CALHOUN COUNTY. 51 
The section observed on the right bank of the Ouachita at Wil- 
mington Landing gives a better idea of the geology of Calhoun County 
than any single exposure known in the county itself. That section 
is therefore repeated at this place. 
Section at Wilminqton Landing. 
Feet. 
Sand on the hilltop 2 
Sandy clay o 
Light-gray clay - 
Pinkish clay 3 
Fat buff clay with sandy patches and lignite 16 
Tough, sandy light-colored clay 7 
White sand 3 
Brown coal or lignite 3 
Fat dove-colored clay 3 
Sand with clay laminae 5 
Pink sandy clays and sands JO 
Concealed 10 
Level of Ouachita River 90 
In dealing with the geology of Calhoun County we should remember 
that the beds exposed in the section at Wilmington Landing formerly 
covered the region to the east and north, and that water has gradually 
cut away the beds and lowered the whole land surface to its present 
level. 
Beyond the river at Wilmington and farther north, toward Sum- 
merville, for several miles, the country is very nearly flat and but 
little elevated above the flood plains of the river. There is, however, 
an almost imperceptible rise as one approaches Hampton, and a 
short distance north of Hampton the country is at or about the 
same elevation as the elevated country at Wilmington Landing. 
Over the lower country in the southern part of the county, and 
indeed almost everywhere east of the Ouachita, the lands are made 
up of river silts and alluvial and buckshot clays, so common in the 
slashes and boggy "crawfish lands." This surface covering is of 
later date than the underlying stratified beds, which are everywhere 
obscured. The Recent materials cover the older sediments through- 
out the county by spreading out over the flood plains of all streams. 
On the higher lands of Calhoun County there is a widespread 
overwash of waterworn pebbles. Most of these pebbles are of 
novaculite, but many quartz pebbles are mingled with them. The 
novaculite that makes up the great bulk of the gravels is so restricted 
in its distribution that there can be no question about the origin of 
these pebbles. The novaculite rocks extend from a point near 
Little Rock on the east to Hot Springs and Dallas, in Polk County. 
Almost everywhere they form mountains, generally very >t<vp and 
rugged. It is from these mountains of novaculite that the novaculite 
pebbles have been spread out like a great blanket over all the counties 
