36 
FLORIDA STATF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
seen projects as rounded peaks. There is on an average more clay to be 
seen in the phosphate formation in this section than in the northern part 
of the field. In a few instances, notably that of the pit in the Istachatta 
Phosphate Company, the water level is within a few feet of the surface 
and the phosphate formation is entirely submerged. Only the sands of 
the overburden are here visible. 
HERNANDO COUNTY. 
Phosphate is being produced in Hernando County in the vicinity of 
Croom. The mine in operation here is a dredge mine. The relation of 
the phosphate formation to the underlying limestone', as seen in an aban¬ 
doned pit several miles west of Croom, is the same as that in other parts 
of the phosphate section, the limestone projecting as rounded peaks. The 
material above the phosphate stratum consists largely of incoherent sands. 
The usual gray phosphatic sands, weathering purple on exposure, are seen 
surrounding the phosphate rock. In the mines near Croom a considerable 
amount of clay is associated with the phosphate. 
The preceding description of the phosphate-bearing formation 
is taken with but slight revision from a paper by the writer 
entitled “A Preliminary Report on the Florida Phosphate De¬ 
posits,” published in the Third Annual Report of the Florida Geo¬ 
logical Survey, 1910. The present paper, like the earlier one, is to 
be regarded as a report of progress in the investigation of the 
phosphate deposits and is not in any sense final. 
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