422 CONTBIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [bull. 213. 
above the level of the valley bottoms. Where the surface of the 
limestone is too high above the valley bottoms the deposits, if they 
were ever present, have been largely removed by erosion, whereas the 
conditions for the formation of caverns are not present where the 
limestone surface is below the level of permanent ground water in 
the valleys. 
On the south side of Spring Creek about three-fourths of a mile 
from the Tennessee River is a small deposit of white phosphate, on 
the hillside, from 75 to 100 feet above the level of the creek. The slope 
is steep and covered with a thin layer of chert, through which the 
limestone ledges project at many points. The deposit has been thor- 
oughly prospected by means of a long trench on the hillside and also 
a shaft. The chert is confined chiefly to a few inches of surface soil. 
Under this is yellow clay, with fragments of limestone and some 
chert, down to the surface of the solid limestone ledges. The latter is 
extremely irregular, and the small cavities contain numerous bowlders 
of white phosphate embedded in the yellow or blue clay. The amount 
of phosphate exposed in the cut is very small, and there is no indica- 
tion of a large bod}' at this point. 
About 2 miles east of the above locality, on a tributary of Spring 
Creek, there are on the hillside a couple of small areas carrying some 
bowlders of phosphate. The slopes are covered with chert and yellow 
clay, in which the phosphate is embedded. No prospecting has been 
done at this point, but the limited extent of the territory covered by 
the float indicates that the deposits are small in extent. Numerous out- 
crops of limestone show that the solid rock is near the surface, which pre- 
cludes the possibility of finding extensive deposits of phosphate here. 
The next deposits to the north are on the hillside 1 facing the Ten- 
nessee River near the month of Parish Branch, and about a mile from 
the river on the south side of this branch. Both these localities have 
been thoroughly prospected. The phosphate is somewhat more abun- 
dant than at the locality first described, but it is evidently limited by 
the shallowness of the clay which covers the limestone. The phos- 
phate appears to be of excellent quality, being made up entirely of the 
lamellar variety, white or pink in color, alternating with zones slightly 
more massive and somewhat porous, which have a gray or greenish 
color. The phosphate occurs, so far as can be seen, only in bowlders 
disseminated through the clay, but most abundant near the surface 
of the limestone. It does not form a continuous layer as at Toms 
Creek, and the amount of clay to be removed would be considerable 
compared with the amount of phosphate obtained. These deposits 
may contain a few hundred tons, but from present indications the 
amount would scarcely exceed that, 
The white phosphate has been found at three points on Lick Creek. 
The first is about 2 miles from the Tennessee River, on the Sparks 
place. It is near the top of a spur on the south side of the creek. 
Tlu^ surface of the limestone is covered with a thin layer of cherty 
