TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COTTON STATES. 63 



The outer margin of these older formations is near the following towns : 

 Ealeigh, Columbia, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, Wetumpka, Centerville, 

 and Tuscaloosa, whence it turns northward through Tennessee, meeting 

 the present Mississippi at Cairo, and thence through Little Eock south- 

 westward as far as Central Texas. 



In the waters off the sinuous shore-line, thus outlined, of the ancient 

 continent were deposited in succession the sediments which constitute 

 the newer formations, Cretaceous and Tertiary. By the gradual eleva- 

 tion of this part of the continent these deposits were added to the land 

 area already existing, and the shore line moved outward, at least as far 

 as its present position. 



By a subsequent depression these newer formations, and the lower 

 edge also of the older, were submerged and covered with deposits of 

 sand, pebbles, clay, and loam, brought down from northern latitudes. 



Upon these deposits some of the cotton States depend for their most 

 important soils, and they will hence be again subject of special mention 

 below. 



Lastly, a re elevation gave to the continent its present outlines. 



ToPO&RAPHY. — The really mountainous portion of the cotton States 

 is confined to the Appalachian region, in which the strata have been 

 thrown into folds, faulted, and elevated many hundred feet above the 

 general land surface. The main topographical features of this region 

 conform in direction to that of the folds originally impressed upon its 

 strata, i. e., northeast and southwest. The unyielding nature of many of 

 the rocks and their alternation with others more easily eroded have like- 

 wise had their influence in determining the character of the scenery. 



This region, as already stated above, is composed partly of the meta- 

 morphic rocks, and partly of the uncrystallized Paleozoic strata. The 

 highest mountains of this chain are formed of the crystalline slates. 



Outside of the Appalachian region the Paleozoic rocks are approxi- 

 mately horizontal, and, where they make the country, the topography is 

 the result of erosion simj^ly, and is very little, if at all, modified by the 

 geological structure. 



This whole area has a gentle slope away from the Appalachian axis, 

 and there are nowhere within its limits elevations of any considerable 

 magnitude as compared with those of the preceding division. 



The presence of sandstones and beds of hard cherty limestone among 

 these strata gives rise, however, to varied scenery of the most pleasing 

 character. 



The newer rocks have a gentle dip away from the Paleozoic border. 

 Their elevation is in general less than 600 feet above the sea, and the 

 scenery, as in the preceding instance, is solely the result of erosion. 



The mantle of sands and loams which covers these newer rocks gives 

 additional uniformity to the topographical features, which are almost 

 entirely independent of the character of the underlying beds. The 

 broken and almost mountainous region produced by the hard sandstones 



