Eastern and Southern United States. 473 



direct continuation of the lower marl beds of the New Jer- 

 sey region, an opinion which is strengthened by the strati- 

 graphic evidence, which shows a complete unconformity be- 

 tween the uppermost Cretaceous of Arkansas and Texas north 

 of the Rio Grande. Also, that a large part of the glauconitic 

 beds were eroded, and their debris redej)osited in the Eo- 

 Lignitic or basal beds of the Southern States Tertiary. The 

 iron ores of the Southern tertiary are primarily derived from 

 this source. This fact has been determined by most careful 

 observation on the part of Mr. R. A. F. Penrose, Jr., and the 

 writer, in Texas and in Arkansas. The contact in the latter 

 2'egion are described in full in my Arkansas report, while those 

 in Texas will soon be published in Mr. Penrose's report to the 

 State Geologist, Mr. E. T. Dumble. Not only is the Tertiary 

 laid down upon the unequal eroded floor of the Cretaceous but 

 it overlaps upon successively lower horizons to the southwest, 

 so that the glauconitic beds in Texas (except those of the Lower 

 Rio Grande), are only exposed in the "islands" above men- 

 tioned in the midst of the Eocene area. 



in view of these facts, and the absence of the Laramie fauna 

 of the interior, only two conclusions are plausible concerning 

 that epoch in this region. (1.) That there was a narrow post- 

 Cretaceous continental divide in the central Texas region (now 

 an area of. rapid denudation) occupied by the coal measures, 

 which separated the waters of the Atlantic from the interior 

 Laramie sea. (2.) That the sediments constituting the base of 

 the Eo-Lignitic divisions of the Eocene of the Southern States, 

 containing typical marine Claiborne fossils and a Laramie flora 

 were synchronous with the brackish waters of the interior. 

 The exact solution must be given by the paleo-botanist who 

 will take up the study of the extensive vegetal remains of 

 our Southern States Eocene. 



In conclusion it is suggested that the term " Glauconitic" be 

 applied to this uppermost division of the Upper Cretaceous of 

 the eastern (Atlantic and Gulf) slopes of the United States, in- 

 cluding the Eagle Pass and Anderson county beds of Texas, 

 the "Arenaceous" division of my Arkansas section, the "Rip- 

 ley," " Rotten Limestone," and " Tombigbee " (in part) divi- 

 sions of the Mississipjn- Alabama section, and the " Glauconitic" 

 beds of the New Jersey region below the " Upper Marl beds." 

 These are the probable representatives of the "Eox Hills" 

 beds of the northwestern, or Meek and Hayden section, the 

 lower subdivisions of which are so clearly represented in the 

 Texas region. * 



* The writer cannot concur in the proposed suggestion to abandon the Meek 

 and Hayden subdivisions of the Upper Cretaceous. If the beds lose their iden- 

 tity in Colorado, they appear in Texas in a manner which ODly confirms the orig- 

 inal Nebraska section in it characters and succession. 



