394 BRUCE WADE 



Creek beds does not extend far into Tennessee. It is merely 

 one of the major oscillatory stages of the retreating Ripley sea 

 as it withdrew slowly from the northern part of the Mississippi 

 embayment area. 



The general stratigraphic and areal relations of the Tennessee 

 Upper Cretaceous are best summarized on the accompanying map 

 and diagrammatic section. These show the positions of the large 

 Ripley faunas and floras with reference to the rest of the Tennessee 

 Cretaceous. The most important scientific results of the recent 

 studies of the Tennessee Cretaceous are the unearthing of the 

 Coon Creek fauna and the Perry Place and Hollow Rock flora. 

 These abundant and excellent animal and plant remains are of 

 nearly the same age and at the base of the Ripley. They not only 

 mark definitely the lower Ripley with two different lines of evidence? 

 making this a very important horizon for reference in subsequent 

 studies and intercontinental correlations of the Upper Cretaceous, 

 but also these well-preserved remains furnish certain biological evi- 

 dences that are of some importance in the systematic classification 

 of a few of the ancient animals and plants of Cretaceous times. 



