GEOLOGY OF GILES COUNTY, VIRGINIA 
355 
THE MISSISSIPPIAN SYSTEM 
Introduction 
The Mississippian formations, which are the youngest con- 
solidated sediments of Giles County, appear only in the pan- 
handle district. The base of the series is sandstone, which is 
followed in turn by shales, limestones, more shales, and is, in 
this area, terminated by the Hinton formation. The total thick- 
ness in Giles County is less than 4500 feet, but it is very hard to 
measure on account of the covered areas. 
The Price Sandstone 
Overlying the upper Devonian sandstones, there is a granular, 
bluish white sandstone which contains scattered quartz pebbles. 
This sandstone is continuous with one in Bland County (of ap- 
parently the same age) which has been called Price by Campbell.^'^ 
In other parts of Virginia, a sandstone very similar to the Price, 
and of basal Mississippian age has been given the name Pocono. 
The writers believe that the two are of the same age and are a 
stratigraphic unit. 
No fossil plants or invertebrates were found in this division. 
The Pulaski Shale 
This is a bright red shale, which is usually brought in direct 
contact with the middle Price due to the faulting out of the upper 
portion of the latter formation. This, however, is not the case 
in the Narrows section, and yet only a poor exposure of what was 
thought to be Pulaski could be found, due again to the rapidity 
with which those shales weather to cover themselves. 
The Greenbrier Limestone 
This formation is made up of heavy blue limestones, which are 
sometimes cherty and always fossiliferous. At the top, however, 
it becomes rather shaly and passes into a calcareous shale at the 
base of the overlying formation. Several considerable sandstone 
horizons also occur in the Greenbrier. 
Paleontology and Correlation 
Some of the more common faunal forms of the Greenbrier of 
Giles County, as listed by Bassler and others, are given in the 
list which follows : 
Campbell, M. R. U. S. G. S. Folio No. 26. 
