﻿Ill] 
  Special 
  Report 
  No. 
  i 
  : 
  Natchitoches 
  Area 
  145 
  

  

  township, 
  sands 
  and 
  clays 
  of 
  this 
  stage 
  are 
  often 
  exposed 
  in 
  the 
  

   immediate 
  vicinities 
  of 
  springs 
  and 
  rivulets. 
  

  

  lyimestone 
  boulders 
  are 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  ravine 
  west 
  of 
  Camp 
  

   Salubrity. 
  They 
  are 
  like 
  those 
  on 
  the 
  Kircha 
  road 
  in 
  the 
  S. 
  

   W. 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  township. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  most 
  decidedly 
  a 
  region 
  of 
  springs. 
  They 
  are 
  cool 
  

   and 
  of 
  a 
  good 
  quality 
  of 
  water, 
  though 
  often 
  chalybeate. 
  

   These 
  various 
  attributes 
  are 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  stratigraphy 
  and 
  topog- 
  

   raph}^ 
  of 
  the 
  region. 
  The 
  uplands 
  are 
  very 
  sand}^ 
  occasionally 
  

   ferruginous. 
  They 
  absorb 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  rain 
  water. 
  This 
  

   leaches 
  through 
  the 
  sandy 
  layers 
  until 
  it 
  strikes 
  impervious 
  clays 
  

   and 
  then 
  is 
  forced 
  laterally 
  by 
  hydrostatic 
  pressure 
  and 
  gravity 
  

   to 
  the 
  surface. 
  

  

  The 
  good 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  waters 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  is 
  

   proof 
  of 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  any 
  considerable 
  marly 
  material 
  here 
  in 
  

   this 
  series. 
  

  

  Lower 
  Claiborne. 
  — 
  The 
  town 
  of 
  Natchitoches 
  is 
  located 
  on 
  

   deposits 
  of 
  this 
  age 
  as 
  is 
  shown 
  by 
  the 
  section 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  

   Natchitoches 
  township 
  map. 
  The 
  bluff 
  three-fourths 
  mile 
  north 
  

   of 
  this 
  bridge 
  shows 
  (see 
  PI. 
  13), 
  above 
  the 
  Lignitic 
  series, 
  beds 
  

   of 
  about 
  50 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness, 
  of 
  yellow 
  marly, 
  or 
  calcareous 
  

   clay 
  above, 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  ; 
  and 
  glauconitic, 
  fossiliferous 
  sands 
  

   from 
  the 
  brink 
  of 
  the 
  bluff 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  Lignitic 
  clays. 
  

  

  A 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  marine 
  fossils 
  that 
  occur 
  in 
  this 
  

   vicinity 
  will 
  be 
  given 
  in 
  our 
  next 
  report 
  ; 
  this 
  report, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  

   remembered, 
  gives 
  the 
  paleontology 
  of 
  the 
  Cretaceous, 
  Midway, 
  

   and 
  the 
  Lignitic 
  deposits. 
  Next 
  year 
  the 
  Lower 
  Claiborne, 
  

   Jackson 
  and 
  Vicksburg 
  fossils 
  will 
  be 
  similarly 
  treated. 
  

  

  The 
  attention 
  of 
  the 
  reader 
  is 
  called 
  to 
  the 
  way 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   shells 
  in 
  these 
  marl 
  beds 
  decompose, 
  and 
  how 
  their 
  calcareous 
  

   substance 
  afterwards 
  collects 
  concretion-wise 
  into 
  white, 
  irregu- 
  

   lar, 
  lime 
  nodules. 
  In 
  the 
  cuts 
  on 
  the 
  railroad 
  just 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   corporation 
  these 
  nodules 
  are 
  very 
  abundant. 
  

  

  Potable 
  well 
  water 
  or 
  spring 
  water 
  from 
  deposits 
  of 
  this 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  is 
  quite 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  question. 
  By 
  boring 
  through 
  these 
  

   Lower 
  Claiborne 
  beds 
  into 
  the 
  Lignitic 
  clays 
  there 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  

   no 
  reason 
  why 
  the 
  pure 
  water 
  that 
  supplies 
  the 
  springs 
  in 
  the 
  

   Lignitic 
  areas 
  should 
  not 
  occasionally 
  be 
  encountered 
  and 
  utilized 
  

   to 
  great 
  advantage. 
  J 
  

  

  