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General of the Embayment By E. M. GUSHING, E. H. BOSWELL, and R. L. HOSMAN

WATER RESOURCES OF THE

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 448-B

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, : 1964 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY William T. Pecora, Director

First printing 1964 Second printing 1968

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 CONTENTS

Page Stratigraphy Continued Page Abstract Bl Tertiary System Continued Introduction.. __ 1 Series Continued Method of study 3 Continued Acknowledgments-______. 4 Porters Creek Clay____ B14 Geology- 4 Wills Point Formation.. 15 Stratigraphy, ______5 Naheola Formation 15 rocks _ 5 Series._. .. 16 System 5 . 16 Lower Cretaceous Series 5 NanafaUa Formation __ 16 Trinity Group _._ ____ 9 Tuscahoma Sand.. 16 Upper Cretaceous Series __ 9 Hatchetigbee Formation__ ___ 16 Tuscaloosa Group _ 10 Berger and Saline Formations and Massive sand 10 Detonti Sand_.__. ... 17 Coker Formation.___.______10 Naborton Formation ___ 17 Gordo Formation.... _.__ 10 Dolet Hills Formation 17 Woodbine Formation 11 Claiborne Group 17 Eagle Ford . ______11 Tallahatta Formation______17 McShan Formation.______._ 11 Carrizo Sand. 18 Eutaw Formation______11 Mount Selman Formation ______18 Tokio Formation._.______11 Cane Formation.______18 Blossom Sand and Bonham Marl..__.__ 11 Winona Sand______19 ______11 Zilpha Clay..._._ ___ _ 19 Mooreville Chalk______11 Sparta Sand 19 Coffee Sand______12 Cook Mountain Formation___ _ 20 Demopolis Chalk______.___._ 12 Cockfield Formation.______21 _ ...... 12 Jackson Group.__ _ .___ 21 Bluff Chalk and Owl Creek Moodys -Branch Formation... 21 Formation ______12 Yazoo Clay____.______21 Demopolis Formation...___..._____ 13 Series.______21 Brownstown Marl... . _... 13 Series.______21 Ozan Formation___.______13 System. ... 21 Annona Chalk ______...____ 13 Marlbrook or Marl _____ 13 Structure . 21 Navarro Group ____ 13 Era____ _. 22 Saratoga Chalk______13 Period. _ _. 22 Nacatoch Sand.______13 Period.... 22 Arkadelphia Marl______13 Cretaceous Period- 23 Tertiary System ___ _ 14 Era. 23 Paleocene Series. _ 14 Tertiary Period 23 Midway Group______14 Quaternary Period. 23 ....-______14 Physiography.. . 23 Kincaid Formation______14 Selected bibliography . 25 in IV CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS

[Plates are in pocket] PLATE 1. Fence diagram showing embay ment. 2. Geologic sections of Mississippi embayment. FIGURE 1. Map showing of study.______B2 2. Mean annual temperature in the Mississippi embayment______3 3. Mean annual in the Mississippi embayment----______4 4-8. Contour maps showing configuration of: 4. Top of the Paleozoic rocks______8 5. Top of the Cretaceous System..______9 6. Base of the sandy zone above the Porters Creek Clay.______15 7. Base of the Cane River Formation or its equivalents.______19 8. Top of the Sparta Sand______20 9. Structure map of the Mississippi embayment_____ 22 10. Physiographic map of the Mississippi embayment. ___ _ 24

TABLES

Page TABLE 1. Stratigraphic columns______B6 2. Oil tests and wells shown on fence diagram and geologic sections..-. _ _ 7 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

By E. M. GUSHING, E. H. BOSWELL, and R. L. HOSMAN

ABSTRACT mation was most urgent. Reports on these studies give As the first phase in the study of the water resources of the valuable information on parts of the embayment, but Mississippi embayment, the regional geologic structure and they do not treat the subject of water resources on a stratigraphy are defined. The Mississippi embayment comprises about 100,000 square miles in the Gulf Coastal . It is a regional basis. wedge-shaped region extending from its apex in southern The present study, begun in August 1957, is a part of southward to about the 32d parallel and includes parts of the Federal program of the U.S. Geological Survey. , , Illinois, , , Mississippi, The study is being made to provide an overall picture of , , and . the water resources so that these resources can be Most of the major geologic units include water-bearing strata that form vast aquifers, many of which cross State boundaries developed thoroughly and managed efficiently. This and are of regional importance. The deep-lying Jurassic rocks report is one of a series that will describe the results of are not known to contain potable water, but the Cretaceous, the successive phases of the study. Tertiary, and Quaternary deposits include numerous aquifers, Proper development, use, and conservation of the most of which contain fresh water at shallow to moderate depths. water resources can be achieved only through an under­ Geologically, the Mississippi embayment is a syncline which plunges to the south and whose axis generally parallels the standing of the regional geologic environment and its . The syncline is filled with sedimentary rocks influence on the response of the hydrologic system to ranging in age from Jurassic to Quaternary and reaching a climate and to water-supply development. Within the maximum thickness of about 18,000 feet in the southern part limits of time, personnel, and data available, the objec­ of the region. The lithology and continuity of the geologic units tives of the study are aimed toward: (a) defining the are variable because of modifying structural features and because of the differing depositional environments during the geologic regional geologic structure and stratigraphy and de­ evolution of the region. On the basis of interpretations of termining their influence on the movement, availability, electric logs and some drillers' logs, contour maps were prepared and quality of the ground water; (b) determining areas showing configuration of the top of the Paleozoic rocks, the top of ground-water recharge and discharge, the directions of the Cretaceous System, the base of the sandy zone above the and rates of flow between these areas, the influence of Porters Creek Clay, the base of the Cane River Formation or its equivalents, and the top of the Sparta Sand. A fence diagram these areas on the low-flow characteristics of the streams, and four sections show the stratigraphic relation of the major and the influence of artificial withdrawals on the ground- geologic units, and for areas near the outcrops of these units the water reservoirs; (c) determining the relation between* sections are more detailed. the geology and the low-flow characteristics of streams, Important structural features in the embayment are the Sabine the expected low flows of streams on a frequency basis, and Monroe uplifts, the Jackson dome, the and Desha basins, and the Arkansas and Pickens-Gilbertown fault zones. and the storage requirements for maintaining certain These structures, all of post-Paleozoic age, were formed, in part, minimum flows; (d) studying the relation between contemporaneously with the sedimentation of the embayment streams and ground-water reservoirs; (e) relating, by and have had considerable influence on the depositional environ­ study of chemical analyses, the chemical quality of the ment of the region. water to its geographic and geologic environment; and INTRODUCTION (f) determining the downdip extent of fresh water in the For several years the need for an appraisal of the formations and the presence of chloride, fluoride, nitrate, water resources of the Mississippi embayment has been and other chemical constituents which in excess concen­ recognized by people associated with the development trations could possibly restrict the usefulness of the of the region. Most of the water-resources investiga­ water. tions in the embayment have been made in cooperation The Mississippi embayment, as defined in this report, with State, county, and municipal agencies and have comprises about 100,000 square miles in the Gulf been restricted to local areas where the need for infor­ . From its apex in , the Bl B2 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT embayment fans out southward to about the 32d parallel are known to produce large quantities of water. These and includes parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, aquifers extend across State and topographic boundaries Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and underlie various watersheds. and Texas. (See fig. 1.) Some of the larger cities The embayment is drained by several large streams, within the region are: Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; most of which belong to the Mississippi River system. Monroe and Shreveport, La.; Texarkana, Ark.-Tex.; An area in the southeastern part of the region is drained Little Eock, Ark.; and Memphis, Tenn. by tributaries of streams which flow separately into the For some millions of years this region was an embay­ Gulf of . ment periodically occupied by an arm of the in The region has a moderate climate. The mean which as much as several thousand feet of sediments annual temperature ranges from about 58° F in the were deposited. Deposits of sand now form vast northern part of the region to 66° F in the southern part regional aquifers (water-bearing units), some of which (fig. 2), and the mean annual precipitation ranges

KANSAS

KENTUCKY L~- L -

ARKANSAS »*"\ X \ Little Rock

FIGURE 1. Map showing area of study. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B3

33

32° L_

FiOTnut22. Mean'annual temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, in the Mississippi embayment. (Data from records of U.S. Weather Bureau.) generally from 48 inches in the northern part to 56 the correlation of the water-bearing units can be made. inches in the southern part (fig. 3). Although the This report summarizes geology of the annual precipitation is high, most of it occurs during the region. winter and spring; droughts are common during the METHOD OP STUDY summer and fall. The economy of the region is basically agricultural, Description of the generalized regional structure and but industry has become increasingly important since stratigraphy is based primarily on the interpretation World War II. The diversification and mechanization of the available electric logs of wells and oil test holes. of have resulted in a surplus of manpower, In areas where electric logs are not available, attempts most of which is being absorbed by the expansion of were made to use available drillers' logs; generally, industry. The population, although still predominantly however, these logs were not detailed enough for rural, is becoming urban. Further industrial expansion accurate correlation with the electric logs. Most of probably will occur because of available manpower, the geologic interpretation is based on previously estab­ natural resources, and economical transportation. lished and generally recognized unit boundaries. Some Increasing demands on available water supplies will microscopic and micropaleontologic examinations of be made, and the future economy of the embayment is well cuttings were made to verify the interpretation of largely dependent upon intelligent utilization and the electric and drillers' logs. management of the region's water resources. On the basis of the interpretations, a fence diagram One of the first phases of an areal water-resources showing the geology of the region, a structure map, study is to define the generalized structure and stratig­ four regional geologic sections, and five contour maps raphy so that more detailed subsurface studies and were prepared. B4 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

95" 94" 93" 92" 91° 90° 89"

35 "( ^l"--^

34

33

32°

FIGURE 3. Mean annual precipitation, in inches, in the Mississippi embayment. (Compiled from maps of U.S. Weather Bureau and records of Authority.)

Work on the ground-water phases of the study is Conservation Commission; John C. Frye, Chief, Illinois under the direction of E. M. Gushing. Fieldwork and Geological Survey; Wallace W. Hagan, Director and data synthesis and analysis to date (1960) were done State Geologist, Kentucky Geological Survey; Arthur by J. G. Newton for Alabama, R. L. Hosman for C. McFarlan, Head of Geology Department, University Arkansas, L. M. MacCary and T. W. Lambert for of Kentucky; Leo W. Hough, State Geologist, Louisiana Kentucky, W. H. Walker and C. E. Harris, Jr., for Geological Survey; Tracy W. Lusk, Director and State Louisiana, E. H. Boswell for Mississippi, G. K. Moore Geologist, Mississippi Geological Survey; Thomas R. and J. H. Criner, Jr., for Tennessee, and E. T. Baker, Beveridge, Director and State Geologist, Missouri Geo­ Jr., and William Ogilbee for Texas. Lithologic and logical Survey; William D. Hardeman, State Geologist, micropaleontologic studies are being made by S. M. Tennessee Division of Geology; and the late John T. Herrick. Work on the surface-water phases is under the Lonsdale, former Director, Texas Bureau of Economic direction of P. R. Speer, and that on the quality-of- Geology. These officials also furnished or made avail­ water phases is under the direction of M. E. Schroeder. able geologic information and many electric logs and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS sets of well cuttings for this study. Shell Oil Co., Jackson, Miss., allowed the authors access to the well The suggestions, assistance, and cooperation of the cuttings in its repository. following State officials and members of their staffs are gratefully appreciated: Walter B. Jones, State GEOLOGY Geologist, Geological Survey of Alabama; Norman F. Within the Mississippi embayment, sediments rang­ Williams, Geologist-Director, Arkansas Geological and ing in age from Jurassic to Quaternary have been GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B5 deposited and have a maximum thickness of about Paleozoic age, ranging from to . 18,000 feet in the southern part of the region. Units Although irregular, the slope of the Paleozoic surface ranging in age from Cretaceous to Quaternary crop is generally toward the axis of the embayment in the out within the area of study (pi. 1). These units of northern part of the region and changes gradually gravel, sand, silt, clay, lignite, marl, chalk, and lime­ toward the on the southern flanks. stone range in thickness from zero at the outcrop of Figure 4 is a contour map showing configuration of the Paleozoic rocks to several thousand feet at the axis of top of the Paleozoic rocks. the embayment structural trough. Within the embayment, near its periphery, water in This report is concerned primarily with the strati- rocks of Paleozoic age is utilized. graphic relationship and areal extent of the units of age and younger, and with the general CRETACEOUS SYSTEM correlation of the units within the embayment. Table Deposits of Cretaceous age rest unconformably on 1 shows the stratigraphic columns used by the U.S. rocks of Paleozoic age throughout the embayment Geological Survey (, 1961) for the Upper Cre­ except in the extreme southern part, where Lower taceous, Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene units in the Cretaceous deposits overlie truncated Jurassic strata. area of study. The Cretaceous sediments are mostly of marine origin STRATIGRAPHY and are largely calcareous, ranging from sands to clays, Available electric logs of wells and oil tests in the chalks, and marls. Some -type are embayment were used to define the generalized regional present locally. stratigraphy. The geologic interpretations of the logs The dip of Cretaceous strata is generally toward are based primarily on established and generally recog­ the axis of the embayment except in the southern nized unit boundaries. Some microscopic and micro- part of the region, where the dip gradually swings paleontologic examinations of well cuttings were made southward toward the Gulf of Mexico. Structural to verify these boundaries. features within the embayment affect the dip of Cre­ The geologic contacts shown on a regional fence taceous strata locally. diagram (pi. 1) include the top of the Paleozoic rocks, Figure 5 is a contour map showing the configuration the top of the Lower Cretaceous Series, the top of the of the top of the Cretaceous System. Upper Cretaceous Series, the base of the sandy zone LOWER CRETACEOUS SERIES immediately above the Porters Creek Clay, the top of The 34th parallel marks the approximate northern­ the Wilcox, the top of the Claiborne Group, and the most limit of Early Cretaceous deposition in the top of the Jackson Group. The Oligocene and Miocene Mississippi embayment. Post-Early Cretaceous ero­ Series are shown as a unit, as is the Quaternary System. sion during the rise of the Monroe uplift completely Plate 2 is a group of regional geologic sections. removed the Lower Cretaceous rocks in southeastern These sections show the correlation of the groups or Arkansas and part of northeastern Louisiana; Lower larger units in the embayment and the stratigraphic Cretaceous beds are truncated around the southern position of most of the formational units near their flank of the uplift. areas of outcrop. In the extreme northern part of the Lower Cretaceous rocks do not crop out on the embayment, Eocene deposits have not been subdivided. eastern side of the embayment. However, in Mis­ Facies changes in the units in this interval and the lack sissippi and Alabama they occur in the subsurface as of subsurface information have prevented the tracing thick sands, clays, and . Lower Cretaceous beds of the recognized unit boundaries from the southern crop out in a westward-trending band in southwestern part of the region into the northern part. , which would be useful in the attempt to subdivide Arkansas and southeastern , and extend down- these Eocene units, apparently do not exist in the dip into Louisiana and Texas. These beds have been northern part of the embayment. designated the Trinity Group, which comprises Wells shown on the fence diagram and on the sections several formations. are listed in table 2. The well numbers are those used Southwestern Arkansas is the only area in the Mis­ in each State by the district office of the Branch of sissippi embayment where fresh ground water is obtained Ground Water of the U.S. Geological Survey. from wells drilled into these rocks. Analysis of electric logs indicates that the Lower Cretaceous deposits may PALEOZOIC BOCKS contain fresh water in a small area in east-central Although igneous intrusive rocks occur in some Mississippi and western Alabama but that elsewhere in places, the basement rocks that form the synclinal Mississippi and in Alabama the water is probably too structure of the Mississippi embayment are mostly of mineralized for most uses.

298-803 O - i w Oi

TABLE 1. Stratigraphic columns Northeastern Texas Northern Louisiana- Missouri Tennessee Continued Northern Mississippi Central Mississippi Central Mississippi- Western Alabama- Con t nued Continued Continued [Bowie, Cass, Marion, Eocene Series Upper Cretaceous Series [Southern part] Oligocene Series and Harrlson Counties] Eocene and Paleocene Forest Hill Sand and Paleocene Series Paleocene Series Series Paleocene Series Ripley Formation Eocene Series Red Bluff Clay Midway Group Midway Group Eocene Series Wilcox Group Midway Group McNairy Sand Jackson Group, undif­ Eocene Series Naheola Formation Naheola Formation Clalborne Group Dolet Hills Forma­ Porters Creek Clay Member ferentiated Jackson Group Porters Creek Clay Coal Bluff Marl Sparta Sand tion Clayton Formation Coon Creek Tongue Claiborne Group Yazoo Clay Land­ Member Mount Selinan For­ Naborton Forma­ Upper Cretaceous Series Demopolis Formation Cockfleld Forma­ Shubuta Member ing Marl Mem­ Hill Member mation tion Owl Creek Formation Coffee Sand tion Pachuta Marl ber Porters Creek For­ Weches Green- Paleocene Series McNairy Sand Cook Mountain Member Clayton Formation mation s sand Member Midway Group Formation Cocoa Sand Mem­ Upper Cretaceous Series Matthews Land- f> Queen City Sand Porters Creek Clay Illinois Sparta Sand ber Selma Group Ing Marl Mem­ 1-3 Member Clayton Formation Northern Mississippi Zilpha Clay North Creek Prairie Bluff Chalk ber H Reklaw Member Upper Cretaceous Series Eocene Series Winona Sand Member Ripley Formation Clayton Formation to Carrizo Sand Arkadelphia Marl Wilcox Group, undif­ [Northern part] Tallahatta Forma­ Moodys Branch McBryde Lime­ Wilcox Formation Nacatoch Sand ferentiated tion Formation Bluffport Marl stone Member W Palepcene Series Saratoga Clay Paleocene Series Eocene Series Wilcox Formation Claiborne Group Member Pine Barren Midway Group Marlbrook Marl Midway Group Jackson Group, undif­ Paleocene Series Cockfleld Forma­ Member co Wills Point Forma­ Annona Chalk Porters Creek Clay ferentiated Midway Group tion Arcola Upper Cretaceous Series O tion Brownstown Marl Clayton Formation Claiborne Group Naheola Formation Cook Mountain Member Selma Group d Kincaid Formation Tokio Formation Upper Cretaceous Series Cockfleld Forma­ Porters Creek Clay Formation Eutaw Formation Prairie Bluff Chalk S Upper Cretaceous Series Eagle Ford Shale McNairy Sand tion Clayton Formation Gordon Creek McShan Formation Ripley Formation o Nayarro Group, un- Woodbine Formation Cook Mountain Upper Cretaceous Series Shale Member Tuscaloosa Group Demopolis Chalk 00 diflerentiated Kentucky Formation Selma Group Potterchitto Sand Gordo Formation Bluffport Marl Taylor Marl Arkansas Sparta Sand Prairie Bluff Chalk Member Coker Formation Member o Annona Chalk Eocene Series Zilpha Clay Ripley Formation Archusa Marl Massive sand Mooreville Chalk Brownstown Marl Eocene Series Claiborne Group, un- Winona Sand Demopolis Chalk Member Arcola Limestone Blossom Sand Jackson Group, un- differentiated Tallahatta Forma­ Bluffport Marl Sparta Sand Western Alabama Member 1-3 Bonham Marl differentiated Wilcox Group, undif­ tion Member Zilpha Clay Eutaw Formation M Eagle Ford Shale Claiborne Group ferentiated Holly Springs Mooreville Chalk Winona Sand Eocene Series Tombigbee Sand B Woodbine Formation Cockfleld Forma­ Paleocene Series Sand Member Arcola Limestone Tallahatta Forma­ Claiborne Group Member tion Midway Group Wilcox Formation Member tion Tallahatta Forma­ McShan Formation Northern Louisiana Cook Mountain Porters Creek Clay Paleocene Series Eutaw Formation Neshoba Sand tion Tuscaloosa Group Formation Clayton (?) Forma­ Midway Group Tombigbee Sand Member Meridian Sand Gordo Formation co [North of 32d parallel] Sparta Sand tion Porters Creek Clay Member Basic City Shale Member Coker Formation co Cane River Forma­ Upper Cretaceous Series Tippah Sand Len­ McShan Formation Member Wilcox Group Upper unnamed co Oligocene Series tion McNairy Sand til Tuscaloosa Group, Meridian Sand Hatchetigbee For­ member co Vicksburg Formation Carrizo Sand Tuscaloosa Formation Clayton Formation undifferentiated Member mation Eoline Member tj Eocene Series Wilcox Group, undif- Upper Cretaceous Series Wilcox Formation Bashi Marl Mem­ Massive sand 2 Jackson Group ferentiated' Tennessee Selma Group Bashl Marl Member ber M Yazoo Clay Paleocene Series Owl Creek Forma­ Fearn Springs Tuscahoma Sand Moodys Branch Midway Group, un- Eocene Series tion Member Bells Landing ra Formation diflerentiated * Jackson (?) Formation Ripley Formation Marl Member tef Claiborne Group Upper Cretaceous Series Claiborne Group, un- Chiwapa Member Oreggs Landing IX) Cockfleld Forma­ Arkadelphia Marl differentiated McNairy Sand Marl Member tion Nacatoch Sand Wilcox Group, undif- Member Nanafalia Forma­ KJ Cook Mountain Saratoga Chalk ferentiated Cook Creek tion fe» Formation Marlbrook Marl Paleocene Series Tongue Oramplan Hills s Sparta Sand Annona Chalk Midway Group Transitional clay Member l_l Cane River Forma­ Ozan Formation Porters Creek Clay Demopolis Chalk Middle member 2 tion Brownstown Marl Clayton Formation Coffee Sand Gravel Creek Carrizo Sand Tokio Formation Eutaw Formation Sand Member Woodbine Formation Tombigbee Sand Member McShan Formation Tuscaloosa Group, undifferentiated

i Wilcox Group (Eocene Series), undifferentiated. Wilcox Group (Paleocene Series), upper part undiflerentiated; Dolet Hills and Naborton Formations lower two units. »in ascending order, \\ ilcox Group Arkansas in bauxite area comprises Berger Formation, Saline Formation, and Detonti Sand 'In ascending order, Midway Group in Arkansas bauxite area comprises Kincaid Formation and Wills Point Formation. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B7 TABLE 2. Oil teats and wells shown on fence diagram and geologic sections

County or Well Company or driller Well name County or Well Company or driller Well name parish parish

Alabama LDuisiana Continued

1-51 ...... 25.. ____ ... Justiss-Mears Oil Co ...... Evans 2. 8-23 Blair Oil & Gas Co...... Do...... 26 ...... E. M. Clark 1. FF-35 ...... U.S. Geol. Survey test Ouachlta _ 21 ...... Walter Maxey 1. well 27. __ . __ . Atlantic Refining Co...... Do.... 88-24...... do...... ___ ...... Do. linl. Union ...... 19 ______.. H. J. Heartwell...... GriflBn 1. Do...... «u« »*.«..._.. 11 ...... Kilpatrick 1. Do . .... 12 __ . Hunt Oil Co ...... Jacinta Sales 1. West Carroll.. 28... __ . Co _____ . ... CosteUo 1. Ashley - 58. ____ .... trust). Arkansas. .. 75 ...... Mississippi Do ...... 76 ...... E. P. Fox 1. Clark...... 84.. _____ .. J. F. Stone- ...... Kunnicutt 1. Clay...... 17 __ ...... Gallatin Drilling Co __ Attala ...... 6...... Shell Oil Co... ___ ...... H. H. Wheeless 1. 16...... TATI n or lr TTI t* Ruby Martin 1 Do...... 13 ...... Dudley S. et al.. M. C. Rutherford 1. 69 ...... 3 ...... 6...... H. M. Mills _____ ..... Do .. 6 ______... Calhoun. . . 3...... Oil Co...... D. R. Davis2. 3. ______. Carter Oil Co. ___ . .... Do...... 5. ___ . _ ... Seaboard Oil Co ...... J. L. Williams 1. Do ...... 63.. _ ...... 2 ...... Sinclair Oil Co...... Epperson 1. 2 ...... 2...... Henson & Rife Co...... W.J.&T.W. Green 1. Do...... 10...... Clay...... 6...... Atlantic Refining Co...... R. G. Dunning 1. 36.. __ ...... 1 ...... Union Producing Co ...... Withers Estate 1. 1 ...... B. H. Williams & H. H. General Do ..... 37...... Womble. Life Insurance Co. 1. Do...... 12 ...... Fred Mellen _ ...... Mrs. A. G. Williams 1. 6. __ ...... 4. ___ . ___ . Jackson Ready-Mix- 54. ____ . _ . Bell-Anding 1. Little River 20...... Do- 38 ...... Kingwood Oil Co. & E. L. Gray 1. Do . .... 38...... Kemp Drilling Co. Do...... 98 . Dierks 1. Do 48 ...... Production Co ..... J. S. Taylor 1. 10 ...... Do.. .. 67 ...... Premier Oil Refining Co.. Landstreet-Lipbam 1. Do.. 98 ...... Do ..... 1206 ...... Leonard Jones ...... La Rue 1. to to 1 Do- 1231 _____ . Blind Institute 1. Miller...... 1 ...... Nichols 1. 7...... J. E. Treadway & D. C. Unger-Darnell 1. Do- 39 ...... McClouth 1. Latimer. Do...... 40...... Do 14 ______. A. H. Rowan. ___ ...... J. W. Eakin 1. Do--..... 41 ...... Estabrook, HiU & Crider.. Do.. . 20 ...... Sohio-Fleishman .. ... J. Garland 1. 43...... M W^ Jones 1 Do .... 22 ______. Marshall R. Young et al.. 1. 3 ...... R. E. ...... 43 Ray Northern & A. W. Fleming 1. Do _ . ... 11 ______Williams Drilling Co. Do.. 7Q B. E. Smith. _____ ... 6 _ Kentucky Lumber Co. Do- . 74 ______1. 101. ... Peters Drilling Co. .... "WooHS F&rrns 1 14...... Rogers Lacy.. __ ... J. J. Shelburne 1. 11 ...... G. R. Shankle 1. Do...... 15 ...... Wanete Oil Co ...... Beadles & Fredricks 1. Do ... 67 ...... 1 ...... Harold K. Boysen ...... Denkman Lumber Co. St. Francis 102 ...... 1. 61 ...... Lee...... 5 ___ . ___ . J. F. Michael..... Temple-Harmon unit Do...... 97 ...... Loftinl. 1. Do...... 105...... Do __ ... 6 .... R. A. Ellison . W. H. Neely 1. White 79 States Oil Co...... Leflore.. ... 4...... Exchange Oil Co . Wildwood 2 ...... Sol Nathan 1. 1. Do.. 9 . Do.... 78...... Ray, Shortridge & Wilson J. J. Ross 1. Kentucky Drilling Co. Shell Oil Co.... ___ ..... 1 _ ..... H. H. Hamilton. __ ...... Kirkland 1. Galloway.. ... S1229.1-120.4.. South Central Petroleum Pearl Tones Cherry 1. 2 _ ..... _ ... Co. Do.. . - dnoo A ortft Q Newton...... 6 ..... Sun Oil Co...... Hilma Wall 1. Carlisle...... Sterett Drilling Co. .... T. J. Wilson 1. Noxubee. 8. .. Fulton...... S946.1-92.3 Mt. Carmel Drilling Co- Florence Smith 1. sion Co. Prentiss ...... Fll...... Carloss Well Supply Co ... City of Booneville Louisiana water well. Do... J22 .. Layne-Central Co _ . .... City of Baldwyn water well. Bienvllle...... 18 Monsanto Chemical Co .. Ozley 1. 11 _ ...... Monsanto Chemical Co ... Leon 1. 9. __ ...... 31...... Do ..... 10 ...... 10 .. A. Y. Keith 1. 4 .. Union Producing Co.. _ . Gaylord Container 1 __ ...... Arkla Oil Co...... Mattie Pitts 3. Do...... 2 ___ ...... Bell 2. 2 ,.... J. R. Cooper 1. Do ..... 3 ...... J. W. Fair...... send. Do ..... 4 . . _ . Fly 2. Do... 4. .. Latex-Gulf Oil Co _ . J. R. Dockery 1. Do 9 ...... Oil Co. . . Do...... 5...... 6 ...... Louisiana-Mississippi Oil C. E. Shores 1. Do ­ 6...... Bell A-l. Co. Co. Do.... 10 Marshall R. Young .... Ogilvle 1. Do ..... 7...... W. C. Agurs 2. Do- 11 ...... Lewis & La Rue.. ___ .. L. Westbrook 1. Do- ... 8...... Do. 12...... Gulf Refining Co _ ...... T. P. Cason et al. 1. 13. ____ .... Do... 13. Marshall R. Young. __ .. H. P. Tatiim 1. Do...... 14 ...... R. F. Odom 1. 2- _ .. _ .... Texas Co.... _ . __ ...... A. B. Hintson 1. Do ..... 15...... Do- 27. __ ...... Petroleum Co... Martin Estate 1 Do...... 16...... Ilemphill 1. Do 43 Frontier Oil Refining F. C. Martin 1. ing Co. Corp. Do ..... 17 ...... 5 ... . Chancellor 1. 31...... 8...... Steward Oil Co. et al...... Ruth Creekmore 1. Madison _ . 29...... V. S. Parham ...... Katlian-Johnson 1. Yazoo...... 1 __ .. __ . ... Northern Ordnance Co .... Koppers Co. 1. Do...... 30...... Curtis Kinard ______Soudhelmer 1. Do- 27 ... 22 ...... Bank 1. Do ..... 23...... Barnsdall Oil Co. & C. N. Po 49. _ ...... C. S. Stoner 1. Valerious. Do... .- 71...... J. W. Sorrels.... _ ...... Ledbctter 1. Do...... 24.... __ .... The Texas Co...... W. W. Doles 1. B8 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBATMENT TABLE 2. Oil tests and wells shown on fence diagram and geologic sections Continued

County or Well Company or driller Well name County or Well Company or driller Well name parish parish

Missouri Tennessee Continued

6614 ...... Shelby...... Sh:L-5..._ . New Madrid, 6809 ...... E. Phillips 1. Do Sh:O-169.--_. Memphis Light, Gas & Memphis Light, Gas & Do...... 8882. _____ . U.S. Bureau of Mines ..... R. B. Oliver, Jr. 1. Water Div. Water Div. 25. Pemiscot ...... 7222...... Do. Sh:U-12...... Lion Oil & Refining Co ... Stoddard. ... 8573 __ . ... M. H. Marr ...... W. J. Crutcher 1. Do...... 9205...... Rehms 1. Texas

BD-1620701... J. K. Wadley...... R. C. Vollmer 1. Dyer...... Dy:G-l_ Henderson Oil Co...... Field 1. Do ..... BD-1644102 Permac Oil & Gas Co., Tidwell 1. Fayette ..... Fa:J-l_ Lazarov & Bobilio Oil Co Beasley 1. Inc. Hardeman .... Hr:G-32 ... W. Atkeison Well Supply DB-1659302... Atlas Oil & Refining Co Laura Thomas 1. Co. Do...... DB-1664404... Arkla Oil Co...... Henderson .... He:K-3 ...... Do.. . DB-3503302 Humble Oil & Refining Co. E. Turner 1. Lake Lk:E-17.. Do Benz. Co. 1. Lauderdale ... Ld:O-4.._ . T. A. Lee. 1. Do...... DB-3506303... Mrs. Sloan Taylor 1. Mn:H-l.__. ... Petrie 1. LK-3520503... D. E. & R. T. Whelan... . Madison ...... Md:M-l...... Do... __ . LK-3536204... C. A. Bell 1. T-2-M. nedy. Do ..... Md:N-l.__ .. do...... U.S. Qeol. Survey SX-3512102.... S. L. Orr 1. T-l-M.

95" 94 \ ILLINOIS EXPLANATION 37' Contour interval 200 feet Datum is mean sea level Compiled from data submitted by J. G. Newton for Alabama; R. L. Hosman for Arkansas; T. W. Lambert for Kentucky; E. H. Boswell for Mississippi and G. K. , i Moore for Tennessee r_J._._

-T ARKANSAS

33 j, i jVr"!

32°

FIGURE 4. Contour map showing configuration of the top of tho Paleozoic rocks. GENERAL GEOLOGY OP THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B9

95° 94" 93° 92° 91° 90° 89° 88° 87"

EXPLANATION \ ILLINOIS JL<-' ^ ,^-^-U^-/^/ \ A 0 50 100 MILES 37° Contour interval 200 feet Datum is mean sea level

Compiled from data submitted by J. G. Newton for Alabama; R. L. Hosman for Arkansas; T. W. Lambert 'for Kentucky; C. E. 36° Harris, Jr., and W. H. Walker for Louisiana; E. H. Boswell for Missis­ sippi; G. K. Moore for Tennessee and E. T. Baker, Jr., for Texas

35°

34°

33°

32°

FIGURE 5. Contour map showing configuration of the top of the Cretaceous System. Two other formations of Early Cretaceous age, the outcrop. The thickness of the group in outcrop is Goodland Limestone (Hill, 1891, p. 504, 514) and the about 1,500 feet, and it may exceed 2,500 feet in the Kiamichi Formation (Hill, 1891, p. 504, 515) overlie subsurface. the Trinity Group and have a combined maximum The Paluxy Sand is the most important water-bearing thickness of about 70 feet. As these two units crop unit in the Trinity Group. The Pike Gravel and the out in only a very small area in Arkansas near the Ultima Thule Gravel Member of the Holly Creek Oklahoma State line, occur in the subsurface only in Formation yield moderate quantities of fresh water to northeastern Texas and a small area in southwestern wells in and near their outcrops. Arkansas, and are not a source of ground water, they UPPER CRETACEOUS SERIES are not treated further in this report. The entire Mississippi embayment was inundated by Trinity Uroup the Late Cretaceous sea to a point at least 20 miles The Trinity Group (Hill, 1888, p. 188) in Arkansas north of Cairo, 111. Before the sea retreated at the end consists in ascending order, of the Pike Gravel (Miser of the Cretaceous Period, hundreds of feet of sediment and Purdue, 1918a, p. 20), the Delight Sand (Imlay, were deposited in the embayment. The Upper Creta­ 1944), the Dierks Limestone (Miser and Purdue, 1918a, ceous strata are thickest along the axis and in the p. 21), the Holly Creek Formation (Vanderpool, 1928, southern part of the embayment. They thin eastward p. 1079-1080) including the Ultima Thule Gravel and westward toward the flanks and northward toward Member (Miser and Purdue, 1918a, p. 21), the De the apex of the trough. These rocks consist predomi­ Queen Limestone (Miser and Purdue, 1918a, p. 22), nantly of sand, clay, marl, and chalk that are mostly and the Paluxy Sand (Hill, 1891, p. 504). This differ­ of marine origin. Generally, aquifers of the Upper entiation applies only in the immediate vicinity of the Cretaceous contain fresh water in and near their BIO WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT outcrops, and the degree of mineralization in the water 1955, p. 13), whereas the massive sand is probably increases downdip. Late Cretaceous. Until the massive sand is shown to The Upper Cretaceous beds crop out in a wide band be the subsurface equivalent of the Vick Formation or along the entire eastern flank of the embayment, in the a suitable geographic name is designated, the informal northeast corner of Texas, and in the southwest corner name "massive sand" is applied to the unit. Whether of Arkansas. A small outcrop occurs along the Fall this unit is of formational rank, is a basal member of Line in northeastern Arkansas, but elsewhere along the the Coker Formation, or is a part of the Eoline Member western flank the Upper Cretaceous rocks are overlapped of the Coker Formation remains to be determined. by younger sediments. The massive sand is "a series of medium- to coarse­ Tuscaloosa Group grained sands * * * " (according to McGlothlin, 1944, The basal Upper Cretaceous beds on the eastern side p. 40). Interbedded shale and clay occur in the thick of the embayment originally were assigned to the Tuscaloosa beds of coarse sand, , and quartz gravel which Formation (Smith and Johnson, 1887, p. 18). These compose the main body of the unit. The thickness of beds in Alabama and Mississippi now constitute the the massive sand ranges from zero at its northern Tuscaloosa Group (originally defined by Monroe and limit, slightly south of the 34th parallel, to a possible others, 1946, p. 191; redefined by Drennen, 1953a, p. maximum of 500 feet in the southern part of the region. 528), which includes the Coker and Gordo Formations. The massive sand overlies beds of Early Cretaceous age In the subsurface of central Mississippi and western in central Mississippi and western Alabama, and north­ Alabama, a basal unit known as the massive sand is ward it overlies Paleozoic rocks. Although the massive also included in the group. sand is not generally used as a source of ground water, In Tennessee and Kentucky the basal Cretaceous it is potentially one of the most important aquifers in beds, lithologically similar to those of the Tuscaloosa the embayment. Group, remain assigned to the Tuscaloosa Formation. Coker Formation. The Coker Formation (originally These beds may be as much as 180 feet thick (MacCary, defined by Monroe and others, 1946, p. 197-200; 1960, written communication) and consist of well- redefined by Drennen, 1953a, p. 532-536) ranges in rounded pebbles ranging in size from 1 inch to 6 inches. thickness from a few feet to about 400 feet (excluding They also contain varying amounts of sand and clay. the massive sand) in the subsurface in Alabama and A hard conglomerate is present in places where the central Mississippi. In Alabama, the Coker has been pebbles, mostly chert, are cemented with iron oxide. subdivided into the Eoline Member and an upper The Tuscaloosa Formation, largely removed by erosion, unnamed member. is of deltaic origin. Although the formation is not The Eoline Member (Monroe and others, 1946, extensive, it does yield moderate amounts of water to p. 194-197) consists of thin-bedded clay, sandy wells in and near its outcrop. clay, shale, and sand, mostly of marine origin; sub­ Massive sand. The term "massive sand*," was first ordinate beds of sand occur throughout the unit. The used by McGlothlin (1944). The sand was correlated overlying unnamed member is composed of multicolored with the Cottondale Formation (of former usage) by clay and shale containing subordinate sand beds. The Monroe, Conant, and Eargle (1946, p. 210-211) and by Coker Formation lies upon the massive sand and upon Eargle in later work (1946, 1948). When Drennen Paleozoic rocks where the massive sand is absent. (1953a) reclassified the Tuscaloosa Group, he abandoned Although the Coker Formation is not extensively the term "Cottondale Formation," formerly applied to used for ground-water supplies, it seems to be a potential the basal unit of the group, because the deposits source in many areas in Alabama and Mississippi. assigned to this unit were included in the redefined Gordo Formation. The Gordo Formation (Monroe Coker Formation. Drennen (1953, p. 530) describes and others, 1946, p. 200-204) generally ranges in thick­ the Coker Formation as being "correlative with that ness from 100 to 400 feet in the subsurface. It is part of the lower Tuscaloosa above the massive sand." composed of thick beds of sand containing gravel in the Although the term "Cottondale Formation" was lower part and multicolored clay and shale interbcdded abandoned, the informal term "massive sand" is still with sand in the upper part. It is absent in the sub­ used for the basal sand unit of the Tuscaloosa Group in surface in northwestern Mississippi. The basal gravel western Alabama and central Mississippi. of the Gordo Formation rests unconformably on the Drennen (1953a, table 2) tentatively correlates the clays of the upper unnamed unit of the Coker massive sand with the Vick Formation (Conant, 1946), Formation. which crops out only in Bibb County, Ala. The Vick The Gordo Formation is an important aquifer in Formation, however is Early (?) Cretaceous (Monroe, Alabama and Mississippi. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT Bll

Woodbine Formation as the Eutaw Formation. The Eutaw Formation is The Woodbine Formation (Hill, 1901, p. 293) is the an important aquifer hi eastern Mississippi and western basal unit of the Upper Cretaceous Series hi north­ Alabama. eastern Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern Toklo Formation Arkansas and lies unconformably upon Lower Cre­ The Tokio Formation (originally defined by Miser taceous rocks. It has been correlated with the Tusca- and Purdue, 1918a, p. 19, 24; restricted by Dane, 1926) loosa Group on the eastern side of the region. The in Arkansas and northern Louisiana ranges hi thickness formation reaches a maximum thickness of about 350 from 50 to more than 300 feet in the subsurface and is feet hi the subsurface and consists of sand, clay, gravel, probably equivalent to the Eutaw Formation. The and some reworked volcanic material. The only out­ Tokio is composed mainly of poorly sorted crossbedded crop in the area of study is hi southwestern Arkansas. yellow and white sands, gray sandy clay, and a basal The Woodbine yields small quantities of water to bed of novaculite gravel. Gravel lenses are scattered domestic wells in and near its outcrop. throughout the formation, and the gray clay contains Eagle Ford Shale varying amounts of lignite. The Tokio Formation The Eagle Ford Shale (Hill, 1887, p. 298) overlies unconformably overlies the Woodbine Formation in the Woodbine Formation hi Louisiana and Texas but the outcrop area in southwestern Arkansas. It supplies does not crop out in the embayment. It consists of moderate quantities of water to numerous wells in and several hundred feet of dark-colored shale, sandy shale, near its outcrop. and subordinate beds of sand. The formation is not Blossom Sand and Bonnam Marl present on the Sabine uplift, where it has been removed The Blossom Sand (Gordon, 1909, p. 371, 373) and by erosion. The Eagle Ford Shale does not yield water Bonham Marl (Stephenson, 1927, p. 8) in northeastern to wells in the embayment. Texas are equivalent to the Tokio Formation in M cSnan Formation Arkansas (Dane, 1929, p. 42^3, 81) and Louisiana The McShan Formation (Monroe and others, 1946, and to the Eutaw Formation in Alabama, Mississippi, p. 204-207), probably equivalent to the Eagle Ford and Tennessee. Only the Blossom Sand is hydrolog- Shale, crops out in Alabama and Mississippi, where it ically important. The Blossom has a maximum reaches a thickness of 200 feet or more hi the subsur­ thickness of about 350 feet in the subsurface. It face. It consists of laminated micaceous glauconitic consists of interbedded sand and clay and is predonji- gray clay, fine sand, and lenticular beds of fine to nantly clayan areas where it is thickest. Its usefulness medium glauconitic sand. The formation is overlapped as an aquifer is restricted to the vicinity of the outcrop. by the Eutaw Formation hi northern Mississippi and Selma Group is absent farther north. In Alabama and Mississippi the Selma Group In subsurface mapping the McShan is generally in­ (Smith, Johnson, and Langdon, 1894, p. 15) includes the cluded in the lower part of the Eutaw Formation. Upper Cretaceous formations between the top of the The McShan is an important aquifer in eastern Eutaw Formation and the base of the Midway Group. Mississippi and western Alabama. These formations in western Alabama and eastern Eutaw Formation Mississippi, in ascending order, are the Mooreville In the subsurface in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Chalk, the Demopolis Chalk, the Kipley Formation, Alabama the Eutaw Formation (Hilgard, 1860, p. 61) and the Prairie Bluff Chalk. In the northern part of ranges in thickness from zero to more than 400 feet. Mississippi the Selma Group, hi ascending order, The main body of the formation is composed of gray includes the Coffee Sand, the Demopolis Chalk, the clay interbedded with fine glauconitic sand. Thin Kipley Formation, and the Owl Creek Formation. beds of fine to medium glauconitic sand are common The formations of the Selma Group are equivalent and are fairly persistent near the base of the formation, to those in Arkansas, northern Louisiana, and north­ which is normally marked by a thin bed of fine gravel. eastern Texas which are between the top of the Tokio The sands are commonly crossbedded or show distinct Formation or the Blossom Sand and the base of the stratification. A persistent sand at the top of the Midway Group. formation, known as the Tombigbee Sand Member Mooreville Chalk, The Mooreville Chalk (Stephen- (Hilgard, 1860, p. 61), is massive, highly glauconitic, son, 1917, p. 246), including the Arcola Limestone calcareous, and fossiliferous in the upper part. The Member (Stephenson and Monroe, 1938, p. 1655-1657) Eutaw Formation overlies the McShan Formation in at the top, has a maximum thickness of more than 250 Alabama and Mississippi, where the contact generally feet hi central and southern Mississippi and western can be recognized on the outcrop. In the subsurface, Alabama. It is an impure chalk or chalky marl con­ however, the two units are generally mapped together taining scattered thin beds of very fine sand. Some B12 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

sandy zones are extremely glauconitic, especially those Member of the Demopolis Chalk. The units are in the upper part of the formation. The Arcola Lime­ lithologically similar. Sohl (1960, p. 11) states that stone Member is a moderately hard limestone, com­ the transitional clay " * * * consists primarily of clays monly penetrated by marine borings. which become increasingly arenaceous and argillaceous The Mooreville Chalk is equivalent to the Browns- upward as they grade into sand of the Ripley and in­ town Marl of Arkansas, northern Louisiana, and north­ creasingly calcareous downward as they grade into the eastern Texas. In northern Mississippi the Moore­ Demopolis Chalk." The transitional clay in outcrop ville grades into sand and becomes the lower part of averages less than 50 feet thick. the Coffee Sand. The Mooreville Chalk is not an The Coon Creek Tongue (Wade, 1917, p. 74) is about aquifer. 180 feet thick near the outcrop area in northern Mis­ Coffee Sand. The Coffee Sand (Safford, 1864, p. sissippi (Parks, 1960, p. 67). The lower part of the 361) in Tennessee and northern Mississippi is a facies unit grades into the underlying transitional clay of the equivalent of the Mooreville Chalk and the lower part Ripley Formation; the main body of the typical Coon of the Demopolis Chalk. Near its outcrop the Coffee Creek Tongue is a dark-gray glauconitic micaceous Sand may be as much as 200 feet thick. It is made up fossiliferous fine sand interbedded with clay. largely of a series of stratified and crossbedded sands The McNairy Sand Member (Stephenson, 1914, p. and clays. The sands are generally fine and vari­ 22) is about 200 feet thick near the Mississippi-Ten­ colored; in many places they contain an abundance of nessee State line. Southward, it underlies the Chiwapa mica and in some places glauconite and pyrite. The Member and gradually grades into the upper marine clays are highly carbonaceous and contain an abundance sand and clay of the Ripley Formation in northern of plant remains. The Coffee Sand is an important Mississippi. The McNairy Sand Member is a medium aquifer. to coarse sand, which is white to brown in subsurface Demopolis Chalk. The Demopolis Chalk (Smith, samples; in the outcrop it is varicolored and cross- 1888), including the Bluffport Marl Member (Monroe, bedded, and characteristically includes indurated layers 1956, p. 2740-2742) at the top, is about 500 feet thick of tubular ferruginous . in central Mississippi and western Alabama. The The Chiwapa Member (Mellen, 1958, p. 49) occurs Bluffport Marl Member has a maximum thickness of in northern Mississippi. The member "* *^ * is about 50 feet. characteristically a 'bored' or 'horsebone' limestone or The Demopolis Chalk in Mississippi and Alabama is calcareous sandstone, an irregularly indurated stratum a relatively pure chalk; the Bluffport Marl Member at of shallow marine sediment approximately 80 feet in the top is an impure chalk which grades into the thickness at the top of the Ripley, and it can be traced overlying Kipley Formation. Northward, the upper for a north-south distance of 85 miles, more or less." 250 feet of the chalk becomes clayey, and the remainder The Chiwapa Member crops out from Tippah County, becomes a part of the Coffee Sand. In Tennessee this Miss., southward to Clay County. clayey unit is called the Demopolis Formation. The Sands of the Ripley Formation, particularly the Demopolis does not contain any aquifers. McNairy Sand Member and the Chiwapa Member, are Ripley Formation. The Ripley Formation (Hilgard, excellent aquifers. I860, p. 62) in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee Prairie Bluff Chalk and Owl Creek Formation. The has a maximum thickness of about 400 feet. In Prairie Bluff Chalk (Winchell, 1857, p. 84) is the upper­ northern Mississippi the formation includes, in ascend­ most unit of the Upper Cretaceous Series in western ing order, the transitional clay, Coon Creek Tongue, Alabama and Mississippi. In extreme northern Mis­ McNairy Sand Member, and Chiwapa Member. In sissippi it is represented by the Owl Creek Formation Tennessee it includes, in ascending order, the Coon (Hilgard, 1860, p. 85), a facies which extends into Creek Tongue and the McNairy Sand Member. Only Tennessee and Missouri and possibly into Kentucky the McNairy Sand occurs in Kentucky, Illinois, and and Illinois. The Prairie Bluff Chalk is from 30 to Missouri, and it has formational status in these States. 70 feet thick and the Owl Creek Formation is about 45 The undifferentiated Kipley Formation typically con­ feet thick in the subsurface. The Prairie Bluff Chalk sists of clay, sandy clay, sand, and thin beds of is a gray to white slightly sandy massive chalk which sandstone. grades northward into the highly fossiliferous dark-gray A zone of clay above the Demopolis Chalk was de­ fine micaceous silty sand and clay of the Owl Creek scribed as the transitional clay by Conant (1941, p. Formation. The formations rest unconformably on 22), who assigned the unit to the Ripley Formation. the Ripley Formation (the McNairy Sand in Missouri), The transitional clay is in the same stratigraphic posi­ and underlie unconformably the Midway Group. tion and may be the lateral facies of the Bluffport Marl Neither formation is an aquifer. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B13 Demopolis Formation equivalent is the upper part of the Taylor Marl. The The unit which has been called the "Selma Clay" Marlbrook has a maximum thickness of about 300 in Tennessee (Glenn, 1906, p. 26) is here called the feet in the subsurface. It is a fossiliferous chalky blue Demopolis Formation. Recent mapping of the Cre­ to gray marl containing some glauconitic sand and, taceous sediments by E. E. Russell for the Tennessee locally, thin beds of chalk. It does not yield water to Division of Geology has shown that this unit, which wells. overlies the Coffee Sand and underlies the Ripley Navarro Group Formation in Tennessee, is the upper part of the The Navarro Group (Shumard, 1861, p. 189) in Demopolis Chalk of the Selma Group in Mississippi. northeastern Texas has not been subdivided. It Russell* (written communication) states that "the includes the units between the top of the Taylor Marl unit is composed of massive calcareous clays, marls, and the base of the Midway Group. The Navarro and some chalky materials." He calls the unit the Group is equivalent to the Ripley Formation and the Demopolis Formation, and the name is appropriate. Prairie Bluff Chalk or the Owl Creek Formation of Brownstown Marl Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The Brownstown Marl (originally defined by Hill, In Texas, west of the area of study, the Navarro 1888, p. 86-87; restricted by Dane, 1926) lies uncon- Group has been divided, in ascending order, into the formably on the Tokio Formation in Arkansas and Neylandville Marl, Nacatoch Sand, Corsicana Marl, northern Louisiana and on the Blossom Sand in north­ and Kemp Clay. In Arkansas and Louisiana the units eastern Texas. It is equivalent to the Mooreville between the top of the Marlbrook Marl and the base Chalk of Alabama and Mississippi. The Brownstown of the Midway Group have not been assigned to a group. Marl has a maximum thickness of about 280 feet in These units include, in ascending order, the Saratoga the subsurface in southwestern Arkansas and consists Chalk (Saratoga Clay in Louisiana), Nacatoch Sand, of dark-gray to tan fossiliferous calcareous clay, gray and Arkadelphia Marl. marl, sand, and sandy clay. It yields small amounts Saratoga Chalk of highly mineralized water to a few wells in its outcrop. The Saratoga Chalk (originally defined by Branner Ozan Formation 1898, p. 53; restricted by Dane, 1926), called the Sara­ The Ozan Formation (Dane, 1926) has a maximum toga Clay in Louisiana, is 20 to 60 feet thick in Arkansas thickness of about 200 feet in southwestern Arkansas. and is probably equivalent to the Coon Creek Tongue It varies from fossiliferous gray sandy marl, sand, of the Ripley Formation. It is a white fossiliferous sandy limestone, and clay to chalk and marl. A layer sandy chalk and has a thin glauconitic and phosphatic of glauconitic sand occurs at the base. The Ozan zone at its contact with the Marlbrook Marl, which it Formation unconformably overlies the Brownstown overlies unconformably. It does not yield water to Marl. It yields small amounts of highly mineralized wells. water to a few wells in southwestern Arkansas. Nacatocli Sand Annona CliaXk The Nacatoch Sand (originally defined by Veatch, The Annona Chalk (originally defined by Hill, 1894, 1905, p. 180, 183; restricted by Dane, 1929, p. 117- p. 308; restricted by Dane, 1926) overlies the Ozan 119) in Arkansas and Louisiana is virtually equivalent Formation in southwestern Arkansas and the Browns- to the Ripley Formation. It ranges in thickness from town Marl in northern Louisiana and in parts of north­ about 100 to 500 feet in the subsurface. It is generally eastern Texas. The Annona is as much as 100 feet a massive crossbedded yellowish to gray fine sand, thick in Arkansas and as much as 400 feet thick in which is in part glauconitic and which is interbedded Louisiana and Texas, where the lower part is probably with hard sandy limestone and light-gray clay and marl; equivalent to tne Ozan Formation. The Annona is a clay and marl are more abundant in the lower part of massive hard bluish-gray to white fossiliferous chalk, the formation. The Nacatoch Sand supplies moderate and in Texas some chalky marl beds occur in the lower quantities of water to wells in its outcrop area and for part. The Annona is equivalent to part of the Demop­ several miles downdip. olis Chalk of Alabama and Mississippi. It does not ArkadelpMa Marl yield water to wells. The Arkadelphia Marl (originally denned by Hill, Marlbrook or Taylor Marl 1888, p. 53-56; restricted by Dane, 1929, p. 144-145), The Marlbrook Marl (orignially denned by Hill, the equivalent of the Prairie Bluff Chalk and the Owl 1888, p. 84-86; restricted by Stephenson, 1927, p. 15) Creek Formation, is the uppermost unit of the Upper occurs in Louisiana and Arkansas. In Texas its Cretaceous Series in Arkansas and Louisiana. It has a maximum thickness of about 200 feet in the sub­ i Russell, E. E., Professor, Dept. of Geology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Miss. surface. The Arkadelphia Marl consists generally of B14 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT dark-blue fossiliferous marl interbedded with sandy Formation unconformably overlies the Cretaceous Sys­ limestone and may be glauconitic and chalky in part. tem. The contact with the overlying Wilcox Group is It has an uncomformable but lithologically grada- indeterminate in most places, but in Alabama and tional contact with the underlying Nacatoch Sand. adjacent parts of Mississippi the contact between the The Arkadelphia Marl does not yield water to wells. basal beds of the Wilcox Group and the top of the TERTIARY SYSTEM Naheola Formation has been mapped. In other areas the contact may be defined by weathered zones, deposits The Tertiary System in the Mississippi embayment of kaolinitic material, bauxite, residuum, or other comprises deposits of the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, lithologic evidence of unconformity. Miocene, and (?) Series. Tertiary rocks occur Figure 6 is a contour map showing configuration of either in the subsurface or crop out in about 75 percent the sandy zone immediately above the Porters Creek of the region. Their maximum thickness is about Clay. The base of this zone, as shown on electric logs, 7,000 feet at the axis of the embayment at the southern is used as the top of the Midway Group. limit of the region. The sediments are mostly uncon- Clayton Formation. The Clayton Formation (Lang- solidated and consist mainly of sand, clay, and shale. don, 1891, p. 595) is commonly about 35 feet thick, The Tertiary System overlies the Cretaceous Sys­ but in many places in the outcrop area it is much tem with marked unconformity, and it is overlain in thinner or missing because of overlap by the Porters most places by alluvial deposits, terrace deposits, or Creek Clay. , all of Quaternary age. The Clayton Formation is composed mostly of lime­ Several major Tertiary artesian aquifers supply stone, calcareous sand, and sandstone, all of marine ground water to large areas of the Mississippi origin. In some places it is lithologically very similar embayment. to underlying Cretaceous sediments but may be differen­ PALEOCENE SERIES tiated paleontologically. In other places a basal con­ The Paleocene Series underlies the Eocene Series glomerate marks the contact. Conant (1941, p. 27-32) and overlies the Upper Cretaceous Series. It is com­ recognizes two units in the Clayton Formation in posed of nearly 1,000 feet of sediments, in which dark northern Mississippi, a basal limestone and marl mem­ clay is predominant. The Midway Group constitutes ber and an upper member. Weathered exposures in the entire series except in northern Louisiana, where northern Mississippi are composed mostly of dark-red the lower part of the Wilcox Group is included. sand, generally ferruginous and glauconitic. The con­ Midway Group tact with the overlying Porters Creek Clay is generally In northern Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illi­ gradational. The Clayton Formation contains no nois, Missouri, and northern Louisiana, the Midway important aquifers. Group (Smith, 1886, p. 14) comprises, in ascending order, Kincaid Formation. The Kincaid Formation (Gard­ the Clayton Formation and Porters Creek Clay. In Ar­ ner, 1933b, p. 744) is the basal unit of Paleocene age in , except in the bauxite area, the Midway Group is northeastern Texas and in the Arkansas bauxite area. undifferentiated. In the Arkansas bauxite area and in The Kincaid rests unconformably on Upper Cretaceous northeastern Texas the Kincaid and Wills Point For­ and older rocks. In the Arkansas bauxite area, where mations compose the group. In central Mississippi the formation is apparently very irregular in thickness, and western Alabama the Naheola Formation is in­ it directly overlies the Paleozoic in some places (Gordon, cluded in the Midway, but beds presumed to be equiva­ Tracey, and Ellis, 1958, p. 13-25). The average lent to the Naheola have been assigned to the overlying thickness of the formation in the embayment is about Eocene Series in other areas. The Naborton and Dolet 30 feet. The formation consists predominantly of Hills Formations of Paleocene age in Louisiana, prob­ glauconitic sand, clay, and limestone, all of marine ably partly equivalent to the Naheola Formation, are origin. In places there is a basal conglomerate com­ grouped with the Wilcox on the basis of lithology. posed of reworked material from underlying beds. The The maximum subsurface thickness of the Midway Kincaid Formation is correlative with the Clayton Group is about 1,000 feet at the axis of the embayment Formation. at the southern limit of the region. The thickness near Sandy beds in the Kincaid Formation yield small the outcrop area ranges from a known minimum of quantities of water to wells. 180 feet in Kentucky to about 600 feet in parts of Texas, Porters Creek Clay. The Porters Creek Clay (Safford, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. 1864, p. 361, 368), called the The Midway Group is composed predominantly of in Alabama, is less than 180 feet thick in the subsurface marine clay and shale but includes subordinate sand in western Kentucky but thickens to almost 1,000 and limestone beds. The basal limestone of the Clayton feet near the axis of the embayment at the southern GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B15

Approximate limit of Midway Group o so 100 MILES

Contour interval 200 feet Datum is mean sea level

Compiled from data submitted by J. G. Newton for Alabama; R. L Hosman for Arkansas; T. W. Lambert for Kentucky; C. E. Harris, Jr., and W. H. Walker for Louisiana; E. H. Boswell for Missis- | sippi; G. K. Moore for Tennessee and E. T. Baker, Jr., for Texas

34'

|| ALABAMA f

33

32°

FIQUKE 6. Contour map showing configuration of the base of sandy zone above the Porters Creek Clay. limit of the region. The formation thins markedly distinctive. Northward, it becomes a thin marl and to less than 100 feet over some structural highs in the loses its identity in Winston County, Miss. subsurface but elsewhere changes in thickness are Wills Point Formation. The Wills Point Formation gradual. (originally defined by Penrose, 1890, p. 19; redefined In most of the embayment the Porters Creek is very by Plummer, 1927) is the uppermost formation of dark gray or black blocky clay. Subordinate beds of Paleocene age in northeastern Texas and in the Arkansas sand occur in several places, and the Tippah Sand bauxite area. It is underlain by the Kincaid Formation Lentil (Lowe, 1915, p. 64) is a recognized member in and overlain by the Wilcox Formation or Group. extreme northern Mississippi. Ferruginous concre­ The Wills Point is predominantly gray to green cal­ tions and layers are common. In the northern part of careous clay of marine origin. The upper part of the the region the upper part of the formation is composed formation is sandy in places and appears to grade into of interbedded or laminated fine sand and gray clay. sands of the overlying Wilcox. The average thickness The Porters Creek does not include any important of the formation is about 500 feet. The Wills Point aquifers. Formation is not known to yield fresh water to wells In Alabama and southeastern Mississippi, the in the embayment. Matthews Landing Marl Member (Smith, 1886, p. 13), Naheola Formation. In western Alabama nnd eastern a very glauconitic sandy fossiliferous marl or sandstone Mississippi, the Naheola Formation (Smith, 1886, p. that is generally less than 10 feet thick, is the upper­ 13) is a part of the Midway Group. The formation most unit of the Porters Creek. It is a well-defined thins from about 200 feet in Alabama to less than 100 feet stratigraphic marker in western Alabama and eastern in Mississippi. In western Alabama the Naheola For­ Mississippi, where its fauna and marine lithology are mation is divided into the Oak Hill Member below and B16 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBATMENT the Coal Bluff Marl Member above. In the remainder about 230 feet. It is the basal formation of the Wilcox of the embayment, where the Matthews Landing Marl Group in western Alabama, where it consists of sand, Member of the Porters Creek Clay has not been identi­ marl, and clay. Kaolinitic and bauxitic material is fied, beds equivalent to the Naheola Formation are disseminated through the formation in some places. sometimes included in the Porters Creek or, for litho- Locally, deposits of bauxite and kaolin occur in the logic reasons, in the overlying Wilcox. lower part of the Nanafalia Formation or in the equiv­ The Oak Hill Member (Toulmin, LaMoreaux, and alent part of the Wilcox. In western Alabama the Lanphere, 1951, p. 42) consists characteristically of Nanafalia Formation comprises three members (La­ thinly laminated fine sand and silty clay. In places, Moreaux and Toulmin, 1959, p. 98), which, in ascending a bed of lignite, defining the contact with the overlying order, are the Gravel Creek Sand Member, the middle Coal Bluff Marl Member (Smith, 1886, p. 12), forms member, and the Grampian Hills Member. the top of the member. The Coal Bluff Marl Member According to LaMoreaux and Toulmin (1959, p. 98), is predominantly marine sand and clay, which includes the Gravel Creek Sand Member "consists of white to a fossiliferous bed (LaMoreaux and Toulmin, 1959, p. yellow medium- to coarse-grained crossbedded sand 83). with stringers and thin lenses of fine gravel and clay Sandy beds in the Naheola Formation are water pebbles." It is correlative with the Fearn Springs bearing in western Alabama and the adjacent parts of Member (Mellen 1939, p. 33) of the Wilcox Formation Mississippi but are not important hydrologically in the of Mississippi. The Fearn Springs Member includes a remainder of the embayment. basal coarse sand and an upper laminated fine sand and gray clay (Hughes, 1958, p. 148). The middle member EOCENE SERIES of the Nanafalia Formation includes the Ostrea thirsae The Eocene Series crops out or underlies about 70 beds. These beds also occur in the basal part of the percent of the embayment. It is thickest in the south­ Eocene Series in Louisiana (Durham and Smith, 1958, eastern part of the region, where marine phases provide p. 5-6). The Grampian Hills Member of the Nanafalia a basis for unit differentiation. The Eocene rocks are Formation consists of gray clay and beds of glauconitic divided, in ascending order, into the "Wilcox Group or sand and sandstone (LaMoreaux and Toulmin, 1959, p. Formation, Claiborne Group, and Jackson Group or 100). Formation. The Nanafalia Formation and its equivalents in the Wilcox Group lower part of the Wilcox form one of the most important The "Wilcox Group (Crider and Johnson, 1906, p. 5, aquifers in the Mississippi embayment. The "1,400- 9) includes, in ascending order, the Nanafalia Forma­ foot" sand of the Memphis area may be equivalent, in tion, Tuscahoma Sand, and Hatchetigbee Formation part, to the Nanafalia Formation. in western Alabama and the Berger and Saline Forma­ Tuscahoma Sand. The Tuscahoma Sand (Smith, tions and Detonti Sand in the Arkansas bauxite area. Johnson, and Langdon, 1894, p. 162-170) is composed In northern Louisiana the Naborton and Dolet Hills of lenticular fine sand, gray clay, and laminated fine Formations of Paleocene age are considered a part of sand and clay, all containing some lignite. In western the Wilcox Group. The Wilcox Group is undifferen- Alabama the formation includes the Greggs Landing tiated in Arkansas (except in the bauxite area), Illinois, Marl Member (Smith, 1886, p. 12) and the Bells Landing Kentucky, and Tennessee. In Mississippi, Missouri, Marl Member (Smith, 1883, p. 256). These marine and northeastern Texas, the Wilcox is considered to be beds become indistinguishable from the rest of the a formation. Wilcox Formation northwestward in Mississippi. Although undifferentiated, the Wilcox in the sub­ The average thickness of the Tuscahoma Sand is surface of northern Mississippi, northeastern Arkansas, about 350 feet. Because of its fine grain size and Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri contains at least lenticularity, the Tusrahoma Sand is not used as ex­ two distinct lithologic units a lower predominantly tensively as a source of water as the Nanafalia For­ sand unit and an upper predominantly shale or clay mation. unit. The sandy unit is called the "1,400-foot" sand flatchetigbee formation. The Hatchetigbee Forma­ (Klaer, 1940, p. 92) of the Memphis area (pi. 2), which tion (Smith, 1886, p. 10) is the youngest formation of has been traced for considerable distances in the north­ the Wilcox Group in western Alabama. The formation ern part of the embayment (Schneider and Gushing, is predominantly gray lignitic clay and fine sand but 1948, p. 3). This sand is an important source of contains scattered beds of lignite. The Bashi Mail ground water in the region. Member (Heilprin, 1882, p. 158-159), a distinctive Nanajalia Formation. The Nanafalia Formation fossiliferous marine bed at the base of the formation, (Smith, 1886, p. 12), has a maximum thickness of overlies the Tuscahoma Sand. The Bashi Marl Member GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT BIT has been tentatively identified as far north as southern region, the Claibome Group can be subdivided into Winston County, Miss. (McNeil, 1946, p. 21-22). formations, on the basis of marine beds. In the Lenticular beds of sand are locally important as aquifers. northern part of the region the Claiborne Group is Berger and Saline Formations and Detonti Sand. undifferentiated. In the Arkansas bauxite area, the Wilcox Group com­ The group, in ascending order, is composed of the prises the Berger and Saline Formations and the Detonti following units: The , Winona Sand, which have been described in detail by Gordon, Sand, and Zilpha Clay, and their equivalents the Tracey, and Ellis (1958, p. 38-58). Elsewhere in Carrizo Sand and Mount Selman Formation in Texas Arkansas, the group has not been divided. The equiv­ and the Carrizo Sand and Cane River Formation in alence of these formations to those described in Arkansas and Louisiana; the Sparta Sand; the Cook Alabama or Louisiana has not been shown. The Berger Mountain Formation; and the Cockfield Formation. Formation is about 25 feet thick in outcrop and is In Kentucky and Tennessee the Claibome Group is composed of lignitic sand and clay characteristic of the undifferentiated. Wilcox; bauxitic and kaolinitic material occurs in beds Tallahatta Formation. The Tallahatta Formation throughout the formation. (Dall, 1898, p. 344) in Alabama and Mississippi is Naborton Formation. Murray (1948, p. 94-95) de­ equivalent to the Carrizo Sand and to the Reklaw scribes the Naborton Formation as "calcareous, buff to Member and Queen City Sand Member of the Mount gray, fine- to medium-grained sands, clays, and lignitic Selman Formation of Texas and to the Carrizo Sand silts." The formation reaches a maximum thickness of and the lower part of the Cane River Formation of about 200 feet. The thin-bedded or laminated struc­ Arkansas and Louisiana. ture of the beds and the stratigraphic position of the The Tallahatta Formation in Alabama includes the unit suggest that the Naborton may be partly equiva­ Meridian Sand Member. In central Mississippi it lent to the Oak Hill Member of the Naheola Formation. includes the Meridian Sand Member, Basic City Shale The Naborton Formation crops out in a small area Member, and Neshoba Sand Member. In northern in northwestern Louisiana and is extensive in the sub­ Mississippi it includes the Holly Springs Sand Member. surface. It is not known to contain an aquifer in the The Tallahatta Formation in western Alabama and embayment, but it is an important source of ground eastern Mississippi averages about 90 feet in thickness. water in DeSoto and Red River Parishes, La. In north-central Mississippi it thickens to about 200 Dolet Hills Formation. The Dolet Hills Formation feet in outcrop, and it may reach a thickness of 400 (Murray, 1948, p. 105) consists of fine to medium mas­ feet in the subsurface. sive sand and subordinate clay and lignite. It is The Meridian Sand Member (Lowe, 1933, p. 1, extensive in the subsurface, has a maximum thickness 105-106) of the Tallahatta Formation crops out in of 125 feet, and crops out in the same general area as western Alabama and in Mississippi. It is the basal the Naborton Formation. It is probably partly member of the Claiborne Group and is equivalent equivalent to the Naheola Formation. to the Carrizo Sand of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Above the Dolet Hills Formation are undifferentiated Texas. The thickness of the Meridian Sand Member beds of sand and clay (Murray, 1948, p. 138) which are is variable, averaging probably more than 100 feet. also considered to be of Paleocene age. These beds, Brown (1947, pi. 9) shows the maximum thickness together with the Naborton and Dolet Hills Formations, to be 490 feet in the subsurface in Holmes County, are included in the Wilcox Group in Louisiana on the Miss. basis of lithology. The Meridian Sand Member is fine to very coarse Claibome Group quartz sand, which is characteristically crossbedded. Rocks of the Claibome Group (Conrad, 1848, The contact with the underlying Wilcox Group is p. 280-283) are known to crop out in all States included determined by the presence of lignitic clay or shale in this investigation except Illinois and Missouri. In or highly carbonaceous material characteristic of the the northern part of the embayment, some beds pre­ Wilcox. viously designated as members of the Wilcox may be The Meridian Sand Member is a productive aquifer members of the Claibome Group because of the broad in the embayment. The basal part of the "500-foot" overlap by the Claibome Group in the region. sand (Klaer, 1940, p. 92) of the Memphis area (pi. 2) The maximum thickness of the Clairborne Group, probably is equivalent to the Meridian Sand Member. about 2,600 feet, occurs in the subsurface in the The Basic City Shale Member (Brown and Adams, southern part of the embayment. The group is com­ 1943, p. 43) is composed of sparsely fossiliferous light- posed of marine and nonmarine sand, sandy clay, clay, colored claystone, siltstone, and shale. Ledges of shale, and limestone. In the southern part of the orthoquartzite (buhrstone) are common. The Basic B18 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT City Shale Member is not an important aquifer 1929, p. 1352), Queen City Sand (Kennedy, 1892, p. 50), except in northwestern Mississippi, where sandy facies and Weches Greensand (Wendlandt and Knebel, 1929, of the unit occur. p. 1356) Members, or all strata above the top of the The Neshoba Sand Member (Thomas, 1942, p. 24) Carrizo Sand and below the base of the Sparta Sand. of the Tallahatta Formation occurs in central Missis­ The Mount Selman Formation is equivalent to the sippi and is about 50 feet thick. It gradually thickens Cane River Formation of Louisiana and Arkansas and northward and is in the subsurface in central and to the Tallahatta Formation (except the Meridian northwestern Mississippi. The Neshoba Sand Mem­ Sand Member), Winona Sand, and Zilpha Clay of ber is typically fine micaceous quartz sand containing Mississippi. The Mount Selman Formation averages some gray clay. It is locally glauconitic but is not about 300 feet in thickness. known to be fossiliferous. The Neshoba Sand Member Overlying the Carrizo Sand and separated from it is considered by Stenzel (1952, p. 32) to be equivalent by a disconformity is the Reklaw Member of the Mount to the lower part of the Queen City Sand Member Selman Formation, a sequence of dark-colored strati­ of the Mount Selman Formation. The Neshoba Sand fied shales and sands that are commonly fossiliferous, Member is an aquifer in some areas in Mississippi. micaceous, and glauconitic. Thin lenses of limonite The Holly Springs Sand Member (Lowe, 1913, normally are associated with the glauconite. The p. 23-25) of the Tallahatta Formation in northern member is sandy in places, which makes it difficult to Mississippi was originally considered to be a formation separate the Reklaw from the overlying and under­ of the Wilcox Group in Mississippi, Tennessee, and lying units. The thickness of the Reklaw Member Kentucky. Foster (1940, p. 32, 53) restricts the name probably does not exceed 125 feet. Holly Springs to beds in Lauderdale County, Miss., The Queen City Sand Member of tne Mount Selman that are equivalent to the Tuscahoma Sand in adjoin­ Formation, overlying the Reklaw Member, consists ing Alabama. MacNeil (1946, p. 17) states that "the predominantly of gray to grayish-brown fine to medium type Holly Springs formation of northern Mississippi, sand interbedded with layers of dark carbonaceous * * * is the nonmarine equivalent of the Tallahatta shale, silt, and impure lignite. The sands are cross- formation to the south. The name Holly Springs bedded and lenticular. Beds or lenses of glauconite was accordingly abandoned in favor of Tallahatta for reportedly occur near the middle of the member. The all of Mississippi." MacNeil (1947), however, uses thickness of the Queen City Sand Member in north­ the name Holly Springs Sand Member for the entire eastern Texas is not known, but it probably is about Tallahatta Formation of northern Mississippi. Brown 200 feet. (1947, p. 34) states that "the outcrops of sand around The lower part of the Queen City Sand Member is Holly Springs are exposures of the Meridian sand considered by Stenzel (1952, p. 32) to be equivalent to member of the Tallahatta formation * * * ." the Neshoba Sand Member of the Tallahatta Forma­ The use of the name Holly Springs Sand Member tion. Various aspects of the geology of the Queen probably should be discontinued because of the pre­ City Sand Member have been discussed by Smith vious long association of the name with the Wilcox (1958). The Queen City Sand Member is an impor­ Group, but additional work is needed to determine the tant aquifer in northeastern Texas. stratigraphic relation of this unit to other Eocene The Weches Greensand Member of the Mount units in northern Mississippi. Selman Formation overlies the Queen City Sand Mem­ Carrizo Sand. The Carrizo Sand (Owen, 1889, p. 70) ber and consists predominantly of dark-green beds of in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas is equivalent to glauconitic highly crossbedded, lenticular sand and of the Meridian Sand Member of the Tallahatta Forma­ some thin strata of dark-gray to black glauconitic tion of western Alabama and Mississippi. Like the clay and shale. Limonite and siderite are concen­ Meridian Sand Member, the Carrizo varies in thickness trated sufficiently in places to make the unit of economic because of its deposition on the irregular surface of the importance. The Weches Greensand Member is rela­ Wilcox sediments. The sand probably does not ex­ tively thin; the unit probably is not more than 60 feet ceed 200 feet in thickness, and in many places it is thick. It is equivalent to the Winona Sand and prob­ reported to be absent. ably to Zilpha Clay of Mississippi. The Carrizo Sand consists of fine to coarse light- Cane Hirer Formation. The Cane River Formation gray to brownish-gray micaceous sand. It is an (Spooner, 1926, p. 235-236) in Arkansas and Louisiana aquifer in the western part of the embayment. includes from 150 to more than 500 feet of clay, sandy 'Mount Selman Formation. The Mount Selman clay, marl, and thin beds of fine sand. Marine clay is Format ion (Kennedy, 1892, p. 45, 52-54), comprises predominant, and the beds are, in part, glauconitic and in ascending order, the Reklaw (Wendlandt and Knebel, calcareous. The Cane River Formation includes all GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B19

94" 93° 92° 91° 90° 89°

Approximate limit of Cane River Formation or its equivalents

Contour interval 200 feet Datum is mean sea level Compiled from data submitted by R. L. Hosman for Arkansas; C. E. Harris, Jr., and W. H. Walker for Louisiana; E. H. Boswell for Missis­ sippi and E. T. Baker, Jr., for Texas

32°

FIGURE 7. Contour map showing configuration of the base of the Cane River Formation or its equivalents. beds above the top of the Carrizo Sand and below the The Winona Sand ranges in thickness from less than base of the Sparta Sand. It is correlative with the 10 feet near the Alabama State line to a maximum of Mount Selman Formation and with the Tallahatta about 50 feet in north-central Mississippi, where it is Formation (except the Meridian Sand Member), locally an aquifer. Winona Sand, and Zilpha Clay. Zilpha Clay The Zilpha Clay (Thomas, 1942, p. 34) Figure 7 is a contour map showing configuration of crops out in Mississippi but has not been recognized the base of the Cane River Formation, the base of the in other parts of the region. The top of the Zilpha Mount Selman Formation, and the base of the Basic Clay is equivalent to the top of the Cane River Forma­ City Shale Member of the Tallahatta Formation. The tion of Arkansas and Louisiana and to the top of the map is compiled for the southern part of the embay- Mount Selman Formation of Texas. ment, where these formations have been recognized. The thickness of the outcropping Zilpha Clay ranges The sands of the Cane River Formation are fine and from a few feet to 75 feet (Thomas, 1942, p. 38). It is relatively impermeable. In some areas these sands are much thicker in the subsurface to the southwest. The important as aquifers. Zilpha is a dark-gray clay that is carbonaceous, gen­ Winona Sand. In typical outcrops the Winona Sand erally glauconitic, sparingly fossiliferous, and predom­ (Lowe, 1919, p. 73) is a highly glauconitic fossiliferous inantly of marine origin. It is not an aquifer. sand and clay. It has been mapped only in Mississippi. Sparta Sand. The Sparta Sand (originally defined by In Tennessee and northward, the nonmarine sands Vaughan, 1895, p. 225; restricted by Spooner, 1926, equivalent to the Winona Sand are included hi the p. 235) crops out in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and undifferentiated Claiborne Group. Mississippi. The Sparta has an average thickness in B20 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

94" 93° 92" 91* 90° 89°

EXPLANATION

Approximate limit of Sparta Sand

0 50 100 MILES Contour interval 200 feet Datum is mean sea level Compiled from data submitted by R. L Hosman for Arkansas; C. E. Harris, Jr., and W. H. Walker for Louisiana; and E. H. Boswell for Mississippi

34

33' -

32

FIGURE 8. Contour map showing configuration of the top of the Sparta Sand. outcrops of about 300 feet, but it thins to less than 100 Cook Mountain Formation. The Cook Mountain feet in southeastern Mississippi. It thickens consid­ Formation (Kennedy, 1892, p. 54-57) crops out in erably in the subsurface and may be as much as 1,000 Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The formation feet thick near the axis of the embayment at the south­ is about 100 feet thick in the outcrop area, and it has ern limit of the region. The upper part of the "500- a maximum thickness of about 200 feet in the foot" sand of the Memphis area probably is Sparta embayment. Sand. In eastern Mississippi, the Cook Mountain Forma­ Figure 8 is a contour map showing configuration of tion was divided by Thomas (1942, p. 49) into the the top of the Sparta Sand. It is compiled for the Archusa Marl Member at the base, the Potterchitto Sand southern part of the region, where the sand has been Member, and the Gordon Creek Shale Member. These recognized. units have not been identified in the subsurface, where The Sparta is predominantly fluviatile sand contain­ the formation is generally divisible into only two litho- ing subordinate amounts of sandy clay or shale. In logic units. In Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana Mississippi, the outcropping beds locally include ledges the lower part of the Cook Mountain is glauconitic, of orthoquartzite in the lower part of the unit, whereas in the upper part the sand is interbedded with light-gray calcareous fossiliferous sandy marl or limestone and clay. In the subsurface, lignite and other organic ma­ seems to be equivalent to the Archusa Marl Member. terial are common. The Sparta Sand in Texas contains The upper unit is sandy carbonaceous clay or shale, ferruginous sandstone ledges in some places. which is locally glauconitic. The Sparta Sand is one of the most productive The Cook Mountain Formation is not important aquifers in the region. regionally as a source of water. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B21

Cockfield Formation. The Cockfield Formation aggregate thickness averaging about 200 feet. They (Vaughan, 1895, p. 220) crops out in Arkansas, Lou­ thicken in the subsurface. isiana, and Mississippi. It has an average thickness The Forest Hill Sand is an aquifer of local importance. in outcrop of about 250 feet in Mississippi and thickens MIOCENE SERIES in the subsurface to a maximum of about 600 feet. The Catahoula Sandstone of Miocene age crops out The Cockfield Formation is fine to medium quartz in southern Hinds, Rankin, and Warren Counties, sand and carbonaceous clay. The formation is very Miss. It was not studied in this investigation. lenticular, but sand is fairly persistent in the lower part. Lignite is common in the subsurface. QUATERNARY SYSTEM The Cockfield Formation is the youngest Eocene Deposits of Quaternary age cover much of the Coastal artesian aquifer in the Mississippi embayment. Plain surface and are assigned to the and Jackson Group Recent Epochs. The Quaternary sediments include The Jackson (Conrad, 1856, p. 257-258) crops out in sand, gravel, and clay occurring mostly as alluvial and Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. terrace deposits. Loess covers much of the area east The Jackson Group is undifferentiated in Arkansas and of the Mississippi River alluvial plain and caps Crowleys northern Mississippi, but in Louisiana and central . Mississippi it is separated into the Moodys Branch The sand and gravel deposits of the Mississippi Formation and Yazoo Clay. The Jackson is a forma­ River alluvial plain form the most important Quater­ tion in Tennessee. nary ground-water reservoir. The thickness of the The truncated Jackson Group underlies extensive alluvium varies greatly, but generally ranges from 100 deposits of the Mississippi River alluvium in the south­ to 200 feet. The lower part generally is composed of ern part of the region. The occurrence of a bone gravel and very coarse sand, whereas the upper part of Jackson age in the bluffs along the Mississippi River typically includes fine to medium sand and clay. Many about 35 miles north of Memphis indicates that the large-capacity wells obtain water from the Mississippi Jackson sea probably extended considerably farther River alluvium. northward. Some of the clays and silts in Kentucky Alluvial deposits along other streams have been may represent deposition in the northern extension of extensively developed in localities where they are the sea. The Jackson sea was the last extensive marine capable of yielding large quantities of water. invasion of the Mississippi embayment. STRUCTURE The Jackson Group does not include an aquifer in the region. The present Mississippi embayment is a syncline Moodys Branch Formation. The Moodys Branch For­ plunging to the south. The axis of the syncline roughly mation (originally defined by Meyer, 1885, p. 435; follows the present course of the Mississippi River. described by Lowe, 1915, p. 75) is recognized in Missis­ The trough is filled with sedimentary rocks ranging in sippi and Louisiana. Normally 20 to 30 feet thick, age from Jurassic to Recent and has been extensively it is a highly fossiliferous glauconitic sandy marl modified by various structural features (fig. 9). The which unconformably overlies the uppermost beds of character of the deposits was controlled by a deposi- the Claiborne Group. tional environment resulting, in part, from the structure. Yazoo Clay. The Yazoo Clay (Lowe, 1915, p. 79) Initial tectonic movements that resulted in the for­ is calcareous fossiliferous dark-gray to blue clay. Its mation of the Mississippi embayment syncline may thickness ranges from 350 to 500 feet where the entire have been a part of the Appalachin revolution at the unit is present. The Yazoo Clay in Mississippi was end of the Paleozoic Era. The uplift of the Appalach­ divided, in ascending order, by Murray (1947, p. 1839) ian Mountains was accompanied by other subcrustal into the North Creek, Cocoa Sand, Pachuta Marl, and movement, and the initial subsidence in the south­ Shubuta Members. The contact of the Shubuta western part of the embayment may have occurred at Member with the overlying Forest Hill Sand is the this time. Eocene-Oligocene boundary. The major portion of the syncline was not yet in existence at the end of the Paleozoic Era. At the OLIGOCENE SERIES beginning of the Mesozoic Era the eastern part of the The Oligocene Series comprises the Forest Hill Sand Ouachita Mountain system, the Ozark uplift, and the (Cooke, 1918, p. 187) and the Vicksburg Group (Con­ southwestern extremity of the Appalachian Mountain rad, 1848, p. 280-281). These units crop out in the system occupied part of tne region. Siuce the Triassic extreme south-central part of the region and have an Period, weathering of these uplifted areas has produced B22 WATER RE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

95° 94= 93" 92° 91°

37 Post-Paleozoic structural features

Paleozoic structural features 0 50 100 MILES

36

i I J^V-4^ LT^'-p^/ I ~ rfe^__j-._-j/K. 1 i > TI J_ I' _ I'/ \' sfiS^fcWj-^ ^;k^Pf=±f-^e*^ t ^qrfgt^rt? j~^-! U --^ i i AT.ARAMA (^ -*--Y>V L FAULT ^ J ' L -rilff1 ,1^r / |T'^vl L

F¥T7I \A^ /-'- ' LA5ABI4 upO^J"^ "TtrtW^ >^vt^ - ^ttrzb^EiiJL^ FIGURE 9. Structure map of the Mississippi embayment. vast quantities of detrital material which was trans­ MESOZOIC ERA ported and deposited to form part of the complex TRIASSIC PERIOD sedimentary-rock assemblage in the present embay­ No direct evidence of a sedimentary basin during the ment. The sedimentation occurred concurrently with Triassic Period has been observed. Any sediments subsidence and inundation of the Gulf Coast geosyncline of Triassic age were eroded or have not been identified. and the trough of the Mississippi embayment. The subsidence is presumed to have been caused primarily JURASSIC PERIOD by subcrustal movement and sedimentary loading and During the Jurassic Period the southern part of the also by compaction of the sediments. Mississippi embayment was a sedimentary basin, and Many of the rock units in the Mississippi embayment deposits of age occur in the subsurface. change from a clastic facies in the northern part of the The northern limit of these sediments is near the region near the source of the sedimentary material, southern flank of the buried eastern extension of the through an intermediate facies characteristic of conti­ Ouachita Mountain system, a fact which indicates that nental shelves, to deeper marine deposits in the southern the system was still positive enough to have considerable part of the embayment or in the Gulf Coast geosyn­ control on deposition. The character of the Jurassic cline. Most types of sedimentary rocks are represented sediments indicates that a large river in northern in the region. The units thicken gradually downdip Mississippi was the source of material in the Arkansas- and abruptly through zones of increased subsidence. Mississippi area (Imlay, 1943, p. 1451, 1524). The The maximum thickness of post-Paleozoic sediments, areal configuration and thickness of the deposits indicate about 18,000 feet, occurs at the axis of the embayment that the axis of the embayment was slightly east of the in the extreme southern part of the region. present trough. Also, the Sabine uplift area was a basin GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B23 and a center of Late Jurassic deposition (Imlay, 1956-, and may have extended considerably farther north. pi. 8). Since the end of Jackson time, most of the Mississippi CRETACEOUS PERIOD embayment has remained above sea level. The fact that Lower Cretaceous rocks extend farther QUATERNARY PERIOD north (Nunnally and Fowler, 1954) than the underlying General subsidence and adjustment continued during Jurassic deposits indicates that subsidence continued the Quaternary Period. The initial uplift of the into Early Cretaceous tune and that the boundary effect Kilmichael dome may have occurred as early as late wnich the Ouachita Mountain system had on deposition Eocene, but the structure may be of Quaternary age. decreased. In the extreme southern part of the embay- The alluvial fill of the Mississippi River valley was de­ ment, a sufficient thickness of sediment had accumulated posited and extensive terrace systems were formed over the Jurassic sedimentary salt beds to start the during the Quaternary. Some diastrophism has oc­ intermittent upward movement of the salt plugs and curred during historic time; the formation of Reelfoot folds which eventually formed salt domes; however, Lake, for example, was the result of faulting associated most of the upward movement seems to have occurred with the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. during the Tertiary Period. During the Late Cretaceous Epoch, the sea reached its PHYSIOGRAPHY maximum northern limit for the Mesozoic Era. Upper The Mississippi embayment is a part of the Atlantic Cretaceous sediments were deposited throughout the Coastal Plain (Fenneman, 1938, p. 1) and lies within embayment, and subsidence and deposition continued the . The syncline forming the em­ at an accelerated though intermittent rate. Volcanic bayment is filled with sedimentary rocks, which crop activity was common, as indicated by widespread out in a modified belted pattern (pi. 1). Differential volcanic material in Upper Cretaceous rocks. The erosion of these rocks has resulted in several physio­ Sabine uplif t is of early Late Cretaceous age. Near the graphic districts typical of the Coastal Plain province. end of Late Cretaceous tune the Monroe uplift create/1 a The embayment is separable into two general physio­ structural high across the original axis of the embay­ graphic areas, the lowland of the Mississippi Alluvial ment, partially isolating the Desha basin. Plain and the Coastal Plain uplands. Figure 10 shows The Desha basin occupies the part of the original the more important physiographic districts of the region. embayment trough north of the Monroe uplift. The The physiographic districts on the eastern side of the Jackson dome resulted from an igneous intrusion near embayment are the Fall Line Hills, Black Belt, Pontotoc the end of the Late Cretaceous, although some move­ Ridge and Ripley Cuesta, Flatwoods, North Central ment continued to occur at least until Oligocene tune. Plateau, Buhrstone Cuesta, , Southern Several other smaller structural features of igneous or Pine Hills, and . volcanic origin were formed, and the Mississippi embay­ The Fall Line Hills occupy the 'periphery of the em­ ment assumed its present size and shape by the end of bayment from Alabama to southern Tennessee and the Cretaceous Period. constitute an area of rugged topography formed from the outcropping resistant sands of the Tuscaloosa CENOZOIC ERA Group, the McShan and Eutaw Formations, and the TERTIARY PERIOD Coffee Sand. The district becomes indistinct in The Tertiary Period is characterized by a series of southern Tennessee, as the result of successive pinch cyclic inundations and regressions by the sea. The out of progressively younger underlying geologic units. maximum northern extent of inundation was probably The Black Belt is the topographic expression of the during late Midway tune. There is evidence that uplift carbonate units of the Sehna Group. The district is of the continued intermittently characterized by gently rolling to nearly flat terrain at least into the Eocene (Todd and Folk, 1957); this and reaches its maximum width in western Alabama and uplift was accompanied by subsidence in the embayment central Mississippi. The district narrows abruptly in due to subcrustal movement, loading, and compaction. northern Mississippi and becomes indistinct in southern Widespread faulting is reflected, in part, by flexure Tennessee. zones along the edges of continental shelves. Axes of The Ripley, Owl Creek, and Clayton Formations deposition for most of the Tertiary units are similar, underlie the Pontotoc Ridge in northern Mississippi and so are the configurations of the surfaces of the units and southern Tennessee, and the Ripley Formation, as shown on the contour maps (figs. 6, 7, and 8). The Prairie Bluff Chalk, and Clayton Formation underlie last widespread inundation by the sea occurred during the Ripley Cuesta in western Alabama. Between Jackson tune at the end of the Eocene Epoch. The these districts, the Ripley is similar in lithology to the sea left evidence of its presence as far north as Tennessee underlying Demopolis Chalk and the outcrop area is B24 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

94° 93" 92° 91° 90° 89°

32

FIGURE 10. Physiographic map of the Mississippi embayment. included in the Black Belt. Fenneman (1938, pi. 6) The gulfward margin of the Flatwoods is bordered by shows the Pontotoc Ridge extending a short distance the North Central Plateau. This district is underlain into Tennessee. However, an extension of the ridge by the dissected outcropping Wilcox and Claiborne may form the divide between the Tennessee and Mis­ deposits, which are predominantly sandy. The to­ sissippi in northern Tennessee and Kentucky. pography is modified by extensive terrace and loess In western Alabama the Ripley Formation again deposits. In southeastern Mississippi and southwestern becomes sandy, and the outcropping beds form the Alabama the North Central Plateau includes a line of Ripley Cuesta. The relatively resistant limestone beds hills referred to as the Buhrstone Cuesta (Tallahatta of the Clayton Formation are an important factor in Hills). This cuesta, underlain by the Tallahatta the formation of the Pontotoc Ridge and the Ripley Formation, which includes highly resistant sandstone Cuesta. interbedded with the characteristic claystone of the The Flatwoods district is a level belt, as much as 10 formation, forms one of the most rugged districts of miles wide, which extends from Alabama through the Coastal Plain. Mississippi into southern Tennessee. The district is The North Central Plateau is bordered on the south mostly forested, because the clay , derived from the by the Jackson Prairie, underlain by the clays of the underlying Porters Creek Clay, generally are not Jackson Group, and characterized by gently rolling suitable for crops. The Porters Creek Clay thins topography. A small area south of the Jackson Prairie northward, and as a result the Flatwoods belt narrows is in the Southern Pine Hills. in northern Mississippi and becomes indistinct in A distinctly different physiographic feature, the southern Tennessee. Loess Hills (Bluff Hills), forms the western border of GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B25 the uplands of the East Gulf Coastal Plain of Fenneman into the underlying rocks, mostly of Eocene age, at a (1938). The Loess Hills superimposed on the North time when the sea level was probably relatively much Central Plateau, the Jackson Prairie, and the Southern lower than it is at present. The general rise in sea Pine Hills are the result of the unique erosional level was accompanied by aggradation of the valley characteristics of loess. The loess, when eroded, forms which, after a complex history (described in detail by vertical walls which overlie the steep slopes scoured by Fisk, 1944) gradually assumed its present form. The the Mississippi River along the eastern side of the alluvial plain is as much as 100 miles wide and about alluvial plain. The resulting scarp, extending from 400 miles long in the Mississippi embayment. It is Mississippi to Kentucky, is one of the most notable flat and slopes almost imperceptibly gulfward. Various physiographic features of the Coastal Plain. physiographic features, such as natural , oxbow The physiographic districts on the western side of the lakes, abandoned meanders, and alluvial fans, occur in embayment are the Lockesburg Wold, Saratoga Wold, the plain. An outstanding feature is Crowleys Ridge, Sulphur Wold, Black Prairie, and East Texas Timber the remnant of an old divide extending from southeast­ Belt. ern Missouri to east-central Arkansas (fig. 10). Fenneman (1938, fig. 28) shows the physiographic The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is divided into several divisions for northeastern Texas on a section of the basins, three of which are within the Mississippi em­ West Gulf Coastal Plain near the course of the Trinity bayment. The St. Francis Basin extends from the River. These divisions are based on the type of apex of the embayment to the Arkansas River; the underlying rock. Fenneman (1938, p. 103) states that Yazoo Basin occupies the part of the alluvial plain east the Grand Prairie covers all Lower Cretaceous rocks except the of the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tenn., to basal (Trinity) sands which underlie the narrow belt of Western Vicksburg, Miss.; and the Tensas Basin is in the part Cross Timbers. The Black Prairie covers the Upper Cretaceous of the alluvial plain west of the Mississippi River and with a like exclusion of basal (Woodbine) sands bearing the East­ south of the Arkansas River. ern Cross Timbers, while the East Texas Timber belt is on the Tertiary. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The Western Cross Timbers, the Grand Prairie, and Adams, G. I., Butts, Charles, Stephenson, L. W., and Cooke, the Eastern Cross Timbers narrow northeastward and C. W., 1926, : Alabama Geol. Survey converge in southwestern Arkansas to form the Lockes­ Spec. Kept. 14, 312 p. burg Wold of Veatch (1906, p. 15). Dane (1929, p. 28) Adkins, W. S., 1932, The Mesozoic systems in Texas in Sellards, indicates that the Lockesburg Wold, or cuesta, actually E. H., Adkins, W. S., and Plummer, F. B., The geology of includes two cuestas. One is formed on the basal Texas, v. 1, Stratigraphy: Texas Univ. Bull. 3232, p. 239-518. gravel of the Woodbine Formation and the other on the Alabama Geological Survey, 1926, Geological Map of Alabama: basal gravel of the Tokio Formation. Prepared in cooperation with U.S. Geol. Survey. South of the Lockesburg Wold is the Saratoga Wold Arkansas Geological Survey, 1929, Geologic Map of Arkansas. (cuesta) of Veatch (1906, p. 15). The Saratoga Wold Bornhauser, Max, 1947, Marine sedimentary cycles of Tertiary is a topographic ridge underlain by the Nacatoch Sand. in Mississippi embayment and central Gulf Coast area: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 31, no. 4, p. Farther south is the Sulphur Wold of Veatch (1906, 698-712. p. 15). It is a dissected topographic ridge underlain 1958, Gulf Coast tectonics: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geolo­ by sandy units of the Wilcox Group in Arkansas. gists Bull., v. 42, no. 2, p. 339-370. The Black Prairie of northeastern Texas is underlain Branner, J. C., 1898, The cement materials of southwest Arkan­ by Upper Cretaceous rocks and is similar to the Black sas: Am. Inst. Mining Engineers Trans., v. 27, p. 52-59. Brown, G. F., 1947, Geology and artesian water of the alluvial Belt of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. This district plain in northwestern Mississippi: Mississippi Geol. Survey apparently terminates at the alluvial valley of the Red Bull. 65, 424 p. River in northeastern Texas. It has not been extended Brown, G. F., and Adams, R. W., 1943, Geology and ground- into Arkansas. water supply at Camp Me Cain [Mississippi]: Mississippi South of the Black Prairie belt is the East Texas Geol. Survey Bull. 55, 116 p. Caplan, W. M., 1954, Subsurface geology and related oil and gas Timber Belt, which is underlain by Tertiary units. It possibilities of northeastern Arkansas: Arkansas Resources extends through northeastern Texas into northern and Devel. Comm., Div. Geology Bull. 20, 124 p. Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas. Conant, L. C., 1941, Geology in Conant, L. C., and McCutcheon, The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is the result of aggra­ T. E., Tippah County mineral resources: Mississippi Geol. dation by the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Survey Bull. 42, p. 11-110. 1946, Vick Formation of pre-Tjiscaloosa age of Alabama During the last stages of the evolution of the Mississippi Coastal Plain: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 30, embayment, the Mississippi River cut a deep valley no. 5, p. 711-715. B26 WATER RESOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT

Conrad, T. A., 1848, Observations on the Eocene formation 1933b, Kincaid formation, name proposed for lower and description of 105 new fossils of that period, from the Midway of Texas: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., vicinity of Vicksburg, Miss.: Acad. Nat. Sci. v. 17, no. 6, p. 744-747. Proc. 1847, 1st ser., v. 3, p. 280-299. Geologic Map of Alabama, 1926: Alabama Geol. Survey in - 1856, Observations on the Eocene deposit of Jackson, cooperation with the U.S. Geol. Survey. Miss., with descriptions of 34 new species of shells and Glenn, L. C., 1906, Underground waters of Tennessee and corals: Philadelphia Acad. Nat. Sci. Proc. 1855, 1st ser., Kentucky west of and of an adjacent area v. 7, p. 257-258. in Illinois: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 164, Cooke, C. W., 1918, Correlation of the deposits of Vicksburg 173 p. and Jackson ages in Mississippi and Alabama: Washington Gordon, C. H., 1909, The chalk formations of : Acad. Sci. Jour., v. 8, p. 186-189. Am. Jour. Sci., 4th ser., v. 27, p. 369-373. Crider, A. F., and Johnson, L. C., 1906, Summary of the under­ 1911, Geology and underground waters of northeastern ground-water resources of Mississippi: U.S. Geol. Survey Texas: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 276, 78 p. Water-Supply Paper 159, 86 p. Gordon, Mackenzie, Jr., Tracey, J. I., Jr., and Ellis, M. W., Dall, W. H., 1898, A table of North American Tertiary horizons 1958, Geology of the Arkansas bauxite region: U.S. Geol. correlated with one another and with those of western Survey Prof. Paper 299, 268 p. Europe, with annotations: U.S. Geol. Survey Ann. Kept. Grim, R. E., 1936, The Eocene sediments of Mississippi: Mis­ 18, pt. 2, p. 323-348. sissippi Geol. Survey Bull. 30, 240 p. Dane, C. H., 1926, Oil-bearing formations of southwestern Grohskopf, J. G., 1955, Subsurface geology of the Msisissippi Arkansas: U.S. Geol. Survey Press Bull. 8823, 7 p. embayment of southeast Missouri: Missouri Geol. Survey 1929, Upper Cretaceous formations of southwestern and Water Resources, 2d ser., v. 37, 133 p. Arkansas: Arkansas Geol. Survey Bull. 1, 215 p. Heilprin, Angelo, 1882, Notes on the Tertiary geology of the Darton, N. H., and others, 1937, Geologic map of Texas: U.S. : Philadelphia Acad. Nat. Sci. Proc. Geol. Survey. 1881, v. 33, p. 151-159. Drennen, C. W., 1953a, Reclassification of the outcropping Hilgard, E. W., 1860, Report on geology and agriculture of Tuscaloosa group in Alabama: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Mississippi: Jackson, Miss., State printer, 391 p. Geologists Bull., v. 37, no. 3, p. 522-538. 1867, On the Tertiary formations of Mississippi and 1953b, Stratigraphy and structure of outcropping Alabama: Am. Jour. Sci., 2d ser., v. 43, p. 29-41. pre-Selman Coastal Plain beds of Fayette and Lamar Hill, R. T., 1887, The topography and geology of the Cross Counties, Alabama: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 267, 9 p. Timbers and surrounding regions in northern Texas: Am. Durham, C. 0., Jr., and Smith, C. R., 1958, Louisiana Midway- Jour. Sci., 3d ser., v. 33, no. 196, p. 291-303. Wilcox correlation problems: Louisiana Dept. Conserv. 1888, The Neozoic geology of southwestern Arkansas: Geol. Pamph. 5, 17 p. Arkansas Geol. Survey Ann. Rept. for 1888, v. 2, 260 p. Eardley, A. J., 1939, Paleotectonic and paleogeographic maps of 1891, The series of the Texas-Arkansas central and western : Am. Assoc. Petroleum region: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 2, p. 503-528. Geologists Bull., v. 33, no. 5, p. 655-682. 1894, Geology of parts of Texas, Indian , and 1951a, Tectonic divisions of North America: Am. Arkansas adjacent to Red River: Geol. Soc. America Bull., Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 35, no. 10, p. 2229- v. 5, p. 297-338. 2237. 1901, Geography and geology of the Black and Grand 1951b, Structural geology of North America: , , Texas, with detailed descriptions of the Cretaceous Harper & Bros., 624 p. formations and special reference to artesian waters: U.S. Eargle, D. H., 1946, Correlation of the pre-Selroa Upper Creta­ Geol. Survey 21st Ann. Rept., pt. 7, 666 p. ceous formations between Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Hughes, R. J., 1958, Kemper County Geology: Mississippi and Neshoba County, Mississippi: U.S. Geol. Survey Oil Geol. Survey Bull. 84, 274 p. and Gas Inv. Prelim. Chart 20. Imlay, R. W., 1943, Jurassic formations of the Gulf Region: Am. 1948, Correlation of pre-Selma Upper Cretaceous rocks Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 27, no. 11, p. 1447- in northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama: 1553. U.S. Geol. Survey Oil and Gas Inv. Prelim. Chart 35. 1944, Correlation of the Lower Cretaceous formations of Eckel, E. B., 1938, The brown iron ores of eastern Texas: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 902, 157 p. the Coastal Plain of Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas: U.S. Geol. Survey Oil and Gas Inv. Prelim. Chart 3. Ellisor, A. C., 1929, Correlation of the Claiborne of east Texas with the Claiborne of Louisiana: Am. Assoc. Petroleum 1956, Paleogeography in McKee, E. D., and others, Geologists Bull., v. 13, no. 10, p. 1335-1346. Paleotectonic maps, Jurassic system, with a separate section Fenneman, N. M., 1938, Physiography of : on paleogeography by R. W. Imlay: U.S. Geol. Survey New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 714 p. Misc. Geologic Inv. Map 1-175, 6 p. Fisk, H. N., 1944, Geological investigation of the alluvial valley Kennedy, W., 1892, A section from Terrell, Kaufman County, of the lower Mississippi River: U.S. Dept. Army, Mississippi to Sabine Pass on the Gulf of Mexico: Texas Geol. Survey River Comm., 78 p. 3d Ann. Rept., p. 41-125. Foster, V. M., 1940, Geology in Foster, V. M., and McCutcheon, King, P. B., 1950, Tectonic framework of southeastern United T. E., Lauderdale County mineral resources: Mississippi States: Am. Assoc Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 34, no. 4, Geol. Survey Bull. 41, p. 9-172. p. 635-671. Gardner, J. A., 1933a, The Midway group of Texas: Texas Univ. 1959, The evolution of North America: Princeton, Bull. 3301, 403 p. Prince ton Univ. Press. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE MISSISSIPPI EMBAYMENT B27

Klaer, F. H., Jr., 1940, Memphis in Meinzer, O. E., Wenzel, L. 1948, Geology of Red River and De Soto Parishes: K., and others, Water levels and artesian pressure in obser­ Louisiana Dept. Conserv. Geol. Bull. 25, 312 p. vation wells in the United States in 1940, pt. 2, South­ Murray, G. E., and Thomas, E. P., 1945, Midway-Wilcox surface eastern States: U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 907, stratigraphy of Sabine uplift, Louisiana and Texas: Am. p. 92-101. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 22, no. 1, p. 45-70, LaMoreaux, P. E., and Toulmin, L. D., 1959, Geology and Nunnally, J. D., and Fowler, H. F., 1954, Lower Cretaceous ground-water resources of Wilcox County, Alabama: stratigraphy of Mississippi: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. Alabama Geol. Survey County Rept. 4, 280 p. 79, 45 p. Langdon, D. W., 1891, Variation in the Cretaceous and Tertiary Owen, John, 1889, Report of geologists for southern Texas: strata of Alabama: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 2, p. 587- Texas Geol. Survey Prog. Rept. 1, p. 69-74. 606. Parks, W. S., 1960, Prentiss County geology: Mississippi Geol. Lowe, E. N., 1913, Preliminary report on iron ores of Missis­ Survey Bull. 87, 110 p. sippi: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 10, 70 p. Penrose, R. A. F., Jr., 1890, A preliminary report on the geology 1915, Mississippi, its geology, geography, soils and of the Gulf Tertiary of Texas from Red River to the Rio mineral resources: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 12, 335 p. Grande: Texas Geol. Survey 1st Ann. Rept., p. 3-101. 1919, Mississippi, its geology, geography, and Plummer, F. B., 1932, The Cenozoic systems in Texas in Sellards, mineral resources: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 14, 346 p. E. H., Adkins, W. S., and Plummer, F. B., The geology of 1933, Coastal Plain stratigraphy of Mississippi, Midway Texas, v. 1, Statigraphy: Texas Univ. Bull. 3232, p. 519-818. and Wilcox groups: Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 25, pt. Plummer, H. J., 1927, Foraminifera of the Midway formation 1, 125 p. in Texas: Texas Univ. Bull. 2644, 206 p. MacNeil, F. S., 1946, Summary of the Midway and Wilcox Pryor, W. A., 1960, Cretaceous sedimentation in upper Missis­ stratigraphy of Alabama and Mississippi: U.S. Geol. sippi embayment: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., Survey Minerals Inv. Prelim. Rept. 3-195, 29 p. v. 44, No. 9, p. 1473-1504. 1947, Correlation chart for the outcropping Tertiary Renfroe, C. A., 1949, Petroleum exploration in eastern Arkansas formations of the eastern Gulf region: U.S. Geol. Survey with selected well logs: Arkansas Resources and Devel. Oil and Gas Inv. Prelim. Chart 29. Comm., Div. Geology Bull. 14, 159 p. McGlothlin, Tom, 1944, General geology of Mississippi: Am. , J. K., and Gildersleeve, Benjamin, 1945, Geology and Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 28, no, 1, p. 29-62. mineral resources of the Jackson Purchase Region, Ken­ McKee, E. D., and others, 1956, Paleotectonic maps, Jurassic tucky, with a section on Paleozoic geology by Louise Barton system, with a separate section on paleogeography by R. W. Freeman: Kentucky Geol. Survey, ser. 8, Bull. 8, 126 p. Imlay: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 1-175, 6 p. Rollo, J. R., 1960, Ground water in Louisiana: Louisiana Dept. Mellen, F. F., 1958, Cretaceous shelf sediments of Mississippi: Conserv., Geol. Survey, and Louisiana Dept. Public Works, Mississippi Geol. Survey Bull. 85, 112 p. ' 84 p. 1939, Geology in Mellen, F. F., and McCutcheon, T. E., Rouse, J. T., 1944, Correlation of Pecan Gap, Wolfe City, and Winston County mineral resources: Mississippi Geol. Annona formations in east Texas: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Survey Bull. 38, p. 15-90. Geologists Bull., v. 28, no. 4, p. 522-530. Meyer, Otto, 1885, The genealogy and the age of the species in Safford, J. M., 1864, On the Cretaceous and Superior formations the southern Old-Tertiary: Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., v. 30, of : Am. Jour, Sci., 2d ser., V. 37, p. 360-372. p. 421-425, 435. 1869, : Nashville, Tenn., S. C. Miser, H. D., and Purdue, A. H., 1918a, Gravel deposits of the Mercer, printer to the State, 550 p. Caddo Gap and DeQueen quadrangles, Arkansas: U.S. Schneider, , and Blankenship, R. R., 1950, Subsurface Geol. Survey Bull. 690-B, p. 15-30. geologic cross section from Claybrook, Madison County, 1918b, Geology of the DeQueen and Caddo Gap quad­ to Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee: Tennessee Div. rangles, Arkansas: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 808, 195 p. Geology Ground-Water Inv. Prelim. Chart 1. Mississippi Geological Society, 1945, Geologic map of Mississippi: Schneider, Robert, and Gushing, E. M., 1948, Geology and water­ Jackson, Miss., prepared in coop with U.S. Geol. Survey. bearing properties of the "1,400-foot" sand in the Memphis Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources, 1961, Geologic area [Tennessee]: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 33, 13 p. map of Missouri. Schuchert, Charles, 1935, Historical geology of the Antillean- Monroe, W. H., 1955, Cores of pre-Selma Cretaceous rocks in Caribbean region: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 811 p. the outcrop area in western Alabama: Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans., v. 5, p. 11-38. 19-13, Stratigraphy of the eastern and central United 1956, Bluffport marl member of Demopolis chalk, States: New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1,013 p. Alabama: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 40, Shumard, B. F., 1861, Descriptions of new Cretaceous fossils from no. 11, p. 2740-2742. Texas: Soc. Nat. Hist. Proc., v. 8, p. 188-205. Monroe, W. H., Conant, L. C., and Eargle, D. H., 1946, Prc- Smith, C. R., 195S, Queen City-Sparta relationships in Caddo Selma Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy of western Alabama: Parish, Louisiana: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 30, no. 2, p. v. 42, no. 10, p. 2517-2522. 187-212. 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Smith, E. A., 1888, Geographic map of Alabama, in Alabama 1938, Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous series in Geol. Survey Prog. Kept. Mississippi and Alabama: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists 1903, The cement resources of Alabama: U.S. 58th Gong., Bull., v. 22, no. 12, p. 1639-1657. 1st sess., S. Doc. 19, p. 12-20. 1940, The Upper Cretaceous deposits: Mississippi Geol. Smith, E. A., and Johnson, L. C., 1887, Tertiary and Cretaceous Survey Bull. 40, 296 p. strata of the Tuscaloosa, Tombigbee, and Alabama Rivers: Storm, L. W., 1945, Resume of facts and opinions on sedimenta­ U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 43, 189 p. tion in Gulf Coast region of Texas and Louisiana: Am. Smith, E. A., Johnson, L. C., and Langdon, D. W., Jr., 1894, Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 29, no. 9, p. 1304-1335. Report on the geology of the Coastal Plain of Alabama, with Tennessee Division of Geology, 1933, Geologic map of Tennessee. contributions to its paleontology by T. H. Aldrich and K. M. Thomas, E. 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U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1968 O - 298-803