271] W. T. Thorn 73 



afforded a favorable habitat for multitudes of oysters,, which 

 were later buried by the burden of fine silt accumulating in 

 the quiet waters of the bay. Still later, as sedimentation 

 gained upon subsidence, the site of the one-time oyste'r bed 

 became the location of repeated coastal swamps, in which 

 were formed the lignitic beds and carbonaceous zones now so 

 conspicuous in the upper part of the formation. 



Subsequent revival of the local depressive movements of 

 the crust temporarily restored the old embayment, into the 

 southern end of which a large river built out a delta, even as 

 the marine shales of the Bearpaw were being laid down in 

 the deeper part of the bay a little farther north. As a final 

 phase more rapid depression carried marine waters farther 

 westward, and the Bearpaw sea covered the whole area. 



A REMARKABLE UPPER CRETACEOUS FAUNA FROM 



TENNESSEE * 



By BRUCE WADE 



During the summer of 1915 the Tennessee Geological 

 Survey located well-preserved fossils in the Eipley formation 

 in the northeastern part of MclSTairy County, Tennsesee. An 

 incomplete collection was made from the locality in this 

 region where the strata containing the fossils are best ex- 

 posed. This collection was studied during the winter in the 

 Geological Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University. 

 This partial study of the fauna has resulted in the differen- 

 tiation of nearly 300 species, and investigations show that no 

 single locality yet reported from the Cretaceous of North 

 America has furnished such a large fauna made up of such 

 well-preserved shells. 



The Gastropods are unusually abundant and include not only 



1 Published with the permission of Dr. A. H. Purdue, State Geolo- 

 gist of Tennessee. 



