Age and Correlation of the 

Clinchfield Sand in Georgia

By S. M. HERRICK

CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1354-E

Basal upper Eocene (Jackson) formations 

at three localities were deposited in shallow 

seas; Foraminifera were collected 

from each locality
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

ROGERS G. B. MORTON, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. A. Radlinski, Acting Director

Library of Congress catalog-card No. 712 184204

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1072

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 > Price 15 cents

Stock Number 2401-2024
CONTENTS

Page

Abstract_____________________________________ El

Introduction._____________________________________________________ 2

Discussion of units______________________________________________ 3

Clinchfield Sand______ _ _________ ______________ 3

Areal extent-___-_-_--_-_---____-___-___-_-____-___-_--___ 3

Lithology_______________________________________________ 4

"Cooper Marl"________________________________________________ 6

Dellet Sand Member of Moodys Branch Formation._______________ 6

Arealextent_________________--_____-_____________________ 6

Lithology_ _ _ ____________________________________________ 6

Ecology___________________________________________________________ 8

Population___ ______________________________________________ 8

Faunal characteiistics.__________________________________________ 8

Depositional environment____________________________________ 11

Geologic age . ________________________________ __. 12

Correlation _______________________________________________________ 14

Origin in a transgressive sea___________--____-_____-__-__--___---___ 15

Summary and conclusions__--__-_-__--______--__-_--____---__------ 16

References _ _ ____________-_____-_________-___-__---__-_-_._--__. 16

ILLUSTRATIONS

Pag« 

FIGURE 1. Map of Georgia and Alabama showing approximate updip

limit of Clinchfield Sand and Ocala Limestone.-___-_____- E3

2. Test hole in type section in west quarry of Penn-Dixie Cement

Co., near Clinchfield, Ga_______________________________ 5

3. Jackson-Claiborne section at Claiborne Bluff, Monroe County,

TABLE

Page

TABLE 1. Foraminifera of the Clinchfield Sand at Clinchfield, Ga., and 

its equivalents at Baldock, S.C., Claiborne Bluff, Ala., and 

Jackson, Miss -______-____--_--____-_--_-_-----_----- E9

in

CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

AGE AND CORRELATION OF THE 

CLINCHFIELD SAND IN GEORGIA

By S. M. HERRICK

ABSTRACT

Formations at three localities Claiborne Bluff, Ala., Baldoek, S.C., and 

Clinchfield, Ga. were deposited by a transgressive sea in early late Eocene 

(Jackson) time. The Jackson sea was widespread in southwestern Georgia, but 

in eastern Georgia it was restricted to a relatively narrow strip ending in the 

vicinity of Baldoek, S.C.

The Clinchfield Sand, named by R. E. Carver in 1966 for the town of Clinchfield, Houston County, Ga., is herein adopted. Exposures are in the quarries of 

the Penn-Dixie Cement Co. and along Big Indian Creek, on Georgia Highway 

247, 2.4 miles northwest of the Houston and Pulaski County line. The Clinchfield Sand generally underlies the Ocala Limestone and overlies the Lisbon 

Formation (equivalent to the McBean Formation) in south-central Georgia. 

The Clinchfield extends from the Chattahoochee River eastward across Georgia 

to the Savannah River.

The deposit at Claiborne Bluff, Ala., named by H. B. Stenzel in 1952 for the 

Dellet mansion, a landmark in the town of Claiborne, Monroe County, is herein 

adopted as the Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys Branch Formation and is 

identified as the equivalent of the Clinchfield Sand.

The deposit at Baldoek, S.C., consists of a very sandy calcareous fossiliferous 

marl and is identified in this report by the term "Cooper Marl." The quotation 

marks are used to indicate that there was an error in the first published stratigraphic position of the marl at Baldoek. The deposits at Clinchfield and Baldoek 

represent very shallow seas, not more than 15-50 feet in depth. The sediments 

at Claiborne Bluff were deposited on the continental shelf in fairly shallow 

water, probably not more than 75-90 feet.

The basal upper Eocene (Jackson) deposits at the three localities are stratigraphically equivalent, though not identical. The deposits described from Clinchfield and Baldoek representing a carbonate facies are more closely related to each 

other than to those from Claiborne Bluff.

This paper includes a list of Foraminif era collected at the three localities.

El
E2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Some large fossil oysters were collected in 1966 from an exposure of 

the Clinchfield Sand on the north edge of the east (old) quarry of the 

Perm-Dixie Cement Co., on the east side of U.S. Highway 341, 0.2 

mile south of Clinchfield, Ga. The fossils were taken from a shelly 

reeflike deposit near the top of the unconsolidated Clinchfield Sand 

and about 1.5-2 feet below the base of the Ocala Limestone. The filling 

from one of the fossil oyster shells was subsequently removed and 

examined for Foraminifera by the writer.

As there was doubt regarding the specific identity of these fossil 

oysters, specimens were sent to H. B. Stenzel x who advised further 

investigation of the Clichfield Sand to establish its possible 

correlation with the Dellet Sand (Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys 

Branch Formation), which he had named and described (Stenzel, 

1952) at Claiborne Bluff, Monroe County, Ala. The writer visited Claiborne Bluff in February 1967 and collected samples from the Dellet. 

These samples were subsequently processed and examined for 

Foraminifera.

The writer noted the marked similarity between the fauna at Clinchfield and the fauna from a marl at Baldock, S.C., that Ruth Todd 2 

identified as late Eocene. (See list in report by Cooke and MacNeil, 

1952, p. 27.) Cooke (1936, p. 88) referred the marl at Baldock to the 

"Cooper Marl," a formation now known to be Oligocene in age. The 

quotation marks around the term "Cooper Marl" are used to indicate 

an error in the original published stratigraphic position of the marl at 

Baldock, S.C.

The purposes of this paper are to present foraminiferal evidence of 

the early Jackson age of the Clinchfield Sand and to demonstrate its 

stratigraphic equivalence to the Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys 

Branch Formation and to the marl deposit at Baldock, S.C. The 

Foraminifera from the three localities are listed in table 1.

The name Clinchfield Sand was first used in a formal sense by Carver 

(1966). Herrick (1961) described a section in a well (GGS 339) consisting of 39 feet of Ocala Limestone and 10 feet of unnamed sand at 

base. The unnamed sand is now designated Clinchfield Sand. The type 

section (fig. 2) is 9 feet thick in a test hole (GGS 994 3 ) in the west 

(new) quarry of the Perm-Dixie Cement Co., near Clinchfield, Ga. 

The sand is exposed in the north side of the cement company's east 

(old) quarry. On the outcrop not more than 5-6 feet of sand is exposed 

in the quarry; ifche Big Indian Creek section is 10 feet thick.

1 Professor, Department of Geology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.

2 Paleontologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.

3 Samples from this test hole are filed In the sample collection maintained by the Georgia 

Department of Mines, Mining and Geology.
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SANJ>, GEORGIA E3

DISCUSSION OF UNITS 

CLINCHFIELD SAND

AREAL EXTENT

The line A-A' (fig. 1) shows the approximate updip limit of the 

Ocala Limestone and the Clinchfield Sand that generally underlies 

it in updip areas. This line of demarcation is based on a study of well 

cuttings from many deep wells, on field observations, and on information obtained from published reports. Strictly speaking, however, the 

Clinchfield Sand crops out for fairly short distances generally less 

than a mile beyond the updip limit of the overlying Ocala Limestone. Nevertheless, line A-A' may be regarded as marking the updip 

limit of the two units.

Assuming that line A-A' is correct, it is evident that the sea in 

which these sediments were deposited was widespread in Georgia, 

particularly in the southwestern part. The occurrence of outliers, such 

as Rich Hill and Browns Mountain, for example, suggests that the 

Jackson sea was even more extensive than is indicated in figure 1. In

EXPLANATION

Approximate updip limit of 

Clinchfield Sand and 

Ocala Limestone

Dashed where Clinchfield 

Sand has not been 

identified

Sample collecting locality

ALABAMA

Claiborne Bluff

r

___ __g"**H^(

100

L_ 100 MILES

FIQUBE 1. Approximate updip limit of Clinchfield Sand and Ocala Limestone.
E4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

eastern Georgia, as shown by a rather deep reentrant in line A-A', 

the Jackson sea was apparently restricted to a fairly narrow strip 

that trends inland in a northwestward direction and finally crosses 

the Savannah River in the vicinity of Baldock, S.C. Here it is thought 

that the Jackson sea was forced coastward by the presence of an anticlinal structure, the so-called "Great Carolina Ridge," which, according to Cooke (1936, p. 158), was formed during late Eocene time and 

hence was in existence during the deposition of the sediments at the 

three localities.

The Clinchfield Sand is believed to underlie much of the updip part 

of the Coastal Plain west of the Oconee River. For example, Vorhis 

(1972) has contoured the top of the Clinchfield Sand in Sumter, Crisp, 

Dooly, Lee, Pulaski, and Wilcox Counties, an area of about 1,800 

square miles. East of the Oconee, however, the Clinchfield is concealed 

by geologically younger deposits; hence, it was identified in wells in 

the tonguelike extension trending inland in a northwestward direction that approximately parallels the Savannah River. In certain 

areas between this tonguelike extension and the Oconee River, the 

Clinchfield Sand has not been identified in wells (see broken line, fig. 

1), though it probably occurs locally. Generally, in the subsurface 

downdip (south) of line J.-J.', the sand ultimately changes to limestone and becomes part of the Ocala Limestone.

LITHOLOGY

Figure 2 shows the section that exists below the limestone floor of 

the west quarry of the Penn-Dixie Cement Co., near Clinchfield, Ga. 

Here, the Ocala Limestone rests directly upon fine-grained Clinchfield Sand, which in turn overlies the Lisbon Formation (equivalent 

to the McBean Formation), a sandy lignitic brackish-water somewhat 

fossiliferous clay that becomes glauconitic, marine, and fossiliferous 

at depth. The limestone in figure 2 represents the Ocala Limestone; 

the underlying sand represents the Clinchfield Sand in updip areas of 

the Coastal Plain. Below the Clinchfield Sand, geologically older 

deposits of the Lisbon Formation occur.

LeGrand (1962, p. 28) described the then unnamed sand immediately underlying the Ocala Limestone as a "fine to medium-grained 

sand [having] little or no interstitial clay * * *." According to 

Pickering (1970, p. 7, 8) the Clinchfield Sand is a medium-grained 

well-sorted poorly consolidated quartz sand having no observable 

crossbedding. He noted further that this sand grades upward into the 

overlying Ocala Limestone through a zone of sandy limestone lenses 

and sand. Screen analyses, by the Georgia Department of Mines, 

Mining and Geology of samples from 21 test holes drilled by the
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SAND, GEORGIA E5

UJ

UJ

0

o

UJ

UPPER

UJ LL 

_IZ

OUJ

.QO

UJ .

Z j1*"^

en --

UJ -r5 -L-

-J . _

^

1

^

O T"

O

S£

SAND CLINCHFIELD 

z *.

? ±± o\- -

OQ<

' 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

I

1

1

I ,

1 v r '

,.;^v

): i|

r-\ -rr'.

 

u S

-5'

-10'

-15'

-20'

?!'

LAND 

SURFACE

DEPTH

EXPLANATION

Cream limestone Siity carbonaceous 

glouconitic cloy

Fine sand

FIGURE 2. Test hole in type section in 

west quarry of Penn-Dixie Cement 

Co., near Clinchfield, Ga.

Penn-Dixie Cement Co. in their west quarry, showed an even grain 

size for all samples tested. Examination of the sand through a binocular microscope shows the quartzose sand to be fine and very evenly 

grained, angular, sparsely glauconitic, calcareous, and somewhat fossiliferous. The sand contains bryozoan remains, fragments of molluscan shells (chiefly oyster), and some Foraminifera.
E6 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

The Clinchfield Sand varies in thickness both in outcrop and in the 

subsurface. Herrick (1961) logged thicknesses of the then unnamed 

sand of 16, 18, 22, and 35 feet from various wells in southwestern 

Georgia. Picketing (1970, fig. 5) included 34 feet of Clinchfield Sand 

in test hole 11 of the Penn-Dixie Cement Co., one of 21 test holes 

drilled in their west quarry. Cooke and Shearer (1919, p. 77) reported 

25 feet of unnamed sand (now known to be the Clinchfield Sand) exposed beneath the Ocala Limestone in a gully on the south side of 

Bich Hill in Crawford County, central Georgia (fig. 1). Figure 2 

shows an approximate thickness of 9 feet of Clinchfield Sand as determined from cuttings obtained from a test hole (GGS 994).

"COOPER MARL"

As noted by Cooke and MacNeil (1952, p. 26) and confirmed by the 

writer's sample, the deposit of "Cooper Marl" at Baldock, S.C., consists of a very sandy calcareous fossiliferous marl, decidedly carbonate 

in its overall composition. Presumably this marl overlies geologically 

older (that is, middle Eocene) sediments at this locality, though evidence proving this supposition has not been observed by the writer.

DELLET SAND MEMBER OF MOODYS BRANCH FORMATION

AREAL EXTENT

The Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys Branch Formation extends 

across Alabama to the Chattahoochee River at a point where Alabama, 

Florida, and Georgia meet. (See Huddlestun and Toulmin, 1965, fig. 

2.) From this point the Moodys Branch equivalent, the Clinchfield 

Sand, extends eastward across Georgia to the Savannah Eiver (fig. 1).

LITHOLOGV

Figure 3 shows the type section, which includes 2.2 feet of the Dellet 

Sand Member of the Moodys Branch Formation, at Claiborne Bluff, 

Ala. According to Stenzel (1952, p. 58, 59) the base of the Moodys 

Branch Formation at Claiborne Bluff consists of "friable and slightly 

tough, light-grayish, rust-brown massive, argillaceous, glauconitic, 

fossiliferous, fine-grained sand * * *" to which he has given the name 

Dellet Sand Member, after the Dellet mansion, a "well-known landmark" in the nearby town of Claiborne, Ala. Stenzel further showed 

this sand as overlying the Gosport Formation of middle Eocene age 

and directly underlying the "Scutella bed" of the Moodys Branch
Upper Eocene

Moodys 

Branch Formation

Yaz

Pellet

Sand 

Member

"Scutella 

bed" North C

(D 

CL
E8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

Formation 4 of late Eocene age. As will be shown below by means of 

paleontologic evidence, it is the writer's conclusion that Stenzel's 

Dellet Sand is the stratigraphic equivalent (in part) of the deposit 

reported by Cushman and Todd (1945) as Moodys Branch Formation.

ECOLOGY 

POPULATION

Foraminifera identified comprised 58 species and 36 genera in the 

material filling the oyster from the Clinchfield Sand from Clinchfield, 

Ga.; 99 species and 48 genera in the sandy marl from Baldock, S.C.; 

and 82 species and 41 genera in the Dellet Sand Member from Claiborne Bluff, Ala. Table 1 lists the species from these three localities, 

which are shown in figure 1.

FAUNAL CHARACTERISTICS

In summarizing the information on the ecology of the faunas listed 

in table 1, the writer has used the following criteria developed by 

Phleger (1960, p. 257) :

1. The faunas at all three localities are predominantly benthonic in 

character. The ratios of planktonic to benthonic forms at the 

three localities were extremely low, amounting to 0.02 at Clinchfield, 0.04 at Baldock, and 0.02 at Claiborne Bluff.

2. In these three faunas, the ratios of arenaceous forms to total populations were estimated to be 0.15 at Clinchfield, 0.12 at Baldock, 

and 0.01 at Claiborne Bluff. These ratios indicate a preponderance of calcareous forms at each of the three localities analyzed.

3. Although the faunas at all three localities consisted predominantly 

of "smaller" Foraminifera, significantly, some larger ones belonging to the genera Lepidocyclina and Gypsina were observed 

at Clinchfield and Baldock. Specimens belonging to the genus 

Asterocyclina were also found at Clinchfield.

4. The types of preservation that prevailed at these localities are another important feature of these faunas. The tests of all forms 

at Clinchfield and the majority of those at Baldock have apparently been altered since deposition. Hence, at these two localities 

the tests are now cream colored, somewhat chalky, and distinctly 

nonvitreous. By contrast the fauna at Claiborne Bluff is composed of individuals having unaltered calcareous vitreous tests.

* The Moodys Branch Formation was adopted to replace Moodys Marl in Mississippi. The 

formation underlies the Ocala Limestone in Alabama and Georgia.
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFrELD SAND, GEORGIA E9

TABLE 1. Foraminifera of the Clinchfield Sand at Clinchfield, Ga., and its equivalents at Baldock, S.C., Claiborne Bluff, Ala., and Jackson, Miss.

[Moodys Branch Formation at Jackson, Miss.: Type locality; reported by Cushman and Todd (1945)]

Clinchfleld 

Foraminifera Sand at 

Clinchfleld, 

Ga.

Spiroplectamminamisiigsippiensig (Cushman). 

mistissipp ientis (Cushman) atabameruit

Textularia adalta Cushman __________

dibollensis Cushman and Applin humblei 

Cushman and Applin

Qvtoqueloculina Ivngirostra d'Orbigny. _____

articulatus (Reuss) tezanus (Cushman

limbosus (Reuss) hockleyensin (Cushman

Planularia danvittensis Howe and Wallace

lattjugaia (Qiimbel) carolinensis (CusbPseudonodosaria laevigata (d'Orbigny) ovata

gibba d'Orbigny globosa (v. Munster) . 

gibba d'Orbigny rotundata (Bornemann).

Pseudopolymorphina cf. P. decora (Reuss)... ..

Polymorphina adeena Cushman nuda Howe

mauricensis Howe and EUis.... ... -.

Nnnianetta. cockfieldensis Cushman and Ellisor .

X 

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

............

Dellet Sand 

"Cooper Member of 

Marl" at Moodys Branch 

Baldock, Formation at 

S.C. Claiborne Bluff, 

Ala.

X 

X

x

x

x

X -

X

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X

...... - .-. 

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

Moodys 

Branch 

Formation 

at Jackson, 

Miss.

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X

X
E10 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

TABLE 1. Foraminifera of the Clinchfield Sand at Clinchfield, Ga., and its equivalents at Baldock, S.C., Claiborne Bluff, Ala., and Jackson, Miss. Continued

Clinchfield 

Foraminifera Sand at 

Clinchfield, 

Ga.

Nonionella 

hanlkeni (Cushman and Applin) _____ ..

hantkeni (Cushman and Applin) spissa

jacksonensfs Cushman _ . __________

jacksonemig Cushman compressa Cushman and Todd __________ .... ...

Elphidium texanum (Cushman and Applin)... 

Heterohelix venezuelana (Nuttall) ____ ... ......

Oolina hexagona (Williamson) . ...................

Bulitninella of B taevis (Beissel)

Turrilina robertsi (Howe and Ellis)..... ..........

Robertinamoodysensis Cushman and Todd .......

Virgulina diboUensis Cushman and Applin.......

Bolivina broussardi Howe and Roberts _ ........

byramensis Cushman _______ ..........

costifera Cushman _________ . .........

gardnerac Cushman ..........................

gracUis Cushman and Applin.. ___ . _ ..

moodysensii Cushman and Todd .............

ouocA itaensis Howe and Wallace ___ . __

spiral! s Cushman. ...........................

Bitubulogenerina howei Cushman _ . __ .......

Reusselta eocena (Cushman) ____ . _ .......

cookei Cushman _ ....... ___ ........ ....

dumblei Cushman and Applin __ . __ .....

partfncrae Cushman.. ..... .. ..... ... ... . ... .

A n gulogerina byramensis (Cushman) . _ ........

multicostata Bergquist __ .... __ ..... __ ..

rnulticostata Berquist yazooensis Bergquist _

ocalana Cushman .......... _ .. ___ .....

Trifarina bradyi Cushman advena Cushman __ .

El lipsonodosaria ? cocoaensis (Cushman) ........

Spirillina selseyensis Heron-Alien and Earland. . .

Discorbi* alveata Cushman.. .......... _ .....

Discorbis alveata Cushman stavensis Bandy....

hemisphaerica Cushman _ ......... _ . __ ..

soldanii d'Orbigny octocamerata Cushman

Eponides cf. E. campester Palmer and BerSiphonina advena Cushman eocenica

Amphistegina alabamensis Applin and Jordan . .

Camtidulina moodvxensis Onshman and Todd.

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X

X

X

Dellet Sand 

"Cooper Member of 

Marl" at Moodys Branch 

Baldock, Formation at 

S.C. Claiborne Bluff, 

Ala.

X

X

X 

X

X

x

X 

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X

Moodys 

Branch 

Formation 

at Jackson, 

Miss.

X 

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X

X

X 

X
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SAND, GEORGIA Ell

TABLE 1. Foraminifera of the Clinchfield Sand at Clinchfield, Ga., and its equivalents at Baldock, S.C., Claiborne Bluff, Ala., and Jackson, Miss. Continued

Clinchfield 

Foraminifera Sand at 

Cllnchfleld, 

Ga.

Cribrogloborotalia marklina Cushman and

jacksonensis (Cushman and Applln) texCibieides lobatulus (Walker and Jacob) --._.-..

pseudoungerianus (Cushman) lisbonensit

Cibicidina americana (Cushman) antigua

americana (Cushman) jacktonensis

yazooensis (Cushman) --.... __ .............

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X

Dellet Sand Moodys 

"Cooper Member of Branch 

Marl" at Moodys Branch Formation 

Baldock, Formation at at Jackson, 

S.C. Claiborne Bluff, Miss. 

Ala.

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X

X 

X

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The types of preservation and the kinds of species occurring at the 

three localities allow deductions regarding the environment under 

which these strata were deposited. The sediments at Clinchfield and 

Baldock were deposited under definitely carbonate conditions as compared with a relatively carbonate-free environment at Claiborne Bluff. 

Stated another way, the clastic noncarbonate sediments of our western gulf coast region become increasingly more carbonate in an easterly direction, changing to limestone at the point where Alabama, 

Georgia, and Florida meet. A fuller description of this change in 

facies was illustrated by Huddlestun and Toulmin (1965, fig. 2).

In explaining such a change in facies on a regional scale, Cheetham 

(1963, p. 33, 35) pointed out that the sediments bordering the eastern 

gulf coast from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the AlabamaGeorgia-Florida junction, including the deposits at Claiborne Bluff, 

Ala., represent a "shelf phase" of sedimentation that is, strata that 

were deposited on the continental shelf in fairly shallow marine water
E12 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

ranging from 100 to 300 feet in depth. Eastward from this point of 

juncture, however, geologically equivalent strata represent a "bank 

phase" 5 that is, carbonate rock that was deposited on a submarine 

plateau in marine water not exceeding 150 feet in depth.

In view of the above statement, it seems evident that the deposits 

and their contained faunas at Clinchfield and Baldock represent shallow littoral, reeflike conditions in which the sea doubtless did not 

exceed 15-30 feet in depth, if that much. Moreover, since the microfossils at Clinchfield were obtained from a thick-shelled oyster occurring in a fossil reef, they must have been deposited in extremely shallow water in the zone between low and high tides or even in the zone 

of wave action itself. However, at Claiborne Bluff, as suggested by the 

character of the fossils and the noncarbonate nature of the deposit, 

conditions were somewhat different. Here sediments were deposited 

on the continental shelf in fairly shallow carbonate-free marine water 

which was probably not much deeper than 75-90 feet. Owing to the 

presence of Quinqueloculina, a shallow-water form, as well as coarsegrained phosphatic inclusions found near the base of the Dellet Sand 

Member, it is thought that this shelf area, at best, did not exceed 150 

feet in depth.

GEOLOGIC AGE

Probably the first to concern themselves with the age of the sand 

at the quarry near Clinchfield were Veatch and Stephenson (1911, p. 

303), who considered it as being of questionable Jackson age. Cooke 

and Shearer (1919, p. 77) placed the sand in the Barn well Formation, 

regarding it as late Eocene in age. Cooke (1939) considered the 

Gosport Sand of Alabama to be the equivalent of the Moodys Marl 

(of former usage) and, therefore, of late Eocene age.

MacNeil (1944, p. 32, 33) placed the sand at the Clinchfield locality 

in the late Eocene, regarding it as the equivalent of the Gosport Sand 

of Alabama. MacNeil (1947a) later made the same correlation but at 

this time considered the Gosport Sand to be late middle Eocene in age 

rather than late Eocene. Subsequently he correctly correlated this sand 

with the basal unit of the Moodys Branch Formation ("Scutella bed") 

of Alabama (MacNeil, 1947b).

Herrick (1961) and LeGrand (1962) considered 'the basal sand at 

the Clinchfield locality to be the equivalent of the Gosport Sand of 

Alabama and hence of late middle Eocene age. In Lee and Sumter 

Counties, Owen (1963, p. 35) correctly placed the sand in the basal 

part of the Ocala Limestone, as did Carver (1966). Herrick and Counts

6 As noted by Cheetham, Vaughan (1910, p. 150-155) was the first to call attention to 

this type of sedimentation In a carbonate environment as related to the Ocala Limestone.
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SAND, GEORGIA E13

(1968, p. 28, 29) regarded the sand as late Eocene (Jackson) in age 

and included it as the lower unit of Cooke's Tivola Tongue 6 of the 

Ocala Limestone.

The early late Eocene age of the microfaunas at the three localities 

is believed to be established through the presence of an appreciable 

number of identical species reported by Cushman and Todd (1945) 

from the Moodys Branch Formation at its type locality in Jackson, 

Miss, (fcable 1). A significant number of species occurring at the type 

locality of the Moodys Branch Formation also occurs at each of the 

three localities 26 species at Clinchfield, 33 at Baldock, and 41 at 

Claiborne Bluff. That more identical species were found at Claibome 

Bluff as compared with the other two localities is not surprising. 

The reason for this is twofold: (1) Claiborne Bluff is geographically 

nearer to Jackson, Miss., and (2) the beds containing the microfaunas 

at Claiborne Bluff, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., are clastic. Those at 

Clinchfield and Baldock are basically carbonate.

At Clinchfield, an early late Eocene age for this basal sand is further 

strengthened by the fact that it is underlain by deposits belonging 

to the Lisbon Formation of middle (Claiborne) Eocene age, as shown 

in figure 2. Fossil evidence in support of this was obtained from a 

bit sample taken from the Lisbon Formation at a depth of 20.5 feet in 

another test hole drilled approximately 300 feet away from the test 

hole shown in figure 2. The foraminiferal species identified from this 

bit sample include Textularia cf. T. hannai, JKobuhts limbosus hockleyensis, Gruttulina irregularis, Globulina gibba, Sigmomorphina semiteota var., Polymorphina advena nuda, N onion advena, N. ine%cavatii$. 

N. planatus, Reussella eocena, Angulogerina cooperensis, Trifarina 

bradyi var., Discorbis assulata, D. cf. D. yeguaensis, Valvulineria jacksonensis, Gyroidina soldanii var., JSiphonina claibomensis, Asterigerina cf. A. texana, Alabamina, atlantisae, Globorotalia cocoaensis, Cibicidina americanw antiqua, C. danvillensis, C. mississippiensis, Cibicides 

lobatulus, C. pseudowigerianus lisbonensis, and C. westi. Of the species listed above, Cibicides pseudoungerianus lisbonensis and C. westi 

have never been observed by the writer in beds younger than middle 

Eocene in Georgia.

The middle Eocene age of the beds immediately underlying the 

Clinchfield Sand further suggests that the Gosport Sand, as such, does 

not exist at this locality. If the Gosport Sand were present in Georgia,

9 The name Tivola Tongue was applied by Cooke and Shearer (1919, p. 56) to the updip 

Ocala Limestone as it occurs east of the Flint River. The type locality for the Tivola Tongue 

is the east quarry of the Penn-Dixie Cement Co., 0.2 mile south of Clinchfield, Ga., on the 

east side of U.S. Highway 341. On the Perry (15-minute) quadrangle this locality is at the 

intersection of the coordinates long 83°37'57" and lat 32°24'13".
E14 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

the logical place in which to look for it in outcrops would be in southwestern Georgia between the Chattahoochee River and Clinchfield 

for example, in the vicinity of Howards Creek, on the Alabama side. 

However, at the Alabama locality, Toulmin and LaMoreaux (1963, 

p. 403, fig. 7) have shown that the Moodys Branch Formation rests 

directly upon the Lisbon Formation, the Gosport Sand apparently 

having pinched out before reaching the Chattahoochee River. On the 

basis of these observations, the Gosport cannot possibly be present at 

Clinchfield and, moreover, is doubtless absent at least in updip Georgia. 

Other paleontologic evidence for an early late Eocene age of the 

Clinchfield Sand and the Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys Branch 

Formation is furnished by the presence of certain molluscan fossils 

in these two units. Pickering (1970, p. 20) reported Periarckus lyelli 

pileussinensis (Ravenel) smdP.quinquefariiis (Say) from the Clinchfield Sand at the Clinchfield locality. Huddlestun and Toulmin (1963, 

p. 403) reported Periarchus lyelli (Conrad) and Chlamys deshayesii 

(Lea) from the basal part (bed 42) of the Moodys Branch Formation 

(equivalent to Clinchfield Sand in Georgia) in an exposure along the 

Chattahoochee River in southeastern Alabama. However, as far as the 

writer is aware, C. deshayseii has not been reported from the Clinchfield Sand in Georgia. From the Dellet Sand Member at Claiborne 

Bluff, Ala., Stenzel (1952, p. 41) reported Periarchus lyelli, Crassatella 

n. sp., Chlamys deshayesii, and Flabellum sp., of which he regarded 

C. deshayesii as the guide fossil for the Dellet Sand Member.

CORRELATION

Evidence of the time equivalency of the faunas at these three localities is based on the following:

1. The faunas listed in table 1 contain at least 21 species that occur 

at each of the three localities. These species include, Spiroplectammina mississippiensis, S. mississippiensis alabamensis, Guttulina spicaefonnis, Globulina ampulla, G. gibba rotundata, 

Sigmormorphina jacksonensis, Nonion advena, N. inexcavatus, 

N. planatus, Nonionella hantkeni spissa, N. jacksonensis compressa, Bolwina jacksonensis, Reussetta eocena, Patellina advena, 

Discorbis alveata, D. assulata, Siphonina advena eocenica, Cibicides lobatulus, C. planoconvexus, Cibicidina americana jacksonensis, and C. mississippiensis. The faunas occurring at Clinchfield and Baldock, however, are much more closely related to each 

other than they are to that of Claiborne Bluff. On a purely statistical basis, therefore, of the 58 species found at Clinchfield, 48 

(83 percent) also occur at Baldock. In contrast, only 24 species
AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SAND, GEORGIA E15

(41 percent) of the species occurring at Clinchfield also are 

present at Claiborne Bluff. This same relationship is also suggested by the similarity of Clinchfield and Baldock ecologies as 

compared with that for Claiborne Bluff.

2. The faunas at the three localities contain 14 species (table 1) that 

also occur in the type Moodys Branch Formation which is early 

late Eocene (Jackson) in age.

ORIGIN IN A TRANSGRESSIVE SEA

The strata at the three localities represent deposits in a sea that 

transgressed the gulf and Atlantic coasts during early late Eocene 

(Jackson) time. Such a transgression resulted in a basal disconformity 

of regional proportions (Stenzel, 1939). In this regard, Stenzel (written commun., 1969) emphasized the importance of the published work 

cited above, "that this work was the first to prove that (1) the base 

of the Jackson Group rests on an erosion surface of marine origin and 

(2) that there is a regional disconformity at the base of the Jackson 

Group indicative of a widespread transgression at least in the area 

from Brazos County, Texas * * * into eastern Mississippi * * *." 

Subsequent to his earlier work, Stenzel (1952) traced this disconformity as far east as Claiborne Bluff, Ala. East of Claiborne Bluff, Huddlestun and Toulmin (1965, fig. 2) showed this contact as far east as 

the junction of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. In Georgia convincing 

evidence of such a regional disconformity is furnished by LaMoreaux 

(1946, pi. 1), whose geologic map of east-central Georgia contains 

abundant evidence of extensive Tertiary overlap of the Cretaceous and 

of the much older basement complex as well.

Variation in thickness of the Clinchfield Sand throughout its area 

of outcrop as well as in the subsurface is evidence of the transgressive 

nature of this sea in Georgia. At Claiborne Bluff, Ala., the occurrence 

of Nonionella cockfieldensis and Cibicides pseudoungerianus lisbonensis, guide fossils for the Yegua and Lisbon Formations, respectively, 

Is regarded as possible evidence for such a transgression in southern 

Alabama. In the writer's opinion, these fossils may have been reworked 

from the underlying but geologically older Gosport Sand, and hence 

may not be indigenous to the Dellet Sand Member at Claiborne Bluff. 

In this regard a contrary view was expressed by Garrett (1936, p. 

786), who reported Nonionella cockfieldensis from the basal Moodys 

Branch Formation 7 at Claiborne Bluff and regarded this foraminifer 

as indigenous as well as restricted to the strata where found.

7 In 1936 the Dellet Sand Member bad not been recognized as a separate unit of the 

Moodys Branch Formation, hence Garrett's referring of Nonionella cockfteldensis to the 

Moodys Branch. Garrett 'ound this species in the basal part of the Moodys Branch 

Formation.
E16 CONTRIBUTIONS TO STRATIGRAPHY

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The Clinchfield Sand is early late Eocene (Jackson) in age and 

represents the basal transgressive shoreline deposit of Cooke's Tivola 

Tongue of the Ocala Limestone. Species that indicate such an age include Textularia dibollensis humblei, Planularia georgiana, Nonion 

inexcavatus, N. planatus, Nonionella jacksonensis compressa, Discor- 

~bis alveata stawensis, and Oassidulina moodysensis (see table 1).

The basal upper Eocene (Jackson) deposits at the three localities 

are stratigraphically equivalent, though not identical. Such equivalency is indicated by the occurrence of an appreciable number of 

microfossils at each of the three localities as well as in the Moodys 

Branch Formation at its type locality in Jackson, Miss.

The deposits described from Clinchfield and Baldock represent a 

carbonate f acies and hence are more closely related to each other than 

to those described from Claiborne Bluff. Fossils regarded as definite 

indicators of such a facies include Ampkistegina alabamensis, 

Oribrogloborotalia marielina, Buliminella cf. B. laevis, Gypsina 

globula, and Lepidocyclina sp. (see table 1).

The Dellet Sand Member of the Moodys Branch Formation is present as far east as the Chattahoochee River (the Alabama-Georgia 

boundary), as shown by the reported occurrence of Chlamys deshayseii. The stratigraphic equivalent of the Gosport Sand of Alabama, of 

late middle Eocene (Claiborne) age, is not present at least in middip 

and updip parts of the Coastal Plain in Georgia.

The deposits at the three localities discussed in this report were 

deposited in a transgressive sea during early late Eocene (Jackson) 

time. This transgression followed a disconformity that is regional in 

scope.

REFERENCES

Carver, R. E., 1966, Stratigraphy of the Jackson Group (Eocene) in central

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Cooke, C. W., 1936, Geology of the Coastal Plain of South Carolina: U.S. Geol.

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 1939, Equivalence of the Gosport Sand to the Moodys Marl: Jour.

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AGE AND CORRELATION, CLINCHFIELD SAND, GEORGIA E17

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(In press.)

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