ORIDBR.]  CEMENT   RESOURCES    OF    NORTHEAST    MISSISSIPPI.  519 
tion,  near  the  water.  The  upper  part  of  the  sands  contains  two  spe- 
cies of  large  oysters,  which  also  occur  in  the  Selma.  The  river  at  the 
town  is  now  hugging  the  east  bluff,  and  the  bottom,  which  is  3  miles 
wide,  is  all  on  the  west  side.  A  short  distance  above  the  town,  how- 
ever, the  reverse  is  true,  the  blutf  being  on  the  west  side  and  the  bottom 
on  the  east. 
At  the  west  edge  of  the  bottom  the  heavy  black  prairie  soils  of  the 
Selma  chalk  appear  as  soon  as  the  low  hills  are  reached.  The  bottom 
extends  north  to  the  little  creek  flowing  northeast  into  the  river  3 
miles  above  the  town. 
At  a  distance  of  -t  miles  above  town,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
the  bluff  reaches  about  the  same  height  above  the  river  as  the  bluff 
at  Columbus,  and  forms  a  perpendicular  cliff  a  mile  long,  giving  a  fine 
section  of  the  upper  Eutaw  and,  the  base  of  the  Selma.  At  the  top  of 
the  bluff  the  low  hills  on  the  west  come  down  to  the  river.  The  same 
heavy  black  prairie  soils,  which  come  within  3  miles  of  the  river  due 
west  of  Columbus,  here  come  down  to  the  edge  of  the  bluff. 
The  following  section  of  the  bluffs  was  obtained  where  the  road 
comes  down  to  the  river : 
Section  of  bluff  of  Tombigbee  River  above  Columbus,  Miss. 
Lafayette  at  top. 
Selma  :  Ft.     in. 
"  Blue  rock  "  of  the  Selma,  which  is  a  white  to  gray  joint  clay  con- 
taining less  sand  at  top  than  at  bottom.     In  the  unweathered  con- 
dition the  clay  is  a  pale-blue  color,  with  green  and  black  sand 10       8 
Greensand,   highly  calcareous,  and  containing  numerous   large  oys- 
ters       9       5 
Indurate  ledge  of  greensand,  calcareous,  and  containing  same  fos- 
sils as  No.  9 9      0 
Lighter  colored  sand,  containing  very  few  small  fossils,  but  no  large 
ones 8       2 
Eutaw : 
Greensand,  nonfossiliferous  0      G 
Slightly  fossiliferous.  gray  micaceous  sand 5       5 
Indurate  ledge,  slightly  fossiliferous  sand 4     10 
Greensand,  containing  same  large  oysters  as  No.  9 3      4 
Indurate   ledge 2       8 
Fossiliferous  greensand  to  the  water's  edge 1       4 
The  prairie  soil  of  the  Selma  extends  to  the  river,  north  of  Colum- 
bus, but  is  not  found  east  of  the  river.  From  Columbus  southward 
to  the  south  side  of  McGrowers  Creek,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
the  Tombigbee  bottom  varies  in  width  from  2  to  4  miles.  South  of 
this  creek  the  bottom  changes  again  to  the  east  side  and  the  Selma 
extends  to  the  river. 
At  the  mouth  of  James  Creek  the  same  joint  clay  as  seen  above 
Columbus  occurs  on  the  east  bank  of  the  creek  about  10  feet  above 
the  water's  edge. 
