Hayden, Am. Nat., 1878, vol. 12, p. 831. 

WOODS BLUFF OR BASHI SERIES.

Woods Bluff, a river bluff, Clarke County, Alabama; Bashi Creek, Clarkc County,

Alabama, Smith and Johnson, 1887; U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 43, p. 43.

Eocene.

WYOMING CONGLOMERATE.

Typically developed in the Sta,te of Wyoming. Clarence King, 1875. Atlas

sheet No. 1, western half, U. S. Geol. Explor. 40th Par. " Pliocene." 

YELLOW CLAYS OF THE APPOQUINIMINK HUNDRED.

Appoquinimink Hundred, name given to a certain district in the State of Delaware. Jas. C. Booth, 1837-8. Memoir Geol. Surv. Del., Senate ed., p. ±9, 

"Tertiary."

YELLOW SAND.

Color of the formation. W. H. Dall, 1891. This essay, p. 154. Late Pliocene or

early Pleistocene of Florida. 

YORK/TOWN EPOCH.

Yorktown, York County, Virginia. J. D. Dana, 1862. Dana's Manual of Geology,

1st ed., pp. 506-511.

This term appears to have been used by Dana to indicate in American geological 

nomenclature the period of time occupied in the deposition of the Miocene 

and not as a stvatigraphic term. Similarly the American Pliocene was deposited during the epoch called by Da.na the Sumter epoch.
INDEX.

A.

m Page.

Adakh Inland, Alaska, Miocene strata of. 244 

AgaKsiz, Alexander, on former commotion 

of the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean....................... 180

Aknn Island, Alaska, lignitic beds of.... 242

Alabama, Neocene of..................... 159-160

Grand Gulf group of................. 159

Lafayette formation in............... 159-160

shell beds in ......................... 160

Alachua clays of Florida................. 127-130

Alaska, Tertiary of ...................... 233-268

general notes on the rocks of......... 232-234

intrusive granites of................. 233

early observations on geology of...... 232-234

Miocene of the Kenai group of..-..... 234-242

TJnga conglomerate of ............... 23-1--235

beds of Kniu Island ................. 235

beds of Lituya Bay .................. 235-236

Port Graham, lignite, beds of......... 236-237

Kachekmak Bay, lignites of ......... 237

other Kenai beds of.................. 238

beds of Alaska Peninsula and Kadiak

Island ........................... 238-240

Unga and Popoff Island, beds of..... 240-242

lignitic beds of the Aleutian Islands. 242-246 

Akun, beds of........................ 242

TJnalaska, bods of.................... 242-243

TJmnak, beds of...................... 243

Atka, beds of......................... 243

Adakh, beds of....................... 244

Amchitka, beds of.................... 244

Kiska, bedsof........................ 244

Attn.beds of......................... 244-245

Nunivak Island beds ................ 245

Topanica beds of Norton Sound...... 246

TJlulak River beds................... 246

Lower Yukon Valley outcrops....... 246-247

exposures on the Upper Yukon and

at Nulato ........................ 247

Nulato marine sandstones............ 247-248

Colvillo brown lignites............... 248

Kowak River lignites................ 248-249

Capo Beaufort Coal Measures ........ 249

correlation of the Konai series....... 249-252

Miocene of the Astoria group........ 252-259

Pliocene of........................... 259-268

beds of marine origin of ............. 259-260

St. Elias Alps, Pliocene of............ 259

Middleton Island, Pliocene of........ 259-260

ground ice formation of.............. 260-265

Eschscholz Bay ice clifl's............. 260-264

Pago. 

Alaska, Kowak River ice cliffs........... 264-265

Kowak clays......................... 265

distribution of fossil vertebrates of.. 266 

origin of the ice and clay formations

of................................ 266-268

volcanic phenomena of............... 268

note on the map of................... 268

Pleistocene of........................ 268

general considerations of tbe Cenozoic

in................................ 276-277

Alaska Peninsula, lignite beds of ........ 238-240

Miocene fauna of..................... 256

Alaskan geology, early observations on .. 233-234 

Aleutian Islands, lignitic beds of ........ 242-246

Alien, John H., on the Miocene about

Tampa City, Fla ................. 112

quoted on Tampalimestone of Florida 117 

Altamaha grit of Georgia ................ 81-82

Alum Bluff beds of Florida ...... .112-113,122-123

Amber, in lignite of Kadiak Island....... 239

in the lignite of Unalaska Island..... 243

Amchitka Island, Alaska, lignitic beds of. 244 

Amyzon group of Oregon ................ 281

Antisell, Thomas, on the fossils of the

Gavilan Range, California.......... 208, 209

on the sandstone of the Santa Lucia

Mountains....................... 210

on the Sierra San <Tos6................ 211

on the bituminous deposits of the

Santa Inez Range................ 212

on the stratigraphy of the Tulare Valley.. ..:.......................... 213

Arcadia marl of Florida.................. 131-132

Arkansas Park bods ..................... 306-307

Astoria group of Alaska, Miocene of..... 252-259

distribution of fauna of .............? 253-255

special localities of................... 255-259

Astoria gronp of Oregon................. 225-226

Astoria sandstones of Oregon ............ 224

.Astoria shales of Oregon................. 223-224

Atka Island, Alaska, lignitic beds of..... 243-244

Miocene fauna of..................... 257

Atlantic City, N. J., section of well at.... 42

Attu Island, Alaska, fossil wood of ...... 244-243

Aturia bed of Oregon .................... 224

Auriferous gravels of California......... 219-222

K.

Bailey, J. W., cited on fossil plants of

Vermont......................... 33

on Orbitoides limestone.............. 102

339
340 INDEX.

Page. 

Bailey's infusorial earth of Florida...... 115-117

Barton Creek, Texas, geologic section on. 173 

Becker, Geo. F., on the geology of northern California.................... 201-202

on the geology of the New Alamaden, Cal.......................... 206,207

on human remains in the Auriferous

gravels........................... 222

quoted on the Cenozoic of the Pacific

. coast..........................269, 270,271

cited on the Cenozoic of the Pacific

coast............................. 272,274

Beckett's, Maryland, geologic section at.. 51 

Bellefleld Cliff, Va., geology of........... 59, CO

Block Island, R. I., "plastic clay" deposit on.......................... 34

Blake, Wm. P., on the geology of the

Foothills, California ............. 218

geological map of the Coastrange, by. 215 

on the Tertiary of the Colorado desert. 218 

on the Coal beds of "Washing ton .... 229

cited on the Pleistocene of Alaska... 268 

Booth, Jas. C., geologic section by........ 4.8

cited on the geologic formations of

Delaware........................ 49

Border, growth of the continental........ 180-181

Bottom of the sea, influence on fauna of

the geologic structure of......... 24-25

Brazos River, section of Texas Tertiary.. 174 

British Columbia, Tertiary of............ 230-232

Neocene of the coast of.............. 230-231

Neocene east of the coast ranges of.. 231-232 

Conozoic epoch of.................... 273-276

Bryn Mawr gravel of Pennsylvania ..... 45

Burns, Frank, on the "Natural well" of

North Carolina .................. 72-73

on the Altamaha grit of Georgia ..... 81-83

on the Sopchoppy limestoue of Florida............................... 120,121

C.

Cache Lake beds of California............ 201-203

California, Tertiary of.................... 194-222

great valley of....................... 194-198

Livermore Valley of ................. 198-200

stratigraphy of ...................... 200 -217

Cache Lake beds of.................. 201-203

Valley of San Francisco Bay of...... 203-204

Mount Diablo Range of.............. 204-206

Santa Cruz Range of................. 206-208

Gavilan Range of.................... 208-209

Sierra de Salinas of .................. 209-210

Santa Lucia Mountains of............ 210-212

Santa Inez Mountains of............. 212-213

Tulare valley of...................... 213

San Emidio canyon of................ 213-214

San Gabriel range of................. 214-215

Santa Susanna Range of............. 215

Santa Monica Range of............... 215

Cordilleras of........................ 215-216

San Diego region of.................. 216

Santa Barbara islands of............. 216-217

Sierra Nevada of..................... 217-219

Colorado desert of.................... 218

Page. 

California, Death's Valley of............. 218

Foothills of the Sierras of............ 218-219

Auriferous gravels of................ 219-222

Neocene lake beds of................. 219-221

human remains in auriferous gravels

of................................ 221-222

Caloosahatchie beds of Florida, description of............................ 142-149

thickness of........... -°.............. 158

Caloosahatcliie River, Florida, geologic

sections on....................... 143,144

Caiifcwell, John C., quoted on the ice forma lions of Alaska................ 265

Cape Beaufort?, Alaska, Coal Measures -. 249 

Cape Fear River, North Carolina, geologic

sections on....................... 70,71

Carolinian, one of Heilpriu's divisions of

the Tertiary...................... 19

Conozoic eruptives of Wyoming.......... 309-310

Cenozoic formations, list of names of .... 320-336

Cenozoic gravels of Pennsylvania........ 44-45

Cerithium rock of Florida................ 118-119

Chiilk Hills, La., geologic section at ..... 169

Changes of level, recent, in great valley

of Colorado....................... 195-198

Chattahoochce group, of Florida......... 105-107

of Georgia........................ 83

Cherry Point, Va., geologic section near. 57-58 

Chesapeake fauna, invasion of the....... 186-187

Chesapeake formation in Maryland ...... 54

Chesapeake group, of Maryland ......... 54

of Florida........................ 123-124

Chester, F. D., cited on geologic formations of Delaware ................ 46, 48

Chipola beds, typical of the older Miocene 21

Chipola beds of Florida, description of.. - 112

thickness of...................... 158

Chipola marl of Florida.................. 122

Chowan River, North Carolina, exposures

of Miocene on.................... 68

Clark, W. B., on the Neozoic of North Carolina ............................. 70

on the Jacksonboro limes tone of Georgia............................... 83-84

Classification of Cenozoic formations .... 22-23

Clay and ice formations-of Alaska, origin

of..................-...-.-.--.--- 266-268

Cleve.P. T., on volcanic action in West

Indies in Cretaceous time........ 180

on the Miocene of the A ntilles....... 184

Coal Point, Alaska, lignite of ............ 237

Coles Point,Virginia, geologic section at.. 56-57 

Colorado, Neocene of..................... 304-309

Loup Fork and White River groups

of................................ 304-305

Tertiary marl of...................... 305

Pliocene beds of................ .... 305-308

Arkansas Park beds of .............. 306-307

Middle Park lake beds of............. 307

North Park lake beds of ............. 307-308

Monument Creek group of............ 308-309

Colorado desert of California ............ 218

Colorado Eiver section of Texas Tertiary............................. 173-174

Colville, Alaska, brown lignite........... 248
INDEX. 341

Page. 

Commander Islands, Alaska, Miocene

fauna of ......................... 258

Condon, Thomas, on the Neocene of Oregon ..........................-223,224,227

on a Pliocene deposit in Washington............................... 228

explored John Day Valley beds ...... 281

Conrad, T. A., cited on divisions of the

Tertiary......................... 18

stratigraphy along St. Marys Kiver

by ............................... 53

identification of Miocene fossils by - - - 72 

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina .............................. 75

on the Miocene of Tampa Bay ........ 112

quoted on Orthaulax bed of Florida .. 113-114 

on the fossils of the San Diego region. 210 

on the fossils of the Foothill region .. 218 

on the age of the molluscan remains at

Astoria.......................... 224

Contact of Eocene and M.ioceuo.......... 183-184

Cook, George H., cited on topography of 

New Jersey............ r .........

cited on Cenozoic sands of New JerCoopor, J. G., fauna of Cenozoic summarized by...........................

on th« fossils of California north of 

the Golden Gate.................

Cope, E. D., cited on vertebrate remains in 

New Jersey......................

on the vertebrates of North Carolina 

marls ............................

on tbo vertebrate fauna of tlio Alachua clays .......................

39

43

20

200

39

73

130

quoted on the Eqiius fossils of Texas 177 

on the vertebrate remains in the A urifcrons gravels..................... 222

quoted on John Day beds of Oregon. 281 

cited on the fauna of the Pliocene

late beds of Oregon ...........282,283, 284

cited 011 the fish remains of Castle

Creek, Idaho ..................... 280

cited on the fauna of the Deep Creek

beds ............................. 288

quoted on the White Kiver beds of

Dakota .......................... 288-289

quoted on the Loup Fork bods of Nebraska. ........................... 290-297

cited on the Galistoo group .......... 301

quoted on the Santa Fe marls ........ 302-303

section on Horsetail Crook, Colorado,

\ry................................ 304

cited on the vertebrate paleontology

of Colorado ...................... 305

cited on the vertebrale paleontology

of Nevada......................... 306

Coquina of Florida....................... 152-153

Correlation of American and exotic Neocene. ............................. 178

Correlation of faunas, difficulties of ...... 30

conclusions on ........................ 31

Correlation of the Kenai series of Alaska. 249-252 

Costa .Rica, Gabb on the Tertiary of...... 188

Currents, marine, influence of, on fauna... 23, 28

Pago.

Dall.W. IT..quoted on the Tampa limestone of Florida.................. 117-118

quoted on fossils in Alachua clays ... 128 

quoted on the topography of the

Caloosahatehio River, Florida .... 143

quoted on age of fossils at San Diego. 210 

description of the ice chit's of Alaska

by, quoted........... ............. 201-203

Dalles group of Oregon.................. 285

Dana, James D., cited on divisions of the

Tort iary ......................... 19

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina .............................. 75

on the ago of the Astoria sandstones ..................... 224, 225, 220, 227

on the lignite deposits of Washington 228 

Darton,N. B.. on the Chesapeake formation of Maryland ................ 54

proposes name " Chesapeake formation" ............................ 123

Dawson, G. M., on the Neocene of British

Columbia ........................ 230-232

on the Vancouver scries, Alaska..... 233

cited on the Pleistocene of Alaska... 2C8 

cited on the Cenozoio of the Pacific

coast...........:................. 269

cited <5n the Neocene of British Columbia. ...................273, 274, 275,276

Death Aralloy, California ................. 218

 Delaware, Cenozoic deposits of........... 45-49

Depth of water, influence of, on persistence of fauna .................... 28-29

Deshayes, Gerard P., classification of the

Cenozoic strata by................ 178-180

Desor, E., on the supposed Tertiary of

Nnntucket....................... 35

Diller, J. S., on the Neocene lake beds of

California.....................219, 220, 221

Dip of the strata in Florida .............. 158

Dismal Swamp, Virginia, fossils of....... 04-05

Distribution of the Floridian Miocene.... 120-327

E.

Ecphora bed, typical of the Newer Miocene .............................. 21

Ecphora bed of Florida, description of... 324 

thickness of.......................... 158

Ehronberg, C. G., on the fossils of the

Truckce group................... 315

Eichwald, Edward, on the Tertiary of

Alaska .......................... 234

Emmons, E., section on Koanoko Kiver,

by. ................................ 08

sections on Tar ]Jiver, by ............ 69

section on Neuse Kiver, by .......... 70,71

Eudlich, F. M., on the Sweet water Pliocene. ............................. 310

quoted on the Wyoming conglomerate 311 

Eocene, a division of the Tertiary........ 18

exten t of American .................. 20

of Florida, description of ............ 101-103

thickness of.......................... 158

Equns beds of Nebraska................. 278-290

of Oregon ............................ 283-285
342 INDEX.

Page. 

Eruptives, Cenozoic, of Wyoming........ 309-310

Eschscholz Bay, Alaska, ice cliffs of..... 260-264

Everglades, the, of Florida ............... 99-101

Everruan ami Jenkins, quoted on the Pacific and Atlantic faunas of tropical America...................... 151-152

F.

Fair Haven, Md., geologic section at....... 50

Fayette beds of Texas.................... 173-175

Felix, J., on a fossil wood from near Danaaku, Alaska..................... 249

Filgates Creek, Virginia, geologic formations near........................ 59,60, 61

Florida, Tertiary and Post-Tertiary, completeness of succession in........ 85

geologic action in .................... 86

topography of........................ 86-87

folds of strata in ..................... 87,80

origin and character of rocks in...... 87

solution, effect of, on rocks in ........ 88-89

profiles in............................ 89-93

central lake region of................ 93-95

LakeDeSoto ........................ 93,133

sand hills of........................93,133-134

sinks of.............................. 94-95

northwestern, topography of......... 95

southwestern, topography of......... 95-97

lost lakeof........................... 94-96

eastern coast of ...................... 97

perezounl formations of .............. 98-99

Everglades of........................ 99-101

keys of............................... 101

stratigraphy of ...................... 101-158

Eocene of............................ 101-105

Vicksburg group of.................. 101-103

Orbitoides limestone of .............. 101-103

Nummnlitic beds of.................. 103-104

Ocala limestone of ................... 103-104

Miliolite limestone of................ 104-105

Miocene of........................... 105-] 27

Cbattahoochee group of.............. 105-107

Ocheesee beds of..................... 105-107

Hawthorne beds of................... 107-111

Suwanee Strait, deposits of........... Ill

Old Miocene phosphatic deposits of. ..111-112 

Tampa group of...................... 112-113

Chipolabeds of...................... 112

Alum Bluff beds of ........... 112-113,122-123

Orthaulax beds of.................... 113-114

White Beach sand rock of........... 114-115

infusorial earth of................... 115-^17

Tampa limestone of.................. 117-118

Cerithium rock of.................... 118-119

Sopchoppy limestone ................ 119-122

Chipola, marl of...................... 122

Chesapeake, group of................ 123-124

Ecphora, bed of ...................... 124

Jacksonville, limestone of ........... 124-126

Manatee River, marl of.............. 125

distribution of the Miocene of....... 126-127

Pliocene of........................... 127-149

Alachua clays of..................... 127-130

Peace Creek bone bed of.............. 130-131

Arcadia marl of...................... 131-132

Pago.

Florida, Oyster marl of................... 132-133

lake beds, Pliocouo of................ 133

phosphatic deposits of ............... 134-140

floridite deposits of ...............136,139-140

pebble phosphates of ................ 137-138

river phosphates of .................. 138-139

marine Pliocene beds of.............. 140-142

Caloosahatchio beds of............... 142-149

Pleistocene deposits of............... 149-152

recent rock formation of ............. 152-156

Yellow sand of....................... 154-156

White sand of........................ 156

scheme of deposition of rocks of .... 157

thickness and dip of strata of........ 158

Eocene island of ..................... 181

Floridite deposits of Florida .........136,139-140

Focrsto, Aug.F., cited on "plastic clay"

of Block Island .................. 34

Folding of strata in Florida.............. 87-89

Foothills of the Sierra................... 218

Forbes, Edward, cited on the fossils of ice

cliffs of Alaska................... 261-264

Fortress Monroe, \Tirginia, artesian well

at................................ 63

Fort Thompson, Florida, geologic section

at................................ 143

Fossil vertebrates of Alaska, distribution

of................................ 266

Fresh-water Tertiaries of Oregon........ 280-282

Gabb, W. M., fauna of the west coast Cenozoic, summarized by ............ 20

cited on the Miocene ago of Atrato

fossils........................... 151

quoted on the Tertiary of Costa llica. 188 

on the Tertiary fossils of California .200 T 201, 

205, 207, 215,216,218 

cited on the fauna of the Truckee

group............................ 285

Galisteo group of New Mexico........... 301-303

Gardner, J. Starkie, on the newer leaf

beds of Greenland ............... 251

Gavilan Eauge of Califoj-nia............. 208-209

Genth, F . A., on the Coal of Kuiu Island,

Alaska........................... 235

Geographic divisions of the American

Neocene......................... 22

Georgia, Tertiary of ..................... 81-85

Miocene of........................... 81-84

Altamaha grit of..................... 81-82

Chattahoochee group of.............. 83

Jacksonboro limestone of............ 83-84

Pliocene of........................... 84-85

Lafayette formation of .............. 84-85

vertebrate remains of................ 85

Gilbert, G. K., quoted on the age of the

Eqnusfauna .................... 284-285

Giles Bluff, South Carolina, marl beds at.. 78 

Glass sand of New Jersey ............... 42

Gnathodon bed in Green County, Mississippi ............................. 104

Godfrey's Ferry, South Carolina, marl

bedsat........................... 78,79
INDEX. 343

Page. 

Goppert, H. R., on the palcobotany of

Alaska........................... 234

Grand Gulf formation, the, in Mississippi. 101-165 

section of, at Grand Gnl f, Mississippi. 102 

section of, at Terry, Mississippi ..... 162

section of, at Loftus Heights, Mississippi............................. 163

section of, at Marion County, Mississippi ............................. 163

section of, near Winchester, Mississippi ............................. 104

age of the ............................ 165

Grand Gulf group of Louisiana.......... 107-170

Grand Gulf Perezone .................... 187-189

Granites, intrusive, of Alaska............ 233

Great Caroliuian Ridge, the.............. 182-183

Great valley of California................ 194-198

Grewink on the Miocene fauna of Alaska

Peninsula and Unalaska ......... 256,257

Grinnell and Dana, quoted on the/ Deep

Creek beds of Montana .......... 288

Ground ice ibitnation of Alaska ......... 260-265

Growth of the continental border........ 180-181

H.

Hague, Arnold, quoted on the North Park

lake beds ........................ 307-308

quoted on the Humboldt group, Utah 312, 313 

quoted on the Truckee group, Nevada 315 

Harrisonburg, La., section of Grand Gulf

at................................ 168

Hawcs, Jerome, on the strata of the great

valley of California .............. 185-100

Hawthorne beds of Florida, description of 107-111 

sections of ........................... 108

Hay, Robert, cited on the Tertiary of

Kansas .......................290,300,301

quoted on the Tertiary formations of

Kansas........................... 300

cited on the Tertiary marl of Colorado 305 

Hayden.F. V., sections of the Miocene in

South Dakota, by ................ 290, 291

quoted on the Loup Fork group of

Nebraska........................ 292-293

sections of Tertiaries in Nebraska... 293-294 

quoted on Tertiary beds of Nebraska 294-295 

cited on the Tertiary of Now Mexico 301 

cited on the Santa Fe marls ......... 302

quoted on the Tertiary of Arkansas

park ............................. 306-307

cited on the Tertiary of Middle Park 307 

quoted on Monument Creek group... 308-309 

description of "White River group, by 311-312 

Heer, 0., on the paleobotany of Alaska... 234 

on the fossil flora of Alaska ......... 236, 237

Heilprin. Angelo, divisions of the Tertiary by.......................... 19-20

identification of Tertiary fossils by.. 42 

on the Miocene of Maryland ......... 54

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina .............................. 75

on Ocalu limestone.................... 103

on Milioliio limestone ................ 104

on the Cerithiivm rock of Florida .... 107,138

oil the Tampa limestone of Florida.. 117

Page. 

Heilprin, Angelo, on Manatee River marl

of Florida..-..................... 125

on the level of Lake Okeechobee..... 142-143

on the Pliocene of Yucatan ......... 149

Hilgard, Eng-., on the Grand Gulf group in

Alabama......................... 159

on the Grand Gulf in Mississippi .160-161,162,

164,165

on the Gnatliodou beds of Mississippi 164 

on the age of the Grand Gulf group. 165 

on the Lafayette formation or Orange

sand in Mississippi ............ 167

on the Grand Gulf formation in Louisiana.............................. 168,169

on the Orange sand of Louisiana.... 167,170

on the Grand Gulf group in Texas.. 172-173 

on the marine fossils of California... 206 

Hill, R. T., quoted on the Tertiary

" Staked Plains formation "...... 176

on the Tertiary lake of Texas, etc .... 298

Hills, R. C., quoted on the Pliocene beds

of Colorado ...................... 305-306

Hitchcock, C. H., quoted on Cenozoic doposits oft' Newfoundland ......... 32

cited on Tertiary of Now Hampshire. 33 

cited on Tertiary of Long Island..... 38

Hitchcock, Edward, cited on Tertiary of

Maine............................ 32-33

cited on Tertiary of Vermont........ 33

cited on Tertiary of Massachusetts.. 34 

cited on fossils of Marthas Vineyard. 36 

Hodge, J.T., «ited on the Miocene fossils

of North Carolina................ 72

Holmes, F. S., cited on the Neocene of

South Carolina................... 75,76

Holmes, W. H., cited on Cenozoic cruptives of Wyoming................ 309

Hopkins, F. V., on the Grand Gulf formation of Louisiana..............167,108,169

Human remains in the Auriferous gravels. 221-222 

Humboldt group, in Utah ................ 312-313

in Nevada........................... 315-310

I.

Ice formations of Alaska, origin of....... 266-268

Idaho, Neocene of........................ 285-287

Truckoe group of.................... 285-286

Salt Lake group of................... 286-287

Illinois, Tertiary sands and clays of...... 172

Indian Torri tory, Neocene of............. 301

Infusorial earth (Bailey's) of Florida.... 115-117

analysis of........................... 117

Interior region of the United States, supposed Neocene of, summary ...... 280-317

in Oregon ............................ 280-285

fresh-water Tertiaries................ 280-282

John Day valley ..................... 280-281

AmyKOII group ?...................... 281

John Day group ..................... 281-282

Truckee group....................... 282

Pliocene lake beds.................... 282-285

General discussion of Kquus beds.... 283-2H5

Dalles group......................... 285

in Idaho.............................. 285-287

Truckee group....................... 285-288
344 INDEX.

Page.

Interior region of the United States, supposed Neocene of, Salt Lake group 286-287 

in Montana .......................... 287-288

Neocene lake beds ................... 287-288

FortEllis beds....................... 287

Deep Creek beds..................... 287-288

in North Dakota ..................... 288-289

White River beds .................... 288-289

in South Dakota ..................... 289-293

White River group................... 289-292

Loup Fork group .................... 292-293

in Nebraska ......................... 293-299

Tertiaries of AVhite and Niobrara

rivers............................ 293-296

White River group................... 296

Loup Fork group, Nebraska ......... 296-298

Pliocene, Equns beds ................ 298-299

in Kansas ............................ 299-301

in the Indian Territory .............. 301

in New Mexico....................... 301-303

Galisteo group....................... 301-303

in Colorado........................... 304-309

Loup Fork and White River groups,

Colorado......................... 304-305

Tertiary marl........................ 305

Pliocene beds of Colorado............ 305-308

Arkansas Park ...................... 306-307

Middle Park lake beds............... 307

North Park lake beds................ 307-308

Monument Creek group.............. 308-309

in Wyoming......................... 309-312

Cenozoic eruptivea................... 309-310

Sweetwater Pliocene................. 310-311

Wyoming conglomerate.............. 311

White River group of Wyoming..... 311-312

in Utah .............................. 312-313

Humboldt group of Utah ............ 312-313

in Nevada............................ 313-316

Truckee group....................... 313-315

Humboldt group of Nevada.......... 315-316

vertical range of, in, table showing... 317 

Iron ores, Cenozoic, of Pennsylvania..... 45

Island, Eocene, of Florida................ 181-182

.f.

Jackson, Charles T., cited on Tertiary deposits of Maine .................. 32

cited on Tertiary deposits of New

Hampshire....................... 33

cited on supposed Tertiary deposits of

Rhode Island .................... 34

Jacksonboro limestone of Georgia........ 83-84

Jacksonville limestone of Florida........ 124-126

James River, Virginia, geologic section

along ............................ C2

John Day group of Oregon....... ..... 281-282

John Day valley Neocene of Oregon ...... 280-281

Johnson, L. C., on the Hawthorne beds of

Florida....................107,108-110, 111

collections of Tampa limestone by.... 121

discovery of Gnathodon bed by...... 164

on the elevation of the Lafayette formation in Mississippi............ 190

Jones Creek, Delaware, geologic section

near... .................. 47

K.

Kachekmak Bay, Alaska, lignites ....... 237

Kadiak Island, Alaska, lignite beds of. . . 238-240 

Miocene fauna of. .................... 255

Kansas, Neocene of ...................... 299-301

Tertiary grit of ...................... 300

Tertiary marl of ..................... 300

Keuai group, Alaska, Miocene of ......... 234-242

Kenai series, Alaska, correlation of ....... 249-252

Kentucky, the Lagrange group in. ....... 171-172

Kerr, W. C., cited on Miocene of North

Carolina .......................... C8

geologic sections on Neuse River,

by ......................... ..... 70

quoted on the Miocene of North Carolina .............................. 71,72

Keys, the, of Florida. ..................... 101

King, Clarence, cited on the Truckeegrotip .

of Idaho............ ............. 285

quoted on basaltic eruptions in Idaho 286 

on the Neocene Sioux Lake. .......... 289

quoted on the Truckee group of

Nevada ...................... .313, 314, 315

description of Humboldt group, Nevada, by.................. ........ 316

Kings Creek, Virginia, geologic formations

near.............................. 59, CO, 61

Kings Mills, geology of cliff at. ........... 63

Kiska Island, Alaska, Miocene strata of. . 244 

Kotzebue, Otto, cited on the ice cliffs of

Alaska........................... 260,264

Kowak River, Alaska, lignites ........... 248-249

ice cliffs ............................. 264-265

Kowak clays of Alaska .................. 265-266

Kuiu Island, Alaska, Miocene beds of .... 235

JL.

Lafayette formation, in South Carolina .. 80-81 

in Georgia ........................... 84-85

Lafayette formation of Mississippi, descriptionof ...................... 166-167

geologic position of .................. 167

thickness of. ......................... 167

Lafayette formation in Louisiana ........ 170

Lafayette Perozone ...................... 189-191

Lagrange group of Tennessee ........... 170, 171

of Kentucky ......................... 171-172

Lak e beds, Pliocene, of Florida .......... 133

of the interior in Texas ............... 175-177

Neocene of California. ............... 219-221

Pliocene of Oregon. .................. 282-285

Neocene of Middle Park, Colorado. . . 307 

Neocene of North Park, Colorado. . . . 307-308

Lake City, Fla., geologic sections near. . . . 110

LakeDeSoto, Florida ................... 93,133

Lake region, central, of Florida .......... 93

Langdon, Daniel W., on the Chattahoochee group of Florida. ........... 106

Latitude, influence of on fauna. .......... 25-26

Lea, Isaac, cited on divisions of the Tertiary................. ------------ 18

Le Conte, John, on Orbitoides and Ocala

limestones..--.-.. ........... .....103, 104

cited; on the Cenozoic of the Pacific

coast.. ................. ........269,272,274
INDEX. 345

Page. 

Ledoux, Albert R., on th e river phosph ates

of Florida ....................138,139-140

Leidy, Joseph, on the fauna of the Alaohua clays ....................... 129,130

on the Tertiary fossils of Texas..... 176,177

cited on the Mammalian fossils of

South Dakota.................... 291-292

on the vertebrate remains of Nebraska........................... 299

quoted on the Sweetwater Pliocene ... 310 

Lesley, J. P., cited on deposits in Vermont ............................. 33

Lesquerenx, Leo, cited on fossil flora of

Vermont......................... 33-34

on fossils of the Lagrange group of

Tennessee........................ 171

on fossils at Kirkers Pass, California............................ 204-205

on the Auriferous gravels.........219,220,221

on the age of the deposits at Bellingham Bay,Washington............ 229

cited on the fossil plants of British

Columbia and Washington....... 231

on the fossil flora of Port Graham,

Alaska........................... 237

on the fossil flora of Popoff Islands,

Alaska........................... 241

on the fossil flora of Alaska ......249,250,251

cited age of Cenozoic' eruptives of

Wyoming........................ 310

Level, changes of, table exhibiting during

Cenozoic time.................... 278

Lewis, H. Carville, cited on deposits in

Vermont......................... 34

cited on the "upland terrace" of

Pennsylvania.................... 44

Lignite beds of Washington ............. 228-229

Lignitic beds of the Aleutian Islands.... 242-246

List of names of Cenozoic formations.... 320-336

Lituya Bay, Alaska, Miocene beds of .... 235-236

Livermore Valley, the, in California...... 198-200

Long Island, Tertiary of................. 38-39

Lost Lake of Florida .................... 94-96

Loughridge, R. H., quoted on Miocene of

Georgia.......................... 81-82

quoted on Plioceub of Georgia ....... 84

on the Lagrange group of Kentucky. 171-172 

Louisiana, the Neocene of................ 167-170

Grand Gulf group of ................ 167-170

sections of Grand Gulf group in..... 168,169

Lafayette formation in......:........ 170

Loup Fork group, in South Dakota ...... 292-293

in Nebraska ......................... 296-298

in Colorado .......................... 304-305

diagram of........................... 298

Lyell, Charles, cited on divisions of the

Tertiary ......................... 18,19

cited on the fossils of Marthas Vineyard ............................. 36

quoted on the Eocene of North Carolina .............................. 72

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina .............................. 75,79

classification of the Cenozoic strata

by ............................... 178-180

M.

Page. 

Maack, Dr., cited on the Pleistocene age of

the Atrat.o fossils ................ 151

Maine, Tertiary deposits of .............. 32-33

Manatee River marl of Florida............ 125

Map, geological, of Alaska, note on ...... 208

Marino Pliocene beds, of Florida......... 140-142

of Alaska............................ 259-260

Marl, Shell, of New Jersey ............... 40,41

Black, of Now Jersey ................ 40,41

Yellow, of New Jersey ............... 40,41

Green sand, of New Je7'soy........... 42

Marsh, 0. C., on the fossils of the Cache

Lake beds, Colorado.............. 202

cited on the fauna of John Day group.. 281 

quoted on the Equns beds of Oregon.. 283 

cited on the Loup Fork group of Nebraska ........................297, 298,299

quoted on the Loup Fork beds of Nebraska ........................... 298-297

cited on the Loup Fork group of Colorado ............................. 304

Marthas Vineyard, plastic clay of........ 34

Marvin, A. It., quoted on the Middle Park

lake beds......................... 307

Maryland, Miocene of.................... 49-54

post-Miocene of...................... 55

Marylandian, one of Ueilprin's divisions

of the Tertiary................... 20

Massachusetts, Tertiary deposits of...... 34-38

McGee, W. J., cited on Tertiary of Long

Island ........................... 38

quoted on the Lafayette formation of

Virginia......................... 66-67

quoted on the Tertiary of North

Carolina.......................... 74

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina .............................. 75

quoted on the Lafayette formation of

South Carolina................... 80

quoted on Lafayette formation of

Georgia.......................... 84-85

on the Appomattox in Alabama..... 159,100

on the age of the Grand Gulf group.. 165 

on the Lafayette formation of Mississippi .......................... 100,107

on the Lagrango group of Tennessee. 170 

on the thickness of the Lafayette

formation........................ 189

Merrill, F. J. H., cited on Tertiary of Long

Island............................ 38

Meyer, Otto, section of the Grand Gulf in

Mississippi by ................... 1C2

on the fossils of the Grand Gulf, Mississippi .......................... 163

Middle Park lake beds................... 307

Middleton Island, Alaska, Pliocene of.... 259-260

Miocene, a division of the Tertiary ...... 18

definition of .......................... 21

divisions of.......................... 21

of Florida ........................... 105-127

warm and cold water ................ 184-180

Mississippi, Neocene of .................. 160-167

Grand Gulf formation of............. 161-165

Guathodou bed in.................... 164-165
346 INDEX.

Page.

Mississippi, parallelism of later terrigenous deposits in ................. 105

Lafayette formation of............... 160-167

Missouri, Tertiary of..................... 172

Mobile County, Ala., sliell beds in........ 160

Montana, N eocene of..................... 287-288

Neocene lake beds of................. 287-288

Fort Ellis beds of.................... 287

Deep Creek beds of .................. 287-288

Monument Creek, Colorado, group ....... 308-309

Mount Diablo Range, California.......... 204-206

Mudge, B. F., cited on the Pliocene of

Kansas .......................... 299

IV.

Nantnckct, supposed Tertiary of......... 35

" Natural well " in Duplin County, If. C. 72 

Naushon Island, deposits of.............. 38

Neal, J. C., information on the Miocene of

Florida by........................ 110

on the Alachua clays of Florida...... 128

Nebraska, Neocene of .................... 293-299

Tertiaries of "White and Niobrara

rivers............................ 293-296

stratigraphy of..................... ^. 293

White River group of................ 296

Loup Fork group of.................. 296-298

Equus beds of........................ 298-299

paleontology of....................... 299

Neocene formations of the Atlantic Coast,

vertical range of the ............. 193

Neocene formations of the Pacific coast,

summary of...................... ] 94-2G8

Neuse River, North Carolina, Miocenemarl

on................................ 69-70

geologic section on ................... 70

Nevada, Neocene of ...................... 313-316

Truckee group of.................... 313-315

Humboldt group of.................. 315-316

Newberry, J. S.,on the sandstone of the

Willamette....................... 226

on the lignite of "Washington......... 228

on the fossil plants of British Columbia and "Washington ............. 231

on the fossils of Admiralty Island,

Alaska........................... 235

cited on the Tertiary basin of the Arkansas ........................... 299

quoted on the Neocene of Indian Territory ............................ 301

quoted on the Santa Fe marls........ 302,303

Newfoundland, submarine strata off...... 32

New Hampshire, Tertiary deposits of.... 33

New Jersey, Tertiary of.................. 39-44

topography of........................ 39

Miocene marls of .................... 39-43

Cenozoic sands of.................... 43-44

dip of Tertiary strata in ............. 44

Shiloh marls of....................... 40

New Mexico, Neocene of.................. 301-303

Galisteo group of..................... 301-303

Santa Fe, marls of ................... 302-303

Newnansville, Fla., geologic section near 109 

New York, Tertiary of................... 38-39

Page.

Niobrara River, Tertiary of in Nebraska . 293-296 

Nixonville, S. C., section at .............. 78

Nodular phosphatic rock of Florida ...... 137

North Carolina, Tertiary of .............. 68-74

Chesapeake formation in............. 68

Miocene rocks of..................... 68-73

Pliocene rocks of..................... 74

Marine Pliocene of ................... 74

North Dakota, Neocene of................ 288-289

White River beds of.................. 288-289

North Park, Colorado, lake beds.......... 307-308

Notes on the map ........................ 318-319

Nulato, Alaska, marine sandstones-...... 247-248

Nummnlitic beds of Florida ............. 103-104

Nunivak Island, Alaska, geology of...... 245-246

Nushagok River, Alaska, Miocene fauna of 257

O.

Ocala limestone of Florida............... 103-104

Ocheesee beds of Florida, description of.. 105-107 

thickness of.......................... 158

Old Duck Creek, Delaware, Miocene formation on ........................ 46-47

Orbitoides limestone of Florida .......... 101-103

Orcutt, C. R., on the Tertiary fossils of the

San Diego region ................ 216

Oregon, marine Tertiary of............... 223-227

Pacific border Tertiary of............ 223

Columbia River Tertiary of.......... 223-226

Willamette River Tertiary of........ 226-227

Astoria shales of..................... 223-224

Aturia bed of........................ 224

Astoria sandstones of................ 224

A storia group of..................... 225-226

supposed Neocene of................. 280-285

fresh-water Tertiaries of............. 280-282

John Day valley of................... 280-2H1

Amyzon group of.................... 281

John Day group of .................. 281-282

Truckee group of.................... 282

Pliocene lake beds of................. 282-285

Equus beds of........................ 283-285

Dalles group of...................... 285

Origin of rocks in Florida................ 87

Orthaulax beds of Florida ........... .113-114,119

Osboruo, IT. !F., on the !Lonp Fork mammals ............................. 207,200

Oyster marl of Florida................... 132-133

P.

Pacific border, Oregon, Neocene of........ 223

Washington, Tertiary of-............ 228

Parallellism of later terrigenous deposits. 165 

Patuxent River, Maryland, geologic section along...................----- 51, 54

Peace Creek bone bed .................... 130-131

Peace Creek, Florida, fossils in' Alachua

clays of.....................129,130,131

geologic sections on .................. 131,132

Peale, A. C., cited on the fauna of the Salt

Lake group ...................... 286

quoted o>i the Fort Ellis beds of Montana .............................. 287

quoted on the Arkansas Park beds... 307
INDEX. 347

Page. 

Pel)blo phosphate of Florida ............. 137

Pennsylvania, Cenozoio formations of. -.. 44-45 

. gravels of............................ 44-45

iron ores and lignites of.............. 45

Penrose, K. A. F., on the Grand Gulf formation of Louisiana ............. 169

on the Tertiary of Texas ............ 173,175

Perezonal formations of Florida ......... 98-99

Perezono, the G ran d Gulf................ 187-183

the Lafayette......................... 189-191

Persistence of faunas .................... 28-30

Phosphates of Florida, origin of...... 1... 185

Phosphatio deposits, Old Miocene of Florida............................... 111-112

Phosphatic deposits of Florida .......... 134-140

Phosphatized lime rock of Florida....... 136

Pleistocene, equivalent to Newer Pliocene. ............................. 18

Pleistocene of Alaska.................... 268

Pleistocene of Florida, general acconntof. 149-152 

no great uplift of, during the Glacial

epoch ............................ 149-152

Pliocene, a division of the Tertiary ...... 18

fauna characterizing................. 22

relation of Glacial period to .......... 22

of Virginia........................... 66-67

of Florida............................ 127-149

marine beds, of Florida .............. 140-142

of Alaska............................ 259-268

of Nebraska.......................... 298-299

Pliocene deposits, general view of........ 191-192

Pliocene lake beds of Oregon............. 282-285

Popoff islands, Alaska, lignite beds of... 240-242 

C'repidula bed of..................... 255-256

Port Graham, Alaska, lignite beds.... ... 236-237

Post:Mioccne deposits of Maryland ...... 55

Potomac liiver, geologic section along, in

Maryland......................... 53

section along the Virginia side of.... 56

Potters landing, South Carolina, section

at................................ 78

Profiles, railroad, in Florida ............. 89-93

Puget group of Washington............. 229-230

Puinpolly, R., cited on Chattahoocb.ee

group of Georgia ................ 83

1C.

Rappahannock River, Virginia, geologic

section along..................... 57

Ray, P. H., cited on the ice formations of

Alaska........................... 264

Recent rock formation of Florida ........ 152-156

Rhode Island, Tertiary of................ 34

Richardson, John, cited on the fossils of

the ice cliffs of Alaska........... 261

Ridge, the great Caroliniari .............. 182-183

Rio G ramie section of Texas Tertiary ... 174-175 

River phosphates of Florida ............. 138

Roanoke River, N. C., geologic section on . 68 

Rogers, "W. B., cited on the Miocene of the

Northern.Peninsula of Virginia.. 58 

description of the formations near

Yorktown, by.................... 58-62

discovery of infusorial stratum in

Virginia, by...................... 62-63

Pago. 

Rogers, W. B., account of hods at Kings

Mills, by......................... 03

quoted on marl strata along James

lliver, Virginia................... 63

quoted on Couozoio south of Jamon 

« river............................. Gl-65

generalized section along James River,

by................................ 50

Rufliu, Edmund, cited on Neocene of

South Carolina...................75, 78,79

Russell, I. C., discovery of marine Pliocene

fauna on St. Elias Alps, by....... 259

cited on the ice cliffs of AlasUa ...... 205

cited on the Pleistocene of Alaska... 268

Safford, J. M., on the Lagrange group of

Tennessee ....................... 170,17^

St. Elias Alps, Alaska, marine Pliocene

fauna of.......................... 259

St. Marys River, Maryland, geologic section on........................... 53

St. Paul Island, Alaska, Miocenefaunaof. 257 

San Diego region, California ............. 216

Sand hills of Florida lake region...... .93,133-134

San Emidio Canyon, California........... 213-214

San Francisco Bay, valley of, California.. 203-204 

San Gabriel Range, California............ 214-215

San Pablo Bay, California, geologic section along........................ 203

Santa Barbara islands, California........ 216-217

Santa Cruz Range of California.......... 206-208

Santa Fe marls of New Mexico.......... 302-303

Santa Inez Mountains, California ........ 212-213

Santa Lucia Mountains, California....... 210-212

Santa Monica Range, California.......... 215

Santa Susanna Range, California......... 215

Scheme of the Floridian Cenozoic rocks.. 157 

Scope of the paper ....................... 15-16

Scudder, S. H., on the supposed Tertiary

of Nantucket..................... 35

on the Tertiary fossil insects of

British Columbia................. 232

Segregated phosphatic pebbles of Florida. 137 

Shaler, N. S., on geology of Nautnckot.... 35

cited on fossils of Marthas Vineyard. 36 

. cited on the deposits of Marthas

Vineyard ........................ 37,38

cited on the deposits of Naushon .... 38

cited on fossils of Dismal Swamp .... 64-65

quoted on the origin of the Florida

sands ............................ 97

quoted on Florida coral reef.......... 99

Shell beds in Mobile County, Ala ........ 160

Shiloh, Now Jersey, marls of............. 40

section at............................. 40

Shrader, J., on Florida phosphates........ 138

Shumard, G., on a Miocene fossil of

Oregon........................... 226

Sierra de Salinas, California.............. 209-210

Sierra Nevada region, California ......... 217-219

Sink holes of Florida....................94-95,121

Smith, E. A., discoveries of Jacksonville

limestone in Florida, by.......... 124,125

Smyrna, Delaware, geologic section near . 47
348 INDEX.

Page.

Solution, effect of, on topography of Florida............................ 88-89,94-95

Sopchoppy limestone of Florida, description of........................... 119-122

thickness of.......................... 158

South Carolina, Neocene of............... 74-81

Neocene marls of..................... 75-79'

Great Carolinian ridge of ............ 77

stratigraphy of...................... 77-78

Pliocene of........................... 80

South Dakota, Neocene of................ 289-293

White Eiver group of................ 289-292

Loup Fork group of.................. 292-293

Springfield, Oregon, exposures of Miocene

at................................ 227

Spring mills, Delaware, geologic section

on................................ 48

Stanton, T. W., cited on Miocene of North

Carolina.......................... 72

on the Sopchoppy limestone of Florida. 120,121 

Stevenson, J. J., cited on the Galisteo

group............................ 301,302

Stimpson, William, on the fossils of Marthas Vineyard.................... 30,37

Stow Creek, New Jersey, bed of marl on.. 39 

Stratigraphy in Delaware................ 46

Stratigraphy of Florida.................. 101-158

Stratigraphy of California, Coast ranges. 200-217 

north of the Golden Gate ............ 200-201

Stratigraphy of Tertiary in Nebraska ... 293-296 

Sulnnarine beds of North Carolina, Miocene fossils in.................... 73

Succession and derivation of faunas..... 28-30

Sumter epoch, a division of the Tertiary. 19 

Suwanee Strait, Florida, Miocene deposits

of................................ Ill

Swallow, G. C., on the Tertiary of Missouri 172 

Sweetwater Pliocene of Wyoming....... 310-311

T.

Tampa group of Florida, description of... 112-113 

thickness of.......................... 158

Tampa limestone of Florida.............. 117-118

Tar River, North Carolina, Miocene marl

on................................. 69

Temperature, influence of, on fauna ...... 23-24

Tennessee, the Lagrange group of........ 170-171

Tertiary, divisions of the................. 18

Tertiary of Missouri..................... 172

of Texas ............................. 172-177

Tertiary grit of Kansas .................. 300

Tertiary marl of Kansas.................. 300

Tertiary marl of Colorado................ 305

Tertiary saude and clays of Illinois ...... 172

Texas, Tertiary of ....................... 172-177

Grand Gulf group of................. 172-175

Colorado Kiver section of............. 173-174

geologic section of Barton Creek, in.. 173 

geologic section at Sulphur Bluff in.. 174 

Brazos River section of ........ '...... 174

Rio Grande section of................ 174-175

Lafayette group of................... 175

Lake beds of the interior in ......'.... 175-177

Thickness of the strata in Florida....... 158

Topauica beds of Norton Sound, Alaska . 246

Page. 

Topography of Florida................... 86-101

Towusend, J. K., molluscan collections by,

in Oregon ........................ 224

Tripoli earth, stratum of, along the Patuxent, Maryland.................... 51

Trowbridge, W. P., on the coal strata of

Washington ..................... 229

Truckee gron p, of Oregon................ 282

Nevada, description of............... 313-315

paleontology of....................... 315

Tulare Valley, California................. 213

Tuoiney, Michael, cited on divisions of the

Tertiary ......................... 19

cited on the Neocene of South Carolina ...........................75, 76, 78, 79

Turner, W. H.,on the geology of Mount

Diablo Eange, California ......... 204

Tydbury Branch, Delaware, geologic section on............................... 47

U.

Uhler, P. R., cited on the Eocene boundary in Maryland.................. 49

TJlulak River beds, Alaska............... 246

TJninak Island, Alaska, lignitic beds of... 242 

ITnalaska Island, Alaska, Jignitiu beds of. 242

Miocene fauna of..................... 256-257

Unga conglomerate of Alaska............ 234-235

TJnga Island, Alaska, lignite beds of...... 240-242

Crepidula beds of.................... 255-256

Upham, Warren, cited on Eocene fossils

of Massachusetts................. 34

on the uplift in the Pleistocene of

Florida........................... 149,151

Utah, Neocene of......................... 312-313

Humboldt group of................... 312-313

Wyoming conglomerate of ........... 313

V.

33

35

Vermont, Tertiary d eposits of ............

Verrill, A. E., on the post-Pliocene strata

of Nan'tucket. ....................

Vertebrate remains of North Carolina

Miocene. . ........................

Vertebrate remains in Georgia Tertiary. . 

Vertical range of the Neocene formations

of the Atlantic coast .............

of the Pacific coast.......... .........

of the interior region ................

Vicksburg group of Florida. ............. 101-103

Virginia, the Neocene of ................. 55-67

Virginian, one of Heilpriu's divisions of

the Tertiary ..................... 19

Volcanic phenomena of Alaska ........... 268

W.

Wailes, B. L. C-, names the Grand Gulf

formation ........................ 180

Walrus Bay, Alaska, Miocene fauna of . . 256

Ward, Lester F., quoted on the flora of the

Auriferous gravels. .............. 221

on the fossil flora of Alaska ......... 250, 251
INDEX. 349

Page. 

Warm and cold water Miocono........... 184-186

"Washington, Neocene of ................. 227-230

Pacific border Tert iary of............ 228

Central basin Tertiary of............ 228-230

Lignite beds of...................... 228-229

Puget group of ...................... 229-230

"Weyquoske series, the ................... 37,38

"White, C. A., on the age of the niolluscan

fossils from Astoria.............. 224

on the Miocene fossils of Willaniotte. 226-227 

on theliguitedeposits of "Washington. 228 

cited on the fauna of the Truokeo

group............................ 285

White, D., on the fossils of Marthas Vineyard ............................. 36

White Beach sand rock of Klorida ....... 114-115

White River, Tertiary of, in Nebraska - - - 203-296 

"White River group, in North Dakota .... 288 289

in South Dakota ..................... 289-292

iii Nebraska.......................... 296

in Colorado .......................... 304-305

in Wyoming......................... 311-312

White Springs, Fla., geologic section at.. 110 

Whitesamlof Florida................... 150

Whitney, J. D., 011 the Tertiary formations

of California .... .200, 201, 203, 205-206, 207,

208, 209,210, 21.1, 212, 213,214 

on the post-Tertiary of California.... 203

on the Auriferous gravels of California ............................... 219

cited on the Cenozoic of the Pacific

coast............................. 269

Willamette River, Oregon, Tertiary ...... 226-227

Willcox, Joseph, collections of Florida

limestones by .................102,103,104

discovery of Ecphora bed in Florida

by ............................... 124

on the Caloosahalchie beds of Florida 147,148

Page. 

Willis, Bailey, on the age of the Dwamish

River, Washington, deposits...... 228

Wiiislow, N. J., section of artesian well

at................................ 41

clay formations at ................... 43

Woolman, Lewis, section of New Jersey

Tertiary by ...................... 42,43

Wormleys Creek, Virginia, geologic formations near.....................59,60, 61

"Worm rock" of Florida ................ 153

AVortlion, A. FT., on the Tertiary of Illinois 172 

Wright, Or. F., cited on the Pleistocene of

A laska........................... 268

Wyoming, Neocene Of.................... 309-312

Cenozoic erupt! ves of ................ 309-310

S \veotwatfT Pliocene of.............. 310-311

Conglomerate of ..................... 311

AVyoiiiing conglomerate, in Wyoming .... 311

in Utah.............................. 313

Yates, Lorcnzo &., on the geology of the

Santa Barbara islands ........... 216,617

Yellow gravel of New Jersey............. 43-44

Yellow sand of Florida; description of... 154-156 

analysis of....................... 155

York River, Virginia, geologic section

along............................. 58

Yorktown epoch, a division of the Tertiary ............................. 19

Yukon, Lower, Alaska, outcrops in valley of ............................ 246-247

Upper, exposures on................. 247

Zones, temperature of fauna.............. 26-30

LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS.

United States. Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey). 

Department of the interior | | Bulletin | of the | United 

States | geological survey | no. 84 | [Seal of the department] | 

Washington | government printing office | 1892

Second title: United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, 

director | | Correlation papers | Neocene | hy ) William 

Healey Dall | and | Gilbert Denuison Harris | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1892

8°. 849pp. 3 pi.

Dall (William Healey) and Harris (Gilbert Dennison).

United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, director | | 

Correlation papers | Neocene | by | William Healey Dall | and | 

Gilbert Dennison Harris | [Viguette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1892

8°. 349pp. 3 pi.

[UNITED STATES. Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey.) 

Bulletin 84.]

	United States geological survey | J. W. Powell, director | | 

 g Correlation papers | Neocene | by | William Healey Dall | and j 

£ Gilbert Dennison Harris | [Vignette] | 

Jl Washington | government printing office | 1892 

| 8°. 349pp. 3 pi.

g [UNITED STATES. Department of the interior. (U. S. geological survey.)

"2 Bulletin 84.] 53

H

ADVERTISEMENT.

[Bulletin No. 84.]

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30. Second Contribution to the Studies on the Cambrian Faunas of North America, by Charles Doolittle Walcott. 1386. 8°. 369pp. 33 pi. Price 25 cents.

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32. Lists and Analyses of the Mineral Springs of the United States; a Preliminary Study, by Alber 

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IV ADVERTISEMENT.

47." Analyses of "Waters of the Yellowstone National Park, with an Account of the Methods of 

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48. On the Form and Position of the Sea Level, by Eobert Simpson Woodward. 1888. 8°. 88 pp. 

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54. On the Thermo-Electric Measurement of High Temperatures, by Carl Barus. 1889. 8°. 313 pp. 

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56. Fossil Wood and Lignite of the Potomac Formation, by Frank Hall Knowlton. 1889. 8°. 72pp. 

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69. A Classed and Annotated Bibliography of Fossil Insects, by Samuel Hnbbard Scudder. 1890. 

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71. Index to the Known Fossil Insects of the World, including Myriapocls and Arachnids, by Samuel 

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72. Altitudes between Lake Superior and the Eocky Mountains, by Warren Upham. 1891. 8°. 

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73. The Viscosity of Solids, by Carl Barus. 1891. 8°. xii, 139 pp. 6 pi. Price 15 cents. 

74. The Minerals of North Carolina, by Frederick Augustus Genth. 1891. 8°. 119 pp. Price 15 

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75. Eecord of North American Geology for 1887 to 1889, inclusive, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1891. 

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79. A Late Volcanic Eruption in Northern California and its Peculiar Lava, by J.S.Diller. 1891. 8°. 

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80. Correlation papers Devonian and Carboniferous, by Henry Shaler Williams. 1891. 8°. 279 pp. 

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81. Correlation papers Cambrian, by Charles Doolittlo Walcott. 1891. 8°. 447 pp. 3 pi. Price 

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91. Record of North American Geology for 1890, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1891. 8°. 88pp. Price 

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In press:

85. Correlation papers The Newark System, by I. C. Russell.

86. Correlation papers Archean and Algonkian, by C. R. Van Hise.

87. Bibliography and Index of the publications of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1879-1892, by P. C. 

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90. A report of work clone in the Division of Chemistry and Physics, mainly during the fiscal year 

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92. The Compressibility of Liquids, by Carl Barns.

93. Some insects of special interest from Florissant, Colorado, by S. H. Scuddor.

94. Tho.Mechanism of Solid Viscosity, by Carl Barus.

95. Earthquakes in California during 1890-'91, by Edward S. Holden.

96. The Volume Thermodynamics of Liquids, by Carl Barus.

97. The Mesozoic Echinodermata of the United States, by W. B. Clark.

98. Carboniferous Flora Outlying Coal Basins of Southwestern Missouri, by David White.

99. Record of North American Geology for 1891, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 

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88. Correlation papers Pleistocene, by T. C. Chamberlin.

100. The Eruptive and Sedimentary Rocks on Pigeon Point, Minnesota, and their contact phenomena, by W. S. Bayley.

101. Insect fauna of the Rhode Island Coal Field, by Samuel Hubbard Scudder.

102. A Catalogue and Bibliography of North American Mesozoic Invertebrata, by C. B. Boyle.

103. The Trap Dikes of Lake Champlain Valley and the Eastern Adirondacks, by J. T. Kemp.

 High Temperature Work in Igneous Fusion and Ebullition, Chiefly in Relation to Pressure, by 

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 Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley, by W. H. Weed.

 The Laramie and the overlying Livingstone Formation in Montana, by W. H. Weed, with Report 

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 The Moraines of the Missouri Coteau, and their attendant deposits, by James Edward Todd.

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Mineral Resources of the United States, 1882, by Albert Williams, jr. 1883. 8°. xvii, 813pp. Price 

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Mineral Resources of the United States, 1883 and 1884, by Albert Williams, jr. 1885. 8°. xiv, 1016 

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Mineral Resources of the United States, 1885. Division of Mining Statistics and Technology. 1886. 

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Mineral Resources of the United States, 1886, by David T. Day. 1887. 8°. viii,813pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1887, by David T. Day. 1888. 8°. vii, 832 pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1888, by David T. Day. 1890. 8°. vii. 652 pp. Price 50 cents.

Mineral Resources of the United States, 1889 and 1890, by David T. Day. 1892. 8°. vili, 671 pp. 

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Mineral Resources of the United States, 1891.

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WASHINGTON, D. C., September, 1893.