DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIKECTOK

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 276

GEOLOGY AND UNDERGROUND WATERS 

OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS

BY

C. H. GORDON

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1911

CONTENTS.

Introduction............................................................. 7

Geography ...................... ................................... 7

Physiography........................................................ 7

Drainage ............................................................ 9

Literature .................... I....,.................-...----------.--- 10

Geologic history.......................................................... 11

Pre-Cretaceous.-............-................'..........-..-.......... 11

Cretaceous........................ .................................. 12

Post-Cretaceous...................................................... 13

Geology ................................................................. 14

Cretaceous system.................................................... 14

Comanche series (Lower Cretaceous).............................. 14

Gulf series (Upper Cretaceous)........................ ............ 15

Classification................................................. 15

Woodbine sand............................................... 16

Eagle Ford clay .............................................. 17

Character............................:................... 17

Thickness................................................ 17

Fossils................................................... 18

Lower clays.............................................. 19

Blossom sand member.................................... 19

Austin group................................................. 21

General character and relations............................ 21

Brownstown marl........................................ 22

Annona chalk............................................ 23

Taylor marl and Navarro formation............................ 25

Attempted differentiations................................ 25

Character and thickness .................................. 26

Fossils -..-....--.-........-.-.----......--.--...---...-- 27

Tertiary system....I............... ................................. 28

Eocene series ....-.......----....-.-...........--....-...-....... 28

Major divisions of the Eocene................................. 28

Midway formation ._.....'....._......-...__.._......-........ 28

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation ................................ 29

Claiborne group.............................................. 30

Later Tertiary deposits ........................................... 31

Quaternary system-.-............---.....-..---.....-....--.......... 31

Pleistocene series................................................. 31

Port Hudson formation............. .......................... 31

Recent .......................................................... 32

Erosion .............-........_..."..................--....... 32

Natural mounds.............................................. 32

Structure ................................................................ 33
4 CONTENTS.

Page.

Underground water ...................................................... 34

Source............................................................... 34

Availability of underground water .................................... 35

Capacity of rocks for imbibing water .................................. 35

Artesian waters defined............................................... 36

Conditions that determine artesian wells............................... 36

Artesian waters in northeastern Texas................................. 37

General geologic relations of the water-bearing beds................ 37

Cretaceous system........................................ ........ 38

Trinity sand................................................. 38

Washita group............................................... 39

Woodbine sand.............................................. 40

Eagle Ford clay ............................................... 41

Lower clays.............................................. 41

Blossom sand member.................................... 41

Austin group................................................. 41

Navarro formation and Taylor marl............................ 41

Tertiary system .................................................. 42

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation............... ................. 42

Surficial sands and gravels........................................ 44

Review by counties................................................... 44

Lamar County................................................... 44

Geographic relations.......................................... 44

Geology ..................................................... 44

Water resources.............................................. 45

Delta County.................................................... 48

Geographic relations.......................................... 48

Geology .......................... .......................... 49

Water resources.............................................. 49

Eed River County................................................ 51

Geographic relations.....-...........-..-.......-.-..--.------ 51

Geology ..................................................... 51

Water resources.............................................. 52

Bowie County.................................................... 53

Geographic relations.......................................... 53

Geology ..................................................... 53

Water resources ............................... ~.............. 54

Deep wells...........-.....-.....-.--.-..--.---- ............ 55

Hopkins and Franklin counties ...................-----....-...--. 60

Topographic relations...................-.......--.....'...--.. 60

Geology.......-.....-.-....-....-----.-----.-----.---...---- 60

Water conditions............,..........---....----..-.-...-.- 63

Deep wells................................................... 63

Cass County ..................................................... 64

Topography ...........................-.--....--.-..-...---. 64

Geology...........................-...-.........-------..--. 65

Water resources.............--...............-----.-.----.--. 67

Data concerning wells.............................--..----...-....---- 69

Chemical composition of the waters.................................... 73

Index..............-.,.,..---_,_ ........,..,.,......=.,................ 77
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLATE I. Geologic map of northeastern Texas............................. 16

II. A, Eailroad cut at Ladonia station; B, Kailroad cut at Avinger station .......................................................... 26

FIGURE 1. Diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas

and southwestern Arkansas-.................................. 14

2. Map showing overlap of Upper Cretaceous on Lower Cretaceous and

of Tertiary on Cretaceous in the Mississippi Valley............. 18

3. Diagram showing the common arrangement of factors producing

artesian wells................................................ 37

4. Profile section showing water horizons........................... 39

5. Diagram showing water conditions in the lower Eocene strata in

northwestern Louisiana and southern Arkansas ................ 43

6. Diagrammatic section near Atlanta, Cass County, Tex ............ 66

5

GEOLOGY AND UNDERGROUND WATERS OF 

NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

By C. H. GORDON.

INTRODUCTION.

GEOGRAPHY.

The area considered in this report embraces 5,989 square miles in 

the extreme northeast part of Texas, comprising the counties of Bowie, 

Red River, Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris, Camp, and 

Cass.

The mean annual rainfall of the region is about 48 inches, ranging 

from 45 inches in the west to a little more than 50 inches along the 

Arkansas State line. The mean annual temperature is from 64° to 

65° F. The district is traversed from east to west by three lines of 

railroads, the Texas & Pacific (Sherman branch), the St. Louis & 

Southwestern, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. The Marshall 

branch of the Texas & Pacific crosses the eastern part of the region 

and the Texas Midland, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, and the St. 

Louis & San Francisco all have their termini at Paris in the northwestern part of the region.

The rich soil of the black prairie lands early attracted settlers. 

According to the census of 1910 the population of the 10 counties 

named was 198,869, or an average of 33.7 to the square mile. The 

western part of the region is the most thickly settled, the two blackland counties, Lamar and Delta, leading, with an average of 51.5 and 

54.7 per square mile, respectively. The average for the timberbelt counties is 28.3, Hopkins and Camp leading with 46.6 and 44, 

respectively.

PHYSIOGRAPHY.

Lying near the outer border of the Gulf Coastal Plain, the surface of 

the district has in general the low rounded relief and gentle seaward 

slope characteristic of that physiographic province. The elevation 

ranges from 237 feet above sea level at Sulphur, in the northeast corner of Cass County, to 649 feet above sea level at Cumby, near the 

western border of Hopkins County. The crest of the divide between

7
8 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Red and Sulphur Rivers has an average eastward slope of about 3^ 

feet per mile, descending from an altitude of 601 feet at Paris to 295 

feet at Texarkana, or a total of 306 feet. South of Sulphur River the 

reconstructed plain surface coincident with the tops of the present 

hills would slope toward the southeast, and within the limits of the 

district would range from 649 feet at Cumby to about 320 feet near 

the eastern boundary of Cass County.

The region is underlain by relatively soft strata which dip gently 

toward the coast, and in which the present relief has been developed 

by the dissection of the plain surface which characterized the region 

on its emergence from the sea. Degradation has left few if any traces 

of this old land surface, the chief topographic features now presented 

being the rolling and hilly uplands and the flood-plain and terrace 

areas, the former due largely to the differential erosion of the older 

beds of the coastal plain and the latter represented by the flat lowlands and adjoining terrace areas composed of redeposited sediments 

of comparatively recent fluviatile origin.

The upland areas, which rise from 100 to 200 feet above the flatbottomed drainage ways, present an irregular rolling topography due 

entirely to differences in the adjustment of erosion to the different 

geologic formations. The northwest portion, comprising all of Lamar 

and Delta counties and most of Red River County, is underlain by 

Cretaceous strata consisting of marls, glauconitic sands, clays, and 

chalk, which have been carved by erosion into an undulating surface 

of low relief called rolling prairie, which constitutes an integral part 

of the black-prairie belt of Texas. The interior of this belt is marked 

by a low range of hills that extends across Lamar and Red River counties, due to the greater resistance to erosion offered by the chalk formation. This range apparently constitutes an extension of the 

Locksburg Wold in Arkansas, described by Veatch.1 The Saratoga 

Wold, also mentioned by Veatch, is somewhat obscurely represented 

in Delta County near Enloe. In places the chalk ridge in Lamar and 

Red River counties presents a low northward-facing escarpment, due 

chiefly to a single hard layer 4 to 6 feet thick near the top.

The upland region south of a line extending a little north of east 

from Commerce through Boston, the county seat of Bowie County, 

lies within the province known as the east Texas timber belt. This 

region is characterized by a range of hills which constitutes the extension into Texas of the range known as the Sulphur Wold in Arkansas. 

It is essentially a deeply dissected dip plain, the substructure of which 

consists of the sandy beds of the lower Eocene. Over a considerable 

part of the region the slopes are still covered with timber.

The streams have comparatively wide, flat flood plains, bounded 

by terraces, the highest of which has an elevation of about 90 feet

i Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 14-16.
DBAINAGE. 9

above the present flood plain. These high-level terraces cover considerable areas adjoining Red and Sulphur rivers in the eastern part 

of the district. Between Annona and New Boston nearly all of the 

country between the two rivers is of this type.

A marked feature of this and adjoining parts of the Coastal Plain 

is the presence of low mounds composed of sand, which occur over all 

the region except that covered by the most recent fluviatile deposits. 

These mounds are commonly from 2 to 3 feet high, though a few 

attain a maximum height of 6 feet. Some are elliptical; most of them 

are circular and are from 20 to 100 feet in diameter. The tendency 

toward elongation appears to be more marked in some places than in 

others, the longer axis usually extending in a northeast-southwest 

direction. As remarked by Veatch, they are particularly abundant 

in the terrace areas, where in wet weather they form low sandy islands 

in the midst of a water-covered clay country.

DRAINAGE.

The drainage of the region is effected mainly by Sulphur River, 

which flows from west to east entirely across the district. A feature 

of the drainage is the greater development of the southeastwardflowing system of tributaries, those flowing to the northeast being 

relatively few and for the most part unimportant. From this it follows that the divides are located much nearer the main streams on 

the south side than on the north, and the northward-facing slopes are 

shorter and steeper, a feature consequent upon the general coastward 

slope of the original plain surface and the effort of the streams to 

adjust themselves to the rock structure of the region. A small area 

in the southern part of Hopkins County is drained by tributaries of 

Sabine River, and the larger part of the region lying to the east is 

drained into Ferry Lake through Big Cypress and other creeks. 

Ferry Lake connects with Sodo and Cross lakes in Caddo Parish, 

La., these together constituting one body of water which occupies the 

lower portion of the valley of Big Cypress Creek. This body of water 

belongs to the class of lakes in the Red River Valley whose origin is 

attributed to log jams. 1

The main streams and their tributaries that have cut to the level of 

ground water flow throughout the year, but many of the branches are 

wet-weather streams only. The soft rocks over which the streams 

flow yield to them an abundance of fine material, which is carried in 

suspension for long distances, discoloring the water and forming in 

quieter stretches of the streams grayish or brownish red deposits.

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U.S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, pp. 60-62.
10 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

LITER ATUBE.

Most of the published accounts of investigations heretofore made 

in northeastern Texas are found in the reports of the Texas Geological Survey and of the United States Geological Survey. In 

two reports only are the waters of the region specially considered. 

Hill 1 in his exhaustive report on the geography and geology of the 

Black and Grand prairies of Texas gives detailed descriptions of 

the Cretaceous formations with special reference to the underground 

waters and all information available concerning the counties adjoining Red River. Veatch, in his report on the geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, 

has include4 some data bearing on the eastern part of the region. 

With these exceptions, the publications relating to the region, a 

fairly complete list of which follows, deal chiefly with questions of 

stratigraphy and natural resources other than water.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BUMBLE, E. T., Report on the brown coal and lignite of Texas: Geol. Survey of Texas, 

1892, pp. 17-243. Describes the Tertiary deposits of the Texas gulf coast in 

which the brown coals occur. Mentions coal in Bowie, Case, Marion, Morris, 

Titus, and Hopkins counties.

PENROSE, R. A. F., Preliminary report on the geology of the Gulf Tertiary of Texas: 

First Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 1-101. Discusses the stratigraphy of the Tertiary formations of Texas and records briefly their occurrence 

in northeastern Texas (pp. 34-36). Describes the iron ores of eastern Texas, and 

mentions their occurrence in Cass and Marion counties (pp. 65-82).

HILL, R. T., The Cretaceous rocks of Texas: First Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 

1889, pp. 103-141. Relates chiefly to the stratigraphy of the Cretaceous in 

regions farther west than the area covered by this report, but has some reference 

to northeastern Texas.

 Geology of parts of Texas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas adjacent to Red 

River: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, 1893, pp. 297-338. Annona, or "White 

Cliffs," chalk considered as belonging to higher horizon than the Austin chalk. 

Geology and geography of the Black and Grand prairies, Texas: Twenty-first

Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900. An exhaustive report on the 

Texas Cretaceous, with special reference to artesian waters.

KENNEDY, WILLIAM, The iron ores of eastern Texas: Second Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey 

Texas, 1890, pp. 65-203. Cass County, pp. 65-95; Marion County, pp. 96-114; 

Morris County, pp. 173-182.

 The age of the iron ores of eastern Texas: Science, vol. 23,1894, pp. 22-25. Notes 

greater development of the nodular iron ore in Cass, Marion, Morris, Upshur, 

and Harrison counties, asserts that their age is "Lower Claiborne"- or later.

 The iron ores of eastern Texas: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 24,1894, pp. 258- 

288, 862-863.

 The Eocene Tertiary of Texas east of the Brazos River: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

Phila., 1895, pt. 1, pp. 89-160. Discusses the stratigraphy of the region and 

compares it with that east of the Mississippi as noted by Hilgard, Smith, and 

Johnson.

i Hill, R. T., Geography and geology of the Black and Grand prairies of Texas: Twenty-first Ann. Bept. 

U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 11

JOHNSON, LAWRENCE C., The iron regions of northern Louisiana and eastern Texas: 

House Doc. No. 195, 50th Cong., 1st. sess., 54 pp., 1 map, Washington, 1888.

TAFF, J. A., Report on the Cretaceous area north of the Colorado River: Third Ann. 

Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, pp. 269-379; map by J. A. Tafl and S. Leverett. 

Descriptions of the Texas Cretaceous in this paper relate chiefly to regions in the 

central part of the State. Contains brief discussion of estimates of depths of artesian wells in Lamar and Fannin counties (pp. 371-373).

 and S. LEVERETT, Report on the Cretaceous area north of the Colorado River: 

Fourth Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1892, pt. 1, pp. 239-354. Continues 

discussion in the Third Annual Report (1891) and describes with considerable 

detail the occurrence and extent of the subterranean artesian basins.

Chalk of southwestern Arkansas: Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol.

Survey, 1900-1901, pt. 3, pp. 685-742. Discusses the stratigraphy of southwestern Arkansas and its relation to that of Texas. Correlates the "White Cliffs " 

chalk with the Austin chalk of the Texas region.

VEATCH, A. C., Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and 

southern Arkansas: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906. Includes many 

facts bearing on the geology and underground waters of northeastern Texas. Follows Hill in assigning the "White Cliffs," or Annona, chalk to a higher horizon 

than the Austin chalk.

GORDON, C. H., The chalk formations of northern Texas: Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., 

vol. 27, 1909, pp. 369-373. Correlates "White Cliffs" and Annona chalk with 

the upper part of the Austin group, the lower part being represented by the 

Brownstown marl.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

PRE-CBETACEOTTS.

In the mountains of eastern Oklahoma, as shown by Taff,1 the rock 

exposures appear to indicate that deposition was continuous from 

very early geologic time down to the close of the Pennsylvanian 

("Coal Measures") epoch. Similar conditions prevailed in central 

Texas, where rocks representing all the divisions of the Paleozoic, with 

the possible exception of the Devonian, occur in conformable sequence 

resting upon the beveled edges of an older series of sedimentary rocks, 

the pre-Cambrian Llano series.2 In western Texas and western 

Oklahoma these rocks grade upward without a break into deposits 

with Permian and Triassic affinities.

Throughout this area and to the northwest a sea existed, over whose 

bottom a vast thickness* of sediments was laid down. The thickness 

of the Cambro-Ordovician in Oklahoma is estimated by Taff 1 at 

12,000 feet and of the Devonian at 600 feet. Drake 3 estimates the 

thickness of the Carboniferous at 24,500 feet. The land mass from 

which these sediments were derived lay to the south and southeast, 

the relative positions of the land and ocean areas being thus in a sense 

the reverse of those now existing.4

1 Tafl, J. A., Atoka folio (No. 79) and Tishomingo folio (No. 98), Geol. Atlas U. S., U. S. Geol. Survey, 

1902 and 1903.

2 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 89.

s Drake, N. F., Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., vol. 36,1898, p. 361.

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 17.
12 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Near the close of the Carboniferous the offshore belt of greatest 

sedimentation, extending from central Texas around through Oklahoma and Arkansas across the Mississippi Valley and connecting with 

the great trough now represented in the Appalachian cnain, was 

subjected to profound folding and was elevated into a mountain range 

overlooking a sea extending to the west and to the north. Following 

this came a long period representing Triassic and Jurassic time, during 

which the elevations were worn down and the materials deposited in 

the adjacent seas. The lapse of time represented in the truncated 

edges of the folded and faulted strata was evidently very great. Then 

came a southward tilting of the region whereby land and water conditions were reversed and the sea transgressed northward over a 

relatively smooth base-leveled plain.

CBETACEOUS.

With the advent of the Cretaceous, ushered in by the northward 

transgression of the sea, marine sedimentation took place, the materials being derived from the land areas on the north and west. These 

deposits consist of alternations of sands, clays, marls, and limestones^ 

and their character and relations show that many changes took place 

in the position of the shore lines and that the depth of the sea over 

the depressed land areas varied greatly from time to time.

If the prevailing doctrine that limestones and marls indicate deepwater conditions be strictly held, the alternations of sands, chalks, and 

marls of the Upper Cretaceous indicate a complex series of movements 

in the Texas-Arkansas region, but to interpret in terms of crastal 

oscillation the alternations of formations indicating quiet conditions 

of deposition such as limestones, shales, and clays seems to the 

writer untenable. Although the accepted doctrine may be broadly 

admitted, it seems probable that beds corresponding to those usually 

classed as deep-sea deposits may be locally formed by causes other 

than the lowering of the sea bottom; for instance, the shifting of 

currents or the extension of barriers, however produced, will be 

registered in the character of the formations, and such changes as 

these may take place locally without change of elevation. Fluctuations of level did occur, however, irregularly over the whole region, 

the result being a warping which caused one shore line to cut obliquely 

across that of a preceding period, giving rise to the present wedgeshaped outcrops with the point of the wedge directed northeast in 

the direction of greatest depression. These relations are well shown 

in the map (fig. 2, p. 18),1 indicating the position of the shore line at 

different stages in the process of adjustment to the warping surface. 

In'the early stages of advance the sea transgressed far to the west

i Veatch, A. C., Geology and underground-water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas: 

Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, fig. 3, p. 18.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 13

over western Texas into New Mexico. At the close of the Cretaceous 

it had withdrawn on the west, but continued depression toward the 

northeast had marked out the Mississippi embayment, the submergence of which continued into late Oligocene time. Owing to the 

transgression of the shore line in the Mississippi embayment, accompanied by the withdrawal of the sea on the west, the earlier formations 

are overlapped by the later, and in consequence the outcrops wedge 

out toward the northeast, in Arkansas.

POST-CRETACEOUS.

Upon the Upper Cretaceous beds in the south half of the district lie 

sands, clays, and ferruginous sandstones belonging to the Eocene. 

No stratigraphic break has been recognized between the two systems. 

Originally, the Eocene doubtless extended much farther north, covering the whole of the area here considered, the present exposures of the 

lower formations being due to the removal of the Eocene sediments 

by erosion.

At the beginning of the Eocene there was evidently a slight warping of the surface which allowed the ocean to advance farther up 

the Mississippi embayment than before. As a result the early 

Eocene beds slightly overlap upon the Cretaceous, though no stratigraphic break marks the close of the Cretaceous in the Gulf region. 

A marked change appears in the animal life, however, an entirely 

new fauna making its appearance. Dana suggests * that this abrupt 

change in animal life is perhaps due to an alteration in the direction 

and character of the ocean currents, with the consequent change in 

temperature and food supply, and to the destructive effects of earthquake waves resulting from the gigantic disturbances which produced 

the Rocky Mountains rather than to a time lapse.

Throughout the region in the epoch succeeding the Midway 

that is, in the interval represented by the Wilcox formation, of the 

Eocene series near-shore or swampy conditions prevailed with an 

occasional submergence by the ocean.

No Oligocene or Miocene deposits have been recognized in this 

part of northeastern Texas. The Miocene was essentially a period of 

erosion in this region, and if deposits of Qligocene age were laid 

down here they were largely removed during the Miocene epoch.

During the succeeding epoch (Pliocene) a mantle of sand, silt, and 

gravel was spread over the eroded surface. Again erosion followed, 

during which much of the material previously deposited was carried 

away or rearranged at lower levels. Pleistocene deposition succeeded, giving rise to marine sedimentation along the coasts and 

fluviatile deposits on the land (Port Hudson formation). This was

i Manual of Geology, 4th ed., 1895, pp. 877-878.
14 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

followed by another period of erosion, in which the present flood 

plains and principal terraces were formed, this constituting the 

closing stage of the Pleistocene. The present cycle is represented 

in the surficial flood-plain deposition and hill-land erosion now in 

progress.

GEOLOGY.

The geologic formations that outcrop in the district may be classed 

as (1) Upper Cretaceous, (2) lower Tertiary, and (3) surficial deposits. 

The Cretaceous includes the Comanche series (Lower Cretaceous) as 

well as the Gulf series (Upper Cretaceous), but only the latter appears 

at the surface in the district.

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM. 

COMANCHE SERIES (LOWER CRETACEOUS).

Lower Cretaceous beds do not appear at the surface in northeastern 

Texas, but outcrop in eastern Oklahoma on the north side of Red

FIGUEE 1. Diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas and' southwestern Arkansas. 

(After Taff.) 1, White chalk; 2, bine marl; 3, sands at base of Upper Cretaceous; 4, Lower Cretaceous limestone; 5, sand at base of Lower Cretaceous. Reproduced from Twentjnsecond Ann. Kept. 

U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 697.

River and farther northeast,, in Arkansas. The lowest formation, 

known as the Trinity sand, is composed of fine, clean sand with occasional pebbles and bowlders of white quartz and other crystalline rock 

derived from the old Paleozoic land surface. In some places the 

sands are interlaminated with thin layers and lenses of clay; in other 

places they contain vegetal remains and brackish-water shells. 

Throughout a large portion of the Black and Grand prairie region 

in Texas this formation constitutes an important water-bearing 

stratum, which supplies thousands of artesian wells, many of which 

flow. In northeastern Texas, however, the southward dip of the strata 

has carried these sands too far below the surface to be conveniently 

reached by the drill except in a relatively narrow belt along the 

south side of Red River in Lamar and Red River counties.

The Trinity sand, which represents near-shore deposits, is succeeded upward by the limestones and marls of the Fredericksburg 

and Washita groups, a change indicative of deeper water. The 

Fredericksburg group is represented by the Good-land limestone
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 15

and the Washita group by the Denison formation, Fort Worth limestone, and Preston formation. As the sea in which these sediments 

were deposited progressed northwestward upon the sinking land 

surface the lime formations lapped upon and graded into the sandy 

shore formations and hence are much thinner in this region than in 

the southern part of the State.

The stratigraphic relations are shown in figure 1 (p. 14).

GULF SERIES (UPPER CRETACEOUS). 

CLASSIFICATION.

The sequence and lithologic character of the formations composing 

the Upper Cretaceous in northeastern Texas is shown in the accompanying table, which includes also Veatch's table for western Arkansas. 

The correlations are suggested by the author. Veatch considers the 

Annona and Brownstown to be equivalent to the lower part of the 

Navarro and Taylor, and the Bingen to be the littoral equivalent 

of the Woodbine, Eagle Ford, and Austin.

Classification of the Upper Cretaceous in northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas.

Northeastern Texas (Gordon).

Formations.

Navarro formation and Taylor marl.

Austin group.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

Arkadelphia clay.

Nacatoch sand.

Marlbrook marl.

Annona chalk.

Brownstown marl.

Blossom sand 

member.

Character of rocks.

Dark-blue to black 

laminated clays. 

Sulphur Bluff.

Green sands grading 

into marls below. 

' Delta County.

Sandy and clay marls. 

Chalk at E n 1 o e 

Sands near Ladonia. 

Blue marly clay.

White ohalk.

Blue clay marl.

Sands and sandy clays 

interlaminated.

Dark laminated clays.

Lignitiferous sands, 

sandy clays, and 

sandstones.

Southwestern Arkansas (Veatch).

Formations.

Arkadelphia clay.

Nacatoch sand.

Marlbrook marl.

.Annona chalk.

Brownstown marl.

Sub-Clarksville 

sand.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

 d

I 

9

w

Character of rocks.

Black laminated 

clays.

Sand with occasional 

quartzitic layers.

Very calcareous clay 

with marine fossils.

White chalk.

Blue calcareous clay.

Water-bearing sand.

Blue calcareous clay.

Lignitiferous sands 

and clays with 

plant remains.

With the exception of the chalks, the rocks are characterized for 

the most part by a general lack of consolidation. The marls and 

clays especially disintegrate readily, yielding a thick mantle of black 

soil through which the underlying formations rarely protrude. No 

stratigraphic breaks occur within the Upper Cretaceous, and the 

gradations between its different formations is so gradual that these 

can be mapped in most places only with the greatest difficulty, if at all.
16 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

The chief exposures of the rocks of the gulf series occur in the 

northwestern part of the area between South Fork of Sulphur River 

and Red River. Farther east, in Texas, these formations are covered 

by surficial deposits which consist largely of unconsolidated sands, 

clays, and marls, and some indurated beds of sandstone and chalk. 

The beds dip southeastward at a low angle, at a rate of about 50 to 

55 feet per mile, in the district north of North Fork. In their eastward extension and also where they lie under cover toward the south, 

as indicated by the few well records available, they appear to have a 

steeper dip.

WOODBINE SAND.

The Woodbine consists of ferruginous and argillaceous sands 

accompanied by bituminous laminated clays. The sands are for 

the most part unconsolidated and contain many remains of plants, 

a feature which distinguishes them from other Upper Cretaceous 

formations. When unweathered the sands appear white and friable, 

but contain more or less iron in the form of pyrite and glauconite as 

well as other ingredients, which on decomposing materially affect 

the character of the waters derived from them. In places solutions 

of the oxidized iron minerals have consolidated the sands into darkbrown ferruginous sandstone or siliceous iron ore. In large part the 

sands break down into deep loose soils. The clays are laminated and 

are for the most part impure, sandy, and lignitic. In northeast Texas 

the formation is characterized by the presence of argillaceous and 

calcareous layers interlaminated with the sand and by the occurrence 

of plant remains in considerable numbers, together with a peculiar 

molluscan fauna. A large part of the plant collection noted by Hill 

was obtained by Vaughan at Arthurs Bluff on Red River in Lamar 

County.

The Woodbine sand underlies the area adjacent to Red River in 

the northern part of Lamar and Red River counties and as far west 

as Dexter in Cooke County. From Red River it extends southward 

coextensively with the lower cross-timber country, but has not been 

recognized south of Brazos River. The region of its outcrop is 

generally characterized by a loose sandy soil, mostly covered with 

coarse post-oak and black-jack timber, here and there broken by 

small prairies where the beds contain an increased proportion of 

clay. From Red River to the Brazos the western boundary of the 

belt is marked by a range of low hills and knobs whose existence is 

due to the greater resistance to erosion offered by the more consolidated ferruginous beds of the lower part of the formation (called 

Dexter sand by Taff and Hill). The Woodbine is traversed for 

miles by Red River, but owing to its unconsolidated character and 

its covering of timber and alluvial deposits exposures of it are infre-
WATER SUPPLY PAPER 276 PLATE I

LEGEND

SURFICIAL DEPOSITS

U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

Joiid-plain (let)osit 

f if re/if siUsruiffrfa\vt

Port Hudson fonnalio

(Sands, Silts, 

artdclays)

L A,.-4M .A R

VVilex' Snbiiiu) formation 

saiidsartd' dricys)

Midway aiul WUcox 

foiTnattoiis'undifferentiated

(rlriytr wfeft some-samt antf 

, limesto?ie->

Queen Cit

AllanA S S £

0\ O D

I iemw i-iutLvcu.^ -i

IVAN/oZ AN'T) Tl"

ase drawn mainly from post-route map of Texas, 1910. 

Survey of Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake by the War 

Department, 1892, and other sources

Geology by C. H. Gordon

GEOLOGIC MAP OF NORTHEAST TEXAS

Trinity sand. 

(sands and laminated, days)

GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 17

quent, occurring only in undermining bluffs, as at Arthurs Bluff 

north of Paris and at Pine Bluff in the northeast part of Lamar 

County. At Rock Ford, in Red River County, sand, in part glauconitic, occurs in the bluffs, which also show near the top several layers 

of white fossiliferous limestone. The area in which the Woodbine 

outcrops in northeastern Texas is shown approximately on the map 

(PL I).

In this region the formation has an estimated thickness of 600 to 

800 feet. In the Paris well the drill penetrated 820 feet of sand and 

clay beds which have been assigned to the Woodbine; some of the 

lower beds, however, may belong to the underlying Denison formation. Southward it diminishes in thickness until it disappears by 

overlap in the vicinity of the Brazos. Eastward in Arkansas the 

Woodbine, there called the Bingen sand, coalesces, according to 

Veatch, 1 with the sands at the top of the Eagle Ford (Blossom sand 

member) by the thinning out of the intervening Eagle Ford clay. 

According to Veatch, therefore, the Bingen sand, which is the lithological counterpart of the Woodbine sand in Texas, is the time equivalent of all the beds of the Upper 2 Cretaceous below the Brownstown 

marl. (See fig. 2.)

As the Brownstown was considered by Veatch to lie immediately 

above the Austin chalk, the conclusion was drawn that the Bingen 

sand contained the littoral equivalents of the Austin and the Eagle 

Ford. 3

EAGLE FORD CLAY.

Character. The lower two-thirds of the Eagle Ford formation in 

northeastern Texas consists chiefly of dark, laminated clays, and the 

upper 50 to 75 feet is made up of brown, ferruginous, glauconitic 

sands interlaminated with clay. Inasmuch as the upper sandy beds 

constitute a water horizon of some value, a subdivision of the formation based on lithological distinctions seems warranted. To 

the upper sandy portion, therefore, the term Blossom sand member 

is applied, from the town of Blossom, which is located in eastern 

Lamar County upon the outcrop of the beds.4

Thickness. The total thickness of the Eagle Ford clay in this 

region, as recognized in the Paris well section (p. 45), is 600 feet. 

This well is located directly upon the outcrop of the Blossom sand 

member and it doubtless includes very nearly the full thickness of 

the beds. Eighty feet of the sands was penetrated, the whole of

1 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 23-24.

2 Veatch says "Lower" Cretaceous, taut this is evidently a typographical error.

3 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 18. 

< Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 27, 1902, pp. 371,373.

87985° wsp 276 11 2
18 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

which with the exception of a few feet of soil is regarded as representing the Blossom. The formation thins rapidly eastward, there being 

but 174 feet of hard sands that can be referred to this formation in 

the Texarkana well (p. 59), east of which it is not known.

Fossils. As a whole the Eagle Ford is not very fossiliferous except 

in the upper arenaceous division (Blossom sand member). A few

Scale 

100 200 miles

LEGEND

Quaternary. fei-tiary with Upper

Quaternary covering Cretaceous 

in flood plains.

Lower 

Cretaceous.

Paleozoic.

FIGURE 2. Map showing overlap of Upper Cretaceous on Lower Cretaceous and of Tertiary on Cretaceous 

in the Mississippi Valley. (After Veatch.)

forms of Ammonites preserved with their nacreous shell coloring 

occur sparingly throughout the formation, and the blue limestone 

concretions are generally filled with the remains of certain invertebrate forms. In addition to an abundance of fish remains, chiefly 

teeth, the Blossom sand member contains an abundance of the 

characteristic forms Ostrea lugubns = 0. belliplicata, Inoceramusfragilis,
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 19

7. labiatus,- and a small form like 0. congesta. Hill 1 gives the 

following list of fossils obtained from the Eagle Ford formation:

Planticeras syrtalis Mort. var. cumminsi

Cragin.

Ammonites woolgari Mort. 

Sphenodiscus dumb lei Cragin. 

Buchiceras inequiplicatus Shumard. 

B. swallowi Shum. 

Tapes hilgardi Shum. 

Anchura modesta Cragin.

Natica striatacostata Cragin.

Neritopsis biangulatus Shumard.

Ostrea lugubris Conrad=0. belliplicata

Shum.

Ostrea sp. (like 0. congesta). 

Inoceramus fragilis Hall and Meek. 

I. labiatus Schlotheim. 

Fish teeth.

Fusus graysonensis Cragin.

Lower clays. The lower part of the formation consists essentially 

of blue and black laminated bituminous clays accompanied by thin 

laminated clay limestones and nodular septaria of blue limestone; 

thin laminae of sand occur in this portion, showing a gradual transition from the Woodbine sand below. The central and larger part of 

the formation is made up of blue and black marly clays, which 

include thin beds of arenaceous limestone and numerous hard nodular 

septaria, some of which attain a diameter of 3 feet; these septaria 

are composed of dense blue limestone with cross fissures filled with 

calcite and selenite. Selenite in minute crystals is disseminated generally through the clays, in places in considerable quantities, and the 

water flowing through these beds is generally bitter and disagreeable 

to the taste.

The clays constitute a belt of prairie extending east and west across 

Lamar and Red River counties north of the Texas Pacific Railway, 

and bounded on the north by the Woodbine sand and on the south 

by a narrow strip of sandy land representing the outcrop of the Blossom sand member. The outcrops of the clay make the black waxy 

land north of Paris.

Blossom sand member, 2 The clays of the Eagle Ford grade upward 

into brown sandy ferruginous glauconitic beds interlaminated with 

thin be.ds of clay. The clays are filled with fossiliferous concretionary 

masses of limestone similar to those in the middle part of the formation; in places these weather out as bowlders. Locally the sands are 

highly fossiliferous, some layers being composed in large part of the 

casts of shells. The full thickness of these beds was not observed in 

the area to which this report relates, but at Sherman (2 miles west 

of the area) the following succession occurs .3

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, p. 328.

2 Blossom sand member = "sub-Clarksville" sand of Veateh, Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46. 

"Fish beds" of Taff and Hill=Blossom sand member (in part). Ostrea belliplicata bed of Taff= Blossom 

sand member (in part).

8 Hill, R. T., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1899-1900, p. 326.
20 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Section of Blossom sand member at Sherman, Tex.

Feet. 

6. Sandy clay shales with Ostrea lugubris......................... 10

5. Thin slabs of brown sandstone with rounded conglomerate of

jasper pebble. Ostrea luguIris and fish teeth................. 5

4. Blue laminated clay, weathering into limonitic colors.......... 10

3. Massive agglomerate of shells of Ostrea lugubris. ................. 2

2. Sandy clay shale in thin alternations of clay and sand; clay

efflorescent and drab colored on drying; contains Ostrea lugubris. 40

67

The description given in the section of the beds at Sherman corresponds well with the character of the strata as they appear in Lamar 

and Red River counties.

The outcrop of the Blossom sand member extends in a band 

approximately a mile in width from a point nearly north of Annona, 

where Pecan Bayou intersects the bluff of Red River, to the western 

limit of the area, except where interrupted by overlying Quaternary 

formations. Outcrops occur at different places along the south side 

of Pecan Bayou, which flows for the greater part of its course on the 

formation; and in Lamar County they appear almost continuous 

along a line through Blossom and Paris, both of which places are 

located upon these beds. On the south the sands are bounded by 

the black waxy soils derived from the marly clays of the Brownstown 

marl, the lower formation of the Austin group. Four miles north of 

Clarksville the contact of the Blossom sand member with the overlying Brownstown marl was observed in a ravine. The section 

obtained here was as follows:

Section in ravine 4 miles north of Clarksville.

Brownstown marl: Feet. 

7. Clay marl with an abundance of Exogyra ponderosa. in the

lower 12 inches......................................... 6

 Blossom sand member of Eagle Ford clay:

6. Sand, in places mixed with marly clay.................... 3

5. Blue marly clay (exposed)................................ 6

4. Covered (about).......................................... 10

3. Yellow sand with fossil impressions......................... 10

2. Drab fissile clay.......................................... 2

1. Yellow sand above, grading into drab arenaceous clay below.

Contains iron concretions showing impressions of fossils.... 20

57

From 10 to 20 feet below the top of these beds in Grayson County, 

as described by Taff,1 is a bed of coarse sand or grit, in places a 

conglomerate, called the "Fish bed," from the large number of fish 

teeth contained in it. This bed was not definitely recognized in 

Lamar and Red River counties. The beds are generally highly fosi Taff, J. A., Fourth AJUL. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, p. 303,
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 21

siliferous, though in general the material is in a friable condition, 

owing to weathering and oxidation. Ostreas (Ostrea, lugubris = 0. 

belliplicata) are numerous and in places farther west make up most 

of certain beds to which the term " shell bed" very appropriately 

applies.

The Blossom sand member, though comparatively insignificant 

stratigraphically, is important, because it constitutes the only available water-bearing horizon over a considerable portion of south 

Lamar and Red River counties. It is,from this sand that the water 

supply at Clarksville is obtained, a fact which, in the absence of 

known outcrops, led Veatch 1 to give it the name "sub-Clarksville" 

sand. At Paris, according to the well record given on page 45, 

these sands have a thickness of 80 feet.

AUSTIN GROUP.

General character and relations. From Sherman in Grayson County 

southward to the Colorado in Travis County the Austin chalk constitutes the most persistent and characteristic formation of the Cretaceous 

in Texas. Throughout this area its thickness is estimated by Taff- to 

be about 600 feet. From the base to the top the .rock consists for the 

most part of soft bluish-white chalk, chiefly in beds from 2 to 6 feet 

thick, interspersed here and there by a succession of thinner layers. 

The beds are generally separated by very thin sheets of calcareous 

marl, which in places thicken to 3 to 12 inches. Toward the top the 

beds become more massive, being from 4 to 6 feet thick, with verylittle separating marl between them.

Interstratified with the soft layers in places are nonpersistent 

harder arenaceous layers, which on weathering project in rounded 

subangular surfaces.

On weathering, the chalk loses the bluish cast seen in fresh exposures and becomes white or cream colored. It usually has an earthy 

texture and when fresh can be readily cut with a handsaw. Here 

and there nests of pyrites and crevices filled with calcite appear. 

Under the microscope 2 the material shows calcite crystals, minute 

amorphous calcite, and the shells of foraminifers, mollusks, echinoids, 

and other marine organic debris such as usually constitute chalk 

formations.

From Sherman eastward the basal portion of the Austin becomes 

more argillaceous and assumes the character of clay marl or marly 

clay. Beginning at the base in the vicinity of Sherman this change 

in character reaches higher and higher as the formation extends eastward until at Atlas, Clarksville, and White Rock north of Annona in 

Texas and at White Cliffs in Arkansas only the uppermost beds pre1 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 25.

2 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900, p. 329.
22 GEOLOGY AND- GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

sent the character of true chalk. Among previous writers Taff 1 seems 

to be the only one who recognized the true relations of the chalk deposits of northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. The statements by this author accord so well with the independent conclusions 

of the writer that they are given entire:

The lower part of the chalk formation of northern Texas changes to marl in the vicinity 

of Sherman, and still farther east higher beds successively become chalky marl, so that 

within a comparatively short distance only the upper part of the chalk formation as it 

occurs farther south is true chalk. In other words, the white chalk transgresses upward 

in the series of Cretaceous rocks from the vicinity of Sherman, Tex., eastward into 

Arkansas.

The fossils of the main chalk which are not found below the chalk in northern Texas 

south of Sherman occur in the chalky marl beneath the chalk from the vicinity of 

Paris, Tex., eastward. The fauna, including the characteristic species of fossils, such 

as Exogyra ponderosa, Gryphsea vesicularis, Astrea larva, and others which occur only in 

the upper beds of the chalk in central Texas, are found in great abundance in the marl 

at the base of and beneath the white chalk in southwestern Arkansas. 2

This chalk grows thinner in outcrop northeastward as it approaches the Paleozoic 

border and elevated mountain districts until it ends in chalky marl near the center of 

the Cretaceous area of southwestern Arkansas.

Hill 3 considered the chalk near Annona and westward as representing a higher horizon than the Austin chalk, v, hich he describes as having 

largely thinned out east of Paris, but says that its exact relationship 

is subject to later determination. To the marls underlying the chalk 

at White Cliffs, Ark., which he rightly considered the equivalent of 

the lower part of the Annona chalk, he gave the name Brownstown. 

Veatch 4 appears to have accepted Hill's conclusions in assigning the 

Annona chalk to a higher horizon than the Austin, which he states 

does not appear east of Paris, Tex. In this he differs, however, from 

Hill, who states that'' the most eastern outcrop of this chalk [Austin] 

is in Little River County, in the southwest corner of Arkansas." 5

The field work of 1906 and 1907 having settled conclusively that the 

Annona chalk corresponds to the upper beds of the Austin, and that 

the underlying Brownstown marl is the eastern equivalent of the 

lower portion of the same formation, it seems appropriate to include 

both of these under the term Austin group.

Brownstown marl. In Red River and Lamar counties and west to 

Sherman the Blossom sand member, constituting the uppermost beds 

of the Eagle Ford clay, grades rather abruptly into the light-blue calcareous and sandy clay or marl (Brownstown) representing the lower 

formation of the Austin group. Toward the top the proportion of lime 

increases, so that the upper beds are decidedly chalky and in places

1 Taff, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Eept. II. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3,1900-1901, pp. 698-700.

2 The writer's observations show these fossils to be present hi northeastern Texas from the marls at the 

base of the chalk up to the marls of the Navarro formation, 

s Hill, B. T., op. cit., p. 341.

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 19. 

s Hill, R. T., op. cit., p. 330.
GEOLOGIC HISTOEY. 23

grade horizontally into true chalk. This variation in the composition 

of the Austin group gives rise to variation in the relative thickness of 

the chalk and marl divisions and in the relative width of their outcrops, the one varying inversely as the other. Four miles south of 

Paris the marls appear on fresh exposure bluish-white and chalky, 

much resembling chalk, but softer. On weathering they become drab 

to yellowish-brown, grading upward into a black waxy soil. The 

lower portions are more arenaceous, forming along the northern border of the formation outcrop a strip of soil called "mixed land" or 

"tallow-ridge land." The width of the outcrop of the marls south of 

Paris is from 5 to 6 miles, indicating a thickness of about 300 feet, 

while that of the overlying chalk on the south is correspondingly lessened. The chalk belt widens toward the east and west, the marl belt 

narrowing to a mile or less north of Annona. The marls here pass 

under the later Quaternary deposits along with the overlying Annona 

and higher beds, but they evidently thicken rapidly eastward, for 

according to Veatch they have a thickness in southwestern Arkansas 

of 600 feet, thinning out again to about 150 feet in the eastern part of 

the area.1

The name Brownstown, as shown by Veatch, was first applied by 

Hill 2 to marl beds typically developed at Brownstown, Ark., the stratigraphic position of which was not recognized until later.3 As now 

defined, the term includes the blue marly clays and clay marls between 

the Blossom sand member of the Eagle Ford and the Annona chalk in 

Texas and the equivalent beds in Arkansas which rest upon the 

Bingen sand, which is considered to be the representative of the Eagle 

Ford clay and the Woodbine sand as developed in Texas.

Annona chalk. The chalk beds constituting the upper formation 

of the Austin group in northeastern Texas were named Annona chalk 

by Hill,4 who correctly recognized their equivalency to the chalk occurring on Little River in Arkansas, to which he had previously applied 

the term White Cliffs chalk.5 The formation consists of bluish and 

creamy white chalk similar to the corresponding beds of the Austin 

chalk farther south. At White Cliffs, Ark., the chalk beds are about 

100 feet in thickness and underlain by argillaceous chalk marl grading 

downward into sandy chalk marl.6 The exposures in Texas are less

1 Veatch, A. C., op. cit., p. 25.

2 Hill, R. T., Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Arkansas for 1888, vol. 2, pp. 86-87; B*ull. Geol. Soc. America, 

vol. 1894, p. 302, pi. 12.

a Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901, p. 340.

< Hill, R. T., Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, 1894, p. 308 (there spelled Anona); Twenty-first Ann. 

Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900, p. 340-341. In the former paper Hill says: "It is not known 

what has become of the Austin chalk in this section (Paris), but my hypothesis, backed by some evidence, 

is that to the southward it has been faulted down. The Annona (White Cliffs) chalk is an entirely distinct 

and higher bed." In the later publication he says: "The writer has considered this chalk (Annona) tc 

represent a higher horizon than the Austin, but its exact relationship is subject to future determination."

s Hill, R. T., Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Arkansas for 1888, vol. 1888, pp. 87-89.

6 Taff, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, pp. 706-707.
24 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN" TEXAS.

extensive, but so far as can be determined the rock presents essentially 

the same characters near Annona and westward to Sherman.

The first appearance of the chalk in Texas is to the north of Annona 

in Red River County, from which place it takes its name. At this 

point its outcrop is about 4 miles in width and is cut off on the east 

by deposits of Quaternary age. From this point the chalk extends 

west through Clarksville, Atlas, and Roxton in Lamar County, and 

thence west to Sherman. From Atlas the northern border swings 

northward to Petty on the Texas & Pacific Railway, thence westward about a mile north of Honey Grove. About 3 miles west of 

Clarksville the exposures of chalk and accompanying marls are interrupted by Quaternary deposits, partly filling a broad shallow valley 

now occupied by the headwater branches of Cuthand Creek.

The composition of the chalk is shown by the following analyses:

Analyses of the Austin chalk.

1

82.51

11.45

3.61

1.19

2

84.48

9.77

1.25

Trace.

3

84.14

10.14

4.04

ol.68

4

90.15

5.77

2.14

.58

5

70.21

23.55

1.50

.58

a Mg and HjO.

1. Texas chalk; locality not given. Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1899- 

1900, p. 329.

2. Rocky Comfort, Arkansas (Annona chalk). Idem.

3. Annona chalk, 7 miles south of Paris. Analysis furnished by 3. A. Porter, Paris, Tex.

4. Q,uarry of the Alamo Cement Works, 3 Jiiles north of San Antonio, Tex. Average material used in 

the manufacture of cement. Twenty-second Ann. Rept. II. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, p. 737.

5. Average fresh rock from .quarry of the Texas Portland Cement Works, 3 miles west of Dallas, Tex. 

Lower 20 feet of white chalk. Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, p. 737.

With complete disintegration the Annona chalk breaks down into 

a black waxy soil similar to that of adjacent formations. As a rule, 

however, owing to its greater hardness, the soil is thin and less productive than adjoining areas. Over the area where it constitutes the 

surface formation its outcrops are conspicuous in all the slopes and 

drainage ways by reason of their glaring white color.

The Austin chalk is characterized by many fossils, of which large 

specimens of Inoceramus cripsi var. bambini Morton and Exogyra 

ponderosa Roemer are conspicuous from the base to the top. As 

these fossils occur also in the formations above the Austin, they do 

not constitute a reliable means of discrimination. Hill has given 

several other forms as occurring in the Austin, such as Exogyra 

Ixviuscula Roemer, Gryphsea aucella Roemer, and Hemiaster texanus 

Roemer.1

The thickness of the Austin group as revealed by the Clarksville 

wells corresponds closely with the estimate given by Taff for the

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 336.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 25

central Texas region (p. 21). In the Clarksville wells the waterbearing sands (Blossom sand member) were reached at a depth of 

about 600 feet. The drill is reported to have passed through "white 

rock" all the way, the lower portion being softer. As the wells are 

located very near the top of the Annona chalk, these figures may be 

considered a close approximation of the thickness of the Austin 

group in this locality.

TAYLOR MARL AND NAVARRO FORMATION.

Attempted differentiations. Above the Austin group occurs a series 

of beds of calcareous clays, chalky marls, and greensands, the differentiation of which is rendered extremely difficult by reason of the 

unindurated character of the material and the consequent lack of 

good exposures.

Numerous efforts have been made by Hill and others to classify 

these beds, but the results have been unsatisfactory. Taff 1 divided 

the Cretaceous rocks above the Austin chalk in central Texas 

into (1) Greeiisand marl; (2) Marly flags, 100 feet; (3) Ponderosa 

marl, 1,000 feet; and (4) Chalk marl, 100 feet. In his latest report 

on the Texas Cretaceous, Hill divided the Upper Cretaceous into two 

divisions, the lower of which he called the Taylor marl and the upper 

the Navarro formation, a name originally proposed by Shumard. In 

northeastern Texas he divides 2 the Navarro into Arkadelphia beds, 

Washington beds, Annona chalk, Roxton beds, and Brownstown beds. 

As it is now clear that the Annona and the Brownstown represent the 

Austin, the overlying Taylor marl must be represented in part at 

least by the marls overlying the Annona, to which Hill originally 

applied 3 the name "Kickapoo." He states that the formation bears 

a growth of hardwood, including Bois d'Arc, and adds "this is the 

only marly terrane in the entire range of Cretaceous formations in 

Texas which is covered by arborescent vegetation."

In Arkansas the equivalents of the Navarro and Taylor formations, as made out by Hill and Veatch, are as follows:

Arkansas equivalents of the Navarro formation and Taylor marl.

3. Arkadelphia clay: Dark laminated clays; 200 to 500 feet.

2. Nacatoch sand: Glauconitic sands and -thin ledges of calcareous sandstones; 

60 to 160 feet.

1. Marlbrook marl: Blue chalky glauconitic marls; in places, impure chalk. A 

chalky layer, 20 to 50 feet thick, which occurs 200 to 300 feet above the base, is called 

the "Saratoga" chalk member. Thickness, 50 to 750 feet.

1 Third Ann. Kept. Texas Geol. Survey, 1891, pp. 354-359.

2 Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 340. In describing the "Washington beds" 

the author states that they "surmount the Brownstown marls," evidently an error carried over from his 

earlier descriptions wherein the Brownstown marl was considered as being above the Annona chalk.

s Hill, R. T., Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, p. 308,1893.
26 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Hill recognizes two lithologic phases of the upper part of the 

Navarro in the region north of the Brazos. The lower division, called 

by him the "Corsicana beds," consists of brown sandy marl with an 

occasional bed of hard, calcareous sandstone. Limestone concretions and a few bands of limestone occurring in these beds suggest the 

formations occurring in the vicinity of Cooper, Delta County. The 

upper division, which he called the "Kemp beds," consists of a yellow 

clay with nodules which apparently corresponds to the beds observed 

one-half mile north of Sulphur Bluff. However, very little information is available concerning the relation of these beds.

Character and thickness. No satisfactory data bearing on the thickness of the Navarro and Taylor formations in this region are available. 

They are estimated to have a combined thickness of about 1,000 to 

1,200 feet. The Sulphur Springs well shows 381 feet of blue shale 

with some sand, which evidently represent in part the Arkadelphia 

clay and Nacatoch sand.

Although well-marked correspondence with the Arkansas section 

can be made out in the character and sequence of the formations in 

Delta and adjoining counties, the lack of good exposures due to the 

unconsolidated character of the beds renders the definition of formation boundaries impracticable, and the whole is mapped as a unit.

At the base of the section in southern Lamar County a clay marl 

containing varying proportions of sand, and having an estimated 

thickness of 100 to 150 feet, forms a deep black soil in which no outcrops appear. This marl grades upward into fine marly sands containing thin ledges of limestone or chalk. These beds are exposed at 

Ladonia (PL II, A), Wolfe City, and elsewhere along a narrow belt 

extending from the northeast part of Delta County westward along 

the south side of North Fork as far west as Ladonia and thence 

southwestward through Wolfe City. Above the sands lies a highly 

calcareous marl or impure chalk, 20 to 50 feet thick, corresponding 

in position and character to the "Saratoga" chalk member of the 

Arkansas section. These beds are exposed in the slopes of North 

Fork about 2 miles north of Enloe, south of Ladonia, and in the 

vicinity of Fairlie in Hunt County.

The chalky beds grade upward into unconsolidated arenaceous 

marls in which occur concretionary masses of dense blue fossiliferous 

limestone. These marls constitute much of the surface of Delta 

County, but owing to the readiness with which they succumb to the 

weather exposures of unaltered material are rare. The estimated 

thickness of the marls is 350 to 500 feet, but as no wells extend 

through them in this region the data on which to base an estimate are 

very imperfect. Toward the south the black lands representing the 

outcrop of the marls give place to sands the exact relations of which 

are not clear, but which represent apparently the horizon of the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. RAILROAD CUT AT LADONIA STATION.

Exposures of fine, marly sands containing thin ledges of limestone or chalk representing a part of 

undifferentiated Navarro-Taylor marl division. (See p. 26.)

B. RAILROAD CUT AT AVINGER STATION. 

Exposure of sands and clays of Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

Nacatoch sand, though some doubt exists owing to the near proximity 

of the Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

In the vicinity of Commerce, Hunt County, green sands occur bearing Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad) ?, Cardium sp., andFusus sp.

Above the glauconitic sands are beds of blue bituminous sandy 

shale and dark laminated clays, which are exposed only near Sulphur 

Bluff and 3 miles north of that place on the south side of South Fork, 

where a bluff 50 feet high is composed of black laminated clay with 

thin laminations of ferruginous sand grading downward into blue 

bituminous sandy shale. The blue sandy shales contain characteristic Cretaceous fossils which are best preserved in a hard, chalky 

ledge near the middle. The dark laminated clays and associated 

beds are thought to represent the horizon of the Arkadelphia clay, 

the larger part of which in this region is covered by the overlap of the 

Eocene.

Fossils. Arenaceous and chalky beds 2 miles north of Enloe 

yielded the following fossils, as determined by Dr. T. W. Stanton, of 

the Survey:

Ostrea sp.

Inoceramus cripsi var. barabini Morton.

Baculites asper Morton?

Exogyra ponderosa Roemer.

Cucullsea sp.

Cinulia sp.

Mosasaurus, weathered centrum of a 

caudal vertebra and a fragmentary element of the skull.

From the chalk 1J miles south of Ladonia in the southern part of 

Fannin County the following were obtained:

Gryphsea vesicularis Lamarck. Cucullsea sp. 

Gyrodes sp. Anchura? sp. 

Avellana sp. Nautilus sp. 

Baculites anceps Lamarck.

In a railway cut near Cooper the overlying marls yielded the following in considerable numbers:

Morea sp.

Gryphsea vesicularis Lamarck.

Exogyra costata Say.

Inoceramus cripsi var. barabini Morton.

Trigonia.

In the greensands 1J miles west of Commerce the following were 

obtained:

Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad)?. Fusus sp. 

Cardium sp.

The following were obtained in the blue sandy shale at Sulphur 

Bluff, 3 miles north of the town of that name in Hopkins County:

Inoceramus proximus Tuomey. 

Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad)?. 

Lunatia sp.

Cucullsea tippana Conrad. 

Turritella trilira Conrad.
28 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Clays occurring one-half mile north of the town of Sulphur Bluff 

gave the following:

Ostrea sp.

Veniella conradi Morton.

Exogyra costata Say. 

Anchura? sp.

All the above are considered by Dr. Stanton as belonging to the 

Navarro and Taylor formations, but there are no distinctive species 

that fix the exact horizon. In fact, as pointed out by Dr. Stanton, 

the paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous in northern Texas has not 

as yet received sufficient study to make fine discriminations practicable with only the small collections submitted.

TERTIARY SYSTEM.

EOCENE SEEIES.

MAJOR DIVISIONS OP THE EOCENE.

The Eocene underlies all the area south of Sulphur Fork, as well as 

a small isolated area on the north side of that stream extending west 

from Texarkana south of New Boston nearly to the west boundary 

of Bowie County. In the eastern part of the area along Sulphur 

Fork the Eocene is covered by a wide belt of deposits of later age.

As developed in eastern Texas and the adjoining portions of 

Louisiana, the Eocene comprises the following subdivisions:

4. Jackson formation. Calcareous clays containing marine fossils 

in abundance.

3. Claiborne group. Lower portion: Fossiliferous, calcareous clay, 

argillaceous limestone, greensand, limonitic iron ore, etc., upper 

portion lignitiferous sands and clays.

2. Wilcox ("Sabine") formation. Lignitiferous sands and clays, 

with marine fossils in the seaward or southern portions.

1. Midway formation. Dark-colored calcareous clays and fossiliferous limestones.

MIDWAY FORMATION.

The Midway formation, called the "Basal" or "Wills Point clays" 

in the Texas reports, 1 consists of calcareous clays with more or less 

sand and closely resembles the underlying Cretaceous clays and 

marls. The chief differences noted are the more distinctly stratified 

structure of the Eocene beds with laminations of sand and the presence of concretionary masses of limestone, which toward the east in 

Arkansas appear to become regularly bedded limestones. Large 

quantities of gypsum are also found in the clays, but the lignitic 

material so prevalent in the overlying Wilcox is wanting. The surface exposure of the Midway is limited to the extreme western pori Penrose, R. A. F., jr., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas. Kennedy, William, Third Ann. Kept. 

Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, p. 47.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 29

tion of the Eocene area and is marked by a belt of clay prairie lands 

extending with interruptions from Wills Point northward to Cumby 

and thence curving eastward past Ridgeway to South Fork. 

The characteristic fossils of the formation are:

Enclimatoceras ulrichi White. 

Ostrea crenulimar^inata Gabb. 

Ostrea pulaskansas Harris. 

Volutilithes limopsis Conrad.

In common with other beds of the Eocene it contains:

Venericardia planicosta. 

Pseudoliva vetusta. 

Calyptraphorus velatus. 

Turritella mortoni. 1

The thickness of the Midway formation at Texarkana is about 214 

feet and in Texas is from 260 to 300 feet.2 The beds lie in a horizontal position, dipping slightly toward the southeast. These clays 

underlie a belt of prairie land with scattered belts and groves of 

hardwood timber, consisting mostly of post oak, black jack, and 

hickory.

WILCOX ("SABINE") FORMATION

The Midway formation grades upward into a series of siliceous 

and glauconitic sands, variously colored from white through yellow, 

red, and brown to black, interstratified with clays, which are generally dark blue or black. The sands that constitute the major part 

of the formation are laminated, thinly stratified, massive, and crossbedded and are frequently interlaminated with clay. Many beds of 

lignite occur, varying in thickness from a few inches to several feet, 

and the sands and clays generally are impregnated with vegetal 

matter to such an extent that they burn white or buff on being 

exposed to heat. The sands contain more or less carbonate of lime, 

in places in sufficient amount to cement the sands into a calacareous 

sandstone or arenaceous limestone. Some of these indurated portions occur in somewhat even beds and some of them in concretionary 

masses of various sizes and shapes. When met in wells, these indurated masses are usually designated "rock" or "bowlders" by the 

driller.

According to previously published reports the Wilcox formation 

has an aggregate thickness of about 900 feet. In the well at Sulphur 

Springs (p. 61) the drill penetrated 1,317 feet of sand and clay that 

apparently represent the Wilcox and Midway formations, combined. 

Of this thickness 810 feet is assigned to the Wilcox.

1 For a detailed discussion of the paleontology of the Midway formation see Harris, G. D., The Midway 

stage: Bull. Am. Paleontology, vol. 1, 1896, pp. 117-270."

2 Penrose places the thickness at 250 to 300 feet (First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, p. 23); and 

Kennedy (Third Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1892, p. 49) assigns them a thickness of 260 feet. In the 

(Sulphur Springs well (p. 61) 324 feet of clays and sands have been referred to this formation.
30 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

CLAIBORNE GROUP.

The Claiborne group overlies the Wilcox and is said to contain 

"the most persistent and widely spread marine beds of the Coastal 

Plain." (See Veatch's map, fig. 2.) In northeastern Texas and 

northern Louisiana the group is divisible into a lower fossiliferous 

formation which has been called "Lower Claiborne," but for which 

Harris 1 has recently introduced the name St. Maurice formation, 

and an upper lignitiferous formation to which the name Cockfield 

has been given.

The upper portion of the Claiborne group consists of lignitiferous 

sands and clays, in which no marine fossils have been found except 

at the very top at Kobertson Ferry, on Sabine River, and is known 

as the Cockfield formation. The bed exposed at Robertson Ferry 

containing marine fossils is included in the Cockfield formation.

The lower portion of the Claiborne is more calcareous, glauconitic, 

and clayey than the Wilcox and contains no lignitic matter. The 

thickness of the lower formation (St. Maurice) varies from 250 to 

700 feet. The upper formation (Cockfield) consists of 400 to 500 

feet of lignitiferous sands and clays, which are evidently of nearshore origin.

In southern Texas the "Lower Claiborne" was included by Kennedy in his "Marine beds" 2 and was subdivided into a lower division 

called Mount Selman and an upper division called Cook Mountain. 3 

The "Marine beds" of Kennedy, however, included also a portion 

of the Wilcox which contains marine fossils.*

In southern Cass County and westward the Wilcox formation 

merges upward in places into brown and blue sands and clays, and 

glauconitic beds containing deposits of iron ore which may belong 

to the Claiborne.

Beds of this character occur in isolated areas and if of Claiborne 

age evidently represent outliers left in the general process of erosion. 

The fossils reported from these localities are not stratigraphically 

distinctive and the correlation with the Mount Selman formation 

is made chiefly on the presence of the iron ore and the general lithological character.

In the lower beds the iron exists in the form of carbonate of iron 

or clay ironstone, as scattered masses and nodules inclosed in the 

sand, in places coalescing into a bed continuous for several hundred 

yards. These layers are usually only a few inches in thickness and 

rusty from oxidation. In the southern part of Morris County, and

1 Science, April 1, 1910, p. 502.

2 Kennedy, William, Third Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, p. 52.

» Hayes, C. W., and Kennedy, William, Bull. U. 8. Geol. Survey No. 212, 1903

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper LT , S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 36.
GEOLOGIC HISTOKY. 31

in the southwestern part of Cass County, and extending thence 

west into Morris, Camp, Upshur, and the counties lying to the west, 

occur deposits of brown iron ore, lying horizontally near the tops of 

the hills, in some places at the surface and in others overlain by 1 

foot to 30 feet of sand. The ore occurs in a variety of forms, botryoidal, stalactitic, mammillary masses, etc., but its characteristic 

form is that of loose nodules and geodes in a ferruginous sandy 

matrix or consolidated into irregular beds varying in thickness from 

1 foot to 10 feet. The ores were termed "nodular or geode ores" 

by Penrose* who considers them to have been formed by the alteration 

of clay ironstone.

LATER TERTIARY DEPOSITS.

No marine deposits of Tertiary age later than Claiborne have 

been recognized in this part of northeastern Texas. Until near the 

close of the period the region appears to have been above sea level, 

or if temporarily depressed and subjected to sedimentation the 

deposits were subsequently removed by erosion. During Oligocene, 

Miocene, and early Pliocene times a general uplift caused the seacoast 

to recede toward the south to near the present coast. As a result of 

this elevation the region was subjected to more or less profound erosion and reduced to a level estimated by Veatch 2 to have been -500 to 

700 feet above the present sea level.

In late Pliocene time there was deposited over the worn land surface 

a sheet of silts, sands, and gravels to which the name Lafayette was 

given by Hilgard. 3 In thij part of northeastern Texas these deposits 

appear to have been removed by subsequent erosion. Eedeposited 

remnants, however, occur as high-level terraces along the valleys and 

also as a thin gravel veneer over the rolling uplands.

QUATERNARY SYSTEM. 

PLEISTOCENE SERIES,

PORT HUDSON FORMATION.

During the long interval of erosion which succeeded the deposition 

of the Lafayette formation the gravels derived from that formation 

were concentrated in many places by stream action. Then came a 

slow subsidence, which converted the bottom lands into swamps and 

caused the deposition of the Port Hudson formation of sand, silts, and 

clays containing remains of animals and plants characteristic of

J Penrose, E. A. F., jr., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 76-81.

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 44.

s Hilgard, E. W., Am. Geologist, vol. 8, 1891, p. 130. See also McGee, W J, Twelfth Ann. Rept. TJ. S. 

Geol. Survey, pt, 1, mi, pp. 347-521. Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No, 46,19Q6, pp. 

44-46.
32 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

swamp conditions. In these old valley deposits the streams cut 

newer valleys of moderate extent, remnants of the Port Hudson now 

occurring as flat-topped terraces along the principal streams, at no 

great depth below the present flood plains. The distribution of 

these terrace deposits in northeastern Texas is shown approximately 

on Plate I (p. 16). In western Bowie and eastern Red River counties, as will be seen, the terraces belonging to the Red River and Sulphur Fork valleys, respectively, coalesce over the intervening areas. 

Moreover, over most of the area north of Sulphur Fork a mantle of 

gravel occurs with some patches of gravel which are possibly due to 

the augmentation of the rivers by glacial flood waters.

Along Red River, in Bowie and Red River counties, the height of 

the outer terrace is about 70 to 75 feet above the present flood plain; 

while about 35 or 40 feet below this another well-marked terrace was 

noted in places.

RECENT.

A slight elevation following the Port Hudson period of deposition 

caused a renewal of stream activity with the excavation of the present 

valleys and the formation of the present topography. The amount 

of erosion accomplished in this later period, however, is small as compared with that which was effected in late Tertiary and early Quaternary times. The chief changes consisted in the alluviation of river 

bottoms, the destruction of river banks, and the formation of cut-offs 

by the wandering of the rivers. In northeastern Texas the topographic and geologic changes have been slight.

NATURAL MOUNDS.

Scattered over the sandy areas in this ana adjoining regions are 

innumerable small mounds varying from 20 to 100 feet in diameter 

and from 2 to 5 feet in height. They are especially well developed 

over the Port Hudson terrace plains, but occur also to some extent 

over the hill lands. In the Cretaceous area, outside the limits of the 

Port Hudson deposits, they are confined to the sandy belts representing the outcropping of the Blossom and Woodbine sands. In 

general, these mounds are rudely circular in outline, but in some localities they show a well-marked tendency toward a northeast-southwest 

elongation.

Mounds of similar character have a wide distribution and their 

origin has been a subject of much discussion. The problem is a perplexing one and remains as yet without satisfactory solution. Veatch, 

in a very complete review, groups the possible agencies of formation as 

human, animal, water erosion, eruptions, and wind.1 Of the theories

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U, S. Qeol. purvey No, 46,1906, pp. 55-59.
STRUCTURE. 33

included under these heads he concludes that those relating to the 

dune and the ant hill are the best supported. In a later paper, Campbell x summarizes the various hypotheses as (1) human; (2) animal, 

such as ground squirrels, gophers, and prairie dogs' burrows; (3) ant 

hills; (4) water erosion; (5) chemical solution; (6) wind action; (7) physical or chemical segregation; (8) glacial action; (9) uprooted trees; 

(10) spring and gas vents; and (11) fish nests. In his discussion he 

disposes of all of these hypotheses except that which ascribes the 

origin to burrowing animals, and adds, "but whether the mounds are 

due to ants or to small rodents the writer is unable to say." He 

admits that many mounds may have been produced by wind action, 

and that probably many others of an entirely different origin may 

have been modified by the wind, but maintains that " the great number of natural mounds are far too symmetrical in profile and in plan 

. to have been formed by wind-blown material."

In view of the wide distribution of natural mounds and their occurrence in regions widely separated, some doubt may reasonably be 

entertained as to all having been formed by the same agency. The 

writer's observations in northeastern Texas has led him to favor the 

theory which ascribes the mounds in this region to wind action. The 

fact that they, are not uniformly circular but are at times elongated, 

and that the position of the longer axis is parallel with the direction 

of the prevailing winds, seems to offer some support to this theory. 

However, the time at the disposal of the writer did not allow full 

opportunity to determine satisfactorily the extent to which the 

linear arrangement prevails and further observations are needed to

settle the matter.

STRUCTURE.

The warping of the old Jurassic land surface, which preceded and 

accompanied the deposition of later formations, gave the beds a 

gentle slope toward the Gulf, amounting, in Lamar County, to about 

55 feet per mile.2 This dip was estimated by taking the elevation 

by barometer of the base of the Goodland limestone north of Hugo, 

Okla. (475 feet above tide), and comparing it with the elevation as 

shown in the Paris well, 1,125 feet. The distance is about 29.1 miles, 

in which the rocks are carried down 1,600 feet, or about 55 feet per 

mile.

As to the attitude of the beds south of Sulphur Fork, no definite 

data are obtainable. If, however, this region has been affected by

1 Campbell, M. R., Jour. Geology, vol. 14, 1906, pp. 708-717. Contains a fairly complete list of papers 

relating to the subject.

2 Using the observed dips of the Goodland limestone, Tafl estimated the dip at about 50 feet per mile, and 

predicted that the water-bearing Trinity sand would be found at Paris at a depth of 1,500 feet. In the 

well subsequently drilled there, however, these sands were reached at a depth of 1,635 feet, to which 91 feet 

must be added for the difference in elevation between the bench mark on the post-office building (601 feet) 

and the top of the well.

87985° WSP 276 11 3
34 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

the Red River-Alabama Landing fault, as indicated by Hill 1 and 

Veatch,2 the strata south of Sulphur Fork must lie nearly horizontal.

If, as suggested by Veatch, the Red River fault and the Alabama 

Landing fault constitute parts of the same general displacement, 

the fault line would occupy approximately the position of the Sulphur Fork, including North Fork. Owing to the covering of alluvial 

deposits, however, no traces of the existence of this fault can be 

observed except a disturbed condition of the Austin chalk beds 

noted by Hill 3 in the cut north of Pecan Gap station.

According to Hill and Veatch the displacement of this fault is 

about 600 feet, with the downthrow to the north. It is scarcely 

conceivable that a displacement of 600 feet could escape recognition 

in the vicinity of North Fork, as it would be sufficient to bring the 

Austin chalk to the surface in Delta County. The writer was at first 

inclined to think that the chalk near Enloe .might be the Austin 

brought up by faulting, but his further study of the stratigraphic 

relations and f aunal contents of these beds did not support this conclusion. It seems probable, therefore, that if any displacement has 

occurred here its extent is much less than 600 feet.

UNDERGROUND WATER.

SOURCE.

All underground water is derived from rainfall. A considerable 

part of the rainfall runs off the surface and is carried away by streams; 

a part is removed by evaporation or consumed by living organisms 

and in chemical work; and the remainder sinks into the soil and 

unites with the underground waters, to reappear in part as springs 

at more or less distant points.

The proportion of the rainfall disposed of by evaporation and 

run-off and by percolation and absorption into the rocks, varies with 

climatic, topographic, geologic, and other conditions. The portion 

which sinks into the ground furnishes the entire supply for both deep 

and shallow wells, and it is this alone that need be considered so far 

as underground waters are concerned.

The percentage of the rainfall which sinks into the earth is determined by (1) the character of the rains, whether slow and steady or of 

a torrential nature; (2) the topography of the country, whether flat 

or with many steep slopes; (3) the character and amount of vegetation covering the surface; and (4) the porosity of the soil and the 

physical character and state of saturation of the underlying beds.4 

The surface of the zone of saturation varies with climatic conditions,

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ana. Kept. IT. S. Geol. Purvey, pt. 7, p. 384.

2 Veatch, A. C., op. cit., pp. 68-69.

3 Hill, R. T., op. cit., p. 342. 

* Veatch, A. C., op. cit., p. 70.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 35

rising in periods of long continued rains and sinking during periods 

of drouth. In regions of excessive rainfall and limited evaporation 

its upper limit usually coincides with the surface, whereas in arid 

regions it may be several hundred feet below the surface. Moreover, 

the upper line or limit of saturation the water table conforms in a 

general way to the surface, rising somewhat higher under elevations 

than under depressions.

AVAILABILITY OF UNDERGROUND WATER.

The availability of the water that sinks into the soil depends on 

(1) the adequacy of the supply and the quality of the water contained in the rock formations, and (2) the depth at which it may be 

encountered and the height to which it will rise in wells. The permanency of the supply depends on the capacity of the rocks for absorbing and transmitting water, and the quality of the soluble minerals 

contained in the beds through which it passes. The feasibility of 

obtaining water at any locality depends on the position and elevation of the rock strata and the structural relations which control the 

arrangement of the rock masses. It is evident, therefore, that the 

controlling factors in the utilization of underground water are the 

composition of the rocks and their arrangement in sheets and 

masses, or, in other words, the geologic structure.

CAPACITY OF ROCKS FOR IMBIBING WATER.

The capacity of rocks to imbibe moisture varies with their physical 

structure. Most of the water in rocks occurs in pores and interstices, 

the larger part of the world's well-water supply being derived from 

saturated porous beds, only a small part of it being obtained from 

caverns or large cavities. Practically all rocks, however compact 

they may appear to the eye, have interstices and small cavities in 

which water may be stored. The degree of porosity of rocks, however, differs greatly in different rocks, being highest in open-textured 

loose sands, sandstones, gravels, and chalks, all of which have great 

capacity for imbibing water, and lowest in close-textured clays, 

slates, marbles, and granites, which have very small capacity for 

absorbing and transmitting water. Some rocks, however, such as 

granite, which in their original condition are almost impervious, 

become water bearing through the development of fractures and 

crevices.

The capacity of rocks for transmitting water is different from their 

capacity for imbibition. In certain fine-grained rocks the pore 

spaces are so small that they will not readily transmit water. Hence 

rocks like chalk or brick, which absorb water freely, transmit it 

slowly, whereas others with no greater total pore space transmit it 

readily. Sandstones, for instance, vary greatly in texture and 

consequently in their "capacity for carrying water.
36 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

ARTESIAN WATERS DEFINED.

Underground waters which under the influence of hydrostatic 

pressure tend to rise to the level of the water surface at the highest 

point from which the pressure is transmitted are known as artesian 

waters. Hence an artesian well is any well in which the water rises 

under artesian pressure. If the water rises to the surface the well 

is known as a flowing artesian well; if the water fails to rise to the 

surface it is known as a nonflowing artesian well. An artesian system is any combination of geologic structural features such as 

basins, planes, joints, or faults in which waters are confined under 

artesian pressure and will rise if an outlet is afforded by a well or 

other perforation. An artesian basin is a basin of porous-bedded 

rock in which, as a result of synclinal structure, the water is confined 

under artesian pressure. An artesian slope is a monoclinal slope 

of bedded rocks in which water is confined beneath relatively impervious covers owing to the obstruction to its downward passage by 

the pinching out of porous beds, by a change in character from pervious to impervious, by internal friction, or by dikes or other obstructions. An artesian area is an area underlain by water under artesian 

pressure.

CONDITIONS THAT DETERMINE ARTESIAN WELLS.

The distribution of underground water depends on the arrangement of the rocks in sheets and masses. If the strata are horizontal they constitute storage systems in which the water is under little 

or no artesian pressure and will escape only laterally as seepage 

springs where the beds are cut by valleys of erosion. If the water 

bearing beds are inclined and are included between impervious 

sheets, the water absorbed over the outcropping area will sink under 

the influence of gravity and if reached by a well at any point beyonp 

the limit of its outcrop will tend to rise therein to the level of complete 

saturation.

The water pressure and, therefore, the height to wnich water will 

rise depend on several conditions: (1) On the elevation of the groundwater table at the outcrop or source, which in turn depends on the 

uneven elevation and surface conformation of the catchment area; 

(2) on the loss by friction in transmission, a factor which depends on 

the size of the spaces between the grains and is not by any means 

uniform even in the most even-textured beds; and (3) on the loss 

by leakage resulting from increases in porosity of the inclosing beds 

from faults, joints, and other natural breaks, and, locally, from the 

multiplication of wells within a restricted area. Hence the level to 

which water will rise in wells is always somewhat lower than the 

lowest point of the outcrop of the containing beds and becomes 

lower and lower with increasing distance from the catchment area.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 37

The factors controlling the occurrence of flowing wells may be 

briefly stated as follows: (1) There should be relatively porous beds 

suitably situated to collect and transmit the water; (2) the waterbearing beds should be inclosed between other relatively impervious 

layers to confine the water; and (3) the level of the ground-water 

table at the source should be enough higher than the surface at the 

point where the well is located to compensate for the loss of head 

due to resistance and leakage. As these conditions vary from point 

to point it is evident that both flowing and nonflowing artesian wells

FIGURE 3. Diagram showing the common arrangement of factors producing artesian wells. A, artesian 

wells; S, head of water if there were no loss by resistance or leakage; C, actual head of hydraulic 

gradient; D, ground-water table at outcrop.

may occur within the same artesian area. The accompanying diagram (fig. 3) illustrates the most common arrangement of factors 

producing artesian wells.

ARTESIAN WATERS IN NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

GENERAL GEOLOGIC RELATIONS OF THE WATER-BEARING BEDS.

Within the area here considered the known water horizons occur 

in the Cretaceous and Tertiary and may be represented as follows:

Water-bearing formations in northeastern Texas.

System.

Tertiary (Eocene).

Upper Cretaceous 

(Gulf series).

Formation.

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

Midway formation.

Navarro formation and 

Taylor marl.

Austin group.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

Character.

Sands and clays. Certain beds water bearing. No 

correlation possible.

Mostly clays, some thin beds of limestone in places. 

No water. Some sandy beds slightly water bearing.

Clay marls, not water bearing. Glauconitic sands. 

An important water horizon in Arkansas; of 

doubtful utility in Texas.

Clay and chalk marls in places sandy. Near the base 

a bed of sand appears to be water bearing, but it 

has not been developed.

Chalk (Annona) and chalk marl (Brownstown). 

Not available as a source of water. Contains hard 

water where porous.

Blossom sand member. Waterbearing. 

Clays. No water, or limited supplies of highly mineralized water.

Sands and shales. The sands are usually water 

bearing. Several water horizons.
38 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OP NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

Water-bearing formations in northeastern Texas Continued.

System.

Lower Cretaceous 

(Comanche series).

Formation.

Washita group.

Fredericksburg group (Goodland limestone).

Trinity sand.

Character.

Impure limestones and usually nonwater-bearing 

marls; 35 feet of sand a with water occurring in 

the Paris well.

Massive white limestone. No water.

Sands and clays with thin beds of limestone. Important water horizon in Texas; becomes of less 

importance eastward.

a According to Mr. J. A. Porter (p. 46), the seventh water horizon occurred under a limestone "caprock" at 1,635 feet. The sandstone is evidently the one mentioned by Hill (p. 46) as occurring at 1,650- 

1,685 feet, but Hill does not state that it is waterbearing. The discrepancy as to the lower portion of the 

Paris record is not easily reconcilable, there being no reliable data available for that part of the hole.

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.

TRINITY SAND.

The Trinity sand is an important water-bearing horizon, supplying 

a large number of wells in central Texas, where it is divisible into 

several formations, known as the Trinity group. In the main the 

beds consist of fine, clean, white sand pressed compactly together 

and popularly known as "packsand." The group includes some 

calcareous beds, which increase in thickness toward the southern 

part of the State, and are there known as the Glen Rose limestone.

The outcrop of the Trinity sand occurs in Oklahoma several miles 

north of Red River. This catchment area constitutes a belt from 5 

to 10 miles in width, extending nearly due east into Arkansas. From 

this line of exposure the southward dip of the beds carries them 

beneath all this part of northeastern Texas to depths proportionate 

to the distance from the outcrop. The only available record of the 

depth to the Trinity sand in northeastern Texas is that of the well at 

Paris (p. 45), where it was reached at about 1,735 feet. From this 

record and from the depth of the sands as shown by a well at Hugo 

the dip of the formations is estimated at about 56 feet per mile.

Sands being near-shore formations they gradually give place seaward to contemporaneous clays and limestones formed in deeper and 

quieter waters. This change consists both in an increase in the 

argillaceous and calcareous constituents of the rocks and in a wedging 

out of the sands. This imbrication of the strata is shown in the 

ideal diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas 

and southwestern Arkansas given by Taff 1 (fig. 4, p. 39).

Water falling upon the outcrop of the Trinity sand or carried over 

it by rivers sinks into it readily, and for a certain distance from the 

outcrop these sands furnish an abundant supply of water of excellent 

quality. Farther away, however, the water becomes affected by

Tafl, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 697.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 39

mineral constituents taken up in its 

underground passage, and is likely to be 

too highly mineralized for ordinary use. 

The conditions which control the 

height to which water will rise in wells 

has been explained (p. 37). Within the 

main zone of saturation water pressures 

in a formation are likely to be unequal, 

owing to differences in the coarseness of 

the strata, leakage through springs, and 

local irregularities in the additions supplied by rainfall. Hence there is a 

gradual decline in the pressure head 

with increase of distance from the line 

of outcrop. In the absence of accurate 

relief maps of northeastern Texas any 

statement of the areas in which flowing 

wells may be expected from any particular horizon can be approximate only. 

At its outcrop north of Hugo the Trinity 

sand stands about 500 feet above sea 

level. The elevation of the top of the 

well at Paris is 510 feet. Water from 

the Trinity would therefore lack 10 feet 

of rising to the top even if it sustained 

no loss of pressure. The amount of such 

loss is unknown, but assuming it to be 

30 or 40 feet the water from the Trinity 

sand would lack 40 or 50 feet of reaching 

the surface at Paris. The area in which 

flowing wells may be expected from the 

Trinity sand in the vicinity of Paris or at 

points equally distant from the outcrop 

must therefore have an altitude of less 

than 450 or 460 feet above sea level, hence 

these wells would be confined to the 

vallev of Red River.

WASHITA GROUP.

The Washita group has not hitherto 

been recognized as including waterbearing beds. Its mention here is based 

on the somewhat doubtful assignment to 

it of the seventh water horizon in the

3 g

' * '/-I

II

Hugo 547

OKLAHOMA TEXAS " 

[-Arthur 426

-Lenoir 532

-Paris 601

NorihFork, 

SuTpbw River

-Cooper 495

SoafhFark 

STilpharRiver

H South Line 

Hopkins Co
40 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OP NOETHEASTEBlSr TEXAS.

Paris well (p. 45). Even if the seventh horizon belongs to the Washita, 

some doubt exists as to whether the water came from that level (sandstone No. 24 of the section) or from some lower horizon. Hill in 

his section (p. 46) gives a sandstone at 1,650 to 1,685 feet, but does 

not credit it with having water. Mr. Porter's log shows the seventh 

water horizon at 1,635 feet just below a limestone, a depth very close 

to that of the bed (24) shown in Hill's section.

A point in favor of assigning the bed to the Washita group is the 

statement of Mr. Porter that the water from it rose to within 2 feet 

of the surface. The evidence available does not support the view 

that water from the Trinity would rise so high. The Washita, on the 

other hand, outcrops in the vicinity of Hugo at a higher level than 

the Trinity and can reasonably be expected to furnish flowing wells 

at a level of 500 to 510 feet in Lamar County. In general the Washita 

group consists of shales and limestones, but it contains some arenaceous beds in the upper part (Denison formation; the Pawpaw beds 

of Hill), and these may contain water in some places.

Flowing wells may be expected from the Washita group, if water 

bearing, along the south side of Red River in Lamar County at altitudes of 500 feet and under. Toward the east the pressure evidently 

declines because of the gradual lowering of the surface of the outcropping beds in the territory. The area in which flowing wells may be 

had from this horizon is probably confined to Lamar County and the 

extreme northern part of Red River County.

WOODBINE SAND.

The Woodbine formation consists of alternations of sands, sandstones, clays, and marls, commonly lignitiferous and glauconitic and 

containing iron pyrite. The character of the waters also indicates 

that some of the beds contain more or less iron and salt. The lower 

portion of the formation, called by Taff and Hill the Dexter sand, 

has layers of considerable thickness, which are free from mineral 

matter and rather porous. The water from this horizon (sixth) in 

the Paris well (p. 45) rose to within 6 feet of the surface. Its character was not adequately tested, however, as it was allowed to mingle 

with the more mineralized waters from the higher beds. The upper 

portion of the Woodbine includes several beds of sand which are 

water bearing, but they contain quantities of vegetable and animal 

remains which, together with soluble salts, so impregnate the water 

as to render it useless.

North of Paris Red River flows upon the outcrop of the Woodbine 

formation, the sands appearing on both sides of the river in the bluffs 

bordering the alluvial bottoms. On the south side of the river the 

sands outcrop in a belt several miles wide, extending through the 

northern part of Fannin, Lamar, and Red River counties, except 

where covered by Recent alluvial formations.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 41

EAGLE FORD CLAY.

Lower clays. The lower portion of the Eagle Ford consists of blue 

marly clays containing hard concretions, with occasional layers of 

sandy shale. The sandy constituents increase downward and the 

formation gradually passes into the Woodbine sand below. This 

part of the formation is for the most part dry, but in places it contains 

small quantities of water, which, however, is too highly charged with 

deleterious substances to be used.

Blossom sand member. The upper 50 to 80 feet of the Eagle Ford 

clay consists of glauconitic sands irregularly interlaminated with 

clays. On exposure the sands become red from the oxidation of the 

contained iron. These sands outcrop in a narrow band from 1 mile 

to 2 miles wide, extending east and west across Red River, Lamar, 

and Fannin counties and adjoining on the south the Eagle Ford 

black prairies or clay belt. The towns of Blossom, Paris, and Detroit 

are located on the outcrop of these sands, the first named giving the 

name to the beds. The shallow wells along the outcrop commonly 

range from 25 to 75 feet in depth and yield an abundant supply of 

soft water, which in some wells is of good quality, but which in most 

is impregnated with variable amounts of mineral matter. The quality 

of the water from the embedded portion of this sand seems .to be 

good, as shown by the Clarksville waterworks wells, which derive 

their supply from it.

The sands appear to have a thickness of more than 60 feet generally, but only a small part of the member is water bearing a fact 

that must be taken into account in sinking wells to this horizon.

AUSTIN GROUP.

The Austin group consists chiefly of chalks (Annona chalk) and 

chalk marls (Brownstown marl) and is in the main destitute of water. 

In places, however, the beds are somewhat porous and may then 

furnish limited supplies of very hard water.

NAVARRO FORMATION AND TAYLOR MARL.

The Navarro formation and Taylor marl consist of clay and sandy 

marl, with some sand and chalk. Near the base is a bed of chalk, 

which outcrops near Enloe and southwestward in the vicinity of 

Pecan-Gap and Ladonia. Underneath the chalk is a soft yellow sand, 

which outcrops at Ladonia. The thickness of this sand is nowhere 

clearly shown, but probably does not exceed 50 or 60 feet. At Pecan 

Gap 30 feet of sand underlie the chalk, the base of the sand not being 

exposed. Portions of the sand become notably calcareous, with occasional thin chalky layers. Downward the sands grade into sandy 

yellow clay containing many Exogyra.
42 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

The outcrop of this sand constitutes a narrow band through the 

northern part of Delta County and south west ward in Hunt County 

through Wolf City. Its water-bearing character has not been tested 

underground, but its character and outcrop indicate that it may constitute a source of supply in a belt a few miles wide along its south 

border. As the catchment area is not extensive it is not likely to 

prove a very important horizon and will probably not be available 

for wells except in a comparatively small area.

In Arkansas the Nacatoch sand (see p. 25) constitutes an extensively exploited water horizon. At Texarkana it contains no less than 

eight water-bearing beds, two of which (at 1,020 and 1,174 feet, 

respectively) showed strong pressure. In Texas these beds show a 

diminution in their porous sandy character, and though still water 

bearing to some extent are of less importance in this respect than in 

southern Arkansas. In southern Delta County a narrow belt of glauconitic sandy shales and sands, which apparently represent this formation, outcrops along the north side of South Fork and just west of 

Commerce. The outcrops are meager, however, and the character 

and relations of the beds are not clearly shown. In a well 100 feet 

deep at Sulphur Bluff these sands were reached at 30 feet and were 

found to contain water, which, however, was not used. The overlap 

of the Eocene south of Sulphur Fork has covered the higher portions 

of the Cretaceous and nothing can be said of these beds here.

TERTIARY SYSTEM.

WILCOX ("SABINE") FORMATION.

The Wilcox ("Sabine") formation in this region consists of ferruginous and lignitiferous sands, ferruginous sandstones, and blue and 

brown clays, with one or more beds of lignite and local beds of iron 

ore. The formation is generally water bearing, but as its character 

changes from place to place no definite correlation can be made 

between the water sands in different localities. Owing to the lenticular character of the bedding it is probable that the water sands are 

of local extent only and occur in different positions within the 

formation.

Underground-water conditions in the Wilcox formation differ materially from those in the Cretaceous. In the Cretaceous the sandy 

beds lie between more impervious strata, thus permitting the water 

to enter only at the outcrop. In the Tertiary (Eocene) no such definite relationship exists between the clays and sands, there being no 

well-defined persistent clay layers. The whole series being predominantly sandy the water is relatively free to penetrate the beds, at 

any point. Hence the head in any case is dependent not on the 

height of the ground water table at the outcrop of the horizon tapped, 

but on its height near-the well. 1

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 81-82.
XJNDEKGKOUlSrD WATEK. 43

From the evidence supplied by the Sulphur Springs well (see p. 61) 

it would appear that below a depth of 50 feet in that vicinity the 

beds of the Wilcox are largely barren. At Mount Vernon, however, 

20 to 25 miles farther east and aBout 25 feet lower, an abundant 

supply of water is found at about 400 feet. At Mount Pleasant no 

water was found below the surface sands to a depth of 300 feet, but 

at Pittsburg, 12 miles south, 33 feet of water sand occurs at 151 to 

184 feet. At Daingerfield, 15 miles east of Pittsburg and at about 

the same level (400 feet above tide), the gin well is apparently supplied 

from the same bed at a depth of 186 feet, the water rising to within 

20 feet of the surface. This sand probably has its outcrop somewhere between Mount Pleasant and Pittsburg. At Jefferson a well 

whose top is 196 feet above tide obtains water at a depth of 830 feet.1

i

FIGUBE 5. Diagram showing water conditions in the lower Eocene strata in northwestern Louisiana 

and southern Arkansas. The beds are predominantly sandy, with irregular discontinuous clay masses; 

water is relatively free to pass to any part of the beds, and the hydraulic head depends on the local 

position of the ground-water table rather than on its position at the outcrop of the water-bearing beds.

At Hawkins, in the valley of the Sabine River, in Wood County, a 

flowing well is reported at a depth of 200 feet. The elevation of the 

town is 394 feet.

In general the water-bearing character of the Wilcox formation 

beds is controlled by the variation in the porosity of the beds from 

place to place, and hence the successful development of a well depends 

on finding a bed coarse enough to act as a natural horizontal strainer 

and so aid in removing the water in the adj oining finer beds. Although

the sand beds vary greatly in physical charact

short distances, there are, nevertheless, certain beds in which the

chances of developing a satisfactory well are

Of these the most important are located toward the top of the formation and are represented in the Pittsburg and

sr and thickness within

greater than in others.

Daingerfield wells.

i The authority for the depth of this well is Mr. J. M. De Ware, of Jefferson. In Hill's report (Twentyfirst Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 414) the depth of this well is given as 802 feet.
44 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

SURFICIAL SANDS AND GRAVELS.

The irregular deposits of sand and gravel of late Tertiary and Quaternary age, which in places overlie the older Tertiary and Cretaceous 

beds, are of varying value as water carriers. Wells in these beds 

situated on the hills are likely to be of some slight local importance. 

In the larger river valleys, however, they may yield large supplies.

REVIEW BY COUNTIES. 

LAMAK COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Lamar County adjoins Red River, in the 

extreme northwestern part of the area included in this report. It 

comprises an area of 903 square miles and in 1910 had a population of 

46,544. Its county seat and chief town is Paris, with a population of 

11,269. The county is traversed by the Texas & Pacific, St. Louis & 

Southwestern, and Texas Midland railways.

The drainage of the county is divided about equally between Red 

River and North Fork of Sulphur River, the divide between the two 

systems passing east and west across the county near the middle. 

The general slope is toward the southeast. The surface is rolling, 

without pronounced relief, the drainage ways being but moderately 

incised below the general plain level.

Geology. The south half of the county is underlain by light to 

dark-brown and jet-black clay or clay loam designated Houston clay 

and Houston black clay by the Bureau of Soils; these, constituting 

what is locally known as black waxy land, are residual soils derived 

from the weathering of the clay and chalk marls of the Austin group. 

Northward from Paris the gray sandy clay loam derived from the 

Eagle Ford clay extends to the vicinity of Lenoir, from which point 

north to the river a strip of sandy soil 2 to 10 miles wide represents the 

outcrop of the Woodbine sand.

Lamar County lies upon the outcrop of the lower half of the upper 

Cretaceous, comprising within its boundaries the Woodbine, Eagle 

Ford, Brownstown, and Annona formations and the Taylor marl, 

which outcrop in successive belts extending east and west across the 

county. North of the Brownstown area is a strip of sandy soil 1 to 

2 miles wide which represents the outcrop of the upper arenaceous 

layers of the Eagle Ford, to which in this report the name Blossom 

sand member is given. The approximate distribution of the outcrops 

of the different formations will be seen on the map (PI. I). Within 

the area of the Eagle Ford clay a number of isolated patches or outliers of overlying formations have not been entirely removed by 

erosion. No attempt has been made to map these areas. The strata 

have a dip of 50 to 60 feet per mile toward the south-southeast.
LAMAR COUNTY. 45

Water resources. Throughout the clay-land area cisterns and 

tanks constitute practically the sole source of water supply in Lamar 

County. Paris derives its supply from a rain reservoir about 6 miles 

west of town. In 1896 the city made a determined effort to develop 

an underground supply, but without satisfactory results. Shallow 

wells and springs are common in the area of the Woodbine sand, the 

supply for the most part being ample and the quality good.

Although the Trinity sand underlies the whole county (see fig. 4) 

only in the northern part is it near enough to the surface to be practically available. Its catchment area northward in Oklahoma is 

lower than the surface of most of Lamar County, hence flowing wells 

from this horizon can be expected only in the low-lying districts, 

notably along the valley of Red River.

A well put down by S. J. Wright on the banks of Red River 

opposite the mouth of Kiamichi River is reported to have found an 

abundant flow of water in these beds at a depth of 301 feet, the water 

having sufficient force to rise to a considerable height above the 

surface. Owing to the caving of the well, the drill was lost and the 

well abandoned.

The Woodbine sand outcrops in the northern part of the county 

and over its area the ground-water table can be reached by wells at 

depths of 20 to 50 feet. Southward from the outcrop the sands lie 

at constantly increasing depths. At Paris the first water sand of 

this formation was found at 600 feet.

A detailed section of the Paris well has been kindly furnished by 

Mr. John A. Porter, the superintendent. The boring, which was 

made by the city waterworks, is located 2J miles east of the city 

square. The elevation is 510 feet above tide (91 feet lower than 

the United States Geological Survey bench mark on the Government 

building, which reads 601 feet). The well was completed December 

19, 1906.

Record of the Paris well.

Formation.a

Eagle 

Ford 

clay.

Blossom 

sand 

member.

Woodbine sand.

No.

1 

2

3 

4 

5

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13

Character.

Marl of lighter color; second water at 570; rose to within 110 feet 

of surface.

Marl............................................................

Sandrock; third water; rose to within 100 feet of the surface. . . . . 

Marl... .........................................................

Marl............................................................

Marl. . ..........................................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

(iO 

20

100 

320 

100

50 

125 

8 

175 

25 

66 

31 

33

Depth.

Feet. 

60 

80

180 

500 

600

650 

775 

783 

958 

983 

1,049 

1,080 

1,113

a Identifications by the writer.
46 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Record of the Paris well Continued.

Formation.

Woodbine sand.

Washita group 

and Trinity

sand.

No.

14

15

16

17 

IS

19

?.n

?1

22 

23

24

Character.

Unrecorded; "was drilled while sand bucket was being drilled 

out."

Qanrlrnpk bixtn water, rose

L^sesand '- - --- -[ to within 6 feet Loosesand... ......... ...................... j of the surface.

Sand, followed in succession by shell rock (8 to 10 inches) and 

alternating layers of limestone and marl darker below.

Unrecorded; sand at top; seventh water, which rose to within 2 

feet of the surface.

Thickness.

Feet. 

52

6

105

39 

f 33

39 i 9<;

I 8

130

85

360

Depth.

Feet. 

1,165

1,171

1,276

1,315 

1,348

1,387

1,412

1,420

1,550 

1.635

1,965

The above record to a depth of 1,550 feet (Nos. 1 to 22) corresponds 

with that published by Hill.1 The remaining portion of Hill's record, 

which stops at 1,726 feet, is as follows:

Record of loiver part of Paris well (by Hill).

Formation.

Washita group.

No.

?3

?4

?5

26

?7

28

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

100

35

15

15

+1

Depth.

Feet. 

1,650

1,685

1,710

1,725

1,726

According to Porter, water was found in sand at 1,Q35 feet. This is 

evidently the sand noted in Hill's section at 1,650 to 1,685 feet 

(No. 24). Hill makes no mention of water at this horizon. From 

the greater detail given by Hill from 1,550 to 1,726 feet it is probable he had before him the drillings from the well. Later the well was 

extended to 1,965 feet, but no record is available for this portion. 

The Trinity must have been reached at about 1,735 feet, but nothing 

is known of its water-bearing character.

The Paris well is located on the outcrop of the Blossom sand 

member, which constitutes the upper part of the Eagle Ford clay, 

in which five small water reservoirs were encountered within the 

first 100 feet. In the Woodbine, aggregating about 800 feet in thickness, are six beds of sand, five of which are water bearing. The first 

yielded at 570 feet a strong flow of briny water, which rose to within 

110 feet of the surface; it may represent a water sand within No. 5, 

not otherwise noted. The second (No. 8) also yielded salty water,

Hill, E. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt, 7, 1901, p. 629.
LAMAR COUNTY. 47

which rose 10 feet higher than that from No. 5. The third at 958 feet 

yielded water that rose to within 75 feet of the surface, and the fourth 

at 1,049 feet water that rose to within 30 feet of the surface. All of 

the waters were briny and unfit for use. In the fifth sand (No. 19) a 

strong flow was reached at 1,350 feet and rose to within 6 feet of the 

surface. The quality of this water is unknown, as the waters from 

above were allowed to mingle with it. This sand is inferred to be the 

basement reservoir of the Woodbine, which is so prolific of wells 

in regions to the southward. The next water, the seventh, according to Porter, came from beneath a bed of limestone at 1,635 feet 

and rose to within 2 feet of the top. The failure to exclude the 

higher waters throws doubt on the character of those from the two 

lowest flows. The height to which the water rises indicates that flowing wells may be obtained from these horizons in Lamar County 

at localities having elevations under 500 feet.

In the area of outcrop of the Blossom sand member water is found 

in shallow wells at depths ranging from 15 to 50 feet. The water from 

many of these wells is strongly mineralized, but a notable difference 

is manifested by the waters of wells which are near together. The 

well of the Texas Midland Kail way at Paris is located in these sands 

at an altitude of about 566 feet. The following record, which has been 

published by Hill,1 was supplied by the president of the company, 

E. H. K. Green.

Well of the Texas Midland Raihvay, Paris, Lamar Count}/, Tex.

No.

1

o

3

4

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

18

15

12

28

Depth.

Feet. 

18

33

45

73

At Blossom, a station on the Texas & Pacific Kail way 12 miles 

east of Paris, a number of wells have been sunk to depths of 15 to 40 

feet. W. E. Moore's well, located near the edge of the Black Prairie, 

in the south part of the town, gave the following record:

Well of W. E. Moore, Blossom, Tex.

No.

1

4

5

Character. Thickness.

Ft. in. 

6

25

10

4

110

Depth.

Ft. n. 

6

31

35 10

145 10

Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901, p. 631.
48 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Water, doubtless coming from the sand of No. 2, rose in this well 

to within 30 feet of the surface. The water is not used.

A well 117 feet deep put down near the depot several years ago yields 

a small supply of mineralized water which is regarded locally as having valuable medicinal properties. The only soft-water well in 

town is that of John Carter, on the north side of the village. It is 

about 30 feet deep. (See analyses of water of the Blossom wells, 

p. 74.)

In the south part of the county the Blossom sand member apparently underlies all the black-land area and can be reached at gradually 

increasing depths up to 1,400 or 1,500 feet. Wells located on the 

Annona chalk belt will reach the sands at depths of from 300 to 600 

feet. The water-bearing character of these sands underground in 

Lamar County has not been tested and their availability is largely 

a matter of conjecture. At Clarksville, in Red River County, however, they yield an ample supply of good water for the use of the 

city and it is quite probable tnat similar supplies may be found in 

them in Lamar County. In the absence of well records no definite 

statement can be made as to the height to which water from the 

Blossom sand member will rise in the county. At Clarksville the 

wells have an elevation of about 450 feet and the water rises to within 

55 feet of the top. At their outcrop 4 miles north of town t e sands 

have an elevation of about 400 feet. Westward there is a rise in 

the surface outcrop with a corresponding rise in the water table to 

about 550 feet at Paris. From this it will appear that flowing 

wells can not be expected from the Blossom sand member in Lamar 

County at elevations greater than 500 to 525 feet.

DELTA COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Delta County borders Lamar County on the 

south and occupies the triangular-shaped area between North and 

South forks of Sulphur River. It has an area of 266 square miles, 

with a population of 14,566; the county seat is Cooper. The county 

is traversed from northeast to southwest by the Texas Midland Railroad and is intersected for short distances in the northwest and southwest corners by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and St. Louis & 

Southwestern railroads, respectively.

The county is an eastward-dipping plain, grading from the rolling 

black prairie on the north and west to an almost flat surface on the 

east. Elevations are: Enloe, 495; Cooper, 495; Klondike, 478; and 

Ben Franklin, 465 feet, above sea level. It is drained entirely by 

North and South forks of Sulphur, the larger part going to the latter 

on account of the general slope. None of the drainage ways are 

conspicuous.
DELTA COUNTY. 49

Geology. The county is situated on the outcrop of the uppermost 

beds of the Upper Cretaceous as represented in Texas, South Fork 

following approximately the boundary between the Cretaceous and the 

overlying Eocene Tertiary. A single small area of Cretaceous in the 

form of an inlier occurs south of South Fork at Sulphur Bluff in northeast Hopkins County. Outside a narrow belt bordering South Fork 

the soils of Delta County are of the black waxy type characteristic 

of the black-prairie region of Texas.

Water resources. In the black-land areas the water for domestic 

use is derived almost entirely from cisterns and tanks. In the rather 

small sandy areas both wells and cisterns are in use. A boring made 

by Mr. E. H. Bond 3 miles southwest of Cooper to a depth of 263 feet 

was wholly in clay marl. The section is as follows:

Record of E. II. Bond's well 3 miles southwest of Cooper, Tex.

No.

1

?,

3

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

5

45

213

Depth.

Feet. 

5

50

263

No water was found except a "slow seep" from No. 2. This is the 

source from which the water of the shallow wells is derived, but the 

water is hard and brackish and little used except for stock.

In the sandy areas in the south part of the county the wells range 

in depth from 10 to 100 feet. The water is reported to be fairly good 

and the supply ample, but cisterns are coming into general use. 

Throughout the county rain reservoirs and tanks are relied upon 

mainly for stock supplies.

No effort has been made to exploit the underground waters of Delta 

County. A study of the geology shows that although the Trinity 

and Woodbine reservoirs undoubtedly extend beneath the county, 

they are at too great depth to be available even if they were likely to 

furnish a desirable quality of water, which is improbable. The estimated depth of the Trinity at Cooper is about 3,000 feet. The depth 

to the first water sands of the Woodbine is 1,800 to 2,000 feet and to 

the lowest, the only one concerning whose quality doubt exists, is 

800 to 900 feet deeper. The Blossom sand member can be reached 

at a probable depth of from 1,200 to 1,300 feet. In the absence of 

any test well in the region, however, no safe prediction can be made as 

to its availability as a source of water supply so far from the outcrop.

The only other apparent source of underground water over the

larger portion of the county is the sand bed which outcrops along the

south side of North Fork. This sand evidently extends beneath the

larger part of the county. From its outcrop it appears to dip south

87985° WSP 276 IX 4
50 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEKS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

by southeast, and can be reached at increasing depths according to the 

elevation of the surface and the distance from the outcrop. At Commerce, Hunt County, it lies at a depth of 600 feet and, as shown by the 

Midland Railway well (see below), is water bearing. At Cooper the sand 

is estimated to lie at a depth of 500 to 600 feet. As the surface is 30 

to 50 feet higher at Cooper than at the outcrop of the sand, flowing 

wells could not be expected, but the water would probably rise to 

within 50 feet of the top of the well. The width of the outcrop or 

catchment area of the sand is from 1 to 2 miles.

The upper sands (Nacatoch?) outcrop in a narrow belt along the 

south side of the county through Klondike and to the north of Commerce just over the line in Hunt County. These sands would be 

available for wells only in a restricted area bordering South Fork. 

At Horton, 4 miles south of Klondike, these sands were reached at

315 feet:

Record of well at Horton, Delta County, Tex.

No.

1

3

4

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

30

60

225

(?)

Depth.

Feet. 

30

90

315

At Commerce, Hunt County, which is located at about the same 

geologic horizon, the same sands occur at a depth of 370 to 385 feet, 

according to the somewhat imperfect records available.

Record of Capt. Ander's well; deration, 548 feet, approximate.

No.

1

?,

3

Character.

S oil . . ...........................................................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

10

30

330

Depth.

Feet. 

10

40

370

Record of Texas Midland Railroad ivell; elevation, 548 feet, approximate.

No.

1

?,

3

5

6

7

8

9

10

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

20

365

4

195

6

6

55

25

Depth.

Feet. 

20

385

389

393

588

594

600

655

685
BED RIVER COUNTY. 51

The depth of this well is given on the authority of Mr. L. W. Wells, 

assistant to the general manager of the Texas Midland Railroad, who 

states that the upper horizon has been cased off. The upper sands 

(No. 4) apparently represent the Nacatoch. The lower sands (No. 8) 

apparently represent the sands which outcrop near Ladenia. The 

statement by Hill 1 that a well 2,390 feet deep had been put down by 

H. G. Johnston at Commerce is an error, as Mr. Johnston writes that 

he has never put down a well at Commerce.

RED RIVER COUNTY.

Geographic relations. -Red River County adjoins Lamar County on 

the east and, like Lamar, lies between Red River on the north and 

Sulphur River on the south. It has an area of 1,061 square miles and 

a population of 28,564. The county seat is Clarksville. It is traversed from east to west by the Texas & Pacific Railway, which follows 

the crest of the divide between Red and Sulphur rivers.

-The general slope to the southeast has the effect of throwing the 

principal part of the drainage into the Sulphur. The surface is rolling 

without marked relief and the drainage ways are for the most part 

inconspicuous. The most important tributaries are Pecan Bayou on 

the north and Cuthand Creek on the south. The plateau level ranges 

from about 530 feet above sea on the west to 390 feet above on the 

east. Detroit has an elevation of 482 feet; Bagwell, 476; Clarksville, 442; and Annona, 370.

Geology. The geologic conditions in the northern and western parts 

of Red River County present essentially the same features as are 

found in Lamar County on the west. The outcrop of the Upper Cretaceous formations constitute a series of belts extending northeast 

two-thirds of the way across the county, where they disappear under 

a covering of Quaternary sands and gravels. In the northern part 

of the county the Woodbine sand appears along the south side of the 

Red River valley, bordered on the south by the clays of the Eagle 

Ford formation. Then comes the Blossom sand member of the Eagle 

Ford in a strip a mile or two wide extending from Blossom eastward 

nearly across the county to where the formation disappears beneath 

the alluvium of the Red River valley about 10 miles north of Annona. 

South of this comes the black-land area representing the outcrop of 

the chalk marls (Brownstown), chalk (Annona), and clay marls 

(Navarro and Taylor), each constituting a belt 5 to 6 miles in width, 

disappearing under the Quaternary deposits a short distance east of 

Annona. In the southern and eastern parts of the county the 

Cretaceous formations are entirely hidden from view by the early 

Quaternary (Port Hudson) deposits, which cover the higher areas,

i Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 637,
52 GEOLOGY AND GBOUND WATEES OF NOETHEASTEEN TEXAS.

and by the flood-plain deposits which occupy the valleys. Moreover, 

the Quaternary sands and gravels occur in broad, shallow depressions 

eroded in the Cretaceous area. A case in point is that of Cuthand 

Creek, the headwaters of which west of Clarksville are engaged in removing the filling of sand and gravel, occupying a depression in the 

surface of the chalk and chalk marls. The Annona chalk makes its 

appearance on the east side of this valley 6 or 8 miles southwest of 

Clarksville and extending northeastward constitutes the broad ridge 

on which the town is situated.

Water resources. The areas in which shallow wells constitute a 

source of water supply are confined chiefly to the valleys of the main 

streams. Outside the valleys a few shallow wells, sunk in areas covered by the Quaternary sands and gravels, in places furnish an abundance of fairly good water, but not uncommonly are found to be too 

highly charged with deleterious substances to be used. Wells located 

in the northern part of the county on the outcrop of the Woodbine 

sand find water at depths varying from 20 to 40 feet. In general 

the water is good and the supply ample. The outcrop of the Blossom 

sand member constitutes a third but less important area of shallow 

wells. Water is found at a depth of 10 to 30 feet in this area, but it is 

likely to contain a large amount of mineral substances in solution. 

Wells differ greatly in the character of the water they furnish, those 

located near together often showing wide discrepancy.

Few surface wells have been dug in the Eagle Ford prairie or blackland areas; and such as have been attempted secure but a limited 

supply of water of poor quality in the seepage that finds its way along 

the joints of the clays and chalk.

The artesian conditions in Red River County are similar to those in 

Lamar County. The southward dip of the Trinity sand carries it too 

far below the surface to be available for wells located anywhere outside of the valley of Red River. It seems possible that flowing wells 

may be obtained in this formation in the lowlands bordering Red 

River, but in the absence of a suitable topographic map no definite 

prediction as to this can be made.

The Woodbine sand contains plenty of water, which when tapped 

by wells in the area to the south of the outcrop will tend to rise to 

the surface. The uncertainty of finding good water in the upper beds, 

however, makes these horizons of doubtful utility in this county. 

In an effort made some years ago to find artesian water the city 

of Clarksville drilled to the Woodbine sand, finding water at a depth 

of about 1,100 feet. The water, which was too salty for use, is reported 

to have been accompanied by natural gas and to have spouted out 

at the surface when first struck, but quickly subsided to 10 feet below 

the top. The elevation of the top of the well is about 430 feet, which 

indicates that flowing wells may be expected from this horizon in
BOWIE COUNTY. 53

locations having an altitude less than 420 feet. In 1902 the Clarksville Ice Co. put down a well to a depth of 1,800 feet, passing two 

water horizons, both in the Woodbine, one at 1,000 feet and one 

at 1 ; 600 feet. The water from both these horizons was too strongly 

charged with salt for use. It appears that no attention was paid 

in either of these attempts to the horizon from which the present water 

supply of the city is obtained.

In 1902 the city of Clarksville * completed two wells, finding water 

in sand immediately underlying the chalk and chalk marl on which 

the city is located. This bed, to which the name. Blossom sand 

member has been given,'was reached at a depth of about 600 feet. 

The water, which rises to within 55 feet of the surface, is soft but 

rather high in alkalies, and the supply is apparently ample. The 

sands from which this supply comes outcrop along Pecan Bayou 

about 4 miles north of town. The elevation of the outcrop is about 

400 feet, as determined by the aneroid, and the top of the well 450 

feet, indicating that the Blossom sand member has a southward 

dip here of about 130 feet per mile. Assuming this rate of dip to 

continue it is evident the member will not be available as a source of 

water supply south of a line drawn east and west 7 or 8 miles south 

of Clarksville. Between this line and the outcrop of the member on 

the north the indications are favorable for good wells in this sand, 

but llowing wells can be expected only in those localities whose 

elevations are under 400 feet.

. Indications of oil and gas are reported to have been found in a 

well 100 feet deep on the farm of Mr. Cox, about a mile north of 

Detroit. If correctly reported, these evidently came from sandstone 

lenses in the Eagle Ford clay.

BOWIE COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Bowie constitutes the third and most easterly of the three counties occupying the narrow divide between 

Red Kiver and Sulphur Fork. Its population is 4,827. Its width 

from north to south varies from 25 miles at the west end to 20 at the 

east. The relief is low and the crest of the divide, which is occupied 

by the Texas & Pacific Railway, is located north of the center line 

of the county. The divide slopes gradually eastward, as shown by 

the following list of elevations taken in order from west to east: 

DeKalb, 407; New Boston, 352; State line, 282.

Geology. As shown on the map (PL I, p. 16), the larger portion of the 

area included between the flood plains of the two rivers is occupied 

by sands and gravels of Quaternary age. A considerable area in. the 

southern and eastern part of the county is of Eocene (Wilcox) age, 

the north boundary of the formation extending through Old Boston

i For information concerning the Clarksville wells indebtedness is acknowledged to Mayor F. B. Mason.
54 GEOLOGY AND GKOUETD WATEES OP NOKTHEASTEBN TEXAS.

and crossing the railroad track in the vicinity of Whaley station. 

New Boston is situated in a plain underlain by clay apparently 

representing the outcrop of the Midway formation (Eocene).

Three miles north of Malta station, on the Freeze place, is a small 

outcrop of the fossiliferous clay marl belonging to the undrffereiitiated 

Navarro and Taylor. The exposure occurs on the edge of a river 

terrace and has an area of about 2 square miles. Calcareous clay and 

greensand about 25 feet in thickness are here overlain by a thin 

capping of Quaternary sand and gravel. The locality is noted 

throughout the surrounding region for the Cretaceous shells found in 

the clays.

Water resources. Throughout the county water is usually found 

in shallow wells varying in depth from 20 to 60 feet. The quality 

is in general good and the supply ample except in certain elevated 

localities where the water-bearing sands have been dissected by 

erosion. Instances are noted where wells when first drilled supplied good water, but after a time became highly charged with 

deleterious substances, especially hydrogen sulphide (HS2 ). This 

is probably due to the entrance of low forms of plant life or to the 

decomposition of iron sulphide in the sand through the accession 

of air.

In the area covered by the Port Hudson (Pleistocene) deposits 

water is found in packsand or quicksand underlying clay near the 

middle or base of the formation, which does not usually exceed 60 

feet in thickness. In the deeper wells the water is said to occur 

in a black sand immediately below a sandy clay "rock." Most 

wells are from 20 to 30 feet in depth. A few have been extended 

through the Port Hudson into the underlying clays of the Midway 

or the Cretaceous formations, but the results generally have not been 

satisfactory.

Where erosion has dissected the formation, exposing a bed of 

clay, springs are likely to occur at the top of the clay. Such a case 

is seen at De Kalb, where a fine spring occurs in a ravine about 

one-half mile southwest of the railroad station. The water, which 

is of good quality, flows out at the top of a dark-brown tough sandy 

clay.

In the Eocene area water is found in shallow wells at varying 

depths, from 20 to 50 feet, according to locality. The soils of this 

area are chiefly red and yellow sands, grading downward into partly 

consolidated sands and sandy shales, portions of which consist of 

hard ferruginous sandstone. The water from this horizon is usually 

more or less strongly mineralized. Dalby Springs, four in number, 

derive their supply from these beds; the water from them varies 

somewhat, but in all is rather strongly mineralized. (See p. 74 for 

analyses.)
BOWIE COUNTY. 55

In the eastern part of the county the Wilcox formation is more 

or less obscured by the later deposit of the Port Hudson. In this 

part of the county the water occurs in the surficial sands and gravels 

at depths varying from 15 to 45 feet. The supply of the Texarkana 

Water Co. is obtained from 52 wells located in a branch valley in the 

northeastern part of the city. The supply comes mainly from the 

surficial sands at from 15 to 45 feet below the surface.

Deep wells. While several deep wells are known to have been 

put down in this county, only very meager information concerning 

them is at present obtainable. In 1905 a boring was completed a 

mile south of De Kalb to a depth of 1,833 feet in the search for oil 

and gas. The top of the well is about 350 feet above sea level, or 

50 feet lower than the station. The only record obtainable of this 

hole is the following, given from memory by Mr. N. E. McKinney, the 

president of the company:

Record of ivell 1 mile south of De Kalb, Tex.

No.

1 

2 

3 

4 

5

Character.

Compact bed of clay with w 

Unrecorded. ................

Blue clay. (Showing of oil <ind gas at 1,503). . .....................................

Thickness.

Feet. '93 

7 

400 

530

Depth.

Feet. 

93 

100 

500 

1,030

Water was encountered which at first overflowed and at the time 

of visit stood a little below the surface. No attention was paid 

to the water horizons nor to the character of the water. It is 

probable the water which rose to the surface came from the Blossom 

sand member, which was evidently penetrated at a depth of about 

1,030 to 1,050 feet.

In 1898 a well was put down on the public square of New Boston 

to a depth of 1,270 feet, according to Mr. Paul G. Ruff. The drill 

is said to have passed through alternate strata of blue shale and 

sand rock, finding at about 500 feet one flow which rose to within 

40 feet of the surface and another at about 700 feet; both flows 

were strongly salt. Mr. C. A. Berkshire states that the drill passed 

through about 450 feet of blue shale and then sand and sandy shale, 

with a number of beds of hard rock, to a depth of 1,200 feet. The 

water, which occurs in the sandy beds at a depth of about 500 feet, is 

highly mineralized and is not used except to some extent for watering 

stock. It is evidently from the Nacatoch sand. The elevation of 

the top of the well is 350 feet.

In 1906 a test well for oil and gas was drilled at Redwater to 

a depth of 2,000 feet. The well, which is located 450 yards west 

of the station, was completed April 30, 1906. It was drilled by
56 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

J. J. Boynton, who furnishes the record. The elevation of the collar 

is about 286 feet above sea level.

Well of the Redwater Oil & Mineral Co., Redwater, Tex.

Formation.

Wilcox ("Sabine").

Midway 263.

Navarro formation andTayl'or marl.

Arkadelphia 565.

Nacatoch (?) 232.

Marlbrook(?)716.

Character.

4. Sand ......................................................

13. Yellow clay ...............................................

15. Soft light shale ............................................

18. Blue shale. ................................................

20. Black shale.. . .............................................

22. Blue shale. ................................................

23. Black shale. ..... .....................................

25. Soft black shale ...........................................

26. Shale with shells. .........................................

27. Black shale. ...........................:...................

28. Hard lime. ................................................

29. Gumbo. ...................................................

30. Lime. ........... .........................................

31. Blue shale. ................................................

38. Blue shale. ................................................

44. Shale. .....................................................

40. Shale. .....................................................

50. Black shalp. ...............................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

15 

2 

4 

3 

4 

4 

8 

25 

2 

13 

33 

2 

20 

60 

17 

30

47 

67 

1 

154

113

40 

240 

1 

79 

40 

~ 80 

28 

4 

5 

35

21 

67 

10 

20 

11 

2 

97 

4 

10

24 

12 

8 

40 

3 

34 

70 

5 

10 

494

Depth.

Feet. 

15 

17 

21 

24 

28 

32 

40 

(5 

67 

80 

83 

85 

105 

1C5 

182 

218

265 

332 

333

487

500 

540 

780 

781 

860 

900 

980 

1,008 

1,012 

1,017 

1,052

1,073 

1,140 

1, 1EO 

1,170 

1,181 

1,1£3 

1,280 

1,284 

1^294

1,318 

1,330 

1,338 

1,378 

1,381 

1,415 

1,485 

1,490 

1,506 

2,000

No record was kept of any of the water sands except Nos. 2 and 21. 

No. 2 (15 to 17 feet) is the source of supply for the surface wells of the 

neighborhood. The beds believed to represent the Nacatoch horizon 

(1052 to 1294) are probably water bearing. This well did not reach 

the Austin group, under which lies the water-bearing Blossom sand 

member of the Eagle Ford, but it evidently stopped not far short of it.

A comparison of this record with that at New Boston indicates that 

the southward dip of the formations in this locality is about 60 feet 

per mile.
BOWIE COUNTY. 57

Several wells put down in Texarkana reach the water-bearing Nacatoch sand at a depth of 800 to 850 feet. According to the superintendent, Mr. R. A. Munson, 1 the well of the waterworks company 

has the following record:

Record of well of Texarkana Waterworks Co.

Formation.

phia.

No.

1

4

5

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

50

730

100

5

Depth.

Feet. 

50

930

a Veatch assigns No. 5 to the Marlbrook, but the more complete record of the Oil Prospect well shows it to 

be evidently Nacatocn.

Analysis 1 shows the water to be highly mineralized. It is used 

only occasionally to supplement the supply from the shallow wells.

A well put down by the American Well & Prospecting Co. for the 

Home Ice Co. 2 was drilled to a depth of 1,900 feet, with the following 

results:

Record of well of Home Ice Co., Texarkana, Tex.

Formation.

Lafayette (?).................

phia.

Annona.

No.

1

?

/3

\4 

I 5

\6

8

9

Character.

Sand containing brackish water which rose within 

15 feet of the surface.

Sand containing brackish water which rose within 

5 feet of surface.

Thickness.

Feet. 

G

29

845

20 

11

30

125

Depth.

Feet. 

6

35

880

900 

911

941 

1,700

1,825

A similar record is shown by a well (No. 480) which was drilled in 

1907 by J. J. Boynton, as an oil prospect, 1 mile northeast of the city, 

and was abandoned at 1,390 feet.

The Texarkana oil pfospect well is located in the creek bottom at 

an elevation about 305 feet. The record was furnished by Mr. J. D. 

Cook. The well is cased with llf-inch pipe to 145 feet, with 9-inch 

pipe to 860 feet, and with 6-inch pipe to 1,360 feet.

i-Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 180,261. 

2 Idem, pp. 180, 265.
58 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

Record of well of Texarkana Oil Prospect.Co.

Formation.

Recent. 

Wilcox, 145 feet.

Midway, 289 feet.

Arkadelphia, 408 feet.

Nacatoch, 347 feet.

No.

1 

2 

3

4 

5 

6

7 

8

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79

Character.

Rock............................

Rock...........................

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

Gravel

Shale...........................

"Rock"........................

"Rock"........................

"Rock"........................

Thickness.

Feet. 

5 

40 

10 

55 

2 

43 

5 

35

3 

27 

44 

10 

20 

1 

-8 

2 

26 

4 

4 

3 

24 

4 

18 

5 

10 

3 

15 

4 

8 

20 

6 

2 

5 

3 

4 

7 

2 

35 

2

38 

30 'A 

37 

2 

16 

4 

108 

18 

10 

14 

20 

102 

6

2 

2 

4 

20 

8 

35 

4 

10 

30 

13 

6 

44 

20 

10 

1 

16 

6 

25 

3 

38 

3 

10 

4 

14 

4 

15

Depth.

Feet. 

5 

45 

55 

CO 

62 

105 

110 

145

148 

175 

179 

189 

209 

210 

218 

220 

246 

250 

254 

257 

281 

285 

303 

308 

318 

321 

336 

340 

348 

368 

374 

376 

381 

384 

388 

395 

397 

432 

434

472 

502 

505 

542 

544 

560 

564 

672 

G90 

700 

714 

734 

836 

842

844 

846 

850 

870 

878 

913 

917 

927 

957 

970 

976 

1,020 

1,040 

1,050 

1, 051 

1,067 

1,073 

1,098 

1,101 

1,139 

1,142 

1,152 

1,156 

1,170 

1,174 

1,189

Remarks.

9-inch casing to 860 feet.

Strong flow, came 

almost to top.

Water comes within 

25 feet of the top.

Strong pressure water.
BOWIE COUNTY. 

Record of well of Texarkana Oil Prospect Co. Continued.

59

Formation.

Austin, 459 feet.

Blossom sand member

of Eagle Ford clay,

42 feet.

Lower clays of Eagle

Ford clay and Woodbine sand, 174 feet.

No.

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119 

1 90

122

123

124

125

126

127

Character.

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

"Emery rock" (hard rock cut 

drill badly.)

Thickness.

Feet. 

2

30

8

21

16

6

8

12

20

10

16

12

50

97

13

75

15

30

35

10

80

15

70

30

35

63

12

16

18

27

6

15

18

2

7

17

18

79

5 

15

4

11

10

23

14

10

3

Depth.

Feet. 

1,191

1.221

1,229

1,250

1,266

1,272

1,280

1,292

1,312

1,322

1,338

1,350

1,400

1,497

1,510

1,585

1,600

1,630

1,665

1, 675

1, 755

1,770

1,840

1,870

1,905

1,968

1 980

l'996

2,014

2,041

2,047

2, 062

2,080

2,082

2,089

2,096

2,113

2,131

2,210

2,215 

2,230

2,234

2,245

2,255

2,278

2,292

2,302

2,305

Remarks.

6-inch casing to 1,360

feet.

.

Water salty. Rose

rapidly to 1,500 feet,

then slowly to top.

A comparison of the foregoing record with records published by 

Veatch* shows some discrepancies in the thicknesses of the different 

formations. These discrepancies may be attributed doubtless to the 

incompleteness of the earlier records, together with the varying character of some of the formations. In the ice company's well one chalk 

bed only is noted, and this is found at a depth of 1,700 feet. In the 

oil prospect well three chalk beds are penetrated, one at 1,350, one 

at 1,630, and one 1,665 feet. It is evident that the 125 feet of chalky 

limestone in the ice company's well represents the two lower beds 

with their associated marls or shales (Nos. 98, 99, and 100), and that 

the-upper bed of chalk No. 92 evidently grades horizontally into blue

'Veatch, A. C., Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 261-265.
60 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

marly clays which are included in the blue clays assigned to the Marlbrook in the ice company's well. Likewise, the greater thickness of 

the Nacatoch (347 feet) is probably to be accounted for by local variation in the character of the beds assigned to the lower part of the 

Arkadelphia or the upper part of the Marlbrook, or perhaps to lack 

of care in keeping the record.

From the data furnished by the above records it is shown that 

although the Nacatoch sand furnishes an abundance of water, its 

quality is such as to make it unfit for domestic use. The water 

found in the Blossom sand (Nos. 115-117) is too highly charged with 

saline constituents for use. The bed was not reached in the Redwater well. The only locality in which the Blossom sand member 

seems likely to constitute a possible source of water supply is in the 

western part of the county. From DeKalb westward this sand 

should be reached at from 1,000 to 1,300 feet, according to locality, 

and in some places the water will doubtless flow out at the surface. 

The quality *of this water differs greatly from point to point, and no 

reliable statement can be made as to wha't its quality may be at any 

place. At Clarksville it is of good quality and this is likely to be 

true of it in some other places.

HOPKINS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.

Topographic relations. Hopkins and Franklin counties lie just 

within the northern boundary of the Eocene and have the general 

relief of an eastward (coastward) sloping plain dissected by the 

branching tributaries of South Fork of Sulphur River on the north 

(mainly through White Oak Creek), and of Sabine River through 

Lake Fork on the south. The drainage of the region is divided about 

equally between the two systems. On the south and east the surface is diversified by many low eminences mostly rounded out of the 

unconsolidated sands, but in the extreme southern part of the area 

the interstream areas present a flat-topped, mesalike appearance, 

due to the capping of a more resistant layer of hard iron conglomerate. 

In the north and west a narrow strip of high-rolling prairie constitutes the eastward continuation of the prairie region of the adjoining 

county and has the White Oak bottom as its eastern limit. Cumby 

and Ridgeway, the two highest points in the district, are located on 

this prairie. The drainage ways are for most part broad and shallow 

and are occupied by insignificant streams, which in the summer or 

dry season consist merely of a chain of pools. White Oak bottom 

has an average width of about 3 miles. All the smaller streams are 

completely dry during the summer season. The population of 

Franklin County is 9,331, and that of Hopkins County is 31,038.

Geology. Hopkins and Franklin counties lie on the northern edge 

of the eastern timber belt, which represents the outcrop of the Eocene
HOPKINS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES. 61

Tertiary. The formations consist for the most part of unconsolidated 

sands and clays, with local beds of lignite and ferruginous sandstones and iron ore. Owing to the nonpersistent character of the 

stratification and the lack of fossils, no general sequence can be 

worked out in the stratigraphy of the region. It is clear, however 

that South Fork of Sulphur River marks the northern boundary of 

the Eocene in this region and that the beds belong to the Wilcox 

formation.

In prospecting for water at Sulphur Springs the city corporation 

put down, to a depth of 1,515 feet, a well, the record of which has 

been kindly furnished by Mr. W. B. Baxter. This section is instructive as showing the thickness and character of the formations constituting the lower Eocene in this region. The collar of the well is 500 

feet above tide.

Record of city well, Sulphur Springs, Tex.

Formation.

Wilcox.

Navarre and Tay'lor, 381.

No.

1

2

3

4 

5

6

7

8

9 

10

11

12 

13

34

15

1017

18

19

20

99

23

24

25

20

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

35

30

Character rock.

White sand with water; source of supply for most 

of the wells of the region.

Sand with water; furnishes city supply. .......... 

Shale. ....................... A. ..................

Black shale interlaminated with lighter colored 

shale; contains iron r-oncretions, ironpyrites, and 

mica.

Black shale with iron concretions; and fossils; 

Vcncricardia planic'isla,.

White clay . . .....................................

Thickness.

Feet.

1

8

4 

18

9

9

15

16 

59

1

565 

1

20

8

88

10

90

20

80

1

30

15

40

15

2

15

2*

1

1

14

95

101

Depth.

Feet. 

1

9

11

15 

33

35

37

52

68 

117

118

683 

OS4

704

712

800

810

900

920

1,000

1,004

1,034

1,036

1,051

1,091

1,093

1,108

1,110

1,125

1.127J

1, 132i

1, 133J

1,134*

1,3194

1, 414*

1,515*

The upper 1,134 feet of this section are assigned to the Wilcox 

and Midway, the division between these being placed tentatively at 

the base of No. 17, The beds below No. 33 apparently represent the, 

Navarro formation and Taylor marl,
62 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OF NOBTHEASTEEN TEXAS.

Kidgeway and Cumby are located 011 a prairie composed of dark 

soil underlain by yellow calcareous clay in some instances showing 

the presence of greeiisand. Some fossils obtained from this clay a 

few miles north of Cumby are reported by Dr. T. W. Stanton to be 

"probably of Tertiary age, but they contain no distinctive forms 

that fix the exact horizon." The stratigraphic relations indicate 

that the narrow strip of prairie extending from Cumby past Ridgeway 

represents the outcrop of the Midway clay and shale beds (Nos. 18- 

22).' North of Sulphur Bluff, in the northeastern part of the county, 

a narrow prairie of black soil overlies yellow calcareous clay over 

blue chalky sand. Three miles north of this, on the south side of 

South Fork, 42 feet of blue and black sandy shales and shaly sands, 

which is strongly bituminous and contains many Cretaceous fossils 

(pp. 27,28), outcrops in a bluff, where it apparently represents the 

lowermost beds of the Sulphur Springs well. This strip of black land 

is said to extend down the river as far as Goolesboro, in Titus County, 

where it disappears beneath the alluvium of the valley.

In the vicinity and south and east of Mount Vernon the higher 

elevations are capped by a deposit of unconsolidated yellow and red 

sand, white clays, and gravels which rest upon the apparently eroded 

surface of the Wilcox formation. Both sands and clays are usually 

distinctly cross-bedded and the contact with the underlying formation 

is frequently marked by a layer of ferruginous sandstone or iron ore, 

sometimes in broken blocks irregularly distributed along the plane 

of contact. These overlying beds are probably of late Tertiary age, 

though no evidence that would fix their age is at hand.

Deposits of lignite are reported from different localities, but the 

beds are usually thin and of small horizontal extent. A bed 2 feet 

thick is reported in the Sulphur Springs well at a depth of 9 feet 

and similar occurrences are reported in the vicinity of Mount Vernon 

in Franklin County. At Como, 10 miles south of Sulphur Springs, 

a bed of lignite 7 feet thick, found at a depth of 75 feet, has been 

successfully worked for the past six years. The lower 2 feet of the 

deposit is unavailable on account of impurities. The roof is composed'of compact sand and the mine is entirely free from water. 

This bed comes to the surface 1J miles north and borings do not 

indicate workable thickness outside a very small area. Fifteen feet 

above the Como vein is another bed 2J feet thick, and 45 feet above 

is one 2 feet thick. The following record of a shaft put down a 

number of years ago somewhere in this vicinity is published in the 

Texas reports. 1

. E. T., Report on brown coal and lignite of Texas, 1892, p. 161.
HOPKINS AND FBANKLIN COUNTIES. 63

Record of shaft near Como, Tex.

Feet.

1. Clay......................................................... 6

2. Sandrock..................................................... 10

3. Slaty clay...............................--.."......-.......... 4

4. Brown coal................................................... 16

5. Sands and clays............................................... 9

6. Plastic clay................................................... 30

75

In places the sands are indurated to form ferruginous sandstones, 

which weather out in irregular masses and have some use for building and paving, and by the railroads for ballast. No workable 

deposits of iron ore are reported in this district.

Water conditions. In the prairie areas cisterns are the sole reliance 

for water for domestic use. In the remaining areas shallow wells 

are abundant, the surface sand overlying a clay being a good reservoir. The water is, however, at times mineralized and many persons 

residing on the sandy lands have cisterns; some have both wells and 

cisterns. Sulphur Springs is now supplied by a rain reservoir, but 

for a long time, until it outgrew them, it was amply supplied by 

three wells.

In the sandy wooded region, the larger portion of which drains 

southward through Lake Fork and Big Cypress Creek, an abundant 

supply of water is found in the surface sands at depths varying from 

20 to 40 feet. Along the slopes springs are of frequent occurrence. 

In localities underlain by formations in which clay predominates 

some difficulty is found in obtaining sufficient supplies of water. 

The character of the water is quite variable, in some localities being 

soft and agreeable and in others more or less strongly mineralized. 

At Mount Vernon, Franklin County, the supply for domestic use is 

drawn chiefly from shallow wells and cisterns.

Deep wells. Very few attempts have been made to exploit the 

deep-lying water beds and the information concerning their extent, 

character, or location is very meager. The most serious attempt 

made was that at Sulphur Springs by the city authorities, who 

drilled to a depth of 1,515 feet without satisfactory results. The 

record of this well (p. 61) shows that below the upper " veins," Nos. 

4 and 9, the only water encountered was a small flow at a depth of 

1,034 feet and another at 1,303 feet. At Mount Vernon, Franklin 

County, the railroad has a 400-foot well which yields a large supply 

by pumping. 1 No information is available as to the horizon from 

which the water is derived. At Cumby, wells 300 feet deep fail to 

find water below the surface supply.

As to the Cretaceous horizons, very few data are available. The 

record of the Sulphur Springs well indicates, however, that owing

ih, A, 0., Prpf. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 230-231,
64 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

to the thickness of the post-Cretaceous deposits over most of this 

region the possibility of exploiting the underlying water horizons is 

exceedingly remote. The only district in which there is any possibility of obtaining water from the Cretaceous beds is in the extreme 

northern part of Hopkins County, and the lack of knowledge of the 

extent and water-bearing character of these beds makes hazardous 

any prediction concerning them. The conclusion seems warranted, 

however, that in the valley of the Sulphur Fork, and for 4 or 5 miles 

to the south, the Nacatoch sand may be reached at depths varying 

from 500 to 1,000 feet. At Commerce, in Hunt County, which is 9 

miles northwest of Ridgeway, these sands were reached at 370 feet. 

They outcrop between Commerce and Fairlie, 6 miles northwest of 

Commerce, giving an estimated dip of 50 feet per mile. From this 

it would appear that these beds may be reached at Ridgeway at a 

depth of 800 to 1,000 feet and the lower sands about 200 feet deeper. 

No prediction can be made as to the water-bearing character of the 

latter beds; the upper or Nacatoch sand is water-bearing at Commerce, but the water is not used because of its mineralized character.

CASS COUNTY.

Topography. Cass County is in the northeastern part of the 

State, adjoining the Louisiana State line; it is bounded on the north 

by Sulphur Fork, and on the south and west by the counties of 

Marion and Morris, respectively. Its area is 945 square miles and 

its population 27,587. Linden is the county seat. The county is 

traversed by two railroads the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the 

Texas & Pacific.

The region constitutes the eastern extension of the general coastward-sloping plain of the eastern timber belt and differs from the 

counties to the west only in the greater degree to which the original 

plain level has been dissected by erosion. The drainage is principally to the southeast through small streams emptying into Caddo 

Lake, Sulphur Fork on the north receiving but a small part of the 

run-off through a few short tributaries. The surface is decidedly 

rolling and is characterized in the main by long ridges extending 

from northeast to southwest, or in a direction at right angles to this. 

These ridges are separated by steep-sided, narrow, deep ravines, 

the bottoms of which are generally occupied by narrow streams fed 

by the numerous springs found everywhere along the sides of the 

ridges. 1 In some of the ridges deposits of laminated iron ore occur 

in thin seams at depths of 20 to 40 feet below the summits. Such 

ridges usually present a terraced appearance due in part to the 

differential erosion of the hard and soft layers and in part, doubtless,

i Kennedy, William, Second Ann. Rept. Geol, Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 67-6§.
CASS COUNTY. 65

to landslides brought about by the undermining action of springs 

which find their way out of the greensands that underlie the ore beds. 1

The following elevations are shown by the railroad profiles: Alamo, 

242; Atlanta, 264; Avinger, 393; Bivens, 314; Hughes Springs, 373; 

Kildare, 311; Queen City, 349.

The tops of the hills are from 50 to 100 feet above the level of the 

flood plains of the principal streams and have a general elevation of 

between 500 and 600 feet above tide level. On the north the wide 

flood plain of Sulphur Fork is bounded by a relatively narrow northward-facing drainage slope intersected by few and short tributaries.

Geology. The county lies entirely upon the outcrop of the Wilcox 

formation and, like the district on the west, is characterized by 

timber-covered slopes and sandy soils. The deposits exposed within 

the limits of the county present the twofold division noted in the 

counties farther west, viz, an upper unstratified deposit of sand 

with local deposits of iron ore and a lower division of stratified sands, 

sandy clays, and clays with local deposits of lignites.

The upper part of the lower division consists of thinly laminated 

red, yellow, and white sands and sandy cla}^, blending horizontally 

and vertically in places into unstratified mottled red and white sands. 

The clays are usually dark blue, gray, or black, or in places red, 

yellow, or white; they occur interstratified and interlaminated with 

the sands and are generally sandy, though in places fairly free from 

sand. These beds are well exposed in the vicinity of Queen City, 

where they have a thickness of 65 feet or more, for which reason 

the}^ have been given the name Queen City in the Texas reports.

Below these beds is a series of black, blue, and gray micaceous 

sands, 'blue, brown, and gray clays, and beds of lignites of varying 

thickness and generally of local extent. In places the sands are said 

to contain thin strata of sandstones and limestones.

Deposits of brown coal appear in different parts of the county, 

the best occurrences being reported from the northeastern portion, 

at Alamo and Stone Coal Bluff. At the former locality a bed of 

brown coal, 4 feet 7 inches thick, was found at a depth of 52 feet 

and another bed, 1 foot 8 inches thick, 11 feet higher. At Stone 

Coal Bluff a bed of coal 12 feet thick is said to occur at the bottom 

of the river. 2

Resting on the irregular worn surface of the stratified lignitiferous 

sands and clays constituting the lower division are yellow, brown, 

and red pebbly sands, for the most part unstratified, ranging from 

a few feet to 100 feet in thickness. These sands contain the ironore deposits of the region, which appear as a kind of pavement

i Penrose, R. A. F., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 84-86. Kennedy, William, Second 

Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 68-70. 

"Shumard, B. F., First Rept. Progress Geol. Survey Texas, p. 12.

87985° WSP 276 11 5
66 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

under the sands capping the ridges or as aggregations of bowlders 

accumulated along the slopes.

According to Kennedy, with the exception of some small deposits 

of laminated ore, no continuously bedded ores occur within the 

county. For the most part the ores consist of rounded, oval, or 

lenticular concretionary masses, which in places have the appearance of a regular bed, but which change horizontally into ferruginous 

sandstone or into the irregular or rudely rectangular blocks of conglomeratic ore usually found along the valley sides or capping the 

lower hills. The ore deposits vary in thickness from a few inches 

to a maximum of 10 feet,1 and for the most part are limited to the

surface. Parties 

who have worked 

and prospected the 

ores for years state 

that on following

FIGUBE 6. Diagrammat c section of strata near Atlanta, Cass County. fVipTv-i info tl'P hills

the ore is replaced by dark ferruginous sand. The best deposits are 

reported to occur southwest of Hughes and east of Linden.

In a railroad cut one-half mile north of Atlanta the beds have the 

relations shown in figure 6.

Here 4 to 12 feet of red and yellow sand containing irregular 

masses of low-grade iron ore, blocks of which occur distributed along 

the plane of contact, rest unconformably upon laminated sand or 

sandy clay, with little appearance of grit.

The relations of the formations on the western side of the county 

are shown in the accompanying section, compiled from a series of 

exposures in railroad cuts north of Hughes:

Composite section in railroad cuts north of Hughes, Tex.

Ft. in.

1. Soil and reddish-brown sand with pebbles................... 4 to 2

2. Yellow and red sand, containing concretionary masses of lowgrade iron ore. Portions of the beds are indurated to a 

hard ferruginous sandstone............................... 8

3. Laminated red and white sand, sandy clay, locally white 

mottled clays, containing nodular, concretionary iron ore.. 4

4. Brown lignitic sands and sandy clays, and laminated black 

clay.................................................... 8

5. Brownish-red sand interlaminated with fine white sandy clay. 25

6. Lignite.................................................. 3

7. White sand mottled with red; exposed...................... 3

68 3

The age of this upper deposit of sand with its concretionary and 

conglomerate ores has not been clearly determined. In the Texas

iPenrose, R. A. F., First Ann. Rept. GeoL Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 35-65. Kennedy, Wuliam, Second 

Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 65-95.
CASS COUNTY. 67

reports the areas in which the iron ores occurred were regarded as 

outliers of the lower (Mount Selman) division of the lower Claiborne (St. Maurice). That the ores had their source in the Claiborne 

beds may be admitted, but their present condition may be due to 

rearrangement by erosion during late Tertiary time.

Water resources. The supply of water for domestic and stock purposes in Cass County is obtained almost entirely from shallow wells 

20 to 50 feet deep, the most common depth being 30 to 40 feet. The 

supplies are derived mostly from surficial sands, but in some places 

come from the lower sand horizons. The water from the surficial 

sands is usually soft and of good quality, but locally becomes mineralized to a greater or less extent.

Springs are of frequent occurrence wherever the base of the surficial sands has been reached by erosion, but in general are small and 

are but little used. They are frequently chalybeate in character, 

that at Hughes having for a long time sustained an excellent reputation for its medicinal properties. Another spring, owned by Mr. 

Charles Thrasher, 5 miles east of Linden, is also worthy of note. 

Analyses made in the laboratories of the Survey (p. 74) of the waters 

of these two springs show them to be very much alike.

The supply of water derived from the surficial sands is in the main 

ample for present requirements for domestic and stock purposes, but 

it is not sufficient to meet manufacturing or city needs, to supply 

which resort is had to rain tanks.

So far as can be learned no attempts have been made to exploit any 

of the deeper water horizons in Cass County. At Jefferson, in Marion 

County, 10 miles south of the boundary of Cass, a well put down many 

years ago to a depth of 802 feet in the search for coal struck a strong 

flow of water with sufficient pressure, according to reports, to rise 

35 or 40 feet above the surface when piped. At first the flow is 

said to have been very strong, but caving at the bottom resulting 

from drawing the pipe back 80 feet has greatly diminished the 

pressure. At present the flow is about a gallon a minute. Kennedy reports as follows concerning this well: "The drill passed through 

alternate strata of sands, clays, and lignites to a depth of 802 feet. 

Three heavy beds of lignite and a number of smaller ones are said 

to have been passed through in the boring." 1

According to Mr. J. M. De Ware, corroborated by Mr. W. T. Atkins, 

this well is about 830 feet deep. The elevation at the top is about 

196 feet. The water is rather strongly mineralized and has a high 

reputation locally. (See analysis, p. 74.)

Veatch states 2 that this water comes from the Nacatoch sand. 

In the absence of satisfactory data no definite statement can be made,

i Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, for 1895, 1896, pp. 136-137. 

8 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 233.
68 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OP NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

but it seems probable that the source is the lower portion of the 

Wilcox formation.

If this water horizon is persistent it will undoubtedly be found 

underlying the whole of Cass County at depths varying from 800 to 

1,200 feet, according to locality. In some places the water would 

no doubt be too strongly mineralized to be of general use, but from 

the variable character of the water from the Wilcox formation it is 

not improbable that good wells might be developed in localities 10 

to 20 miles away.

Nothing is known of the Cretaceous horizons in this region, but the 

inference is that they are not practically available, owing to their 

excessive depth and to the highly mineralized character of the water 

they yield.
DATA CONCERNING WELL

The following table gives the obtainable data in regard to the wells o

Data concerning wells in northeastern T

No.

1

3

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1314'

15 

16

17

IS

19

30

31

33

33

34

25

Locality.

Bowie County: 

De Kalb, 13 miles north. ................

Do..................................

Texarkana (Tex.) . ......................

Do..................................

Cass County:

Camp County: 

Pittsburg ............................... 

Do..................................

Do..................................

Delta County:

Klondike...............................

Fannin County:

Franklin County:

Hopkins County:

Sulphur Springs. ........................

Owner.

I. N. Phillips.................

W. C. Hargrove et al. .........

Ice & Coal Co. (No. 1.).

dated Ice & Coal Co. (No. 2) 

E. H. Bond...................

Sulphur Springs ..............

Driller. 

1 For records of other wells at Texarkana see Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. 

2 Analyzed by A. C. Peale, Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 32,1886, p: 13
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas C

No.

?6

 KJ

28

29

qn

31

33

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

41

Locality.

Hunt County:

Do..................................

Do..................................

Lamar County:

Do..................................

Marion County:

Morris County:

Red River County:

River. 

Titus County:

Owner.

Texas Midland R. R.. ........

W. E. Moore..................

M.C. McCollum. .............

.....do........................

W. S. Perkins.. ...............

S.J.Wright... ...............

Driller. 

Hill, E. T., Twenty-first Ann. Eept. U. S. Geol. Survey, p
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas Co

No.

1 

2 

3 

4

5 

6

7 

8

9 

10 

11

12

13 

14

15

16 

17

18 

19 

20

21 

22 

23

Locality.

Bowie County:

Do...-.--------------------.--......

Rolyat.. ..---.----------... -------------

Do.-.-.-......--.-----.--.-.-.......

Cass County:

Camp County:

Do..................................

Do..................-----.-.-.......

Delta County: 

Cooper, 3 miles west. ....................

Fannin County:

Franklin County: 

Mount Vernon ..........................

Height of 

water 

above (+) 

or 

below ( ) 

i ground.

Feet.

- 0

-60 

+ 60

-60 

-49

-20 

- 0

( -25

\ - o

Spring. 

Spring.

-20 

-20

No flow.

Depths of 

principal water-bearing

strata.

Feet. 

-2

500-536 

±500

145-196

Yield per minute.

Flow.

Gallons.

Small.

1

( 500 

\ 1,170? 

33-63 

/ 136 

\ 550

878-1,190 

2,096

f 220 

\ 750 

[ 1,700 

150-200 

160-200

315

}...........

}..........

} ---

Moderate. 

Moderate.

1 

Pump.

Gallons. 

Very small.

None.

Large.

50 

50

Plenty.

Large.

h

w

in

..

..

..

/N 

\ 

W

/N

\W

\V

..

f W

{.

tN

..

W

a Lowers to 70 feet when pumped.
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas C

No.

24 

25

26 

27

28

29 

30

31 

32

33

34 

35

36 

37 

38

39 

40

41

Locality.

Hopkins County:

Hunt County:

Do....................... .......... .

Do...................................

Lamar County:

Do..................................

Marion County: 

Jefferson, 400 yards north of post office. '. 

Morris County:

Red River County:

Towson, 3 miles above, on bank of Red 

River. 

Titus County.

Height of 

water 

above (+) 

or 

below ( ) 

ground.

Feet.

-90

-25 

-25

- 2

+35± 

-20

-10 

-55

a Flow.

Depths of 

principal water-bearing 

strata.

Feet.

Yield per minute.

Flow.

Gallons.

370 

( 385 

\ 900

25-35 

25-35 

f 0-80 

\ 570-1.412 

I 1,635 

18-33

f 300 

\ 500 

I 800

186

{

550 

±1,050 

550-600 

f 1,000 

\ 1,600?

300

}:::::::::::

}-- -

f----

Ir _. ........

}...........

Large.

Pump.

Gallons.

Small.

Small.

8

"Inexhaustible." 

Large.

Large. 

Large. 

Large. 

Not any.

h

w

i

N

.

.

[

^W

I

W

.

/B

I W

B

W

T

a Would flow if piped. Drill lost b y caving and well abando
GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 73 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE WATERS.

The available information regarding the chemical composition of 

the waters of northeastern Texas is given in the following table. The 

number of analyses is too small to permit much generalization regarding the mineralization of the waters. Those tested from the Sabine 

formation seem to be much superior in quality to those from other 

underground sources. The waters from the Blossom sand member 

at Blossom are very high in calcium, magnesium, alkalies, and sulphates, being similar in these respects to the waters tested from the 

Eagle Ford clay. The single well tested drawing its supply from the 

Nacatoch sand yields a brine. The analyses are stated in parts per 

million in ionic form. Most of them were made especially for this 

report, and the few obtained from other sources have been recomputed to ionic form in order to facilitate comparison.
Chemical composition of underground waters of northe

[Parts per million unless otherwise stated.]

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

in

11

1?

13

14

1 K

16

17

18

11

20

21

2?

23

914

26

27

28

29

County."

Bowie

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

Delta .......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do....................... 

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

-....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

Wood .......................

.....do.......................

Town.

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............ 

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

Source .

Well..............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

Well. .............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do........ ...

Artificial Lake....

Wells.............

Well. .............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

.....do............

Owner, name, location, etc.

.....do. .........................

H.R. Hughes... ................

W.H. Coon..... ................

Well on Main Street.. ... ........

W.J.Wallace.. ................

T. F. Hefner....................

J. W. Williams..................

A. P. Ball......................

Frisco Plant.....................

J. M. DeW are.... ...............

B. F. Mason ....................

600-ft. well......................

W

W

....

....

....

....

Ea

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

W

....
1

4

5

6

7

8

9

in

11

19

13

14

IS

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

County.

.....do..................

.....do..................

Cass ....-........----..

.....do..................

Delta.. ................

.....do.... .............

.....do .................

.....do .................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do .................

.....do..................

Morris . .............. .

.....do..................

Wood..................

....do...................

Silica 

(SiOa).

78

16

48

21

23

16

24

26

78

49

48

50

75

18

31

49

84

42

48

16

45

31

18

11

9.6

17

26

Iron

(Fe).

9 1

o Q

12

12

o2.7

31

.26

40

.21

.15

.2

.6

.2

.08

as

.12

.04

2.4

.44

a 1.5

18

.68

. Tr.

.2

3

.40

Aluminum 

(Al).

1.0

4.9

1.3

1.7

10

8.3

4.0

6.4

.7

1.9

.42

Calcium 

(Ca).

7.1

11

14

4.9

38

36

5.4

32

9.8

542

510

660

485

265

304

460

474

492

472

44

31

25

32

62

80

6.4

2.6

8.0

Magnesium 

(Mg).

3.8

.8

1.6

4.4

8.5

3.5

4.5

2.0

11

16

91

88

110

113

28

24

128

109

114

44

2.9

4.0

14

1.5

9.2

3.5

4.2

8.6

Sodium

(Na).

38

8!

8

3.4

1 ^

K7

11 . 1

33

11

54

530

965

720

208

21

890

8

9

6

C

KC

85

2

394

98

304

49

404

Potassium 

(K).

2.3

32

82

2.7

4.3

5.4

35

35

42

61

Z7

92

80

80

5

5

1.0

2.8

33

 Iron and aluminum oxides.

INDEX.

A.

Page. 

Ander, Capt., well of....................... 50

Annona chalk, occurrence of............... 23-25

Arkansas, water-bearing formations in .... 42

Artesian characters, definition of .......... 36

See also Wells. 

Austin group, occurrence of................ 21-25

water in................................ 41

Avinger station, railroad cut at, plate showing ............................. 26

B.

Basal clays, occurrence of.................. 28-29

Blossom sand member in Delta County .... 49

in Red River County................ 51,52,53

occurrence of........................... 19-21

water in.......................... 41,47-48,60

Bond, E. H., well of........................ 49

Bowie County, geography of............... 53

geology of.............................. 53

Port Hudson formation in.............. 54,55

water resources of...................... 54-60

wells in................................. 55-60

Boynton, J. J., well of...................... 57

Brownstown marl,occurrence of....... ... 22-23

C. 

Cass County, geography of................. 64

geology of.............................. 65-67

iron ore deposits in, figure showing.... 66

lignite in............................... 65

water resources of...................... 67-68

Chalk, Annona, occurrence of.............. 23-25

of northeastern Texas, J. A. Taff on .... 22

of southwestern Arkansas, J. A. Taff on. 11 

Claiborne group, occurrence of............. 30-31

Clarksville, wells at........................ 52,53

Clay, basal, occurrence of.................. 28-29

Eagle Ford, occurrence of.............. 17-21

Comanche series, occurrence of............ 14-15

Cretaceous rocks, diagrammatic section of,

figure showing ................. 14

Cretaceous series, upper, occurrence of .... 15-28

upper, overlap of, map showing........ -18

D. 

De Kalb, well near......................... 55

Delta County, geography of................ 48

geology of.............................. 49

water resources of...................... 49-51

Dumble, E. T., on brown coal and lignite

of Texas..............^......... 10

E.

Eagle Ford clay, occurrence of............. 17-21

water in................................ 41

Eocene series, occurrence of................ 28-31

Eocene strata in Louisiana and Arkansas, 

water conditions in, figure 

showing........................ 43

F.

Page.

Fossils in Austin chalk..................... 24

in Eagle Ford clay .................... 18-19

in Midway formation .................. 29

in Navarro and Taylor formations..... 27-28

Franklin County, geography of............. 60

geology of.............................. 60-61

lignite in............................... 62-63

water resources of...................... 63

Fredericksburg group, occurrence of....... 14

G.

Gas, natural, in Red River County.......... 52

Gordon, C. H., on chalk formations of northern Texas....................... 11

Gulf series, occurrence of................... 15-28

H.

Hill, R. T., on Annona chalk............... 10,23

on Cretaceous rocks of Texas........... 10

on geology and geography of the Black

and Grand prairies, Texas...... 10

Home Ice Co., well of, record of............ 57

Hopkins County, geography of............. 60

geology of.............................. 60-61

lignite in............................... 62-63

water resources in...................... 63

Horton, well at, record of.................. 50

I. 

Iron, ores of, in Cass County............... 66

J.

Johnson, L. C., on iron regions of northern

Louisiana and eastern Texas... H

K.

Kennedy, William, on Eocene Tertiary of

Texas, east of Brazos River..... 10 

on iron ores of eastern Texas........... 10

L.

Ladonia station, railroad cut at, plate showing ............................. 26

Lafayette formation, occurrence of ........ 31

Lamar County, geography of............... 44

geology of.............................. 44

water resources of.........'............. 45-48

Leverett, S., on Cretaceous area north of

Colorado River................. 11

Lignite, deposits of, in Cass County........ 65

deposits of, in Hopkins and Franklin

counties........................ 62-63

M.

Mason, F. B., acknowledgment to ......... 53

Midway formation, occurrence of.......... 28-29

Moore, W.E., well of....................... 47

Mounds, formation of...................... 32-33

77
78 INDEX.

N.

Navarro formation, occurrence of ......... 25-28

water in................................ 41

New Boston, well at........................ 55

P. 

Paris, Tex., water supply of ................ 45

wells at, sections of..................... 45-48

Penrose, R. A. F., on geology of the Gulf

Tertiary in Texas .............. 10

Pleistocene series, occurrence of........... 31-32

Port Hudson formation iu Bowie County .. 54,55

occurrence of .......................... 31-32

Porter, John A., acknowledgment to ...... 45

Quaternary system, occurrence of.......... 31-33

R.

Recent formations, occurrence of.......... 32-33

water in................................ 44

Red River County, geography of....... ... 51

geology of.............................. 51-52

water resources of...................... 52-53

Red water, well at, record of ............... 56

Rocks, capacity of, for imbibing water .... 35

S. 

Babine formation, occurrence of ........... 29

water in................................ 42-43

Band mounds, occurrence of ............... 9

Sulphur Springs, city well at, record of.... 61

T.

Tafl, J. A., on chalk of northeastern Texas. 22 

on chalk of southwestern Arkansas.... 11

on Cretaceous area north of Colorado

River........................... 11

Taylor marl, occurrence of................. 25-28

water in................................ 41

Tertiary deposits, overlap of, map showing. 18 

Tertiary system, occurrence of............. 28-31

water-bearing formations in ........... 42-43

Texarkana Oil Prospect Co., well of, record

of............................... 57-59

Texarkana Waterworks Co., well of, record

of............................... 57

Texas Midland Railway, wells of.......... 47,50

Texas, northeastern, drainage of .......... 9

northeastern, geography of............. 7

geologic history of ................. 11-14

geologic literature of............... 10-11

map of.............................. 16

physiography of.................... 7-9

structure of......................... 33-34

Trinity sands in Delta County.............. 49

in Lamar County....................... 45

in Red River County................... 52

occurrence of........................... 14

water in................................ 38-39

V.

Page.

Veatch, A. C., on formations in southwestern Arkansas................... 15

on geology and underground water 

resources of northern Louisiana 

and southern Arkansas......... 11

W.

Washita group, occurrence of.............. 15

water in................................ 39-40

Water in Austin group ....i................ ' 41

in Blossom sand member......... 41,47-48,60

in Eagle Ford clay ..................... 41

in Navarro formation................... 41

in Recent formations.....".............. 44

in Wilcox (Sabine) formation.......... 42-43

in Taylor marl.......................... 41

in Trinity sands........................ 38-39

in Washita group....................... 39-40

in Woodbine sand................... 40,52-53

Water-bearing beds, geologic relations

of............................... 37-38

geologic relations of, figure showing... 39 

in Arkansas ............................ 42

in the Tertiary deposits................. 42-43

Water resources of Bowie County.......... 51-60

of CassCounty.... ..................... 67-63

of Delta County......................... 49-51

of Franklin County............'......... 63

of Hopkins County. .................... 63

of Lamar County ....................... 45-48

of Red River County.................... 52-53

Water, underground, availability of ....... 35

underground, source of. ............... 34-35

Waters, chemical composition of........... 73-75

WellatHorton............................. 50

at New Boston.......................... 55

at Redwater............................ 56

at Sulphur Springs..................... 61

near De Kalb........................... 55

of Capt. Ander.......................... 50

of E. H. Bond........................... 49

of J. J. Boynton ........................ 57

of Home Ice Co.......................... 57

of W. E. Moore......................... 47

of Texarkana Oil Prospect Co........... 57-59

of Texarkana Waterworks Co.......... 57

Wells, artesian, conditions necessary for... 36-37 

at Clarksville........................... 52,53

at Paris, Tex., sections of............... 45^8

data concerning........................ 69-72

of Texas Midland Railway............. 47,50

Wilcox formation, occurrence of........... 29

water in................................ 42-43

Wills Point clays, occurrence of............ 28-29

Woodbine sand, in Delta County........... 49

occurrence of........................... 16-17

water in............................. 40,52-53

o





CONTENTS.

Introduction............................................................. 7

Geography ...................... ................................... 7

Physiography........................................................ 7

Drainage ............................................................ 9

Literature .................... I....,.................-...----------.--- 10

Geologic history.......................................................... 11

Pre-Cretaceous.-............-................'..........-..-.......... 11

Cretaceous........................ .................................. 12

Post-Cretaceous...................................................... 13

Geology ................................................................. 14

Cretaceous system.................................................... 14

Comanche series (Lower Cretaceous).............................. 14

Gulf series (Upper Cretaceous)........................ ............ 15

Classification................................................. 15

Woodbine sand............................................... 16

Eagle Ford clay .............................................. 17

Character............................:................... 17

Thickness................................................ 17

Fossils................................................... 18

Lower clays.............................................. 19

Blossom sand member.................................... 19

Austin group................................................. 21

General character and relations............................ 21

Brownstown marl........................................ 22

Annona chalk............................................ 23

Taylor marl and Navarro formation............................ 25

Attempted differentiations................................ 25

Character and thickness .................................. 26

Fossils -..-....--.-........-.-.----......--.--...---...-- 27

Tertiary system....I............... ................................. 28

Eocene series ....-.......----....-.-...........--....-...-....... 28

Major divisions of the Eocene................................. 28

Midway formation ._.....'....._......-...__.._......-........ 28

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation ................................ 29

Claiborne group.............................................. 30

Later Tertiary deposits ........................................... 31

Quaternary system-.-............---.....-..---.....-....--.......... 31

Pleistocene series................................................. 31

Port Hudson formation............. .......................... 31

Recent .......................................................... 32

Erosion .............-........_..."..................--....... 32

Natural mounds.............................................. 32

Structure ................................................................ 33
4 CONTENTS.

Page.

Underground water ...................................................... 34

Source............................................................... 34

Availability of underground water .................................... 35

Capacity of rocks for imbibing water .................................. 35

Artesian waters defined............................................... 36

Conditions that determine artesian wells............................... 36

Artesian waters in northeastern Texas................................. 37

General geologic relations of the water-bearing beds................ 37

Cretaceous system........................................ ........ 38

Trinity sand................................................. 38

Washita group............................................... 39

Woodbine sand.............................................. 40

Eagle Ford clay ............................................... 41

Lower clays.............................................. 41

Blossom sand member.................................... 41

Austin group................................................. 41

Navarro formation and Taylor marl............................ 41

Tertiary system .................................................. 42

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation............... ................. 42

Surficial sands and gravels........................................ 44

Review by counties................................................... 44

Lamar County................................................... 44

Geographic relations.......................................... 44

Geology ..................................................... 44

Water resources.............................................. 45

Delta County.................................................... 48

Geographic relations.......................................... 48

Geology .......................... .......................... 49

Water resources.............................................. 49

Eed River County................................................ 51

Geographic relations.....-...........-..-.......-.-..--.------ 51

Geology ..................................................... 51

Water resources.............................................. 52

Bowie County.................................................... 53

Geographic relations.......................................... 53

Geology ..................................................... 53

Water resources ............................... ~.............. 54

Deep wells...........-.....-.....-.--.-..--.---- ............ 55

Hopkins and Franklin counties ...................-----....-...--. 60

Topographic relations...................-.......--.....'...--.. 60

Geology.......-.....-.-....-....-----.-----.-----.---...---- 60

Water conditions............,..........---....----..-.-...-.- 63

Deep wells................................................... 63

Cass County ..................................................... 64

Topography ...........................-.--....--.-..-...---. 64

Geology...........................-...-.........-------..--. 65

Water resources.............--...............-----.-.----.--. 67

Data concerning wells.............................--..----...-....---- 69

Chemical composition of the waters.................................... 73

Index..............-.,.,..---_,_ ........,..,.,......=.,................ 77
ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. 

PLATE I. Geologic map of northeastern Texas............................. 16

II. A, Eailroad cut at Ladonia station; B, Kailroad cut at Avinger station .......................................................... 26

FIGURE 1. Diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas

and southwestern Arkansas-.................................. 14

2. Map showing overlap of Upper Cretaceous on Lower Cretaceous and

of Tertiary on Cretaceous in the Mississippi Valley............. 18

3. Diagram showing the common arrangement of factors producing

artesian wells................................................ 37

4. Profile section showing water horizons........................... 39

5. Diagram showing water conditions in the lower Eocene strata in

northwestern Louisiana and southern Arkansas ................ 43

6. Diagrammatic section near Atlanta, Cass County, Tex ............ 66

5

GEOLOGY AND UNDERGROUND WATERS OF 

NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

By C. H. GORDON.

INTRODUCTION.

GEOGRAPHY.

The area considered in this report embraces 5,989 square miles in 

the extreme northeast part of Texas, comprising the counties of Bowie, 

Red River, Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris, Camp, and 

Cass.

The mean annual rainfall of the region is about 48 inches, ranging 

from 45 inches in the west to a little more than 50 inches along the 

Arkansas State line. The mean annual temperature is from 64° to 

65° F. The district is traversed from east to west by three lines of 

railroads, the Texas & Pacific (Sherman branch), the St. Louis & 

Southwestern, and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas. The Marshall 

branch of the Texas & Pacific crosses the eastern part of the region 

and the Texas Midland, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, and the St. 

Louis & San Francisco all have their termini at Paris in the northwestern part of the region.

The rich soil of the black prairie lands early attracted settlers. 

According to the census of 1910 the population of the 10 counties 

named was 198,869, or an average of 33.7 to the square mile. The 

western part of the region is the most thickly settled, the two blackland counties, Lamar and Delta, leading, with an average of 51.5 and 

54.7 per square mile, respectively. The average for the timberbelt counties is 28.3, Hopkins and Camp leading with 46.6 and 44, 

respectively.

PHYSIOGRAPHY.

Lying near the outer border of the Gulf Coastal Plain, the surface of 

the district has in general the low rounded relief and gentle seaward 

slope characteristic of that physiographic province. The elevation 

ranges from 237 feet above sea level at Sulphur, in the northeast corner of Cass County, to 649 feet above sea level at Cumby, near the 

western border of Hopkins County. The crest of the divide between

7
8 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Red and Sulphur Rivers has an average eastward slope of about 3^ 

feet per mile, descending from an altitude of 601 feet at Paris to 295 

feet at Texarkana, or a total of 306 feet. South of Sulphur River the 

reconstructed plain surface coincident with the tops of the present 

hills would slope toward the southeast, and within the limits of the 

district would range from 649 feet at Cumby to about 320 feet near 

the eastern boundary of Cass County.

The region is underlain by relatively soft strata which dip gently 

toward the coast, and in which the present relief has been developed 

by the dissection of the plain surface which characterized the region 

on its emergence from the sea. Degradation has left few if any traces 

of this old land surface, the chief topographic features now presented 

being the rolling and hilly uplands and the flood-plain and terrace 

areas, the former due largely to the differential erosion of the older 

beds of the coastal plain and the latter represented by the flat lowlands and adjoining terrace areas composed of redeposited sediments 

of comparatively recent fluviatile origin.

The upland areas, which rise from 100 to 200 feet above the flatbottomed drainage ways, present an irregular rolling topography due 

entirely to differences in the adjustment of erosion to the different 

geologic formations. The northwest portion, comprising all of Lamar 

and Delta counties and most of Red River County, is underlain by 

Cretaceous strata consisting of marls, glauconitic sands, clays, and 

chalk, which have been carved by erosion into an undulating surface 

of low relief called rolling prairie, which constitutes an integral part 

of the black-prairie belt of Texas. The interior of this belt is marked 

by a low range of hills that extends across Lamar and Red River counties, due to the greater resistance to erosion offered by the chalk formation. This range apparently constitutes an extension of the 

Locksburg Wold in Arkansas, described by Veatch.1 The Saratoga 

Wold, also mentioned by Veatch, is somewhat obscurely represented 

in Delta County near Enloe. In places the chalk ridge in Lamar and 

Red River counties presents a low northward-facing escarpment, due 

chiefly to a single hard layer 4 to 6 feet thick near the top.

The upland region south of a line extending a little north of east 

from Commerce through Boston, the county seat of Bowie County, 

lies within the province known as the east Texas timber belt. This 

region is characterized by a range of hills which constitutes the extension into Texas of the range known as the Sulphur Wold in Arkansas. 

It is essentially a deeply dissected dip plain, the substructure of which 

consists of the sandy beds of the lower Eocene. Over a considerable 

part of the region the slopes are still covered with timber.

The streams have comparatively wide, flat flood plains, bounded 

by terraces, the highest of which has an elevation of about 90 feet

i Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 14-16.
DBAINAGE. 9

above the present flood plain. These high-level terraces cover considerable areas adjoining Red and Sulphur rivers in the eastern part 

of the district. Between Annona and New Boston nearly all of the 

country between the two rivers is of this type.

A marked feature of this and adjoining parts of the Coastal Plain 

is the presence of low mounds composed of sand, which occur over all 

the region except that covered by the most recent fluviatile deposits. 

These mounds are commonly from 2 to 3 feet high, though a few 

attain a maximum height of 6 feet. Some are elliptical; most of them 

are circular and are from 20 to 100 feet in diameter. The tendency 

toward elongation appears to be more marked in some places than in 

others, the longer axis usually extending in a northeast-southwest 

direction. As remarked by Veatch, they are particularly abundant 

in the terrace areas, where in wet weather they form low sandy islands 

in the midst of a water-covered clay country.

DRAINAGE.

The drainage of the region is effected mainly by Sulphur River, 

which flows from west to east entirely across the district. A feature 

of the drainage is the greater development of the southeastwardflowing system of tributaries, those flowing to the northeast being 

relatively few and for the most part unimportant. From this it follows that the divides are located much nearer the main streams on 

the south side than on the north, and the northward-facing slopes are 

shorter and steeper, a feature consequent upon the general coastward 

slope of the original plain surface and the effort of the streams to 

adjust themselves to the rock structure of the region. A small area 

in the southern part of Hopkins County is drained by tributaries of 

Sabine River, and the larger part of the region lying to the east is 

drained into Ferry Lake through Big Cypress and other creeks. 

Ferry Lake connects with Sodo and Cross lakes in Caddo Parish, 

La., these together constituting one body of water which occupies the 

lower portion of the valley of Big Cypress Creek. This body of water 

belongs to the class of lakes in the Red River Valley whose origin is 

attributed to log jams. 1

The main streams and their tributaries that have cut to the level of 

ground water flow throughout the year, but many of the branches are 

wet-weather streams only. The soft rocks over which the streams 

flow yield to them an abundance of fine material, which is carried in 

suspension for long distances, discoloring the water and forming in 

quieter stretches of the streams grayish or brownish red deposits.

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U.S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, pp. 60-62.
10 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

LITER ATUBE.

Most of the published accounts of investigations heretofore made 

in northeastern Texas are found in the reports of the Texas Geological Survey and of the United States Geological Survey. In 

two reports only are the waters of the region specially considered. 

Hill 1 in his exhaustive report on the geography and geology of the 

Black and Grand prairies of Texas gives detailed descriptions of 

the Cretaceous formations with special reference to the underground 

waters and all information available concerning the counties adjoining Red River. Veatch, in his report on the geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, 

has include4 some data bearing on the eastern part of the region. 

With these exceptions, the publications relating to the region, a 

fairly complete list of which follows, deal chiefly with questions of 

stratigraphy and natural resources other than water.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BUMBLE, E. T., Report on the brown coal and lignite of Texas: Geol. Survey of Texas, 

1892, pp. 17-243. Describes the Tertiary deposits of the Texas gulf coast in 

which the brown coals occur. Mentions coal in Bowie, Case, Marion, Morris, 

Titus, and Hopkins counties.

PENROSE, R. A. F., Preliminary report on the geology of the Gulf Tertiary of Texas: 

First Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 1-101. Discusses the stratigraphy of the Tertiary formations of Texas and records briefly their occurrence 

in northeastern Texas (pp. 34-36). Describes the iron ores of eastern Texas, and 

mentions their occurrence in Cass and Marion counties (pp. 65-82).

HILL, R. T., The Cretaceous rocks of Texas: First Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 

1889, pp. 103-141. Relates chiefly to the stratigraphy of the Cretaceous in 

regions farther west than the area covered by this report, but has some reference 

to northeastern Texas.

 Geology of parts of Texas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas adjacent to Red 

River: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, 1893, pp. 297-338. Annona, or "White 

Cliffs," chalk considered as belonging to higher horizon than the Austin chalk. 

Geology and geography of the Black and Grand prairies, Texas: Twenty-first

Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900. An exhaustive report on the 

Texas Cretaceous, with special reference to artesian waters.

KENNEDY, WILLIAM, The iron ores of eastern Texas: Second Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey 

Texas, 1890, pp. 65-203. Cass County, pp. 65-95; Marion County, pp. 96-114; 

Morris County, pp. 173-182.

 The age of the iron ores of eastern Texas: Science, vol. 23,1894, pp. 22-25. Notes 

greater development of the nodular iron ore in Cass, Marion, Morris, Upshur, 

and Harrison counties, asserts that their age is "Lower Claiborne"- or later.

 The iron ores of eastern Texas: Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 24,1894, pp. 258- 

288, 862-863.

 The Eocene Tertiary of Texas east of the Brazos River: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

Phila., 1895, pt. 1, pp. 89-160. Discusses the stratigraphy of the region and 

compares it with that east of the Mississippi as noted by Hilgard, Smith, and 

Johnson.

i Hill, R. T., Geography and geology of the Black and Grand prairies of Texas: Twenty-first Ann. Bept. 

U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 11

JOHNSON, LAWRENCE C., The iron regions of northern Louisiana and eastern Texas: 

House Doc. No. 195, 50th Cong., 1st. sess., 54 pp., 1 map, Washington, 1888.

TAFF, J. A., Report on the Cretaceous area north of the Colorado River: Third Ann. 

Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, pp. 269-379; map by J. A. Tafl and S. Leverett. 

Descriptions of the Texas Cretaceous in this paper relate chiefly to regions in the 

central part of the State. Contains brief discussion of estimates of depths of artesian wells in Lamar and Fannin counties (pp. 371-373).

 and S. LEVERETT, Report on the Cretaceous area north of the Colorado River: 

Fourth Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1892, pt. 1, pp. 239-354. Continues 

discussion in the Third Annual Report (1891) and describes with considerable 

detail the occurrence and extent of the subterranean artesian basins.

Chalk of southwestern Arkansas: Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol.

Survey, 1900-1901, pt. 3, pp. 685-742. Discusses the stratigraphy of southwestern Arkansas and its relation to that of Texas. Correlates the "White Cliffs " 

chalk with the Austin chalk of the Texas region.

VEATCH, A. C., Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and 

southern Arkansas: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906. Includes many 

facts bearing on the geology and underground waters of northeastern Texas. Follows Hill in assigning the "White Cliffs," or Annona, chalk to a higher horizon 

than the Austin chalk.

GORDON, C. H., The chalk formations of northern Texas: Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., 

vol. 27, 1909, pp. 369-373. Correlates "White Cliffs" and Annona chalk with 

the upper part of the Austin group, the lower part being represented by the 

Brownstown marl.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

PRE-CBETACEOTTS.

In the mountains of eastern Oklahoma, as shown by Taff,1 the rock 

exposures appear to indicate that deposition was continuous from 

very early geologic time down to the close of the Pennsylvanian 

("Coal Measures") epoch. Similar conditions prevailed in central 

Texas, where rocks representing all the divisions of the Paleozoic, with 

the possible exception of the Devonian, occur in conformable sequence 

resting upon the beveled edges of an older series of sedimentary rocks, 

the pre-Cambrian Llano series.2 In western Texas and western 

Oklahoma these rocks grade upward without a break into deposits 

with Permian and Triassic affinities.

Throughout this area and to the northwest a sea existed, over whose 

bottom a vast thickness* of sediments was laid down. The thickness 

of the Cambro-Ordovician in Oklahoma is estimated by Taff 1 at 

12,000 feet and of the Devonian at 600 feet. Drake 3 estimates the 

thickness of the Carboniferous at 24,500 feet. The land mass from 

which these sediments were derived lay to the south and southeast, 

the relative positions of the land and ocean areas being thus in a sense 

the reverse of those now existing.4

1 Tafl, J. A., Atoka folio (No. 79) and Tishomingo folio (No. 98), Geol. Atlas U. S., U. S. Geol. Survey, 

1902 and 1903.

2 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 89.

s Drake, N. F., Proc. Am. Philos. Soc., vol. 36,1898, p. 361.

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 17.
12 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Near the close of the Carboniferous the offshore belt of greatest 

sedimentation, extending from central Texas around through Oklahoma and Arkansas across the Mississippi Valley and connecting with 

the great trough now represented in the Appalachian cnain, was 

subjected to profound folding and was elevated into a mountain range 

overlooking a sea extending to the west and to the north. Following 

this came a long period representing Triassic and Jurassic time, during 

which the elevations were worn down and the materials deposited in 

the adjacent seas. The lapse of time represented in the truncated 

edges of the folded and faulted strata was evidently very great. Then 

came a southward tilting of the region whereby land and water conditions were reversed and the sea transgressed northward over a 

relatively smooth base-leveled plain.

CBETACEOUS.

With the advent of the Cretaceous, ushered in by the northward 

transgression of the sea, marine sedimentation took place, the materials being derived from the land areas on the north and west. These 

deposits consist of alternations of sands, clays, marls, and limestones^ 

and their character and relations show that many changes took place 

in the position of the shore lines and that the depth of the sea over 

the depressed land areas varied greatly from time to time.

If the prevailing doctrine that limestones and marls indicate deepwater conditions be strictly held, the alternations of sands, chalks, and 

marls of the Upper Cretaceous indicate a complex series of movements 

in the Texas-Arkansas region, but to interpret in terms of crastal 

oscillation the alternations of formations indicating quiet conditions 

of deposition such as limestones, shales, and clays seems to the 

writer untenable. Although the accepted doctrine may be broadly 

admitted, it seems probable that beds corresponding to those usually 

classed as deep-sea deposits may be locally formed by causes other 

than the lowering of the sea bottom; for instance, the shifting of 

currents or the extension of barriers, however produced, will be 

registered in the character of the formations, and such changes as 

these may take place locally without change of elevation. Fluctuations of level did occur, however, irregularly over the whole region, 

the result being a warping which caused one shore line to cut obliquely 

across that of a preceding period, giving rise to the present wedgeshaped outcrops with the point of the wedge directed northeast in 

the direction of greatest depression. These relations are well shown 

in the map (fig. 2, p. 18),1 indicating the position of the shore line at 

different stages in the process of adjustment to the warping surface. 

In'the early stages of advance the sea transgressed far to the west

i Veatch, A. C., Geology and underground-water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas: 

Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, fig. 3, p. 18.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 13

over western Texas into New Mexico. At the close of the Cretaceous 

it had withdrawn on the west, but continued depression toward the 

northeast had marked out the Mississippi embayment, the submergence of which continued into late Oligocene time. Owing to the 

transgression of the shore line in the Mississippi embayment, accompanied by the withdrawal of the sea on the west, the earlier formations 

are overlapped by the later, and in consequence the outcrops wedge 

out toward the northeast, in Arkansas.

POST-CRETACEOUS.

Upon the Upper Cretaceous beds in the south half of the district lie 

sands, clays, and ferruginous sandstones belonging to the Eocene. 

No stratigraphic break has been recognized between the two systems. 

Originally, the Eocene doubtless extended much farther north, covering the whole of the area here considered, the present exposures of the 

lower formations being due to the removal of the Eocene sediments 

by erosion.

At the beginning of the Eocene there was evidently a slight warping of the surface which allowed the ocean to advance farther up 

the Mississippi embayment than before. As a result the early 

Eocene beds slightly overlap upon the Cretaceous, though no stratigraphic break marks the close of the Cretaceous in the Gulf region. 

A marked change appears in the animal life, however, an entirely 

new fauna making its appearance. Dana suggests * that this abrupt 

change in animal life is perhaps due to an alteration in the direction 

and character of the ocean currents, with the consequent change in 

temperature and food supply, and to the destructive effects of earthquake waves resulting from the gigantic disturbances which produced 

the Rocky Mountains rather than to a time lapse.

Throughout the region in the epoch succeeding the Midway 

that is, in the interval represented by the Wilcox formation, of the 

Eocene series near-shore or swampy conditions prevailed with an 

occasional submergence by the ocean.

No Oligocene or Miocene deposits have been recognized in this 

part of northeastern Texas. The Miocene was essentially a period of 

erosion in this region, and if deposits of Qligocene age were laid 

down here they were largely removed during the Miocene epoch.

During the succeeding epoch (Pliocene) a mantle of sand, silt, and 

gravel was spread over the eroded surface. Again erosion followed, 

during which much of the material previously deposited was carried 

away or rearranged at lower levels. Pleistocene deposition succeeded, giving rise to marine sedimentation along the coasts and 

fluviatile deposits on the land (Port Hudson formation). This was

i Manual of Geology, 4th ed., 1895, pp. 877-878.
14 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

followed by another period of erosion, in which the present flood 

plains and principal terraces were formed, this constituting the 

closing stage of the Pleistocene. The present cycle is represented 

in the surficial flood-plain deposition and hill-land erosion now in 

progress.

GEOLOGY.

The geologic formations that outcrop in the district may be classed 

as (1) Upper Cretaceous, (2) lower Tertiary, and (3) surficial deposits. 

The Cretaceous includes the Comanche series (Lower Cretaceous) as 

well as the Gulf series (Upper Cretaceous), but only the latter appears 

at the surface in the district.

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM. 

COMANCHE SERIES (LOWER CRETACEOUS).

Lower Cretaceous beds do not appear at the surface in northeastern 

Texas, but outcrop in eastern Oklahoma on the north side of Red

FIGUEE 1. Diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas and' southwestern Arkansas. 

(After Taff.) 1, White chalk; 2, bine marl; 3, sands at base of Upper Cretaceous; 4, Lower Cretaceous limestone; 5, sand at base of Lower Cretaceous. Reproduced from Twentjnsecond Ann. Kept. 

U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 697.

River and farther northeast,, in Arkansas. The lowest formation, 

known as the Trinity sand, is composed of fine, clean sand with occasional pebbles and bowlders of white quartz and other crystalline rock 

derived from the old Paleozoic land surface. In some places the 

sands are interlaminated with thin layers and lenses of clay; in other 

places they contain vegetal remains and brackish-water shells. 

Throughout a large portion of the Black and Grand prairie region 

in Texas this formation constitutes an important water-bearing 

stratum, which supplies thousands of artesian wells, many of which 

flow. In northeastern Texas, however, the southward dip of the strata 

has carried these sands too far below the surface to be conveniently 

reached by the drill except in a relatively narrow belt along the 

south side of Red River in Lamar and Red River counties.

The Trinity sand, which represents near-shore deposits, is succeeded upward by the limestones and marls of the Fredericksburg 

and Washita groups, a change indicative of deeper water. The 

Fredericksburg group is represented by the Good-land limestone
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 15

and the Washita group by the Denison formation, Fort Worth limestone, and Preston formation. As the sea in which these sediments 

were deposited progressed northwestward upon the sinking land 

surface the lime formations lapped upon and graded into the sandy 

shore formations and hence are much thinner in this region than in 

the southern part of the State.

The stratigraphic relations are shown in figure 1 (p. 14).

GULF SERIES (UPPER CRETACEOUS). 

CLASSIFICATION.

The sequence and lithologic character of the formations composing 

the Upper Cretaceous in northeastern Texas is shown in the accompanying table, which includes also Veatch's table for western Arkansas. 

The correlations are suggested by the author. Veatch considers the 

Annona and Brownstown to be equivalent to the lower part of the 

Navarro and Taylor, and the Bingen to be the littoral equivalent 

of the Woodbine, Eagle Ford, and Austin.

Classification of the Upper Cretaceous in northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas.

Northeastern Texas (Gordon).

Formations.

Navarro formation and Taylor marl.

Austin group.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

Arkadelphia clay.

Nacatoch sand.

Marlbrook marl.

Annona chalk.

Brownstown marl.

Blossom sand 

member.

Character of rocks.

Dark-blue to black 

laminated clays. 

Sulphur Bluff.

Green sands grading 

into marls below. 

' Delta County.

Sandy and clay marls. 

Chalk at E n 1 o e 

Sands near Ladonia. 

Blue marly clay.

White ohalk.

Blue clay marl.

Sands and sandy clays 

interlaminated.

Dark laminated clays.

Lignitiferous sands, 

sandy clays, and 

sandstones.

Southwestern Arkansas (Veatch).

Formations.

Arkadelphia clay.

Nacatoch sand.

Marlbrook marl.

.Annona chalk.

Brownstown marl.

Sub-Clarksville 

sand.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

 d

I 

9

w

Character of rocks.

Black laminated 

clays.

Sand with occasional 

quartzitic layers.

Very calcareous clay 

with marine fossils.

White chalk.

Blue calcareous clay.

Water-bearing sand.

Blue calcareous clay.

Lignitiferous sands 

and clays with 

plant remains.

With the exception of the chalks, the rocks are characterized for 

the most part by a general lack of consolidation. The marls and 

clays especially disintegrate readily, yielding a thick mantle of black 

soil through which the underlying formations rarely protrude. No 

stratigraphic breaks occur within the Upper Cretaceous, and the 

gradations between its different formations is so gradual that these 

can be mapped in most places only with the greatest difficulty, if at all.
16 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

The chief exposures of the rocks of the gulf series occur in the 

northwestern part of the area between South Fork of Sulphur River 

and Red River. Farther east, in Texas, these formations are covered 

by surficial deposits which consist largely of unconsolidated sands, 

clays, and marls, and some indurated beds of sandstone and chalk. 

The beds dip southeastward at a low angle, at a rate of about 50 to 

55 feet per mile, in the district north of North Fork. In their eastward extension and also where they lie under cover toward the south, 

as indicated by the few well records available, they appear to have a 

steeper dip.

WOODBINE SAND.

The Woodbine consists of ferruginous and argillaceous sands 

accompanied by bituminous laminated clays. The sands are for 

the most part unconsolidated and contain many remains of plants, 

a feature which distinguishes them from other Upper Cretaceous 

formations. When unweathered the sands appear white and friable, 

but contain more or less iron in the form of pyrite and glauconite as 

well as other ingredients, which on decomposing materially affect 

the character of the waters derived from them. In places solutions 

of the oxidized iron minerals have consolidated the sands into darkbrown ferruginous sandstone or siliceous iron ore. In large part the 

sands break down into deep loose soils. The clays are laminated and 

are for the most part impure, sandy, and lignitic. In northeast Texas 

the formation is characterized by the presence of argillaceous and 

calcareous layers interlaminated with the sand and by the occurrence 

of plant remains in considerable numbers, together with a peculiar 

molluscan fauna. A large part of the plant collection noted by Hill 

was obtained by Vaughan at Arthurs Bluff on Red River in Lamar 

County.

The Woodbine sand underlies the area adjacent to Red River in 

the northern part of Lamar and Red River counties and as far west 

as Dexter in Cooke County. From Red River it extends southward 

coextensively with the lower cross-timber country, but has not been 

recognized south of Brazos River. The region of its outcrop is 

generally characterized by a loose sandy soil, mostly covered with 

coarse post-oak and black-jack timber, here and there broken by 

small prairies where the beds contain an increased proportion of 

clay. From Red River to the Brazos the western boundary of the 

belt is marked by a range of low hills and knobs whose existence is 

due to the greater resistance to erosion offered by the more consolidated ferruginous beds of the lower part of the formation (called 

Dexter sand by Taff and Hill). The Woodbine is traversed for 

miles by Red River, but owing to its unconsolidated character and 

its covering of timber and alluvial deposits exposures of it are infre-
WATER SUPPLY PAPER 276 PLATE I

LEGEND

SURFICIAL DEPOSITS

U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

Joiid-plain (let)osit 

f if re/if siUsruiffrfa\vt

Port Hudson fonnalio

(Sands, Silts, 

artdclays)

L A,.-4M .A R

VVilex' Snbiiiu) formation 

saiidsartd' dricys)

Midway aiul WUcox 

foiTnattoiis'undifferentiated

(rlriytr wfeft some-samt antf 

, limesto?ie->

Queen Cit

AllanA S S £

0\ O D

I iemw i-iutLvcu.^ -i

IVAN/oZ AN'T) Tl"

ase drawn mainly from post-route map of Texas, 1910. 

Survey of Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake by the War 

Department, 1892, and other sources

Geology by C. H. Gordon

GEOLOGIC MAP OF NORTHEAST TEXAS

Trinity sand. 

(sands and laminated, days)

GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 17

quent, occurring only in undermining bluffs, as at Arthurs Bluff 

north of Paris and at Pine Bluff in the northeast part of Lamar 

County. At Rock Ford, in Red River County, sand, in part glauconitic, occurs in the bluffs, which also show near the top several layers 

of white fossiliferous limestone. The area in which the Woodbine 

outcrops in northeastern Texas is shown approximately on the map 

(PL I).

In this region the formation has an estimated thickness of 600 to 

800 feet. In the Paris well the drill penetrated 820 feet of sand and 

clay beds which have been assigned to the Woodbine; some of the 

lower beds, however, may belong to the underlying Denison formation. Southward it diminishes in thickness until it disappears by 

overlap in the vicinity of the Brazos. Eastward in Arkansas the 

Woodbine, there called the Bingen sand, coalesces, according to 

Veatch, 1 with the sands at the top of the Eagle Ford (Blossom sand 

member) by the thinning out of the intervening Eagle Ford clay. 

According to Veatch, therefore, the Bingen sand, which is the lithological counterpart of the Woodbine sand in Texas, is the time equivalent of all the beds of the Upper 2 Cretaceous below the Brownstown 

marl. (See fig. 2.)

As the Brownstown was considered by Veatch to lie immediately 

above the Austin chalk, the conclusion was drawn that the Bingen 

sand contained the littoral equivalents of the Austin and the Eagle 

Ford. 3

EAGLE FORD CLAY.

Character. The lower two-thirds of the Eagle Ford formation in 

northeastern Texas consists chiefly of dark, laminated clays, and the 

upper 50 to 75 feet is made up of brown, ferruginous, glauconitic 

sands interlaminated with clay. Inasmuch as the upper sandy beds 

constitute a water horizon of some value, a subdivision of the formation based on lithological distinctions seems warranted. To 

the upper sandy portion, therefore, the term Blossom sand member 

is applied, from the town of Blossom, which is located in eastern 

Lamar County upon the outcrop of the beds.4

Thickness. The total thickness of the Eagle Ford clay in this 

region, as recognized in the Paris well section (p. 45), is 600 feet. 

This well is located directly upon the outcrop of the Blossom sand 

member and it doubtless includes very nearly the full thickness of 

the beds. Eighty feet of the sands was penetrated, the whole of

1 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 23-24.

2 Veatch says "Lower" Cretaceous, taut this is evidently a typographical error.

3 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 18. 

< Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 27, 1902, pp. 371,373.

87985° wsp 276 11 2
18 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

which with the exception of a few feet of soil is regarded as representing the Blossom. The formation thins rapidly eastward, there being 

but 174 feet of hard sands that can be referred to this formation in 

the Texarkana well (p. 59), east of which it is not known.

Fossils. As a whole the Eagle Ford is not very fossiliferous except 

in the upper arenaceous division (Blossom sand member). A few

Scale 

100 200 miles

LEGEND

Quaternary. fei-tiary with Upper

Quaternary covering Cretaceous 

in flood plains.

Lower 

Cretaceous.

Paleozoic.

FIGURE 2. Map showing overlap of Upper Cretaceous on Lower Cretaceous and of Tertiary on Cretaceous 

in the Mississippi Valley. (After Veatch.)

forms of Ammonites preserved with their nacreous shell coloring 

occur sparingly throughout the formation, and the blue limestone 

concretions are generally filled with the remains of certain invertebrate forms. In addition to an abundance of fish remains, chiefly 

teeth, the Blossom sand member contains an abundance of the 

characteristic forms Ostrea lugubns = 0. belliplicata, Inoceramusfragilis,
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 19

7. labiatus,- and a small form like 0. congesta. Hill 1 gives the 

following list of fossils obtained from the Eagle Ford formation:

Planticeras syrtalis Mort. var. cumminsi

Cragin.

Ammonites woolgari Mort. 

Sphenodiscus dumb lei Cragin. 

Buchiceras inequiplicatus Shumard. 

B. swallowi Shum. 

Tapes hilgardi Shum. 

Anchura modesta Cragin.

Natica striatacostata Cragin.

Neritopsis biangulatus Shumard.

Ostrea lugubris Conrad=0. belliplicata

Shum.

Ostrea sp. (like 0. congesta). 

Inoceramus fragilis Hall and Meek. 

I. labiatus Schlotheim. 

Fish teeth.

Fusus graysonensis Cragin.

Lower clays. The lower part of the formation consists essentially 

of blue and black laminated bituminous clays accompanied by thin 

laminated clay limestones and nodular septaria of blue limestone; 

thin laminae of sand occur in this portion, showing a gradual transition from the Woodbine sand below. The central and larger part of 

the formation is made up of blue and black marly clays, which 

include thin beds of arenaceous limestone and numerous hard nodular 

septaria, some of which attain a diameter of 3 feet; these septaria 

are composed of dense blue limestone with cross fissures filled with 

calcite and selenite. Selenite in minute crystals is disseminated generally through the clays, in places in considerable quantities, and the 

water flowing through these beds is generally bitter and disagreeable 

to the taste.

The clays constitute a belt of prairie extending east and west across 

Lamar and Red River counties north of the Texas Pacific Railway, 

and bounded on the north by the Woodbine sand and on the south 

by a narrow strip of sandy land representing the outcrop of the Blossom sand member. The outcrops of the clay make the black waxy 

land north of Paris.

Blossom sand member, 2 The clays of the Eagle Ford grade upward 

into brown sandy ferruginous glauconitic beds interlaminated with 

thin be.ds of clay. The clays are filled with fossiliferous concretionary 

masses of limestone similar to those in the middle part of the formation; in places these weather out as bowlders. Locally the sands are 

highly fossiliferous, some layers being composed in large part of the 

casts of shells. The full thickness of these beds was not observed in 

the area to which this report relates, but at Sherman (2 miles west 

of the area) the following succession occurs .3

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, p. 328.

2 Blossom sand member = "sub-Clarksville" sand of Veateh, Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46. 

"Fish beds" of Taff and Hill=Blossom sand member (in part). Ostrea belliplicata bed of Taff= Blossom 

sand member (in part).

8 Hill, R. T., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1899-1900, p. 326.
20 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Section of Blossom sand member at Sherman, Tex.

Feet. 

6. Sandy clay shales with Ostrea lugubris......................... 10

5. Thin slabs of brown sandstone with rounded conglomerate of

jasper pebble. Ostrea luguIris and fish teeth................. 5

4. Blue laminated clay, weathering into limonitic colors.......... 10

3. Massive agglomerate of shells of Ostrea lugubris. ................. 2

2. Sandy clay shale in thin alternations of clay and sand; clay

efflorescent and drab colored on drying; contains Ostrea lugubris. 40

67

The description given in the section of the beds at Sherman corresponds well with the character of the strata as they appear in Lamar 

and Red River counties.

The outcrop of the Blossom sand member extends in a band 

approximately a mile in width from a point nearly north of Annona, 

where Pecan Bayou intersects the bluff of Red River, to the western 

limit of the area, except where interrupted by overlying Quaternary 

formations. Outcrops occur at different places along the south side 

of Pecan Bayou, which flows for the greater part of its course on the 

formation; and in Lamar County they appear almost continuous 

along a line through Blossom and Paris, both of which places are 

located upon these beds. On the south the sands are bounded by 

the black waxy soils derived from the marly clays of the Brownstown 

marl, the lower formation of the Austin group. Four miles north of 

Clarksville the contact of the Blossom sand member with the overlying Brownstown marl was observed in a ravine. The section 

obtained here was as follows:

Section in ravine 4 miles north of Clarksville.

Brownstown marl: Feet. 

7. Clay marl with an abundance of Exogyra ponderosa. in the

lower 12 inches......................................... 6

 Blossom sand member of Eagle Ford clay:

6. Sand, in places mixed with marly clay.................... 3

5. Blue marly clay (exposed)................................ 6

4. Covered (about).......................................... 10

3. Yellow sand with fossil impressions......................... 10

2. Drab fissile clay.......................................... 2

1. Yellow sand above, grading into drab arenaceous clay below.

Contains iron concretions showing impressions of fossils.... 20

57

From 10 to 20 feet below the top of these beds in Grayson County, 

as described by Taff,1 is a bed of coarse sand or grit, in places a 

conglomerate, called the "Fish bed," from the large number of fish 

teeth contained in it. This bed was not definitely recognized in 

Lamar and Red River counties. The beds are generally highly fosi Taff, J. A., Fourth AJUL. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, p. 303,
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 21

siliferous, though in general the material is in a friable condition, 

owing to weathering and oxidation. Ostreas (Ostrea, lugubris = 0. 

belliplicata) are numerous and in places farther west make up most 

of certain beds to which the term " shell bed" very appropriately 

applies.

The Blossom sand member, though comparatively insignificant 

stratigraphically, is important, because it constitutes the only available water-bearing horizon over a considerable portion of south 

Lamar and Red River counties. It is,from this sand that the water 

supply at Clarksville is obtained, a fact which, in the absence of 

known outcrops, led Veatch 1 to give it the name "sub-Clarksville" 

sand. At Paris, according to the well record given on page 45, 

these sands have a thickness of 80 feet.

AUSTIN GROUP.

General character and relations. From Sherman in Grayson County 

southward to the Colorado in Travis County the Austin chalk constitutes the most persistent and characteristic formation of the Cretaceous 

in Texas. Throughout this area its thickness is estimated by Taff- to 

be about 600 feet. From the base to the top the .rock consists for the 

most part of soft bluish-white chalk, chiefly in beds from 2 to 6 feet 

thick, interspersed here and there by a succession of thinner layers. 

The beds are generally separated by very thin sheets of calcareous 

marl, which in places thicken to 3 to 12 inches. Toward the top the 

beds become more massive, being from 4 to 6 feet thick, with verylittle separating marl between them.

Interstratified with the soft layers in places are nonpersistent 

harder arenaceous layers, which on weathering project in rounded 

subangular surfaces.

On weathering, the chalk loses the bluish cast seen in fresh exposures and becomes white or cream colored. It usually has an earthy 

texture and when fresh can be readily cut with a handsaw. Here 

and there nests of pyrites and crevices filled with calcite appear. 

Under the microscope 2 the material shows calcite crystals, minute 

amorphous calcite, and the shells of foraminifers, mollusks, echinoids, 

and other marine organic debris such as usually constitute chalk 

formations.

From Sherman eastward the basal portion of the Austin becomes 

more argillaceous and assumes the character of clay marl or marly 

clay. Beginning at the base in the vicinity of Sherman this change 

in character reaches higher and higher as the formation extends eastward until at Atlas, Clarksville, and White Rock north of Annona in 

Texas and at White Cliffs in Arkansas only the uppermost beds pre1 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 25.

2 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900, p. 329.
22 GEOLOGY AND- GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

sent the character of true chalk. Among previous writers Taff 1 seems 

to be the only one who recognized the true relations of the chalk deposits of northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. The statements by this author accord so well with the independent conclusions 

of the writer that they are given entire:

The lower part of the chalk formation of northern Texas changes to marl in the vicinity 

of Sherman, and still farther east higher beds successively become chalky marl, so that 

within a comparatively short distance only the upper part of the chalk formation as it 

occurs farther south is true chalk. In other words, the white chalk transgresses upward 

in the series of Cretaceous rocks from the vicinity of Sherman, Tex., eastward into 

Arkansas.

The fossils of the main chalk which are not found below the chalk in northern Texas 

south of Sherman occur in the chalky marl beneath the chalk from the vicinity of 

Paris, Tex., eastward. The fauna, including the characteristic species of fossils, such 

as Exogyra ponderosa, Gryphsea vesicularis, Astrea larva, and others which occur only in 

the upper beds of the chalk in central Texas, are found in great abundance in the marl 

at the base of and beneath the white chalk in southwestern Arkansas. 2

This chalk grows thinner in outcrop northeastward as it approaches the Paleozoic 

border and elevated mountain districts until it ends in chalky marl near the center of 

the Cretaceous area of southwestern Arkansas.

Hill 3 considered the chalk near Annona and westward as representing a higher horizon than the Austin chalk, v, hich he describes as having 

largely thinned out east of Paris, but says that its exact relationship 

is subject to later determination. To the marls underlying the chalk 

at White Cliffs, Ark., which he rightly considered the equivalent of 

the lower part of the Annona chalk, he gave the name Brownstown. 

Veatch 4 appears to have accepted Hill's conclusions in assigning the 

Annona chalk to a higher horizon than the Austin, which he states 

does not appear east of Paris, Tex. In this he differs, however, from 

Hill, who states that'' the most eastern outcrop of this chalk [Austin] 

is in Little River County, in the southwest corner of Arkansas." 5

The field work of 1906 and 1907 having settled conclusively that the 

Annona chalk corresponds to the upper beds of the Austin, and that 

the underlying Brownstown marl is the eastern equivalent of the 

lower portion of the same formation, it seems appropriate to include 

both of these under the term Austin group.

Brownstown marl. In Red River and Lamar counties and west to 

Sherman the Blossom sand member, constituting the uppermost beds 

of the Eagle Ford clay, grades rather abruptly into the light-blue calcareous and sandy clay or marl (Brownstown) representing the lower 

formation of the Austin group. Toward the top the proportion of lime 

increases, so that the upper beds are decidedly chalky and in places

1 Taff, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Eept. II. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3,1900-1901, pp. 698-700.

2 The writer's observations show these fossils to be present hi northeastern Texas from the marls at the 

base of the chalk up to the marls of the Navarro formation, 

s Hill, B. T., op. cit., p. 341.

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 19. 

s Hill, R. T., op. cit., p. 330.
GEOLOGIC HISTOEY. 23

grade horizontally into true chalk. This variation in the composition 

of the Austin group gives rise to variation in the relative thickness of 

the chalk and marl divisions and in the relative width of their outcrops, the one varying inversely as the other. Four miles south of 

Paris the marls appear on fresh exposure bluish-white and chalky, 

much resembling chalk, but softer. On weathering they become drab 

to yellowish-brown, grading upward into a black waxy soil. The 

lower portions are more arenaceous, forming along the northern border of the formation outcrop a strip of soil called "mixed land" or 

"tallow-ridge land." The width of the outcrop of the marls south of 

Paris is from 5 to 6 miles, indicating a thickness of about 300 feet, 

while that of the overlying chalk on the south is correspondingly lessened. The chalk belt widens toward the east and west, the marl belt 

narrowing to a mile or less north of Annona. The marls here pass 

under the later Quaternary deposits along with the overlying Annona 

and higher beds, but they evidently thicken rapidly eastward, for 

according to Veatch they have a thickness in southwestern Arkansas 

of 600 feet, thinning out again to about 150 feet in the eastern part of 

the area.1

The name Brownstown, as shown by Veatch, was first applied by 

Hill 2 to marl beds typically developed at Brownstown, Ark., the stratigraphic position of which was not recognized until later.3 As now 

defined, the term includes the blue marly clays and clay marls between 

the Blossom sand member of the Eagle Ford and the Annona chalk in 

Texas and the equivalent beds in Arkansas which rest upon the 

Bingen sand, which is considered to be the representative of the Eagle 

Ford clay and the Woodbine sand as developed in Texas.

Annona chalk. The chalk beds constituting the upper formation 

of the Austin group in northeastern Texas were named Annona chalk 

by Hill,4 who correctly recognized their equivalency to the chalk occurring on Little River in Arkansas, to which he had previously applied 

the term White Cliffs chalk.5 The formation consists of bluish and 

creamy white chalk similar to the corresponding beds of the Austin 

chalk farther south. At White Cliffs, Ark., the chalk beds are about 

100 feet in thickness and underlain by argillaceous chalk marl grading 

downward into sandy chalk marl.6 The exposures in Texas are less

1 Veatch, A. C., op. cit., p. 25.

2 Hill, R. T., Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Arkansas for 1888, vol. 2, pp. 86-87; B*ull. Geol. Soc. America, 

vol. 1894, p. 302, pi. 12.

a Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901, p. 340.

< Hill, R. T., Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, 1894, p. 308 (there spelled Anona); Twenty-first Ann. 

Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1899-1900, p. 340-341. In the former paper Hill says: "It is not known 

what has become of the Austin chalk in this section (Paris), but my hypothesis, backed by some evidence, 

is that to the southward it has been faulted down. The Annona (White Cliffs) chalk is an entirely distinct 

and higher bed." In the later publication he says: "The writer has considered this chalk (Annona) tc 

represent a higher horizon than the Austin, but its exact relationship is subject to future determination."

s Hill, R. T., Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Arkansas for 1888, vol. 1888, pp. 87-89.

6 Taff, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, pp. 706-707.
24 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN" TEXAS.

extensive, but so far as can be determined the rock presents essentially 

the same characters near Annona and westward to Sherman.

The first appearance of the chalk in Texas is to the north of Annona 

in Red River County, from which place it takes its name. At this 

point its outcrop is about 4 miles in width and is cut off on the east 

by deposits of Quaternary age. From this point the chalk extends 

west through Clarksville, Atlas, and Roxton in Lamar County, and 

thence west to Sherman. From Atlas the northern border swings 

northward to Petty on the Texas & Pacific Railway, thence westward about a mile north of Honey Grove. About 3 miles west of 

Clarksville the exposures of chalk and accompanying marls are interrupted by Quaternary deposits, partly filling a broad shallow valley 

now occupied by the headwater branches of Cuthand Creek.

The composition of the chalk is shown by the following analyses:

Analyses of the Austin chalk.

1

82.51

11.45

3.61

1.19

2

84.48

9.77

1.25

Trace.

3

84.14

10.14

4.04

ol.68

4

90.15

5.77

2.14

.58

5

70.21

23.55

1.50

.58

a Mg and HjO.

1. Texas chalk; locality not given. Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1899- 

1900, p. 329.

2. Rocky Comfort, Arkansas (Annona chalk). Idem.

3. Annona chalk, 7 miles south of Paris. Analysis furnished by 3. A. Porter, Paris, Tex.

4. Q,uarry of the Alamo Cement Works, 3 Jiiles north of San Antonio, Tex. Average material used in 

the manufacture of cement. Twenty-second Ann. Rept. II. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, p. 737.

5. Average fresh rock from .quarry of the Texas Portland Cement Works, 3 miles west of Dallas, Tex. 

Lower 20 feet of white chalk. Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, p. 737.

With complete disintegration the Annona chalk breaks down into 

a black waxy soil similar to that of adjacent formations. As a rule, 

however, owing to its greater hardness, the soil is thin and less productive than adjoining areas. Over the area where it constitutes the 

surface formation its outcrops are conspicuous in all the slopes and 

drainage ways by reason of their glaring white color.

The Austin chalk is characterized by many fossils, of which large 

specimens of Inoceramus cripsi var. bambini Morton and Exogyra 

ponderosa Roemer are conspicuous from the base to the top. As 

these fossils occur also in the formations above the Austin, they do 

not constitute a reliable means of discrimination. Hill has given 

several other forms as occurring in the Austin, such as Exogyra 

Ixviuscula Roemer, Gryphsea aucella Roemer, and Hemiaster texanus 

Roemer.1

The thickness of the Austin group as revealed by the Clarksville 

wells corresponds closely with the estimate given by Taff for the

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 336.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 25

central Texas region (p. 21). In the Clarksville wells the waterbearing sands (Blossom sand member) were reached at a depth of 

about 600 feet. The drill is reported to have passed through "white 

rock" all the way, the lower portion being softer. As the wells are 

located very near the top of the Annona chalk, these figures may be 

considered a close approximation of the thickness of the Austin 

group in this locality.

TAYLOR MARL AND NAVARRO FORMATION.

Attempted differentiations. Above the Austin group occurs a series 

of beds of calcareous clays, chalky marls, and greensands, the differentiation of which is rendered extremely difficult by reason of the 

unindurated character of the material and the consequent lack of 

good exposures.

Numerous efforts have been made by Hill and others to classify 

these beds, but the results have been unsatisfactory. Taff 1 divided 

the Cretaceous rocks above the Austin chalk in central Texas 

into (1) Greeiisand marl; (2) Marly flags, 100 feet; (3) Ponderosa 

marl, 1,000 feet; and (4) Chalk marl, 100 feet. In his latest report 

on the Texas Cretaceous, Hill divided the Upper Cretaceous into two 

divisions, the lower of which he called the Taylor marl and the upper 

the Navarro formation, a name originally proposed by Shumard. In 

northeastern Texas he divides 2 the Navarro into Arkadelphia beds, 

Washington beds, Annona chalk, Roxton beds, and Brownstown beds. 

As it is now clear that the Annona and the Brownstown represent the 

Austin, the overlying Taylor marl must be represented in part at 

least by the marls overlying the Annona, to which Hill originally 

applied 3 the name "Kickapoo." He states that the formation bears 

a growth of hardwood, including Bois d'Arc, and adds "this is the 

only marly terrane in the entire range of Cretaceous formations in 

Texas which is covered by arborescent vegetation."

In Arkansas the equivalents of the Navarro and Taylor formations, as made out by Hill and Veatch, are as follows:

Arkansas equivalents of the Navarro formation and Taylor marl.

3. Arkadelphia clay: Dark laminated clays; 200 to 500 feet.

2. Nacatoch sand: Glauconitic sands and -thin ledges of calcareous sandstones; 

60 to 160 feet.

1. Marlbrook marl: Blue chalky glauconitic marls; in places, impure chalk. A 

chalky layer, 20 to 50 feet thick, which occurs 200 to 300 feet above the base, is called 

the "Saratoga" chalk member. Thickness, 50 to 750 feet.

1 Third Ann. Kept. Texas Geol. Survey, 1891, pp. 354-359.

2 Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 340. In describing the "Washington beds" 

the author states that they "surmount the Brownstown marls," evidently an error carried over from his 

earlier descriptions wherein the Brownstown marl was considered as being above the Annona chalk.

s Hill, R. T., Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. 5, p. 308,1893.
26 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Hill recognizes two lithologic phases of the upper part of the 

Navarro in the region north of the Brazos. The lower division, called 

by him the "Corsicana beds," consists of brown sandy marl with an 

occasional bed of hard, calcareous sandstone. Limestone concretions and a few bands of limestone occurring in these beds suggest the 

formations occurring in the vicinity of Cooper, Delta County. The 

upper division, which he called the "Kemp beds," consists of a yellow 

clay with nodules which apparently corresponds to the beds observed 

one-half mile north of Sulphur Bluff. However, very little information is available concerning the relation of these beds.

Character and thickness. No satisfactory data bearing on the thickness of the Navarro and Taylor formations in this region are available. 

They are estimated to have a combined thickness of about 1,000 to 

1,200 feet. The Sulphur Springs well shows 381 feet of blue shale 

with some sand, which evidently represent in part the Arkadelphia 

clay and Nacatoch sand.

Although well-marked correspondence with the Arkansas section 

can be made out in the character and sequence of the formations in 

Delta and adjoining counties, the lack of good exposures due to the 

unconsolidated character of the beds renders the definition of formation boundaries impracticable, and the whole is mapped as a unit.

At the base of the section in southern Lamar County a clay marl 

containing varying proportions of sand, and having an estimated 

thickness of 100 to 150 feet, forms a deep black soil in which no outcrops appear. This marl grades upward into fine marly sands containing thin ledges of limestone or chalk. These beds are exposed at 

Ladonia (PL II, A), Wolfe City, and elsewhere along a narrow belt 

extending from the northeast part of Delta County westward along 

the south side of North Fork as far west as Ladonia and thence 

southwestward through Wolfe City. Above the sands lies a highly 

calcareous marl or impure chalk, 20 to 50 feet thick, corresponding 

in position and character to the "Saratoga" chalk member of the 

Arkansas section. These beds are exposed in the slopes of North 

Fork about 2 miles north of Enloe, south of Ladonia, and in the 

vicinity of Fairlie in Hunt County.

The chalky beds grade upward into unconsolidated arenaceous 

marls in which occur concretionary masses of dense blue fossiliferous 

limestone. These marls constitute much of the surface of Delta 

County, but owing to the readiness with which they succumb to the 

weather exposures of unaltered material are rare. The estimated 

thickness of the marls is 350 to 500 feet, but as no wells extend 

through them in this region the data on which to base an estimate are 

very imperfect. Toward the south the black lands representing the 

outcrop of the marls give place to sands the exact relations of which 

are not clear, but which represent apparently the horizon of the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. RAILROAD CUT AT LADONIA STATION.

Exposures of fine, marly sands containing thin ledges of limestone or chalk representing a part of 

undifferentiated Navarro-Taylor marl division. (See p. 26.)

B. RAILROAD CUT AT AVINGER STATION. 

Exposure of sands and clays of Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

Nacatoch sand, though some doubt exists owing to the near proximity 

of the Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

In the vicinity of Commerce, Hunt County, green sands occur bearing Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad) ?, Cardium sp., andFusus sp.

Above the glauconitic sands are beds of blue bituminous sandy 

shale and dark laminated clays, which are exposed only near Sulphur 

Bluff and 3 miles north of that place on the south side of South Fork, 

where a bluff 50 feet high is composed of black laminated clay with 

thin laminations of ferruginous sand grading downward into blue 

bituminous sandy shale. The blue sandy shales contain characteristic Cretaceous fossils which are best preserved in a hard, chalky 

ledge near the middle. The dark laminated clays and associated 

beds are thought to represent the horizon of the Arkadelphia clay, 

the larger part of which in this region is covered by the overlap of the 

Eocene.

Fossils. Arenaceous and chalky beds 2 miles north of Enloe 

yielded the following fossils, as determined by Dr. T. W. Stanton, of 

the Survey:

Ostrea sp.

Inoceramus cripsi var. barabini Morton.

Baculites asper Morton?

Exogyra ponderosa Roemer.

Cucullsea sp.

Cinulia sp.

Mosasaurus, weathered centrum of a 

caudal vertebra and a fragmentary element of the skull.

From the chalk 1J miles south of Ladonia in the southern part of 

Fannin County the following were obtained:

Gryphsea vesicularis Lamarck. Cucullsea sp. 

Gyrodes sp. Anchura? sp. 

Avellana sp. Nautilus sp. 

Baculites anceps Lamarck.

In a railway cut near Cooper the overlying marls yielded the following in considerable numbers:

Morea sp.

Gryphsea vesicularis Lamarck.

Exogyra costata Say.

Inoceramus cripsi var. barabini Morton.

Trigonia.

In the greensands 1J miles west of Commerce the following were 

obtained:

Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad)?. Fusus sp. 

Cardium sp.

The following were obtained in the blue sandy shale at Sulphur 

Bluff, 3 miles north of the town of that name in Hopkins County:

Inoceramus proximus Tuomey. 

Crassatellites subplanus (Conrad)?. 

Lunatia sp.

Cucullsea tippana Conrad. 

Turritella trilira Conrad.
28 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Clays occurring one-half mile north of the town of Sulphur Bluff 

gave the following:

Ostrea sp.

Veniella conradi Morton.

Exogyra costata Say. 

Anchura? sp.

All the above are considered by Dr. Stanton as belonging to the 

Navarro and Taylor formations, but there are no distinctive species 

that fix the exact horizon. In fact, as pointed out by Dr. Stanton, 

the paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous in northern Texas has not 

as yet received sufficient study to make fine discriminations practicable with only the small collections submitted.

TERTIARY SYSTEM.

EOCENE SEEIES.

MAJOR DIVISIONS OP THE EOCENE.

The Eocene underlies all the area south of Sulphur Fork, as well as 

a small isolated area on the north side of that stream extending west 

from Texarkana south of New Boston nearly to the west boundary 

of Bowie County. In the eastern part of the area along Sulphur 

Fork the Eocene is covered by a wide belt of deposits of later age.

As developed in eastern Texas and the adjoining portions of 

Louisiana, the Eocene comprises the following subdivisions:

4. Jackson formation. Calcareous clays containing marine fossils 

in abundance.

3. Claiborne group. Lower portion: Fossiliferous, calcareous clay, 

argillaceous limestone, greensand, limonitic iron ore, etc., upper 

portion lignitiferous sands and clays.

2. Wilcox ("Sabine") formation. Lignitiferous sands and clays, 

with marine fossils in the seaward or southern portions.

1. Midway formation. Dark-colored calcareous clays and fossiliferous limestones.

MIDWAY FORMATION.

The Midway formation, called the "Basal" or "Wills Point clays" 

in the Texas reports, 1 consists of calcareous clays with more or less 

sand and closely resembles the underlying Cretaceous clays and 

marls. The chief differences noted are the more distinctly stratified 

structure of the Eocene beds with laminations of sand and the presence of concretionary masses of limestone, which toward the east in 

Arkansas appear to become regularly bedded limestones. Large 

quantities of gypsum are also found in the clays, but the lignitic 

material so prevalent in the overlying Wilcox is wanting. The surface exposure of the Midway is limited to the extreme western pori Penrose, R. A. F., jr., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas. Kennedy, William, Third Ann. Kept. 

Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, p. 47.
GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 29

tion of the Eocene area and is marked by a belt of clay prairie lands 

extending with interruptions from Wills Point northward to Cumby 

and thence curving eastward past Ridgeway to South Fork. 

The characteristic fossils of the formation are:

Enclimatoceras ulrichi White. 

Ostrea crenulimar^inata Gabb. 

Ostrea pulaskansas Harris. 

Volutilithes limopsis Conrad.

In common with other beds of the Eocene it contains:

Venericardia planicosta. 

Pseudoliva vetusta. 

Calyptraphorus velatus. 

Turritella mortoni. 1

The thickness of the Midway formation at Texarkana is about 214 

feet and in Texas is from 260 to 300 feet.2 The beds lie in a horizontal position, dipping slightly toward the southeast. These clays 

underlie a belt of prairie land with scattered belts and groves of 

hardwood timber, consisting mostly of post oak, black jack, and 

hickory.

WILCOX ("SABINE") FORMATION

The Midway formation grades upward into a series of siliceous 

and glauconitic sands, variously colored from white through yellow, 

red, and brown to black, interstratified with clays, which are generally dark blue or black. The sands that constitute the major part 

of the formation are laminated, thinly stratified, massive, and crossbedded and are frequently interlaminated with clay. Many beds of 

lignite occur, varying in thickness from a few inches to several feet, 

and the sands and clays generally are impregnated with vegetal 

matter to such an extent that they burn white or buff on being 

exposed to heat. The sands contain more or less carbonate of lime, 

in places in sufficient amount to cement the sands into a calacareous 

sandstone or arenaceous limestone. Some of these indurated portions occur in somewhat even beds and some of them in concretionary 

masses of various sizes and shapes. When met in wells, these indurated masses are usually designated "rock" or "bowlders" by the 

driller.

According to previously published reports the Wilcox formation 

has an aggregate thickness of about 900 feet. In the well at Sulphur 

Springs (p. 61) the drill penetrated 1,317 feet of sand and clay that 

apparently represent the Wilcox and Midway formations, combined. 

Of this thickness 810 feet is assigned to the Wilcox.

1 For a detailed discussion of the paleontology of the Midway formation see Harris, G. D., The Midway 

stage: Bull. Am. Paleontology, vol. 1, 1896, pp. 117-270."

2 Penrose places the thickness at 250 to 300 feet (First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, p. 23); and 

Kennedy (Third Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1892, p. 49) assigns them a thickness of 260 feet. In the 

(Sulphur Springs well (p. 61) 324 feet of clays and sands have been referred to this formation.
30 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

CLAIBORNE GROUP.

The Claiborne group overlies the Wilcox and is said to contain 

"the most persistent and widely spread marine beds of the Coastal 

Plain." (See Veatch's map, fig. 2.) In northeastern Texas and 

northern Louisiana the group is divisible into a lower fossiliferous 

formation which has been called "Lower Claiborne," but for which 

Harris 1 has recently introduced the name St. Maurice formation, 

and an upper lignitiferous formation to which the name Cockfield 

has been given.

The upper portion of the Claiborne group consists of lignitiferous 

sands and clays, in which no marine fossils have been found except 

at the very top at Kobertson Ferry, on Sabine River, and is known 

as the Cockfield formation. The bed exposed at Robertson Ferry 

containing marine fossils is included in the Cockfield formation.

The lower portion of the Claiborne is more calcareous, glauconitic, 

and clayey than the Wilcox and contains no lignitic matter. The 

thickness of the lower formation (St. Maurice) varies from 250 to 

700 feet. The upper formation (Cockfield) consists of 400 to 500 

feet of lignitiferous sands and clays, which are evidently of nearshore origin.

In southern Texas the "Lower Claiborne" was included by Kennedy in his "Marine beds" 2 and was subdivided into a lower division 

called Mount Selman and an upper division called Cook Mountain. 3 

The "Marine beds" of Kennedy, however, included also a portion 

of the Wilcox which contains marine fossils.*

In southern Cass County and westward the Wilcox formation 

merges upward in places into brown and blue sands and clays, and 

glauconitic beds containing deposits of iron ore which may belong 

to the Claiborne.

Beds of this character occur in isolated areas and if of Claiborne 

age evidently represent outliers left in the general process of erosion. 

The fossils reported from these localities are not stratigraphically 

distinctive and the correlation with the Mount Selman formation 

is made chiefly on the presence of the iron ore and the general lithological character.

In the lower beds the iron exists in the form of carbonate of iron 

or clay ironstone, as scattered masses and nodules inclosed in the 

sand, in places coalescing into a bed continuous for several hundred 

yards. These layers are usually only a few inches in thickness and 

rusty from oxidation. In the southern part of Morris County, and

1 Science, April 1, 1910, p. 502.

2 Kennedy, William, Third Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1891, p. 52.

» Hayes, C. W., and Kennedy, William, Bull. U. 8. Geol. Survey No. 212, 1903

< Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper LT , S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, p. 36.
GEOLOGIC HISTOKY. 31

in the southwestern part of Cass County, and extending thence 

west into Morris, Camp, Upshur, and the counties lying to the west, 

occur deposits of brown iron ore, lying horizontally near the tops of 

the hills, in some places at the surface and in others overlain by 1 

foot to 30 feet of sand. The ore occurs in a variety of forms, botryoidal, stalactitic, mammillary masses, etc., but its characteristic 

form is that of loose nodules and geodes in a ferruginous sandy 

matrix or consolidated into irregular beds varying in thickness from 

1 foot to 10 feet. The ores were termed "nodular or geode ores" 

by Penrose* who considers them to have been formed by the alteration 

of clay ironstone.

LATER TERTIARY DEPOSITS.

No marine deposits of Tertiary age later than Claiborne have 

been recognized in this part of northeastern Texas. Until near the 

close of the period the region appears to have been above sea level, 

or if temporarily depressed and subjected to sedimentation the 

deposits were subsequently removed by erosion. During Oligocene, 

Miocene, and early Pliocene times a general uplift caused the seacoast 

to recede toward the south to near the present coast. As a result of 

this elevation the region was subjected to more or less profound erosion and reduced to a level estimated by Veatch 2 to have been -500 to 

700 feet above the present sea level.

In late Pliocene time there was deposited over the worn land surface 

a sheet of silts, sands, and gravels to which the name Lafayette was 

given by Hilgard. 3 In thij part of northeastern Texas these deposits 

appear to have been removed by subsequent erosion. Eedeposited 

remnants, however, occur as high-level terraces along the valleys and 

also as a thin gravel veneer over the rolling uplands.

QUATERNARY SYSTEM. 

PLEISTOCENE SERIES,

PORT HUDSON FORMATION.

During the long interval of erosion which succeeded the deposition 

of the Lafayette formation the gravels derived from that formation 

were concentrated in many places by stream action. Then came a 

slow subsidence, which converted the bottom lands into swamps and 

caused the deposition of the Port Hudson formation of sand, silts, and 

clays containing remains of animals and plants characteristic of

J Penrose, E. A. F., jr., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 76-81.

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 44.

s Hilgard, E. W., Am. Geologist, vol. 8, 1891, p. 130. See also McGee, W J, Twelfth Ann. Rept. TJ. S. 

Geol. Survey, pt, 1, mi, pp. 347-521. Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No, 46,19Q6, pp. 

44-46.
32 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

swamp conditions. In these old valley deposits the streams cut 

newer valleys of moderate extent, remnants of the Port Hudson now 

occurring as flat-topped terraces along the principal streams, at no 

great depth below the present flood plains. The distribution of 

these terrace deposits in northeastern Texas is shown approximately 

on Plate I (p. 16). In western Bowie and eastern Red River counties, as will be seen, the terraces belonging to the Red River and Sulphur Fork valleys, respectively, coalesce over the intervening areas. 

Moreover, over most of the area north of Sulphur Fork a mantle of 

gravel occurs with some patches of gravel which are possibly due to 

the augmentation of the rivers by glacial flood waters.

Along Red River, in Bowie and Red River counties, the height of 

the outer terrace is about 70 to 75 feet above the present flood plain; 

while about 35 or 40 feet below this another well-marked terrace was 

noted in places.

RECENT.

A slight elevation following the Port Hudson period of deposition 

caused a renewal of stream activity with the excavation of the present 

valleys and the formation of the present topography. The amount 

of erosion accomplished in this later period, however, is small as compared with that which was effected in late Tertiary and early Quaternary times. The chief changes consisted in the alluviation of river 

bottoms, the destruction of river banks, and the formation of cut-offs 

by the wandering of the rivers. In northeastern Texas the topographic and geologic changes have been slight.

NATURAL MOUNDS.

Scattered over the sandy areas in this ana adjoining regions are 

innumerable small mounds varying from 20 to 100 feet in diameter 

and from 2 to 5 feet in height. They are especially well developed 

over the Port Hudson terrace plains, but occur also to some extent 

over the hill lands. In the Cretaceous area, outside the limits of the 

Port Hudson deposits, they are confined to the sandy belts representing the outcropping of the Blossom and Woodbine sands. In 

general, these mounds are rudely circular in outline, but in some localities they show a well-marked tendency toward a northeast-southwest 

elongation.

Mounds of similar character have a wide distribution and their 

origin has been a subject of much discussion. The problem is a perplexing one and remains as yet without satisfactory solution. Veatch, 

in a very complete review, groups the possible agencies of formation as 

human, animal, water erosion, eruptions, and wind.1 Of the theories

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U, S. Qeol. purvey No, 46,1906, pp. 55-59.
STRUCTURE. 33

included under these heads he concludes that those relating to the 

dune and the ant hill are the best supported. In a later paper, Campbell x summarizes the various hypotheses as (1) human; (2) animal, 

such as ground squirrels, gophers, and prairie dogs' burrows; (3) ant 

hills; (4) water erosion; (5) chemical solution; (6) wind action; (7) physical or chemical segregation; (8) glacial action; (9) uprooted trees; 

(10) spring and gas vents; and (11) fish nests. In his discussion he 

disposes of all of these hypotheses except that which ascribes the 

origin to burrowing animals, and adds, "but whether the mounds are 

due to ants or to small rodents the writer is unable to say." He 

admits that many mounds may have been produced by wind action, 

and that probably many others of an entirely different origin may 

have been modified by the wind, but maintains that " the great number of natural mounds are far too symmetrical in profile and in plan 

. to have been formed by wind-blown material."

In view of the wide distribution of natural mounds and their occurrence in regions widely separated, some doubt may reasonably be 

entertained as to all having been formed by the same agency. The 

writer's observations in northeastern Texas has led him to favor the 

theory which ascribes the mounds in this region to wind action. The 

fact that they, are not uniformly circular but are at times elongated, 

and that the position of the longer axis is parallel with the direction 

of the prevailing winds, seems to offer some support to this theory. 

However, the time at the disposal of the writer did not allow full 

opportunity to determine satisfactorily the extent to which the 

linear arrangement prevails and further observations are needed to

settle the matter.

STRUCTURE.

The warping of the old Jurassic land surface, which preceded and 

accompanied the deposition of later formations, gave the beds a 

gentle slope toward the Gulf, amounting, in Lamar County, to about 

55 feet per mile.2 This dip was estimated by taking the elevation 

by barometer of the base of the Goodland limestone north of Hugo, 

Okla. (475 feet above tide), and comparing it with the elevation as 

shown in the Paris well, 1,125 feet. The distance is about 29.1 miles, 

in which the rocks are carried down 1,600 feet, or about 55 feet per 

mile.

As to the attitude of the beds south of Sulphur Fork, no definite 

data are obtainable. If, however, this region has been affected by

1 Campbell, M. R., Jour. Geology, vol. 14, 1906, pp. 708-717. Contains a fairly complete list of papers 

relating to the subject.

2 Using the observed dips of the Goodland limestone, Tafl estimated the dip at about 50 feet per mile, and 

predicted that the water-bearing Trinity sand would be found at Paris at a depth of 1,500 feet. In the 

well subsequently drilled there, however, these sands were reached at a depth of 1,635 feet, to which 91 feet 

must be added for the difference in elevation between the bench mark on the post-office building (601 feet) 

and the top of the well.

87985° WSP 276 11 3
34 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

the Red River-Alabama Landing fault, as indicated by Hill 1 and 

Veatch,2 the strata south of Sulphur Fork must lie nearly horizontal.

If, as suggested by Veatch, the Red River fault and the Alabama 

Landing fault constitute parts of the same general displacement, 

the fault line would occupy approximately the position of the Sulphur Fork, including North Fork. Owing to the covering of alluvial 

deposits, however, no traces of the existence of this fault can be 

observed except a disturbed condition of the Austin chalk beds 

noted by Hill 3 in the cut north of Pecan Gap station.

According to Hill and Veatch the displacement of this fault is 

about 600 feet, with the downthrow to the north. It is scarcely 

conceivable that a displacement of 600 feet could escape recognition 

in the vicinity of North Fork, as it would be sufficient to bring the 

Austin chalk to the surface in Delta County. The writer was at first 

inclined to think that the chalk near Enloe .might be the Austin 

brought up by faulting, but his further study of the stratigraphic 

relations and f aunal contents of these beds did not support this conclusion. It seems probable, therefore, that if any displacement has 

occurred here its extent is much less than 600 feet.

UNDERGROUND WATER.

SOURCE.

All underground water is derived from rainfall. A considerable 

part of the rainfall runs off the surface and is carried away by streams; 

a part is removed by evaporation or consumed by living organisms 

and in chemical work; and the remainder sinks into the soil and 

unites with the underground waters, to reappear in part as springs 

at more or less distant points.

The proportion of the rainfall disposed of by evaporation and 

run-off and by percolation and absorption into the rocks, varies with 

climatic, topographic, geologic, and other conditions. The portion 

which sinks into the ground furnishes the entire supply for both deep 

and shallow wells, and it is this alone that need be considered so far 

as underground waters are concerned.

The percentage of the rainfall which sinks into the earth is determined by (1) the character of the rains, whether slow and steady or of 

a torrential nature; (2) the topography of the country, whether flat 

or with many steep slopes; (3) the character and amount of vegetation covering the surface; and (4) the porosity of the soil and the 

physical character and state of saturation of the underlying beds.4 

The surface of the zone of saturation varies with climatic conditions,

1 Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ana. Kept. IT. S. Geol. Purvey, pt. 7, p. 384.

2 Veatch, A. C., op. cit., pp. 68-69.

3 Hill, R. T., op. cit., p. 342. 

* Veatch, A. C., op. cit., p. 70.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 35

rising in periods of long continued rains and sinking during periods 

of drouth. In regions of excessive rainfall and limited evaporation 

its upper limit usually coincides with the surface, whereas in arid 

regions it may be several hundred feet below the surface. Moreover, 

the upper line or limit of saturation the water table conforms in a 

general way to the surface, rising somewhat higher under elevations 

than under depressions.

AVAILABILITY OF UNDERGROUND WATER.

The availability of the water that sinks into the soil depends on 

(1) the adequacy of the supply and the quality of the water contained in the rock formations, and (2) the depth at which it may be 

encountered and the height to which it will rise in wells. The permanency of the supply depends on the capacity of the rocks for absorbing and transmitting water, and the quality of the soluble minerals 

contained in the beds through which it passes. The feasibility of 

obtaining water at any locality depends on the position and elevation of the rock strata and the structural relations which control the 

arrangement of the rock masses. It is evident, therefore, that the 

controlling factors in the utilization of underground water are the 

composition of the rocks and their arrangement in sheets and 

masses, or, in other words, the geologic structure.

CAPACITY OF ROCKS FOR IMBIBING WATER.

The capacity of rocks to imbibe moisture varies with their physical 

structure. Most of the water in rocks occurs in pores and interstices, 

the larger part of the world's well-water supply being derived from 

saturated porous beds, only a small part of it being obtained from 

caverns or large cavities. Practically all rocks, however compact 

they may appear to the eye, have interstices and small cavities in 

which water may be stored. The degree of porosity of rocks, however, differs greatly in different rocks, being highest in open-textured 

loose sands, sandstones, gravels, and chalks, all of which have great 

capacity for imbibing water, and lowest in close-textured clays, 

slates, marbles, and granites, which have very small capacity for 

absorbing and transmitting water. Some rocks, however, such as 

granite, which in their original condition are almost impervious, 

become water bearing through the development of fractures and 

crevices.

The capacity of rocks for transmitting water is different from their 

capacity for imbibition. In certain fine-grained rocks the pore 

spaces are so small that they will not readily transmit water. Hence 

rocks like chalk or brick, which absorb water freely, transmit it 

slowly, whereas others with no greater total pore space transmit it 

readily. Sandstones, for instance, vary greatly in texture and 

consequently in their "capacity for carrying water.
36 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

ARTESIAN WATERS DEFINED.

Underground waters which under the influence of hydrostatic 

pressure tend to rise to the level of the water surface at the highest 

point from which the pressure is transmitted are known as artesian 

waters. Hence an artesian well is any well in which the water rises 

under artesian pressure. If the water rises to the surface the well 

is known as a flowing artesian well; if the water fails to rise to the 

surface it is known as a nonflowing artesian well. An artesian system is any combination of geologic structural features such as 

basins, planes, joints, or faults in which waters are confined under 

artesian pressure and will rise if an outlet is afforded by a well or 

other perforation. An artesian basin is a basin of porous-bedded 

rock in which, as a result of synclinal structure, the water is confined 

under artesian pressure. An artesian slope is a monoclinal slope 

of bedded rocks in which water is confined beneath relatively impervious covers owing to the obstruction to its downward passage by 

the pinching out of porous beds, by a change in character from pervious to impervious, by internal friction, or by dikes or other obstructions. An artesian area is an area underlain by water under artesian 

pressure.

CONDITIONS THAT DETERMINE ARTESIAN WELLS.

The distribution of underground water depends on the arrangement of the rocks in sheets and masses. If the strata are horizontal they constitute storage systems in which the water is under little 

or no artesian pressure and will escape only laterally as seepage 

springs where the beds are cut by valleys of erosion. If the water 

bearing beds are inclined and are included between impervious 

sheets, the water absorbed over the outcropping area will sink under 

the influence of gravity and if reached by a well at any point beyonp 

the limit of its outcrop will tend to rise therein to the level of complete 

saturation.

The water pressure and, therefore, the height to wnich water will 

rise depend on several conditions: (1) On the elevation of the groundwater table at the outcrop or source, which in turn depends on the 

uneven elevation and surface conformation of the catchment area; 

(2) on the loss by friction in transmission, a factor which depends on 

the size of the spaces between the grains and is not by any means 

uniform even in the most even-textured beds; and (3) on the loss 

by leakage resulting from increases in porosity of the inclosing beds 

from faults, joints, and other natural breaks, and, locally, from the 

multiplication of wells within a restricted area. Hence the level to 

which water will rise in wells is always somewhat lower than the 

lowest point of the outcrop of the containing beds and becomes 

lower and lower with increasing distance from the catchment area.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 37

The factors controlling the occurrence of flowing wells may be 

briefly stated as follows: (1) There should be relatively porous beds 

suitably situated to collect and transmit the water; (2) the waterbearing beds should be inclosed between other relatively impervious 

layers to confine the water; and (3) the level of the ground-water 

table at the source should be enough higher than the surface at the 

point where the well is located to compensate for the loss of head 

due to resistance and leakage. As these conditions vary from point 

to point it is evident that both flowing and nonflowing artesian wells

FIGURE 3. Diagram showing the common arrangement of factors producing artesian wells. A, artesian 

wells; S, head of water if there were no loss by resistance or leakage; C, actual head of hydraulic 

gradient; D, ground-water table at outcrop.

may occur within the same artesian area. The accompanying diagram (fig. 3) illustrates the most common arrangement of factors 

producing artesian wells.

ARTESIAN WATERS IN NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

GENERAL GEOLOGIC RELATIONS OF THE WATER-BEARING BEDS.

Within the area here considered the known water horizons occur 

in the Cretaceous and Tertiary and may be represented as follows:

Water-bearing formations in northeastern Texas.

System.

Tertiary (Eocene).

Upper Cretaceous 

(Gulf series).

Formation.

Wilcox ("Sabine") formation.

Midway formation.

Navarro formation and 

Taylor marl.

Austin group.

Eagle Ford clay.

Woodbine sand.

Character.

Sands and clays. Certain beds water bearing. No 

correlation possible.

Mostly clays, some thin beds of limestone in places. 

No water. Some sandy beds slightly water bearing.

Clay marls, not water bearing. Glauconitic sands. 

An important water horizon in Arkansas; of 

doubtful utility in Texas.

Clay and chalk marls in places sandy. Near the base 

a bed of sand appears to be water bearing, but it 

has not been developed.

Chalk (Annona) and chalk marl (Brownstown). 

Not available as a source of water. Contains hard 

water where porous.

Blossom sand member. Waterbearing. 

Clays. No water, or limited supplies of highly mineralized water.

Sands and shales. The sands are usually water 

bearing. Several water horizons.
38 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OP NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

Water-bearing formations in northeastern Texas Continued.

System.

Lower Cretaceous 

(Comanche series).

Formation.

Washita group.

Fredericksburg group (Goodland limestone).

Trinity sand.

Character.

Impure limestones and usually nonwater-bearing 

marls; 35 feet of sand a with water occurring in 

the Paris well.

Massive white limestone. No water.

Sands and clays with thin beds of limestone. Important water horizon in Texas; becomes of less 

importance eastward.

a According to Mr. J. A. Porter (p. 46), the seventh water horizon occurred under a limestone "caprock" at 1,635 feet. The sandstone is evidently the one mentioned by Hill (p. 46) as occurring at 1,650- 

1,685 feet, but Hill does not state that it is waterbearing. The discrepancy as to the lower portion of the 

Paris record is not easily reconcilable, there being no reliable data available for that part of the hole.

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.

TRINITY SAND.

The Trinity sand is an important water-bearing horizon, supplying 

a large number of wells in central Texas, where it is divisible into 

several formations, known as the Trinity group. In the main the 

beds consist of fine, clean, white sand pressed compactly together 

and popularly known as "packsand." The group includes some 

calcareous beds, which increase in thickness toward the southern 

part of the State, and are there known as the Glen Rose limestone.

The outcrop of the Trinity sand occurs in Oklahoma several miles 

north of Red River. This catchment area constitutes a belt from 5 

to 10 miles in width, extending nearly due east into Arkansas. From 

this line of exposure the southward dip of the beds carries them 

beneath all this part of northeastern Texas to depths proportionate 

to the distance from the outcrop. The only available record of the 

depth to the Trinity sand in northeastern Texas is that of the well at 

Paris (p. 45), where it was reached at about 1,735 feet. From this 

record and from the depth of the sands as shown by a well at Hugo 

the dip of the formations is estimated at about 56 feet per mile.

Sands being near-shore formations they gradually give place seaward to contemporaneous clays and limestones formed in deeper and 

quieter waters. This change consists both in an increase in the 

argillaceous and calcareous constituents of the rocks and in a wedging 

out of the sands. This imbrication of the strata is shown in the 

ideal diagrammatic section of the Cretaceous rocks in northern Texas 

and southwestern Arkansas given by Taff 1 (fig. 4, p. 39).

Water falling upon the outcrop of the Trinity sand or carried over 

it by rivers sinks into it readily, and for a certain distance from the 

outcrop these sands furnish an abundant supply of water of excellent 

quality. Farther away, however, the water becomes affected by

Tafl, J. A., Twenty-second Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 697.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 39

mineral constituents taken up in its 

underground passage, and is likely to be 

too highly mineralized for ordinary use. 

The conditions which control the 

height to which water will rise in wells 

has been explained (p. 37). Within the 

main zone of saturation water pressures 

in a formation are likely to be unequal, 

owing to differences in the coarseness of 

the strata, leakage through springs, and 

local irregularities in the additions supplied by rainfall. Hence there is a 

gradual decline in the pressure head 

with increase of distance from the line 

of outcrop. In the absence of accurate 

relief maps of northeastern Texas any 

statement of the areas in which flowing 

wells may be expected from any particular horizon can be approximate only. 

At its outcrop north of Hugo the Trinity 

sand stands about 500 feet above sea 

level. The elevation of the top of the 

well at Paris is 510 feet. Water from 

the Trinity would therefore lack 10 feet 

of rising to the top even if it sustained 

no loss of pressure. The amount of such 

loss is unknown, but assuming it to be 

30 or 40 feet the water from the Trinity 

sand would lack 40 or 50 feet of reaching 

the surface at Paris. The area in which 

flowing wells may be expected from the 

Trinity sand in the vicinity of Paris or at 

points equally distant from the outcrop 

must therefore have an altitude of less 

than 450 or 460 feet above sea level, hence 

these wells would be confined to the 

vallev of Red River.

WASHITA GROUP.

The Washita group has not hitherto 

been recognized as including waterbearing beds. Its mention here is based 

on the somewhat doubtful assignment to 

it of the seventh water horizon in the

3 g

' * '/-I

II

Hugo 547

OKLAHOMA TEXAS " 

[-Arthur 426

-Lenoir 532

-Paris 601

NorihFork, 

SuTpbw River

-Cooper 495

SoafhFark 

STilpharRiver

H South Line 

Hopkins Co
40 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OP NOETHEASTEBlSr TEXAS.

Paris well (p. 45). Even if the seventh horizon belongs to the Washita, 

some doubt exists as to whether the water came from that level (sandstone No. 24 of the section) or from some lower horizon. Hill in 

his section (p. 46) gives a sandstone at 1,650 to 1,685 feet, but does 

not credit it with having water. Mr. Porter's log shows the seventh 

water horizon at 1,635 feet just below a limestone, a depth very close 

to that of the bed (24) shown in Hill's section.

A point in favor of assigning the bed to the Washita group is the 

statement of Mr. Porter that the water from it rose to within 2 feet 

of the surface. The evidence available does not support the view 

that water from the Trinity would rise so high. The Washita, on the 

other hand, outcrops in the vicinity of Hugo at a higher level than 

the Trinity and can reasonably be expected to furnish flowing wells 

at a level of 500 to 510 feet in Lamar County. In general the Washita 

group consists of shales and limestones, but it contains some arenaceous beds in the upper part (Denison formation; the Pawpaw beds 

of Hill), and these may contain water in some places.

Flowing wells may be expected from the Washita group, if water 

bearing, along the south side of Red River in Lamar County at altitudes of 500 feet and under. Toward the east the pressure evidently 

declines because of the gradual lowering of the surface of the outcropping beds in the territory. The area in which flowing wells may be 

had from this horizon is probably confined to Lamar County and the 

extreme northern part of Red River County.

WOODBINE SAND.

The Woodbine formation consists of alternations of sands, sandstones, clays, and marls, commonly lignitiferous and glauconitic and 

containing iron pyrite. The character of the waters also indicates 

that some of the beds contain more or less iron and salt. The lower 

portion of the formation, called by Taff and Hill the Dexter sand, 

has layers of considerable thickness, which are free from mineral 

matter and rather porous. The water from this horizon (sixth) in 

the Paris well (p. 45) rose to within 6 feet of the surface. Its character was not adequately tested, however, as it was allowed to mingle 

with the more mineralized waters from the higher beds. The upper 

portion of the Woodbine includes several beds of sand which are 

water bearing, but they contain quantities of vegetable and animal 

remains which, together with soluble salts, so impregnate the water 

as to render it useless.

North of Paris Red River flows upon the outcrop of the Woodbine 

formation, the sands appearing on both sides of the river in the bluffs 

bordering the alluvial bottoms. On the south side of the river the 

sands outcrop in a belt several miles wide, extending through the 

northern part of Fannin, Lamar, and Red River counties, except 

where covered by Recent alluvial formations.
UNDERGROUND WATER. 41

EAGLE FORD CLAY.

Lower clays. The lower portion of the Eagle Ford consists of blue 

marly clays containing hard concretions, with occasional layers of 

sandy shale. The sandy constituents increase downward and the 

formation gradually passes into the Woodbine sand below. This 

part of the formation is for the most part dry, but in places it contains 

small quantities of water, which, however, is too highly charged with 

deleterious substances to be used.

Blossom sand member. The upper 50 to 80 feet of the Eagle Ford 

clay consists of glauconitic sands irregularly interlaminated with 

clays. On exposure the sands become red from the oxidation of the 

contained iron. These sands outcrop in a narrow band from 1 mile 

to 2 miles wide, extending east and west across Red River, Lamar, 

and Fannin counties and adjoining on the south the Eagle Ford 

black prairies or clay belt. The towns of Blossom, Paris, and Detroit 

are located on the outcrop of these sands, the first named giving the 

name to the beds. The shallow wells along the outcrop commonly 

range from 25 to 75 feet in depth and yield an abundant supply of 

soft water, which in some wells is of good quality, but which in most 

is impregnated with variable amounts of mineral matter. The quality 

of the water from the embedded portion of this sand seems .to be 

good, as shown by the Clarksville waterworks wells, which derive 

their supply from it.

The sands appear to have a thickness of more than 60 feet generally, but only a small part of the member is water bearing a fact 

that must be taken into account in sinking wells to this horizon.

AUSTIN GROUP.

The Austin group consists chiefly of chalks (Annona chalk) and 

chalk marls (Brownstown marl) and is in the main destitute of water. 

In places, however, the beds are somewhat porous and may then 

furnish limited supplies of very hard water.

NAVARRO FORMATION AND TAYLOR MARL.

The Navarro formation and Taylor marl consist of clay and sandy 

marl, with some sand and chalk. Near the base is a bed of chalk, 

which outcrops near Enloe and southwestward in the vicinity of 

Pecan-Gap and Ladonia. Underneath the chalk is a soft yellow sand, 

which outcrops at Ladonia. The thickness of this sand is nowhere 

clearly shown, but probably does not exceed 50 or 60 feet. At Pecan 

Gap 30 feet of sand underlie the chalk, the base of the sand not being 

exposed. Portions of the sand become notably calcareous, with occasional thin chalky layers. Downward the sands grade into sandy 

yellow clay containing many Exogyra.
42 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

The outcrop of this sand constitutes a narrow band through the 

northern part of Delta County and south west ward in Hunt County 

through Wolf City. Its water-bearing character has not been tested 

underground, but its character and outcrop indicate that it may constitute a source of supply in a belt a few miles wide along its south 

border. As the catchment area is not extensive it is not likely to 

prove a very important horizon and will probably not be available 

for wells except in a comparatively small area.

In Arkansas the Nacatoch sand (see p. 25) constitutes an extensively exploited water horizon. At Texarkana it contains no less than 

eight water-bearing beds, two of which (at 1,020 and 1,174 feet, 

respectively) showed strong pressure. In Texas these beds show a 

diminution in their porous sandy character, and though still water 

bearing to some extent are of less importance in this respect than in 

southern Arkansas. In southern Delta County a narrow belt of glauconitic sandy shales and sands, which apparently represent this formation, outcrops along the north side of South Fork and just west of 

Commerce. The outcrops are meager, however, and the character 

and relations of the beds are not clearly shown. In a well 100 feet 

deep at Sulphur Bluff these sands were reached at 30 feet and were 

found to contain water, which, however, was not used. The overlap 

of the Eocene south of Sulphur Fork has covered the higher portions 

of the Cretaceous and nothing can be said of these beds here.

TERTIARY SYSTEM.

WILCOX ("SABINE") FORMATION.

The Wilcox ("Sabine") formation in this region consists of ferruginous and lignitiferous sands, ferruginous sandstones, and blue and 

brown clays, with one or more beds of lignite and local beds of iron 

ore. The formation is generally water bearing, but as its character 

changes from place to place no definite correlation can be made 

between the water sands in different localities. Owing to the lenticular character of the bedding it is probable that the water sands are 

of local extent only and occur in different positions within the 

formation.

Underground-water conditions in the Wilcox formation differ materially from those in the Cretaceous. In the Cretaceous the sandy 

beds lie between more impervious strata, thus permitting the water 

to enter only at the outcrop. In the Tertiary (Eocene) no such definite relationship exists between the clays and sands, there being no 

well-defined persistent clay layers. The whole series being predominantly sandy the water is relatively free to penetrate the beds, at 

any point. Hence the head in any case is dependent not on the 

height of the ground water table at the outcrop of the horizon tapped, 

but on its height near-the well. 1

i Veatch, A. C., Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 81-82.
XJNDEKGKOUlSrD WATEK. 43

From the evidence supplied by the Sulphur Springs well (see p. 61) 

it would appear that below a depth of 50 feet in that vicinity the 

beds of the Wilcox are largely barren. At Mount Vernon, however, 

20 to 25 miles farther east and aBout 25 feet lower, an abundant 

supply of water is found at about 400 feet. At Mount Pleasant no 

water was found below the surface sands to a depth of 300 feet, but 

at Pittsburg, 12 miles south, 33 feet of water sand occurs at 151 to 

184 feet. At Daingerfield, 15 miles east of Pittsburg and at about 

the same level (400 feet above tide), the gin well is apparently supplied 

from the same bed at a depth of 186 feet, the water rising to within 

20 feet of the surface. This sand probably has its outcrop somewhere between Mount Pleasant and Pittsburg. At Jefferson a well 

whose top is 196 feet above tide obtains water at a depth of 830 feet.1

i

FIGUBE 5. Diagram showing water conditions in the lower Eocene strata in northwestern Louisiana 

and southern Arkansas. The beds are predominantly sandy, with irregular discontinuous clay masses; 

water is relatively free to pass to any part of the beds, and the hydraulic head depends on the local 

position of the ground-water table rather than on its position at the outcrop of the water-bearing beds.

At Hawkins, in the valley of the Sabine River, in Wood County, a 

flowing well is reported at a depth of 200 feet. The elevation of the 

town is 394 feet.

In general the water-bearing character of the Wilcox formation 

beds is controlled by the variation in the porosity of the beds from 

place to place, and hence the successful development of a well depends 

on finding a bed coarse enough to act as a natural horizontal strainer 

and so aid in removing the water in the adj oining finer beds. Although

the sand beds vary greatly in physical charact

short distances, there are, nevertheless, certain beds in which the

chances of developing a satisfactory well are

Of these the most important are located toward the top of the formation and are represented in the Pittsburg and

sr and thickness within

greater than in others.

Daingerfield wells.

i The authority for the depth of this well is Mr. J. M. De Ware, of Jefferson. In Hill's report (Twentyfirst Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 414) the depth of this well is given as 802 feet.
44 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

SURFICIAL SANDS AND GRAVELS.

The irregular deposits of sand and gravel of late Tertiary and Quaternary age, which in places overlie the older Tertiary and Cretaceous 

beds, are of varying value as water carriers. Wells in these beds 

situated on the hills are likely to be of some slight local importance. 

In the larger river valleys, however, they may yield large supplies.

REVIEW BY COUNTIES. 

LAMAK COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Lamar County adjoins Red River, in the 

extreme northwestern part of the area included in this report. It 

comprises an area of 903 square miles and in 1910 had a population of 

46,544. Its county seat and chief town is Paris, with a population of 

11,269. The county is traversed by the Texas & Pacific, St. Louis & 

Southwestern, and Texas Midland railways.

The drainage of the county is divided about equally between Red 

River and North Fork of Sulphur River, the divide between the two 

systems passing east and west across the county near the middle. 

The general slope is toward the southeast. The surface is rolling, 

without pronounced relief, the drainage ways being but moderately 

incised below the general plain level.

Geology. The south half of the county is underlain by light to 

dark-brown and jet-black clay or clay loam designated Houston clay 

and Houston black clay by the Bureau of Soils; these, constituting 

what is locally known as black waxy land, are residual soils derived 

from the weathering of the clay and chalk marls of the Austin group. 

Northward from Paris the gray sandy clay loam derived from the 

Eagle Ford clay extends to the vicinity of Lenoir, from which point 

north to the river a strip of sandy soil 2 to 10 miles wide represents the 

outcrop of the Woodbine sand.

Lamar County lies upon the outcrop of the lower half of the upper 

Cretaceous, comprising within its boundaries the Woodbine, Eagle 

Ford, Brownstown, and Annona formations and the Taylor marl, 

which outcrop in successive belts extending east and west across the 

county. North of the Brownstown area is a strip of sandy soil 1 to 

2 miles wide which represents the outcrop of the upper arenaceous 

layers of the Eagle Ford, to which in this report the name Blossom 

sand member is given. The approximate distribution of the outcrops 

of the different formations will be seen on the map (PI. I). Within 

the area of the Eagle Ford clay a number of isolated patches or outliers of overlying formations have not been entirely removed by 

erosion. No attempt has been made to map these areas. The strata 

have a dip of 50 to 60 feet per mile toward the south-southeast.
LAMAR COUNTY. 45

Water resources. Throughout the clay-land area cisterns and 

tanks constitute practically the sole source of water supply in Lamar 

County. Paris derives its supply from a rain reservoir about 6 miles 

west of town. In 1896 the city made a determined effort to develop 

an underground supply, but without satisfactory results. Shallow 

wells and springs are common in the area of the Woodbine sand, the 

supply for the most part being ample and the quality good.

Although the Trinity sand underlies the whole county (see fig. 4) 

only in the northern part is it near enough to the surface to be practically available. Its catchment area northward in Oklahoma is 

lower than the surface of most of Lamar County, hence flowing wells 

from this horizon can be expected only in the low-lying districts, 

notably along the valley of Red River.

A well put down by S. J. Wright on the banks of Red River 

opposite the mouth of Kiamichi River is reported to have found an 

abundant flow of water in these beds at a depth of 301 feet, the water 

having sufficient force to rise to a considerable height above the 

surface. Owing to the caving of the well, the drill was lost and the 

well abandoned.

The Woodbine sand outcrops in the northern part of the county 

and over its area the ground-water table can be reached by wells at 

depths of 20 to 50 feet. Southward from the outcrop the sands lie 

at constantly increasing depths. At Paris the first water sand of 

this formation was found at 600 feet.

A detailed section of the Paris well has been kindly furnished by 

Mr. John A. Porter, the superintendent. The boring, which was 

made by the city waterworks, is located 2J miles east of the city 

square. The elevation is 510 feet above tide (91 feet lower than 

the United States Geological Survey bench mark on the Government 

building, which reads 601 feet). The well was completed December 

19, 1906.

Record of the Paris well.

Formation.a

Eagle 

Ford 

clay.

Blossom 

sand 

member.

Woodbine sand.

No.

1 

2

3 

4 

5

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13

Character.

Marl of lighter color; second water at 570; rose to within 110 feet 

of surface.

Marl............................................................

Sandrock; third water; rose to within 100 feet of the surface. . . . . 

Marl... .........................................................

Marl............................................................

Marl. . ..........................................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

(iO 

20

100 

320 

100

50 

125 

8 

175 

25 

66 

31 

33

Depth.

Feet. 

60 

80

180 

500 

600

650 

775 

783 

958 

983 

1,049 

1,080 

1,113

a Identifications by the writer.
46 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Record of the Paris well Continued.

Formation.

Woodbine sand.

Washita group 

and Trinity

sand.

No.

14

15

16

17 

IS

19

?.n

?1

22 

23

24

Character.

Unrecorded; "was drilled while sand bucket was being drilled 

out."

Qanrlrnpk bixtn water, rose

L^sesand '- - --- -[ to within 6 feet Loosesand... ......... ...................... j of the surface.

Sand, followed in succession by shell rock (8 to 10 inches) and 

alternating layers of limestone and marl darker below.

Unrecorded; sand at top; seventh water, which rose to within 2 

feet of the surface.

Thickness.

Feet. 

52

6

105

39 

f 33

39 i 9<;

I 8

130

85

360

Depth.

Feet. 

1,165

1,171

1,276

1,315 

1,348

1,387

1,412

1,420

1,550 

1.635

1,965

The above record to a depth of 1,550 feet (Nos. 1 to 22) corresponds 

with that published by Hill.1 The remaining portion of Hill's record, 

which stops at 1,726 feet, is as follows:

Record of loiver part of Paris well (by Hill).

Formation.

Washita group.

No.

?3

?4

?5

26

?7

28

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

100

35

15

15

+1

Depth.

Feet. 

1,650

1,685

1,710

1,725

1,726

According to Porter, water was found in sand at 1,Q35 feet. This is 

evidently the sand noted in Hill's section at 1,650 to 1,685 feet 

(No. 24). Hill makes no mention of water at this horizon. From 

the greater detail given by Hill from 1,550 to 1,726 feet it is probable he had before him the drillings from the well. Later the well was 

extended to 1,965 feet, but no record is available for this portion. 

The Trinity must have been reached at about 1,735 feet, but nothing 

is known of its water-bearing character.

The Paris well is located on the outcrop of the Blossom sand 

member, which constitutes the upper part of the Eagle Ford clay, 

in which five small water reservoirs were encountered within the 

first 100 feet. In the Woodbine, aggregating about 800 feet in thickness, are six beds of sand, five of which are water bearing. The first 

yielded at 570 feet a strong flow of briny water, which rose to within 

110 feet of the surface; it may represent a water sand within No. 5, 

not otherwise noted. The second (No. 8) also yielded salty water,

Hill, E. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt, 7, 1901, p. 629.
LAMAR COUNTY. 47

which rose 10 feet higher than that from No. 5. The third at 958 feet 

yielded water that rose to within 75 feet of the surface, and the fourth 

at 1,049 feet water that rose to within 30 feet of the surface. All of 

the waters were briny and unfit for use. In the fifth sand (No. 19) a 

strong flow was reached at 1,350 feet and rose to within 6 feet of the 

surface. The quality of this water is unknown, as the waters from 

above were allowed to mingle with it. This sand is inferred to be the 

basement reservoir of the Woodbine, which is so prolific of wells 

in regions to the southward. The next water, the seventh, according to Porter, came from beneath a bed of limestone at 1,635 feet 

and rose to within 2 feet of the top. The failure to exclude the 

higher waters throws doubt on the character of those from the two 

lowest flows. The height to which the water rises indicates that flowing wells may be obtained from these horizons in Lamar County 

at localities having elevations under 500 feet.

In the area of outcrop of the Blossom sand member water is found 

in shallow wells at depths ranging from 15 to 50 feet. The water from 

many of these wells is strongly mineralized, but a notable difference 

is manifested by the waters of wells which are near together. The 

well of the Texas Midland Kail way at Paris is located in these sands 

at an altitude of about 566 feet. The following record, which has been 

published by Hill,1 was supplied by the president of the company, 

E. H. K. Green.

Well of the Texas Midland Raihvay, Paris, Lamar Count}/, Tex.

No.

1

o

3

4

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

18

15

12

28

Depth.

Feet. 

18

33

45

73

At Blossom, a station on the Texas & Pacific Kail way 12 miles 

east of Paris, a number of wells have been sunk to depths of 15 to 40 

feet. W. E. Moore's well, located near the edge of the Black Prairie, 

in the south part of the town, gave the following record:

Well of W. E. Moore, Blossom, Tex.

No.

1

4

5

Character. Thickness.

Ft. in. 

6

25

10

4

110

Depth.

Ft. n. 

6

31

35 10

145 10

Hill, R. T., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1901, p. 631.
48 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

Water, doubtless coming from the sand of No. 2, rose in this well 

to within 30 feet of the surface. The water is not used.

A well 117 feet deep put down near the depot several years ago yields 

a small supply of mineralized water which is regarded locally as having valuable medicinal properties. The only soft-water well in 

town is that of John Carter, on the north side of the village. It is 

about 30 feet deep. (See analyses of water of the Blossom wells, 

p. 74.)

In the south part of the county the Blossom sand member apparently underlies all the black-land area and can be reached at gradually 

increasing depths up to 1,400 or 1,500 feet. Wells located on the 

Annona chalk belt will reach the sands at depths of from 300 to 600 

feet. The water-bearing character of these sands underground in 

Lamar County has not been tested and their availability is largely 

a matter of conjecture. At Clarksville, in Red River County, however, they yield an ample supply of good water for the use of the 

city and it is quite probable tnat similar supplies may be found in 

them in Lamar County. In the absence of well records no definite 

statement can be made as to the height to which water from the 

Blossom sand member will rise in the county. At Clarksville the 

wells have an elevation of about 450 feet and the water rises to within 

55 feet of the top. At their outcrop 4 miles north of town t e sands 

have an elevation of about 400 feet. Westward there is a rise in 

the surface outcrop with a corresponding rise in the water table to 

about 550 feet at Paris. From this it will appear that flowing 

wells can not be expected from the Blossom sand member in Lamar 

County at elevations greater than 500 to 525 feet.

DELTA COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Delta County borders Lamar County on the 

south and occupies the triangular-shaped area between North and 

South forks of Sulphur River. It has an area of 266 square miles, 

with a population of 14,566; the county seat is Cooper. The county 

is traversed from northeast to southwest by the Texas Midland Railroad and is intersected for short distances in the northwest and southwest corners by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and St. Louis & 

Southwestern railroads, respectively.

The county is an eastward-dipping plain, grading from the rolling 

black prairie on the north and west to an almost flat surface on the 

east. Elevations are: Enloe, 495; Cooper, 495; Klondike, 478; and 

Ben Franklin, 465 feet, above sea level. It is drained entirely by 

North and South forks of Sulphur, the larger part going to the latter 

on account of the general slope. None of the drainage ways are 

conspicuous.
DELTA COUNTY. 49

Geology. The county is situated on the outcrop of the uppermost 

beds of the Upper Cretaceous as represented in Texas, South Fork 

following approximately the boundary between the Cretaceous and the 

overlying Eocene Tertiary. A single small area of Cretaceous in the 

form of an inlier occurs south of South Fork at Sulphur Bluff in northeast Hopkins County. Outside a narrow belt bordering South Fork 

the soils of Delta County are of the black waxy type characteristic 

of the black-prairie region of Texas.

Water resources. In the black-land areas the water for domestic 

use is derived almost entirely from cisterns and tanks. In the rather 

small sandy areas both wells and cisterns are in use. A boring made 

by Mr. E. H. Bond 3 miles southwest of Cooper to a depth of 263 feet 

was wholly in clay marl. The section is as follows:

Record of E. II. Bond's well 3 miles southwest of Cooper, Tex.

No.

1

?,

3

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

5

45

213

Depth.

Feet. 

5

50

263

No water was found except a "slow seep" from No. 2. This is the 

source from which the water of the shallow wells is derived, but the 

water is hard and brackish and little used except for stock.

In the sandy areas in the south part of the county the wells range 

in depth from 10 to 100 feet. The water is reported to be fairly good 

and the supply ample, but cisterns are coming into general use. 

Throughout the county rain reservoirs and tanks are relied upon 

mainly for stock supplies.

No effort has been made to exploit the underground waters of Delta 

County. A study of the geology shows that although the Trinity 

and Woodbine reservoirs undoubtedly extend beneath the county, 

they are at too great depth to be available even if they were likely to 

furnish a desirable quality of water, which is improbable. The estimated depth of the Trinity at Cooper is about 3,000 feet. The depth 

to the first water sands of the Woodbine is 1,800 to 2,000 feet and to 

the lowest, the only one concerning whose quality doubt exists, is 

800 to 900 feet deeper. The Blossom sand member can be reached 

at a probable depth of from 1,200 to 1,300 feet. In the absence of 

any test well in the region, however, no safe prediction can be made as 

to its availability as a source of water supply so far from the outcrop.

The only other apparent source of underground water over the

larger portion of the county is the sand bed which outcrops along the

south side of North Fork. This sand evidently extends beneath the

larger part of the county. From its outcrop it appears to dip south

87985° WSP 276 IX 4
50 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEKS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

by southeast, and can be reached at increasing depths according to the 

elevation of the surface and the distance from the outcrop. At Commerce, Hunt County, it lies at a depth of 600 feet and, as shown by the 

Midland Railway well (see below), is water bearing. At Cooper the sand 

is estimated to lie at a depth of 500 to 600 feet. As the surface is 30 

to 50 feet higher at Cooper than at the outcrop of the sand, flowing 

wells could not be expected, but the water would probably rise to 

within 50 feet of the top of the well. The width of the outcrop or 

catchment area of the sand is from 1 to 2 miles.

The upper sands (Nacatoch?) outcrop in a narrow belt along the 

south side of the county through Klondike and to the north of Commerce just over the line in Hunt County. These sands would be 

available for wells only in a restricted area bordering South Fork. 

At Horton, 4 miles south of Klondike, these sands were reached at

315 feet:

Record of well at Horton, Delta County, Tex.

No.

1

3

4

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

30

60

225

(?)

Depth.

Feet. 

30

90

315

At Commerce, Hunt County, which is located at about the same 

geologic horizon, the same sands occur at a depth of 370 to 385 feet, 

according to the somewhat imperfect records available.

Record of Capt. Ander's well; deration, 548 feet, approximate.

No.

1

?,

3

Character.

S oil . . ...........................................................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

10

30

330

Depth.

Feet. 

10

40

370

Record of Texas Midland Railroad ivell; elevation, 548 feet, approximate.

No.

1

?,

3

5

6

7

8

9

10

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

20

365

4

195

6

6

55

25

Depth.

Feet. 

20

385

389

393

588

594

600

655

685
BED RIVER COUNTY. 51

The depth of this well is given on the authority of Mr. L. W. Wells, 

assistant to the general manager of the Texas Midland Railroad, who 

states that the upper horizon has been cased off. The upper sands 

(No. 4) apparently represent the Nacatoch. The lower sands (No. 8) 

apparently represent the sands which outcrop near Ladenia. The 

statement by Hill 1 that a well 2,390 feet deep had been put down by 

H. G. Johnston at Commerce is an error, as Mr. Johnston writes that 

he has never put down a well at Commerce.

RED RIVER COUNTY.

Geographic relations. -Red River County adjoins Lamar County on 

the east and, like Lamar, lies between Red River on the north and 

Sulphur River on the south. It has an area of 1,061 square miles and 

a population of 28,564. The county seat is Clarksville. It is traversed from east to west by the Texas & Pacific Railway, which follows 

the crest of the divide between Red and Sulphur rivers.

-The general slope to the southeast has the effect of throwing the 

principal part of the drainage into the Sulphur. The surface is rolling 

without marked relief and the drainage ways are for the most part 

inconspicuous. The most important tributaries are Pecan Bayou on 

the north and Cuthand Creek on the south. The plateau level ranges 

from about 530 feet above sea on the west to 390 feet above on the 

east. Detroit has an elevation of 482 feet; Bagwell, 476; Clarksville, 442; and Annona, 370.

Geology. The geologic conditions in the northern and western parts 

of Red River County present essentially the same features as are 

found in Lamar County on the west. The outcrop of the Upper Cretaceous formations constitute a series of belts extending northeast 

two-thirds of the way across the county, where they disappear under 

a covering of Quaternary sands and gravels. In the northern part 

of the county the Woodbine sand appears along the south side of the 

Red River valley, bordered on the south by the clays of the Eagle 

Ford formation. Then comes the Blossom sand member of the Eagle 

Ford in a strip a mile or two wide extending from Blossom eastward 

nearly across the county to where the formation disappears beneath 

the alluvium of the Red River valley about 10 miles north of Annona. 

South of this comes the black-land area representing the outcrop of 

the chalk marls (Brownstown), chalk (Annona), and clay marls 

(Navarro and Taylor), each constituting a belt 5 to 6 miles in width, 

disappearing under the Quaternary deposits a short distance east of 

Annona. In the southern and eastern parts of the county the 

Cretaceous formations are entirely hidden from view by the early 

Quaternary (Port Hudson) deposits, which cover the higher areas,

i Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7,1901, p. 637,
52 GEOLOGY AND GBOUND WATEES OF NOETHEASTEEN TEXAS.

and by the flood-plain deposits which occupy the valleys. Moreover, 

the Quaternary sands and gravels occur in broad, shallow depressions 

eroded in the Cretaceous area. A case in point is that of Cuthand 

Creek, the headwaters of which west of Clarksville are engaged in removing the filling of sand and gravel, occupying a depression in the 

surface of the chalk and chalk marls. The Annona chalk makes its 

appearance on the east side of this valley 6 or 8 miles southwest of 

Clarksville and extending northeastward constitutes the broad ridge 

on which the town is situated.

Water resources. The areas in which shallow wells constitute a 

source of water supply are confined chiefly to the valleys of the main 

streams. Outside the valleys a few shallow wells, sunk in areas covered by the Quaternary sands and gravels, in places furnish an abundance of fairly good water, but not uncommonly are found to be too 

highly charged with deleterious substances to be used. Wells located 

in the northern part of the county on the outcrop of the Woodbine 

sand find water at depths varying from 20 to 40 feet. In general 

the water is good and the supply ample. The outcrop of the Blossom 

sand member constitutes a third but less important area of shallow 

wells. Water is found at a depth of 10 to 30 feet in this area, but it is 

likely to contain a large amount of mineral substances in solution. 

Wells differ greatly in the character of the water they furnish, those 

located near together often showing wide discrepancy.

Few surface wells have been dug in the Eagle Ford prairie or blackland areas; and such as have been attempted secure but a limited 

supply of water of poor quality in the seepage that finds its way along 

the joints of the clays and chalk.

The artesian conditions in Red River County are similar to those in 

Lamar County. The southward dip of the Trinity sand carries it too 

far below the surface to be available for wells located anywhere outside of the valley of Red River. It seems possible that flowing wells 

may be obtained in this formation in the lowlands bordering Red 

River, but in the absence of a suitable topographic map no definite 

prediction as to this can be made.

The Woodbine sand contains plenty of water, which when tapped 

by wells in the area to the south of the outcrop will tend to rise to 

the surface. The uncertainty of finding good water in the upper beds, 

however, makes these horizons of doubtful utility in this county. 

In an effort made some years ago to find artesian water the city 

of Clarksville drilled to the Woodbine sand, finding water at a depth 

of about 1,100 feet. The water, which was too salty for use, is reported 

to have been accompanied by natural gas and to have spouted out 

at the surface when first struck, but quickly subsided to 10 feet below 

the top. The elevation of the top of the well is about 430 feet, which 

indicates that flowing wells may be expected from this horizon in
BOWIE COUNTY. 53

locations having an altitude less than 420 feet. In 1902 the Clarksville Ice Co. put down a well to a depth of 1,800 feet, passing two 

water horizons, both in the Woodbine, one at 1,000 feet and one 

at 1 ; 600 feet. The water from both these horizons was too strongly 

charged with salt for use. It appears that no attention was paid 

in either of these attempts to the horizon from which the present water 

supply of the city is obtained.

In 1902 the city of Clarksville * completed two wells, finding water 

in sand immediately underlying the chalk and chalk marl on which 

the city is located. This bed, to which the name. Blossom sand 

member has been given,'was reached at a depth of about 600 feet. 

The water, which rises to within 55 feet of the surface, is soft but 

rather high in alkalies, and the supply is apparently ample. The 

sands from which this supply comes outcrop along Pecan Bayou 

about 4 miles north of town. The elevation of the outcrop is about 

400 feet, as determined by the aneroid, and the top of the well 450 

feet, indicating that the Blossom sand member has a southward 

dip here of about 130 feet per mile. Assuming this rate of dip to 

continue it is evident the member will not be available as a source of 

water supply south of a line drawn east and west 7 or 8 miles south 

of Clarksville. Between this line and the outcrop of the member on 

the north the indications are favorable for good wells in this sand, 

but llowing wells can be expected only in those localities whose 

elevations are under 400 feet.

. Indications of oil and gas are reported to have been found in a 

well 100 feet deep on the farm of Mr. Cox, about a mile north of 

Detroit. If correctly reported, these evidently came from sandstone 

lenses in the Eagle Ford clay.

BOWIE COUNTY.

Geographic relations. Bowie constitutes the third and most easterly of the three counties occupying the narrow divide between 

Red Kiver and Sulphur Fork. Its population is 4,827. Its width 

from north to south varies from 25 miles at the west end to 20 at the 

east. The relief is low and the crest of the divide, which is occupied 

by the Texas & Pacific Railway, is located north of the center line 

of the county. The divide slopes gradually eastward, as shown by 

the following list of elevations taken in order from west to east: 

DeKalb, 407; New Boston, 352; State line, 282.

Geology. As shown on the map (PL I, p. 16), the larger portion of the 

area included between the flood plains of the two rivers is occupied 

by sands and gravels of Quaternary age. A considerable area in. the 

southern and eastern part of the county is of Eocene (Wilcox) age, 

the north boundary of the formation extending through Old Boston

i For information concerning the Clarksville wells indebtedness is acknowledged to Mayor F. B. Mason.
54 GEOLOGY AND GKOUETD WATEES OP NOKTHEASTEBN TEXAS.

and crossing the railroad track in the vicinity of Whaley station. 

New Boston is situated in a plain underlain by clay apparently 

representing the outcrop of the Midway formation (Eocene).

Three miles north of Malta station, on the Freeze place, is a small 

outcrop of the fossiliferous clay marl belonging to the undrffereiitiated 

Navarro and Taylor. The exposure occurs on the edge of a river 

terrace and has an area of about 2 square miles. Calcareous clay and 

greensand about 25 feet in thickness are here overlain by a thin 

capping of Quaternary sand and gravel. The locality is noted 

throughout the surrounding region for the Cretaceous shells found in 

the clays.

Water resources. Throughout the county water is usually found 

in shallow wells varying in depth from 20 to 60 feet. The quality 

is in general good and the supply ample except in certain elevated 

localities where the water-bearing sands have been dissected by 

erosion. Instances are noted where wells when first drilled supplied good water, but after a time became highly charged with 

deleterious substances, especially hydrogen sulphide (HS2 ). This 

is probably due to the entrance of low forms of plant life or to the 

decomposition of iron sulphide in the sand through the accession 

of air.

In the area covered by the Port Hudson (Pleistocene) deposits 

water is found in packsand or quicksand underlying clay near the 

middle or base of the formation, which does not usually exceed 60 

feet in thickness. In the deeper wells the water is said to occur 

in a black sand immediately below a sandy clay "rock." Most 

wells are from 20 to 30 feet in depth. A few have been extended 

through the Port Hudson into the underlying clays of the Midway 

or the Cretaceous formations, but the results generally have not been 

satisfactory.

Where erosion has dissected the formation, exposing a bed of 

clay, springs are likely to occur at the top of the clay. Such a case 

is seen at De Kalb, where a fine spring occurs in a ravine about 

one-half mile southwest of the railroad station. The water, which 

is of good quality, flows out at the top of a dark-brown tough sandy 

clay.

In the Eocene area water is found in shallow wells at varying 

depths, from 20 to 50 feet, according to locality. The soils of this 

area are chiefly red and yellow sands, grading downward into partly 

consolidated sands and sandy shales, portions of which consist of 

hard ferruginous sandstone. The water from this horizon is usually 

more or less strongly mineralized. Dalby Springs, four in number, 

derive their supply from these beds; the water from them varies 

somewhat, but in all is rather strongly mineralized. (See p. 74 for 

analyses.)
BOWIE COUNTY. 55

In the eastern part of the county the Wilcox formation is more 

or less obscured by the later deposit of the Port Hudson. In this 

part of the county the water occurs in the surficial sands and gravels 

at depths varying from 15 to 45 feet. The supply of the Texarkana 

Water Co. is obtained from 52 wells located in a branch valley in the 

northeastern part of the city. The supply comes mainly from the 

surficial sands at from 15 to 45 feet below the surface.

Deep wells. While several deep wells are known to have been 

put down in this county, only very meager information concerning 

them is at present obtainable. In 1905 a boring was completed a 

mile south of De Kalb to a depth of 1,833 feet in the search for oil 

and gas. The top of the well is about 350 feet above sea level, or 

50 feet lower than the station. The only record obtainable of this 

hole is the following, given from memory by Mr. N. E. McKinney, the 

president of the company:

Record of ivell 1 mile south of De Kalb, Tex.

No.

1 

2 

3 

4 

5

Character.

Compact bed of clay with w 

Unrecorded. ................

Blue clay. (Showing of oil <ind gas at 1,503). . .....................................

Thickness.

Feet. '93 

7 

400 

530

Depth.

Feet. 

93 

100 

500 

1,030

Water was encountered which at first overflowed and at the time 

of visit stood a little below the surface. No attention was paid 

to the water horizons nor to the character of the water. It is 

probable the water which rose to the surface came from the Blossom 

sand member, which was evidently penetrated at a depth of about 

1,030 to 1,050 feet.

In 1898 a well was put down on the public square of New Boston 

to a depth of 1,270 feet, according to Mr. Paul G. Ruff. The drill 

is said to have passed through alternate strata of blue shale and 

sand rock, finding at about 500 feet one flow which rose to within 

40 feet of the surface and another at about 700 feet; both flows 

were strongly salt. Mr. C. A. Berkshire states that the drill passed 

through about 450 feet of blue shale and then sand and sandy shale, 

with a number of beds of hard rock, to a depth of 1,200 feet. The 

water, which occurs in the sandy beds at a depth of about 500 feet, is 

highly mineralized and is not used except to some extent for watering 

stock. It is evidently from the Nacatoch sand. The elevation of 

the top of the well is 350 feet.

In 1906 a test well for oil and gas was drilled at Redwater to 

a depth of 2,000 feet. The well, which is located 450 yards west 

of the station, was completed April 30, 1906. It was drilled by
56 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

J. J. Boynton, who furnishes the record. The elevation of the collar 

is about 286 feet above sea level.

Well of the Redwater Oil & Mineral Co., Redwater, Tex.

Formation.

Wilcox ("Sabine").

Midway 263.

Navarro formation andTayl'or marl.

Arkadelphia 565.

Nacatoch (?) 232.

Marlbrook(?)716.

Character.

4. Sand ......................................................

13. Yellow clay ...............................................

15. Soft light shale ............................................

18. Blue shale. ................................................

20. Black shale.. . .............................................

22. Blue shale. ................................................

23. Black shale. ..... .....................................

25. Soft black shale ...........................................

26. Shale with shells. .........................................

27. Black shale. ...........................:...................

28. Hard lime. ................................................

29. Gumbo. ...................................................

30. Lime. ........... .........................................

31. Blue shale. ................................................

38. Blue shale. ................................................

44. Shale. .....................................................

40. Shale. .....................................................

50. Black shalp. ...............................................

Thickness.

Feet. 

15 

2 

4 

3 

4 

4 

8 

25 

2 

13 

33 

2 

20 

60 

17 

30

47 

67 

1 

154

113

40 

240 

1 

79 

40 

~ 80 

28 

4 

5 

35

21 

67 

10 

20 

11 

2 

97 

4 

10

24 

12 

8 

40 

3 

34 

70 

5 

10 

494

Depth.

Feet. 

15 

17 

21 

24 

28 

32 

40 

(5 

67 

80 

83 

85 

105 

1C5 

182 

218

265 

332 

333

487

500 

540 

780 

781 

860 

900 

980 

1,008 

1,012 

1,017 

1,052

1,073 

1,140 

1, 1EO 

1,170 

1,181 

1,1£3 

1,280 

1,284 

1^294

1,318 

1,330 

1,338 

1,378 

1,381 

1,415 

1,485 

1,490 

1,506 

2,000

No record was kept of any of the water sands except Nos. 2 and 21. 

No. 2 (15 to 17 feet) is the source of supply for the surface wells of the 

neighborhood. The beds believed to represent the Nacatoch horizon 

(1052 to 1294) are probably water bearing. This well did not reach 

the Austin group, under which lies the water-bearing Blossom sand 

member of the Eagle Ford, but it evidently stopped not far short of it.

A comparison of this record with that at New Boston indicates that 

the southward dip of the formations in this locality is about 60 feet 

per mile.
BOWIE COUNTY. 57

Several wells put down in Texarkana reach the water-bearing Nacatoch sand at a depth of 800 to 850 feet. According to the superintendent, Mr. R. A. Munson, 1 the well of the waterworks company 

has the following record:

Record of well of Texarkana Waterworks Co.

Formation.

phia.

No.

1

4

5

Character. Thickness.

Feet. 

50

730

100

5

Depth.

Feet. 

50

930

a Veatch assigns No. 5 to the Marlbrook, but the more complete record of the Oil Prospect well shows it to 

be evidently Nacatocn.

Analysis 1 shows the water to be highly mineralized. It is used 

only occasionally to supplement the supply from the shallow wells.

A well put down by the American Well & Prospecting Co. for the 

Home Ice Co. 2 was drilled to a depth of 1,900 feet, with the following 

results:

Record of well of Home Ice Co., Texarkana, Tex.

Formation.

Lafayette (?).................

phia.

Annona.

No.

1

?

/3

\4 

I 5

\6

8

9

Character.

Sand containing brackish water which rose within 

15 feet of the surface.

Sand containing brackish water which rose within 

5 feet of surface.

Thickness.

Feet. 

G

29

845

20 

11

30

125

Depth.

Feet. 

6

35

880

900 

911

941 

1,700

1,825

A similar record is shown by a well (No. 480) which was drilled in 

1907 by J. J. Boynton, as an oil prospect, 1 mile northeast of the city, 

and was abandoned at 1,390 feet.

The Texarkana oil pfospect well is located in the creek bottom at 

an elevation about 305 feet. The record was furnished by Mr. J. D. 

Cook. The well is cased with llf-inch pipe to 145 feet, with 9-inch 

pipe to 860 feet, and with 6-inch pipe to 1,360 feet.

i-Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 180,261. 

2 Idem, pp. 180, 265.
58 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 

Record of well of Texarkana Oil Prospect.Co.

Formation.

Recent. 

Wilcox, 145 feet.

Midway, 289 feet.

Arkadelphia, 408 feet.

Nacatoch, 347 feet.

No.

1 

2 

3

4 

5 

6

7 

8

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79

Character.

Rock............................

Rock...........................

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

Gravel

Shale...........................

"Rock"........................

"Rock"........................

"Rock"........................

Thickness.

Feet. 

5 

40 

10 

55 

2 

43 

5 

35

3 

27 

44 

10 

20 

1 

-8 

2 

26 

4 

4 

3 

24 

4 

18 

5 

10 

3 

15 

4 

8 

20 

6 

2 

5 

3 

4 

7 

2 

35 

2

38 

30 'A 

37 

2 

16 

4 

108 

18 

10 

14 

20 

102 

6

2 

2 

4 

20 

8 

35 

4 

10 

30 

13 

6 

44 

20 

10 

1 

16 

6 

25 

3 

38 

3 

10 

4 

14 

4 

15

Depth.

Feet. 

5 

45 

55 

CO 

62 

105 

110 

145

148 

175 

179 

189 

209 

210 

218 

220 

246 

250 

254 

257 

281 

285 

303 

308 

318 

321 

336 

340 

348 

368 

374 

376 

381 

384 

388 

395 

397 

432 

434

472 

502 

505 

542 

544 

560 

564 

672 

G90 

700 

714 

734 

836 

842

844 

846 

850 

870 

878 

913 

917 

927 

957 

970 

976 

1,020 

1,040 

1,050 

1, 051 

1,067 

1,073 

1,098 

1,101 

1,139 

1,142 

1,152 

1,156 

1,170 

1,174 

1,189

Remarks.

9-inch casing to 860 feet.

Strong flow, came 

almost to top.

Water comes within 

25 feet of the top.

Strong pressure water.
BOWIE COUNTY. 

Record of well of Texarkana Oil Prospect Co. Continued.

59

Formation.

Austin, 459 feet.

Blossom sand member

of Eagle Ford clay,

42 feet.

Lower clays of Eagle

Ford clay and Woodbine sand, 174 feet.

No.

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119 

1 90

122

123

124

125

126

127

Character.

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

Shale...........................

"Emery rock" (hard rock cut 

drill badly.)

Thickness.

Feet. 

2

30

8

21

16

6

8

12

20

10

16

12

50

97

13

75

15

30

35

10

80

15

70

30

35

63

12

16

18

27

6

15

18

2

7

17

18

79

5 

15

4

11

10

23

14

10

3

Depth.

Feet. 

1,191

1.221

1,229

1,250

1,266

1,272

1,280

1,292

1,312

1,322

1,338

1,350

1,400

1,497

1,510

1,585

1,600

1,630

1,665

1, 675

1, 755

1,770

1,840

1,870

1,905

1,968

1 980

l'996

2,014

2,041

2,047

2, 062

2,080

2,082

2,089

2,096

2,113

2,131

2,210

2,215 

2,230

2,234

2,245

2,255

2,278

2,292

2,302

2,305

Remarks.

6-inch casing to 1,360

feet.

.

Water salty. Rose

rapidly to 1,500 feet,

then slowly to top.

A comparison of the foregoing record with records published by 

Veatch* shows some discrepancies in the thicknesses of the different 

formations. These discrepancies may be attributed doubtless to the 

incompleteness of the earlier records, together with the varying character of some of the formations. In the ice company's well one chalk 

bed only is noted, and this is found at a depth of 1,700 feet. In the 

oil prospect well three chalk beds are penetrated, one at 1,350, one 

at 1,630, and one 1,665 feet. It is evident that the 125 feet of chalky 

limestone in the ice company's well represents the two lower beds 

with their associated marls or shales (Nos. 98, 99, and 100), and that 

the-upper bed of chalk No. 92 evidently grades horizontally into blue

'Veatch, A. C., Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 261-265.
60 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

marly clays which are included in the blue clays assigned to the Marlbrook in the ice company's well. Likewise, the greater thickness of 

the Nacatoch (347 feet) is probably to be accounted for by local variation in the character of the beds assigned to the lower part of the 

Arkadelphia or the upper part of the Marlbrook, or perhaps to lack 

of care in keeping the record.

From the data furnished by the above records it is shown that 

although the Nacatoch sand furnishes an abundance of water, its 

quality is such as to make it unfit for domestic use. The water 

found in the Blossom sand (Nos. 115-117) is too highly charged with 

saline constituents for use. The bed was not reached in the Redwater well. The only locality in which the Blossom sand member 

seems likely to constitute a possible source of water supply is in the 

western part of the county. From DeKalb westward this sand 

should be reached at from 1,000 to 1,300 feet, according to locality, 

and in some places the water will doubtless flow out at the surface. 

The quality *of this water differs greatly from point to point, and no 

reliable statement can be made as to wha't its quality may be at any 

place. At Clarksville it is of good quality and this is likely to be 

true of it in some other places.

HOPKINS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.

Topographic relations. Hopkins and Franklin counties lie just 

within the northern boundary of the Eocene and have the general 

relief of an eastward (coastward) sloping plain dissected by the 

branching tributaries of South Fork of Sulphur River on the north 

(mainly through White Oak Creek), and of Sabine River through 

Lake Fork on the south. The drainage of the region is divided about 

equally between the two systems. On the south and east the surface is diversified by many low eminences mostly rounded out of the 

unconsolidated sands, but in the extreme southern part of the area 

the interstream areas present a flat-topped, mesalike appearance, 

due to the capping of a more resistant layer of hard iron conglomerate. 

In the north and west a narrow strip of high-rolling prairie constitutes the eastward continuation of the prairie region of the adjoining 

county and has the White Oak bottom as its eastern limit. Cumby 

and Ridgeway, the two highest points in the district, are located on 

this prairie. The drainage ways are for most part broad and shallow 

and are occupied by insignificant streams, which in the summer or 

dry season consist merely of a chain of pools. White Oak bottom 

has an average width of about 3 miles. All the smaller streams are 

completely dry during the summer season. The population of 

Franklin County is 9,331, and that of Hopkins County is 31,038.

Geology. Hopkins and Franklin counties lie on the northern edge 

of the eastern timber belt, which represents the outcrop of the Eocene
HOPKINS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES. 61

Tertiary. The formations consist for the most part of unconsolidated 

sands and clays, with local beds of lignite and ferruginous sandstones and iron ore. Owing to the nonpersistent character of the 

stratification and the lack of fossils, no general sequence can be 

worked out in the stratigraphy of the region. It is clear, however 

that South Fork of Sulphur River marks the northern boundary of 

the Eocene in this region and that the beds belong to the Wilcox 

formation.

In prospecting for water at Sulphur Springs the city corporation 

put down, to a depth of 1,515 feet, a well, the record of which has 

been kindly furnished by Mr. W. B. Baxter. This section is instructive as showing the thickness and character of the formations constituting the lower Eocene in this region. The collar of the well is 500 

feet above tide.

Record of city well, Sulphur Springs, Tex.

Formation.

Wilcox.

Navarre and Tay'lor, 381.

No.

1

2

3

4 

5

6

7

8

9 

10

11

12 

13

34

15

1017

18

19

20

99

23

24

25

20

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

35

30

Character rock.

White sand with water; source of supply for most 

of the wells of the region.

Sand with water; furnishes city supply. .......... 

Shale. ....................... A. ..................

Black shale interlaminated with lighter colored 

shale; contains iron r-oncretions, ironpyrites, and 

mica.

Black shale with iron concretions; and fossils; 

Vcncricardia planic'isla,.

White clay . . .....................................

Thickness.

Feet.

1

8

4 

18

9

9

15

16 

59

1

565 

1

20

8

88

10

90

20

80

1

30

15

40

15

2

15

2*

1

1

14

95

101

Depth.

Feet. 

1

9

11

15 

33

35

37

52

68 

117

118

683 

OS4

704

712

800

810

900

920

1,000

1,004

1,034

1,036

1,051

1,091

1,093

1,108

1,110

1,125

1.127J

1, 132i

1, 133J

1,134*

1,3194

1, 414*

1,515*

The upper 1,134 feet of this section are assigned to the Wilcox 

and Midway, the division between these being placed tentatively at 

the base of No. 17, The beds below No. 33 apparently represent the, 

Navarro formation and Taylor marl,
62 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OF NOBTHEASTEEN TEXAS.

Kidgeway and Cumby are located 011 a prairie composed of dark 

soil underlain by yellow calcareous clay in some instances showing 

the presence of greeiisand. Some fossils obtained from this clay a 

few miles north of Cumby are reported by Dr. T. W. Stanton to be 

"probably of Tertiary age, but they contain no distinctive forms 

that fix the exact horizon." The stratigraphic relations indicate 

that the narrow strip of prairie extending from Cumby past Ridgeway 

represents the outcrop of the Midway clay and shale beds (Nos. 18- 

22).' North of Sulphur Bluff, in the northeastern part of the county, 

a narrow prairie of black soil overlies yellow calcareous clay over 

blue chalky sand. Three miles north of this, on the south side of 

South Fork, 42 feet of blue and black sandy shales and shaly sands, 

which is strongly bituminous and contains many Cretaceous fossils 

(pp. 27,28), outcrops in a bluff, where it apparently represents the 

lowermost beds of the Sulphur Springs well. This strip of black land 

is said to extend down the river as far as Goolesboro, in Titus County, 

where it disappears beneath the alluvium of the valley.

In the vicinity and south and east of Mount Vernon the higher 

elevations are capped by a deposit of unconsolidated yellow and red 

sand, white clays, and gravels which rest upon the apparently eroded 

surface of the Wilcox formation. Both sands and clays are usually 

distinctly cross-bedded and the contact with the underlying formation 

is frequently marked by a layer of ferruginous sandstone or iron ore, 

sometimes in broken blocks irregularly distributed along the plane 

of contact. These overlying beds are probably of late Tertiary age, 

though no evidence that would fix their age is at hand.

Deposits of lignite are reported from different localities, but the 

beds are usually thin and of small horizontal extent. A bed 2 feet 

thick is reported in the Sulphur Springs well at a depth of 9 feet 

and similar occurrences are reported in the vicinity of Mount Vernon 

in Franklin County. At Como, 10 miles south of Sulphur Springs, 

a bed of lignite 7 feet thick, found at a depth of 75 feet, has been 

successfully worked for the past six years. The lower 2 feet of the 

deposit is unavailable on account of impurities. The roof is composed'of compact sand and the mine is entirely free from water. 

This bed comes to the surface 1J miles north and borings do not 

indicate workable thickness outside a very small area. Fifteen feet 

above the Como vein is another bed 2J feet thick, and 45 feet above 

is one 2 feet thick. The following record of a shaft put down a 

number of years ago somewhere in this vicinity is published in the 

Texas reports. 1

. E. T., Report on brown coal and lignite of Texas, 1892, p. 161.
HOPKINS AND FBANKLIN COUNTIES. 63

Record of shaft near Como, Tex.

Feet.

1. Clay......................................................... 6

2. Sandrock..................................................... 10

3. Slaty clay...............................--.."......-.......... 4

4. Brown coal................................................... 16

5. Sands and clays............................................... 9

6. Plastic clay................................................... 30

75

In places the sands are indurated to form ferruginous sandstones, 

which weather out in irregular masses and have some use for building and paving, and by the railroads for ballast. No workable 

deposits of iron ore are reported in this district.

Water conditions. In the prairie areas cisterns are the sole reliance 

for water for domestic use. In the remaining areas shallow wells 

are abundant, the surface sand overlying a clay being a good reservoir. The water is, however, at times mineralized and many persons 

residing on the sandy lands have cisterns; some have both wells and 

cisterns. Sulphur Springs is now supplied by a rain reservoir, but 

for a long time, until it outgrew them, it was amply supplied by 

three wells.

In the sandy wooded region, the larger portion of which drains 

southward through Lake Fork and Big Cypress Creek, an abundant 

supply of water is found in the surface sands at depths varying from 

20 to 40 feet. Along the slopes springs are of frequent occurrence. 

In localities underlain by formations in which clay predominates 

some difficulty is found in obtaining sufficient supplies of water. 

The character of the water is quite variable, in some localities being 

soft and agreeable and in others more or less strongly mineralized. 

At Mount Vernon, Franklin County, the supply for domestic use is 

drawn chiefly from shallow wells and cisterns.

Deep wells. Very few attempts have been made to exploit the 

deep-lying water beds and the information concerning their extent, 

character, or location is very meager. The most serious attempt 

made was that at Sulphur Springs by the city authorities, who 

drilled to a depth of 1,515 feet without satisfactory results. The 

record of this well (p. 61) shows that below the upper " veins," Nos. 

4 and 9, the only water encountered was a small flow at a depth of 

1,034 feet and another at 1,303 feet. At Mount Vernon, Franklin 

County, the railroad has a 400-foot well which yields a large supply 

by pumping. 1 No information is available as to the horizon from 

which the water is derived. At Cumby, wells 300 feet deep fail to 

find water below the surface supply.

As to the Cretaceous horizons, very few data are available. The 

record of the Sulphur Springs well indicates, however, that owing

ih, A, 0., Prpf. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46, 1906, pp. 230-231,
64 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

to the thickness of the post-Cretaceous deposits over most of this 

region the possibility of exploiting the underlying water horizons is 

exceedingly remote. The only district in which there is any possibility of obtaining water from the Cretaceous beds is in the extreme 

northern part of Hopkins County, and the lack of knowledge of the 

extent and water-bearing character of these beds makes hazardous 

any prediction concerning them. The conclusion seems warranted, 

however, that in the valley of the Sulphur Fork, and for 4 or 5 miles 

to the south, the Nacatoch sand may be reached at depths varying 

from 500 to 1,000 feet. At Commerce, in Hunt County, which is 9 

miles northwest of Ridgeway, these sands were reached at 370 feet. 

They outcrop between Commerce and Fairlie, 6 miles northwest of 

Commerce, giving an estimated dip of 50 feet per mile. From this 

it would appear that these beds may be reached at Ridgeway at a 

depth of 800 to 1,000 feet and the lower sands about 200 feet deeper. 

No prediction can be made as to the water-bearing character of the 

latter beds; the upper or Nacatoch sand is water-bearing at Commerce, but the water is not used because of its mineralized character.

CASS COUNTY.

Topography. Cass County is in the northeastern part of the 

State, adjoining the Louisiana State line; it is bounded on the north 

by Sulphur Fork, and on the south and west by the counties of 

Marion and Morris, respectively. Its area is 945 square miles and 

its population 27,587. Linden is the county seat. The county is 

traversed by two railroads the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the 

Texas & Pacific.

The region constitutes the eastern extension of the general coastward-sloping plain of the eastern timber belt and differs from the 

counties to the west only in the greater degree to which the original 

plain level has been dissected by erosion. The drainage is principally to the southeast through small streams emptying into Caddo 

Lake, Sulphur Fork on the north receiving but a small part of the 

run-off through a few short tributaries. The surface is decidedly 

rolling and is characterized in the main by long ridges extending 

from northeast to southwest, or in a direction at right angles to this. 

These ridges are separated by steep-sided, narrow, deep ravines, 

the bottoms of which are generally occupied by narrow streams fed 

by the numerous springs found everywhere along the sides of the 

ridges. 1 In some of the ridges deposits of laminated iron ore occur 

in thin seams at depths of 20 to 40 feet below the summits. Such 

ridges usually present a terraced appearance due in part to the 

differential erosion of the hard and soft layers and in part, doubtless,

i Kennedy, William, Second Ann. Rept. Geol, Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 67-6§.
CASS COUNTY. 65

to landslides brought about by the undermining action of springs 

which find their way out of the greensands that underlie the ore beds. 1

The following elevations are shown by the railroad profiles: Alamo, 

242; Atlanta, 264; Avinger, 393; Bivens, 314; Hughes Springs, 373; 

Kildare, 311; Queen City, 349.

The tops of the hills are from 50 to 100 feet above the level of the 

flood plains of the principal streams and have a general elevation of 

between 500 and 600 feet above tide level. On the north the wide 

flood plain of Sulphur Fork is bounded by a relatively narrow northward-facing drainage slope intersected by few and short tributaries.

Geology. The county lies entirely upon the outcrop of the Wilcox 

formation and, like the district on the west, is characterized by 

timber-covered slopes and sandy soils. The deposits exposed within 

the limits of the county present the twofold division noted in the 

counties farther west, viz, an upper unstratified deposit of sand 

with local deposits of iron ore and a lower division of stratified sands, 

sandy clays, and clays with local deposits of lignites.

The upper part of the lower division consists of thinly laminated 

red, yellow, and white sands and sandy cla}^, blending horizontally 

and vertically in places into unstratified mottled red and white sands. 

The clays are usually dark blue, gray, or black, or in places red, 

yellow, or white; they occur interstratified and interlaminated with 

the sands and are generally sandy, though in places fairly free from 

sand. These beds are well exposed in the vicinity of Queen City, 

where they have a thickness of 65 feet or more, for which reason 

the}^ have been given the name Queen City in the Texas reports.

Below these beds is a series of black, blue, and gray micaceous 

sands, 'blue, brown, and gray clays, and beds of lignites of varying 

thickness and generally of local extent. In places the sands are said 

to contain thin strata of sandstones and limestones.

Deposits of brown coal appear in different parts of the county, 

the best occurrences being reported from the northeastern portion, 

at Alamo and Stone Coal Bluff. At the former locality a bed of 

brown coal, 4 feet 7 inches thick, was found at a depth of 52 feet 

and another bed, 1 foot 8 inches thick, 11 feet higher. At Stone 

Coal Bluff a bed of coal 12 feet thick is said to occur at the bottom 

of the river. 2

Resting on the irregular worn surface of the stratified lignitiferous 

sands and clays constituting the lower division are yellow, brown, 

and red pebbly sands, for the most part unstratified, ranging from 

a few feet to 100 feet in thickness. These sands contain the ironore deposits of the region, which appear as a kind of pavement

i Penrose, R. A. F., First Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 84-86. Kennedy, William, Second 

Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 68-70. 

"Shumard, B. F., First Rept. Progress Geol. Survey Texas, p. 12.

87985° WSP 276 11 5
66 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATEES OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

under the sands capping the ridges or as aggregations of bowlders 

accumulated along the slopes.

According to Kennedy, with the exception of some small deposits 

of laminated ore, no continuously bedded ores occur within the 

county. For the most part the ores consist of rounded, oval, or 

lenticular concretionary masses, which in places have the appearance of a regular bed, but which change horizontally into ferruginous 

sandstone or into the irregular or rudely rectangular blocks of conglomeratic ore usually found along the valley sides or capping the 

lower hills. The ore deposits vary in thickness from a few inches 

to a maximum of 10 feet,1 and for the most part are limited to the

surface. Parties 

who have worked 

and prospected the 

ores for years state 

that on following

FIGUBE 6. Diagrammat c section of strata near Atlanta, Cass County. fVipTv-i info tl'P hills

the ore is replaced by dark ferruginous sand. The best deposits are 

reported to occur southwest of Hughes and east of Linden.

In a railroad cut one-half mile north of Atlanta the beds have the 

relations shown in figure 6.

Here 4 to 12 feet of red and yellow sand containing irregular 

masses of low-grade iron ore, blocks of which occur distributed along 

the plane of contact, rest unconformably upon laminated sand or 

sandy clay, with little appearance of grit.

The relations of the formations on the western side of the county 

are shown in the accompanying section, compiled from a series of 

exposures in railroad cuts north of Hughes:

Composite section in railroad cuts north of Hughes, Tex.

Ft. in.

1. Soil and reddish-brown sand with pebbles................... 4 to 2

2. Yellow and red sand, containing concretionary masses of lowgrade iron ore. Portions of the beds are indurated to a 

hard ferruginous sandstone............................... 8

3. Laminated red and white sand, sandy clay, locally white 

mottled clays, containing nodular, concretionary iron ore.. 4

4. Brown lignitic sands and sandy clays, and laminated black 

clay.................................................... 8

5. Brownish-red sand interlaminated with fine white sandy clay. 25

6. Lignite.................................................. 3

7. White sand mottled with red; exposed...................... 3

68 3

The age of this upper deposit of sand with its concretionary and 

conglomerate ores has not been clearly determined. In the Texas

iPenrose, R. A. F., First Ann. Rept. GeoL Survey Texas, 1889, pp. 35-65. Kennedy, Wuliam, Second 

Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Texas, 1890, pp. 65-95.
CASS COUNTY. 67

reports the areas in which the iron ores occurred were regarded as 

outliers of the lower (Mount Selman) division of the lower Claiborne (St. Maurice). That the ores had their source in the Claiborne 

beds may be admitted, but their present condition may be due to 

rearrangement by erosion during late Tertiary time.

Water resources. The supply of water for domestic and stock purposes in Cass County is obtained almost entirely from shallow wells 

20 to 50 feet deep, the most common depth being 30 to 40 feet. The 

supplies are derived mostly from surficial sands, but in some places 

come from the lower sand horizons. The water from the surficial 

sands is usually soft and of good quality, but locally becomes mineralized to a greater or less extent.

Springs are of frequent occurrence wherever the base of the surficial sands has been reached by erosion, but in general are small and 

are but little used. They are frequently chalybeate in character, 

that at Hughes having for a long time sustained an excellent reputation for its medicinal properties. Another spring, owned by Mr. 

Charles Thrasher, 5 miles east of Linden, is also worthy of note. 

Analyses made in the laboratories of the Survey (p. 74) of the waters 

of these two springs show them to be very much alike.

The supply of water derived from the surficial sands is in the main 

ample for present requirements for domestic and stock purposes, but 

it is not sufficient to meet manufacturing or city needs, to supply 

which resort is had to rain tanks.

So far as can be learned no attempts have been made to exploit any 

of the deeper water horizons in Cass County. At Jefferson, in Marion 

County, 10 miles south of the boundary of Cass, a well put down many 

years ago to a depth of 802 feet in the search for coal struck a strong 

flow of water with sufficient pressure, according to reports, to rise 

35 or 40 feet above the surface when piped. At first the flow is 

said to have been very strong, but caving at the bottom resulting 

from drawing the pipe back 80 feet has greatly diminished the 

pressure. At present the flow is about a gallon a minute. Kennedy reports as follows concerning this well: "The drill passed through 

alternate strata of sands, clays, and lignites to a depth of 802 feet. 

Three heavy beds of lignite and a number of smaller ones are said 

to have been passed through in the boring." 1

According to Mr. J. M. De Ware, corroborated by Mr. W. T. Atkins, 

this well is about 830 feet deep. The elevation at the top is about 

196 feet. The water is rather strongly mineralized and has a high 

reputation locally. (See analysis, p. 74.)

Veatch states 2 that this water comes from the Nacatoch sand. 

In the absence of satisfactory data no definite statement can be made,

i Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, for 1895, 1896, pp. 136-137. 

8 Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 46,1906, p. 233.
68 GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OP NORTHEASTERN TEXAS.

but it seems probable that the source is the lower portion of the 

Wilcox formation.

If this water horizon is persistent it will undoubtedly be found 

underlying the whole of Cass County at depths varying from 800 to 

1,200 feet, according to locality. In some places the water would 

no doubt be too strongly mineralized to be of general use, but from 

the variable character of the water from the Wilcox formation it is 

not improbable that good wells might be developed in localities 10 

to 20 miles away.

Nothing is known of the Cretaceous horizons in this region, but the 

inference is that they are not practically available, owing to their 

excessive depth and to the highly mineralized character of the water 

they yield.
DATA CONCERNING WELL

The following table gives the obtainable data in regard to the wells o

Data concerning wells in northeastern T

No.

1

3

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1314'

15 

16

17

IS

19

30

31

33

33

34

25

Locality.

Bowie County: 

De Kalb, 13 miles north. ................

Do..................................

Texarkana (Tex.) . ......................

Do..................................

Cass County:

Camp County: 

Pittsburg ............................... 

Do..................................

Do..................................

Delta County:

Klondike...............................

Fannin County:

Franklin County:

Hopkins County:

Sulphur Springs. ........................

Owner.

I. N. Phillips.................

W. C. Hargrove et al. .........

Ice & Coal Co. (No. 1.).

dated Ice & Coal Co. (No. 2) 

E. H. Bond...................

Sulphur Springs ..............

Driller. 

1 For records of other wells at Texarkana see Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. 

2 Analyzed by A. C. Peale, Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 32,1886, p: 13
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas C

No.

?6

 KJ

28

29

qn

31

33

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

41

Locality.

Hunt County:

Do..................................

Do..................................

Lamar County:

Do..................................

Marion County:

Morris County:

Red River County:

River. 

Titus County:

Owner.

Texas Midland R. R.. ........

W. E. Moore..................

M.C. McCollum. .............

.....do........................

W. S. Perkins.. ...............

S.J.Wright... ...............

Driller. 

Hill, E. T., Twenty-first Ann. Eept. U. S. Geol. Survey, p
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas Co

No.

1 

2 

3 

4

5 

6

7 

8

9 

10 

11

12

13 

14

15

16 

17

18 

19 

20

21 

22 

23

Locality.

Bowie County:

Do...-.--------------------.--......

Rolyat.. ..---.----------... -------------

Do.-.-.-......--.-----.--.-.-.......

Cass County:

Camp County:

Do..................................

Do..................-----.-.-.......

Delta County: 

Cooper, 3 miles west. ....................

Fannin County:

Franklin County: 

Mount Vernon ..........................

Height of 

water 

above (+) 

or 

below ( ) 

i ground.

Feet.

- 0

-60 

+ 60

-60 

-49

-20 

- 0

( -25

\ - o

Spring. 

Spring.

-20 

-20

No flow.

Depths of 

principal water-bearing

strata.

Feet. 

-2

500-536 

±500

145-196

Yield per minute.

Flow.

Gallons.

Small.

1

( 500 

\ 1,170? 

33-63 

/ 136 

\ 550

878-1,190 

2,096

f 220 

\ 750 

[ 1,700 

150-200 

160-200

315

}...........

}..........

} ---

Moderate. 

Moderate.

1 

Pump.

Gallons. 

Very small.

None.

Large.

50 

50

Plenty.

Large.

h

w

in

..

..

..

/N 

\ 

W

/N

\W

\V

..

f W

{.

tN

..

W

a Lowers to 70 feet when pumped.
Data concerning wells in northeastern Texas C

No.

24 

25

26 

27

28

29 

30

31 

32

33

34 

35

36 

37 

38

39 

40

41

Locality.

Hopkins County:

Hunt County:

Do....................... .......... .

Do...................................

Lamar County:

Do..................................

Marion County: 

Jefferson, 400 yards north of post office. '. 

Morris County:

Red River County:

Towson, 3 miles above, on bank of Red 

River. 

Titus County.

Height of 

water 

above (+) 

or 

below ( ) 

ground.

Feet.

-90

-25 

-25

- 2

+35± 

-20

-10 

-55

a Flow.

Depths of 

principal water-bearing 

strata.

Feet.

Yield per minute.

Flow.

Gallons.

370 

( 385 

\ 900

25-35 

25-35 

f 0-80 

\ 570-1.412 

I 1,635 

18-33

f 300 

\ 500 

I 800

186

{

550 

±1,050 

550-600 

f 1,000 

\ 1,600?

300

}:::::::::::

}-- -

f----

Ir _. ........

}...........

Large.

Pump.

Gallons.

Small.

Small.

8

"Inexhaustible." 

Large.

Large. 

Large. 

Large. 

Not any.

h

w

i

N

.

.

[

^W

I

W

.

/B

I W

B

W

T

a Would flow if piped. Drill lost b y caving and well abando
GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATERS OF NORTHEASTERN TEXAS. 73 

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE WATERS.

The available information regarding the chemical composition of 

the waters of northeastern Texas is given in the following table. The 

number of analyses is too small to permit much generalization regarding the mineralization of the waters. Those tested from the Sabine 

formation seem to be much superior in quality to those from other 

underground sources. The waters from the Blossom sand member 

at Blossom are very high in calcium, magnesium, alkalies, and sulphates, being similar in these respects to the waters tested from the 

Eagle Ford clay. The single well tested drawing its supply from the 

Nacatoch sand yields a brine. The analyses are stated in parts per 

million in ionic form. Most of them were made especially for this 

report, and the few obtained from other sources have been recomputed to ionic form in order to facilitate comparison.
Chemical composition of underground waters of northe

[Parts per million unless otherwise stated.]

1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

in

11

1?

13

14

1 K

16

17

18

11

20

21

2?

23

914

26

27

28

29

County."

Bowie

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

Delta .......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do....................... 

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

-....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

.....do.......................

Wood .......................

.....do.......................

Town.

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............ 

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

Source .

Well..............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

Well. .............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do............

.....do........ ...

Artificial Lake....

Wells.............

Well. .............

.....do............

Well..............

.....do............

.....do............

Owner, name, location, etc.

.....do. .........................

H.R. Hughes... ................

W.H. Coon..... ................

Well on Main Street.. ... ........

W.J.Wallace.. ................

T. F. Hefner....................

J. W. Williams..................

A. P. Ball......................

Frisco Plant.....................

J. M. DeW are.... ...............

B. F. Mason ....................

600-ft. well......................

W

W

....

....

....

....

Ea

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

W

....
1

4

5

6

7

8

9

in

11

19

13

14

IS

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

County.

.....do..................

.....do..................

Cass ....-........----..

.....do..................

Delta.. ................

.....do.... .............

.....do .................

.....do .................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do..................

.....do .................

.....do..................

Morris . .............. .

.....do..................

Wood..................

....do...................

Silica 

(SiOa).

78

16

48

21

23

16

24

26

78

49

48

50

75

18

31

49

84

42

48

16

45

31

18

11

9.6

17

26

Iron

(Fe).

9 1

o Q

12

12

o2.7

31

.26

40

.21

.15

.2

.6

.2

.08

as

.12

.04

2.4

.44

a 1.5

18

.68

. Tr.

.2

3

.40

Aluminum 

(Al).

1.0

4.9

1.3

1.7

10

8.3

4.0

6.4

.7

1.9

.42

Calcium 

(Ca).

7.1

11

14

4.9

38

36

5.4

32

9.8

542

510

660

485

265

304

460

474

492

472

44

31

25

32

62

80

6.4

2.6

8.0

Magnesium 

(Mg).

3.8

.8

1.6

4.4

8.5

3.5

4.5

2.0

11

16

91

88

110

113

28

24

128

109

114

44

2.9

4.0

14

1.5

9.2

3.5

4.2

8.6

Sodium

(Na).

38

8!

8

3.4

1 ^

K7

11 . 1

33

11

54

530

965

720

208

21

890

8

9

6

C

KC

85

2

394

98

304

49

404

Potassium 

(K).

2.3

32

82

2.7

4.3

5.4

35

35

42

61

Z7

92

80

80

5

5

1.0

2.8

33

 Iron and aluminum oxides.

INDEX.

A.

Page. 

Ander, Capt., well of....................... 50

Annona chalk, occurrence of............... 23-25

Arkansas, water-bearing formations in .... 42

Artesian characters, definition of .......... 36

See also Wells. 

Austin group, occurrence of................ 21-25

water in................................ 41

Avinger station, railroad cut at, plate showing ............................. 26

B.

Basal clays, occurrence of.................. 28-29

Blossom sand member in Delta County .... 49

in Red River County................ 51,52,53

occurrence of........................... 19-21

water in.......................... 41,47-48,60

Bond, E. H., well of........................ 49

Bowie County, geography of............... 53

geology of.............................. 53

Port Hudson formation in.............. 54,55

water resources of...................... 54-60

wells in................................. 55-60

Boynton, J. J., well of...................... 57

Brownstown marl,occurrence of....... ... 22-23

C. 

Cass County, geography of................. 64

geology of.............................. 65-67

iron ore deposits in, figure showing.... 66

lignite in............................... 65

water resources of...................... 67-68

Chalk, Annona, occurrence of.............. 23-25

of northeastern Texas, J. A. Taff on .... 22

of southwestern Arkansas, J. A. Taff on. 11 

Claiborne group, occurrence of............. 30-31

Clarksville, wells at........................ 52,53

Clay, basal, occurrence of.................. 28-29

Eagle Ford, occurrence of.............. 17-21

Comanche series, occurrence of............ 14-15

Cretaceous rocks, diagrammatic section of,

figure showing ................. 14

Cretaceous series, upper, occurrence of .... 15-28

upper, overlap of, map showing........ -18

D. 

De Kalb, well near......................... 55

Delta County, geography of................ 48

geology of.............................. 49

water resources of...................... 49-51

Dumble, E. T., on brown coal and lignite

of Texas..............^......... 10

E.

Eagle Ford clay, occurrence of............. 17-21

water in................................ 41

Eocene series, occurrence of................ 28-31

Eocene strata in Louisiana and Arkansas, 

water conditions in, figure 

showing........................ 43

F.

Page.

Fossils in Austin chalk..................... 24

in Eagle Ford clay .................... 18-19

in Midway formation .................. 29

in Navarro and Taylor formations..... 27-28

Franklin County, geography of............. 60

geology of.............................. 60-61

lignite in............................... 62-63

water resources of...................... 63

Fredericksburg group, occurrence of....... 14

G.

Gas, natural, in Red River County.......... 52

Gordon, C. H., on chalk formations of northern Texas....................... 11

Gulf series, occurrence of................... 15-28

H.

Hill, R. T., on Annona chalk............... 10,23

on Cretaceous rocks of Texas........... 10

on geology and geography of the Black

and Grand prairies, Texas...... 10

Home Ice Co., well of, record of............ 57

Hopkins County, geography of............. 60

geology of.............................. 60-61

lignite in............................... 62-63

water resources in...................... 63

Horton, well at, record of.................. 50

I. 

Iron, ores of, in Cass County............... 66

J.

Johnson, L. C., on iron regions of northern

Louisiana and eastern Texas... H

K.

Kennedy, William, on Eocene Tertiary of

Texas, east of Brazos River..... 10 

on iron ores of eastern Texas........... 10

L.

Ladonia station, railroad cut at, plate showing ............................. 26

Lafayette formation, occurrence of ........ 31

Lamar County, geography of............... 44

geology of.............................. 44

water resources of.........'............. 45-48

Leverett, S., on Cretaceous area north of

Colorado River................. 11

Lignite, deposits of, in Cass County........ 65

deposits of, in Hopkins and Franklin

counties........................ 62-63

M.

Mason, F. B., acknowledgment to ......... 53

Midway formation, occurrence of.......... 28-29

Moore, W.E., well of....................... 47

Mounds, formation of...................... 32-33

77
78 INDEX.

N.

Navarro formation, occurrence of ......... 25-28

water in................................ 41

New Boston, well at........................ 55

P. 

Paris, Tex., water supply of ................ 45

wells at, sections of..................... 45-48

Penrose, R. A. F., on geology of the Gulf

Tertiary in Texas .............. 10

Pleistocene series, occurrence of........... 31-32

Port Hudson formation iu Bowie County .. 54,55

occurrence of .......................... 31-32

Porter, John A., acknowledgment to ...... 45

Quaternary system, occurrence of.......... 31-33

R.

Recent formations, occurrence of.......... 32-33

water in................................ 44

Red River County, geography of....... ... 51

geology of.............................. 51-52

water resources of...................... 52-53

Red water, well at, record of ............... 56

Rocks, capacity of, for imbibing water .... 35

S. 

Babine formation, occurrence of ........... 29

water in................................ 42-43

Band mounds, occurrence of ............... 9

Sulphur Springs, city well at, record of.... 61

T.

Tafl, J. A., on chalk of northeastern Texas. 22 

on chalk of southwestern Arkansas.... 11

on Cretaceous area north of Colorado

River........................... 11

Taylor marl, occurrence of................. 25-28

water in................................ 41

Tertiary deposits, overlap of, map showing. 18 

Tertiary system, occurrence of............. 28-31

water-bearing formations in ........... 42-43

Texarkana Oil Prospect Co., well of, record

of............................... 57-59

Texarkana Waterworks Co., well of, record

of............................... 57

Texas Midland Railway, wells of.......... 47,50

Texas, northeastern, drainage of .......... 9

northeastern, geography of............. 7

geologic history of ................. 11-14

geologic literature of............... 10-11

map of.............................. 16

physiography of.................... 7-9

structure of......................... 33-34

Trinity sands in Delta County.............. 49

in Lamar County....................... 45

in Red River County................... 52

occurrence of........................... 14

water in................................ 38-39

V.

Page.

Veatch, A. C., on formations in southwestern Arkansas................... 15

on geology and underground water 

resources of northern Louisiana 

and southern Arkansas......... 11

W.

Washita group, occurrence of.............. 15

water in................................ 39-40

Water in Austin group ....i................ ' 41

in Blossom sand member......... 41,47-48,60

in Eagle Ford clay ..................... 41

in Navarro formation................... 41

in Recent formations.....".............. 44

in Wilcox (Sabine) formation.......... 42-43

in Taylor marl.......................... 41

in Trinity sands........................ 38-39

in Washita group....................... 39-40

in Woodbine sand................... 40,52-53

Water-bearing beds, geologic relations

of............................... 37-38

geologic relations of, figure showing... 39 

in Arkansas ............................ 42

in the Tertiary deposits................. 42-43

Water resources of Bowie County.......... 51-60

of CassCounty.... ..................... 67-63

of Delta County......................... 49-51

of Franklin County............'......... 63

of Hopkins County. .................... 63

of Lamar County ....................... 45-48

of Red River County.................... 52-53

Water, underground, availability of ....... 35

underground, source of. ............... 34-35

Waters, chemical composition of........... 73-75

WellatHorton............................. 50

at New Boston.......................... 55

at Redwater............................ 56

at Sulphur Springs..................... 61

near De Kalb........................... 55

of Capt. Ander.......................... 50

of E. H. Bond........................... 49

of J. J. Boynton ........................ 57

of Home Ice Co.......................... 57

of W. E. Moore......................... 47

of Texarkana Oil Prospect Co........... 57-59

of Texarkana Waterworks Co.......... 57

Wells, artesian, conditions necessary for... 36-37 

at Clarksville........................... 52,53

at Paris, Tex., sections of............... 45^8

data concerning........................ 69-72

of Texas Midland Railway............. 47,50

Wilcox formation, occurrence of........... 29

water in................................ 42-43

Wills Point clays, occurrence of............ 28-29

Woodbine sand, in Delta County........... 49

occurrence of........................... 16-17

water in............................. 40,52-53

o