The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-02-29
COASTAL PLAIN oF GEORGIA.


The State Geological Department an.
nOunces the publication Of report on.
titled the Geology Of the Coastal Plain
Of Georgia. This work has been pre-
pared under q cooperative agreement
between the Georgia Geological survey
and the United States Geological sur.
vey. Under the plan Of cooperation
two reports were to be published on the
coastal plain one dealing primarily
with the statigraphy, the second to be 4
thorough study Of underground waters.
These reports have involved en- i'm
mense amount Of labor, about three
years Of field and Office work having
been spent upon them.
The work Of collecting information
and writing reports has been done BY
Otto Wealth, assistant state geologist Of
Georgia, and i. w. Stephenson, Of the
United States Geological Survey, under
the general supervision Of T. Wyland
Vaughan, Of the United States Geologi-
cal Survey.
The coastal plain il that part Of GeOr
gia lying south Of Augusta, MilIedge.
vile, Macon and Columbus, and is one
Of the three major geological divisions
Of the statethe second being the
Piedmont and mountain section, and the
third being the limestone and shale re.
gion embracing the ten northwest coun-
ties Of the state. Comparatively little
has heretofore been known concerning
the nature and arrangement Of the rocks
which underlie south Georgia, and one
Of the objects Of this work was to make
d classification Of the rock formations;
to give description Of their lithologic
character, whether composed Of lime
stone, mari, sand, clay or other rock;
and to make map showing their geog-
raphic distribution.
While the present report Is in the
main largely scientific, it contains much
Of general interest and should be Of
great educational value. It has been
found absolutely essential to conduct
such preliminary scientific work in or
der to make intelligent studies Of nat.
uYal mineral resources. It Is believed
that this report win be Of great value
in the future sSady Of the clays, fullers
earth, bauxite, maris and limestone, the
soils and the artesian waters Of this re-
gion. AS one example, by means Of the
geological information which we have
gained, we are now able to state with
some certainty not only the kind Of
rock which will be encountered in drill
ing in South Georgia, and the depths
at which it will be struck, but also
whether artesian flows win be obtained
and in a general way the quality Of the
water to be expected. The report on
the underground waters win be shortly
published by the United States GeoIogi
cal survss
The first part Of the books deals with
the photography, and is the first COM
prehensive, scientific account Of the
surface features Of this region which
has been published. It will perhaps be
Of interest to citizens Of South Georgia !
to know why one portion Of their sec
ton Of the State is broken and billy,
another portion level and indented with
limestone, and still onather fat, feature
less, and iIl-drained or swampy; or why
some streams flow southwark, while 9th
ers dow southeastward. In other words,
the geological history or origin Of the
surface features is discussed a des-
cription Of Okefnokee swamp, one Of
the greatest natural wonders Of the
Atlantic coast, is given. A rather COM
plete map Of the swamp has been COM
piled, and theory Of the origin Of the
swamp is advanced. A list Of al avaii-
able elevations above sea level is also