SUPEKPOSITION OF CAMBRIAN ON CARBONIFEROUS. 145 



The hade of these east Tennessee faults is probably between 30° and 45°, 

 always to the upthrow and with few exceptions dipping to the southeast. 

 While they doubtless originated in the fracturing of the steep sides of unsym- 

 metrical folds, all trace of the adjacent anticlinal and synclinal is usually lost 

 and the strata appear as a series of overlapping monoclinals. Just south of 

 Dal ton there is a union of two faults of the east Tennessee type, resulting 

 in a single displacement which from this point southward presentsan essen- 

 tially new type of structure. 



Dalton- Coosaville Division. — South westward to Coosaville the vertical dis- 

 placement is sufficient to bring Cambrian in contact with Carboniferous 

 rocks. The contact is marked by no topographic feature and the discrim- 

 ination of the two shale formations is at first difficult. Careful search, how- 

 ever, always reveals the presence of Cambrian fossils in the Coosa, while the 

 presence of more or less carbonaceous matter serves to distinguish the Floyd 

 shales. Occasional beds of highly fossiliferous limestone in the latter remove 

 all doubt as to their Carboniferous age. The line of contact between the 

 Coosa and Floyd shales is extremely irregular. It was traced with consid- 

 erable care, some 110 points being accurately located. The dips of the 

 Floyd shales were found to be uniformly under the Coosa, so that the long 

 arms of Coosa which extend westward from the main body of that formation 

 undoubtedly rest upon the Floyd, and a consideration of the relation which 

 they sustain to the structure of the sub-terrane explains their peculiar dis- 

 tribution. The strata immediately west of the fault-line are thrown into a 

 number of gentle folds. The axes are irregular in direction and pitch, but 

 in general those north of Armuchee creek trend northwest and southeast, 

 while those to the south trend northeast and southwest. 



Among the anticlinals belonging to the northern group are : Chatoogata 

 mountain (A, map, plate 2), Sugar valley (B), East Horn mountain (0), 

 West Horn mountain (D) and Johns mountain (E), the axes of which all 

 pitch to the southeast. In the southern group are Lavender mountain 

 (G), Beech creek (H) and Horseleg mountain (J) anticlinals, with axes 

 pitching to the northeast. As will be seen from the map, each resulting 

 synclinal bears an arm of Coosa shales in its lowest parts. The disposition 

 of the rocks over this considerable area suggests almost perfect stratigraphic 

 conformity between middle Cambrian and middle Carboniferous, the Cam- 

 hrian being on top. An examination of the sections will serve to indicate 

 somewhat more in detail the evidence on which is based the conclusion that 

 the Cambrian overlies the Carboniferous. 



Going westward from Resaca (see the Resaca section, figure 1, plate 3), 

 one crosses successively the Connasauga shales; a ridge formed of the purple 

 Rome sandstone, dipping eastward; a narrow strip of Coosa shales; and 

 then comes upon the Floyd shales and Fort Payne chert. The Carbonifer- 



