226 
The American Geologist, 
April, 1895 
sands, soiuetiiues with reddish coloring matter, but in Grant 
parish there is a great deal of quartz gravel. In the southern 
gravell}" portion transported fossils have been found.* 
The topography of this formation is interesting. The rocks 
are easily eroded, and the hills rise very steeply to a hight of 
75 to 100 feet above their bases. They are clothed with a 
forest of long-leaf pines ( /'. /xi/ifsfris), between which there 
is no undergrowth, so that when one stands on a hilltop his 
view is only obstructed by the multiplication of trunks in the 
distance. The whole area is covered with these trees, except 
in a few jjlaces wher^ the Lower Claiborne. Jackson, or Vicks- 
burg forms small calcareous prairies, and in the "hollows" be- 
tween the hills. It is a magnificent lumber region. 
The sands and gravel of this formation range in thickness 
from a trilling veneer to 60 and sometimes to 100 feet. Along 
the contact with the P^ocene, as seen near Provencal, there is 
some clay at the base (see fig. 9, plate IX). These deposits rest 
with a distinct unconformity upon the older rocks. 
For these sands and gravel the name Sjiarta smtds is pro- 
posed, because the}^ are well developed near tliat town.f 
The Grareh hefireen JJduchcat and Black Lake hayoioi (nnl 
west of lildch- Lake hai/oii. Occupying the divide between 
Daucheat and Black Lake bayous, and forming the banks of 
Daucheat in many places, are gravel deposits to which several 
writers have made refei'cnce. They are also founil Mcst of 
the Black Lake ba3'Ou at Taylor on the V. S. iV- P. railroad. 
The}' can be traced sc)uth, and, from what I have seen in 
southern Bienville parish, 1 am inclinetl to tliiiik that they 
pass into the Sparta sands. Dr. Otto Lerch;J; has described a 
similar gravel deposit accompanying the Ouachita river. 
Sffiid.s at Minisjicld. Overlj'ing the Kocene at Mansfield 
are white sandsjj with small bits of white cla}' intermingled. 
Near Burk Place in Bienville parish, I have seen angular bits 
of white clay in the lower part of a section of the Sparta 
sands. I do not attempt to correlate the sands at Manstield, 
but call attention to this similarity to the Sparta sands. 
*Lerch, Prel. Rep. Geol. Hills of La., Pari ii. ]). KM. IS!).'!. 
fSparta is in cciilral Hifiiville parish. 
:l:Parl i. (irol. Hills La., ]). 2."). 18!)2: Pari ii. p. I(i:!, iSlC!. 
^jMctJee, in his inaj) of thf Pnited States pnblisln'(l in .Inhnson's En- 
cyclopa'dia, rrprcsenls Ihcsf saiitls as Ni'ocenr. 
