xt7dfn10ph2p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7dfn10ph2p/data/mets.xml Loughridge, R. H. (Robert Hills), 1843-1917. 1890  books b97-21-37318480 English Johnson, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Geology Kentucky Clinton County. Report on the geology of Clinton County  : with map / R.H. Loughridge. text Report on the geology of Clinton County  : with map / R.H. Loughridge. 1890 2002 true xt7dfn10ph2p section xt7dfn10ph2p 









GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY

        JOHN R. PROCTER, DIRECTOR.









GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY

             WITH M1LAP.



       BY R. H. LOUGHRIDGE, PH. D.



STEREOTYPED FOR THE SURVEY BY E. POLK JOP:ISON. PUBLIC PRINTER A,1D BINIE.!, 'RANVFORT, KY

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.



JOHN R. PROCTER,
             Director Kentucky Geological Survey:
  I have the honor to transmit herewith my report on the geo-
logic and economic features of Clinton county. In the prosecu-
tion of the field work I received much assistance from a number
of the citizens of the county,. and especially from Capt. G. W.
Hurt, of Brown's Cross Roads, and A. G. Long, of Albany.
The chemical analyses embraced in the report were made by
Dr. Robert Peter, and the mechanical analyses of soils by my-
self for the Survey. It is a matter of regret that a collection of
fossils from the geologic formations of the county were lost be-
fore being submitted for identification.
To yourself, W. M. Linney, and other officers of the Survey,
I am deeply indebted for assistance and courtesies.
                       Yours respectfully,
  FEBRUARY, 189(.                     R. H. LoUGHRIDGE.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 


        CLINTON COUNTY.



 The county of Clinton was organized in 1835 out of parts of
 Wayne and Cumberland counties, and comprises an area of
 about 206 square miles. Its l)opulation in 1880 was 7,212. It
 is bordered on the south by Pickett county (Tennessee); on the
 west by Cumberland county; on the north bv Russell, and on
the east by Wayne county, the line separating it from the latter
lying in part along the crest of the Poplar Mountain.
The county occupies a position on the nortfh-wtwt of the great
Cumberland plateau of Tennessee; a northerly offshoot of that
elevated region, known as the Poplar Molunt-ain, borders the
county on the east to about its central point, and thence turn-
ing westward reaches about half way across its .area. The gen-
eral surface features, therefore. comprise a mountain range on
the south-east and centre, and a rolling plain on the north, west
and south; this plain lies about 70)0 feet below the mountain
summits, and embraces by far the greater part of the county
area. Near the mountains, on the south-east, there are isolated
knobs and hills, while the surface is deeply grooved by streams,
and is made rolling and uneven by their smaller tributaries and
by deep gullies. The surface of the entire county was originally
well-timbered, and a large proportion has been opened up for
cultivation.
  Elevations.-The summit of Poplar Mountain has an eleva-
tion of about 1,075 feet above low-water of Ciumberland river
on the north, nearly 700 feet above Albany, and a little more
than 1,000 feet above the bed of Wolf river in the south-west
corner of the county. The top of the conglomerate is 1,678 feet
above the sea (Collins' History).
  The summit of the main portion of this offshoot is quite level,

 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



from two to three miles in width, and from its very irregular
border slopes quite abruptly either to lower benches or terraces,
or to the valley itself. At a distance of several miles from the
main mountain Long's Gap cuts into it to a depth of some 400
feet, but the elevation immediately rises to 650 again on the
summit of Jack Mountain, a small knob or point having a sur-
face area of but about 50 feet north and south by 10 or 15 feet
east and west, its sides sharply descending 145 feet to lower off-
shoots toward the north, and to a ridge forming a connection
with Sewell's Mountain on the south-west. The latter rises to
the elevation of Poplar Mountain! but has a small, level summit
area of triangular form, one side trending north-east and south-
west, another nearly facing the north, while the third or the
westerly side and face is deeply incurved.  This is the most
westerly of the high mountain summits, and the range then
sinks to much lower plateaus, and to Snow's Gap, whose eleva-
tion is but 50 or 75 feet above that of Albany. To the west of
the gal) the mountain has an elevation of but about 375 feet
above Albany, and a trend nearly north and south. It is a few
miles in length, and is the most westerly of the Poplar Mountain
outliers. Deep coves haye been formed along the sides of this
entire mountain-range by the severe erosion to which it has
been subjected; from the highest summit, notably from Albany
Rock, splendid views may be had over almost the extent of
the county to the north and south.
  On the north of this central range is Short Mountain, an
offshoot from the former, separated from it by a narrow and
low gap, and trends northward. The mountain has about the
same elevation as the main Poplar range, but is quite narrow
on the summit. Its sides are steep, and on the north-west
descend to a lower ridge or plateau.
  Haw Mountain, an isolated knob, lies eastward from the north
end of the Short Mountain.   Its elevation is about 250 feet
above the general surface of the valley, or 635 feet above Cum-
berland river.
  In the south-eastern part of the county, near the main Poplar
Mountain, there are several lower off-shoots and isolated knobs,
the highest of which is Copperas Knob, whose elevation above
the valley is very nearly the same as that of the main range.



6

 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



  In the western part of the county there are no mountains or
even prominent points, all having been removed by denudation.
  Drainage.-The chief and most prominent water-divide is
formed by the central Poplar Mountain range, which reaches
westward more than half across the county; thence a much
lower water-divide continues north-westward into Cumberland
county, where it causes a sharp bend in the Cumberland river
from a south to a north-west course. This elevation naturall-
divides Clinton county into two general water-sheds, with areas
nearly equal; that on the north carrying the drainage waters
by means of Indian and Willis creeks and tributaries, into the
Cumberland; that of the south sending its waters through
Spring and Ill Will creeks and tributaries south-westward into
Wolf river, and thence into the Cumberland through Obey's
river, in Tennessee.
  Indian creek, on the northern slope rising at the foot of Poplar
Mountain, flows for a few miles over limestone beds, and at no
very great depth below the general level of the county; at
Seventy Six P. 0. it suddenly cuts deep into the Waverly shales,
the water having a vertical fall of 86 feet and a width of from
l 9 to 20 feet, into a deep gorge, from which the spray rises high
into the air, in sunlight presenting pretty rainbow tints. The
depth of this gorge below the bordering hills is nearly 200
feet, and along its bed the waters rapidly find their way over
rock fragments from the bluffs, and over shoals of Devonian
slates, with scarcely any bottom land, until Frobel branch is
reached. Here the bottom of the gorge and the bed of the
stream widens, and the water flows quietly over a gravel bottom
to the Cumberland river, with only occasional shoals produced
by hard limestones. The several tributaries, rising several miles
on either side, also flow in deep and narrow gorges until they
unite with the main creek. The country drained by Indian
creek covers, in this county, the greater part of this northern
slope, or an area of about .50 square miles.
  The next important stream of this portion of the county is
Willis creek. It rises in the west, and flows north-westward,
sinking below Lawson's Mill into a deep gorge, whose bottom is
in the Devonian slates. Other small creeks in the north-west



7

 
8     REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



are Salt Lick, Wells, Tear Coat and Crow, all flowing in deep
and narrow channels, and but a few miles in length.
  In the southern half of the county the most important stream
is Spring creek. The three prongs forming its headwaters rise
respectively at the foot of Poplar Mountain, in IDuvall, Hog Thief
and Kogar valleys. Its tributaries, Smith's creek and Albany
and Ewing's branches, enter from the north, and flow with it
into Wolf river. There is but little drainage from the sonth
into the creek. The bed of Spring creek is not in a deep gorge,
as is Indian creek, but for the most part in a narrow valley
about 125 feet below the general level of the country.
  The next stream of importance is Ill Will creek. Rising in
the western part of the county, it flows in a very crooked but
southerly course to Wolf river. For the greater part of the
distance its bed is in deep and narrow gorges of Waverly shale.
capped with St. Louis limestone, the neighboring hills rising
steeply from 200 to 300 feet above it. Its chief tributaries are
East branch on the east, and Sexton's and Fanny's creeks on
the west.
  Wolf river enters the State from Tennessee on the south, and
with a general westerly course crosses and re-crosses the State
line, and finally enters Obey river, in Tennessee. The bed of
the river is from 25 to 50 yards wide, and is bordered by narrow
bottom lands, from which the hills rise very precipitously to a
height of 325 feet. The cliffs are almost vertical on the north
side, and the stream usually flows at their immediate base,
while on the south a narrow bottom land reaches back to the
hills.
  The north-western part of the county is extended into a bend
of the Cumberland river, forming a small pan-handle, and it is
only at this point that the river touches the county.

                         GEOLOGY.
  Clinton county, by its position on the border of the Cumber
land plateau, has within its area a small region of Carbonifer-
ons as the highest formation in the geologic series, with the
exception of a little alluvium along the Cumberland river.
Descending from this, we find representatives of the Upper
and Lower Subcarboniferous, the Devonian and the Lower

 

REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



Silurian, the exposures of the latter occurring only on the
Cumberland and Wolf rivers, or respectively in the extreme
northern and south-western parts of the county. This series
has altogether a thickness of about 1,300 feet, distributed ap-
proximately as follows:



RECENT.-River alluviuml and soil .................
   I- Conglomrrate.

   _   j Sandstone uniderlaid by ,3 feet of coal.

       Sandstone, mlicaceous, -haly and with impressions of plants

   L Sandstone, covered by sandstone debris. .
         Shale or green marl and limestone ... .   . .......
     : v Dark impure linestone.  
  a:     Greenish sandstone.


  PC M l ;  Grey limestones, imassive and pentremital; the lower 3 fe
       f part lithographic.. .  
         Grey, oolitic and serni-oolitic limestone  .... .  .
         Cherty limestones, with Lithostrotion canadense .



..  5 feet.
3..0 feet.

. . 48 feet.

. . 140 feet.

.. 60 feet.

. . 130 feet.
.. 73 feet.
. . 25 feet.


et ill
. . 148 feet.
.. 50 feet.
.. 105 feet.



     7 I Greenish sandstones and blue limestones, with spirifer and
  ii,' 1 crinoids... . .. . . .. . . .  . . ... . . .. . . 110feet.
     _   Dark shales, with thin ledges of sandstone....      . 270 feet


DEZVONIAN.-Black slate .......... . 30 feet.

Lower Silurian   Cumberland sandstone (Upper Silurian).   ...         20 feet.
            I Blue limestone-Upper Hudson-exposed to river's edge . 65 feet.



  The approximate thickness of each formation in the above is
as follows: Carboniferous, 273 feet; Chester, 228; St. Louis,
303; Lower Subcarboniferous, 380; Devonian, 30, and Lower
Silurian exposure, 85 feet.
  The divisons of the Paleozoic are thus nearly all represented
in Clinton county, beginning with the highest or Carboniferous,
and reaching down into the Lower Silurian, with the exception
of the Upper Silurian, which, unless the Cumberland sandstone
is the equivalent of the Medina, does not appear in this part of
Kentucky.
  The surface of the county is very generally overlaid by 15 or



9

 
10    REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUIE.



20 feet of soils and clays, and exposures of the, rocks of the
formations only occur on hillsides, bluffs or beds of the streams.
On mountain-sides the succession of strata can be observed with
comparative ease, as the descent from the summit is quite ab
rupt, except in the Chester series, where a bench usually oc-
curs, formed by the removal of the shales from above the more
resisting limestones, and covered by debris of sandstone, slate,
etc.. from the overlying Carboniferous.

                      LOWER SILURIAN.
  The exposures of Lower Silurian rocks occur only in the
northern and south-western parts of the county, and at the
greatest, viz: along the Cumberland river, are only about 80
feet in thickness. The beds comprise about 60 feet of Upper
Hudson limestones and 20 feet of an overlying soft, greenish,
argillaceous sandstone. designated C(umberland river sandstone.
  The Upper Hudson beds of Orthis limestone in the north-
western part of the county have an exposure of about 80 feet
along the bluffs that border the Cumberland river, and of about
7.5 teet at Rowena, further up the river, in Russell county.
South from this, on Willis creek, the exposures occur from the
mouth, in Cumberland county, to a point only a short distance
within this county. The beds of this north-west section are
highly fossiliferous, and are apparently horizontal in position.
  In the south-west corner of the county another exposure of
Upper Hudson occurs along Wolf river for a short distance from
the Tennessee State line. The exposure is about 20 feet thick,
and dips to the east at about 100, passing out of sight below
the Devonian, whose slates form the bed of the river a short
distance east of this locality.
  The Upper Silurian is apparently absent from the geologic
series in Clinton county, and we find the Devonian resting
directly upon the Cumberland sandstone wherever the beds of
the latter are exposed.
  The Cumberland sandstone, so named by Prof. Shaler be-
cause peculiar to the Cumberland river region, caps the Upper
Hudson series of the Lower Silurian, and in this county is
confined to that portion north of Poplar Mountain. In the
bluffs of Wolf river, near the Tennessee line on the south,

 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.1Y.



ihe sandstone does not appear, and the limestones of the Up-
per Hudson are overlaid directly by the black slate of the
Devonian. On the west of the county. above Burksville, on
the river, in the adjoining county of Cumberland, its occur-
rence is alluded to by Prof. Shaler in his report for 1877 (page
:3(), who considers it to be the equivalent of the Medina sand-
stone of the New York series. The rock is from 20 to 30 feet
thick, is greenish in color, with streaks and markings of much
deeper or bluish green color, and is fine-grained in texture.
Its bed is apparently horizontal, no dips being observed; no
fossils were found.
  The sandstone is exposed all along the bluffs that face the
Cumberland river in the north-western part of the county, and
for some distance along the smaller streams. The highest point
on Indian creek, where the stream has cut through the Devonian
slate to the sandstone, is just above the mouth of Brown's
branch, or a little more than a mile from the Russell county
line. In the road just below this point, in its descent from
the uplands to the creek valley, the rock is well exposed, and
shows a thickness of about 30 feet. The Upper Hudson lime-
stones outcrop immediately under it. On Willis creek the
sandstone is exposed from the Cumberland river along the
bluffs to the junction of the three forks, and thence in the
bed of the stream for nearly a half mile further, when it is
hidden by the Devonian slates. Its thickness is here about
25 feet. Elsewhere in the county, southward, it does not ap-
pear.
                       DEVONIAN.
  The Devonian is, in this county, represented only by the black
slates, the exposures of which are found only along the beds and
banks of the Cumberland and its tributaries on the north, and
along the Wolf river and Ill Will creek in the south-western
part of the county. The thickness of the formation varies in
the different portions of the county, being from 25 to 35 feet on
the north and from 12 to 15 feet on the south-west. The
rock is black and slaty, bituminous and highly pyritous.
  On Indian creek, the slates are first exposed from beneath the
Waverly, just above the mouth of the East fork, and thence
northward they form the bed of the main creek to the mouth



11

 
12     REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



of Brown's branch, where the oil well is situated, and where
the creek has worn its way through to the Cumberland sand-
stone and Lower Silurian limestone, which, in turn, forms the
bed to the Cumberland river. The Devonian slate along this
creek is about 25 feet thick.
  It is again exposed on the north-west along the Cumberland
river bluff, and in the streams that empty into the river. Fol-
lowing the road that leads from Orton's Mill down the bluffs of
Tear Coat creek, and thence to the river, we find the base of the
Devonian black slate at an elevation of about 80 feet above low-
water level, and with a thickness of about 35 feet. It outcrops
at the bottom of the creek bluff, where a thin bed of bituminous
sandstone is exposed; thence to the river the creek flows over
Silurian limestones, and in the bluffs that border the river the
base of the slates is again exposed immediately over a ledge of
the so-called Cumberland sandstone.
  On Willis creek, south of this, the Devonian slates appear
along the bed for a couple of miles from the county line, or
nearly a mile above the junction of the three forks. The beds
here have a thickness of only 20 feet, and under them is again
seen the Cumberland sandstone.
  Throughout the central and south-eastern sections of the
county the streams have not cut through the Subcarbonifer-
ous, and we find no Devonian exposures. On the south-west.
however, the black slates appear in the bluffs bordering Wolf
river and IlI Will creek, one of its chief tributaries. On the
former stream they are exposed above the Lower Silurian fromt
the Tennessee State line for about a mile, whence they forn
the bed of the river and base of the bordering bluffs to the
crossing of the road just south of Ill Will P. 0. They thetn
pass out of sight below the Waverly shales. They have a
slight dip to the east. On Ill Will creek the Devonian outcrop
reaches from the mouth for about two miles, extending also a
short distance along Fanny's creek. The thickness of the bed
is only about 15 feet.
                     SUBCARBONIFEROUS.
  This formation, comprising all the strata between the Carbon-
iferous and Devonian, has in this county a thickness of 910 feet,

 

REPORT ON THE (GiOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



as shown in the section given above. The two divisions of
Upper and Lower are recognized, the former embracing the
Chester and St. Louis groups, the latter the Waverly shales and
sandstones. The formation covers the entire county area, ex-
cepting the summit of Poplar Mountain and a few of its outlying
knobs and ridges, and the alluvial valley of the Cumberland
and of a few of the streams which have cut through to
the formation. The sections below give approximately the
strata comprised in the Subcarboniferous, taken in part from
the Poplar Mountain exposure at Long's Gap, and in part from
that of the bluffs facing Indian creek and the Cumberland
valley at Rowena, a short distance north of the county line, in
Russell county.
                   LOWER SUJBCARBONIFEROUS.
  Immediately beneath the Lithostrotion canadense beds which
form the base of the Upper Subearboniferous there is a series of
alternating sandstones and crinoidal limestones overlying thick
beds of dark shale, intercalated with soft sandstone layers; these
comprise the Waverly, or Lower Subcarboniferous division. The
entire thickness is about 370 feet, and its various strata are



shown in the following section:
LOWER CARBONIFzROus.-Sandstone, with a seam of coal .

     A  Sandstones, shales, green marls and limestones.
 0 T


     _  Limestones, massive, oolitic and cherty ........
     l



Greenish shaly argillaceous fetid sandstone.
Greenish compact sandstone ............
Bluish green argillaceous rock, with limestone nodules
Greenish sandstonle, shaly in part....  .
Blue limestone, with spirifer and productus.
Greenish yellow sandsto  . ............
Thin ledges of crinoidal limestone . . . . . ... .
Shale and sandstone in thin layers.
Shale.
Sandstone.
Shale.
Sandstone and thin layers of shale
Shale separated by one-foot ledges of sandstone



DzvoNIAK.-Black slate. .    ...  ...........
LOWER SILURIAN.-Bluish sand-rock and limestones .....



.... .218 feet.

      888 feet.



      600 feet.


... ..1 foot.
..... .. 8feet.
..... .. 2feet.
..... ... 10 feet.
..... ..  8 feet.
..... .. 75 feet.
....   5feet.
       65 eet.
..... ..... 16 feet.
..... .. 1 foot.
..... ... g5 feet.
      105 feet.
      25 fet.

      30 feet.
      85 feet.



-1
I.,
X
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0


4n
A
3:
C



WZ
1

 

14     REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



  In the Poplar Mountain section, at Long's Gap, an exposure
of the upper beds occurs in part at the foot of the gap, in part at
Long's store, or Cartwright P. 0., and also at the school-house,
a half mile distant down the branch from the store. The strata
seen at the former place comprise beneath the Lithostrotion beds
the following:
Soft greenish sandstone, argillaceous and plainly bituminous .. . . . . . . 9 feet.
Bluish green argillaceous sandstone, holding nodules of blue limestone . . . 2 feet.
Greenish sandstone-shaly in part..... ..    .......... .    .  . 10 feet.
  At the school-house, which      is located  on the bank of the
branch, the following are exposed:
Grey limestone and Lithostrotion chert. ............... . 10 feet.
Greenish sandstone.....................             .. .. . . I foot.
Grey and green shale.... ........ .        .......... .. 10 feet.
Layers of bard massive limestone, with spirifer and productus and minute
   crinoids, to creek............                                8 feet.
   A full exposure of the entire series of the Lower Subearbon-
iferous is well seen at Seventy Six P. 0., (n Indian creek.        The
upper part of the bluffs, which recede from the creek, is made
up of the lower portion of the St. Louis group. The following
is the entire section:
   r Soil............                                          4 feet.
   Greenish grey arenaceous limestone, weathering to a soft yellow sand-
   o'stone . . . ..   . .  . . . .. . . . .. . .  . ................... 6feet.
; t Coarsely crystalline bluish crinoidal limestone.           40 feet.
j j Coarse blue limestone, holding geodes formed apparently over Lithos-
   - trotion canadense.....                                     7 feet.
     muish grey shale in ledges and holding quartz geodes . . . . .  20 feet.
   A strata of crinoidal limestone, with a layer of dark flint . . . . . . 11 feet.
     Blue shales, with bryozoa and spirifer .. ... ... ... .. ..   9 feet.
a t Soft sand-rock, with some flint . . ... .. ...... .. .   . .  8 ins..
    Shale, with layers of soft bituminous yellow sandstone.. . . . . . . 20 feet.
    Blackish shale... .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . 126 feet.
    The beds seem to be horizontal. The creek here flows over a
ledge of sand-rock, which overlies the lowest bed of shale, and
then suddenly falls from its narrow bed into a deep and narrow
gorge, the water forming a beautiful waterfall, 86 feet high and
about 80 feet wide, breaking near the foot into a fine spray,
which rises high along the bluffs; thence the creek flows north-
ward, cutting its channel deeper. into the Waverly shale, until
the Devonian black slate is reached, just above the mouth of
East fork. The shale bluffs along the creek are very precipitous,
and are ascended with difficulty. The bituminous character of

 
REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



the sand-rook above the shale is said to be especially noticeable
when freshly quarried or broken up, and even at some distance
from it. The bed corresponds to that at Cartwright P. O.,
mentioned elsewhere. The arenaceous limestone at the top of
the bluff is heavy bedded, weathers above and below to a soft
shaly sandstone, which readily crumbles. It is somewhat fos-
siliferous-with spirifer and a few crinoid stems. It is also seen
east of this in the bluffs of South fork, with a thickness of ten
feet, underlaid by four feet of a greenish shaly sand-rock, hold-
ing bryozoa, etc., five feet of hard grey crinoidal limestone
having stylolite markings, and finally, as exposed, by geode-
bearing shales.
  Going north from Seventy Six toward Grider's, we find a
high broken country, somewhat knobby, and interspersed with
deep limesinks. Debris from the Lithostrotion beds covers the
country.
  The bluffs above Indian creek at Grider's are capped with a
greenish sand-rock and covered with cedars. The dark Waverly
shale appears at about 90 feet from the top. The following sec-
tion is exposed here:
Soil.8. ...............                                   8 feet.
Sand-rock, and covered . . . . . . ............... . .. 90 feet.
Thin ledges of fine blue bituminous limestone and intercalating dark shale . 65 feet.
Dark shale ..............................160 feet.
Black slate (Devonian) .16 feet.
Cumberland sandstone......                                85 feet.
Fossiliferous limestone, exposed (Lower Silurian) . . . . . . . . . . .20 feet
  In the eastern part of the county, east of Short Mountain,
erosion of the surface has almost extended into the Lower Sub-
carboniferous beds; for we find Waverly shales in the bed of
the creek at the foot of Haw Mountain.
  North-west from Snow's Gap the shales and sandstones of
the Waverly are seen in the banks and beds of the streams,
the uplands being covered with waste from Lithostrotion beds.
The country seems to rise to the north-west, and with it the
beds of Lower Suboarboniferous, for in the region of Orton's
Mill the peculiar geodes, having the forms of Lithostrotion
canadense are found on the hills about 20 feet below St. Louis
chert beds, which cap the high points. At a point one-half
mile north of Orton's Mill these geodes are very large and in



15

 

16    REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COIJNTY.



great abundance, over a bed of Waverly shales.  The latter
are much thinner than eastward, the thickness in the bluffs
facing Cumberland river being only about 85 feet, overlaid by
about 65 feet of crinoidal limestones, and underlaid by 35 feet
of Devonian slate. At the head of Tear Coat creek, however.
a mile or so eastward, its full thickness of 275 feet appears,
also overlaid by 65 feet of limestone.
  On the south-west the following section appears in the bluffs
facing Willis creek near the salt well. The entire thickness
exposed is 350 feet, the shale itself being 235 feet:

         SECTION ON WILLIS CREEK NEAR SALT WELL.



St. Louis chert debris on hills.. ..
  IShale, with geodes..  .......
  I Black shale.   ..........
  Decomposing sand-rock ......
e4 I Shale ..............
   Decomposing sand-rock.
0 Shale.
e Yellow sand-rock.... .. . . .
- Shale.
n Sand-rock.
; Shale.
   Coarse crinoidal limestone.
   Shale           ..   ...
   l Limestone, with flint.
Devonian slate at bottom .......
Cumberland sandstone.........
Silurian limestone...   ........



.. .............. . 43 feet.
.. .............. . 73 feet.
.. .............. . 80 feet.
....I............. .      1 foot.
................ .       3 feet.
.1............... .       I foot.
.. .............. . 20 feet.
........ . .. . .. . ...  I foot.
.. ... ............ . 60 feet.
................ .......................... 1 foot.
................ .......................... 73 feet.
................ .......................... 6 feet.
................8........................38  feet.
                           2 feet.
....... ......... 26 feet.
.. .............. . 30 feet.
.. .............. . 46 feet.



  In the above section the flint appears at the base or immedi-
ately over the Devonian black slate. The upper strata appearing
in the Ill Will creek sections were not observed here.
  East of the Willis creek section the flint strata have not been
observed either in the exposures on Indian creek or in the bluffs
of the Cumberland at Rowena, in Russell county.
  The thin group of soft yellow or greenish sandstones, which
form so prominent a feature in the Waverly series of this
county, though occupying so small a proportion of the total
thickness, is the thin representative of those immense sand-
stone beds of the north-eastern part of the State, which have
a thickness of 600 feet, and are unassociated with shales.
  An irregularity in the thickness of the sandstone is apparent
even in this county, as shown in the various sections. Its thick-
est stratum is confined to the upper portion of the beds. At
Rowena. near the wmoth of Indian creek, the thickness is up-

 

REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.



wards of 75 feet, and at Crider's Mill, on the same creek, near
the crossing of the county line, large masses of the rock form
isolated points on the brow of the bluff. At the foot of Poplar
Mountain a thickness of about 20 feet is shown, the lower por-
tion passing into a shaly rock. On Spring creek, near Jones'
Mill, a few miles south of Albany, the sandstone, laminated
in structure, forms bluffs 30 feet high above the water's edge.
To westward, however, on Ill Will creek, it attains a thick-
ness of 90 feet.
  In the southern portion of the county the Lower Subcarbon-
iferous is exposed very generally in the banks and beds of the
streams.
  In the town of Albany the following section appears in the
road-bed on the west leading down to the mill:
Cherty limestone on surface.
Ledge of sand-rock.1......... .. .. . .. .. . .. . ..   . I foot.
Shaly micaceous blue limestone inclosing spirifer ............ . 15 feet.
Hard blue crystalline limestone, with small crinoids .... . ....... 2 feet.
Covered to creek ........... .................. 8 feet.
  A short distance down the creek the underlying Waverly
shales appear. East from Albany, or just south of Long's Gap,
at the head of Smith's creek, the Waverly sandstone is ex-
posed; also still southward, at the crossing of Spring creek,
near Savage P. 0. The uplands are rolling, and covered with
red land from the Lithostrotion beds.
  In the western part of the county the Waverly is exposed
along the bluffs of Ill Will creek, as well as on its tributaries,
from its mouth nearly to its source. At Booker's Mill, north-
west from Brown's Cross Roads, the creek flows over the shale,
which also forms the bluffs to a height of 150 feet. On the
East fork of Ill Will the exposures reach very nearly to Brown's
Cross Roads, the sandstone and shale forming bluffs 100 feet
high, overlaid by the Lithostrotion beds. At Pickett's store,
on the branch just north of the post-office, the stream passes
beneath a limestone ledge, and appears on the west side, thus
giving to the road a natural bridge.
  At the mouth of Ill Will creek the following section is ex-
  posed from the St. Louis beds above to the Devonian and Lower
Silurian at the foot.
     0OOL. SuR.-2



17

 


18     REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF CLINTON COUNTY.


            SECTION AT MOUTH OF ILL WILL CREEK.



Top in St. Louis cherty limestone-shaly limestone . .
Limestone, with spirtifer and produc.us
    f Decomposing calcareous sand-rock .. .
  s Shaly rook.    ......            . ..
  S  Greenish sandstone and quartz geodes .
  , Green shale.
O) .  Crinoidal limestone, with black flint and siliceous
Green shale .....
  as  Leached flinty crinoidal mass.
  -I Green shale .................
  so Ledge of flint.... ... .. . .. .....
     Bright green shale .
Devonian black shale ................
Lower Silurian limestones (dipping south-east) ....



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