xliv REPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. 



tached masses scattered over the surface, at others in beds cemented 

 with ferruginous material. These beds occupy the tops of the hills 

 under similar conditions to the laminated ores, and the scattered de- 

 posits found are doubtless the result of the complete demolition of the 

 hills which they formerly crested. The beds vary in thickness from 

 one to ten feet, the thicker ones often being embedded with thin seams 

 of sand. The geodes, when broken, often show a coating of red ochre. 



The beds of conglomerate ores consist of brown ferruginous pebbles, 

 sometimes two inches in diameter, cemented in a sandy matrix. They 

 are generally local deposits, and sometimes reach a thickness of" twenty 

 feet. They are usually found along the banks and bluffs, and even in 

 the beds of many of the streams, through the entire iron area of East 

 Texas. They are not as rich as the other two grades of iron ore men- 

 tioned, but can be concentrated by crushing and washing. 



The quality of the laminated and geode ores, and their adaptability 

 for the manufacture of the better grades of iron, has been fully brought 

 out by the work of the several small furnaces erected on them. They 

 are now attracting the attention of capitalists, and new furnaces are 

 just completed and in process of erection. 



The details of the distribution, extent, and quality of these ores are 

 now under investigation by the Survey. The boundaries of the differ- 

 ent deposits have been accurately traced in five or six counties, and 

 average specimens of the ore collected from each locality for analysis. 

 As soon as this work can be completed over the entire district, a gen- 

 eral map will be prepared, showing, in detail, the information thus ac- 

 quired, and a full report made on the results of the analyses of the 

 specimens collected. 



CRETACEOUS SYSTEM. 



These beds just described — the Basal Clays, Timber Belt, and Fay- 

 ette Beds — taken together form the Texas G-ulf section of the Tertiary 

 System as it is known to geologists. As we pass on into the interior of 

 the State, we find the outcropping edges of an entirely different series 

 of strata underlying it, which we know as the Cretaceous (or Chalky) 

 System. The general dip of the strata of this system is, like that of 

 the Tertiary, to the southeast, and the boundaries of the areas occupied 

 by the outcroppings of its various subdivisions have, like those of that 

 system, a general parallelism to the present coast line of the State. 

 The rocks of this system are divided into two series, the Upper or 



