02 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY—FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
superficial sands. The age and correlation of these sandy clays 
has long been a question and is likely to remain so until fossil¬ 
bearing horizons are discovered or until very detailed stratigra¬ 
phic studies are made showing unmistakably the relation of the 
clay to other known formations. By some the superficial sands 
are referred to the Columbia formation. But this lacks confirma¬ 
tion, as the loose sands are evidently" formed through the disinte¬ 
gration of the underlying sandy clays. 
The record of the underlying formations is likewise very in¬ 
complete. The drillings pass through alternate layers of sands and 
sandy clays. Occasional shell marls are reported, but no limestone 
or other hard rock, has been encountered. In the well of the South¬ 
ern States Lumber Company midway between Muscogee and Can¬ 
tonment, Miocene shells were identified from a sample 500 feet 
from the surface. The well of W. F. and S. Lee, 4J miles west of 
Pensacola terminated at the depth of 1,000 feet in coarse sands. 
A discussion of the soils of Escambia County is much facili¬ 
tated by the fact that a detailed soil map of this county has been 
niade by the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. Aside from the river swamps the marshes and the 
coastal beach sands three prominent soil series are recognized, 
known as the Portsmouth, Norfolk and Orangeburg, and a fourth 
series, the Myatt, is sparingly represented along the valleys and in 
the heads of some of the streams. 
The Portsmouth series includes soils which are poorly drained, 
and contain in consequence a relatively large amount of organic 
matter. Perfect drainage, with exposure to sunlight, results, as 
is well known in oxidizing the organic matter in soils. On the 
other hand soils flooded or saturated with water retain the organic 
matter, giving the soil a dark color. A considerable area of this 
latter type of country is found in the southwestern extension of 
the county bordering the Perdido Bay. This section of the county 
is low, being only a few feet above sea and traversed by many bay 
heads. The soil is sandy and is colored dark by organic matter. 
The native vegetation is pine. Much of this land is capable of be¬ 
ing reclaimed by ditching. Flowing artesian wells can be obtained 
along this bay, and the land when reclaimed and irrigated should 
be valuable for the production of truck and general crops. 
The Norfolk series includes, in contrast to the Portsmouth, light 
sandy well drained soils. The extreme members of this series con¬ 
sist of sand to an undetermined depth with little or no distinction 
between soil and sub-soil, or with scarcely an appreciable change 
from the light colored top soils to ochre red sub-soils. Other mem- 
