DOCSLIB.ORG

MISSISSIPPI GEOLOGY 2 Figure 3 Outcrop Appearance of Typ1cal (Western Lithofacies) F1gure 4

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
MISSISSIPPI GEOLOGY 2 Figure 3 Outcrop Appearance of Typ1cal (Western Lithofacies) F1gure 4 THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES IDISSISSippl• • • • Bureau of Geology geolo 2525 North West Street P. 0 . Box 5348 Jackson, Ml~)SISiSIDOI LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY AND THICKNESS TRENDS OF THE TUSCALOOSA GROUP IN TISHOMINGO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI Robert K. Merrill Mississippi Bureau of Geology INTRODUCTION lithologically (not time-stratigraphically) equivalent to the Gor­ do Formation described elsewhere in the Mississippi­ The Tuscaloosa Group comprises the oldest (or basal) Alabama-Tennessee area. Lithologies previously included in stratigraphic interval contained in the Upper Cretaceous the Gordo Formation ofTennessee, northeastern Mississip­ coastal plain sediments of northeastern Mississippi. The pi, and northwestern Alabama are diachronous (Russell et Tuscaloosa was named for strata exposed along the banks al. , 1983). Upper Cretaceous strata above the Paleozoic of the Black Warrior River near the town of Tuscaloosa, sedimentary rocks and below the Eutaw Group are therefore Alabama, and assigned formational status in Smith and described in the present report as the Tuscaloosa Group Johnson (1887). The Tuscaloosa was assigned group status (undifferentiated). and divided into the Cottondale, Eoline, Coker, and Gordo formations in Conant and Monroe (1945) and Monroe et al. LITHOLOGY, THICKNESS, AND EXTENT (1 946). Lower Tuscaloosa strata (Cottondale and Eoline for­ mations) contain marine sediments, and overlying lithologies Marcher and Stearns (1962) divided Tuscaloosa lithologies comprising the Coker and Gordo formations are primarily of exposed in Tennessee into western and eastern lithofacies. continental origin (Monroe et al., 1946). The Gordo is the only The western facies (typical Tuscaloosa) consists primarily of formation in the Tuscaloosa Group that contains large poorly sorted chert gravel and chert sand, with minor amounts thicknesses of gravel (Monroe et al., 1946). of quartz sand in the matrix; the eastern facies is characteriz­ Tishomingo County is located In the northeastern corner ed by the appearance of quartz and quartzite pebbles in the of Mississippi (Figure 1), and contains the northern limit of gravel fraction and large proportions of quartz sand in the laterally continuous Tuscaloosa occurrences. Here the matrix. Poorly sorted chert gravels of the western facies grade Tuscaloosa is characterized by isolated bodies of gravel, eastward into, and interfinger with, the well-sorted chert and sand, and clay strata preserved in paleovalleys. Portions of quartz-bearing (vein quartz and quartzite) gravels the Tuscaloosa Group exposed in Tishomingo County are characteristic of the eastern Tuscaloosa facies in Tennessee Figure 2. The irregular boundary between the eastern (lower) and western facies of Tuscaloosa gravels. Thinly bedded marine sands and silty clays of the overlying McShan For­ mation occur above the terraced area 4 feet above the top of the pole. Pole is 25 feet high, scale in feet. Location: NE/4, NE/4, SW/4, Sec. 17, T.7S., A.10E. Figure 1. Location of study area. consists of 16.5 feet of chert gravel in a matrix of silty kaolinitic clay with thin irregular layers of iron oxide cement. Thinly in­ (Marcher and Stearns. 1962). Portions of the Tuscaloosa se­ terbedded glauconitic sands and clays of the unconformably quence exposed in Tishomingo County consist primarily of overlying McShan Formation occupy the uppermost portions chert gravels in a matrix of chert sand and silty, kaolinitic, of the exposure. micaceous clay (western facies or typical Tuscaloosa). The western lithofacies occupies the great majority (over Exposures of Tuscaloosa gravels in Tishomingo County 90%) of Tuscaloosa exposures in Tishomingo County, and that contain quartzite and quartz pebbles in addition to chert. is composed primarily of well-rounded chert pebbles and cob­ and a matrix composed primarily of quartz sand (Gordo For­ bles in a matrix of chert sand and/or kaolinitic, silty, mation lithologic equivalent). are limited to areas located micaceous clay. Figure 3 illustrates the outcrop appearance along the eastern county boundary south of U.S. Route 72. of typical Tuscaloosa (western lithofacies) exposures. All peb­ and areas of low elevation within Red Bud and Rock Creek bles and cobbles contained in Tuscaloosa gravels are very valleys. This (eastern) lithofacies occurs at a stratigraphical­ well rounded and have smooth outer surfaces. Gravels of the ly lower position than overlying (younger) quartz-free (western eastern facies are typically well sorted and generally have lithofacies) gravels characteristic of the great majority of a light brown patina. Gravels of the western (typical) Tuscaloosa exposures in Tishomingo County. The boundary Tuscaloosa facies commonly have a bleached appearance between these Tuscaloosa facies ex1ends northeastward in­ in outcrop imparted by kaolinitic matrix clays which coat outer to Alabama. Russell et al. (1983) determined that this boun­ surfaces of pebbles, preserving the original coloration of the dary occurs along a northeast - southwest trending line ex­ parent chert material from which the gravels were derived. tending north of Margerum. Alabama. An exposure of the con­ Lenses and beds of silty, kaolinitic clays occupy uppermost tact of the eastern (quartz-bearing) and overlapping western Tuscaloosa intervals exposed in eastern Tishomingo Coun­ (quartz-free) Tuscaloosa lithofacies in southern Tishomingo ty and western Colbert County, Alabama (Figure 4). County is shown in Figure 2. The eastern Tuscaloosa facies Tuscaloosa strata locally contain carbonaceous clays and car­ occupies the lower 15 feet of this exposure. and occurs as bonized wood fragments. well-sorted chert and rare quartzite pebbles in a matrix com­ The differing Tuscaloosa lithologies occur as a result of dif­ posed primarily of quartz sand; the overlying western facies fering source areas and modes of transport. Prior to and dur- MISSISSIPPI GEOLOGY 2 Figure 3 Outcrop appearance of typ1cal (western lithofacies) F1gure 4. Silty clays of the Tuscaloosa Group (western facies) Tuscaloosa gravels in Tishommgo County P1ckax is 26 in­ unconformably overlain by thmly mterbedded and m­ ches m length. Location: SW/4, SW/4, NW/4, Sec. 15, T.3S .• tertaminated silty clays and fin9-9ramed marine sands of the A.11E. McShan Formation. Scale in feet. Location: SE/4, SE/4, NW/4, Sec. 33, T.3S., A.15W. ing Tuscaloosa deposition, the Pascola Arch extended across areas presently occupied by the Mississippi Embayment miles in width. Strike trends generally north-south with local (Stearns and Marcher. 1962). Western Tuscaloosa lithofacies variations of about ± 20 •, and dip is generally westward at sed1ments exposed in Tennessee cons1st pnmanly of Dever about 30 feet per mile; local vanallons in dip range between n1an and Mississippian age cherts with occas1onal sandstone the horizontal and about 40 feet per mile. Figure 5 illustrates pebbles. These clastics were denved both locally (Fort Payne the distribution of the Tuscaloosa Group at the surface of chert) and from bedrock compnsmg the Pascola Arch, which Tishomingo County and local variations in strike of the up­ contributed Devonian age (Camden) chert; sandstone petr per Tuscaloosa surface in central and southern portions of bles and frosted quartz sand were probably derived from the county. Cambrian or Ordovician rocks exposed on the Pascola Arch The Tuscaloosa Group continues westward in the subsur­ (Marcher and Stearns, 1962). Possible source areas of quartz­ face of Alcorn and Prentiss counties. Parks et al. (1960) bearing (vein quartz and quartzite) gravels of the eastern reported a thickness of 87 feet in the shallow subsurface of Tuscaloosa lithofacies of Tennessee include Pennsylvanian Prentiss County. bedrock in the Appalachian Plateau to the east, the southern The northwestern limit of continuous Tuscaloosa occur­ Illinois Basin to the north, and the Black Warrior Basin to the rences in northern Mississippi extends southwestward from south; the diStribution and exotic lithologies of the eastern northern Tishomingo County, crossmg southeastern port1ons facies ind1cate that longshore currents may have transported of Alcorn County and northwestern portions of Prentiss Coun· and winnowed these sediments (Marcher and Stearns, 1962). ty (Boswell, 1978; Wasson and Tharpe, 1975). The northward Russell (1987) described two major late Cretaceous stream limit of continuous occurrence of Tuscaloosa strata in Tisher systems that transported Tuscaloosa gravels mto north· mingo County is shown in Figures 5 and 7. Isolated or local­ eastern Mississippi: a system of southeast flowing streams ly occurring intervals of Tuscaloosa strata may occur nor­ that contributed chert gravel from chert-bearing formations thwest of the limit of continuous occurrence as these fluvial exposed along the Pascola Arch in western Tennessee and sediments fill local depressions or paleovalleys developed on northern Mississippi , and a southwest flowing system that the Paleozoic sedimentary rock surface. Strata comprising crossed northern Alabama and contributed quartzite pebbles the Eutaw Group directly overlie Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and quartz sand in addition to chert. where the Tuscaloosa Group IS absent beyond the northern The Tuscaloosa Group occurs at the surface of Tishomingo and western limit of Tuscaloosa occurrences, and where the County as a north-south trendmg belt of exposures about 7 Tuscaloosa thins locally over PaleozOIC ndges. 3 DECEMBER 1988 TE NNE SS EE " 'E I " 10 f t - --r - ---
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Fossiliferous Spherule-Rich Bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) Boundary in 1 Mississippi, USA: Implications for the K
    1 A fossiliferous spherule-rich bed at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary in 2 Mississippi, USA: implications for the K–Pg mass extinction event in the Mississippi 3 Embayment and Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain 4 James D. Witts1, Neil H. Landman1, Matthew P. Garb2, Caitlin Boas2, Ekaterina Larina3, 5 Remy Rovelli4, Lucy E. Edwards5, Robert M. Sherrell6,7, and J. Kirk Cochran8 6 1Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, New York, 7 NY 10024, USA 8 2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 11210, 9 USA 10 3University of Southern California, Department of Earth Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90018, 11 USA 12 4Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 13 NM 87131, USA 14 5U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA 15 6Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08901, 16 USA 17 7 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08901, 18 USA 19 8School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, 20 USA 21 [The final, fully formatted version of this article is available online at Cretaceous Research: 22 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.002 ] 23 Abstract 24 We describe an outcrop of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary exposed due 25 to construction near New Albany, Union County, Mississippi. It consists of the Owl Creek 26 Formation and overlying Clayton Formation. The Owl Creek Formation is rich in the 27 ammonites Discoscaphites iris and Eubaculites carinatus, which, along with 28 biostratigraphically important dinoflagellate cysts and calcareous nannofossils, indicate 29 deposition occurred within the last 1 million years, most likely last 500 kyrs, of the 30 Cretaceous.
    [Show full text]
  • Geology of the Troy, Miss., 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle Chickasaw and Pontotoc Counties Mississippi by Charles T
    ~ Geology of the Troy, Miss., 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle Chickasaw and Pontotoc Counties Mississippi by Charles T. Swann, R.P.G. and Jeremy J. Dew Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute 310 Lester Hall University, Mississippi 38677 Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute Open - File Report 09-2S August, 2009 On The Cover The Mississippi Office of Geology drilled the MMRI-Reeves, No. 1 well in support of the MMRI’s surface mapping efforts. The cover picture is the drill rig set up in sand pits in sec.22, T.12S, R.3E. A set of core samples as well as a set of geophysical logs were obtained during the drilling operations. The well was begun in the lower Clayton section (Tertiary) and reached a total depth of 403 feet in the Demopolis Formation (Cretaceous). -i- TABLE OF CONTENTS On The Cover ............................................................................................................................. i Table of Contents . ..................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures . ......................................................................................................................... iii Abstract...................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction. .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Italic Page Numbers Indicate Major References]
    Index [Italic page numbers indicate major references] Abbott Formation, 411 379 Bear River Formation, 163 Abo Formation, 281, 282, 286, 302 seismicity, 22 Bear Springs Formation, 315 Absaroka Mountains, 111 Appalachian Orogen, 5, 9, 13, 28 Bearpaw cyclothem, 80 Absaroka sequence, 37, 44, 50, 186, Appalachian Plateau, 9, 427 Bearpaw Mountains, 111 191,233,251, 275, 377, 378, Appalachian Province, 28 Beartooth Mountains, 201, 203 383, 409 Appalachian Ridge, 427 Beartooth shelf, 92, 94 Absaroka thrust fault, 158, 159 Appalachian Shelf, 32 Beartooth uplift, 92, 110, 114 Acadian orogen, 403, 452 Appalachian Trough, 460 Beaver Creek thrust fault, 157 Adaville Formation, 164 Appalachian Valley, 427 Beaver Island, 366 Adirondack Mountains, 6, 433 Araby Formation, 435 Beaverhead Group, 101, 104 Admire Group, 325 Arapahoe Formation, 189 Bedford Shale, 376 Agate Creek fault, 123, 182 Arapien Shale, 71, 73, 74 Beekmantown Group, 440, 445 Alabama, 36, 427,471 Arbuckle anticline, 327, 329, 331 Belden Shale, 57, 123, 127 Alacran Mountain Formation, 283 Arbuckle Group, 186, 269 Bell Canyon Formation, 287 Alamosa Formation, 169, 170 Arbuckle Mountains, 309, 310, 312, Bell Creek oil field, Montana, 81 Alaska Bench Limestone, 93 328 Bell Ranch Formation, 72, 73 Alberta shelf, 92, 94 Arbuckle Uplift, 11, 37, 318, 324 Bell Shale, 375 Albion-Scioio oil field, Michigan, Archean rocks, 5, 49, 225 Belle Fourche River, 207 373 Archeolithoporella, 283 Belt Island complex, 97, 98 Albuquerque Basin, 111, 165, 167, Ardmore Basin, 11, 37, 307, 308, Belt Supergroup, 28, 53 168, 169 309, 317, 318, 326, 347 Bend Arch, 262, 275, 277, 290, 346, Algonquin Arch, 361 Arikaree Formation, 165, 190 347 Alibates Bed, 326 Arizona, 19, 43, 44, S3, 67.
    [Show full text]
  • By Wilds W. Olive
    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOLOGIC MAPS OF THE JACKSON PURCHASE REGION, KENTUCKY By Wilds W. Olive Prepared in cooperation with the KENTUCKY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATIONS SERIES Published by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1980 G DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO ACCOMPANY MAP 1-1217 UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOLOGIC MAPS OF THE JACKSON PURCHASE REGION, KENTUCKY By Wilds W. Olive INTRODUCTION STRATIGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT The Jackson Purchase region, that part of Kentucky west of the CRETACEOUS Tennessee River, is in the northeastern part of the Mississippi em­ UPPER CRETACEOUS bayment, a broad south-plunging structural downwarp whose axis Tuscaloosa Formation approximately coincides with the east valley waU of the Mississippi The Tuscaloosa Formation in the Jackson Purchase region was first River. Rocks exposed in the region range in age from Devonian to recognized by Roberts, Gildersleeve, and Freeman ( 1945, p. 38-41), Holocene. Those of post-Paleozoic age are the principal subject of this report. The post-Paleozoic rocks consist entirely of clastic conti­ although a chert-gravel deposit, designated as Tuscaloosa by Wade nental and marine sediments, the oldest of which are Late Cretaceous (1917), had earlier been reported to extend from Tennessee into an in age. Although the Late Cretaceous stratigraphic record contains area of Kentucky now known as the Land-Between-the-Lakes­ gaps due to erosion and nondeposition, strata representing most bordered by Kentucky Lake on the west and by Lake Barkley on the stages of the Tertiary are present. Post-Paleozoic sediments attain a east. Wade's identification resulted from his tracing of discontinuous outcrops from Wayne County in southern Tennessee, where Miser maximum thickness of about 2,050 feet near the embayment axis at (1917, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Structural Framework of the Mississippi Embayment of Southern Illinois ^
    <Olo£ 4.GV- Su&O&Ml STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ^ Dennis R. Kolata, Janis D. Treworgy, and John M. Masters f^a>i^ < Illinois Institute of Natural Resources STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISION CIRCULAR 516 Jack A. Simon, Chief 1981 . COVER PHOTO: Exposure of Mississippian limestone along the Post Creek Cutoff in eastern Pulaski County, Illinois. The limestone is overlain (in ascending order) by the Little Bear Soil and the Gulfian (late Cretaceous) Tuscaloosa and McNairy Formations. Cover and illustrations by Sandra Stecyk. Kolata, Dennis R. Structural framework of the Mississippi Embayment of southern Illinois / by Dennis R. Kolata, Janis D. Treworgy, and John M. Masters. — Champaign, III. : State Geological Survey Division, 1981 — 38 p. ; 28 cm. (Circular / Illinois. State Geological Survey Division ; 516) 1. Geology — Mississippi Embayment. 2. Geology, Structural — Illinois, Southern. 3. Mississippi Embayment. I. Treworgy, Janis D. II. Masters, John M. III. Title. IV. Series. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ILLINOIS STATE Printed by authority of State of Illinois (3,000/1981) 5018 3 3051 00003 STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS -*** t**- ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 516 Natural Resources Building 1981 615 East Peabody Drive Champaign, IL 61820 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/structuralframew516kola CONTENTS ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION 1 METHOD OF STUDY 2 GEOLOGIC SETTING
    [Show full text]
  • Geologic Study Along Highway 45 from Tennessee Line to Meridian, Mississippi
    Geologic Study Along Highway 45 From Tennessee Line to Meridian, Mississippi DONALD M. KEADY Prepared in cooperation with the Mississippi State Highway Department BULLETIN 94 MISSISSIPPI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TRACY WALLACE LUSK Director and State Geologist UNIVERSITY, MISSISSIPPI 1962 STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Hon. Ross Robert Barnett Governor MISSISSIPPI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BOARD Hon. Henry N. Toler, Chairman Jackson Hon. William E. Johnson, Vice Chairman Jackson Hon. D. H. Echols Jackson Hon. D. T. Keel Oxford Hon. Richard R. Priddy Jackson STAFF Tracy Wallace Lusk, M. S Director and State Geologist William Scott Parks, M. S Geologist William Halsell Moore, M. S Stratigrapher Marshall Keith Kern, B. S Geologist Margaret McCorkle Jones, M. S Secretary Elizabeth Worley Nix, B. A Librarian LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Office of the Mississippi Geological Survey University, Mississippi June 29, 1962 Hon. Henry N. Toler, Chairman, and Members of the Geological Survey Board Gentlemen: Herewith is Mississippi Geological Survey Bulletin 94, Geologic Study Along Highway 45 From Tennessee Line to Meridian, Mississippi, by Donald M. Keady. A pressing need for prompt information along the southernmost part of this study area was the deciding factor in the selection of a highway for geologic investigation. This series of reports began in the summer of 1959 and has continued each succeeding summer—this being the third published bulletin. The author follows closely the pattern previously set, in that he describes in detail the geologic units that crop out along the route and points to specific locations for obtaining suitable topping material. He also describes the structural and geomorphic features exhibited. The writer has properly acknowledged the personnel of the Mis sissippi State Highway Department for their cooperation, nevertheless, it is fitting that these men be recognized here—Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • GEOLOGY of OLMSTED QUADRANGLE Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability William W
    GEOLOGY OF OLMSTED QUADRANGLE Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability William W. Shilts, Executive Director PULASKI COUNTY, ILLINOIS Illinois Geologic Quadrangle Map ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY IGQ Olmsted-G E. Donald McKay III, Interim Director W. John Nelson, F. Brett Denny, John H. McBride, and Laura Williams 2009 CYPRESS 8 MI. R. 1 E. R. 2 E. 2.6 MI. TO ILL. 169 S J 140 N K 250 " 350 k 350 N Kom e" Kom J 37 br T QTm Kom 350 400 T. 15 S. 400 350 Qe 360 Qe J N Qe 33 QTm 32 QTm N J 31 400 32 33 34 Kom 400 35 400 400 400 J N 36 48 T k" N J 400 C 24 Kom Kom 0 k" 210 40 66 350 e" "k Kom br T. 14 S. N J Kom 38 Kom QTm K 0 T. 15 S. 350 T N J N J 380 T. 15 S. Price C 56 N " J R k A o 350 400 a Kom N J d Kom Kom C 60 350 QTm 400 k" C 66 400 N J T Tw k" N J Kom 5 S N J K 400 185 J Kom N 430 e" N 450 J br 350 4 6 350 N 400 J N J 400 N J 350 4 360 5 N J 3 C 24 " 400 J k C 54 2 N Kom N J k" Kom T 1 350 N J 85 N J k" 400 Kom QTm N J 450 T 450 Qe 450 N J 380 C 72 J 400 N k" N J QTm QTm K N 400 J N J 280 Qm k" S N J br 400 k" 81 66 N J k" QTm GEOLOGIC UNITS 400 Kom Qe K 350 J 350 N N Qe J 400 N J 450 380 N J 9 N J N J T 300 sm Bethlehem Road 8 Surface mine (clay) K J N N 450 J k"79 N J K T N Kom J 450 260 N J 450 N k" J 350 Holocene 450 br Qc N J Kom 400 350 450 J N N N J J 310 C Qc Cahokia Formation k" 205 400 k" 310 T k" N Kom J 65 Kom N J 400 N J Tpc br 285 C 40 Tpc k" QTm k" 470 Kom e" br 8 N 150 J 150 K 9 Tpc e" K Ck" 60 Kom Tpc N J Quaternary N J Tpc 10 250 J N Qm 11k"Kpc Clark Road Wisconsinan N J 250 N N J " J e Qe QTm 12 br Equality Formation N 52 7 J k" T N 450 450 J 400 Kom Unconformity J 350 N Tpc 370 J K QTm N N J 450 450 N J N 37 J Illinoian 450 Metropolis Formation 450 Qm 3885 C 84 T and older J N N 47 J 450 k" N J 440 ª k" QTm St.
    [Show full text]
  • Owl Creek Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mississippi, USA)
    The first reported ceratopsid dinosaur from eastern North America (Owl Creek Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Mississippi, USA) Andrew A. Farke1 and George E. Phillips2 1 Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, Claremont, CA, USA 2 Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, Jackson, MS, USA ABSTRACT Ceratopsids (“horned dinosaurs”) are known from western North America and Asia, a distribution reflecting an inferred subaerial link between the two landmasses during the Late Cretaceous. However, this clade was previously unknown from eastern North America, presumably due to limited outcrop of the appropriate age and depositional environment as well as the separation of eastern and western North America by the Western Interior Seaway during much of the Late Cretaceous. A dentary tooth from the Owl Creek Formation (late Maastrichtian) of Union County, Mississippi, represents the first reported occurrence of Ceratopsidae from eastern North America. This tooth shows a combination of features typical of Ceratopsidae, including a double root and a prominent, blade-like carina. Based on the age of the fossil, we hypothesize that it is consistent with a dispersal of ceratopsids into eastern North America during the very latest Cretaceous, presumably after the two halves of North America were reunited following the retreat of the Western Interior Seaway. Subjects Biogeography, Paleontology Keywords Ceratopsia, Biogeography, Laramidia, Appalachia, Ceratopsidae, Dinosauria, Submitted 25 January 2017 Owl Creek Formation, Cretaceous, Dinosaur, Western Interior Seaway Accepted 21 April 2017 Published 23 May 2017 INTRODUCTION Corresponding author Andrew A. Farke, [email protected] The Western Interior Seaway split North America during much of the Late Cretaceous, Academic editor which in turn may have driven terrestrial faunal differences between eastern and western Hans-Dieter Sues North America (Appalachia and Laramidia, respectively).
    [Show full text]
  • Nelson Et Al. 2002
    George H. Ryan, Governor Department of Natural Resources Brent Manning, Director SURFICIAL GEOLOGY ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY William W. Shilts, Chief Metropolis Quadrangle, Illinois Geologic Quadrangle Map: IGQ Metropolis-SG, Sheet 2 of 2 2002 Massac County, Illinois W. John Nelson, John M. Masters, and Leon R. Follmer Cross Section along Interstate 24 (See map [sheet 1] for location.) A A' South North Cahokia and Equality Hill west of I-24 600 Formations 600 Massac Creek Road U.S. Rt. 45 af Country Club Road Mounds Gravel af Massac Creek Metropolis Mounds Gravel Cahokia and Equality af Formation af af Km artificial fill Formations Metropolis Formation af 400 Km McNairy Formation 400 Qce Ohio River Km Cahokia Formation Km Golconda Formation Mounds Gravel Mwb Mounds Gravel Msl? 200 McNairy Formation West Baden Sandstone 200 Cahokia and Equality Cahokia Formation Msl Formations Msl Mwb 0 Salem Limestone Mpsg 0 Paoli and Ste. Genevieve Limestone Elevation (feet) Elevation -200 N O D A T A -200 Ullin Limestone Msl St. Louis Limestone Fort Payne Formation Msm -400 -400 vertical exaggeration 30 Scale 1:24,000 0 2 miles 0 2 kilometers 0 2,000 feet Geologic Structure rest on the bedrock or in crevices and fissures within the limestone. The Massac Creek cars, and marketed for a variety of uses (Lamar 1929). The pit is currently flooded, and Regional Setting Graben, a fault zone that passes beneath Metropolis, greatly fractured the limestone, the gravel that was mined is not visible. Whether this gravel was the Mounds Gravel or a The Metropolis Quadrangle is located near the northern end of the Mississippi enhancing the movement of groundwater.
    [Show full text]
  • MS Surface Geologic Unit Desc
    Surface Geologic Unit Descriptions for Mississippi (after Geologic Map of Mississippi, Bicker, 1969) Qa - Alluvium (Quaternary, Holocene) Loam, sand, gravel, and clay; mapped on in Mississippi River Alluvial Plain. Qc - Coastal Deposits (Quaternary, Holocene) Loam, sand, gravel, and clay UNCONFORMITY Ql - Loess and brown loam (Quaternary, Pleistocene) Grayish to yellowish-brown massive silt; the pattern indicates the area within which the loess is generally thicker than ten feet; remnants of the mantle are present many miles farther east. UNCONFORMITY Pc - Citronelle formation (Quaternary, Pleistocene) Red sand and gravel and white clay; may be of Pliocene age; the formation mapped is equivalent to the Willis sand and does not include the terrace deposits, colluvium, and residuum commonly considered “Citronelle”. UNCONFORMITY Mph - Pascagoula and Hattiesburg formation (Tertiary, Miocene) Green and bluish-green clay, sandy clay, and sand; gray siltstone and sand; locally fossiliferous. Mc - Catahoula formation (Tertiary, Miocene) Irregularly bedded gray sand and sandstone; mottled red and gray, green, and chocolate- colored clay; some quartzite; and some gravel; the Paynes Hammock sand, sandy limestone cross-bedded fine green sand, and thin-bedded sand and clay, is mapped with the underlying Chickasawhay limestone in eastern Mississippi. UNCONFORMITY Ov - Vicksburg group and Chickasawhay limestone (Tertiary, Oligocene) Chickasawhay limestone, sandy limestone and sand, present only in eastern Mississippi (mapped with it is the overlying Paynes Hammock sand of Miocene age); Vicksburg group, predominantly limestone and marl, but contains some bentonite and near the top chocolate-colored clay and some sand. UNCONFORMITY Of - Forest Hill formation and Red Bluff clay (Tertiary, Oligocene) Forest Hill sand, cross-bedded fine gray sand, laminated fine sand and clay, and a little lignite; in Wayne and Clarke counties lower part merges eastward into Red Bluff clay, blue-green glauconitic, gypsiferous, fossiliferous clay and thin limestone beds.
    [Show full text]
  • Index to the Geologic Names of North America
    Index to the Geologic Names of North America GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1056-B Index to the Geologic Names of North America By DRUID WILSON, GRACE C. KEROHER, and BLANCHE E. HANSEN GEOLOGIC NAMES OF NORTH AMERICA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 10S6-B Geologic names arranged by age and by area containing type locality. Includes names in Greenland, the West Indies, the Pacific Island possessions of the United States, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1959 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRED A. SEATON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.G. - Price 60 cents (paper cover) CONTENTS Page Major stratigraphic and time divisions in use by the U.S. Geological Survey._ iv Introduction______________________________________ 407 Acknowledgments. _--__ _______ _________________________________ 410 Bibliography________________________________________________ 410 Symbols___________________________________ 413 Geologic time and time-stratigraphic (time-rock) units________________ 415 Time terms of nongeographic origin_______________________-______ 415 Cenozoic_________________________________________________ 415 Pleistocene (glacial)______________________________________ 415 Cenozoic (marine)_______________________________________ 418 Eastern North America_______________________________ 418 Western North America__-__-_____----------__-----____ 419 Cenozoic (continental)___________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Geology* Paleontology, and Correlation of Eocene Volcaniclastic Rocks, Southeast Absaroka Range, Hot Springs County, Wyoming
    Geology* Paleontology, and Correlation of Eocene Volcaniclastic Rocks, Southeast Absaroka Range, Hot Springs County, Wyoming GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1201-A Geology, Paleontology, and Correlation of Eocene Volcaniclastic Rocks, Southeast Absaroka Range, Hot Springs County, Wyoming By T. M. BOWN GEOLOGY OF THE ABSAROKA RANGE, NORTHWEST WYOMING GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1201-A Relations of Eocene volcaniclastic rocks and Eocene fossils date the sedimentary and structural evolution of the southeast Absaroka Range, clarify correlations with adjacent areas, and aid in timing large-scale events of gravity faulting UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1982 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR JAMES G. WATT, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Bown, Thomas M. Geology, paleontology, and correlation of Eocene volcaniclastic rocks, southeast Absaroka Range, Hot Springs County, Wyoming. (Geological Survey Professional Paper 1201-A) Bibliography: p.71 Supt.ofDocs.no.: II9.I6:1201-A 1. Geology, Stratigraphic Eocene. 2. Volcanic ash, tuff, etc. Wyoming Hot Springs Co. 3. Mammals, Fossil. 4. Stratigraphic correlation Wyoming Hot Springs Co. 5. Geology Wyoming Hot Springs Co. 1. Title. II. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 1201-A. QE692.2.B68 55I.7'84'0978743 80-607125 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract -------------------------------------------------
    [Show full text]