VICKSBURG FORMATION. 39 
An interesting section occurs in the bluff 5 miles north of Vicksburg. The Yazoo and 
Mississippi Valley Railroad follows along the eastern edge of the Yazoo bottom near the 
bluff. The railroad track here has an elevation of about 100 feet above tide. At 130 feet 
above tide the top of the Vicksburg limestone occurs in a deep ravine. Here, as at many 
other places along the bluff to Vicksburg, fine springs of water come out on top of the lime- 
stone, most of which is covered by the wash from the bluff. Instead of the top of the lime- 
stone becoming higher to the north it appears to have about the same elevation as at Vicks- 
burg; if anything, the top here is lower than it is at the cemetery. Resting on the Vicks- 
burg limestone are 50 feet of white, fine-grained quartz sand with spots of iron oxide through 
it, the whole showing distinct lines of stratification. This is doubtless the sand of the over- 
lapping Grand Gulf. It is clearly not Vicksburg, and is very distinct from the overlying 
Lafayette in the character of the sand and manner of deposition. Above the white stratified 
sand are 50 feet of Lafayette sand and pebbles. The basal part of the Lafayette contains a 
large amount of quartz and flint pebbles, stained with red oxide of iron. The pebble beds are 
not continuous, but appear in large lenses. The uppermost formation, capping the bluff, 
consists of about 90 feet of gray calcareous loess filled with snail and various land shells. 
The gulch in which the above formations are so well exposed is 190 feet deep and is 
washed out in the shape of a large amphitheater. The walls stand almost perpendicular, 
and a glance around the sides shows the gray loess at the top and the laminated white sands 
resting on top of the limescone, separated by the orange-colored Lafayette sand, which con- 
tains large lenticular deposits of pebbles. 
The Vicksburg occurs in numerous places between Vicksburg and Byram, where lime was 
made from this rock as early as 1836. The lime used in the first brick structure in Jackson 
is said to have come from the Byram kiln. 
At the old Robinson quarry, about 4 miles southeast of Brandon, the following section 
of the Vicksburg was obtained: 
Section of Vicksburg formation Jp miles southeast of Brandon. 
Inches. 
14. Surface soil 12-24 
13. Ledge of limestone with edges of the rock rounded by the action of weathering agents 12 
12. Marl, with lime nodules 12 
11. Yellowish limestone 18 
10. Marl 18 
9. Yellowish rotten limestone 9 
8. Marl, below which the weathering agents have not penetrated 18 
7. Blue hard limestone used for quarry stone 12 
6. Gray to chocolate-colored marl 21 
5. Blue limestone, quarry rock 18 
4. Sandy gray marl 12 
3. Blue limestone 12 
2. Marl 12 
1. Limestone, bottom of quarry. 
An interesting experiment was made with this rock to test the practicability of using the 
Vicksburg limestone as a building stone or for road metal. Machinery was installed for 
quarrying the rock and crushing it for the streets of Jackson. Work has been discon- 
tinued because, as reported, it was necessary to handle so much dead material to get the 
rock. The soil covering the rock will not average 2 feet thick, and the real difficulty is 
that the ledges of limestone, which average about 13| inches thick, alternate with beds of 
indurated marl averaging 15^ inches, which is too hard or spongy to pick and not hard 
enough to blast. The ledges below No. 7 were used for road metal. Above this the rocks 
are soft and not suitable for this purpose. 
In Smith County, still farther southeast of Brandon, the Vicksburg assumes a different 
phase from that which it presents to the west. South of Pineville the limestone is quarried 
from the ground and used locally for building chimneys and foundations for houses and 
barns. When first taken out of the quarry the stone is so soft that it can be sawed into any 
