On the 'physical geology of Tennessee. — Foerste. 340 
the eastward and towards the south. But the region of the pla- 
teau itself must have for similar reasons occupied a higher eleva- 
tion than districts farther down the course of the Tennessee and 
since this region is at present an anticlinal area it follows that the 
anticlinal was not in existence at the time when the Tennessee 
was cutting its channel through the Cumberland plateau, or else 
that subaerial erosion had, previous to the erosion of this channel, 
reduced the anticlinal to such a low base-level that this region 
practically offered no impediment to the courses of streams across 
it. The latter view, however, scarcely seems tenable, nor does it 
seem to be the view held by Dr. Hull. 
The view that the Tennessee river was in existence before the 
Nashville anticlinal and maintained its channel across the Nash- 
ville anticlinal area during the process of the development of the 
fold which characterizes it, is made more probable by similar 
phenomena farther northward. Thus the Cumberland in northern 
Tennessee, and the Green and Kentucky rivers in Kentucky cross the 
anticlinal on their way to the Ohio. The Licking river joins the 
Ohio at the very crest of the anticlinal. The Ohio itself, from the 
mouth of the Sandy river to its confluence with the Mississippi is 
itself a striking example of a river crossing the Cincinnati-Nash- 
ville anticlinal. 
If this view be correct then the elevation of the land above sea 
level preceded the folding. This elevation must have been most 
strongly marked towards the east and its inclination must have 
been sufficient to have given a marked westward flow to the rivers- 
flowing down its flanks into more western seas. At one time this 
emergent land area must have extended as far and even perhaps 
beyond the region later occupied by the Cincinnati-Nashville anti- 
cline. In this land area the rivers probably secured more or less 
fixed water channels. Then folding took place. The Tennessee, 
Cumberland, Green, Kentuck} r , Licking and Ohio, the ante-plicate 
rivers, managed more or less successfully to maintain their old 
courses in spite of the folding along the anticlinal. If the Great 
Kanawha with its former course through Teaze's valley to the 
Ohio near Huntington, West Virginia, be considered the upper 
course of the Ohio, then the Great Kanawha and the upper courses 
of the Tennessee offer excellent examples of rivers which also 
maintained their courses across the sharper folds of the Alleghany 
mountains along their upper courses. The Big Sandy is very 
