190 Review of Recent Geological Literature. 
ured thicknesses of the various strata, the working out of the sub- 
Buhrstone strata of the Tertiary, and the finding of a great series of 
sandy and clayey beds below the hitherto lowest of the Cretaceous, 
and the discovery and description of the various undulations and 
faults in both Cretaceous and Tertiary strata. 
1. The whole thickness of the Tertiary along these two rivers is 
between 1629 and 1700 feet, of which more than 1000 feet lie below the 
Buhrstone, heretofore considered the base of the Tertiary in Alabama, 
(though not in Mississippi). The thickness of the Cretaceous is over 
2500 feet, of which 1000 feet belong to the Rotten Limestone, and 1000 
to the newly named "Tuscaloosa" group. 
2. The beds underlying the Buhrstone consist of laminated sands 
with clay partings, clayey sands, lignite and beds of marine shells. 
The shell beds have been used to define the difi'erent horizons of this 
part of the Tertiary and seven such divisions are recognized and 
described, each possessing some very characteristic features and im- 
pressing itself very markedly upon the soils and the topography of the 
country along its line of outcrop. 
3. A great series of sands and clays, containing, in places, many beau- 
tiful leaf impressions has been found to occupy, in Alabama, the base of 
the Cretaceous formation. At the time the bulletin was printed, the 
age of these beds was not quite definitely made out, but recently Prof. 
Fontaine has collected in this territory, and has no hesitation in call- 
ing the beds which hold the plant remains, Cretaceous. As yet no animal 
remains have been discovered in these beds in Alabama, which appear 
to be identical in age and in most of their physical and lithological 
characters with part of the Potomac formation of the states further 
north and east. 
4. Evidences of the disturbance in the Tertiary of the Tombigbee 
river were long ago noticed by Prof. Tuomey. Dr. Smith has found 
that there are two well marked anticlinal folds in the Tertiary, the 
Hatchetigbee and the Lower Peach Tree folds, and one fault, the Bethel 
fault, with at least 200 feet displacement. It is also shown that the 
strata do not lie in other respects in undisturbed position, for there 
are everywhere very considerable undulations along the direction of 
the strike of the beds. 
Again in the upper beds of the Cretaceous, there are numerous fault- 
ings and undulations, clearly shown in the diagram of the river bank 
below Moscow on the Tombigbee. 
Since the publication of this report Dr. Smith has carried his obser- 
vations of these beds eastward to the Georgia line, and has discovered 
many interesting variations in the characters and thickness of the 
various strata in that direction. These observations will soon be 
published in a report of the Alabama geological survey. 
The report is illustrated by a map (with unusual colors), by a num- 
ber of views taken from photographs, and by a great number of care- 
fully drawn vertical sections of actual exposures along the banks or 
