24 RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE. 



any other point between. For after the drill passed through 

 the material of the bluff, and on down past the level of the old 

 river bed, as far as anybody can now tell, the same strata would 

 be penetrated and the same conditions encountered at any of 

 the latter places as immediately about the lake. 



As for the surface resemblance of the two areas, that counts 

 for nothing; but there is a similarity of geological conditions 

 that is worth attention. This is brought out below, in discuss- 

 ing the geology of the Embayment area. 



Oil and gas springs. As above stated, the writer has not 

 seen any of these reported springs, but concerning the occur- 

 rence of oil .in them, he is exceedingly skeptical. What is 

 thought to be oil, more likely is a film of iron hydroxide, which 

 is not uncommonly seen pri the surface of small pools of water 

 in boggy places, and which is frequently mistaken for oil. 



These springs probably are not deep-seated. More likely 

 they receive their supply from the water of the land that stands 

 above the lake shore. This is true of the few springs that the 

 writer has seen along the east margin of the lake, the water 

 of which comes from the material of the bluffs. Such springs 

 as issue down near the edge of the lake would be expected to 

 contain more or less marsh gas, derived from the decay of the 

 organic matter buried in the alluvial deposits bordering the 

 water. 



GEOLOGY OF THE AREA. 



A consideration of the possible occurrence of oil and gas 

 within the area under consideration forces attention to its 

 geology, and this in turn requires that the main facts in the 

 geology of the Gulf states be reviewed. 



The lowlands of the Gulf states, including western Tennessee 

 and Kentucky and eastern Arkansas, lie in what is known as 

 the Embayment area. The northern limit of this area reaches 

 a short distance across the Ohio River in the vicinity of its 

 mouth. The rocks of most land areas were put down beneath 

 the sea and those of this one are no exception to the rule, if we 

 do not include those within comparatively few feet of the top,* 

 concerning the origin of which there is some doubt. However, 



"The loess and the Lafayette formation. 



