THE LOESS OF NACHEZ, MISS. 301 



the western part of Natchez, near the bluffs, vary from 180 to 

 210 feet above low water in the river, but gradually drop to 

 75 feet on the plain into which St. Catherine's creek has cut 

 its channel. This plateau, or broad ridge, is seamed and cut 

 by the "breaks," "gulfs" and "guts" described by McGee,* 

 which offer abundant opportunities for the study of numerous 

 exposures, most of which reach far below the loess, and per- 

 mit easy penetration into its undisturbed mass. The loess is 

 uniformly the uppermost deposit, forming the immediate sub- 

 soil on the ridge on which Natchez is located. Underlying it 

 in most of the exposures is the Yellow or Brown loam, which 

 closely resembles loess, but is not fossiliferous and is usually 

 of a deeper red color, though sometimes practically indis- 

 tinguishable from it. Hilgard**described the Yellow or Brown 

 loam as overlying the loess. Later McGeef, in giving the or- 

 der of the members of the Columbia formation, places the 

 Brown or Yellow loam above the loess, but adds: "The order 

 of the first two members might be reversed with equal pro- 

 priety in the southern portion of the embayment; for the loess 

 is but a phase of the loam, and is frequently underlain as well as 

 overlain by the loamy deposits." Again(p.393) referring to the 

 succession of strata at Natchez, he places the loess at the sur- 

 face and the brown loam below it, — which accords with the 

 writer's observations in that vicinity. Still later Mabry| dis- 

 cussing the relation of the brown loam to the loess, said: "It 

 would appear that, if my observations be accurate, the Brown 

 loam and the loess of this region are not only homotaxial but 

 synchronous as well." 



Whatsoever may be the exact relation existing between 

 these two deposits elsewhere, at Natchez there appears no 

 trace of the brown loam above the loess so far as the writer 

 was able to determine. 



* McGee, W. J., 1. c. , p. 434. See also Plate II. 

 **Hilgard, E. W. , 1. c. , pp. L94-195. 

 tMeGee, W. J., 1. c. , p. 392. 

 tMabry, T. O., 1. c. , p. 295. 



