Bulletin 28 156 



It is the purpose of the present paper to name and charac- 

 terize the new Miocene stage, occupying, as indicated above, a 

 position in the lower Upper Miocene, that is, between the St. 

 Mary's and the Yorktown stages. To this group of beds the 

 name, the Murfreesboro stage, is here proposed; and for its type 

 exposures, the Miocene at Murfreesboro, N. C. , and along the 

 Meherrin river in the immediate vicinity of Murfreesboro, is se- 

 lected, although a number of other places in North Carolina or 

 Virginia would serve equally well. Throughout its areal distri- 

 bution, the stage is uniform and in many respects represents the 

 most typical expression of our east coast, or cold water Miocene 

 to which the name Chesapeake is generally given. After its 

 close, and during the Yorktown, changes towards the warmer 

 Pliocene were inaugurated and new faunal elements introduced. 



Position and Ljthology 



The Murfreesboro stage consists of blue sandy clays, immedi- 

 ately overlain by the yellow sands and light-colored marls of the 

 Yorktown stage; and, owing to the general seaward dip of this 

 region, its distribution is more inland and to the west of the lat- 

 ter. Where the basal beds are exposed, they are seen to rest 

 upon a number of different formations. At Petersburg, it is upon 

 the Cretaceous, or upon the crystallines or metamorphics of the 

 Piedmont Plateau. When on the latter, the clay contains a 

 considerable admixture of quartz and other crystalline fragments. 

 The same condition obtains at Halifax, N.C. as it does at any lo- 

 cality in the immediate vicinity of the crystallines. The beds rest 

 upon Eocene at RufHn's and Evergreen, Virginia, and, in the 

 northern part of their range, upon some member of the Miocene 

 series. 



Areal Distribution and Former Correlation 



The areal distribution of the Murfreesboro stage is from 

 about central Virginia to central North Carolina. Known ex- 

 posures in Virginia are found along the York river, and on the 

 Pamunkey river as near West Point. The whole series of blue 



