32 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA. 



of the strata of this vertical or reversed limb, it was inevit- 

 able that there should have been a certain amount of shear- 

 ing and displacement of the beds, and we should be prepared 

 to find here evidence of minor faults, and of the squeezing 

 out of certain beds in this upturned and broken part. In 

 figure 1 it will be observed that the vertical wall does not 

 exist, its place is occupied even by a depression, and there 

 is very probably more or less ef displacement and faulting 

 between the reversed beds to the west of the depression and 

 the gently dipping coal measures to the east of it. The 

 strata in this depression are so covered by the broken frag- 

 ments of the rocks. which border it, as to make their exami- 

 nation almost impossible. v 



On the valley side of this vertical wall (fig. 2) a space of 

 about one-fourth mile is occupied by formations 4, 5, 6, 7 all 

 dipping at high angles to the northwest all very irregularly 

 exposed, and all reversed or inverted, the newer dipping and 

 passing beneath the older. These formations are here very 

 closely crowded together, often lapped over each other, often 

 some of 1 hem completely hidden. In the aggregate they 

 occupy only one-eighth of the space ,they fill on the other 

 side of the valley. 



On the northwest side of these inverted members, and 

 closely abutting on some one of them, is the Cambrian lime- 

 stone. A great fault exists here, but its position is recog- 

 nized only by the abnormal junction of diverse formations. 

 The dip of strata near the fault varies from 40 to 60 degrees 

 to northwest, and gradually diminishes to about 15 degrees 

 at the foot of Sand Mountain. Two miles beyond that, the 

 northwestern dip terminates in the synclinal trough of the 

 Warrior river. It is thus seen that from the fault at the 

 southeast edge of the Cambrian limestone, to the northwest 

 side of the valley and beyond, the fold ic perfectly regular, 

 and presents the appearance of one side of a symmetrical 

 fold. This regular side embraces about seven-eighths of 

 the entire floor space of the valley. It is in the remaining 

 one-eighth lying between this fault and the southeast edge 

 of the valley, that all the geological difficulties are found. 



