CRETACEOUS ROCKS. 13 
Section on north side of Crippledeer Creek. 
Feet. 
4. Lafayette sand of deep Indian-red color, containing a large amount of clay i 
3. Yellowish-gray micaceous sandy clay, stratified I 
2. Dark-colored shaly clay 2 
1. Clay containing small pebbles of quartz; has been used ior making jug ware (i 
The hill on the south side of the creek shows 50 feet or more of dark lignitic clay which is 
at a higher elevation than the white clay on the north side. The Paleozoic rocks outcrop in 
the creek a short distance to the east and are no doubt present at the foot of the hill at this 
place, but are covered with the wash from the hills. 
To the west of the eastern border of the Tuscaloosa, in Tishomingo County, the dark-col- 
ored clay which comes at the base of the formation gradually disappears and the lighter 
colored clay and sand become more prevalent. In places beds of pure white clay, compara- 
tively free from sand, are reported to be 30 feet thick. 
Farther south, in Itawamba County, somewhat different conditions prevail. In the 
northeastern part of the county, in the vicinity of Rara Avis, beds of gravel occur in the lower 
Tuscaloosa, along Bull Mountain Creek and its tributaries. A well at Amory, which is 249 
feet above tide, obtained an artesian flow in sand and coarse gravel at a depth of 190 feet. 
This is overlain by 180 feet of pink clay and soapstone. An 8-foot bed of white gravel a over- 
lying a stratum of black, fetid lignitic clay is reported to have been found at a depth of 217 
to 220 feet in wells at Aberdeen at an altitude of 203 feet above sea level. The character of 
the gravel and the depth below the surface place these beds in the Tuscaloosa. 
There is a difference in the gravel of the Lafayette and that of the Tuscaloosa. The latter 
is much less waterworn and occurs in angular fragments of various sizes from sand to large 
bowlders. On the whole there is but a small percentage of waterworn pebbles, and these 
have no regular shape, being usually angular fragments with the corners somewhat smoothed 
or rounded. These gravels bear Paleozoic fossils. The Lafayette gravel contains a larger 
proportion of quartz pebbles, which are oblong or egg-shaped and have evidently been trans- 
ported over a greater distance. 
The gravel beds of the Tuscaloosa no doubt occur farther north in Tishomingo County, 
but where these beds come into contact with the Tullahoma beds of angular residual chert it 
has not been possible in the limited time given to this region to make any distinction be- 
tween them. It would seem plausible, however, that the angular chert beds found near the 
mouth of Bear Creek and containing rounded waterworn pebbles should be placed in the 
Tuscaloosa and not in the Tullahoma. 
At various localities south and east of Fulton, Itawamba County, beds of pure lignite have 
been mistaken for bituminous coal. This is interbedded with sandy, lignitic, and highly mica- 
ceous clays. In places it overlies a white pottery clay of exceptional purity. Just above the 
bed of lignite is a thin ferruginous sandstone. The descending waters bearing iron oxide 
were checked by the impervious lignite and cemented the sand into a compact hard rock. 
There are many large springs in central Itawamba County, at this horizon. The lignite 
occurs on J. A. Hood's land, in sec. 11, T. 10 N.,R.9E.; on G.W.Edwards's land, in sec. 18, 
T. 10 N., R. 9 E.; on Mr. Dulaney's land, in sec. 9, T. 9 N., R. 9 E.; also on M. L. Reed's 
land at Tilden. At the latter place it is 20 inches thick and when freshly dug from the bank 
is of a jet-black color. 
The Tuscaloosa clays of southeastern Itawamba County have been utilized for years in 
making stoneware. These clays are of a bluish and in places pinkish color, and are inter- 
bedded with sandstone and less pure clays. The clay used by the Davidson pottery comes 
just above a ledge of sandstone which is but a few inches thick. 
EUTAW SANDS. 
Immediately overlying the Tuscaloosa and underlying theSelma chalk is the Eutaw forma- 
tion, which is typically exposed at Eutaw, Ala. Hilgard described the upper part of this 
formation under the name of Tombigbee sands. 
a Hilgard, E. W., Geology and Agriculture of Mississippi, I860, p. 67 . 
