Penrose.! PHOSPHATES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 71 
The deposits are of two kinds: (1) Beds of nodules, resembling very 
much the South Carolina beds and (2) a conglomerate in which the 
pebbles are phosphate and the matrix a white calcareous rock. 
(1) The beds of nodules overlie the Eocene marl and consist of numer- 
ous phosphatic nodules, shark teeth and bones, associated in a sandy 
matrix or in a shell marl. Generally, the bed immediately overlies a 
stratum of shell marl and is occasionally overlaid by a similar stratum. 
Sometimes the underlying bed is replaced by a deposit of a pale- green, 
indurated sand, containing shark teeth and other bones. The two fol- 
lowing sections will show the mode of occurreuce of these phosphates : 
1. Soil, sand or clay, 5 to 10 feet. 
2. Shell marl, 5 to 10 feet. 
3. Bed bearing phosphate nodules, 1 to 3 feet. 
4. Sea-green, sandy marl, 2 to 4 feet. 
5. Ferruginous hard pan, 6 to 12 inches. 
6. Interstratified lignites and same sands as in 4. 
The above section was obtained in a canal on the land of Mr. N. Dan- 
iel, Sampson County. Fragments of lignite are sometimes associated 
with the nodules. 
Section 2, from the beds on J. W. Best's farm, Duplin County. 
1. Sandy soil, 1 to 10 feet. 
2. Nodule bed, 1 to 2 feet. 
3. Shell marl. 
The nodules are of a lead-gray color and vary from lumps the size of 
a man's fist to masses weighing several hundred pounds. The average 
size is larger than that of the South Carolina nodules. They vary in 
composition from the close, compact, and homogeneous masses found in 
some places in Onslow County, to the coarse-grained and highly siliceous 
rock of Sampson and Duplin Counties. The latter variety contains 
considerable quantities of sand, which can be distinguished with the 
naked eye, and occasionally siliceous pebbles the size of a chestnut. In 
fact, the nodules are often a phosphatic sandstone, in which the grains 
of sand are cemented by phosphatic matter. Occasionally they are 
found containing numerous Tertiary shells. Many shells are also found 
mixed with the nodules in the sandy matrix, and they preserve their 
most delicate outlines in a state of great perfection, while the nodules 
are much rolled and rounded. These facts would seem to show that the 
shells were brought into their present position by the animals that once 
inhabited them after the bed of nodules had been formed. A similar 
condition has been observed in the English beds of phosphate nodules. 
The North Carolina nodules are much bored by moliusks and in every 
respect resemble those from the Russian Cretaceous formation. 
The nodules all tend toward flat shapes, in which they differ from 
those of South Carolina, which have no definite form. One specimen 
found measured 18 inches long 12 wide and 2 thick. This flat character 
would seem to favor the idea that the nodules were formed by the phos- 
(545) 
