﻿NO. 5 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, 1^22 



25 



areas and some of the classic geologic sections of Central Tennessee 

 were visited and studied in detail. Dr. E. O. Ulrich, associate in 

 paleontology in the National Museum, joined in this work on account 

 of his life-long interest in the stratigraphy of Central Tennessee, and 

 with the aid of his assistant, Mr. R. D. Mesler of the U. S. Geologi- 

 cal Survey, numerous detailed sections and about a ton of carefully 

 selected fossils were secured for the National Museum. 



The classic section at Nashville, Tennessee, in which the proper 

 delimitation of the formations has long been in dispute, was studied 



Fig. 30. — Section at Nashville, Tennessee, illustrating sequence of 

 Ordovician formations. (Photograph by Bassler.) 



with especial care and ample collections of fossils were secured to 

 verify the stratigraphic results. 



The deep sea origin of all limestones has long been taught in spite 

 of the trend of evidence that many limestone formations were laid 

 down in shallow seas. The shallow water origin of limestone is 

 well illustrated in the section of Ordovician strata exposed near the 

 blind asylum at Nashville which has been studied by several gener- 

 ations of geologists. At the base of this section, as shown in figure 

 30, is the Hermitage formation which was evidentlv formed along 



