264 



GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE STONES RIVER GROUP OF 

 CENTRAL TENNESSEE. 



The formations of the Stones River group outcrop upon the crest and 

 west sloi>e of Nashville dome in Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford, Marshall, 

 Davis, Cannon. Williamson and Murray counties, where the Stones, Duck, 

 Harpeth and Cuml)erland rivers have eroded their valleys through the 

 younger beds. 



In 1851 J. M. Safford^ studied the limestones in central Tennessee and 

 gave the name Stones River to the series of beds that appeared at the 

 surface in the bluffs along that stream.' In 1809" he published a description 

 of the formations and considered the group equivalent in age to the Trenton 

 of New York at which time he abandoned the name he had formerly used. 



Twenty-eight years later Winchell and Ulrich^ revived the name Stones 

 River and included within the group the Carters' limestone, and in 1900 

 Safford and Killebrew^ redefined the group and published a brief descrip- 

 tion of the formations. 



The upper meml)er of the Stones River group occurs in the Columltia, 

 Tennessee, quadrangle and was studied by Hayes and Ulrich' in 1903, and 

 lists of fossils from the lower members are published in the folio. 



The Carters limestone was transferred from the Stones River to the 

 Black River group in 1915 by Mr. Ulrich.^ Further study and mapping of 

 the limestones of Stones River age was done by Ulrich and Bassler during 

 1908 in the Woodbury, Tennessee, quadrangle, but a reiwrt has not yet been 

 published. 



The following table gives the names and chronological order of the di- 

 visions of the Stones River group as developed in central Tennsesee : (For- 

 mations present are given in italics.) 



Cenozoic 

 Mesozoic 



Proterozoic 



f Permian 



I Pennsylvanian 



I Mississippian 



I Devonian 



i Silurian 



I [Cincinnatian 



IMohawkian {Lebanon 



Ordovician -IChazyan fBloiuit {Ridley 



I \Stones River {Pierce 



[Big Buffalo serie.s IMurfreesboro 



Canadian [Mosheim 



I Ozarkian 



iCambrian 



Murfrrcshoro JimrstoHC. Safford referred to the Murfreesboro limestone 

 as the "Central limestone" in his Geology of Tennessee published in 1869", 

 because it occurred in the center of the state. The name of this formation 

 was changed to Murfreesboro limestone in 1900 by Safford and Killebrew^ 

 when they believed that the city of Murfreesboro was near the center of its 



lAm. Jour, of Sci. and Arts, 2nd ser., Vol. XIL 



=Geol. of Tenn., p. 258. 



^Geol-. of Minn., Vol. Ill, Pt. II, p. xc, (1897). 



^Elem. Geol. of Tenn.. p. 125. (1900). 



lU. S. Geol. Survey Folio 95 (1903). 



=U. S. Nat. Bull. 92. PI. II. 



