30 GEOLOGI \M> MINERAL RESOURCES OF MISSISSIPPI. 
A; ;i depth of L50 feet a second bed of fossiliferous marl was found which contained fewer 
fossils and more greensand than the upper bed. A sufficient number of fossils were not 
kepi from this well to determine the exact horizon of the two beds. On Yokahockany 
River just south of Kosciusko the quartzitic sandstone outcrops along the road near the 
bridge. This is doubtless the same horizon as the "flint rock" 65 feet below the surface in 
the Kosciusko well. Considering the "flint rock" as the base of the Claiborne and the 
upper marl bed as the uppermost fossiliferous bed o( the Wilcox, we then have 65 feet of 
Tallahatta buhrstone in the well. The elevation of the top of the well is about 15 feet 
above the railroad track at Kosciusko, or 137 feet above sea level. The hills, which are 
capped by the Tallahatta buhrstone 5 miles north o( Kosciusko, rise to an elevation of about 
600 feet . barometric reading. Considering the rocks horizontal, we have a thickness of 220 
feet for the entire formation. 
Smith has estimated the thickness o'i the Tallahatta buhrstone in Alabama to be at least 
300 feet. A less thickness should be expected in central Mississippi than in Alabama, 
since the width o( the outcrop becomes Irss to the north ami the formation lias not been 
found to cap even the highest hills north o( Yalobusha River in Grenada County. 
Tins formation offers a strong contrast, in both topography ami character of materials, to 
Ijacenl older and younger formations. The hills oi the Tallahatta buhrstone are high 
and. where capped by the harder portions of the sandstone and quartzite, are very precip- 
itous and rugged, [n northwestern Neshoba and northeastern Leake counties Pearl River 
and some of its tributaries have (ait out deep ravines in the sandstone. gn ing rise to wild and 
picturesque scenery. Short-leaf nine is the principal timber on the hills, with oak. hack- 
berry, pun, and hickory along the creek bottoms. The soil is thin and has a deep, 
Indian-ret! and often blood-red color. The decomposition oi the sandstone, which contains 
a large amount of iron oxide, gives the striking red color to the soil. It is easily distin- 
guished from the orange-colored soil oi the Lafayette ami from the chocolate and gray soils of 
the Wilcox and Lisbon formations. The region is very sparsely populated and undeveloped, 
owing to the poor quality oi soil ami the readiness with which it "wears out " ami washes 
away. 
old shore line at the beginning of the deposition of the Tallahatta buhrstone i- 
able from the Alabama line. 4 miles south of Hurricane (reek post-office, in a general north- 
west direction, past Eastville to a short distance southwest oi Philadelphia, then bearing a 
little more to the north through Plat tsburg and Hinge. 4 miles west of McCbol, through 
French Camp and Minerva to a point 4 miles west of Grenada, where the formation dies out. 
The principal variation from a direct line of outcrop extending from the Alabama border 
to the locality 4 miles west of Grenada is due to the irregularity of the surface configuration. 
The geologic map of the State I PI. 1 1 shows that the formations older than the Tallahatta 
buhrstone. after swinging into Mississippi from Vlabama. begin to assume a more nearly 
north-south direction. The buhrstone trends from northwest to southeast, while the 
younger Lisbon. Jackson, and \ "icks'Uirg gradually take an east-west direction. This is due 
to a more rapid tilling in the northern part of the embayment about the close oi the Wilcox 
period. The broad embayment which at first extended from northern Alabama acn — 
present State of Mississippi and eastern Arkansas had, at the beginning of Claiborne time, 
become reduced to a comparatively narrow arm of the sea, which still extended north - 
- 3 tthera Illi" - amount of sediment which was being carried into the 
embayment from the east, north, and - hially tilled in and finally closed the narrow 
inlet. Before it was entirely closed there was a gradual lessening of the dip of : 
on which the material was being deposited. The last formation to be deposited was. there- 
fore, almost horizontal, with a slight dip to the deeper sea. In recent inv. stig 
Crow-ley Kidge. in northeastern Arkansas, the formations were found to have a very s g 
dip to the south. 
V good opportunity for og the upper division of the Tallahatta buhrstone is 
given along Okatibee Creek between Basic and Enterprise. About 2 5 souths st 
Basic and 2 miles nortl s Enterprise, where the New Orleans and Northeastern Kail- 
