THE TERTIARY HISTORY OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER 



DOUGLAS WILSON JOHNSON 



Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston 



CONTENTS 

 Introduction. 



Literature. 



The Problem Stated. 



Evidence in Favor oe the Theory of Capture. 



The Coosa-Tennessee divide. 



Volume of material eroded and deposited. 



Youthful character of the gorge. 



Distribution of the Unionidae. 

 Summary oe Evidence in Favor oe the Theory oe Capture. 

 Evidence in Favor oe the Alternative Theory. 



The winding character of the gorge. 



Stream dissection north and south of the gorge. 



The divide south of Chattanooga. 



Insufficient inequality of levels. 



Absence of Tertiary gravels south of Chattanooga. 

 Summary and Conclusions. 



The following paper was presented as a thesis in a graduate course 

 in physiography at Harvard University in June, 1904, on the basis 

 of a study of previous essays concerning the Tennessee River, a 

 review of the general problem of river-capture, and an examination 

 of the district about Chattanooga during a two-weeks' excursion in 

 April, 1904. The writer is under obligations to Dr. C. Willard 

 Hayes, Mr. Marius R. Campbell, and others, for numerous courtesies 

 extended in connection with both field and office work. 



INTRODUCTION 



The Tennessee River, after flowing southward through a broadly 

 open, longitudinal valley for some distance in the eastern part of the 

 state of Tennessee, to a point near the city of Chattanooga, turns 

 abruptly westward through a deep, narrow, winding gorge, which 



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